Drama Unit: “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” Unit Background Notes

Drama Unit: Questions for this Lecture… Shakespeare – why bother? Who was this guy William Shakespeare? In what context did Shakespeare live and work? What was Elizabethan Theater like?

Shakespeare – why bother? The language is difficult! The costumes are stupid! The plays are old! The women’s parts were played by men!

Shakespeare – why bother? To understand what we mean by style…  Many imitators, but NO ONE writes like Shakespeare! To see what sounds, rhythms, rhymes (in other words, poetry) language is capable of  Words can do more than communicate  They can be beautiful like a painting, sculpture, song, building, film, or even a person

Who was this guy William Shakespeare? This Figure, that thou here seest put, It was for gentle Shakespeare cut, Wherein the Graver had a strife with Nature, to out-doo the life : O, could he but have drawne his wit As well in brasse, as he hath hit His face ; the Print would then surpasse All, that was ever writ in brasse. But, since he cannot, Reader, looke Not on his Picture, but his Booke.

Who was this guy William Shakespeare? (the early years) William Shakespeare ( )  Born in Stratford-Upon- Avon  As a child, went to Stratford’s free grammar school  Intensive study in Latin – learned Roman poetry (e.g., Ovid) and plays (e.g., Seneca) Wife’s Childhood Home

Who was this guy William Shakespeare? (the early years) William Shakespeare ( )  At age 18 (1582), married (the pregnant) Anne Hathaway  By 1590s (possibly late 1580s), he was living in London and beginning to write plays  “Abandoned” wife and children in Stratford to pursue career in London Stratford-Upon-Avon

Who was this guy William Shakespeare? (the later years) Living and Working in London (1592?-1614)  Joined Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1594  A favorite of Queen Elizabeth and King James I  Built the Globe theater in Southwark in 1599

Who was this guy William Shakespeare? (later years) Living and Working in London (1592?-1614)  Found immense financial success as playwright, actor, company manager  Began collaborating with another playwright as successor in company  Retired to Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1614  Died in 1616

Shakespeare’s Stratford: The King’s School and the Guildhall Chapelthe Guildhall Chapel

Shakespeare’s Stratford: New Place

Elizabethan London…

In what context did Shakespeare live and work? Under Queen Elizabeth (and King James), England experiences its “Renaissance” Becomes the global power after Sir Francis Drake’s defeat of the Spanish Armada Time of great commercial expansion and prosperity Queen Elizabeth I King James I

In what context did Shakespeare live and work? Most of the wealth concentrated in the hands of royalty Disease (especially the plague) continues Great concern for “national security” and rebellion Fear of an uprising by “Catholic” subjects Great concern over who would succeed Elizabeth

What was Elizabethan theater like?

Background: Elizabethan Theater Theaters were illegal inside limits of the “City” of London, so established outside the “City” Profession of actors was looked down upon – very “unsavory” Protestant church officials occasionally closed theaters for theaters’ “sinful” ways

Background: Elizabethan Theater Theater was popular entertainment for all English society – rich and poor, well- educated and illiterate Theater had to please everybody:  Elaborate Costumes  Action and/or Humor  Elaborate, poetic language

Background: Elizabethan Theater Very little, if any, scenery Relied on costumes, sound effects, and props

Background: Elizabethan Theater Impacted language of the play:  Had to communicate the external surroundings  Elaborate, poetic speech  Jokes, puns, double entendres, etc.

Background: Elizabethan Theater The Globe (Built in 1599)

Background: Elizabethan Theater

Outer Stage Upper Stage Inner Stage

Literary Terms “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”

Early Shakespeare play – written between 1594 and 1596play Based on Arthur Brooke’s poem “The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet” (1562) Brooke’s poem based on older Italian stories

Literary Terms: Plot Tragic Plot: five-part plot of a dramatic tragedy Act I (Exposition) Act II (Rising Action) Act III (Crisis) Act IV (Falling Action) Act V (Climax and Resolution)

Literary Terms: Plot Exposition – Communicates the basic situation of the story (who, what, where, when)  Setting – Where and when a story takes place Rising Action – Series of complications that build to a climax  Conflict – Source of tension, external or internal Crisis – Turning point in the story, point of greatest tension Falling Action – Consequences and results of the climax Climax and Resolution – Final crisis and conclusion of the story

Literary Terms: Drama Aside: lines spoken by a character onstage that are only meant for the audience to hear Soliloquy: a long speech by one character, often when character is alone onstage Foil: a character who serves as the exact opposite of another character

Literary Terms: Tropes (Figures of Speech) Imagery: collection of images within a literary work Pun: a play on words based on similarity in sound between two words with different meanings Metaphor: implied analogy imaginatively identifying one object with another Simile: direct expression of similarity between two objects using a signifying word(s) (e.g., “like,” “as,” “just so”)

Literary Terms Verbal Irony: the stated words have meaning(s) beyond the literal meaning Situational Irony: an event in the play concludes differently than what is expected Dramatic Irony: when the audience knows something the character(s) onstage do not.

Literary Terms Meter: the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem to form a rhythmic pattern Lyric: poem marked by imagination, melody and emotion to create unified impression

Literary Terms: Meter Blank Verse: unrhymed lines written in iambic pentameter Iambic Pentameter: form of meter in which each line of a poem where syllables are arranged unstressed- stressed with five stressed syllables per line u / u u / u / u / u /  My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun