Born 1564—died 1616Exact birthdate unknownBaptism dates, not birthdate, recorded

Stratford-upon-AvonParents: John and Mary Arden

Shakespeare• Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner• John—glovemaker, local politician

From: http://www.where-can-i-find.com/tourist-maps.html

As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the Boy (1896).

From Stratford’s web site: http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/index.htm

From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/

• Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford• Few records of things like school

attendance• Father had position in society

• Young boys in middle and upper classes might go to grammar school, through their parents’ guilds or a local parish church. Instruction was largely through rote memorization, and discipline was notoriously strict. Schoolmasters were permitted to beat unruly students.

• Girls were not formally educated, but girls from wealthy families were usually taught to read and write

• Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter• Anne was 26, William was 18• More controversial that William was 18 than

that Anne was pregnant• People wed in mid to late 20s

• Had twins in 1585• Sometime between 1585-1592, he moved

to London and began working in theatre.

From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/

Queen Elizabeth I(1533 – 1603)

• Helped bring England back to militaristic power during her reign• Never produced an heir to the throne

James I(1566 – 1625)

• Advocated the reform of the Church of England away from traditional Catholic values• Patron of the arts

1558-1603

Largest city in Europe

Center of trade and social life because of the Thames

So many migrants, jobs were scarce

Economic stabilityEmergence of poetry, music and literature. No longer embroiled in religious battlesExploration abroad

5% of you would die within the first week of your life. 40% of you wouldn’t survive to your 15th birthday. Approximately one out of every 100 mothers died in

childbirth.While boys were prized, the birth of a healthy child,

regardless of the sex, was cause for celebration. When a baby was born, families might consult an astrologer to determine if the date and time of the baby’s birth was fortunate. People’s lives were thought to be determined by God and could be read in the alignment of the stars and planets. (This is why the chorus refers to Romeo and Juliet as “a pair of star-crossed lovers.” )

Children were considered miniature versions of adults with no consideration for a child’s particular emotional, physical or spiritual needs out of infancy. Adolescence was not considered a special period in a child’s life. Parental authority tended to continue into early adulthood.

You rarely bathed, and if you did, it was no more than once a year. Bathing was thought to spread disease, not prevent it.

You lost many of your teeth, if not most of them, by the time you were in your 40’s and 50’s. If a tooth bothered you, you could visit a barber and have it pulled, without painkillers or anesthesia.

You probably owned one or two outfits which you wore most everyday. Underneath your clothes, you would wear a linen garment called a shift. For boys it reached to their knees. For girls it was a little longer. You might wash this shift if you had another one to wear in its place.

Fleas and lice were an unpleasant fact for everyone. Many people shaved their heads and wore wigs to fend off lice. Fleas were so common, that the famous poet John Donne wrote a love poem for a woman that involved sharing a flea between them.

Due to various illnesses and the lack of well trained doctors, you would likely only live to be about 40 years old

3 Main Diseases:Bubonic PlagueSmall poxTuberculosis

Beer was cheap, so people drank a lot of it to escape their problems

Many deaths by drunkenness

City ditches were used as toilets

Butchers threw dead carcasses in the street

Garbage was thrown in river

Mass graves for the poor

Economic stability = more leisure timePrevious popular forms of entertainment

were very violentBear fightingPublic executions

IlliteracyTheatre was an affordable form of recreation

groundlings

The theaters were closed in the 1590’s because of a plague outbreak. In 1598, the ground landlord of “The Theater” wouldn’t renew the lease because he disapproved of theatrical productions.

He planned to pull down the Theatre and sell the building materials.

The Chamberlain’s Men found a clause in their former lease giving them the rights to the Theater (the building itself) and the actors dismantled the building themselves, transporting the materials to the other side of the Thames River.

• Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

1. Religious groups (morally)

2. City officials (danger of mob)

3. Business owners (competition)

CircularOpen-airAwning over gallery

seatingLarger theaters

seated approx. 2,000 – 3,000 spectators

Stage protruded out into the audience

The large dressing area behind the stage was called the tiring house

The wealthy patrons sat on benches in the gallery

The common people stood around the stage in “the pit”; they were called groundlings

The area above the stage housed machines that could lower people onto the stage – called “heaven”

A trap door in the stage allowed actors to come up from below – called “hell”

Tiring house

gallery

The “pit” & groundlings

stage

“heaven”

38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare14 comedies10 histories10 tragedies4 romances

Possibly wrote three othersCollaborated on several others

Elizabethan Theatrical

Conventions

A theatrical convention is a

suspension of reality.

No electricity

Women forbidden

to act on stage

Minimal, contemporary

costumes

Minimal scenery

These control the dialogue.These control the dialogue.

Theatrical Conventions

Use of disguises/

mistaken identity

Multiple marriages

(in comedies)

Multiple murders

(in tragedies)

Last speaker—highest in

rank (in tragedies)

Theatrical Conventions

In the England of Shakespeare's time, English was a lot more flexible as a language.

Shakespeare was writing as a dramatic poet and playwright, not as a scholar or historian. Lack of common spellings Words are no longer used, or had different meanings

• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”

• Old English is the language of Beowulf:

Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunonHu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!

(Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how noble princes showed great courage!)

• Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”

• Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawain-poet, and Malory:

We redeth oft and findeth y-write—And this clerkes wele it wite—Layes that ben in harpingBen y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)

• Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English” or “Elizabethan English”

• EME was not very different from “Modern English”

• English language was still being formed and standardized

• A mix of old and very new• Rural and urban words/images• Understandable by the lowest

peasant and the highest noble

PronounCorrespond to you, your, myPeople DID use “you”, but it was

often considered to be more formal than thou

SuffixSome are original to people’s speech,

others are added for effectLook for “root” word

ContractionApostrophe indicates where a letter has been

droppedUsed for humor and to achieve a specific type of

meter

Word orderJohn caught the ball The ball John

caughtPurpose of creating rhyme and rhythm

Using your knowledge of Shakespeare’s grammar (and perhaps the insult sheet) write a one paragraph letter written in Elizabethan English

You must write the letter in pen or type and print it

Should follow standard letter format (date, heading, indented paragraphs, closing, etc.)

Due tomorrow