William Shakespeare

Who was he? William was a poet and playwright from England, He was born April 23 rd of 1564 and died on April 23 rd widely known as the worlds greatest poet and playwright. He was born 103 miles west of London in a market town called Stratford upon Avon. William was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant and Mary Arden a local landed owner. William had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund.

Scholars have decided that he most likely attended the King's New School, in Stratford, which he studied reading and writing. The uncertainty regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work and even about whether or not William Shakespeare ever existed. William married Anne Hathaway in 1582, they had two twins. Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at the age of 11 and the first 7 years after the twins birth there are no records of William.

Early Jobs It is assumed he worked for a few years as a assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire. After that there are records of Shakespeare working for finer theatres in London as a horse attendant. By 1592 there are records of him writing his first play was is stationer register.

Early playwriting By the early 1590s, documents show William Shakespeare was a managing partner in Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company in London. 1597, William Shakespeare has finished 15 of the 37 plays attributed to him. Civil records show that at this time he purchased the second largest house in Stratford, called New House, for his family.

1599, William Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the Globe. He Paid 440 pounds and it made him 60 pounds a year. His early plays with the exclusion of Romeo and Juliet were comedies and histories while his later plays post 1597 were tragedies and tragicomedies.

Late Life Tradition has it that William Shakespeare died on his birthday, April 23, 1616, though many scholars believe this is a myth. Church records show he was interred at Trinity Church on April 5, 1616 He left most his will to his eldest daughter Susanna while giving his wife only his second best bed. This has drawn speculation that she had fallen out of favor, or that the couple was not close. However, there is very little evidence the two had a difficult marriage. About 150 years after his death, questions arose about the authorship of William Shakespeare's plays. Scholars and literary critics began to float names like Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon men men with more literary backgrounds as the true authors of the plays. Official records from the Holy Trinity Church and the Stratford government record the existence of a William Shakespeare, but none of these attest to him being an actor or playwright. Many skeptics of Shakespeare wonder how he could write this literature with such modest schooling. There is much more evidence towards Shakespeare being a playwright and writing all these plays then there is aga.inst it

Elizabethan times Crime, it was fought with violent and cruel penalties the death penalty was not uncommon. The two major religions in Elizabethan England were the Catholic and Protestant religions. The convictions and beliefs in these different religions were so strong that they led to the executions of many adherents to both of these Elizabethan religions. England's population boomed during Elizabeth's reign, rising from about 3 million to about 4 million. At the time of Elizabeth's death, about one-third of the population was under 15 years of age, and a half were under 25. The literacy rate in London boomed with the Elizabethan era, growing to about 70% Elizabethan times saw the rise of a strong merchant class, led by weavers and clothmakers. A successful merchant could not expect to rise to nobility, but, could expect to accumulate wealth and buy property.

Marriage, Children might marry as young as 7 years old, with parents' consent. The rich and the poor tended to marry early, in their teens, while the populace at large married in its mid- 20s. Economy, Fairly wealthy and steady economy, this was one of the first eras that included a parliament, Legislation to relieve poverty was enacted in 1563, 1572, 1576, 1598 and a very early socialistic system.

Day to day living Very smelly society due to lack of sewage and rare bathing, the society was getting more urbanized due to trading and many people now lived in towns and traded for goods instead of growing and fending for them selves

Elizabethan Theatre

Audience People from the upper class down to the lower class would go to the theatre Mainly men would go to the theatre The pit or yard was the cheapest and they had to stand The galleries had row of wooden seat and had roofing to shelter from the weather The Lords Rooms were considered to be the best seats in the house even though who ever sat there had a poor view of the actors The Gentlemen’s room were on either side of the lords room and had cushioned seats

The Plays Only men were actors Special affects were smoke effects, firing of real canons, and fireworks Many of the young acts died because of lead poisoning from the make-up As soon as a play had been written it was produced The actors used a technique called “cue acting” where someone behind stage would whisper the actors line to them Rival theaters would send members to these plays to take note so they could copy and reproduce them

The Plays The actors had zero rehearsal time, enabling a fast turn over for new production The acting profession was not credible Music was an extra effect Flags were used to mark what type of play was going to be preformed A trumpet was used to mark the start of the plays Many of Shakespeare plays were preformed at the Globe Theatre such as Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and The Two Noble Kinsmen

Design of the theatre There was usually one main entrance The stage was raised 3-5 feet and was made of wood The “Heavens” was a place for actors to hide as well as a place for the special effects The “Tiring House was an area for the actors to change The “Hut” was above the “Tiring House”. It was used as storage space for the acting troupes The design of the theatre was based on the Roman Coliseum but built on a much smaller scale

Design of the theatre The theatre was octagonal shaped They had some artificial lighting for the plays that were preformed at night There was no heating in the theatre. Plays were preformed outside during the summer and move inside during the winter There were no toilets, if people had to use the bathroom they would go outside There were stalls set up selling a variety of food and drinks

