C02-R

Why is Shakespeare still important today?

Shakespeare wrote about timeless themes such as life and death, youth versus age, love and hate, fate and free will, to name but a few.

Not only did Shakespeare teach us about ourselves and humanity, but he also invented around 1700 words which are still used in everyday English.

Examples: generous, birthplace, negotiate, gossip, bedroom, and amazement.

Pearls of Wisdom

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” All's Well That Ends Well

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice…..” Hamlet

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so…”Hamlet

Thou (you) Thee (to) you (object) Thine - your(s) before v.

Ye - you (subject) Thy - your (before c.)

Nay - no aye - yes

Vocabulary

"Yonder comes my master, your brother".

Yonder = There

"Nay, I hope.

Nay = No

Cleave - Cling

.....

"I prithee recount some of them"

prithee = please

asunder = apart

I partly guess, for I have loved ere now.

ere = before

senning = week

Vocabulary

Activity

Analysis

• Type of play (genre/Style)
• Structure: (how many acts, scenes)
• Story (summary)
• Plot - place - time
• Language
• Famous quotes / Pear
• Characters - who? name and character
• Themes

William Shakespeare

Unknown birthdate (April 26, 1564, baptism)

Stratford-upon-Avon

He grew up, had a family, and bought property in Stratford, but he worked in London, the center of English theater.

An actor, a playwright, and a partner in a leading acting company.

Shakespeare, as the son of a leading Stratford citizen, almost certainly attended Stratford’s grammar school. Like all such schools, its curriculum consisted of an intense emphasis on the Latin classics, including memorization, writing, and acting classic Latin plays. Shakespeare most likely attended until about age 15.

Shakespeare's family

In late 1582, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.

Anne was 26 and William was 18

She was already expecting their first-born child, Susanna.

In early 1585, the couple had twins, Judith and Hamnet.

From 1585 to 1592 - "Lost years"

Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, died in 1596 at the age of 11.

Shakespeare's lost years

'The Lost Years' refers to the period of Shakespeare's life between the baptism of his twins, Hamnet and Judith in 1585 and his apparent arrival on the London theatre scene in 1592. We do not know when or why William Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon for London, or what he was doing before becoming a professional actor and dramatist in the capital. There are various traditions and stories about the so-called ‘lost years’. There is no documentary evidence of his life during this period of time.

A type of mythology has developed around these mysterious years, and many people have their favourite version of the story.

Shakespeare in love

1998

Shakespeare's first pieces of work

From his arrival in London in the early 1590s, Shakespeare had proved himself a master of comedy.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Taming of the Shrew

A noticeably darker turn

Romeo and Juliet

Hamlet

Macbeth

King Lear

Shakespeare's first pieces of work

Hamlet is often seen as the closest play to Shakespeare’s own son: the characters’ name is, of course, very similar, while the themes of father/son relations are also easy to bring together.

The Twelfth Night revolves around the experiences of a girl whose twin brother dies – Hamnet, remember, was a twin to Judith – and there are scenes in King John, Julius Caesar and The Tempest that refer to the guilt of fathers over their dead sons.

Life expectancy during Elizabethan age was about 35 years.

Shakespeare's first pieces of work

It was about this time that Shakespeare’s sonnets seem to reveal problems in his personal life. The death of his son is heavily alluded to, while his fidelity to his wife is questioned by the appearance of the famed “Dark Lady” in his poetry, as well as the homoerotic themes.

Shakespeare's first pieces of work

The identities of those to whom he addresses his sonnets are not known: many have suggested that the “Fair Youth”, the male subject of 126 of the sonnets, might well have been Henry Wriothesley, his patron and alleged lover, while the “Dark Lady” has provoked speculation almost since the publication of the poems in 1609.

Shakespeare's first pieces of work

Some claim her to be Emilia Lanier, a woman of Italian descent who was the mistress of one of the actors with whom Shakespeare performed and a poet in her own right, while others have alleged that a black brothel owner named Black Luce or Aline Florio, the wife of an Italian translator, might have been the subject of Shakespeare’s affections.

Shakespeare's first pieces of work

It is estimated that over half of the rhymes in the Sonnets don’t actually rhyme anymore, because of dialectical changes.

