William Shakespeare
“A man for all time.” – Ben Jonson
www.classes.southcoservices.com/Shakespeare.ppt
His Life
 born April 1564 (St. George’s Day)
 Stratford-upon-Avon
 died April 23, 1616
 parents
 John Shakespeare and Mary Arden
 parents wealthy and successful
 third child of eight
 Joan, Margaret, William, Gilbert, Joan, Anne
Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare’s birthplace
Stratford-upon-Avon
Present Day
Shakespeare’s Townhome
His Life (cont)
 married Anne Hathaway
 November 27, 1582
 Anne was 26, Will was 18
 children
 Susanna (1583) – oldest and Will’s favorite
 twins (1585) – Hamnet and Judith
 grandchildren
 Susanna Hall’s children – Elizabeth (1608)
 Judith Quinney’s children – Shakespeare, Richard, and Thomas
His Career
 wrote 37 plays and about 154 sonnets
 Histories, Comedies, and Tragedies
 started out as an actor
 Lord Chamberlain’s Men (London theater co.)
 principal playwright for Lord Ch. Co.
 1599 – Lord Ch. Co. build Globe Theater where
most of Shakespeare’s plays were performed.
Elizabethan Era
 named for Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603)
 The “Renaissance” Period
 “Renaissance” means REBIRTH
 rebirth of Humanism
 rebirth of cultural achievements
 rebirth of music, literature, plays, art, other talents
Queen Elizabeth
The Elizabethan Stage
 Plays produced for general public
 open air theaters – roofless
 plays performed during afternoon or early
evening
 no artificial lighting
 courtyard surrounded by 3 levels of galleries
Staging Areas
 stage – platform extended into the pit
 dressing and storage rooms in galleries behind
and above stage
 second-level gallery – upper stage
 famous balcony scene in R & J
 trap door
 ghosts
 “heavens”
 angelic beings
Audience/Spectators
 wealthy got benches
 “groundlings”
 lower class stood and watched from the courtyard
(pit)
 all but wealthy were uneducated/illiterate
 audience interacted
Actors
 considered indecent (inappropriate) for a woman
to appear on stage
 only men and boys
 young boys whose voice had not changed played
women’s roles
Some Famous Quotes
 “To be or not to be,--that is the question.” ---Hamlet
 “All the world’s a stage.”---AsYou Like It
 "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
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smell as sweet".---Romeo and Juliet
"Off with his head!“---King Richard III
"Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say
good night till it be morrow.”---Romeo and Juliet
"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve
greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them".---Twelfth Night
"But, for my own part, it was Greek to me".---Julius Ceasar
"This above all: to thine own self be true". ---Hamlet
For more information:
 www.william-shakespeare.info
 www.shakespeare.com
 study guides
 quotes
 biography
 www.bardweb.net
 biography
 www.absoluteshakespeare.com
 quotes
 facts
 summaries