William Shakespeare

Life and Times

• Christened: 26 April 1564

• Died: 23 April 1616

• Birthday celebrated 23 April

• His grandfather was a tenant farmer

• His father John Shakespeare was a glovemaker and leatherworker

• His mother was Mary Arden

Mary Arden’s house

Shakespeare birthplace in Stratford

• Was allowed to go to a free grammar school

• Went on to a higher school, but never university

• At age 18, 1582, he married Anne Hathaway

• First child Susannah, 1583

• Twins, Judith and Hamnet, 1585

• Drops out of all public records for 7 years

Anne Hathaway’s cottage

• The “lost years,” 1585-1592

• Was Shakespeare a recusant?

• John Shakespeare’s profession of faith

• Catholic connection between Stratford and Lancashire

• William Shakeshafte

• Other Evidence

Hoghton Castle Gate

In London

• Robert Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit

• Other London playwrights

• By 1592 he had made his mark as a playwright

• Never saw his plays through the press

• Plays were the property of playhouses

• “Memorial reconstruction”

Playhouses

• James Burbage built the first: the Theatre• The Curtain soon sprang up• The Globe• Shakespeare a member of the Lord

Chamberlain’s Men• Wrote on average 2 plays a year for public

performance• Private theatres • Performed before Queen Elizabeth 3 times a year

The Globe Theatre(Wenceslaus Hollar, 1647)

Visscher’s long view of London: Bankside and playhouses (1616)

New Globe reconstruction

New Globe stage reconstruction

The King’s Men

• When Queen Elizabeth died, Shakespeare became a member of the King’s Men

• Played 13 or 14 times a year• Acquired an indoor theatre, Blackfriars• Rivals were the Admiral’s Men• Their best actor was Edward Alleyn• Henslowe and his “Diary”

Later Years

• In 1597 he bough the second best house in Stratford

• Received a coat of arms for his father

• Retired from the stage and lived his last years in Stratford

• Died in 1616

The First Folio

• In 1623 was produced by his actor friends

• Some plays had been published in Quarto form

• Some quartos are good, some bad

• Some plays exist only in the First Folio

The Historical Context

I. The Reformation

The Reformation

• Luther in Germany (1483-1546)• Calvin in Geneva (1509-1572)• Zwingli in Zurich (1484-1531)• John Knox in Scotland (1512-1572)

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Jean Calvin (1509-1564)

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)

John Knox (1512-1572)

Reformation principles

• Advocated:– General use and authority of the Scriptures– Justification by faith alone

• Repudiated:– Doctrine of Transubstantiation– Worship of the Virgin Mary– Supremacy of the Pope

Historical Context

Tudor England

Tudor Monarchs

• Refers to monarchs from 1485-1603• Henry VII• Henry VIII• Edward VI• Mary I• Elizabeth I • Centralized or Absolute monarchy• Their claim to the throne was shaky

Tudor Genealogy

Descendants of Henry VII

Henry VII (1457-1485)

Henry VIII (1491-1547)

Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536), mother of Mary I

Anne Boleyn (1500?-1536),mother of Elizabeth I

Jane Seymour (1509-1537)mother of Edward VI

Edward VI as a child

Edward VI as king (1537-1553)

Mary I (1516-1558)

Henry VIII and Family

Elizabeth I (1533-1603) the Rainbow Portrait

Elizabeth I, the Phoenix Portrait

Elizabeth I, the Armada Portrait