In Preparation of Reading Hamlet

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William Shakespeare

• In Preparation of Reading Hamlet

Picture from http//www.bardweb.net
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Overview

• Shakespeares London
• Iambic What? or Shakespeares Style
• Meet Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

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Shakespeares London

• Elizabethan era (1558 - 1603)
• Reign of Queen Elizabeth
• Globe Theatre (1598)
• Located in London
• Performance place of Lord Chamberlains Men
• Shakespeare was actor AND playwright
• Men only - not an honorable profession
• Re-built after 1613 fire. Later re-opened 1996.

The Globe
Picture from http//www.bardweb.net/
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Personal Life
Shakespeares Birthplace

• Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April, 1564
• Parents John and Mary Arden Shakespeare
• John was a leather merchant, Mary and heiress
• Married Anne Hathaway November 18, 1582
• 3 children Susanna, Hamnet and Judith (twins)
• Hamnet died at age 11
• 1588 - moved to London to pursue theatre
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Picture from http//www.ukstudentlife.com/Travel/T
ours/England/Central.htm
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Iambic What? (style)

• An IAMB is a group of 2 syllables
• The first syllable is unstressed
• The second is stressed
• Ex to-DAY
• Pentameter means every 2 lines has 10 meters

Ex 'Tis NOW the VE ry WITCH ing TIME of NIGHT,
when CHURCH yards YAWN and HELL it SELF breathes
OUT.
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Shakespearean Sonnet

• 14 Lines in Iambic Pentameter
• 3 quartos (4 lines)
• 1 couplet (2 lines)
• Rhyme scheme
• ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• Audio Examples - Shakespearean Sonnets
• HOME

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Meet Hamlet

• Hamlet - Prince of Denmark
• Ghost of Hamlet - Ghost of the former King
• King Claudius - Kings brother
• Queen Gertrude - widow of King, marries Claudius
• Polonius - The Kings advisor
• Ophelia - Polonius daughter
• Laertes - Polonius son
• Horatio - Hamlets companion

Alas, poor Yorik Laurence Olivier as Hamlet
Picture from http//www.teachwithmovies.org/sample
s/hamlet.html
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Theres something rotten in the state of
Denmark

• Plot
• After the ghost of King Hamlet claims he was
  murdered, Hamlet must wrestle with the idea of
  avenging his fathers death.
• Major Themes
• Being vs. seeming
• Grief and guilt
• Revenge
• Death
• Morality
• Freudian psychology

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The Many Faces of Hamlet
Pictures from http//www.imdb/com and
http//www.teachwithmovies.org/samples/hamlet.html
Laurence Olivier - 1948
Nicol Williamson - 1969
Richard Burton - 1964
Mel Gibson - 1990
Kenneth Branagh - 1996
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