Shakespeare and Stuff
Information on Shakespeare, his life, and his plays.
Biographical Info
1564-1616 Born in Stratford-upon-Avon,
England Wrote tragedies, histories,
and comedies Wrote 38 plays and appx.
154 sonnets Began as an actor Writes in Modern English
Romeo and Juliet
Written about 1595 Tragedy West Side Story High class characters speak in iambic
pentameter Low class characters speak in prose Awesome play
Interesting Facts
Opening scenes could promise supernatural beings, a party, or a fight
Humpty Dumpty=tragedy Food at play-meats, fruits, nuts, biscuits
The Theater
Public playsRoofless- open airNo artificial lightingCourtyard surrounded by 3 levels
of galleries
Audience
Rich-benches“Groundlings” or “droolers” or
“stinkards”- pit– Uneducated
Theater
Stage-platform that extended into the pit
Dressing & storage rooms in galleries behind & above stage
Second-level gallery-upper stageTrap door-ghosts“Heavens”- angelic beings
Pictures!
The Play
No scenerySettings - references in dialogueElaborate costumesPlenty of propsFast-paced, colorfulCrowd interaction
Actors
Only men and boysYoung boys whose voices had not
changed play women’s rolesWould have been considered
indecent for a woman to appear on stage
Conflict
The struggle that develops– man vs. man– man vs. himself– man vs. society– man vs. nature
Tragedy
Drama where the central character/s suffer disaster/great misfortune– In many tragedies, downfall results from:
FateCharacter flaw/Fatal flawCombination of the two
Characters
Static-stays the same Round-multi-faceted Flat-one-dimensional Dynamic-change Dramatic foil-shows off another
Tools Used
Monologue-1 person speaking on stage Soliloquy- long speech, alone, thoughts Aside-softly spoken, private Direct address-characters addressing: “fair
coz” Pun-humorous language
Comic Relief
Comedy within literature that is NOT comedy
Irony
Dramatic- contradiction between what character thinks and what audience knows
Situational- event occurs that contradicts expectations
Verbal- words to express opposite