William Shakespeare 1564 -1616 Parting is such

William Shakespeare 1564 -1616

Parting is such sweet sorrow nd i th t gh ou r on y rw de igh tl Et a ? h s W ak re bcompare Such stuff Shall I thee to a summer’s as dreams are made of day Frailty thy name is woman tu, Bru All the world’s a stage te? Beware the ides of March To be or not to ow be To thine own self be true

Life of William Shakespeare v Recognized birthday: April 23, 1564. He died the same day 52 years later. v. Born in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon to John and Mary Shakespeare. v. John Shakespeare worked as a glover (as well as many other things) and achieved the position of bailiff which similar to a town mayor.

Life of William Shakespeare v Shakespeare attended grammar school where he studied Latin and classical Roman authors. He did not attend University. v. His school day would have lasted from 6 a. m. to 5 p. m. !!!

Life of William Shakespeare v Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582. He was 18 and she was 26!! v Their children included Susanna, and twins: Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at age 11, some say from the bubonic plaque. Not her

? v Shakespeare the Playwright and The Controversy ? Due to the limited amount of documented info. about his life, some critics have questioned the truth behind Shakespeare. v Anti-Stratfordians – modern scholars who question the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. They argue that he either never existed, or if he did, didn’t write any of the plays we associate him with. In fact, they believe they could have even been written by Queen Elizabeth I!!!

Shakespeare the Playwright v His first plays were written ~1590 (the chronology of his works is arguable). Romeo and Juliet was written around 1595; published in 1597. v Most plays at the time were not published, they were just written for performance. Due to this, most early publications of Shakespeare considered inaccurate –they were sold illegally/ pirated. 18 of these were printed in Shakespeare’s lifetime –all in quarto format. v In fact, it wasn’t until 7 years after his death that two fellow actors published an authentic copy of his collection which included 36 plays in folio format.

Shakespeare the Actor v In 1594 he joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men – an acting company which performed at the famous Globe Theatre v Public officials & the Church banned theatres to outside the city limits due to their sometimes vulgar nature (the Globe is located on the Thames River). Additionally, they worried about the spreading of the Plague in such overcrowded spaces – theatres could hold 2, 000 -3, 000 people! v Theatres were restricted to the same area of town as dog-fighting, bear-baiting, & prostitution! v Plays were censored by the Office of the Revels – making sure scripts didn’t include politically or socially offensive material. v The Globe caught on fire during a performance of Henry VII in 1613, and was rebuilt the following year only to be destroyed by the Puritans in 1644. In the 1990 s the Globe was rebuilt!

Shakespeare & the Renaissance v Renaissance – rebirth; period of English history known for its development of art, lit. , science, & politics. Now often referred to as Early Modern; dates include ~1450 -1750. Modern v Renaissance Influences on “the Bard”: v Cosmology – the nature of the universe was in question. v Humors – belief that all things were composed of 4 elements: earth, air, water, and fire. v In the body they were in the form of: blood (light-heartedness), phlegm (dull and kind), yellow bile (irritability), and black bile (melancholy). The balance of the humors were believed to determine personality types. v The Reformation

Romeo (vs. Romeus) and Juliet v Like most of his works, the storyline of R&J was not his originally. It primarily came from the famous 1562 Arthur Brooke poem, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. v Differences v Dramatically shortened the time frame from 9 months to a rapid 5 days!!! v Decreased Juliet’s age from 16 years to only 13!

Romeo and Juliet: The Structure v Tragedies follow the structure below: v Act I – Exposition v Act II – Rising Action v Act III – Turning Point v Act IV – Falling Action v Act V - Catastrophe v The structure of R&J mimics the motif of dichotomy throughout the play – scenes of tragedy are followed by scenes of comedy.

Dichotomies in R&J v Age vs. Youth t lies v Hate vs. Love ties: tha uali ace l gr ue q r v Death vs. Life erfu eir t pow live d th an v Poetry vs. colloquial/ vulgar, speech s the doth s kle i tone arth c s ive, ee mi vs. Dark ants, v O, Light n th l oth g at o s, p od d b th o r v Use of puns and usevile of oxymoron cial g n he I e ht so g e sp v Dual or nou of good and evil nature som F arth the e v Foil Characters ut to B v Romeo vs. Mercutio v Juliet vs. Nurse

Shakespearean Language v Iambic Pentameter v. Shakespeare wrote in unrhymed iambic pentameter. A pattern of unstressed (da) and stressed (DA) syllables. v. Pay attention to when he switches to prose. Iambic Pentameter is used for characters of high social standing, while prose is the language of the common people.

A Rhythm Exercise!!! v Find the rhythm by tapping out the beats: I would not, could not, in a box. I could not, with a fox. I will not eat them with a mouse. I will not eat them in a house. I will not eat them here or there. I will not eat them anywhere. I do not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

A Rhythm Exercise!!! v Find the rhythm by tapping out the beats: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? . . . See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon her hand!

Shakespearean Language v. Iambic Pentameterv. Iamb = a stress pattern of two beats, unstressed to stressed (da DA) v. Pent = five. Refers to five pairs of iambs. v. Meter = number of syllables in a line of poetry

Shakespearean Language v Other terms you will need to know: v. Puns v. Aside v. Oxymoron v. Soliloquy v. Apostrophe v Addressing someone not present, or a personified object or idea v. Shakespearean Sonnets v 14 lines, ending with a rhyming couplet

For never was there a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo…