CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION ON THE BARD

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

-Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well

EARLY LIFE

Born in April 1564; died on April 23, 1616• Church record of baptism, marriage, and death

Born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon; a market town; 103 miles from London

Father, John Shakespeare = glover, good social standing due to his town counselor position (like a mayor!)

• Fortune declined in 1570s

Assume he attended grammar school from ages of 7-14

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

EARLY LIFE: EDUCATION

No records exist about his education

Scholar’s surmise he attended grammar school from ages of 7-14

• Base this off of what is known of his father and the times

This puts a BIG question mark on his authorship…Elizabethan schooling: Greek mythology, Roman comedy, ancient history, rhetoric, grammar, Latin, and possibly Greek

King Henry IV Grammar School Building in Stratford-Upon-Avon

ODDS AGAINST SHAKESPEARE

Not born into nobility or significant wealth

No formal education (after speculated grammar school)

Did not marry into wealth

Controversy surrounding authorship…and existence!

Married Anne Hathaway; 8 years older and 3 month pregnant

• Church marriage certificate

3 children: Susanna (1583), Hamnet, and Judith (1585)

Between 1585-1592 historical record is incomplete, contradictory, and unreliable

Scholars refer to this period as his “lost years”

THE LOST YEARS

EARLY CAREER1592, age 28 he was an up and coming actor and playwright in London

• Referenced as a man of the theatre by the poet and dramatist Robert Greene, in a pamphlet called, “Greenes, Groats-Worth of Witte” published that year

• Greene referred to him as an “upstart crow” who “is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country”

Joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men Acting Company (when King James I reigns they become known as The King’s Men)First few plays performed: Henry VI, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus AndronicusPerformed for Queen Elizabeth I

EARLY CAREERCompletely and more continuously involved in theatres and acting companies than any other Elizabethan dramatistWrote 37 plays; 154 sonnets in IAMBIC PENTAMETERWrote plays, acted in the plays, and partially owned The Globe Theater for 17 years

3 “types” of plays: history, comedy, and tragedy

THEATERPlays were popular enjoyment for all social standing

Only boys/men acted in plays; indecent for women to perform on stage (gasp!)

THE GLOBE THEATER IN LONDON

THE GLOBE THEATER

Originally built in 1599 by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shake’s company!)Events that took place in The Globe: shows, gambling, bear baiting, prostitution…Plays could be used to encourage criticism of the state and freedom of thought in terms of both religion and politicsDestroyed by fire in June 1613 (caused by a cannon shot for special effects; go figure!)

Rebuilt in 1614

Fast forward to 1642, the English Parliament (under the force of the PURITANS) issued an ordinance suppressing all stage plays in the theatres

Burned to the ground

THE GLOBE THEATER

The pit

The flag

The “Heavens” ceiling

The balconies

THE GLOBE THEATER

MACBETH!

MORE MACBETH!

MORE MACBETH!

AND ONE LAST ONE…

QU EEN EL IZABETH AND EL IZABETHAN S OCIETY

Ruled for 45 years (1558-1603)

Known as the “Virgin Queen”; never married; hence, no heirRestored Protestantism and formalized the Church of England

During her reign: Bubonic Plague, threats of invasion (Spanish Armada), Catholic Conspiracies, etc.

Hundreds of people convicted of witchcraft and executed

KING JAMES IRuled for 25 years (1603-1628)

Queen Elizabeth I’s nephew from SCOTLAND (his mother was Catholic, Mary of Scots—executed by Queen Elizabeth I for a suspected attempted assassination)

United Scotland and EnglandRenamed Shakespeare’s acting company to The King’s MenBelieved in the “Divine Right” of kings

Devout ProtestantCommissioned a translation of the bible from Latin to English

GUNPOWDER PLOT OF 1605Catholics, most famously Guy Fawkes,  plotted to blow up James I

• 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of The House of Lords

Catholics in England had expected James to be more tolerant

Ordered all Catholic priests to leave England

Decided to kill James I and put his daughter, Elizabeth, on the throne ensuring that she was a Catholic

Plot was revealed through an anonymous letter to authorities

King James decreed that on the anniversary of the plot's failure should always be remembered; Guy Fawkes = “hero”/terrorist/anarchist in V for Vendetta

Pay attention to how Shakespeare deals with traitors in Macbeth…

KING JAMES I AND WITCHCRAFTBelieved in witchcraft, supernatural evilPublished a book about witchcraft called, DemonologieBecame a morbid fascination for Jacobean societyThoughts on witches: could predict the future, caused fogs and storms, could turn into animalsShakespeare gives the crowd (and the king) what they want in his play, Macbeth!

OTHER BIG IDEAS IN MACBETH

Treachery against monarchy

Ambition; when can too much ambition be self-destructive?

Guilt; physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological impacts of this human emotion

Supernatural and witchcraft; is fate in control of us or do we control fate?