Shakespeare and Elizabethan

England

William Shakespeare?

• A member of the Cobbes family was stunned to find this portrait in his home might be the only portrait of Shakespeare

– MSNBC.com 3/9/09

His Early Life

• Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon– Died there in 1616

• Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 (she was around 26)– Susanna– Hamnet and Judith

• Hamnet died around the age of 11 – unknown causes

Career Life and the “Lost Years”

• 1583-1592– It is not known what he did during these years– Traveled, wrote, worked as an actor?

• He was in London by 1592• Already a known actor and playwright

• Partially owned the Globe Theatre– Became a very successful playwright in his

time

Sonnets

• Not just a playwright, Shakespeare is famous for his poems

• sonetto is Italian for “little song”• 14 line poem that follows a strict

rhyme scheme– Shakespearean Sonnet: ABAB CDCD

EFEF GG

Early and Late Sonnets

• SONNET XVIII• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: BRough winds do shake the darling buds of May, AAnd summer's lease hath all too short a date: BSometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, CAnd often is his gold complexion dimm'd; DAnd every fair from fair sometime declines, CBy chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; DBut thy eternal summer shall not fade ENor lose possession of that fair thou owest; FNor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, EWhen in eternal lines to time thou growest: F    So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G    So long lives this and this gives life to thee. G

• SONNET CXXX• My mistress' eyes are nothing like

the sun;Coral is far more red than her lips' red;If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks;And in some perfumes is there more delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go;My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:    And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare    As any she belied with false compare.

Shakespeare and Homer

• Because little is known about Shakespeare’s life, there is some doubt that he was not the actual writer the works– Homeric Problem

• Did Shakespeare write it all, or did someone else? Or was it a group of writers? Hmmmmm…

Theatres

• Richard and James Burbage – The Theatre and The Curtain

• The Globe

• Philip Henslowe– The Swan and The Rose

• Plague and Politics

Theatre Life

• Theatres did not stay open long

• Theatres were immensely popular

• Plays referenced other plays– Important to keep up on the shows

• All classes (including women) attended the theatre – Cheap seats cost a penny –

“Groundlings”

More Theatre Life• Actors were called “players”

– Though very famous, the players were considered to be beggars – not a legitimate job

• Women could not be players– Young boys played the female

parts

Elizabethan England• Queen Elizabeth I

reigned from 1558-1603 (45 years)– Strong patron of

the theatre– William

Shakespeare was born in 1564 • she ruled during his

whole career

Elizabethan EnglandFun Facts

• People usually bathed once-a-year, in May. – It was believed baths caused illness.– Men first, then women, then the kids – in the

same water. – Most weddings were in June, when couple and

the guests were still relatively body odor-free.

• Not a very clean time… remember this was the time of the PLAGUE

Elizabethan Entertainment

• Public executions

• Bear baiting• Rooster fights

• Theatre seemed like a better option…?