William Shakespeare
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Transcript of William Shakespeare
*Who is he?
*A famous playwright and actor
*Born on 23rd April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon
*Son of John and Mary Shakespeare
*Married to Anne Hathaway and had three children
*Died on the 23rd April 1616
*High social status
*Father was town mayor
*Mother was from a rich and ancient landowning family
*Childhood Life
*Attended the King’s New School
*Left school at age fifteen or sixteen
*Became an apprentice in his father’s shop
*How did he became a writer?
*He was an actor at first
*The bubonic plague closed the theatres of London, so Shakespeare turned to writing
*Inspired by other great writers of his age
*Shakespeare’s Plays
*He wrote many plays
*Some famous plays include “Macbeth”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
*Plays were very well received and he grew rich, rich enough to buy the second largest house in Stratford
*Shakespearian England
*An age of great poetry and drama
*Science and Medical knowledge was progressing very fast
*Many people believed in astrology
*Protestant
*Ruled by Queen Elizabeth I
*Affected by the Renaissance
*Social System
*Everyone at any level of society was very likely to remain there
*Could not rise to a position of power through education
*Example a farmer’s son was likely to remain a farmer
*There was a system of hierarchy
*Impact on Shakespeare’s
Works
*His plays reflect the difference between the classes of people
*Usually about aristocrats or famous people
*Elizabethan Theatres
*Theatres had no roof
*No electricity and lighting
*Central area contained a stage and a yard
*Contained seats at the higher floors
*Extra floors above the back of the stage which contained machinery
*Trapdoors going down through the stage
*Back stage
*No scenery
*Impact on Shakespeare’s
Plays
*His plays include inside scenes
*The backstage was used for Juliet’s tomb in “Romeo and Juliet”
*Sometimes, there were scenes which used the area under the stage, scenes such as tomb and prison scenes
*The actors could move freely
*Plays had to rely on words to show the audience where the scene was set
*The Renaissance
*Rebirth of learning
*Increased interest in the art and learning of ancient Greece and Rome
*Marked the end of the middle ages and the start of the modern world
*Began in Italy in the 1400s
*The Renaissance
*The scholars, scientists and artists had new ideas, but also turned to the past
*Greater knowledge of ancient science and beliefs
*Scholars were inspired think again about established religious thinking
*New theories such as the theory of the Sun being the centre of the Solar System
*Impact on Shakespeare’s
Plays
*One of Shakespeare’s plays, “Julius Caesar”, is based on the ancient Roman general, Julius Caesar
*His play “Richard II” illustrated the struggle of a heirless throne, in the case of Queen Elizabeth I
*Shakespeare’s Influence
*He greatly influenced the English Language
*Before, the English Language was not fixed
*Once his plays became popular, they helped to standardize the English Language
*Many Shakespearean words and phrases became embedded in the English Language