Your Questions Answered.
Act I
Billy’s middle name?
 The only
references to his
“full name” that
I could find are:
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Willm Shaksp
William Shakespe
Wm Shakespe
William Shakspere
Willm Shakspere
William Shakspeare
What happened to Will’s mum?
 I don’t know.
Life in London
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Life expectancy was 25-35
years (lots of deaths in
youth brought down
average) Shakespeare’s
London was overall a
youthful place though.
The plague flared every 10
years or so.
Public performances of all
types (everything except
Church) were banned within
7 miles of London each time
the death toll reached 40,
and that happened a great
deal!
 In nearly every year for
at least 250 years deaths
outnumbered births!
 However, the influx of
refugees from the
continent kept the
population steadily
growing.
 Housing was not to be
erected within 3 miles of
the City walls, under pain
of demolition. So,
London was increasingly
ringed with slums.
Life in London
 City life had a density
that we can scarcely
imagine now.
 Refuse was a constant
problem. “Houndsditch”
(an area in London) was
apparently named
because of the number
of dogs thrown into it.
 Rich and poor lived side
by side. Robert Green
died in squalor only a
few doors down from Sir
Francis Drake (one of the
richest men in the land).
 The city had a strict
curfew which took effect
at dusk and lasted until
dawn. The gates were
locked and no one was
allowed in or out.
Diet/booze/tobacco
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Those who ate well ate as well as
many of us. A “household
management” book was discovered
that had recipes for “mutton with
claret and Seville orange juice”,
“spinach tart” and “cheesecakes”.
The poorer ate a simpler diet. Dark
breads, cheese, and occasional
meat. Veggies appeared to be
eaten only be those who could
afford no better.
Sugar was popular and expensive.
It turned people’s teeth black, and
those who failed to have their teeth
blackened by eating sugar
sometimes blackened their teeth
artificially to give the appearance of
being able to afford the sweet treat.
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Beer was consumed copiously by
everyone, including the pleasure
wary Puritans. A gallon a day was
traditional ration. English ale was
an acquired taste, and has been
described as “cloudy like a horse’s
urine”.
Tobacco was a luxury at first, but
gained such widespread popularity
that (in a city 2 miles by 3 miles
which could be crossed in about an
hour by foot) had no fewer than 7
thousand tobacconists.
Tobacco was smoked for pleasure,
but also was a “treatment” for
venereal disease, headaches, bad
breath, and as a prophylactic
against the plague. (Even kids
were encouraged to use it. At Eton
school students were beaten if they
neglected to smoke their tobacco.)
What were some crimes John committed?
 He was fined a
shilling
(probably the
equivalent of 2
days pay!) for
keeping a dung
heap in Henley
Street.
 He was prosecuted 4
times for trading in
wool and money
lending (both highly
illegal activities). In
1570 he was
accused of making
loans worth 220
pounds, over
100,000 in today’s
money.
How educated was Shakespeare?
 As the son of a prominent
citizen, he probably
attended the Stratford
grammar school (King’s
New School), a boys only
school.
 It appears that any local
boy could attend as long as
he could read and write.
(Ironic?)
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Schooling started at age 7 or 8
and would end around 8 years
later. William would have been
taught Latin, and taken courses
focusing on translating, reciting,
and IMITATING the works he
read. (FYI- school went from
6am-6pm, 6 days a week!)
Was he as popular then as he is now?
 Christopher (Kit) Marlow (1564-1593)
was very popular and seen as an innovator
for his use of blank verse instead of rhyme.
Doctor Faustus was his most famous work.
 Thomas Kyd (1558-1594) was one of the
first playwrights to gain a wide following of
fans and wrote the most popular play of the
1500s- “The Spanish Tragedy.”
 Robert Green (1560-1592) was a popular
writer and a critic of Shakespeare calling
him “an upstart crow.”
Was he a better writer than others?
 Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Kyd, and
Christopher Marlowe were all, as far as reviews
and critical pieces from the time show, more
famous and popular than Shakespeare.
 Perhaps the reason Shakespeare is so popular
today is due to the fact that of the 230 plays
that still exist from his time, 38 are by him.
(15% of all surviving plays!)
What was his first play?
His famous poems?
 First play= Henry VI (?) At least, this
is the first mention of his work. It
was performed at The Rose in the
first week of March 1592.
 Most well known poem at the time
was “Venus and Adonis” (1593). This
narrative was 1,194 lines long and
was followed up by “The Rape of
Lucrece” pronounced (Loo-cress)
which was 1,855 lines long!
How many plays did he write?
 38
 12 Tragedies, including Romeo and
Juliet.
 10 Histories.
 16 comedies.
Did William have lovers?
 He wrote his most
erotic and lustful
poems in 1593-1594.
He also wrote Romeo
and Juliet in 1594.
 It has been suggested
that his apparently
unwanted marriage
and affairs with
women fueled his
desire to write about
love.