Importance of theatre

The theatre in Tudor England was truly the most popular form of mass entertainment – well, unless you include public executions – and was the predominant form of popular culture in London at the time.

The Globe

The first Globe opened in 1599 and was built by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the company that Shakespeare wrote for and part-owned.

It is believed that the first play Shakespeare wrote for the original Globe was Julius Caesar in spring 1599.

As You Like It - Hamlet - Twelfth Night, Othello - King Lear - Macbeth - Antony - Cleopatra.

Other playwrights wrote for the Globe during this time too, including Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton and John Fletcher.

The Globe

In 1613, during a performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII (co-written with Fletcher), a mis-fired prop canon caused the thatch roof to catch fire. The entire theatre burnt down within two hours, according to eyewitness reports (miraculously, no one was killed). The company rebuilt the Globe in a year – with a tiled roof. The second Globe operated until it was closed down by parliamentary decree in 1642.

The current Globe Theatre opened in 1997, after many years of campaigning by the founder of the Shakespeare’s Globe Trust, Sam Wanamaker.

The Globe

The current Globe Theatre opened in 1997, after many years of campaigning by the founder of the Shakespeare’s Globe Trust, Sam Wanamaker.

Timeline of Shakespeare's plays

We don't know exactly when Shakespeare started writing plays, but they were probably being performed in London by 1592, and he's likely to have written his final plays just a couple of years before his death in 1616.

It is believed that he wrote around 38 plays, including collaborations with other writers. Here's a chronological list of Shakespeare's plays by decade.

Theatrical genres and styles

The genre of a performance refers to the type of story being told, and the style refers to how the work is presented on stage. A genre or style can help to give performers a framework to shape the devised work. Popular theatrical genres and styles include (but are not limited to):

Overall content

Comedy

Drama

Melodrama

Theatre of the absurd

Tragedy

Tragicomedy

Farce

Theatrical genres and styles

The genre of a performance refers to the type of story being told, and the style refers to how the work is presented on stage.

Realism

Theatricalism

Romanticism

Expressionism

Surrealism

Classicism

Theatrical genres and styles

Objective Reality (Realism & Theatricalism)

Shows us the world through a scientist’s eye.

We are invited to evaluate things by what they look like and familiarity

Subjective Reality (Expressionism & Surrealism)

Shows us how the artist feels about reality.

Their feelings influence the way things look.

Shows how sounds and dialogue can be unfamiliar.

Idealized Reality (Classicism & Romanticism)

The world is shown as being perfect.

Shows how the artist wishes the world looked.

People speak in beautiful poetry, break into song, and young lovers live happily ever after.

Shakespeare's comedies

All’s Well That Ends Well

As You Like It

The Comedy of Errors

Love's Labour's Lost

Measure for Measure

The Merchant of Venice

The Merry Wives of Windsor

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Much Ado About Nothing

The Taming of the Shrew

The Tempest

Twelfth Night

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Winter's Tale

Shakespeare's tragedies

Antony and Cleopatra

Coriolanus

Cymbeline

Hamlet

Julius Caesar

King Lear

Macbeth

Othello

Romeo and Juliet

Timon of Athens

Titus Andronicus

Troilus and Cressida

Shakespeare's histories

Henry IV Part I

Henry IV Part II

Henry V

Henry VI Part I

Henry VI Part II

Henry VI Part III

Henry VIII

King John

Richard II

Richard III

Love's Labour's Lost

1588-1597

After vowing to avoid women, the King and three of his friends have to host a princess and her three ladies. The four men fall in love and decide to court the women. In the end, the women must return to their kingdom for a year after which they will marry the king and his friends, providing they remain true to them.

Love's Labour's Lost

Love is familiar. Love is a devil. There is no evil angel but Love. — LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, ACT 1 SCENE 2

And when love speaks, the voice of all the gods

Make heaven drowsy with the harmony. — LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, ACT 4 SCENE 3

Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye,

Not uttered by base sale of chapmen’s tongues — LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, ACT 2 SCENE 1

Love's Labour's Lost

Henry VI - Part I

Hery V Summary

After Henry V's death and while Henry VI is young, nobles rule England and fight the French, including Joan of Arc. As Henry VI becomes King, the noble houses begin to divide and take sides between York and Lancaster. The war with France winds down, and the nobles try to find Henry a wife and disagree about who Henry chooses.

