View
292
Download
1
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
1/15
Getting to
Know this GuyA L e a r n e r s G u i d e t o
W i l l i a m S h a k e s p e a r e
S e a s o n
2 0 0 3
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
2/15
T o O r d e r C a l l : 1 8 0 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 0
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
3/15
ontents
Page 2
Pg.3 Letter to the Reader
Pgs. 4 Introduction
Pg.5Who Are Ya?: Early Life of William Shakespeare and the Rise to
his Career in Theatre.
Pg.6-8The Ins and the Outs of Shakespearean Theatre
Pg.9 Say What? Words to Know Wile Reading Shakespeare
Words that Shakespeare made up
Sonnets: Iambic Pentameter and sonnet form
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
4/15
Dear Reader,
I hope that this book is helpful along the road to under-
standing William Shakespeares work. Shakespeare is more
than just some old stiff that wrote a bunch of stuff that your
teachers make you read. Think about it without him you
wouldnt be able to say things like as dead as a door nail,Eaten me out of house and home, and elbow room.
William Shakespeares work has carried on throughout
the centuries, and is still being read to this day. However his
work isnt always so easy to read. The contents of this guideshould help with being able to understand Shakespeares plays.
Happy Reading!
Sincerely,
Anonymous
PS: He is really funny when you look close enough
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
5/15
Hello, Im William Shakespeare. You
may have seen me before...
I Sometimes
look like
this...
Or like
this.
And
like
this...
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
6/15
Page 5
William Shakespeare was born
on April 23rd, 1564 in Stratford-on-
Avon. It is not known exactly when
he was born, so his birth date was
based off of church records which sayhe was baptized on
the 26th of April,
1564.
There is not
much known about
Shakespeares teen
years. He left school
when he was fourteen
because his Father got into some
trouble with politics, and lost his
position in society. At the age of 18
he got married to Anne Hathaway,
who was 26 years
old at the time
and pregnant with
their first child.
Shakespeare was
rather young when
he got married where as Anne was ofthe normal marrying age at the time.
William and Anne had three
children; Susanna, Judith, and
Hamnet. Susanna was the eldest, and
the two younger children were twins.
Hamnet died at the age of eleven.
Both daughters lived into old age.
There is a large gap in
Shakespeares life between the birth
of Susanna and becoming a
playwright where nothing is known
about what he did during that time.
There are possibilities of him being
part of a group of traveling players/
actors, being a school teacher, being a
soldier,
and
steeling
deer.
Shakespeare is first referenced
as a playwright around 1592 when a
fellow dramatist wrote a negative
review of one of his plays, most likelyHenry IV. He later became an actor
and playwright for Lord
Chamberlains menan acting
company. The company grew over
time and became widely known,
probably thanks to Shakespeare,
being one of the leading playwrights
in the company. Shakespeare acted
in a few small parts over his career in
the theatre. He stayed with the actingcompany until his retirement. In
1599 he obtained partial ownership
of the Globe Theatre-which hosted
the performances of many of
Shakespeares plays.
By the end of Shakespeares
career he had written 154 sonnets
and 38 plays that are still performed
to this day, almost 400 years later.William Shakespeare died on April
23rd, 1616 at the age of 52.
Fun Fact:
Babies were
baptized within
3-4 days of
their birth
Fun Fact: One third
of women who got
married were preg-
Who Are Ya?
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
7/15
Page 6
S h a k e s p e a r e s P l a y s
1588-94 The Comedy of Errors
1588-94 Loves Labors Lost
1589-91 Henry IV part 21590-91 Henry IV part 3
1589-92 Henry IV part 1
1592-93 Richard III
1589-94 Titus Andronicus
1593-94 The Taming of the Shrew
1592-94 The Two Gentlemen of Verona
1594-96 Romeo and Juliet
1595 Richard II
1595-96 A Midsummer Nights Dream
1596-97 King John
1594-96 The Merchant of Venice
1596-97 Henry IV part I
1597 The Merry Wives of Windsor
1597-98 Henry IV part 2
1598-99 Much Ado About Nothing
1598-99 Henry V
1599 Julius Cesar
1599-1600 As You Like It
1599-1600 Twelfth Night1600-1601 Hamlet
1601-1602 Troilus and Cressida
1602-1604 Alls Well that Ends Well
1603-1604 Othello
1604 Measure for Measure
1605-1606 King Lear
1605-1606 Macbeth
1606-1607 Antony and Cleopatra
1605-1608 Timon of Athens
1607-1608 Coriolanus
1607-1608 Pericles
1609-1610 Cymbeline
1610-1611 The Winters Tale
1611 The Tempest
1612 Henry VIII
1613 The Two Noble Kinsmen
Fun Fact:
The Merry Wives of Windsor was written
at the request of Queen Elizabeth I because
she wanted to see the character Falstafffrom
Henry IV part I, appear in another one of
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
8/15
Page 7
C o m e d i e s
Shakespeare wrote three types of
plays; Comedy, Tragedy, and History.
Shakespearean comedies will
generally have a descent amount of
word play. In other words there will be
a lot of insulting going on between the
characters in the form of metaphors.
