The Renaissance Period

1
Shakespeare His Life and Times

• The Renaissance Period
• Elizabethan Era
• (Queen Elizabeth)

Adapted from http//www.public.asu.edu/muckerrm/E
nglish_321_S2005/Introduction.ppt
2
Early Life

• Born 1564died 1616
• born around April 23,1564. We know this from the
  earliest record his baptism which happened on
  Wednesday, April the 26th, 1564 Therefore, it is
  celebrated three days earlier.
• In Stratford-upon-Avon
• Parents John and Mary Arden Shakespeare
• Marydaughter of wealthy landowner
• Johnglovemaker, local politician

From http//perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
3
Location of Stratford-upon-Avon
As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the
Boy (1896).
From http//www.where-can-i-find.com/tourist-maps
.html
4
Education

• Probably attended Kings New School in Stratford
• His school day was long and rigorous
• Educated in
• -Rhetoric -Logic
• -History -Latin
• Shakespeare dropped out of middle school when
  his father lost his fortune

From http//perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
5
Married Life

• Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was
  pregnant at the time with their first daughter
• Had twins in 1585- Hamnet Judith
• Hamnet died from the plague at age 11
• Sometime between 1583-1592, he moved to London
  and began working in theatre.
• The years 1583-1592 are know as The Lost Years
• No one know where he was, or what he was doing
  during those years

6
Anne Hathaways Cottage
From http//perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
7
His Work

• He goes to London where he writes his first
  plays.
• 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare
• 14 comedies
• 10 histories
• 10 tragedies
• 4 romances
• Possibly wrote three others
• Collaborated on several others
• 154 sonnets (mostly written between 1596 and 1603)

8
His Work

• He is not only a playwright but an actor as well.
  
• The theatres close down because of the plague in
  1592. He writes book-length poems at this time
  called Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece
• When the theaters reopen, he writes more plays
  and becomes a charter member of Lord
  Chamberlains Men

9
The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London
10
Shakespeares Major Works
1599 Julius Ceasar 1599-1600 - As You Like
It1600-02 - Twelfth Night 1600-01
Hamlet1597-1601 - The Merry Wives of
Windsor1600-01 - "The Phoenix and the
Turtle"1601-02 - Troilus and Cressida1602-04
- All's Well That Ends Well1603-04 -
Othello1604 - Measure for Measure1604-09 -
Timon of Athens 1605-06 King Lear 1605-06 Macbeth
1606-07 - Antony and Cleopatra1607-09 -
Coriolanus1608-09 - Pericles1609-1O -
Cymbeline161O-1I - The Winter's Tale161I - The
Tempest1612-13 - Henry VIII1613 - The Two Noble
Kinsmen
1588-93 - The Comedy of Errors1588-92 - Henry
VI (three parts)1592-93 - Richard III1592-94 -
Titus Andronicus1593-94 - The Taming of the
Shrew1593-94 - The Two Gentlemen of
Verona1593-94 - "The Rape of
Lucrece"1593-1600 - "Sonnets"1588-95 - Love's
Labor's Lost 1594-1596 Romeo and Juliet 1595 -
Richard II1594-96 - A Midsummer Night's
Dream1590-97 - King John1592 - "Venus and
Adonis"1596-97 - The Merchant of Venice1597 -
Henry IV (Part I)1597-98 - Henry IV (Part
II)1598-1600 - Much Ado About Nothing1598-99
- Henry V
11
Other events

• In 1603, Queen Elizabeth dies and King James I
  becomes the new ruler of England. Lord
  Chamberlains Men are renamed to The Kings Men
  and Shakespeare writes tragedies.
• In 1608, he moves back to Stratford.

12
Shakespeares Death

• He dies on April 23, 1616 his burial being
  recorded in the Stratford Holy Church Register
  two days later. He was 52.
• Not exactly sure what he died from
• History says he drank too much wine and ate too
  many pickled herrings
• In his will, Shakespeare left money, horses,
  stables, etc. to his two sons-in-law
• But only left his wife one thing- the
  second-best bed
• Was he trying to make a point?

13
Shakespeares Death

• Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in
  his birth village of Stratford.
• His grave is covered by a flat stone that bears
  an epitaph warning of a curse to come upon anyone
  who moves his bones.
• His First Folio was published posthumously by two
  members of the Kings Men