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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
To the dismay of high school students
everywhere. Reading Shakespeare is a
requirement in nearly all high schools across
the USA
Why?
SHAKESPEARE BACKGROUND
Between 1590 and 1613, he is attributed with writing 38
plays, Famous Shakespearean sonnets and other works.
He is the most widely read of all Authors
The popularity of the Life and Works of Shakespeare, in
English speaking countries, is second only to the Bible.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Date of Birth? • The birthday of William Shakespeare has been set as
April 23rd 1564
Born: Stratford-upon-Avon, England
His Parents were John and Mary Shakespeare
Two older sibling died due to the Bubonic
Plague
Married to Anne Hathaway
B R O T H E R S A N D S I S T E R S O F W I L L I A M S H A K E S P E A R E
Joan was the first child of John and Mary was baptized 1558 September 15 (she only survived two months)Margaret was baptized 1562 December 2 - she died one year laterWilliam was baptized 1564 April 26 (died 1616 aged 52 )Gilbert was baptized 1566 October 13 (died 1612 aged 46)Another daughter, also called Joan, was born in 1569 (died 1646 aged 77)Anne was baptized 1571 September 28 (1579 died aged 8)Richard was baptized 1574 March 11 (died 1613 aged 39)Edmund was baptized 1580 May 3 (died 1607 aged 27)
EDUCATION
Most biographers agree that Shakespeare was probably educated
at the King's New School in Stratford.
Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but
the grammar curriculum was standardized by royal decree
throughout England, and the school would have provided an
intensive education in Latin grammar based upon Latin classical
authors.
Left school at age 14
TYPES OF PLAYS
Comedies
Tragedies
Histories
TRAGEDIES
Wrote from the start of his career. One of his earliest tragic plays
was Titus Andronicus, which he followed a few years later with
Romeo and Juliet.
**** FOUR BEST tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and
Macbeth.
Similar to Aristotle's precept about tragedy:• protagonist must be an admirable but flawed character, with the
audience able to sympathize with the character. Certainly, capable of both good and evil.
COMEDIES
Upbeat ending, usually involving marriages between the
unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-
hearted than his other plays. Patterns in the comedies include
movement to a "green world," both internal and external
conflicts.
HISTORIES
Based on the lives of English kings. Therefore they can be
more accurately called the "English history plays," a less
common designation.
Plays like Julius Caesar and Macbeth are actually
considered Tragedies.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I
During the 1590s, some of the great names of English literature
entered their maturity, including William Shakespeare. During
this period the English theatre reached its highest peaks.
The notion of a great Elizabethan age depends largely on the
builders, dramatists, poets, and musicians who were active during
Elizabeth's reign. They owed little directly to the queen, who was
never a major patron of the arts.
GLOBE THEATER
Shakespeare was one of several owners and he
lived off of the ticket sales for the remaining
years of his life.
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