Download Elizabethan Age

Elizabethan Age
William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Elizabethan
• Named for Queen Elizabeth I
– Rose to power in 1558, ruled for 45 years
– London became a cultural mecca under her reign
 Lots of violent clashes between Protestant and Catholics
 Church attendance was mandatory
 Punished with fines
 Catholicism was not illegal, but could not practice it publicly
Theatre
• Theatre thrived under her reign
– Famous playwrights
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Christopher Marlowe (Dr. Faustus)
William Shakespeare (38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 poems)
Ben Johnson (Isle of Dogs)
Edmund Spenser (Faerie Queen)
Professional Theatres built – 15,000 theatre-goers per
week
Death of Elizabeth
• King James I rose to power (also a lover of theatre/arts)
• Shakespeare changed his theatre company from Lord Chamberlain’s Men
to The King’s Men
• Commissioned the King James bible translation (Latin and English)
• Surrounded himself with untrustworthy advisors – led to a strain with
Parliament
• Died in 1628, son Charles I became King and tensions increased
• Civil War with Puritans – Charles I executed and Charles II fled to France\
• Theatres closed, highpoint of theatre passed and King Charles II returning
could not resurrect it.
Elizabethan Life
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Boys began school at ages 6-7
Typical school day was from 6am -5pm
Discipline was strict – harsh, corporal punishment
Latin and Grammar studied from a young age
Poetry and Prose at an older age
Boys began apprenticeships following grammar school
Sons of nobility attended University
Formal School not encouraged in women unless noble
Skills focused on chastity and housewifery
Girls placed in houses to learn to read, write, keep books, manage
households, make salves – Leisure skills –singing/dancing
Elizabethan Life…Theatre
• Theatre was central to social life
• Attracted criticism, censorship and scorn\
• Plays were often boisterous and course – actors/bohemian
class
• Fear of overcrowded theatre/spread of disease
• Parliament censored plays for profanity, heresy or politics
• Royals offered protection that helped theatre to survive
• Theatres started being constructed outside of the city to
please Parliament/Puritans – underground theatres popped
up
Theatre Life
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Richard Burbage – best known actor (leading actor for Shakespeare)
Shakespeare acted in many of his own plays
Women could not be actors
Young boys played women
Costumes were elaborate (consistent with upper class dress)
Sets were minimal – painted panels
Audiences large, rowdy and dirty – 3,000
Afternoon performances – 2-3 hours
Sections of theatre – different pricing – lowest/closest was cheapest and
standing room.
• Audiences were vocal! Theatre etiquette was not the same!
William Shakespeare
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Born April 23, 1564 (baptism was proof)
Born in Stratford-Upon-Avon
Born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden
Not born into nobility or wealth, father was a
glove maker
• One of eight children
• Did not continue formal education at
University
William Shakespeare
• Did not marry in wealth or apprentice with a
senior artist
• His success was based on royal patronage
• Married Anne Hathaway at age 18
– She was 26 and already pregnant
– Daughter Susanna born in 1583
– Twins Hamnet and Judith born in 1585
– Hamnet died in 1596 at age 11 (possibly from
plague)
Shakespeare’s Works
• Lost years – 7 years of incomplete records
(1585-1592)
• 1590-1592 – Henry IV, Richard III, Comedy of
Errors
• 1593 – Theatres are closed due to plague
– This time led to his two poems Rape of Lucrece
and Venus and Adonis and 154 sonnets
(speculated)
Shakespeare’s Works
• 1594 - Lord Chamberlain’s Men formed (1603 changed to
The King’s Men in honor of King James)
• 1597 – Purchased 2nd largest home in Stratford, but lived
in London
• King James’ reign – power plays – King Lear, Macbeth,
Anthony and Cleopatra
• 1609 – Sonnets are published
• Wrote in and established Iambic Pentameter (10
syllables)
• 38th play? Two Noble Kinsmen (collaboration with John
Fletcher)
Shakespeare’s Death
• 1616 – Will is revised as his health is declining
• Left bulk of estate to daughters, sister, theatre
partners, friends and poor in Stratford
• 2nd best bed to wife
• Died a month after revision – April 23 1616
• Left behind a legacy of 38 plays, 154 sonnets and
2 narrative poems
• Known as the greatest playwright of the English
language
Sonnets
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14 lines
Iambic Pentameter - Each line has 10 syllables
First 12 lines divided into 4’s or Quatrains
Each Quatrain has its own rhyme scheme
Last 2 lines – Couplet (rhymed pair)
Often contains metaphors
1-126 sonnets – Handsome Nobleman
127-154 – Dark Lady