William Shakespeare 1564-1616

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William Shakespeare 1564-1616
All the world 's a stage, / And all the men and
women merely players.
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• Born on April 23, 1564
• in Stratford-on-Avon in
• England.
• Died April 23, 1616
• Married Anne Hathaway
• at age 18
• (his wife was 26)
• Worked as an actor,
• poet, playwright,
• businessman.
• Had 3 children.
• Spent most of his time in London
• working in the theater while his family
• was back home.

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Shakespeare

• He owned part of The Globe Theater.
• He owned part of a Troupe called Lord
  Chamberlains men, and later called the Kings
  men. A troupe is a group of actors (10 12 men).
  
• All of his plays have 5 acts each and were
  written in BLANK VERSE (unrhymed iambic
  pentameter).

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The Globe Theater 1599
Burned in 1613
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The Globe

• Was a 3 story wooden building that held 3,000
  theatergoers.
• In the center was an open-air courtyard with a
  platform stage on which the plays were performed.
  
• A white flag flew at the Globe the day a play was
  performed to advertise it.
• The people paying the least amount for admissions
  were called GROUNDLINGS. They only paid a PENNY!
• Groundlings stood in the pit, the part of the
  courtyard right near the stage.
• Groundlings tended to be very loud with
  appreciation, cheering the heroes, yelling
  insults at the villains, and laughing loudly at
  humorous characters jokes.

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The Globe

• All the social classes enjoyed the plays there
  was a little something for everyone included
  powerful speeches, fancy sword fights, humor,
  eerie supernatural events, and insightful
  observations about human nature.

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The Plays

• Comedy
• Tragedy
• Historical

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Comedies

• The Taming of the Shrew
• Much Ado About Nothing
• As You Like It
• Twelfth Night
• Midsummer Nights Dream

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Tragedies

• Hamlet
• Romeo and Juliet
• Othello
• King Lear
• Macbeth
• Julius Caesar

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Shakespeares Contribution to the English Language

• He invented 32,000 words.
• We use about 5,000 today.

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Have you heard these phrases?

• I couldnt sleep a wink.
• He was dead as a doornail.
• Shes a tower of strength.
• They hoodwinked us.
• Im green-eyed with jealousy.
• Wed better lie low for awhile.
• Keep a civil tongue in your head.

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Julius Caesar (The Play)

• Shakespeare borrowed his information for this
  play from Plutarchs book called Lives of Noble
  Grecians and Romans.
• Shakespeare took what really happened over three
  years and condensed it to make it look like three
  days.

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Julius Caesar (The Play)

• Written in 1599
• Set in 44 BC in Rome
• Theme of the play Why Caesar was murdered and
  what happened to his murderers.
• Although the title of the play is Julius Caesar,
  Caesar is not the main character. The protagonist
  of the play is Marcus Brutus.

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Julius Caesar (The History)

• Julius Caesar was one of the first of the great
  European dictators.
• He was popular with the common people (called
  Plebains), but he wasnt so popular with some of
  his former political allies and some of the upper
  class (called patricians).
• He was a great military leader. He conquered Gaul
  (France) and Belgium and invaded Britain twice.

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Julius Caesar (The History)

• In the Civil War, he defeated Pompey (a member of
  the first triumvirate (meaning 3-men ruling). He
  pursued Pompey to Egypt but Pompey was killed by
  Caesar supporters before Caesar arrived.
• He met Cleopatra and stayed awhile in Egypt. He
  later defeated Pompeys army and sons. He granted
  amnesty to all opposing generals in an attempt to
  unite Rome, which was a major error in judgment.

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Julius Caesar

• Julius Caesar is a TRAGEDY.
• Tragedy is a drama in which a series of actions
  leads to the downfall of the main character,
  called the tragic hero.
• Tragic Hero is the main character of a tragedy,
  whose actions or error lead to their downfall.
• Is usually of high social rank
• Tragic flaw (error in judgment leads to
  downfall).
• Suffers complete ruin or death
• Faces his or her downfall with courage and
  dignity

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Julius Caesar (The Play)

• 6 characteristics of a Tragedy
• Hero is a person of high rank whose fate affects
  the destiny of others.
• Hero is an outstanding and admirable man.
• Hero has a tragic flaw.
• Dual conflict external and internal
• Good always prevails in the end.
• Use of the supernatural or coincidence.

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Important Literary Techniques

• Dramatic Irony when the audience knows more
  than one or more of the characters. Its builds
  suspense.
• Ex. Caesar does not know that people are plotting
  against him, but the audience does.
• Soliloquy is a speech given by a character
  alone on stage used to reveal his or her private
  thoughts and feelings. May help audience
  understand characters motivation.
• Aside a characters remarks, either to the
  audience or to another character, that no one
  else onstage is supposed to hear. This lets the
  audience in on the characters thoughts or
  secrets.

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Important Literary Techniques

• Repetition use of words and phrases more than
  once to emphasize ideas.
• Ex.Therein, ye gods, make the weak most strong
  therein ye gods you tyrants do defeat. (Act One,
  Scene 3, Lines 91-92).
• Parallelism the repetition of grammatical
  structures to express ideas that are related or
  of equal importance.
• Ex. Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I
  loved Rome more. (Act Three, Scene 2, Line 20).
• Rhetorical Questions the use of questions that
  require no answer to make the speakers rightness
  seem self evident.
• Ex. Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves?
  Alas, you know not! (Act Three, Scene 2, Lines
  232-233).