Download Shakespeare: A Man Not of an Age, but of all Time

Shakespeare: A Man Not of
an Age, but of all Time
A Legend is Born
• Born during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I
• Born on April 23, 1564
• In Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Proud Parents:
– John and Mary Shakespeare
• Dad – a glover and
eventually became high
bailiff (mayor)
• Will’s birthplace is a
popular tourist site even
today.
His Education
• Studied English and
Latin; did not attend a
university because his
father’s business failed
– At age 14-15 he became
an apprentice to his
father
Young and Restless
• Fell in love with Anne Hathaway; she was 26 years
old and he was 18 years old
• She became pregnant out of
wedlock (Can we say scandal?)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Children = Suzanna,
Judith and Hamnet (twins)
Hamnet dies at an early age –
Hits Shakespeare hard – entitles
his play Hamlet as a result of
this depression
Where’s Willy?
• Will disappears for 20 years…
– Theories – sailor, soldier, traveler to Italy, or a
teacher
• Exiled for poaching deer on private property (most
likely theory)
– In the 1580’s Will left home and went to London
– In 1592 Shakespeare was an established actor and playwright
Where’s Willy Continued…
• His patron – Earl of
Southampton (NOT HIS
LOVER!)
– Patron – someone who pays
an artist’s expenses while the
artist creates.
• Wrote 37 plays during his
career
The Play’s the Thing:
Theatre in London
• Will wrote in the pub because paper
and candles were expensive to buy
on his own.
• Before Elizabethan players had a
permanent home, they would give
performances an play they could
erect a stage
– Village halls, inns yards, and
bearbaiting arenas.
• Some shows were performed in
great halls of noblemen’s houses or
in one of the Queen’s palaces.
The Play’s the Thing: Theatre in
London Continued…
• James Burbage built
England’s first “real”
theater named The Theater
• All actors were male
(young girls were played
by young boys whose
voices had not dropped)
• Very few props and little
scenery
• Clergy forbid advertising
for plays so colored flags
were used.
The Play’s the Thing: Theatre in
London Continued…
• Plays took place at 2 P.M. for
ample daylight for lighting
• Common people paid one
cent to watch the play while
standing around the stage –
Groundlings
A man used a staff to knock
three times on the stage to signal
the start of the play.
The Play’s the Thing: Theatre in
London Continued…
• Playhouses were also closed due to
Plague Alerts– When the Plague killed about
1,000 people per week
• When there were about 20-30
deaths a week, the playhouses were closed
• Plays were banned during the 40 days of
Lent
Dens of Sin
• The clergy said the playhouses were ungodly
and immoral because pimps, prostitutes, and
thieves frequented the theater district
– Known as the “Red Light” district
• South bank of the Thames River-Southwark
Dens of Sin Continued…
• The clergy also disapproved that actors
dressed in costumes that portrayed them
above their levels on the Elizabethan social
ladder. They thought the less-educated
would believe the actors really were the
people they portrayed.
• Actors were considered
rogues & scoundrels by the
upper class, but were wildly
popular with the common
folk.
Actors did not fit in any
level of the social hierarchy;
therefore, they were called
“masterless men.”
Dens of Sin Continued…
• People did not want
the “nasty” theaters
in the city so they
forced them on the
south bank of the
Thames next to the
brothels and
bearbaiting arenas.
Dens of Sin Continued…
• City officials did not like
the theaters because they
pulled people away from
their jobs in the middle of
the workday.
Dens of Sin Continued…
• Shakespeare starts the first professional
theater company
- Lord Chamberlain’s Theater Company
--Eventually becomes the King’s Men
when their patron becomes King
James I.
The Birth of The Globe
• Burbage dies and his
sons dismantle The
Theater and move it
brick-by-brick
across the Thames
River to a site in
Southwark
– Renames it
The Globe.
– This was
Shakespeare’s
theater.
Types of Plays
• Comedy: conflict is resolved; usually ends in
marriage. Represented by a white flag.
• Tragedy: conflict goes unresolved; usually
ends in death. Represented by a black flag.
• History: plot is based on historical events, but
many of the details have been fictionalized.
Represented by a red flag.
The Globe Theater or
the “Wooden O”
Flag
Canopy
(Inside is covered with
the constellations)
Stage
(Represents the Earth)
Under the stage (Hell)
with “Hellmouth”
Tiring
House
The Beginning of the End
• The Tempest was the last play Shakespeare
wrote alone.
The Beginning of the End
• The Globe was
destroyed by fire in
1613 when a canon
started a fire on the
thatch roof during a
performance of
Henry VIII.
The Beginning of the End
• Shakespeare died on his birthday,
April 23, 1616, from a “fever” from eating too
much pickled herring and drinking too much.
The End
• Will’s last will and testament:
– Leaves his second-best bed to his wife, Anne
– Leaves his estate to Suzanna and her husband
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
was published in 1623.