An Introduction

William Shakespeare

Translate the following clichés.All that glitters is

not goldLove is blindTower of StrengthFlesh and bloodIn my mind’s eyeFair playMum’s the wordVanish into thin air

Dead as a doornailA sorry sightA laughing stockForever and a dayEaten out of house

and homeNot slept a winkSend you packingWear your heart

upon your sleeve

Yes! They all come from The BardHis language still affects how we speak! That’s why we study him!

Early LifeBorn in Stratford-Upon-

Avon, England on April 23, 1564

Son of Mary and John Shakespeare

John Shakespeare was a glove-maker and an alderman of the town, but lost his position and money due to illegal sheep trafficking.

That’s his home on the right!

School LifeHe attended King’s

New School, which was highly respected.

There he put on Christian plays and memorized the works of the Greeks.

He was introduced to acting when a traveling troupe came to perform.

A Player?At 18, he married

Anne Hathaway, who was 26. (Rumor is that she was pregnant)

They moved into Anne’s home with her family and proceeded to procreate.

They had 3 children that survived after infancy: Hamnet, Judith, and Susanna

The Lost Years: A Deadbeat?Will soon left Anne

and the kids behind to live with her family—supposedly to make some cash.

We think he was a teacher, but there is speculation that he traded in illegal wool.

A Move to the CityWe do know that

he soon moved to London where he joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, an acting troupe

He also met James Burbage in London—an important friendship was struck!

The Globe TheatreJames Burbage was

the owner of a theatre where Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed. It was simply named “The Theatre”

Unfortunately, he owed his landlord money and was threatened with foreclosure.

The GlobeInstead of paying

back rent, Burbage, his son, and a few cronies went late at night and moved “The Theatre” across the Thames River.

It was renamed “The Globe”

The GlobeThis theatre can

hold 3000 people---just not comfortably.

Think of plays as the superbowl—they were one of the only forms of entertainment.

The Globe was an open-air theatre that opened for people of all classes.

The Layout

Shakespeare’s Later LifeShakespeare wrote

and acted throughout his life, never returning to his wife at Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Four years after his retirement, he died of a fever on April 23, 1616.

He is buried under the floor of the Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon

His LegacyOn his tomb is a

curse to anyone who dares to move his bones, which is perhaps why he has never been relocated to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London