An Introduction to William Shakespeare

1. An Introduction to William Shakespeare Mr. MacQueen

2. William Shakespeare • Lived from 1563 – 1616 • Born in Stratford-on-Avon in England, but spent much of his life in London. • Started as an actor, then moved into writing • Wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets • Father was a glover, and made enough money to put Shakespeare in Grammar School.

3. William Shakespeare • Married a woman named Anne Hathaway in 1582. ? ! She was 8 years older and 3 months pregnant when they married

4. William Shakespeare • Many historians believe their marriage was unhappy. • They had 8 children. • William spent most of his time in London, acting and writing.

5. Shakespeare’s Times: Government • Lived during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and then her heir King James I. • Monarchy was very different back then, essentially a dictatorship. • Elizabeth was often considered a man for her vigorous leadership • The daughter of King Henry the eighth, Elizabeth ruled England from 1558-1603 • Her successor was James I (Scotland) • Her mother Ann Boleyn was beheaded • (Henry’s wives! Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.)

6. Shakespeare’s Times: Crime and Punishment • punishment was severe, prisons were rare • mutilation or branding • hand could be cut off for stealing a loaf of bread; hanged the second time • theft of anything over 1 shilling, punishable by death • hanging was a form of entertainment • people were burned, crushed beneath stones (crime against church) • dunking, the stocks • stranded in places like Australia-a penal colony

7. Shakespeare’s Times: Employment • Guilds-butcher, merchant, baker, blacksmith • Family Businesses-passed from generation to generation • Farmers- Barely survived • Royalty and Nobles

8. Shakespeare’s Times: Food • MEAT was predominant in the diet • Fruits and Vegetables were rarely eaten • Nobody drank water-there was no clean water • People drank WINE, STALE ALE and BEER • Thick batters and sauces covered up the “rancidness” of meat • They had no refrigeration, so meat usually went bad.

9. Shakespeare’s Times: Hygiene • most people wore their clothing to bed-it was too easy to catch cold and get sick and die when changing • no one bathes for the same reason • toothbrushes aren't invented for nearly a century • ditches were used as toilets • butchers threw the carcasses of dead animals into the street to rot • even healthy people had BAD BREATH, ROTTING TEETH, STOMACH PAINS, BODY ODOUR, LICE AND SORES ALL OVER

10. Shakespeare’s Times: The Plague • Theaters in London were often closed because of the plague (Black Death) • Were once closed for an entire year because of the plague (January 1593-spring 1594) • “Ring around the Rosey” was a plague song • Line 1-painful, puss-filled sores that erupted all over the body • Line 2: flowers people held to block out the stench of rotting corpses • Line 3: sneezing that occurred; also ashes of burnt bodies • Line 4: Death

11. Shakespeare’s Times: Entertainment • Theater, music, court jesters • Dancing and card games • Brawling and rioting • Witch burnings • Public executions (severed heads were always displayed, usually on LONDON BRIDGE)

12. Shakespeare’s Times: Theatre • the colour of the flag outside the theater indicated the day's feature: • WHITE=COMEDY • BLACK=TRAGEDY; • RED=HISTORY • considered a "spawning place for the devil" by many religions • theaters were also looked down upon by the upper class until the time of Shakespeare • all classes of people could be found enjoying any one performance on any given day

13. Shakespeare’s Times: Actors • Learned their parts in about 1 week- 800 lines a day • Average life of a new play was about 10 performances • All actors were male • Actors were wildly popular to common folks • They were considered rogues and scoundrels by those in power