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Shakespeare
Life, Times, and Works
Shakespeare’s Life
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April 23rd, 1564- April 23rd, 1616
Stratford on Avon, England
Son of a glovemaker (whittawer)
Attended the Stratford grammar school where
he received instruction in the classics and Latin.
• Married Anne Hathaway at age 18. She was 26.
• Little record exists of his whereabouts after 1585
– The next 7 years (until 1592 when he surfaced in
London), the activities of the young playwright
are mysterious and called “The Lost Years
– Many theories exist about this phase including
that he was banished from the region for
poaching and that he was simply travelling
Europe gathering material for his plays and
poems.
• Retired to Stratford in 1613 after becoming the
most famous playwright and poet in England,
owning his own theatre company called The
King’s Men and two theatres.
Shakespeare’s Theatre and Plays
• Owned the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men.
• Became the King’s Men
later in his career.
• The Globe Theatre was
his most famous theatre.
• Produced most of his
known work between
1589 and 1613.
• First Folio was published
in 1623.
• “Titus Andronicus” was
his first play to be
published.
Shakespeare’s Theatre and Plays
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Wrote comedies, histories, romances, and
tragedies.
Used no scenery but employed simple props
such as furniture and beds.
The Globe, the most famous of his two
theatres, was an amphitheater so all plays
were performed in daylight.
Amphitheater- outside with stadium seating.
Comprised of two levels: The Heavens and
the Pit
Groundlings could gain admission to the Pit
for a single penny.
Much more expensive to attend Black Friars
In Shakespeare’s day, men filled all roles
within the play.
Costumes worn by actors were always in
modern style, Elizabethans were far more
concerned with the magnificence of the
costumes.
Elizabethan England
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“Elizabethan” refers to the cultural and political
atmosphere during the reign of Queen Elizabeth
I.
Life (1533 - 1603)
Reign (1558 – 1603)
Ardently supported the arts and artists in a time
of political instability.
Pushed for religious solidarity in the form of
Protestantism.
– Followed the bloody reign of her sister Mary, Queen
of Scots.
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Faced staunch opposition from Puritan and
Roman Catholic factions.
Culture:
– Great Chain of Being- a theoretical concept that God
created everything to have a place and hierarchy.
– Structured class system with royalty and nobles
situated at the top, tradesman in the middle class,
and peasants at the bottom.
– Extremely recognizable fashion.
– Xenophobia- dislike or fear of foreigners.
Elizabethan England
• Shakespeare was extremely interested in several themes
throughout his writing:
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The question of whether it is possible to be simply good or evil.
The internal motivations that make people act as they do.
The frailty of human life.
The ways society and the universe are structured, also known as
hierarchies.
• Did Shakespeare invent these ideas? Absolutely not!
• He lived during in exciting time: the end of the Renaissance.
– The world was changing– Magellan circled the globe and the
printing press was invented.
– People had the opportunity to change their social class for one
of the first times in history.
Shakespeare’s Language
• Employed figurative language heavily throughout his plays.
– “Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by
this sun of York” – Richard III
• Wrote in iambic pentameter.
– Stressed, unstressed pair of syllables.
– 5 iambs per line (10 syllables).
– Employed blank verse because it mirrors human speech.
• Shakespeare loved puns and expresses a firm
understanding of the duality of language in his writing.
• The goal of Shakespeare’s writing is to create catharsis in
his audience.
– An emotional purging brought on by the aesthetic.
Authorship Controversy
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One important thing to keep in mind is the fact
that “authorship” was very loosely termed during
Shakespeare’s day.
– Many of the plots Shakespeare employed had existed
for quite sometime before he produced them.
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Many scholars argue that due to Shakespeare’s
class and where he lived, he would not be
capable of writing the plays he did.
Also argue that he would never had had the
political influence necessary to travel within such
important circles.
Many argue that he was not the individual and
transcendent genius that romance and hindsight
has presented us.
Have adopted a much broader, cultural view of
authorship.
– Forced to be responsive to the history, politics, and
literature of the time.
– In a sense, Queen Elizabeth I can be view as the author
because of cultural presence in the plays.
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However, many theories exist that attribute
authorship to other individuals, including Sir
Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and
statesman.
Literary and Thematic Terms
• Foil: A pairing of two characters who contrast
one another.
– Can stem from appearance, behavior, and
motivations.
– Caution: these are not simply opposites. They
must have something in common
Literary and Thematic Terms
• Tragic Flaw- A mistake or personality trait that
ultimately leads to the protagonist’s downfall.
Literary and Thematic Terms
• Oxymoron - a pairing of contradictory words
– Example – Student Teacher, Jumbo Shrimp, Dress
Pants
• Paradox- an apparently true statement that
leads to a contradiction or situation that
defies belief or logic.
– Ex. “You gotta be cruel to be kind” – Nick Lowe
(1979)
– “Parting is such sweet sorrow ”
Literary and Thematic Terms
• Open Couplet- two lines of rhymed poetry that are enjambed – the
thought continues from one line to the next.
– Ex. “Even as new occasion appears?
Or shall we tie ourselves for certain years
To any service, Or to any place?
For it behooves ere that into the race
We enter, to resolve first hereupon.
Now surely brother (said the Fox anon)” - Sir Edmund Spenser
“Mother Hubbard’s Tale”
• Closed Couplet- two lines of rhymed poetry that contain a complete
thought.
– In Iambic Pentameter- “heroic couplet”
– Example – “Humpty Dumpty”
• Pun- employing humor by playing off the multiple meanings of a
word.
– Example- Why did the rapper need an umbrella? Fo ‘drizzle!