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William
Shakespeare:
Life in the Elizabethan Theater
How much do you Already Know?
True or False:
1.
2.
3.
The Elizabethans were superstitious and
believed the future of a person’s life was
determined by the placement of the stars at
that person’s birth.
Before coming to London, Shakespeare
married an older woman who was already
pregnant.
William Shakespeare attended Oxford
University where he spent years perfecting his
writing.
4. Shakespeare wrote over 150 sonnets and 38
plays.
5. When Romeo and Juliet was first performed in
1595, Juliet was played by a young boy.
6. Shakespeare’s plays came straight from his
imagination.
7. Shakespeare’s theater, The Globe, burned down
in 1613 and was not open again until 1997.
How’d you do?! Let’s see…
Elizabethan Times:
Beliefs About the Universe
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Elizabethans believed that Earth was the center
of the universe and fixed firmly in place.
Seven planets– the moon, Mercury, Venus, the
sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn– rotated around
Earth
Astrologers thought they could predict future
events by knowing the conjunction of stars, and
the future course of a person’s life could be
known ahead of time by knowing the
placement of the stars at that person’s birth
(astrology).
What do you think?
 Do
we have similar beliefs today?
 What
role will fate and predictions
play in Romeo and Juliet?
“The Father of English”
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William Shakespeare was born on April
23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
He was born into a moderate life; his
family could not afford to send him to
university.
He was married to Anne Hathaway on
November 28, 1582. William was 18
and Anne was 26—and pregnant.
Their first daughter, Susanna, was born
on May 26, 1583. The couple later had
twins, Hamnet and Judith; Hamnet
died in childhood at the age of 11.
Shakespeare’s Birthplace:
Stratford-Upon-Avon
“Father of English”… continued
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He wrote his first play when he was 25 years
old.
He wrote approximately 38 plays and 154
sonnets in his lifetime.
Many of his plays are autobiographical:
comments on the royal society or reflective of
his fatherhood concerns.
He died in 1616 at the age of 52, most likely
on his birthday.
He never published any of his plays. We only
read them today because his actors recorded
his work as a posthumous dedication to him.
OTHER FUN FACTS
William Shakespeare’s nickname: The Bard
 All of Shakespeare’s 38 plays have been
made into films
 Shakespeare created approximately 2,000
words throughout his career, including
lonely, champion, hint, tranquil, and zany
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About Shakespeare’s Plays
Shakespeare’s plays are divided into 3 categories:
HISTORIES
Henry IV, V, and VI, and Richard III.
COMEDIES
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About
Nothing, and As You Like It.
TRAGEDIES
Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear,
and Othello
About Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about two young “starcrossed” lovers in Verona, Italy.
The plot of the play is revealed by the Prologue.
All of Shakespeare’s tragedies are in five acts, and
ends with the deaths of the main characters.
 Act I: Exposition
 ACT II: Rising Action, complications
 ACT III: Crisis, Turning Point
 ACT IV: Falling Action
 ACT V: Climax, resolution
Attending Shakespeare’s Theater
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Shakespeare’s plays
were performed at the
Globe Theatre in
London.
The theater was round
and covered only the
outside galleriesmany playgoers got
wet in the frequent
London rains.
Attending Shakespeare’s Theater
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Almost half of the
theater-goers stood
on the ground and
were called
“groundlings.”
People paying higher
prices got seats in the
galleries for their
money and a roof to
keep off the rain.
Attending Shakespeare’s Theater
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No one went to the theater at nightthe stage was in the middle of the
audience and was lighted by the sun.
No women or girls acted in the playsboys played all female parts
There was no scenery, few props, and
only costumes that the actors
provided for themselves.
Why were women prohibited to act during this time period?
What were the established gender roles?
The Globe Theatre: Old and New
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Image: Shakespeare’s Globe
In 1613, the old Globe
Theatre burned to the
ground after being set on
fire by a spark from a
cannon during a
performance of Henry VIII.
Reconstruction on a replica
of the original Globe
Theatre began in 1993 and
was completed in 1996.
Queen Elizabeth II
officially opened the Globe
in May of 1997.
Answers to your questions– did you
get them right?
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