1. Introduction to Shakespeare

2. William Shakespeare Born 1564, died 1616 Wrote 37 plays
Wrote over 150 sonnets
Actor, poet, playwright

3. Types of Plays (Drama) 3 Types of Drama:
Comedies - light and amusing, usually with a happy ending
Tragedies –serious dramas with disastrous endings
Histories – involve events or persons from history

4. The Theatre The Globe Theatre: Open ceiling Three stories high
No artificial lighting
Plays were shown during daylight hours only

5. Spectators Wealthy people got to sit on benches
The poor (called “groundlings”) had to stand and watch from the courtyard
There was much more audience participation than today

6. Actors Only men and boys
Young boys whose voices had not changed played the women’s roles
It would have been indecent for a woman to appear on stage

7. Drama Terms to Know
Drama: A composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue and typically designed for theatrical performance : play NOT what we think of as “drama” today!
Besides Shakespeare, have you been
exposed to any drama?

8. Drama Terms to Know
Tragedy: A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the worse. In tragedy, catastrophe and suffering await many of the characters, especially the hero.
What other tragedies have you been
exposed to during your high school
career?
Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar (historical tragedy), etc.

9. Drama Terms to Know
Audience: An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners”, or academics in any medium.
It is extremely important for an artist to
know his or her audience – this is the only
way to appeal to them!

10. Drama Terms to Know
Aside: Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, which are not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.
You saw this often in Romeo and Juliet.
Can anyone think of an example?
When Romeo speaks during the balcony scene, when Juliet tells the audience how badly she wants to see Romeo again, when Balthazar reveals his distrust of Romeo during the graveyard scene, etc.

11. Drama Terms to Know
Characterization: The means by which writers present and reveal character. Although techniques of characterization are complex, writers typically reveal characters through their speech, dress, manner, and actions.
Characterization allows the author’s
audience to connect with his story…but in
what ways can we connect as readers?
Personal experiences, connection to personality, etc.

12. Drama Terms to Know
Conflict: A struggle between opposing forces in a story or play, usually resolved by the end of the work. The conflict may occur within a character as well as between characters.
If there is no problem, there is no story!
How does the need for conflict also justify
the need for both a protagonist and an
antagonist?
Without one or the other, there can be no conflict.

13. Drama Terms to Know
Foil: A character who contrasts and parallels the main character in a play or story.
Opposites attract! There are two main
sets of foils in Romeo and Juliet. Does
anyone remember who they are?
Romeo and Mercutio; Juliet and the Nurse

14. Drama Terms to Know
Irony: A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant, or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature.
In verbal irony, characters say the opposite of what they mean (sarcasm).
In situational irony, the opposite of what is expected occurs.
In dramatic irony, a character speaks in ignorance of a situation or event known to the audience or to the other characters.

15. Drama Terms to Know
Persona: In the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor.
If this is the definition, what is the
difference between a persona and a
personality?
Persona = not necessarily real, personality = real

16. Drama Terms to Know
Soliloquy: A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage. If there are no other characters present, the soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud.
Juliet gives a soliloquy when she is about
to take the medicine the friar gave her.
What was it about?
Her fear of the tomb, etc.

17. Drama Terms to Know
Monologue: A speech by a single character without another character's response.
What is the difference between an aside,
a soliloquy, and a monologue?
Aside – to audience
Soliloquy – alone
Monologue – chars on stage, speech not for response

18. Drama Terms to Know
Tragic hero: A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate, suffers a fall from glory into suffering.
Tragic flaw: A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero.