Well-known Facts about Will
• One of greatest writers of
England
• Plays translated into all
languages, musicals,
ballets
• Born Stratford-upon-Avon
• Well-to-do, affluent most
of the time while alive
• Most quoted, next to the
Bible
Lesser-known Facts
• Teen father: married pregnant 26
year old Anne Hathaway when
he was 18
• Deadbeat dad: Left wife and
children for London stage career
• Father of 3 kids including twins
Hamnet and Judith
• Hamnet died at age 11
• Elizabethan rapper: uses rhythm
and rhyme
• “Plagiarism” ? Based plays of
Greek plays and other works—
some say stole work from other
playwrights of his time.
Competitions of the time 1500 –
1600 hundreds
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bear-baiting
Races
Gambling
Music
Drinking/socializing
Prostitution
Public executions
Conditions in LondonHORRIBLE!
• Thames River
polluted with raw
sewage
• Trees used up for
fuel
• Extreme Poverty
• Lack of clean water
Personal hygiene/health
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bathing considered dangerous
Body odor strong
Childhood diseases
Children often died before 5 years
Small Pox
Bubonic Plague
Living Conditions
• No running
water
• Chamber Pots
QuickTime™ and a
GIF dec ompres sor
are needed to s ee this pic ture.
(Ladies walked on
inside or right)
• Open Sewers
• Crowded
Clothes
QuickTime™ and a
Photo - JPEG decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• One set used all year
long, rarely washed
• Underclothing slept in,
infrequently changed
• Clothes handed down
from rich to poor
Theater in London
• Performed in courtyards
of inns
• The Theater-first public
theater-1576
• Daytime/open air
• Limited set design
• Relied on music, sound,
costumes, props and great
description
The Globe
• Built in 1599
• Across the Thames (Tams)- “Wrong side of
town”
• King’s Players - Shakespeare’s company
• Penny admission
Actors
• All men
• Female parts played
by young boys
• No actual kissing or
hugging on stage
• Women not allowed
on stage until after
1660.
The groundlings
• Poor audience member
• Stood around stage in
“the pit” (on the
ground)
• Women not allowed
(had to dress up as
men to attend)
• Threw rotten
vegetables at bad
performances
Romeo and Juliet
•
•
•
•
Tragedy
Written in 1595
Set in Verona, Italy
Themes: parental
control/rebellious
teens; fate/freewill;
impulsive
behavior/self-control
Othello
• Othello & Iago
•Racism
•Love and Betrayal
•Isolation
•Truth versus Lies/Rumors
•Anger and Bad Choices
•Parental Control
•Setting: Venice then Cyprus
•Genre: Tragedy
•Time: 1601 -1604
Play’s source
• Widely held belief that the
inspiration for Othello came
from the 1566 Venetian
novel Hecatommithi,
authored by Giraldi
• Shakespeare reworks the plot
to reveal a stunning
psychological depth, the
fragility of love and power
as well as, the effect that the
destructive demons of selfdeception, doubt and
suspicion can have on a
marriage.
Queen Elizabeth
• Bastard daughter of King
Henry VIII
• And Ann Boleyn (2nd of 6
wives)
• Henry had Ann beheaded
for “treason”
• Younger sister of “Bloody
Mary.”
• “Virgin Queen”?
• A tease and a player
Her “loving” parents
QuickTi me™ a nd a
Photo - JPEG decomp resso r
are need ed to se e th is p icture.
The Renaissance
• 1500-1650
• “Rebirth” of arts, culture,
science
• Discovery of “New
World”
• Copernicus: Sun-centered
Universe (1543)
• King Henry VIII =
renaissance man (ideal)
• Reformation of Catholic
Church
Possible Faces of William
Other Possible Candidates
http://www.elizabethanauthors.com/problem.htm