Was Shakespeare Homosexual?
 Homosexuality was common in Elizabethan
England.
 Here are weak reasons why people have
suggested he was gay: His clothing, being
a poet, acting in love scenes with boys.
 Some of his sonnets have the speaker
addressing a male, and MAY be interpreted
as being suggestive. (ex. “Thou art the
master of my passion.”) Understanding
context, and discretion is necessary!
 We don’t know, and who cares?!
What happened to Anne Hathaway?
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She never left Stratford,
though William would
have returned on occasion
to take care of his family’s
business interests.
Anne lived on an estate
called “New Place” that
William bought. Her social
standing around the town
grew greatly.
In 1610, William returned
to Stratford and lived with
Anne again.
She was left only his
“second best bed” and its
linens in his will. (Cynic,
or sentimentalist?)
Tradition would hold that
she automatically got 1/3
of his estate.
What happened to his kids?
 Judith married a
 Hamnet dies of
tavern owner but
the plague at 11
the marriage was
years of age.
excommunicated
 Susanna married
when it was found
a doctor and
out that he had
lived a
gotten another
comfortable
woman pregnant.
upper class life.
She died at 77
She lived to be
years of age.
66.
How did he die?
 The cause of his death is
unknown, but we do
know that he died on the
23rd of April 1616.
 John Ward, the vicar of
Stratford during this
time, has recorded a
story that MAY give
insight into his death.
 Ward tells of
Shakespeare binge
drinking with his friends
Ben Johnson and Michael
Drayton, and then
developing a fever that
led to his death.
Shakespeare’s Writing Style
Act II
Why did he have his
characters talk funny?
• He didn’t.
• He wrote for
effect.
Verse vs. Prose
• 1) Verse= “poetic
language”
– Uses rhyme, has flow
– Blank verse= 10
syllables alternating
from stressed to
unstressed.
• 2) Prose= “normal
language”
Verse
• Shakespeare would use
verse to place emphasize on
lines, or scenes.
• As a rule, women and
important characters spoke
verse. It makes the heroes
sound more heroic, the
baddies more evil, and the
royalty more regal.
Verse continued…
• It is difficult to have each line have 10
syllables, so Shakespeare would cheat at
times and trim or add syllables.
– ex. “Is it possible?”
could be trimmed down to “Is’t possible?”
• Shakespeare would often use rhyming
couplets to end a scene as a cue for the
audience.
“The which of you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.” Prologue
Prose
• The “regular Joes,”
such as servants,
spoke prose.
• It is easier to be
funny in prose, so
it would be spoken
by characters such
as the Nurse in
Romeo and Juliet.
The English Language in the 1500s- 1
• By the late 1500s the
English language was in
transition from older,
medieval forms to the
patterns and diction more
like what we use today.
• The printing press= more
books= more people
learning to read and write=
changes in the language.
The English Language in the 1500s- 2
• English was thought to be lacking in
expressive possibilities as compared
to a rich language such as Latin.
• Writers in the 16th century regularly
invented, borrowed, or altered words
to suit their needs.
• Ex. Ignoranus= someone who’s both
stupid, and a butthole.
The English Language in the 1500s- 3
• Shakespeare’s vocabulary seems to
have been exceptionally large. It has
been estimated at 29,000 words (or
twice that of an average American
college student).
• Some modern words that he has been
credited with creating include:
assassination, bump (as in a swollen
area), and dwindle.
Shakespearean Tragedy
Act III
Shakespeare’s plays are broken down
into “sections”
• The ”big” sections are called ACTS.
– Acts are made up of multiple SCENES.
– There are 5 acts in every Shakespeare play.
• There is no rule for the number of
scenes per act.
– But the early acts usually have longer scenes to establish the
plot, important characters and themes.
– The later acts usually have shorter scenes and the pace of the
plot quickens.
When Referencing Lines:
 Acts are referenced using UPPER CASE
roman numerals.
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(I, II, III, IV, V)
 Scenes are referenced using LOWER CASE
roman numerals.
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i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii…
 Lines are referenced using “arabic” numbers.
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1,2,3,4,5…
 So lines 40-41 from Act 1, scene 1 would
look like:
 “Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them,
which is disgrace to them if they bare it.” (I.i.40-41)
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*Shakespeare's tragedies are, for the most
part, stories of one person, the "hero," or at
most two, to include the "heroine."
*In these plays, the heroine is as much at the
center of action as the hero.
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*The tragic heroes must be characters who
the audience will “like” and feel sorry for.
*Sorry to ruin things, but the tragic story
always leads up to, and includes, the death
of the heroes.
*There is great suffering by the tragic heroes.
FYI, the full title of the play is…
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The Most Excellent and Lamentable
Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
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*In Romeo and Juliet the tragic heroes
are responsible for their falls to a
certain extent, but there are other
factors which influence the downfall.