Original and borrowed slides.

2.  Known as the English Renaissance
(rebirth)
 England was ruled by Queen Elizabeth I,
daughter of King Henry VIII, from 1533-
1603.
 The Queen had a love for theater and the
arts, so during this period, the arts (poetry,
plays, painting, etc.) flourished.
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3. Clothing/Fashion
 Certain fabrics, textures, and colors of clothing
indicated which social class a person was a part
of.
 If a person dressed out of his/her social class,
they would be punished because it was against
the law.
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4. Marriages
 A woman didn’t choose
husband.
 Marriages were usually
arranged by the families of
the bride and the groom in
order for both sides to
benefit from one another.
 Once married, women had
practically no rights; they
could not work outside the
home.
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5. Health
 Many members of a
family, often 4-8 people,
would live in the same
room.
 There was no sanitation,
no indoor plumbing, no
concept of germs or
sterilization.
 The streets were filled
with waste, both human
and animal.
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6.  It is said that Shakespeare
was born at Stratford-upon-
Avon on April 23, 1564.
 He had three brothers and
four sisters and was the
oldest child of the family.
 He married Anne Hathaway
in 1582: he was 18 and she
was 26. They had 3 kids by
the time he was 21, including
twins (Hamnet and Judith)
 He wrote his first play
around 1591, fifteen years
after the opening of the first
theatre in London (The Red
Lion).
 Shakespeare owned two
theaters and wrote at least 38
plays. He was an actor before
he was a writer.

8. • 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 (a cannon shot during
Henry VIII)

9. London & the Theater
in Shakespeare’s Day
 The theater was the most widely available entertainment to
which people of every class had access.
 Professional theater life was considered a fringe culture,
existing on the margins of society. Actors were like rock stars.
 Actors were considered homeless vagabonds and, as such, were
subject to arrest (like rock stars).
 Plays were often acted out in any space available; thus the
income for actors and playwrights was undependable and
rarely enough to live on.
 Wealthy aristocrats, who enjoyed drama, would support acting
companies with their own money—actors under the care of
these “Lords” could not be arrested for their vagrant lifestyle.

10. Bankside
The Entertainment District:
 Bankside London, on the Thames River, was a
notorious area of the city.
 The Globe Theatre was situated in this area where
people went out to drink and gamble, and where
prostitution flourished.
 The theatre was not a symbol of high culture in those
days, it was bawdy and violent entertainment,
considered by many to be full of dangerous ideas and
suggestive sexual themes.

11.  There were only two
doors, and the Globe held
up to 3,000 people.
 People from all classes
visited the theatre on a
regular basis.
 Cheapest seats cost one
penny; “groundlings”
stood in the yard.
 For an extra penny, you
got a “cushion seat” in the
gallery.
 For extra money, the view
was obstructed; however,
in those days people didn’t
go to see a play, they went
to hear a play.

12. The Globe Theatre
A Reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Theater
Built in 1996

13.  Both the stage and the
heavens (the area above the
stage) held trap doors.
 Sheep and cow blood was
used for fight scenes. A
small bag could be filled
and popped at the right
moment for the right
effect.
 Gunpowder was used for
musket fire and special
controlled explosions.

14.  Only men and boys
 Young boys whose voices had
not changed play women’s roles
 Would have been considered
indecent for a woman to appear
on stage

15.  38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare
 14 comedies
 10 histories
 10 tragedies
 4 romances
 Possibly wrote three others
 Collaborated on several others

16.  Tragedies: The fall of a great man. Not by fatal
“tragic” flaw, but through choice of action that puts
him out of his comfort zone (Hamlet, King Lear,
Macbeth).
 Comedies: Not simply comical, in the modern sense,
but often tensions between traditional roles—male
vs. female, poor vs. rich, old vs. young—often ending
in marriage, the revision or restoration of tradition
(Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, As You Like It).
 Histories: Based on the lives of English Kings (Henry
IV, Henry V, Richard III).

17.  The puritans, and city authorities, did not like play
going.
 Only the support of the King or Queen kept the
theatre open.
 The theatre represented freedom of thought, freedom
of expression, and openly played with gender roles and
human sexuality.

18. • 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!
(Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-
Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how
noble princes showed great courage!)

19. • 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)

20. • Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern
English.”
• EME was not very different from
“Modern English,”

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

22.  Although Juliet is a fictional
character, this actual building in
Verona (built around the 13th
century) is said to have been
the home to a prominent family
in Italy back then. The Capuleti
was a family that actually
existed, and some believe that
Shakespeare based his fictional
family, the Capulets, on them.
 Pictured here is Juliet’s
balcony. Some couples even
get married there today.
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23.  Written around 1595
 Involves two major
families who hate each
other
 Entire play takes place
over 5 days
 Fate of Romeo and
Juliet is given at the
beginning of play
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24. The Montagues The Capulets
 Romeo - first loves Rosaline;  Juliet – daughter of Capulet;
sees Juliet and forgets happy, innocent girl who loves
Rosaline. Romeo
 Lord Montague - Romeo’s  Lord and Lady Capulet - Juliet’s
father parents
 Lady Montague - Romeo’s  Tybalt - Juliet’s cousin; likes to
mother fight
 Benvolio - nephew of Montague  Nurse - Juliet’s nanny and
and friend of Romeo friend
 Balthasar - servant of Romeo  Peter - servant to the Nurse
 Abram - servant of Montague;  Sampson and Gregory –
enjoys fighting with Capulets servants
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25. •Prince Escalus - ruler of Verona; tired of the
fighting in the city and threatens anyone who
disturbs the peace with death
•Mercutio - relative of the prince and friend of
Romeo (sides with Montague); serves as comic
relief
•Friar Laurence - a Franciscan priest; helps
Romeo and Juliet; good man
•Friar John - another Franciscan priest
•Count Paris - a young nobleman and relative of
the prince (sides with Capulet); Juliet’s parents
arrange for her to marry him

27. “All the world 's a stage,
And all the men and women
merely players.”
So…..
Let’s dramatize
Shakespeare!!!