1564 - 1616
In his will, he left his wife his
"second-best“ bed.
 He was said to have enjoyed
playing the part of the ghost in
Hamlet.
 Boys and men played all the
parts in Shakespeare's plays in
Elizabethan times, even the role
of Juliet.
 Shakespeare invented over 1700
words, such as “buzzer”, “label”,
“luggage” and “lonely”
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A laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
A sorry sight (Macbeth)
As dead as a doornail (Henry VI)
Eaten out of house and home (Henry V, Part 2)
Fair play (The Tempest)
I will wear my heart upon my sleeve (Othello)
In a pickle (The Tempest)
In stitches (Twelfth Night)
In the twinkling of an eye (The Merchant Of Venice)
Mum's the word (Henry VI, Part 2)
Neither here nor there (Othello)
Send him packing (Henry IV)
Set your teeth on edge (Henry IV)
There's method in my madness (Hamlet)
Too much of a good thing (As You Like It)
Vanish into thin air (Othello)
According to research from the National
Year of Reading, showing a knowledge
of Shakespeare is the second-mostlikely way to impress your date.
(Apparently, having read The Autobiography of
Nelson Mandela is first!)
1564 - 1616
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Her reign (1533-1603) is often called “The
Golden Age of England”
There were few records, but the baptismal
registry for Shakespeare still exists. He was
baptized on April 26, 1564. Tradition called
for a baby to be baptized three days after
birth.
Facsimile of registrar of baptism—Reads “William son of John Shakesper”
John Shakespeare was a successful businessman (a
glove-maker).
 He also served in various government positions in
Stratford-on-Avon, including alderman, bailiff,
councilman and constable.
 He owned a large house on Henley Street where his
son was born.
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Mary Arden was the youngest daughter of an
influential and wealthy family.
She inherited her father’s farm in 1556.
King’s New Grammar School in Stratford taught boys
basic reading and writing, as well as Latin, the classics
and rhetoric. It is assumed that William attended this
school, as did all boys from good families.
 There is no evidence that he had further education.
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Average life expectancy at birth for English
people in the late 16th/early 17th centuries
was just under 40 –39.7 years, due to the
high rate of infant mortality.
Medicine
was primitive
For example, a common remedy for an
earache was to put a roasted onion in the ear.
To cure a stye, a person was supposed to rub
his eye with the tail of a black tomcat.
Disease was widespread, largely because of the
lack of sanitation. The streets of cities, towns, and
villages were open sewers where people threw
out garbage and emptied chamber pots. The
streets became a perfect breeding ground for rats,
lice, fleas, viruses, diseases, and germs.
One of the biggest
killers of Elizabethan
times was the
Plague, or "Black
Death,"
•
Began in the early 1330s. The bubonic plague mainly
affects rodents, but fleas can transmit the disease to
people
•
The disease causes spots on the skin that are red at first
and then turn black. People with the disease often
develop a purplish tinge to their skin as they grow sicker..
•
The disease struck and killed people with terrible speed.
The Italian writer Boccaccio said its victims often "ate
lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in
paradise.”
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In winter the disease seemed to disappear, each
spring, the plague attacked again. After the first five
years of the plague, 25 million people were dead-one-third of Europe's people.
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During an outbreak of the plague, city-dwellers
would try to escape to the countryside to avoid it.
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All Elizabethans enjoyed theater. Even those in the
countryside would attend the shows of traveling actors or
puppeteers. Shakespeare may have first been exposed to
theater by attending
the performance
of a traveling troupe
that performed in the
Guild Hall at Stratford
during his youth.
Clean straw was usually strewn under the dining table in
the great halls. Guests would then toss bones and
garbage onto the straw as they dined. After the feast,
fresh straw was spread to cover the remains of the
meal. Archaeologists have excavated multiple layers of
this straw and garbage representing hundreds of years
of dining in old castles.
