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Introduction to
Shakespeare
English I
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare
The man, the myth, the legend
William Shakespeare was born the third of eight
children on April 23, 1564, in the town of Stratford-uponAvon, England, to Mary Arden and John Shakespeare.
His father, John, was a shopkeeper and a man of some
importance in Stratford who served at various times as
Justice of the Peace and High Bailiff (mayor).
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
…As it is today.
Education
William attended grammar school
where he studied Latin grammar, Latin
literature, and rhetoric (the uses of
language). As far as we know, he had
no formal education.
Let There Be Love…
At the age of eighteen,
Shakespeare fell in love
with Anne Hathaway
who was 26. They
married and had three
children. Susanna was
the oldest, and Hamnet
and Judith were twins.
Hamnet died as a child.
There’s Even More?!?
Shakespeare’s play writing success began with
historical works. Between 1590 and 1593, he wrote
Henry VI, Parts 1,2, and 3, Richard III and A Comedy of
Errors. Romeo and Juliet was among the early plays that
he wrote between 1594 and 1596. Shakespeare wrote a
total of thirty seven plays, including such masterpieces as
Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.
Still More Shakespeare . . .
As an actor, he was a member of a theatrical
company known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which
was later to become the King’s Men. Wealthy patrons
supported these theatrical groups. The King’s Men
were supported by King James himself.
Shakespeare worked with The King’s Men all
of his writing life by providing them with plays year
after year. He had a theater that needed plays, actors
who needed parts, and his own family who needed to
be fed.
Retirement
He retired from the theater to his native
Stratford in 1612. Due to his widespread fame and
success, he was able to buy the second-largest house
in Stratford with a cottage, a garden, and 107 acres
of soccer field
In early 1616, he wrote his will, leaving his
property to his daughter Susanna, 300 pounds to his
other daughter, Judith, and his second-best bed to
Anne because it was her favorite.
R.I.P.
Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, on his 52nd
birthday. He was buried at Trinity Church in Stratford as
an honored citizen. His tombstone bears the following
inscription:
Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he who moves my bones.
Shakespeare continued
Shakespeare was in the acting company, Lord
Chamberlain's Men (later called the King’s Men)
He wrote:
37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 long poems
His work was not published during his lifetime
but four years later in the "First Folio" book
Shakespeare is considered a "man for all
seasons" because his plays appeal to everyone
(all ages and across time)
The Shakespeare Debate
There is much speculation as to whether or not
there was an actual “Shakespeare.”
Many historians claim that “Shakespeare” is
actually a collection of several poets and
playwrights works, while others claim that it
was a pseudonym for another writer.
The three men most associated with the
“Shakespeare Debate” are Edward De Vere,
Francis Bacon, and Christopher Marlow.
The Globe Theater
The Globe
Shakespeare performed his plays here
Constructed in 1599
On the banks of the Thames River
• Near London
Shape: Octagonal
Play time: 2 hours in
the afternoon
Cost: One penny
The Globe continued
Seating:
 Pit: General crowd
 Galleries: A small additional fee
would get you these seats
 Box Seats: Royalty or noblemen only
 The capacity for the play performance
was 3,000
 Sound effects were made in the huts
 Ghosts could appear on stage through
trap doors

The Globe continued
Flags, trumpets, and fliers told when there
would be a play
 The flags also told the audience what type
of play they would be seeing:
 Red flag = history play
 White flag = comedy play
 Black Flag = tragedy play

Parts of the Globe
The Pit- Sometimes referred to as “The Yard”
where the groundlings watched the play for their
one-penny admission.
The Stage- Major playing area jutted into the
Pit, creating a sense of intimacy with the
audience. Hangings curtained off space beneath.
Main entrance- Here the doorkeeper greeted
playgoers and collected one penny from
everyone.
Parts of the Globe
Lord’s Rooms- private galleries; six pennies let
a viewer sit here, or sometimes even on the
stage itself.
Middle Gallery- called “two-penny rooms”
because the seats here were higher priced.
Inner Stage- A recessed playing area often
curtained off, then opened for appropriate
scenes.
Parts of the Globe
Hut- a storage area that also held a wench
system for lowering enthroned gods or other
characters to the stage.
Tiring-House- The important backstage area
which provided space for storage and business
offices.
Parts of the Globe
Trap Door- Leading down to the Hell area
where equipment included the winch elevator
that raised and lowered actors or properties.
There was another trap door in the ceiling
referred to as “the heavens.”
Hell- The area under the stage, used for ghostly
comings and goings or for more mundane
storage of properties.
Elizabethan England
Queen Elizabeth I ruled England
during the time that Shakespeare
wrote many of his plays.
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I
She ruled England for nearly
50 years, and was very popular
Ruled 1558-1603
She was such a strong ruler that the time is called
the Elizabethan Age or England’s Golden Age.
Elizabeth never married although she had many
suitors during her lifetime.
Queen Elizabeth had red hair and green eyes and
was known for her love of fashion; she had over
2,000 dresses. Some of her more elaborate gowns
weighed over 200 pounds each.
Queen Elizabeth I continued
During the 1600s, London was a busy,
bustling, walled city. It was having a
Renaissance (rebirth) of arts and sciences under
two monarchs who loved the theater.
Queen Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry
VIII and Anne Boleyn, was a liberal-minded
monarch who enjoyed the theater and wrote
plays for special performances. Shakespeare
gave 32 performances at her court during her
reign.
Elizabethan Theater
During this time, theater was not the
only form of entertainment. People also
enjoyed music and dancing.
No women were allowed to act in the plays. Young
boys acted the female parts.
Actors wore clothes from their own time period,
regardless of the play’s setting. The costumes were
often very fancy.
Audiences were very rowdy. They talked during the
plays, and if they did not like one, they would throw
garbage at the actors.
King James I
(Elizabeth’s Successor)
King James I
King James I, the son of Mary Queen of
Scots, reigned from 1603 to 1625. He also
supported the theatre and wrote many poems and
plays. At least half of the plays that he saw
performed had been written by Shakespeare.
Elizabethan Theaters
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth and later
King James, there were many famous
Elizabethan Theaters. Some of these were
“The Theatre”
“The Swan”
“The Globe”
“The Rose”
“The Blackfriars”
“The Fortune”
“The Whitehall”
“The Curtain”
These theatres were usually located outside the
London walls on the Thames.
Romeo & Juliet
Romeo & Juliet was written during a period when
Shakespeare had found the strength of his writing. He
would have been about 30 years old when he wrote it. It
stands as a great play in its own right.
Romeo & Juliet is believed to have been written around
1595. The Nurse in the play refers to "an earthquake
eleven years past (Act II, scene 3, line 23). London
experienced a strong tremor around 1580.
Romeo & Juliet
1968
Romeo & Juliet
1996
The Tragedy
The story is, of course, about a pair of
star-crossed lovers. Two teenagers pursue their
love for each other despite the fact that their
families have been at odds with each other for
decades. The story combines swordfighting,
disguise, misunderstanding, tragedy, humor,
and some of the most romantic language found
in literature all in the name of true love.
Any Questions?