SHAKESPEARE

TIMELINE

• 5th - 15th centuries = MIDDLE AGES• 1085 - RECONQUEST begins in Spain• 1095-1097 - FIRST CRUSADE• 1330-1750 - RENAISSANCE spreads• 1350 - BUBONIC PLAGUE hits• 1450-1750 - ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

(Early Modern Period, Age of Discovery)• 1478-1834(1968) - INQUISITION• 1517 - REFORMATION begins• 1588 - SPANISH ARMADA

THE MIDDLE AGES

• FEUDAL society• KING = most important person• PEASANTS gave taxes to LORD -

lord gave taxes to king• Lords were the king’s VASSALS• If the vassal was loyal, the king

gave him wealth and mini-kingdoms called FIEFDOMS.

THE MIDDLE AGES

THE MIDDLE AGES

• Towns grew around the castle• Castle life = difficult • Large central fireplace was the heating

system - heat was used for the king and nobility

• TAPESTRIES were hung on the walls to help keep the room warm

• No running water, bathrooms, etc• The castle community had to be

SELF-SUFFICIENT• The castle was the only safe place

THE MIDDLE AGES

• Peasants were not allowed to own property - they worked for the king and paid taxes. If the king needed more money, it came from the peasants.

• Peasants were uneducated. • Peasants often considered their life a hell on

earth so had a fatalistic view of death.• Very high mortality rate• Church was very important - a place of beauty

in a very dreary life• Stained glass windows told Bible stories to

people who could not read

THE MIDDLE AGES

• Church was very important - a place of beauty in a very dreary life

THE MIDDLE AGES

• Stained glass windows told Bible stories to people who could not read

TIMELINE OF TUDOR REIGN DURING THE RENAISSANCE

• KING HENRY VIII -reigned from 1509-1547 (C) (P) KATHERINE OF ARAGON-a- 6 children/Mary I ANNE BOLEYN-a/e- 3 children/Elizabeth I JANE SEYMOUR-d- 1 child/Edward VI ANNE OF CLEVES-a- CATHERINE HOWARD-a/e

KATHERINE PARR-d-

TIMELINE OF TUDOR REIGN DURING THE RENAISSANCE

• HENRY VIII• EDWARD VI - reigned 1547-1553 (P)

• JANE GREY - reigned July 10-19, 1553 (e)

• MARY I - aka”BLOODY MARY” - reigned 1553-1558 (C)

• ELIZABETH I - reigned 1558-1603 (P)

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• 1450-1750• Rapid development of art, literature,

science, politics• Growth of trade guilds and skilled

professions• Very little chance for social mobility• REBIRTH of classical Roman forms

A very different view

• Many concepts in science and medicine were not yet understood.

• People were anxious for order in their lives.

• Society began to change from feudalism (community) to individuality.

ORDER IN THE UNIVERSECOSMOLOGY

• PTOLEMY believed the earth was the center of the universe with 9 concentric rings around it.

• Uranus, Neptune, Pluto had not yet been discovered.

COSMOLOGY

• COPERNICUS discovered that the sun was the center of the solar system. (1543)

• This was proved when GALILEO invented the telescope in 1610.

People didn’t know who to believe

• SHAKESPEARE’S plays reflect their uncertainty.

• Look for references to the sun, moon, stars, universe, etc.

THE UNIVERSE

• It was believed that 4 ELEMENTS composed everything in the universe: EARTH, AIR, WATER, FIRE

• The elements combined to create the qualities of being: hot, cold, moist, dry

• AIR = hot and moist• WATER = cold and moist• EARTH = cold and dry• FIRE = hot and dry

ORDER IN THE HUMAN BODY

• It was believed that the body also contained the 4 elements but in the body they were called the 4 HUMORS: BLOOD, PHLEGM, YELLOW BILE, BLACK BILE

• Each humor corresponded to an element.• BLOOD = air = hot and moist• PHLEGM = water = cold and moist• YELLOW BILE = fire = hot and dry• BLACK BILE = earth = cold and dry

THE HUMAN BODY

• The 4 humors were believed to determine personality.

• Blood = dominant = light-hearted• Phlegm = dominant = dull and kind• Yellow bile = dominant = irritable• Black bile = dominant = sad

• SHAKESPEARE uses the humors to explain emotional outbursts in his plays.

THE HUMAN BODY - illness

• Illness was believed to be a result of the imbalance of the 4 humors.

• Remedies were an attempt to restore the balance of the humors. (too much blood = blood letting, leeches, cutting, etc)

ILLNESS

• Infant mortality rate was very high - 50% died before 1st birthday

• Life expectancy for men = about 45 years old (women a bit older)

• Didn’t realize need for antiseptics and sterile equipment

• Barbers often served as doctors• Monks and nuns took care of the sick

BUBONIC PLAGUE

• Began in China • When shipping opened after the

Reconquest = more rats in on boats = spread of plague

• 2 major outbreaks - 1592-1594. 1613• Believed to be God’s punishment• Directly affected Shakespeare’s career

because theaters closed

16th CENTURY LONDON

• 200,000 people• No sewer = plague• High crime rate - no lights, little

law enforcement• Cultural, political, social heart of

England

ORDER IN SOCIETYTHE GREAT CHAIN OF

BEING• aka UNIVERSAL HIERARCHY • Hierarchy of creation, human

rights, place in society• Explained why

THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEINGGODANGELSKINGSNOBLESSERFSWOMENANIMALSPLANTSROCKS

Notice that there are different versions.Queen Elizabeth was “out of order” as a woman.