Poet ٠ Play writer ٠ Actor

The poetic form used by Shakespeare is Iambic Pentameter Iambic Pentameter is a rhythmical pattern of syllables Iambic: rhythm goes from unstressed syllable to a stressed one. (Like a heartbeat) Pentameter = the rhythm is repeated 5 times – each line is 10 syllables:

Occasionally there is what is is called a blank line because there is no rhyming of the syllables. Shakespeare’s languages was much of his own words and what is called a modern English. William Shakespeare

“I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.” (III.i.49–61) This is a quotation from Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare is stating that Jewish people have all the same qualities as Christians. Shylock reasons that a Jew is equipped with the same abilities as a Christian, and is therefore subject to feeling the same pains and comforts and emotions. Translation- “If you prick us with a pin, don’t we bleed? If you tickle us, don’t we laugh? If you poison us, don’t we die? And if you treat us badly, won’t we try to get revenge? If we’re like you in everything else, we’ll resemble you in that respect. If a Jew offends a Christian, what’s the Christian’s kind and gentle reaction? Revenge. If a Christian offends a Jew, what punishment will he come up with if he follows the Christian example? Of course, the same thing—revenge! I’ll treat you as badly as you Christians taught me to—and you’ll be lucky if I don’t outdo my teachers.”

Plot A man named Bassanio is in love with a wealthy women named Portia and plans on impressing her by his wealth. Because he has little money he asks his merchant friend Antonio for a some money because he was a kind and noble person who had done so in the past. Antonio wishes to help his friend but has money invested in trade ships and doesn’t have to money. Bassanio refers Antonio to a Jewish Lender name Shylock, who hates Antonio for spitting on him in public. Shylock finally agrees to a loan without interest only on the condition that if Antonio doesn’t pay the debt on time he will take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Antonio agrees and Bassanio and his friend Gratiano go to Portia’s residence and wins her hand and Bassanio and Portia get married and so does her service maid Nerrissa and Gratiano. Antonio discovers that his ships are lost at sea and unable to pay the debt to Shylock. Shylock is also angered that his daughter Jessica took a large sum of his money and ran off with a Christian man named Lorenzo. Antonio is called to court by Shylock and a letter is sent to Bassanio informing him of the trial, so they travel to Venice to save Antonio's life. They arrive in Venice and offer Shylock twice the amount what the debt actually was but Shylock still demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke doesn’t want Antonio to die but it is hard to nullify the contract so a lawyer named Balthazar and his assistant, who is actually Portia and Nerrissa in disguise, ask Shylock to show mercy but he still refuses. The court gives Shylock a knife to cut out Antonio's flesh but Balthazar states that he can only take flesh, which means no blood and he has to cut precisely one pound of blood. Realizing that he has lost Shylock decided to accept the payment for the debt. Portia informs Shylock that because he is Jewish that he is considered foreign and because he tried to take the life of a citizen and his property is split between the government and Antonio. With shylocks estate in the Dukes and Antonio’s hands, the Duke decide to pardons him, Antonio agrees to give up his half if Shylock converts to Christianity and upon his death give his estate to Jessica and Lorenzo. Bassanio gives his thanks to Balthazar not knowing it’s his wife and give him his ring and Gratiano does the same with his disguised wife. The two women return to Belmont to find Jessica and Lorenzo declaring there love for each other. The next day Antonio an Gratiano arrive and there wives are angry that they would give there rings to other women until they finally reveal that they were Balthazar and his assistant. Back in Venice Antonio’s ship arrive safely.

Themes Anti-Semitism The play highlights the Christians as being good kind people who lend money one and other and expect nothing in return but shows the Jewish character as a vengeful merciless man who cares more about money than people. The character Antonio spits on Shylock and humiliates him because of his faith and asks for mercy against the a man he insulted, and when he is granted his wish he decides to show mercy towards Shylock but in return that Shylock gives up Judaism and become a Christian. The play demonstrates how it believes that Christians believe that god shows mercy while the Jews believe that god punishes people who have done wrong. Mercy The main the of the play is the act of mercy upon ones fellow man. The money lender Shylock has every legal right to take is pound of flesh from Antonio but Antonio’s defense and friends argue that Shylock should show the mercy that god would show to man. After Shylock shows Mercy Antonio does the same to Shylock because that’s what he believes to be right.

Characters Antonio A merchant of Venice who is kind to his Christian friends but not so kind to Jewish people. Shylock A Jewish money lender who has a hatred for Antonio, and seeks revenge because he publically humiliated him. Bassanio A friend of Antonio whom he borrows money from to earn the love of Portia. Portia An intelligent women who is the heiress of Belmont who marries her true love Bassanio. She disguises as a male law clerk during Antonio’s Trail. Nerrissa Portia’s lady in waiting, she married Bassanio and disguised her self with Portia as a lawyer. Gratiano A Friend of Bassanio he traveled to Belmont and met his future wife Nerrissa. The Duke of Venice He is the ruler of Venice who has a high respect for the law and is unable within his power to save Antonio.