An introduction

Facts about Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s language

Quick Quiz How many of Shakespeare’s plays can you name in one minute?

Shakespeare’s plays are full of troubles, battles, love potions, cruel kings, civil wars, plots, murders, riots, witches, fairies, ghosts and jesters. There are also powerful emotions: jealousy, contempt, hatred, love, passion, despair.

Where did Shakespeare get all these extraordinary ideas from? Well, he lived in extraordinary times…

Times of danger and unrest: The Christian Church was splintering all over Europe. Bloody battles and civil wars were being fought as one group of Christians tried to kill off another. In some parts of Europe, Protestants were in power and in other parts Catholics were in power. In Shakespeare's lifetime discussions about what made a good king or queen were intertwined with what it meant to be a good Christian. There was a lot of plotting, spying, murder and political intrigue in his lifetime and this inevitably comes up in his plays.

Times of great change: English sailors were discovering new lands and new riches. There were revolutions in astronomy, politics and science in Shakespeare’s lifetime. A revolution in communication. For the first time in history ordinary people were learning to read. This meant that jokes, stories, poetry, plays and political ideas could now be communicated on paper, not just through the spoken word. Shakespeare, the son of a tradesman in a country town, now had the power to communicate his ideas to hundreds of thousands of people.

Theatres At first there were plays but no theatres! Bands of actors toured the countryside playing in barns, town squares, street corners and the courtyard of the local inn. Shakespeare’s popularity and that of other playwrights meant that new theatres were beginning to be built, particularly in the London. On the banks of the Thames River, Shakespeare built the Globe theatre.

London: a huge, bustling, important place. From the river Thames goods and people arrived from all over the world. The population included: The Queen and her vast court The very rich The merchants Tradesman Labourers Out-of-work poor Bishops, priests, nuns, friars.

Theatre in Shakespeare's time Theatre was the biggest entertainment phenomena of its day. Mystery, morality, politics, comedy, religion, tragedy and sheer entertainment were all played out in the theatre.

The Globe Theatre

of plays did Shakespeare So what sort of plays did Shakespeare write?

What kind of play is ‘Romeo and Juliet’? The answer lies in the prologue: Let’s read it and see if we can work it out together…

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.   From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife.  The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;    The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.  

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…