william shakespeare an overview of his life and writings
TRANSCRIPT
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William ShakespeareAn Overview Of His Life And
Writings
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Objectives Of This Presentation:
• Review relevant information about Shakespeare and Elizabethan England.
• Discuss information that will assist in gaining a better understanding of Shakespeare’s writings.
• Explore various controversies surrounding the playwrite.
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The Politics of Elizabethan England
• During most of Shakespeare’s life, England was ruled by Queen Elizabeth.
• Her father was King Henry the VIII.
• He was married six times but never had a male heir to the throne.
• He also created the Church of England.
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The Feuding Daughters
• Because of Henry VIII’s many marriages and no male heir, there become a lot of conflict over who should rule England after his death.
• Mary Queen of Scots was the first to rule after his death.
• A Catholic, She was known as Bloody Mary because of her violent persecution of Protestents.
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• Later, her half sister, Elizabeth, would take the throne.
• She was imprisoned during Mary’s bloody reign.
• She was Church of England and made it the national religion and outlawed Catholosism
• Ironically, in a time when women were not supposed to work, she become one of the greatest and most successful rulers in British History.
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The Facts about Shakespeare
The date of his death
The date of his and his children’s baptism
The date of his wedding
Accounts from contemporaries of Shakespeare
o The Exact date of his birth
o Any personal writings
o Any information about his early career
o Diary, journal, interview, etc..
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Shakespeare’s Early Life
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Shakespeare’s Birth
Although children were not born in hospitals at the time, and therefore we do not have birth certificates, we do know that he was baptized at Stratford-Upon-Avon’s Holy Trinity Church on April 26th 1564.
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• Since many people of the time believed that an un-baptized infant would not go to heaven and because of the high mortality rate for babies, they were usually baptized about three days after there birth.
• Therefore, we can estimate his birth to be around the 23rd of April, which is known as St. George’s Day.
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Stratford-Upon-Avon
• Shakespeare grew up in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon (Avon is the name of the river that runs through town) it is located in southern England.
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Parents• Shakespeare’s Mother
was named Mary Arden Shakespeare.
• She had 8 children total.
• William Shakespeare was the third oldest and the oldest son to survive.
• Shakespeare’s father was named John Shakespeare.
• He was a successful glove maker and alderman (a government official)
• He was reported to have missed church on several occasions.
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Shakespeare’s Education
• Shakespeare never attended a university.
• It is believed he attended grade school at the King’s New School in Stratford
• He would have been taught Latin, Grammar, and the Classics.
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Shakespeare’s Marriage
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Anne Hathaway• We know from church
records that he married a woman named Anne Hathaway on November 27th 1582
• She was the daughter of a wealthy landowner from a neighboring town.
• William was 18 years old and Anne was 26.
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• During that time, a man had to get permission to marry a woman from the woman’s family.
• So why would Anne’s family give permission to a person from a poorer family to marry their daughter even though there was an 8 year difference in their age?
• The most likely answer to this question can be found in another church record.
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Susanna Shakespeare
• Church records show a baptism given to William and Anne Shakespeare’s first daughter, Susanna, on February 2nd, 1585.
• That would have been just six months after their marriage!
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The Twins
• About two years later, the Shakespeares baptized twins, Judith and Hamnet.
• The Shakespeares had no more children after that.
• Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11.
• His name would be the inspiration for the character of Hamlet.
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“The Lost Years”
• The years 1585 to 1592 are often referred to as “the lost years’ because there is almost no record of Shakespeare’s life during this time.
• The next pieces of information would appear in London after he was already a successful actor and playwrite.
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What was he doing during “The Lost Years”?
• There are several theories about what happened during those years.
• Some stories claim that he fled to London to avoid being arrested for dear poaching, others claim that he was a school master, and others say that he may have worked as a horse handler for a theater.
• The important thing is that he started his career as an actor, and not a writer.
• While most well known playwrites of the day had college educations but no acting experience, Shakespeare had an intimate knowledge of acting before he began writing plays.
• Most likely, his writing career began by “touching up” other writers plays.
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London in the 16th century
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• In Shakespeare’s day, the British empire was the most powerful in the world.
• England controlled land throughout the world and had a thriving economy.
• The center of it all was England’s capital, London.
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London
• During the time Shakespeare lived in London, it was a filthy, crowded, and violent city.
• Beheadings were common and popular attractions.
• Several times, the city would be ravaged by the plague.
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The London Bridge and the Thames River
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Entertainment in London
• Besides beheadings, there were many forms of entertainment found south of the River Thames, outside of the actual city.
• There were playhouses, brothels, and bearbaiting arenas.
• Bearbaiting involved tying up a bear, sicking dogs on it, and then betting on which would win.
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Elizabethan Theaters• Most of the playhouses were
located on the south bank of the Thames.
• Because actors were thought of as low class drunkards, fighters, and womanizers, women were not allowed to act.
• The Female roles were played by young males whose voices had not changed yet.
• Shakespeare would perform many of his plays at the Queen’s palace.
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The Globe
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The History of the Globe
• Shakespeare and his acting troupe, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, would build The Globe theater in 1599.
• Many of his greatest plays would be performed here.
• It was built from an earlier theater known simply as “The Theatre”.
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The Interior
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The Fire• The Globe Theater burned
down in 1613.• It was during a production
of Henry the Eighth.• No one was hurt, except
for a man whose pants caught of fire. He was put out with a bottle of ale.
• It was rebuilt shortly afterwards, the only major change to the design was a tile roof instead of thatch.
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His Writings
• None of his plays were published until after his death.
• He wrote three different types of plays.
• Comedies, Tragedies, and Histories.
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His Sonnets
• He also wrote a series of 154 sonnets.
• They were published without his permission in 1609
• Most deal with a love triangle between the poet, his younger friend, and “the dark lady”.
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His Death• After a long and successful
life, Shakespeare died on April 23rd, 1616.
• This is either on or near his 52nd Birthday.
• He was buried in the same church he was baptized in, Stratford-upon-Avon’s Holy Trinity Church.
• In his will, the only thing he left to his wife was “The second best bed”.
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On his tomb is the following inscription:
Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.
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Controversies about Shakespeare
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Christopher Marlowe• Christopher Marlowe was
a contemporary of Shakespeare.
• He wrote many famous plays, including Dr. Faust
• Was an open homosexual, spy for the queen, and self-proclaimed atheist.
• Died at the age of 29 in a bar fight.
• He was stabbed in the eye with his own knife.
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The Evidence
• We do not have any hand written copies.
• The plays show an extensive knowledge of courtly life, history, and a staggering vocabulary.
• William Shakespeare never received a higher education.
• Shakespeare was schooled in history and classics.
• A contemporary of his, Robert Greene, wrote that Shakespeare was “an upstart Crowe beautified with our feathers”.
• Many of the plays show a knowledge of country life and glovemaking.
• His experience as an actor could explain why his plays were superrior to contemporaries.
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What was Shakespeare’s religion?
• Although people were not allowed to practice Catholicism in Elizabethan England, there is some evidence that he may have secretly been Catholic.
• It would explain why John Shakespeare was recorded to skip church and why his daughter skipped Easter mass.
• There is a document believed to be a testimony by John Shakespeare.
• Many of his plays poke fun at important historical figures in the Protestant faith.
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What was Shakespeare’s sexual orientation?
• Some have speculated that Shakespeare was a homosexual.
• This is mostly due to fact that some of his poems were written to a man.
• Shakespeare was married and had 3 children.
• His sonnets never say that the poet had a physical relationship with a man.
• They do say that he was having an affair with a married woman.
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Questions and Answers