Shakespeare Life, Times, and Works - PowerPoint Presentation

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Shakespeare

Life, Times, and WorksSlide2

Shakespeare’s LifeApril 23rd, 1564- April 23

rd, 1616Stratford on Avon, EnglandSon of a

glovemaker

(

whittawer)Attended the Stratford grammar school where he received instruction in the classics and Latin.Married Anne Hathaway at age 18. She was 26.Little record exists of his whereabouts after 1585The next 7 years (until 1592 when he surfaced in London), the activities of the young playwright are mysterious and called “The Lost YearsMany theories exist about this phase including that he was banished from the region for poaching and that he was simply travelling Europe gathering material for his plays and poems.Retired to Stratford in 1613 after becoming the most famous playwright and poet in England, owning his own theatre company called The King’s Men and two theatres. Slide3
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Shakespeare’s Theatre and PlaysOwned the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.Became the King’s Men later in his career.

The Globe Theatre was his most famous theatre.Produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.First Folio was published in 1623.

“Titus Andronicus” was his first play to be published.Slide5

Shakespeare’s Theatre and PlaysWrote comedies, histories, romances, and tragedies.

Used no scenery but employed simple props such as furniture and beds.The Globe, the most famous of his two theatres, was an amphitheater so all plays were performed in daylight.

Amphitheater- outside with stadium seating.

Comprised of two levels: The Heavens and the Pit

Groundlings could gain admission to the Pit for a single penny.Much more expensive to attend Black FriarsIn Shakespeare’s day, men filled all roles within the play.Costumes worn by actors were always in modern style, Elizabethans were far more concerned with the magnificence of the costumes.Slide6

Elizabethan England“Elizabethan” refers to the cultural and political atmosphere during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Life (1533 - 1603)Reign (1558 – 1603)Ardently supported the arts and artists in a time of political instability.Pushed for religious solidarity in the form of Protestantism.

Followed the bloody reign of her sister Mary, Queen of Scots.

Faced staunch opposition from Puritan and Roman Catholic factions.

Culture:Great Chain of Being- a theoretical concept that God created everything to have a place and hierarchy.Structured class system with royalty and nobles situated at the top, tradesman in the middle class, and peasants at the bottom.Extremely recognizable fashion.Xenophobia- dislike or fear of foreigners. Slide7

Elizabethan EnglandShakespeare was extremely interested in several themes throughout his writing:The question of whether it is possible to be simply good or evil.

The internal motivations that make people act as they do.The frailty of human life.The ways society and the universe are structured, also known as

hierarchies.

Did Shakespeare invent these ideas?

Absolutely not!He lived during in exciting time: the end of the Renaissance.The world was changing– Magellan circled the globe and the printing press was invented.People had the opportunity to change their social class for one of the first times in history.Slide8
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Shakespeare’s LanguageEmployed figurative language heavily throughout his plays.“Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this

sun of York” – Richard IIIWrote in iambic pentameter.

Stressed, unstressed pair of syllables.

5 iambs per line (10 syllables).

Employed blank verse because it mirrors human speech.Shakespeare loved puns and expresses a firm understanding of the duality of language in his writing. The goal of Shakespeare’s writing is to create catharsis in his audience.An emotional purging brought on by the aesthetic. Slide10

Authorship ControversyOne important thing to keep in mind is the fact that “authorship” was very loosely termed during Shakespeare’s day.

Many of the plots Shakespeare employed had existed for quite sometime before he produced them.Many scholars argue that due to Shakespeare’s class and where he lived, he would not be capable of writing the plays he did.Also argue that he would never had had the political influence necessary to travel within such important circles.

Many argue that he was not the individual and transcendent genius that romance and hindsight has presented us.

Have adopted a much broader, cultural view of authorship.

Forced to be responsive to the history, politics, and literature of the time.In a sense, Queen Elizabeth I can be view as the author because of cultural presence in the plays.However, many theories exist that attribute authorship to other individuals, including Sir Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and statesman.Slide11

Literary and Thematic TermsFoil: A pairing of two characters who contrast one another.Can stem from appearance, behavior, and motivations.

Caution: these are not simply opposites. They must have something in commonSlide12

Literary and Thematic TermsTragic Flaw- A mistake or personality trait that ultimately leads to the protagonist’s downfall.Slide13

Literary and Thematic TermsOxymoron - a pairing of contradictory wordsExample – Student Teacher, Jumbo Shrimp, Dress Pants

Paradox- an apparently true statement that leads to a contradiction or situation that defies belief or logic.Ex. “You

gotta

be cruel to be kind” – Nick Lowe (1979)

“Parting is such sweet sorrow ”Slide14

Literary and Thematic TermsOpen Couplet- two lines of rhymed poetry that are enjambed

– the thought continues from one line to the next.Ex. “Even as new occasion appears? Or shall we tie ourselves for certain years 

To any service, Or to any place? 

For it behooves ere that into the race 

We enter, to resolve first hereupon. Now surely brother (said the Fox anon)” - Sir Edmund Spenser “Mother Hubbard’s Tale”Closed Couplet- two lines of rhymed poetry that contain a complete thought.In Iambic Pentameter- “heroic couplet”Example – “Humpty Dumpty”Pun- employing humor by playing off the multiple meanings of a word.Example- Why did the rapper need an umbrella? Fo ‘drizzle!