SOCIETY

• 2 social classes • ARISTOCRATS who had everything• EVERYONE ELSE who had very little

(actors were definitely considered lower class)

• Nobility feared mobility so they created strict laws to control the lower classes.

• Some mobility began late in the Renaissance with the development of skilled professions.

WAYS OF REGULATING LOWER CLASS

• SUMPTUARY law - regulated dress• DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS - kings

believed they were given the right to rule by God

MEN

• Society was a PATRIARCHY • Men controlled family and society• The husband was the “king” of the

family - by DIVINE RIGHT

WOMEN

• Women had almost no rights in society• PRIMOGENITURE - all inheritance went

to the first-born MALE• Any wealth a woman possessed went to

her husband when she married - she also lost her rights to inherit, own property, sign contracts, etc.

• Queen Elizabeth would have lost everything to her husband had she married.

WOMEN

• Seldom educated• Couldn’t enter most professions

(including acting)• They could be housewives - their

job was to keep the husband happy, manage the servants, entertain well, look good

SERVANTS AND APPRENTICES

• Were considered part of the family• Often closer to the children than

the parents (notice the relationship between Juliet and her nurse, and between Romeo and his servant)

THEATER

• Plays were not considered literature• Written very quickly, performed 10-12

times• Discarded • Published in quartos = folded 4x, 17cm

x 21cm or folios = folded 1x, more prestigious, 21cm x 34cm

• More widely read and preserved after Gutenburg invented printing press

THEATER

• Plays often outside of town until Elizabeth and less threat of Plague

• Actors mistrusted - not respected• Puritans considered drama

immoral• Aristocrats thought actors might

use costumes to disguise social status on streets

THEATER

• GROUNDLINGS paid lowest price (1 penny =$ .60)- stood in the “pit” ( ground in front of stage) =open air = 70’ diameter = very rowdy

• Aristocrats paid more - sat in seats above pit = 3 tiers around walls = under cover

• Best seats cost 1 schilling (&7) - highest tiers

• Nobility sat in box seats or on the stage

THEATER

• Traditional theater could hold 800 groundlings, 1500 in the galleries, 12 exclusive seats on the stage

THEATERS

• Originally outside city limits• A. To avoid conflict with authorities• B. Considered immoral• C. Afraid of riots• D. Afraid the Plague would spread in

large groups• Moved into playhouses in town at time

of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth

THEATER• 2 hours long because of light• No costumes (what if actors went out on

the street dressed as someone they weren’t???:<:<:<) or scenery

• No female actors• Announced from town square - flew flag

if play was on for the day• No breaks between scenes• 3 trumpet blasts or 3 knocks signaled

beginning of play• No curtain - every entrance had

corresponding exit

PARTS OF THE THEATER/STAGE

• Rectangular stage extended into “pit”• Stage raised 5’ above the “pit”• Covered part of stage = “heavens”• Trapdoor used for graves and ghosts• Equipment used to raise and lower

actors

MORE PARTS

• Above the stage = gallery - used for wealthy patrons or balcony scenes

• Tiring house = dressing rooms (costumes gradually became more lavish)

SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE

THE BASICS

• Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare (no wonder he went by William!!)

• Died April 23, 1616 in Stratford-on-Avon• Parents were John Shakespeare and

Mary Arden Shakespeare• Father was a tanner and held civic

positions - became alderman in 1565 which was a position that came with free education for his children.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

• Began education at age 6 or 7 - subjects taught were entirely dictated by the beliefs of the reigning king - but included the alphabet, the Lord’s Prayer, a catechism, Latin, some English some math

• Removed from school at age 13 because father lost alderman position

• May have worked for a butcher, a lawyer, or a glover, or as a schoolteacher - little is known for certain for about 10 years after left school.

AND THEN…..

• Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and she was 26

• First child, Susanna, christened on May 26th 1583

• Twins, Hamnet and Judith, christened February 2, 1585

• Shakespeare moved to London - established as actor by 1592

• Hamnet died of an unknown cause August 11, 1595 - age 11

????????

• Two periods of life known as “lost years”:

• *1578-1582 = after left grammar school until marriage to Anne Hathaway

• *1585-1592 = when he must have been perfecting his dramatic skills

ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT

• Writer/actor for Pembroke’s Men before 1592

• Theaters closed in 1592 due to Plague - Shakespeare probablyleft theater to work on non-dramatic poetry

• 1593 - Earl of Southampton became Shakespeare’s patron

NOT ONLY THAT BUT…

• 1594 - became member of Lord Chamberlain’s Men - performed before Queen Ellizabeth - earned 10 pounds as actor

• While with LCM - wrote Romeo and Juliet, King John, Love’s Labour’s Lost

!!!!!!!!!!

• Only Elizabethan dramatist to write, act in, share profits, and own the theater building (Globe - 1598 and Blackfriars)

• After Hamnet’s death - Shakespeare retired and purchased the second largest house in Stratford for 60 pounds.

SO WHY IS HE SUCH A BIG DEAL????

• Largest vocabulary of any author before or since

• Used 17,677 words in his writings• Created 1,700 words• Themes, motifs, characters =

prototypes for modern literature, drama, etc

• Unrivaled use of imagery

LANGUAGE - Can you guess how the phrases we use today

originated?