Henry VI - Part II

Against the wishes of the nobles, King Henry marries the penniless Margaret who plots against him with her lover. As tensions between York and Lancaster build, the Duke of York gathers supporters for his claim to the throne. York secretly leads a rebellion, his supporters proclaim him king, and Henry is forced to flee.

Henry VI - Part III

After York's claims to the throne, Henry changes the succession and makes York his heir, disinheriting his own son. Henry's queen kills York, and York's son Edward seizes the throne. Henry is imprisoned several times and eventually killed by King Edward's brother, Richard.

Having nothing, nothing can he lose — HENRY VI PART 3, ACT 3 SCENE 3

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind. HENRY VI PART 3, ACT 5 SCENE 6

Titus and Adronicus

The Roman general Titus Andronicus returns from war with four prisoners who vow to take revenge against him. They rape and mutilate Titus' daughter and have his sons killed and banished. Titus kills two of them and cooks them into a pie, which he serves to their mother before killing her too. The Roman emperor kills Titus, and Titus' last remaining son kills the emperor and takes his place.

First performance possibly in January 1594

Titus and Adronicus

The Comedy of Errors

Shakespeare's apprenticeship in comedy

"adolescent, bawdy, immature"

it doesn't have deep characters

The Comedy of Errors

After both being separated from their twins in a shipwreck, Antipholus and his slave Dromio go to Ephesus to find them. The other set of twins lives in Ephesus, and the new arrivals cause a series of incidents of mistaken identity. At the end, the twins find each other and their parents and resolve all of the problems caused earlier.

Timeline of Shakespeare's plays

1580 - 1590

The Taming of the Shrew Considered to be one of Shakespeare's earliest works, the play is generally

believed to have been written before 1592.

Lucentio loves Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katherina marries. The eccentric Petruccio marries the reluctant Katherina and uses a number of tactics to render her an obedient wife. Lucentio marries Bianca and, in a contest at the end, Katherina proves to be the most obedient wife.

Timeline of Shakespeare's plays

1580 - 1590

The Taming of the Shrew

Culture influence

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Two Gentlemen of Verona tells the story of two devoted friends, Valentine and Proteus. Valentine leaves their home city of Verona for Milan, but Proteus, in love with Julia, stays behind. Then Proteus’s father sends him to Milan, too. Before leaving, Proteus pledges his love to Julia.

In Milan, Valentine and the duke’s daughter, Sylvia, are in love. Proteus, on arriving, falls in love with Sylvia at first sight. He reveals to the duke that Sylvia and Valentine plan to elope, and Valentine is banished. Meanwhile, Proteus’s earlier love, Julia, assumes a male disguise and travels to Milan.

The banished Valentine meets outlaws and becomes their leader. Sylvia, in search of Valentine, is seized by his outlaws. Proteus rescues her and then, when she spurns him, tries to rape her. Valentine stops the rape, but out of friendship offers to yield Sylvia to Proteus. Julia, however, reveals her identity, regaining Proteus’s love. Two weddings are planned: Valentine with Sylvia, and Proteus with Julia.

Edward III

The first part of Edward III involves the king’s ill-advised wooing of a married noblewoman. In the second half, he leads England into a territorial conflict with France. While he is thus occupied in the south, Scottish rebels attack from the north. This is historically accurate, but the Scottish characters are portrayed as duplicitous and cowardly. This reflected contemporary British attitudes toward the Scots people; such portrayals, however, strained diplomatic relations with Scotland during the 1590s.

Edward III

Uncertain origin - published anonymously;

Historically accurate, but Scottish characters are portrayed as duplicitous and cowardly;

Such portrayals, however, strained diplomatic relations with Scotland during the 1590s

1598 The British envoy to Scotland complained about a play;

Some lines are identical to Shakespeare's poems;

Edward III

In 2009, a researcher ran the play through a computer program designed to analyze the authorship of college theses.

The program concluded that Shakespeare collaborated on the play with another noted dramatist of the time, Thomas Kyd.

Research into the matter is ongoing, but in the 1990s, university presses published Shakespeare’s Edward III, attributing the play to him for the first time.

