Intro to Hamlet Prepared by M Teref

Intro to Hamlet Prepared by M. Teref

William Shakespeare n What do you know about him?

Shakespeare - bio: 1564 -1616 n Why the postcard? ? ? n Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, April c. 23 n His father: an alderman, butcher? n Never went to college : / n Married Anne Hathaway

Bio-cont. n Had 3 children, all died w/o offspring n Joined the most successful company of actors in London: The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, became a shareholder in the co and its main playwright, made enough $$$ to buy property in Stratford n Left a will mentioning his wife in a half sentence (? ? ? )

Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare's birthplace is owned and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who acquired it in 1847 with help from the public. Records show that John and Mary Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's parents, lived there from 1552. It is thought that William spent his formative years in this house, which was subjected to a very thorough restoration project by the Trust. Beams made of wood gathered from nearby Arden Forest and fireplaces built with local Wilmcote stone have survived for more than five hundred years. The house is entered through a Visitor's Centre which contains an absorbing exhibition about Shakespeare's life. http: //www. thecotswoldsguide. com/Stratford-upon-Avon/

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage This was the early home of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, who came from a family of prosperous farmers. The 'cottage' is actually a twelve-roomed Elizabethan farmhouse, built on a slope. Parts of the house pre-date the fifteenth century and demonstrate the earliest English house-building techniques. Little has changed on the outside since Anne Hathaway lived there and the low thatched roof, half-timbered walls and latticed windows are an enticing sight for anybody wishing to gain an insight into Shakespeare's world

Shakespeare: work n Wrote 37 plays n Mostly heavily inspired by Greek and Roman writers (he had to write fast! - writing was his bread and butter) n Romantic comedies: Twelfth Night, As You Like It n Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Died on April 23, 1616 (the day he was born? ? ? ) His friends and fellowactors collected and published an edition of 36 plays in one large volume - the famous First Folio (1623) (btw, depending on which edition you have, your versions of Hamlet may be different)

The Globe

History of Elizabethan London Theaters - including the Globe Theatre The first proper theater as we know it was called the Theatre, built in London in 1576. Before this time plays were performed in the courtyard of inns or inn-yards, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen The most famous Elizabethan playhouse ( theater ) was the Globe Theatre (1599) built by the company in which Shakespeare had a stake - now often referred to as the Shakespearean Globe. The Globe Theater - the Plays were big!! There was money to be made!! (NO COMPUTERS, TV. . . )There was a constant demand for new material!! Rivalry between the Theaters Playhouses was enormous!! As soon as a play had been written, it was immediately produced - printing followed productions! Rival theater companies would produce unauthorized copies of plays - notes were made and copied as quickly as possible (no COPYRIGHT, NO MLA, folks!). In Shakespeare’s time copyright did not exist. Alternative versions of Shakespearean plays were produced! These unauthorized and inferior text copies of Shakespeare's plays are called Quarto Texts. The Globe Theater - the Event Days out at the Globe Theater would have been an exciting event. The grounds surrounding the Globe Theater would have been bustling with people. There would be stalls selling merchandise and refreshments creating a market day atmosphere. The Globe would have particularly attracted young people and the were many complaints of apprentices avoiding work in order to go to theater. A trumpet was sounded to announce to people that the play was about to begin at the Globe Theater in order for people to take their final places.

Elizabethan Advertising! Towering above the Globe was a small tower with a flag pole. Flags were used as a form of Elizabethan Advertising! Flags were erected on the day of the performance which sometimes displayed a picture advertising the next play to be performed. Color coding was also used - a black flag meant a tragedy , white a comedy and red a history. The Globe Theater - the Productions The purpose built Globe theatre allowed stage productions to become quite sophisticated with the use of massive props such as fully working canons. Special effects at the Globe were also a spectacular addition at theater allowing for smoke effects, the firing of a real canon, fireworks (for dramatic battle scenes) and spectacular 'flying' entrances from the rigging in the 'heavens'. The stage floor had trap-doors allowing for additional surprising incidents. Music was another addition to the Globe productions. It was no wonder that the Globe Theater and this form of Elizabethan entertainment was so popular. The sight of Shakespearean actors apparently flying must have been quite amazing to the discerning Elizabethan Theater audiences. But when there were no props. . . “enter the corpse of Richard III” or the repetition of what the sky was like, elaborate descriptions of a setting b/c there was no backdrop.

