1. William Shakespeare His era and writing

2. To understand a difficult literary work, it’s helpful to know about… ● Life of the writer ● History of the era ● How the author used language ● Genre(s) of the writing

3. Who was William Shakespeare? ● A husband and father ● An actor ● A poet ● A playwright

4. Shakespeare’s Era ● Born 1564, died 1616 ● The Elizabethan Era

5. Elizabethan Theatre ● Popular with all classes ● Few props or costumes ● Performed in daylight ● No female actors

6. The NEW Globe Theatre

7. Shakespeare’s Writing ● Stages of English: ● Old ● Middle ● Early Modern ● Modern What stage of English do you think Shakespeare wrote in?

9. Old, Middle, Early Modern, or Modern? O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet. --William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, c.1594

10. The Language of Shakespeare’s Plays ● Early Modern English ● Poetic ● Figurative language ● Iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line) ● Syntax is often inverted (like Yoda speaks)

11. The Plays ● 38 plays (37 alone, 1 collaborated) ● Four genres: ● History ● Tragedy ● Comedy ● Romance

12. History Plays ● English kings ● Battles ● Embellished the truth ● 10 plays ● Henry V, King John, Richard III…

13. Tragedies ● End in death (a lot of it) ● Show a great man’s downfall ● Dark magic, insanity, ghosts, superstitions ● 10 plays ● Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet…

17. Comedies ● End with marriages ● Relationship problems ● Light magic/trickery ● Funny ● 13 plays ● Twelfth Night, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream…

18. Romance Plays ● NOT like romance novels! ● Like fairy tales ● Characters separate and reunite ● 5 plays ● Cymbeline, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest, The Two Noble Kinsman

19. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Four Sets of Characters: ●Royalty ●4 humans (“the lovers”) ●Fairies ●Workmen ● (“the rude mechanicals”)

20. Settings The play is set in Athens, Greece ●Some in the city (Theseus’ palace) ●Mostly in the forest (fairies’ domain)

21. Issues raised in MND ● Are people in love completely sane? ●Is love “blind”? ●Can we be sure that we’re thinking for ourselves?

22. When you read or see work by William Shakespeare, what facts from this presentation are helpful to keep in mind?