Ppt for an english lesson

Shakespeare: His Life and Times

Early Life

• Born 1564—died 1616
• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Parents: John and Mary Arden Shakespeare

• Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner John—glovemaker, local politician
• Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner
• John—glovemaker, local politician

Location of Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeare’s Time

As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the Boy (1896).

Stratford-upon-Avon Today

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Education

• Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford
• Educated in:

• Rhetoric Logic History Latin
• Rhetoric Logic History Latin
• Rhetoric
• Logic
• History
• Latin

King’s New School

Married Life

• Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter
• Had twins in 1585
• Sometime between 1585-1592, he moved to London and began working in theatre.

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

Theatre Career

• Member and later part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later called the King’s Men
• Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with Shakespeare as primary investor
• Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London

The Globe Theater

The Plays

• 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare

• 14 comedies 10 histories 10 tragedies 4 romances
• 14 comedies 10 histories 10 tragedies 4 romances
• 14 comedies
• 10 histories
• 10 tragedies
• 4 romances

• Possibly wrote three others
• Collaborated on several others

The Poetry

• Two major poems

• Venus and Adonis Rape of Lucrece
• Venus and Adonis Rape of Lucrece
• Venus and Adonis
• Rape of Lucrece

• 154 Sonnets
• Numerous other poems

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
• Old English is the language of Beowulf:

Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum

Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon

Hu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!

• Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon Hu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”
• Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawain -poet, and Malory:

We redeth oft and findeth y-write—

And this clerkes wele it wite—

Layes that ben in harping

Ben y-founde of ferli thing… ( Sir Orfeo )

• We redeth oft and findeth y-write— And this clerkes wele it wite— Layes that ben in harping Ben y-founde of ferli thing… ( Sir Orfeo )

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English.”
• EME was not very different from “Modern English,” except that it had some old holdovers.

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare coined many words we still use today: Critical Majestic Dwindle
• Critical
• Majestic
• Dwindle
• And quite a few phrases as well: One fell swoop Flesh and blood Vanish into thin air
• One fell swoop
• Flesh and blood
• Vanish into thin air

Shakespeare’s Language

• A mix of old and very new
• Rural and urban words/images
• Understandable by the lowest peasant and the highest noble

Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions

A theatrical convention is a

suspension of reality.

• No electricity
• Women forbidden

to act on stage

• Minimal, contemporary

costumes

• Minimal scenery

These control the dialogue.

• Soliloquy
• Aside

Types of speech

• Blood and gore
• Use of supernatural

Audience loves to be scared.

• Use of disguises/

mistaken identity

• Last speaker—highest in

rank (in tragedies)

• Multiple murders

(in tragedies)

• Multiple marriages

(in comedies)