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The World of Shakespeare Mrs. White LA-9 Essential Question (Why) Is Shakespeare still relevant after 400 years? Shakespeare creates great story lines. Biography Shakespeare is renowned as the English playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in history of English literature. Surprisingly for the world's greatest playwright, we actually know very little about Shakespeare's life. What few details we have come from church records, land titles and the written opinions of others. Very little is known about young Shakespeare. Basic Facts: Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564 It is assumed that he was born on April 23, 1564. (there is no proof of the actual DOB) Shakespeare was married in 1582 at age eighteen Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, an older women who was twenty six at the time. Shakespeare left Stratford for London to make his fortune roughly fours years later. Leaving his wife and children behind. Shakespeare headed to London sometime in 1586, there already was an established community of playwrights By 1595, Shakespeare was suffiently successful to be named as one of the more senior members of the Lord Chamberlain's men, an acting company that performed frequently before court. This was no small honor; this prominent theatre company later became the royal company called the King's Men, making Shakespeare an official playwright to the King of England. Basic Facts Con’t By 1596, Shakespeare was so successful as a playwright that his family was finally granted a Coat of Arms which amongst other things allowed Shakespeare to call himself a "gentleman". Shakespeare's fortunes were also improving during this time; in 1597 he purchased the second largest house in Stratford which he called New Place and began buying up land around Stratford. This was a big deal at the time. One year later, Shakespeare became a ten percent owner of the new purpose built theatre in London, the famous Globe Theatre where so many of his plays would later be performed. By 1611, Shakespeare retired, returning to Stratford and in 1616 Shakespeare died, famously bequeathing his second-best bed to his wife, often seen as a sign that his marriage may not have been happy. Mother Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden who married John Shakespeare in 1557. The youngest daughter in her family, she inherited much of her father’s landowning and farming estate when he died. She had 7 children, William Shakespeare was the 3rd. Father From baptism records, we know William's father was a John Shakespeare, said to be a town official of Stratford and a local businessman who dabbled in tanning, leatherwork and whittawering: working with white leather to make items like purses and gloves. John also dealt in grain and sometimes was described as a glover by trade. John was also a prominent man in Stratford. By 1560, he was one of fourteen burgesses which formed the town council. Interestingly, William himself is often described as a keen businessman so we can assume he got his business acumen from his father. In the Bard's case, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree at all... The Bard’s Education We know that the King’s New Grammar School taught boys basic reading and writing. We assume William attended this school since it existed to educate the sons of Stratford but we have no definite proof. Likewise, a lack of evidence suggests that William, whose works are studied universally at Universities, never attended one himself! Marriage and Children A bond certificate dated November the 28th, 1582, reveals that an eighteen year old William married the twentysix and pregnant Anne Hathaway. Barely seven months later, they had his first daughter, Susanna. Anne never left Stratford, living there her entire life Anne Hathaway never left Stratford and spent most of her married life without her husband. Susanna was baptized in Stratford sometime in May, 1583. Baptism records again reveal that twins Hamnet and Judith were born in February 1592. Hamnet, William's only son died at eleven years old. William's family was unusually small in a time when families had many children to ensure parents were cared for in later years despite the very high mortality rates of children and also their life expectancy in the 1500s. Death Records reveal that the great Bard revised his will on March the 25th, 1616. Less than a month later, he died on April the 23rd, 1616. Literature's famous Bard is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. He infamously left his second-best bed to his wife Anne Hathaway and little else, giving most of his estate to his eldest daughter Susanna who has married a prominent and distinguished physician named John Hall in June 1607. This was not as callous as it seems; the Bard's best bed was for guests; his second-best bed was his marriage bed... Bard’s Last Words Written upon William Shakespeare’s tombstone is an appeal that he be left to rest in peace with a curse on those who would move his bones... Good friend, for Jesus´ sake forbeare To digg the dust enclosed here! Blest be ye man that spares thes stones And curst be he that moues my bones. Translated this reads as: Good friend, for Jesus’ sake, forbear To dig the dust enclosed here; Blest be the man that spares these stones And curst