Shakespeare: His Life and Times
What comes to mind when you hear, “SHAKESPEARE?”
Early Life
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Born 1564—died 1616
Stratford-upon-Avon
Parents: John and Mary Arden
Shakespeare
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Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner
John—glovemaker, local politician
Location of Stratford-upon-Avon
From: http://www.where-can-i-find.com/tourist-maps.html
Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeare’s Time
As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the Boy (1896).
Stratford-upon-Avon Today
From Stratford’s web site: http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/index.htm
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
Education
• Probably attended King’s New School in
Stratford
• Educated in:
• Rhetoric
• Logic
• History
• Latin
King’s New School
From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
Married Life
• Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who
was pregnant at the time with their first
daughter
• Had twins in 1585
• Sometime between 1585-1592, he moved
to London and began working in theatre.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
Theatre Career
• Member and later part-owner of the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, later called the King’s Men
• Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with
Shakespeare as primary investor
• Burned down in 1613 during one of
Shakespeare’s plays
The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London
The Globe Theater
The Plays
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38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare
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14 comedies
10 histories
10 tragedies
4 romances
Possibly wrote three others
Collaborated on several others
The Poetry
• 154 Sonnets
• Numerous other poems
Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
•5th-12th Centuries (400-1100)
• Old English is the language of Beowulf:
Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum
Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon
Hu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!
(Hey! We have heard of the glory of the SpearDanes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how
noble princes showed great courage!)
Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”
•12-16th centuries (1100-1500)
• Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawainpoet, and Malory:
We redeth oft and findeth y-write—
And this clerkes wele it wite—
Layes that ben in harping
Ben y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)
“Often in books - and men of letters will vouch for this - we find tales
that were originally intended to be sung and which have lying at
their core some strange and wonderful things.”
Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern
English.” (1500-1650s)
• EME was not very different from
“Modern English” (1650s to now)
Shakespeare’s Language
• A mix of old and very new
• Rural and urban words/images
• Understandable by the lowest
peasant and the highest noble
QUIZ
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When (approx) did Shakespeare live?
What social class was he born into?
How many children did he have?
What theater did he help build?
What four categories do his plays fit into?
Did Shakespeare write in Old English,
Middle English, Early Modern English, or
Modern English?