William Shakespeare April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616 (52 years)

William Shakespeare

April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616

(52 years)

• 50,000 to 60,000Number of words in Old English.

• 986,120Number of words in modern English, as of 2005.

• 20,000 to 24,000Number of words found in the complete works of Shakespeare.

• 1,700Number of words Shakespeare invented.

• 75,000Number of words an educated adult understands, buts doesn’t actively use.

England

Stratford-upon-Avon

Warwickshire, England

Shakespeare’s Home

The House

• Bought in 1568• John Shakespeare was a glovemaker and wool

dealer. The house contained workshops for both trades.

• Joan Shakespeare (William’s sister) lived in the house until 1646.

• Joan’s descendants owned the house until 1806, when it was finally bought by a butcher.

• In 1847 the house was sold at an auction and passed to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to be preserved.

Childhood1564-1580

• Finished school at age 14

• Butcher?

• Glove maker?

• Teacher?

Marriage1582

• William Shakespeare & Anne Hathaway

• Susanna -1583-1649

• Twins – Hamnet 1585-1596 & Judith -1585-1662

• Hamnet died at age 11

London1585-1611

40 Existing Plays

Tragedy Comedy History

Romeo & Juliet Twelfth Night Ricard III

Othelllo Tempest King John

Hamlet As You Like it Henry VIII

Uncertainty?

While some of Shakespeare’s works can be dated accurately, many others are uncertain.

One or two plays attributed to Shakespeare have not survived, including Loves Labour’s Won and Cardenio.

Late 1580s – Two Gentleman of Verona

Early 1590s – The Taming of the Shrew

Henry VI, part 2

Henry VI, part 3

Titus Andronicus

Henry VI, part 1

Richard III

Venus and Adonis

Mid 1590s – The Rape of Lucrece

The Comedy of Errors

Love’s Labour’s Lost

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Romeo and Juliet

Richard II

King John

Late 1590s - The Mercahnt of Venice

Henry IV, part 1

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Henry IV, part2

Much Ado About Nothing

Henry V

Julius Caesar

As You Like It

Early 1600s – Hamlet

Twelfth Night

Troilus and Cressida

Measure for Measure

Othello

All’s Well that End’s Well

Timon of Athens

King Lear

Macbeth

Antony and Cleopatra

Pericles

Coriolanus

After 1610 – The Winter’s Tale

Cymbeline

The Tempest

Henry VII (or All is True)

Two Noble Kinsmen

The Existing Plays (40)

Entertainment for the Queen

The reign of Elizabeth (1558 - 1603)

The Plague

Caused the deaths of 30% of the population of England and Wales.

London theatres were closed.

Shakespeare wrote a lot of poetry while theatres were closed

The Old Globe 1599-1642

• Held 2,000 – 3,000 spectators

• All actors were men

• Chamberlain’s men

• Burnt down in 1613.Rebuilt 1614.Torn down 1642.

The New Globe

• Construction began in 1987

• Finished 1996

• Ist play – Two Gentlemen of Verona

How many plays did Shakespeare write?

42

Can you name some of Shakespeare’s plays?

Romeo & JulietOthello

Julius CaesarHamlet

King LearMacbeth

The Merchant of Venice

Roman Numerals

I = 1 C = 100

V = 5 D = 500

X = 10 M = 1000

L = 50------------------------------------------------------------------------------

II = 2 VI = 6 XII = 12 XL = 40III = 3 VII = 7 IXX = 19 LV = 55IV = 4 IX = 9 XXX = 30 CC= 200