The Globe Theater - the Actors The Globe Theater audience never had time to get bored. In just two weeks Elizabethan theaters could often present “eleven performances of ten different plays”. The Shakespearean Actors generally only got their lines as the play was in progress. Parts were often allocated on the day of the performance. Many times the actors didn't even get their own lines. They did "cue acting ", which meant that there was a person backstage who whispered the lines to the actor just before he was going to say them. This technique allowed for zero rehearsal time. There were no actresses. Female characters had to be played by young boys. The acting profession was not a credible one and it was unthinkable that any woman would appear in a play. The Globe Theater audiences The Elizabethan general public (the Commoners) referred to as “groundlings” would pay 1 penny to stand in the 'Pit' of the Globe Theater. The gentry would pay to sit in the galleries often using cushions for comfort! Rich nobles could watch the play from a chair set on the side of the Globe stage itself. Theatre performances were held in the afternoon, because, of course, there was no artificial lighting. Men and women attended plays, but often the prosperous women would wear a mask to disguise their identity. The audiences only dropped during outbreaks of the bubonic plague, which was unfortunately an all too common occurrence during the Elizabethan era. This happened in 1593, 1603 and 1608 when all theaters were closed due to the Bubonic Plague (The Black Death). The Shakespearean actors were therefore temporary out of work and left London to stay in other parts of England. William Shakespeare no doubt used these periods of closure to write more plays and go home to Stratford.

Tragedy: vocab 1. Tragedy - by definition - protagonists die, a bloodbath at the end --> much needed CATHARSIS (spiritual cleansing, purification): “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. ” 2. Catharsis or a cathartic effect in a tragedy is accomplished through a “bloodbath. ” 3. hamartia(Gr. ) - a tragic flaw, leads to the fall of a noble man 4. hubris (Gr. )- arrogance, excessive self-pride and self-confidence, the emotions in Greek tragic heroes that led them to ignore warnings from the gods and thus invite catastrophe; considered a form of hamartia stemming from overbearing pride and lack of piety.

More Vocab n anti-hero -protagonist w/many qualities, but has a hamartia: inept, silly, indecisive; or an antagonist who elicits sympathy or admiration e. g. Hamlet, Lucifer/Satan as portrayed in Paradise Lost by John Milton n blank verse - unrhymed iambic pentameter; e. g. Shakespeare distinguishes between the noblemen and lower classes: the nobility speak in blank verse (poetry) and the peasantry speak in prose n monologue vs. soliloquy (speaking at length addressing an audience vs. character sharing his/her innermost thoughts with the readers/audience but the other characters can’t hear them e. g. “To be or not to be” is a soliloquy; n an aside = A piece of dialogue intended for the audience and supposedly not heard by the other actors on stage.

More vocab: -cide 1. Fratricide 1. 2. 5. germicide n 4. suicide 4. 3. genocide 3. 2. regicide You get the picture? sororicide patricide matricide infanticide 6. homicide 7. deicide

Hamlet: Setting: Denmark People: Danes, Danish Norway(Norwegians) BUT: Shakespeare never visited these countries n What’s that about?

Setting: Elsinore Castle

Norwegian fjord=(long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity)

Scandinavian Architecture

Tragedy Hamlet, the play has comic relief (calm before the storm! - device) Religious play (pious) Hamlet is an angry teenager wearing black (not b/c he’s emo or goth. . . ); “my inky cloak” He’s the Prince of Denmark

Hamlet -He has a girlfriend - Ophelia -Angry at his mom - Gertrude -has a step-dad - Claudius -his dad is a ghost, spirit, apparition -His BFF is Horatio -has a few foils

has = hath lest =in order not to, so as not to ye =you plural, formal address Royal “we” = kings and queens don’t say “I” but “we” ; not “my” but “our” ‘tis=it is double comparative and double superlative: “the most unkindest cut of all” aught=anything naught=nothing ay=yes

Shakespearean English Early Modern English (NOT Old English: -‘a= he -an=if, an(apple) -thou = you -thee= (for, about. . ) you -thy = your

More Vocab anon=soon Marry, sir, how about… - well fain=likely “I’d fain prove so” morn=morning, dawn meet=appropriate “I think meet to talk about it want=need, lack, be without wont = used to, be in the habit of e. g. she’s wont to wake early

“behind the arras”

http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=QH 5_E 0 Mn. Lj 4 n nn gg g Gertrude, Hamlet’s mom Hamlet Ophelia, girlfriend

The Danish and Norwegian Courts handout