1. Introduction to Shakespeare
Advanced Language Arts
Notes

2. Why do we read Shakespeare?
Considered the greatest dramatist and finest poet
Influence on English language
Invented phrases/words
Messages for today
Themes we learn from
Understanding of human nature
Entertainment
Every time you read, you learn more
Influence on culture
Romance, what is heroic, bravery, etc.
What is in his plays molded ideas into our heads

3. The Elizabethan Era/The Renaissance
1400 – 1600
Caused by a re-interest in the arts and the development of new inventions
New trade routes opening
Beginning of modern science
Moveable type invented

4. The Elizabethan Era/The Renaissance
Large class differences
Believed that you could not escape your birth
Highest class is the Royalty
Clergy
Nobles/Merchants – lawyers, master craftsmen, traders
Peasants

5. The Elizabethan Era/The Renaissance
Society
Male dominated; women expected to marry when reaching child-bearing age
Infant/Child mortality rate high
People readily believed in superstitions and magic

6. The Elizabethan Era/The Renaissance
Queen Elizabeth I
Her reign was considered the “Golden Age of England”
Encouraged literature/poets/playwrights by having them perform for her in court
Openly supported and admired Shakespeare

7. William Shakespeare
Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564 (assumed by baptism record)
Lived in Stratford-on-Avon
Assumed to be very well educated. His father held local political offices which allowed young William to attend school.

8. William Shakespeare
Married Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than he was.
They had three children: Susana and twins – Hamnett and Judith
First play written was Henry IV, Part I in 1589
Wrote 37 plays total

9. William Shakespeare Plays divided into comedies, tragedies, histories
Shakespeare’s plays quickly became popular. The public loved language and praised his quick wit.
Plays written in iambic pentameter and blank verse
Died in 1616 at the age of 52

10. The Globe Theater Built in 1599 by Richard Burbage
Became the main theater to see Shakespeare’s plays

11. The Globe Theater
Shape was a circular octagon that could hold 2000 people
Audience made up of both sections of Elizabethan society
Ordinary citizens, travelers, some women watched on ground (groundlings)
Noblemen, country squires, masked women with male escorts sat in raised balconies

12. The Globe Theater Had special effects with trap doors
Music a large part of theater
Women were not allowed on stage
The Plague (Black Death) forced theater closures
Theater seen as evil/heretical
Rats and highly contagious virus was true cause of spread
Burned down in 1613 during a performance of “Henry VIII”. Cannons from battle scene sparked the building. Had to be rebuilt.

13. Vocabulary Soliloquy – personal speech that reveals his thoughts
Irony – opposite of actual meaning
Farce – light comedy; satirical in nature
Pun – play on words
Blank verse – unrhymed verse; it has a basic metrical pattern
Iambic pentameter – each unit, or foot, contains an iamb; an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable which is repeated five times to make a pentameter