Richard III

Jealous and crippled, Richard of Gloucester wants to be King of England and uses manipulation and deceit to achieve his goal. He murders his brothers, nephews, and any opposition to become King Richard III. In the end, Henry of Richmond raises an army, kills Richard in battle, and becomes King Henry VII.

King John

King John goes to war against the French after claims that his nephew should be king instead. John has conflict with the church, orders his nephew's death, and turns the nobles against himself. In the end, John dies from poison, the French retreat, and his son becomes King.

Romeo and Juliet

Themes:

Love

Hate

Family and obligation

Death and violence

Destiny and fate

Youth and age

Romeo and Juliet

It was based on a famous folktale which appeared in many different versions in 15th- and 16th-century Europe. Arthur Brooke’s 3,020 line poem, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562), is the first English translation of that tale,

(Italian - Giulietta e Romeo by Matteo Bandello) and it served as a key source for Shakespeare.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Thais

Richard II

King Richard II banishes Henry Bolingbroke, seizes noble land, and uses the money to fund wars. Henry returns to England to reclaim his land, gathers an army of those opposed to Richard, and deposes him. Now as Henry IV, Henry imprisons Richard, and Richard is murdered in prison.

The Merchant of Venice

Julia

Henry IV, Part 1

While his son Price Hal spends time in the taverns, King Henry IV argues with his former ally Hotspur. Angry, Hotspur gathers a rebellion, and Henry and Hal go to battle to stop him. Henry's army wins the battle, while Hal redeems himself from his wild youth and kills Hotspur.

If all the year were playing holidays; To sport would be as tedious as to work.

— HENRY IV PART 1, ACT 1 SCENE 2

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Falstaff decides to fix his financial woe by seducing the wives of two wealthy merchants. The wives find he sent them identical letters and take revenge by playing tricks on Falstaff when he comes calling. With the help of their husbands and friends, the wives play one last trick in the woods to put Falstaff's mischief to an end.

Much Ado About Nothing

Anelise

As You Like It

Rosalind and her cousin escape into the forest and find Orlando, Rosalind's love. Disguised as a boy shepherd, Rosalind has Orlando woo her under the guise of "curing" him of his love for Rosalind. Rosalind reveals she is a girl and marries Orlando during a group wedding at the end of the play.

Henry V

After an insult from the French Dauphin, King Henry V of England invades France to claim the throne he believes should be his. Henry stops an assassination plot, gives powerful speeches, and wins battles against the odds. In the end, he woos and marries the Princess of France, linking the two nations.

Henry V - Part I / Henry - Part II / Henry - Part III

Julius Caesar

Jealous conspirators convince Caesar's friend Brutus to join their assassination plot against Caesar. To stop Caesar from gaining too much power, Brutus and the conspirators kill him on the Ides of March. Mark Antony drives the conspirators out of Rome and fights them in a battle. Brutus and his friend Cassius lose and kill themselves, leaving Antony to rule in Rome.

Hamlet

Yago

Twelfth Night

Brandão

Troilus and Cressida

Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with Cressida, as war rages around them. After vowing to be faithful, Cressida is traded to the Greek camp, where she then agrees to see another man. Troilus witnesses Cressida's unfaithfulness and vows to put more effort into the war. The play ends after further deaths on both sides, and with no resolution in sight.

All's Well That Ends Well

Helen heals the King of France, and the King grants her permission to marry Bertram, the man she loves. Bertram rejects her and leaves a list of tasks that she must do to have him acknowledge their marriage. She follows him to Italy, completes all the tasks, and Bertram accepts her as his wife.

Measure for Measure

As the play begins, the Duke of Vienna announces he is going away and puts his deputy Angelo in charge of the state. Angelo immediately enforces a law prohibiting sex outside of marriage, sentencing Claudio to death for sleeping with Juliet, Claudio’s now-pregnant fiancée.

Claudio’s sister Isabella, a novice nun, appeals to Angelo to save her brother. But the supposedly pure Angelo demands that Isabella sleep with him to save Claudio. To Claudio’s dismay, Isabella refuses.