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First Course
Miniature pastries filled with cod liver or beef marrow
A cameline meat "brewet," pieces of meat in a thin cinnamon sauce
Beef marrow
fritters
Eels in a thick spicy puree
Loach in cold-green sauce flavored with spices and sage
Large cuts of roast or boiled meat
Saltwater fish
Second Course
Frumenty
(hulled wheat boiled in milk, with flavored sugar and spices)
Freshwater fish
Broth with bacon
A meat tile
Capon pasties and crisps
Bream and eel pasties
Blancmange
Third Course
Venison
Lampreys with hot sauce
Fritters
Jellies
Roast bream and darioles
(a dariole is a small cream tart
with puff pastry, in a circular mold)
Sturgeon
Dessert
Spiced wine (for digestion)
Wafers
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Every season of the year had special days, such Shrove
Tuesday, Mayday, Easter, Midsummer’s Eve, various Saints’
Days, harvest festivals and the winter holidays which began
with Christmas and ended on Twelfth Night.
Activities included feasts and carnivals with bell ringing,
masking, gaming, ducking for apples, dancing, and bonfires.
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A bond certificate shows that William Shakespeare married
Anne Hathaway on November the 28th, 1582.
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William Shakespeare was eighteen year old and Anne was
twenty-six and pregnant.
The Hathaway Family Cottage
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Six months after the Shakespeares were
married, Susanna was born in May, 1583.
Baptism records reveal that twins Hamnet
and Judith were born in February 1585.
Hamnet, William's only son died in 1596, just
eleven years old.
No records for Shakespeare exist between
1585 and 1592. That period is called “The
Lost Years”.
The earliest written record of Shakespeare's life in
London comes from a statement by the rival playwright
Robert Greene who in 1592, wrote that Shakespeare
was an "upstart crow...[who] supposes he is as well able
to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you“—
showing he already provoked jealousy!
During the 1590’s there were several virulent
outbreaks of the plague which caused all
public places, including theaters, to be
closed.
During this time, when Shakespeare was forced
to take a break from writing and performing
in plays, he wrote nearly all of his sonnets.
In 1594, Shakespeare became a charter member of the Lord
Chamberlain's Men—a group of actors who changed their name
to the King's Men when James I ascended to the throne.
By 1598, he was the
"principal comedian"
for the troupe; by 1603,
he was "principal tragedian."
The Globe Theatre in London was where
most of William Shakespeare's plays were
first presented.
•The Globe Theater
•was the most
•magnificent theatre
that London had ever
seen when it was
completed in 1599.
•Shares in the theater
were divided among
members of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men,
which eventually made Shakespeare a
wealthy man.
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The theatre itself was a closed structure with an open
courtyard where the stage stood.
Tiered galleries around the open area
accommodated the wealthier patrons who could
afford seats.
The lower classes or “groundlings” stood in
the open, uncovered area around the stage.
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The Globe was shaped like a drum with a thatched
gallery roof which was make of straw. The roof had
to be coated with a special fire retardant to protect
it from cannons and other fiery special effects.
The Globe is thought to have been capable of
accommodating fairly large crowds - perhaps as many
as 2,000 people - during a performance.
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a “Tiring House” which
was the dressing room.
It had two large doors
from which to enter and
exit.
space under and behind
the stage used for special
effects and storage.
an upper stage, like a balcony with windows & a curtain
hanging from it to serve as another entrance.
trap doors for the appearance of ghosts, witches or devils, or
to simulate a grave.
bones, intestines & blood of animals
blood-soaked handkerchief
 blood-filled pig bladder exploded at proper time
 cannon, fireworks, smoke
 music, chimes, bells, drums
 wires, ropes, harnesses
 furniture & other props such as flowers, swords, skulls, etc.
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After Queen Elizabeth’s death, her cousin James ascended to
the throne. Thus in 1603, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
became known as The King’s Men with patronage from King
James I.
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Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1613.
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He had become
quite wealthy
due to some
very lucrative
real estate
investments in
Stratford.
Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52.
His last surviving descendant was his granddaughter Elizabeth Barnard, daughter of Susanna
 Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in
Stratford.
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