Beyond the element of word play is
love. One of the reoccurring themes in
Shakespeares comedies is romance be-
tween characters, and their struggle toovercome obstacles in order to main-
tain their love for one another. A dis-
tinct characteristic of a comedy is that
the play with generally end with a wed-
ding.
One of the obstacles that rela-
tionships in these plays will have is the
case of mistaken identity. Characters
will either elect to change their identi-
ty, or be mistaken as someone else.
Some characters chose to disguise
themselves throughout the play. Fe-
male characters, in the comedies,
have also been known for dressing up
as men...a bit of gender identity mix-
ups.
Plots will sometimes seem a bit
complicated. Shakespearean come-
dies are sometimes like a traffic inter-
section. There are multiple characters
with individual story lines that willintersect with one another in the
length of the play. There are also a
great deal of twists and turns that
keep the audiences attention. Its
sometimes hard to predict what will
happen next. However, there is al-
ways one thing you canexpect...a
happy ending.
The Ins and the Outs of Shakespeares
Plays
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
9/15
Page 8
PaintingbyEdwinHenryLandseer(184
8-1851)ScenefromAMids
ummerNight'sDream.T
itaniaand
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
10/15
Histories
History plays were named af-
ter the monarch in which the play
takes place, so the play doesnt al-
ways necessarily revolve around the
monarch. For example: Henry IVis
not actually about Henry IV.
History plays are generally set
during different points in Medieval
English History. Some of the char-
acters will sometimes be important
members of English history like
King John, Richard II, Richard III,
etc. Because the plays take placeduring different points in English
history doesnt mean that the events
that occur in the play are historically
accurate. Shakespeare didnt write
for historical accuracy, but rather for
the entertainment of the audience.
He was more concerned with the
opinions of the people watching his
plays. He would write certain events
into the play, not necessarily being
historically correct, in order to suit
the opinions and the views of the
time period.
History plays would some-
times be used to reflect political
opinions during that time. Shake-
speare wrote during the reign of
Elizabeth I, who would sometimes
attend his plays, so propaganda
would occasionally make its way into
the performances. Some plays
would show the negative appearanc-
es of civil war, and praise the found-
ing members of the Tudor Family
Elizabeth Is family.
All sorts of members of soci-ety would appear in histories.
Shakespeare would include beggars
all the way up to royalty. He would
also incorporate a balance of trage-
dy and comedy along with his wide
arrange of characters. Characters
from different sections of society
would interact with one another in
scenes through out the play.
The Ins and the Outs of Shakespeares
Plays
Page 9
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
11/15
PaintingbyJohnCawse(1779-186
2)Falstaffandtherecruits,from"HenryIV,PartII"
Page 10
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
12/15
Tragedies
Shakespeares tragedies tend to
have more dramatic plots than the
rest of his other plays. Most if not
all the main characters meet a tragic
end by the closing of the play. The
social structure slowly breaks downthrough out the duration of the
play.
The play is filled with all sorts
of conflict and drama. The catas-
trophes follow each other one after
the other as the play goes on, and it
sometimes looks as if all theseproblems in the plot are unavoida-
ble.
The plot tends revolve around
one particular character, the tragic-
hero. Each tragic-hero has a flaw
that will lead to their downfall by
the end of the play. Tragic-heroeswill tend to be a bit self-absorbed,
and irresponsible. In turn they have
no real grasp as to what is going on
around them, thus setting up their
downfall.
Some aspects that can play a
role in a characters flaws are fate,
omens and/ or evil spirits, and other
characters. Most of these tragic-
heroes are members of the upper
class whether it be nobleman or roy-
alty. These characters, because they
are so high up in society, will have a
larger downfall because they have
such a long way to fall in the eyes of
the people that they rule.
By the end of the play a large
number of the cast is dead as a re-
sult of the catastrophes and/ or themistakes of the tragic-hero. The
tragic-hero will often reflect after
their fall, and realize their wrong do-
ings, and sometimes die as a result
of their previous actions.
The Ins and the Outs of Shakespeares
Plays
Page 11
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
13/15
Painting by John William Waterhouse (1894) Ophelia
Page 12
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
14/15
a= He
Abuse= deceive
Accident=occurrence
Advertise= inform
An, and= if
Annoy= harm
Appeal= accuse
Artificial= skillful
Brave= fine, splendid
Censure= opinion
Cheer= face, or frame of mind
Chorus= a single person who
comments on the events
Competitor= partner
Conceit= idea, imagination
Cunning= skillful
Disaster= evil astrological in-
fluence
Doom= judgment
Entertain= receive into service
Event= outcome
Excrement= outgrowth of hair
Fact= evil deed
Free= innocent
Imp= child
Intelligence= news
Natural= fool, an idiot
Naughty= wicked, worthless
Silly= innocent
Shrewd= sharp
Vagabond= drifting, meander-
ing, wandering
Will= lust
Wink= close both eyes
Wit= mind, intelligence
Sa y Wh a t ?
Wo r d s t o K n o w W h i l e R e a d i n g S h a ke s p e a r e
Did you know that Capons
is another way to say
chickens!!!!!
Page 13
8/10/2019 shakespeare book.pdf
15/15
Painting by John William Waterhouse (1894) Ophelia
Recommended