Shakespeare 101

Shakespeare 101

Note: His head wasn't

that large. This is not a

photograph.

THE EARLY YEARS

-Since William Shakespeare lived more than 400 years ago, and many records from that time are lost or never existed in the first place, we don't know everything about his life.

-We know that he was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, on April 26, 1564. But we don't know his exact birth date, which must have been a few days earlier, on April 23, 1564.

He grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon (S-u-A), about 100 miles northwest of London.

-Shakespeare came from a working class family.

-He was John and Mary Shakespeare's oldest surviving child; their first two children, both girls, did not live beyond infancy.

-He had three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmund, and two younger sisters: Anne, who died at seven, and Joan.

- Their father, John Shakespeare, was a leather worker who specialized in the soft white leather used for gloves and similar items.

- A prosperous businessman, he married Mary Arden, of the prominent Arden family.

-John rose through local offices in Stratford, becoming an alderman and eventually, when William was five, the town bailiff—much like a mayor.

-Not long after that, however, John Shakespeare stepped back from public life; we don't know why.

We don't hear much about young Will growing up; in fact, the next time we hear from him, it's when he's 18 years old and just knocked up an older woman, 26 year old Anne Hathaway. They get married six months before the child is born.

They end up having three kids. First up is Susanna, followed by a set of twins Hamnet (Hamlet?) and Judith (Juliet?). Hamnet dies at the age of 11 from an illness.

THE LOST YEARS

The next stage of Shakespeare's life is filled with a lot of question marks. We know he left S-u-A and headed to London (some theories believe it was because he was being tracked down by the police for illegal deer poaching).

In London, he most likely worked as an actor and started to write plays. He wasn't a star right away. Some suggest he may have traveled (as his plays feature a good knowledge of a vast range of places), but others say he couldn't have because he didn't have any money. Either way, all we do know is that around 1592, he started to become known in London for his acting and his writing.

THE BIG TIME

Three big things happen:

1. His acting company, Lord Chamberlain's Men, become the leading acting company in London. They perform Shakespeare's plays and, after the death of Queen Elizabeth, they are appointed by King James to be the official acting group in London.

3. The Globe Theatre is built with help from Shakespeare's funding. This becomes a place where all can enjoy plays (rich and poor alike). Sometimes the fun is stopped because of the plague, which occasionally closes the theatre.

THE END

Retirement didn't happen during Shakespeare's time, but his output definitely slowed down. He spent time in both S-u-A and London, until his death. He was buried in S-u-A, with an inscription on his grave ending with: blessed be the man that spares these stones, and curse be he that moves my bones.

WHY IS HE STILL FAMOUS?

Simply stated, because he was so talented. He wrote about universal themes--things that you and I can relate to 400 years after they were written. He was funny, insightful, and innovative. And his characters, they could be people in your class right now, as they share the same dreams and fears.

You may have heard Shakespeare invented words in his plays (words like bloody, eyeball, and lonely). And he may have invented them, but when people say Shakespeare invented words, the first place those words appear written down in a text are in Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare's plays are the most produced worldwide. I tried to find a list of most produced plays in the U.S. during 2014-2015, but all the lists I could find don't count Shakespeare plays because they would take too many of the positions.

INTERPRETATIONS

Shakespeare's plays are constantly produced and because of this, directors take different interpretations on the plays and make it something unique. To help you understand this, here's some movies that have been based on Shakespeare's writings.

CONTROVERSY

One is that Shakespeare didn't actually write his plays. Since record keeping was shabby, there are theories that the William Shakespeare from S-u-A is different than the Shakespeare who is the actor/writer from London. The main argument is that Shakespeare, a man from a common family, could not have the knowledge he did regarding locations, foreign languages, astronomy, medicine, politics, and law. Further, he had an enormous vocabulary--more than double of the normal person during his time. To have this knowledge, one would have to had traveled Europe, gone to university, and been from a family above the rank of commoners.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So that's it. There's your really quick run through of Shakespeare's life and influence. We'll discuss some of these things as we continue through the class. If you have any questions, please let me know. I don't know everything about Shakespeare's life, but I can do my best to find the answers for you.

-John and Mary Shakespeare were wealthy enough to own the largest house on Henley Street.

-William Shakespeare was born in that house and grew up here with his parents and siblings.

-He would later spend the first five years of his marriage living here with his wife Anne Hathaway.

1585-1592

Poor girl--she's going to have a lifetime of parental humiliation.

1592-1610

1564-1585

Brief Biography

Since Shakespeare was the son of a leading Stratford citizen, we can assume that he certainly attended Stratford's grammer school, beginning at the age of 7.

Although, he probably had learned his letters and basic reading before then.

Shakespeare most likely attended until about age 15 and there is no record of him attending university.

In the years ahead, Anne and the children lived in Stratford while Shakespeare worked in London, although we don't know when he moved there.

Some later observers have suggested that this separation, and the couple's relatively few children, were signs of a strained marriage, but we do not know that, either.

2. Shakespeare prospered financially from his partnership in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men), as well as from his writing and acting. He invested much of his wealth in real-estate purchases in Stratford and bought the second-largest house in town, New Place, in 1597.

1610-1616

A Jaime Production

Lasting Legacy

Sir Francis Bacon

The "So what?" Part

Edward de Vere--Earl of Oxford

The real Shakespeare?

*American Theatre omits Shakespeare productions and holiday-themed shows A Christmas Carol and Santaland Diaries from the list. If we didn’t, they would show up every year and we would run out of ways to say, “The top play in the country is….Christmas Carol! Again!” But if you really want to know, this season, Christmas Carol is getting 46 productions, Santaland Diaries is getting 8 productions and the most-produced Shakespeare plays are A Midsummer Night’s Dream (10) and Romeo and Juliet (8).

• William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is one of the greatest and most prolific authors in the history of literature.
• In total, he wrote 38 plays, as well as 154 sonnets and several other poetic works.
• His theatrical works include comedies, histories, and tragedies, which to this day are read and performed more often than those of any other playwright, living or dead.

To Summarize...

What good would this be without a bit of controversy?