Who Was Shakespeare?
Where and when was he born?
The name of the era in which Shakespeare lived and worked was the
_____________________ era, which was named for the ruling monarch of the time. Her
name was Queen ______________________ I.
Name 5 Shakespeare playes.
What was the name of Shakespeare’s acting troupe?
What was the name of the theatre that Shakespeare built and performed most of his
plays?
Name the four genre’s of Shakespeare’s plays.
3 storied, open aired wooden theatre, shaped like an O. Those that stood on the
ground were peasants and were refered to as the groundlings. Plays were
performed during the day to take advantage of the daylight.
Language
What’s the difference between poetry and prose?
iamb – a unit of meter which included a coupling of an unstressed syllable followed
by a stressed syllable
pentameter – 5 units of metre
iambic pentameter – verse written with 5 iamb’s (the iamb being the unit of metre)
in a line. 10 syllables in all
Shakespeare worte in poetry that was called “unrhymed iambic pentameter”
He also wrote in prose
Drama of the English Renaissance
The importance of Words
No fancy props or costumes at their disposal. They had a few stock costumes that
they used over and over. They only had the sun to light their stage, so they only had
Shakespeare’s words to with which to impress the audience
Plays are primarily verbal, not visual. Shakespeare used the words to express the
mood and setting of the plays.
Even though Shakespeare wrote in this heightened poetic language, most of the
common people of the Elizabethan era did not speak this way.
Real life vs. stage life.
-
unlike modern movies which assume that the characters are real, the
characters in Shakespeare’s play are always understood to be characters.
Stick to the information that is included in the play. Don’t speculate about
the characters beyond this. If it didn’t happen on the stage, then it didn’t
happen.
3 ways to gather information about a character
Symbolic Art
-
Shakespeare was influenced by medieval art because of it’s deeply symbolic
nature
Universal – Evil Particular – Villain
Universal – holiness Particular –Saint
Other Universals….
Truth
Beauty
Justice
Purity
Example of Symbolic Art in Shakespeare
Universal
Storm inside Lear’s mind
Reaction of the universe to Lear’s
violation of moral order
Particular
Raging Storm in King Lear
Standard Deviants School - Shakespeare Module 1:
Intro to Shakespeare
1. During what period did William Shakespeare live and work?
a) the Age of Enlightenment
b) the Elizabethan Era
c) the Romantic Era
d) the Italian Renaissance
2. Where was Shakespeare born?
a) Stratford-on-Avon
b) London-on-Thames
c) Once-upon-a-Thames
d) Hamm-on-Wye
3. What was the name of the theatrical company of which
Shakespeare was a member?
a) The King's Men
b) The Queen's Men
c) The Chessmen
d) The Man's Men
4. Which of the following was an attribute of the Globe Theater?
a) three-story, open-air construction
b) extended stage with trapdoor
c) shaped like an "O"
d) all of the above
5. Which of the following was not an attribute of the Elizabethan
stage?
a) performed in front of "groundlings"
b) huge special effects
c) no female actors
d) no intermissions between acts
6. Shakespeare was involved with the Globe Theater as:
a) an actor
b) a playwright
c) a shareholder
d) all of the above
7. Shakespeare wrote all of the following except:
a) plays
b) sonnets
c) novels
d) book-length poems
8. Which of the following describes the syllable structure of an
iamb?
a) stressed, stressed
b) unstressed, stressed
c) stressed, unstressed
d) freaked out, chilled
9. Shakespeare often wrote in blank verse because it:
a) is much cheaper then full verse
b) closely resembles the natural rhythms of speech
c) was mandated by Queen Elizabeth
d) is a favorite of the ladies
10. How many iambs does a line of perfect iambic pentameter
contain?
a) one complete iamb
b) five
c) ten
d) varies according to meter
Glossary of Shakespearean Terms
Elizabethan Age—The time in England during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I (1558-1603) in which there was immense creativity in the
arts.
Globe Theater—The "O"-shaped, open-air theater in London where
many of Shakespeare's plays were originally performed.
groundlings — Spectators at the Globe Theater who stood on the ground
in front of the stage while watching a Shakespearean play.
iamb—A unit of speech that contains one unstressed syllable followed
by a stressed syllable.
iambic pentameter— A poetic form that consists of five iambs.
Shakespeare often used this form in his plays to mimic the natural
rhythms of the English language.
Lord Chamberlain's Men—Shakespeare's acting company, who,
starting in 1603, were known as the King's Men.
poetry—A concentrated and heightened form of language, produced
through rhythm and sound. Also known as "verse."
prose—The language of everyday, ordinary speech.
sonnet—A fourteen-line poem that employs a particular rhyme scheme.
Stratford-on-Avon —Village in England where Shakespeare was born
in 1564. Often shortened to "Stratford."
tragedy—A form of dramatic art which follows the fall, pain, and
suffering of the tragic figure.
tragic figure—The main character of a tragedy; experiences a reversal of
fortune and endures uncommon suffering with uncommon dignity.
verse—Another name for poetry.
Aristotle—Ancient Greek philosopher who wrote The Poetics, which
details his ideas on drama, including tragedy.