he that moves my bones. The Globe Theatre Opened 1599 The Globe Theatre also known as the Shakespeare Globe Theatre was not only one of most famous playhouse’s of all time, but the play house where Shakespeare performed many of his greatest plays. Built from oak, deal, and stolen playhouse frames, the 3 storey, 3000 capacity Globe Theatre, co-owned by William Shakespeare has become almost as famous as the playwright himself Though located near the river Thames, Shakespeare’s playhouse was not in fact in central London but rather an outlying district called Southwark. Southwark had a "colorful" reputation of being not too different from what we would call a "bad" district today, certainly not the place to find respectable gentry. Yet the famous playhouse by attracting commoners and gentry alike, brought people of all classes together in a region renowned for bear-baiting and other less than respectable activities. Nonetheless, elements of England’s strict class divisions remained; commoners were in the courtyard by comparison with England’s gentry and nobility which were seated in the galleries or the balconies. That playhouses could even exist at all was in part due to its Southwark location; it was outside the jurisdiction of a disapproving central London bureaucracy. True to it’s name, above the main entrance was inscribed the words "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (the whole world is a playhouse), a phrase echoed in As You Like It ("All the world’s a stage"). A crest displaying Hercules bearing the globe on his shoulders finished the effect... Watching a Play Unlike today’s spectacles, a Shakespearean playhousegoer really had to use their imagination; there were no backdrops, no lighting to speak of, horrific acoustics, and few if any props. As such watching a play would involve watching the actors exaggerating their movements for patrons in the galleries and shouting their lines to be heard by all. Much of the illusion of a play had to occur in the viewer’s own imagination, the only notable exceptions, being the colorful use of costumes, heralds, banners, the odd cannon, and the dramatic use of the balcony’s and arras. Because there was no artificial lighting, plays typically occurred in the early afternoon, lasting from 2 pm until roughly 4 or 5 pm. The end of an era… In 1642 as Puritanical forces made their presence felt in England, playhouses no longer were a place of laughter but one of evil sin. Predictably then, all of England’s playhouses were promptly closed down to protect the good people of England. Just two years later in 1644, where Hamlet was once performed, the famous playhouse was taken down, its presence replaced by housing instead. One of the greatest eras in playhouse was at an end... Patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege and often financial aid given by a person or an organization. In Shakespeare’s case it refers to the support and financial aid he was given by Elizabeth I and then James I. Therefore he had to be careful to ALWAYS depict England’s monarchy in the best light. Politics Shakespeare was aware of the danger of dabbling in politics Plays were censored The Catholic religion was not approved of - Queen Elizabeth was constantly in fear of Catholic plots Shakespeare knew people who had been arrested and tortured - friends and family members! Relatives had been arrested and taken to the Tower of London – William Arden, was a second cousin of Mary Arden of Wilmcote, the mother of Shakespeare – In 1583 Arden was indicted for plotting against the life of the Queen – Arden protested his innocence only admitting to adhere to the Catholic faith but was executed at Smithfield on 30th December, 1583 Shakespeare knew of the strict laws prohibiting any explicitly religious or current political events being represented on stage LA 9-Terminology Act: one of the main structural divisions of drama; Shakespeare plays contain 5 acts Scene: one of the units of action within an act of drama Dramatic Personae: a list of characters in a play; found at the beginning of a play Stage Direction: instructions on what the actions should do on stage Terminology Prologue: a short preface in a relativity long work used to describe setting and any information the audience needs to know before the start of the play’s action Setting: the time and place in which the events in a narrative occur Comedy: content mainly to amuse; in Shakespearean plays, it usually ends with a marriage Tragedy: content is meant to provoke thoughtful reflection on the most profound experiences of the human condition and involving actions that turn out disastrously for the protagonist Terms… Aside: a short passage spoken by a character either to him/herself or directly to another character or group of characters; there is an understanding the only those intended to hear Soliloquy: an extended speech delivered by a character alone onstage Comic Relief: the use of humorous characters, speeches, or scenes in an otherwise serious work Lyrical Text: writing that focuses principally on the expression of images Terms… Motif: a recurring and symbolically significant element (work, phrase, pattern, image, or idea); contributes to theme Pun: a deliberate confusion of similar words to add meaning, sometimes comedic relief Simile: an obvious comparison between two elements using like, as, or than