INTRO to SHAKESPEARE

Part One:

Origins & Style

Life & Times • Birthday: Apr 23rd, 1564• Death : Apr 23rd,, 1616

Life & Times TIME PERIOD

• Elizabethan Era • English Renaissance

Elizabeth I 1563-1603

Life & Times TIME PERIOD

• Elizabethan Era

• English Renaissance

Life & Times THEATRE

• Acting :Not Well respected

• Female roles: young boys

Life & Times THEATRE

Globe Theatre

Life & Times THEATRE

Lord Chamberlain’s Men

King Jamesa.k.a.

The King’s Men”

Life & Times TYPES of PLAYS

Histories

Tragedies

Comedies

Romances

Use of LanguagePROSE

• Everyday language

POETRY (a.k.a. Verse)

• Heightened language• Rythym & sound

Use of LanguagePopular Poetic Form: (used in Shakespeare’s time)

• BLANK VERSE

• (Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter )

Use of LanguagePopular Poetic Form: (used by Shakespeare)

• Blank Verse (Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter )

Unrhymed words (at the end of the line)do not rhyme

Iambic unit of speech:one unstressed , one stressed syllable

Pentameter 5 meters (meter measures rhythm)

Use of LanguageBLANK VERSE(Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter )

• Penta 5• Meter Measures Rhythmic

Pattern in Language

e.g. “A Horse, A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!

Use of LanguageBLANK VERSE(Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter )

• Penta 5• Meter Regular Rhythmic

Pattern in Language

e.g. “A Horse, A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!

1 2 3 4 5

Use of LanguageBLANK VERSE(Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter )

• Iamb unit of speech 2 syllables (1unstressed + 1 stressed)

e.g. “A Horse, A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!

Unstressed Unstressed Unstressed Unstressed Unstressed

Stressed Stressed Stressed Stressed Stressed

Use of LanguageACTIVITY No. 1

In sequential order , each group will recite any two-line quotation they’ve been assigned. Remember to be creative in your delivery and to keep the discussed-rhythm in mind!

Unstressed Unstressed Unstressed Unstressed Unstressed

Stressed Stressed Stressed Stressed Stressed

Use of LanguageWhy BLANK VERSE?(Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter )

• Most closely resembled natural rhythm of speech

• The accepted poetic form duringShakespeare’s time

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

MODERN:Drama Importance of. . .

The VISUAL

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

ELIZABETHAN

Drama Importance of. . . WORDS

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

ELIZABETHAN

Drama To Learn about a Character…

1. What s/he does

2. What s/he says

3. What others sayabout him/her

Elizabethan vs. Modern DramaINTERPRETATION

A Theatre company’s “job”

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

INTERPRETATION

(Modern)

A Theatre company’s “job”

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

INTERPRETATION

So long as the basic plot remains …

e.g. the Three WitchesIn Hocus Pocus

Though the movie’s witches are clearly inspired from Macbeth, the same is not true re: its plot

Elizabethan vs. Modern DramaElizabethan

Theatre

• Medieval Art • Highly symbolic

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

• Highly symbolic

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

Particular :Cross, Halo

Elizabethan vs. Modern Drama

Universal:Sacred, Christianity

Elizabethan vs. Modern DramaElizabethan

Theatre

• Particular:

• Universal:

Elizabethan vs. Modern DramaElizabethan

Theatre

• Particular:

– Skull

• Universal:– Philosophy

(Existentialism)– Life/Death/ Afterlife

Why Shakespeare?UNIVERSAL

• Timeless

• Modern Relevance– Pop Culture

“Not for an age but for all time”- Ben Johnson

Why Shakespeare?LEGACY

• Most read• Most translated• Words &

ExpressionsInvented (1700 +)

A few IDIOMS WE OWE TO SHAKE.

• Knock, knock; who’s there?

• Heart of gold

• Love is blind

• Vanished into thin air

• Break the ice

• Fight fire with fire

• What’s done is done

• A piece of work

• Laughing stock

• Where your heart upon your

sleeve