The duke, who has remained in Vienna disguised as a friar, suggests that Angelo’s jilted fiancée, Mariana, could take Isabella’s place. Although the trick succeeds, Angelo orders Claudio beheaded anyway. The duke saves Claudio, but he tells Isabella that Claudio is dead.

The duke, resuming his identity, sentences Angelo to wed Mariana and then be put to death. But Mariana and Isabella plead for Angelo’s life. Revealing that Claudio is alive, the duke pardons Angelo and proposes to Isabella.

Measure for Measure - Themes

Mercy versus Justice

Hypocrisy

Liberty

Measure for Measure - Themes

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.

(Escalus, Act 2 Scene 1)

Condemn the fault and not the actor of it?

(Angelo, Act 2 Scene 2)

O, it is excellent

To have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous

To use it like a giant.

(Isabella, Act 2 Scene 2)

Is this her fault or mine?

The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?

(Angelo, Act 2 Scene 2)

Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.

(Duke, Act 3 Scene 1)

Othello

Bruna

King Lear

Luis

Timon of Athens

Wealthy and popular, Timon of Athens helps his friends, gives many gifts, and holds a feast. After ignoring his true friends' warnings, Timon runs out of money, and none of his "friends" will help him. He runs away to a cave where he curses humanity, finds gold, funds someone to destroy Athens, and dies.

Macbeth

Marina

Antony and Cleopatra - 1606-7

Mark Antony, one of three rulers of Rome, is in love with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Antony is summoned back to Rome, where he clashes with another ruler Octavius before returning to Cleopatra in Egypt. Now in battle with Octavius, Antony and Cleopatra suffer losses and miscommunication, and both eventually commit suicide.

Antony and Cleopatra

My salad days,

When I was green in judgement, cold in blood.

(Cleopatra, Act 1 Scene 5)

\”green\” means “recent”

(the memory be green) (1.2),

immaturity - (green girl) (1.3)

Pericles

Pericles, Prince of Tyre leaves home to escape death only to win a jousting contest and marry a princess. Once he can return home, his family sails with him, but a storm separates them, so Pericles returns alone. Years later, Pericles finds his daughter and reunites with the wife he had thought was dead.

Coriolanus

Cymbeline - 1609

King Cymbeline of Britain banishes his daughter Innogen's husband, who then makes a bet on Innogen's fidelity. Innogen is accused of being unfaithful, runs away, and becomes a page for the Roman army as it invades Britain. In the end, Innogen clears her name, discovers her long-lost brothers and reunites with her husband while Cymbeline makes peace with Rome.

The Winter's Tale

The jealous King Leontes falsely accuse his wife Hermione of infidelity with his best friend, and she dies. Leontes exiles his newborn daughter Perdita, who is raised by shepherds for sixteen years and falls in love with the son of Leontes' friend. When Perdita returns home, a statue of Hermione "comes to life", and everyone is reconciled.

The Tempest

Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck, including the King of Naples and Prospero’s treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero’s slave, Caliban, plots to rid himself of his master, but is thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel. The King’s young son Ferdinand, thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda. Their celebrations are cut short when Prospero confronts his brother and reveals his identity as the usurped Duke of Milan. The families are reunited and all conflict is resolved. Prospero grants Ariel his freedom and prepares to leave the island.

The Two Noble Kinsmen

Brave and noble cousins, Palamon and Arcite, are taken prisoner after a bitter battle between Athens and Thebes. The men resign themselves to their fate as happy captives - until they catch sight of Duke Theseus' beautiful daughter Emilia and both immediately fall in love. Their life-long friendship is soon marred by rivalry over Emilia’s affections - a thing made more complicated by the fact that Emilia doesn’t really want either of them. Meanwhile, the daughter of the jailer has fallen for Palamon, and will go to any lengths to help him and win his love.

Based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, with some notable additions and deviations.

Murky moral themes surrounding friendship, loyalty, choice and fate.

Henry VIII

King Henry VIII listens to Cardinal Wolsey too much and gives him power, which the Cardinal uses to convict a duke of treason. Henry meets Anne Boleyn, divorces his wife Katharine, and marries Anne. Anne gives birth to Princess Elizabeth who the Archbishop prophesies will become great.

Sources:

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com

https://nosweatshakespeare.com

https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-are-the-origins-of-shakespeares-edward-iii.htm