Shakespeare and Elizabethan England

1. Shakespeare and Elizabethan England

2. William Shakespeare? • A member of the Cobbes family was stunned to find this portrait in his home might be the only portrait of Shakespeare • MSNBC.com 3/9/09

3. His Early Life • Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon • Died there in 1616 • Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 (she was around 26) • Susanna • Hamnet and Judith • Hamnet died around the age of 11 – unknown causes

4. Career Life and the “Lost Years” • 1583-1592 • It is not known what he did during these years • Traveled, wrote, worked as an actor? • He was in London by 1592 • Already a known actor and playwright • Partially owned the Globe Theatre • Became a very successful playwright in his time

5. Sonnets • Not just a playwright, Shakespeare is famous for his poems • sonetto is Italian for “little song” • 14 line poem that follows a strict rhyme scheme • Shakespearean Sonnet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

6. Early and Late Sonnets • SONNET XVIII • Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A Thou art more lovely and more temperate: BRough winds do shake the darling buds of May, AAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date: BSometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, CAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'd; DAnd every fair from fair sometime declines, CBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; DBut thy eternal summer shall not fade ENor lose possession of that fair thou owest; FNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, EWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest: F    So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G    So long lives this and this gives life to thee. G • SONNET CXXX • My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;Coral is far more red than her lips' red;If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks;And in some perfumes is there more delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go;My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:    And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare    As any she belied with false compare.

7. Shakespeare and Homer • Because little is known about Shakespeare’s life, there is some doubt that he was not the actual writer the works • Homeric Problem • Did Shakespeare write it all, or did someone else? Or was it a group of writers? Hmmmmm…

8. Theatres • Richard and James Burbage • The Theatre and The Curtain • The Globe • Philip Henslowe • The Swan and The Rose • Plague and Politics

9. Theatre Life • Theatres did not stay open long • Theatres were immensely popular • Plays referenced other plays • Important to keep up on the shows • All classes (including women) attended the theatre • Cheap seats cost a penny – “Groundlings”

10. More Theatre Life • Actors were called “players” • Though very famous, the players were considered to be beggars – not a legitimate job • Women could not be players • Young boys played the female parts

11. Elizabethan England • Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1558-1603 (45 years) • Strong patron of the theatre • William Shakespeare was born in 1564 • she ruled during his whole career

12. Elizabethan EnglandFun Facts • People usually bathed once-a-year, in May. • It was believed baths caused illness. • Men first, then women, then the kids – in the same water. • Most weddings were in June, when couple and the guests were still relatively body odor-free. • Not a very clean time… remember this was the time of the PLAGUE

13. Elizabethan Entertainment • Public executions • Bear baiting • Rooster fights • Theatre seemed like a better option…?

14. Romeo and Juliet

15. Facts • Written some time between 1591 and 1595 • He was between 27 and 31 years old • Published in two quartos before being published in the First Folio of 1623 • Q1 – 1597 • Q2 – 1599

16. Background and Inspiration • Romeo and Juliet is an adaptation of an adaptation… of an adaptation.. • Arthur Brooke’s poem • The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet • Ovid’s Metamorphoses • Pyramus and Thisbe • Italian roots • Giulietta e Romeo

17. Structure • Shifts between tragedy and comedy • Hope to despair, reprieve, and new hope • Sub-plots • Keep the story interesting

18. Language • Sonnets • Blank verse • Type of poetry having a regular meter, but no rhyme • Iambic Pentameter • Poetic meter • Rhythm is measured in “feet” • An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da DUM) • Iambic pentameter is 5 of these feet in a row (da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM)

19. More Language • Thou/Thy/Thine/Thee= you/yours • Where art thou? = Where are you? • Love thy neighbor = Love your neighbor • With thine own hand = With your own hand • We thank thee = We thank you • Wherefore = why • I ate the sandwich.I the sandwich ate.Ate the sandwich I.Ate I the sandwich.The sandwich I ate.The sandwich ate I.

20. Tragedy • Literary, especially dramatic, representations of serious actions which eventuate in a disastrous conclusion for the protagonist • Aristotle: Protagonist must be an admirable but flawed character • Tragedies end in death • Comedies end with a marriage • In love tragedies, death is the consummation of the relationship

21. Themes • Love • “…for I never saw true beauty ‘til this night…” • “…parting is such sweet sorrow…” • Fate and Chance • “… a pair of star crossed lovers take their life…” • “… some consequence yet hanging in the stars…” • “…he that hath the steerage of my course / direct my sail…”

22. Literary Terms Romeo and Juliet

23. Soliloquy: a long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage. He/she speaks his/her thoughts aloud. • Aside: a short speech by a character expressing his/her thoughts- heard by the audience, but not by the other characters on stage

24. Monologue: a long speech by a character who is addressing his/her thoughts to a silent audience on stage • Comic Relief: comic scenes that give the audience relief from the tragic plot • Dramatic Irony: a form of irony in which the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not.

25. Pun: a play on words that are identical in sound but have different meanings (“you shall find me a grave man) • Tragedy: a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with favorable circumstances

26. Allusion: a reference, without explicit identification, to a person, place, or event, or to another literary work or passage • Oxymoron: a paradoxical utterance that conjoins two terms that in ordinary usage are contraries (jumbo shrimp) • Metaphor: a word or expression which in literal usage denotes one kind of thing or action is applied to a distinctly different kind of thing or action.

27. Foreshadow: a piece of dialogue or action in a work that refers to events that will happen later in the story • Personification: an inanimate object or an abstract concept is given human attributes or feelings. • Simile: a comparison between two distinctly different things – like, as • Paradox: a statement or situation with seemingly contradictory or incompatible components