2. William Shakespeare
Born 1564, died 1616
Wrote 37 plays
Wrote over 150 sonnets
Actor, poet, playwright
3. Types of Plays
Shakespeare wrote:
Comedies - light and
amusing, usually with a
happy ending
Tragedies –serious dramas
with disastrous endings
Histories
– involve events or
persons from history
4. The Theatre
• The Globe
Theatre:
• Open ceiling
• Three stories high
• No artificial lighting
• Plays were shown
during daylight
hours only
5. Spectators
Wealthy people got
to sit on benches
The poor (called
“groundlings”) had
to stand and watch
from the courtyard
There was much
more audience
participation than
today
6. Actors
Only men and boys
Young boys whose
voices had not
changed played the
women’s roles
It would have been
indecent for a woman
to appear on stage
7. English Language
In Shakespeare’s time English was a more
flexible language than it is today.
Grammar and spelling were not yet
completely formalized, although scholars
were beginning to urge rules to regulate
them.
English had begun to emerge as a
significant literary language, having
recently replaced Latin as the language of
serious intellectual and artistic activity in
England.
8. English Language
Freed of many of the conventions and
rules of modern English, Shakespeare
could shape vocabulary and syntax to the
demands of style. For example, he could
interchange the various parts of speech,
using nouns as adjectives or verbs,
adjectives as adverbs, and pronouns as
nouns.
9. Julius Caesar
Synopsis:
He is the greatest hero the Roman world
has known, but for Julius Caesar the world
is not enough. And with political ambition
come new enemies, enemies who wield
words like knives in the shadows. Soon
friend will become foe and foe his avenger,
and only death shall be the victor.
10. History:
Julius Caesar
aka "The Tragedy of
"Julius Caesar""
Written in 1599
First performance
was probably on June
12th 1599, at the
opening of the Globe
Theatre
First published in
1623