Transcript Well-known Facts about Will

Well-known Facts about Will
1563-1616
Great writer of England
Plays translated into all
languages, musicals, ballets
Born Stratford-upon-Avon
Well-to-do, affluent while
alive
Most quoted, other than the
Bible
The Competition
Bear-baiting
Races
Gambling
Music
Public executions
Conditions in London-BAD!
Thames (pronounced
tems) River polluted with
raw sewage
Trees used up for fuel
Poverty
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
Open Sewers
Crowded
Clothes
One set used all year
long, rarely washed
Underclothing slept
in, infrequently
changed
Clothes handed down
from rich to poor
Food
Did Elizabethan food and drink constitute a good balanced diet? No! And
especially not for the rich! The rich ate few fresh vegetables and little fresh fruit –
Vegetables and fresh fruit were eaten by the poor –
Noble's table. Dairy products were also deemed as inferior foods and therefore
only to be eaten by the poor.
Little was known about nutrition and the Elizabethan diet of the rich Nobles
lacked Vitamin C, calcium and fiber.
This led to an assortment of health problems including bad teeth, skin diseases,
scurvy and rickets (softening of the bones)
Sugar was an expensive commodity and was known to blacken the teeth. It
became fashionable to have blackened teeth and cosmetics were applied to
achieve this effect if enough quantities of sugar were not available!
People of the Elizabethan era were highly religious and at certain times the eating
of meat was banned. This was not an occasional ban. Certain religious
observances banned the eating of meat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays!
Meat was banned during the religious seasons of Lent and Advent. Meat was also
declined on the eves of many religious holidays.
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- “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
The groundling
Poor audience member
Stood around stage in
“the pit”
Women not allowed
(had to dress up as men
to attend)
Threw rotten vegetables
at bad performances
Elizabethan Words
An, and:
If
Anon:
Soon
Aye:
Yes
But:
Except for
E’en:
Even
E’er:
Ever
Haply:
Happy:
Hence:
Hie:
Marry:
Perhaps
Fortunate
Away, from her
Hurry
Indeed
Whence:
Where
Wilt:
Will, will
you
Withal: In addition
to
Would:
Wish
Romeo and
Juliet
Two
households…
Both alike in dignity…
In fair Verona,
where we lay our scene…
From ancient grudge
break to new mutiny…
Where civil blood
makes civil hands unclean.
A pair of star-cross’d
lovers take their life.
Facts
Written by William
Shakespeare in about 1591
Montagues
Capulets
Others
Look for…
Puns
Allusions
Metaphor
Personification
Oxymorons
Paradoxes
Foreshadowing
Puns
A pun is a humorous play on
words.
Mercutio – “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must
have you dance.”
Romeo – “Not I, believe me. You have
dancing shoes / With nimble soles; I have
a soul of lead…” (Act I Sc. 4)
Allusions
An allusion is a reference to a
well known work of art, music,
literature, or history.
“At lovers’ perjuries, they say Jove laughs.”
(Act II, Sc. 2)
Jove is another name for Jupiter, the Roman
King of the Gods.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a direct comparison
between two unlike things.
Romeo – “But, soft! what light through yonder
window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the
sun.” (Act II Sc. 2)
Personification
Personification occurs when
an inanimate object or concept
is given the qualities of a
person or animal.
Juliet— “For thou wilt lie upon the wings of
night / Whiter than new snow on a raven’s
back. / Come, gentle night, come, loving,
black-brow’d night” (Act III Sc. 2)
Oxymorons
An oxymoron describes when
two juxtaposed words have
opposing or very diverse
meanings.
Juliet – “Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!”
(Act III Sc.2)
Paradoxes
A paradox is statement or
situation with seemingly
contradictory or incompatible
components.
Juliet – “O serpent heart, hid with a flowering
face!” (Act III Sc. 2)
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a reference
to something that will happen
later in the story.
Juliet – “Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.” (Act III Sc. 2)
Themes
•Light and dark
•Time
•Fate
Light and Dark
Look for references to light
and dark:
• References to “light” words, such as
“torches,” “the sun,” adjectives that
describe light (“bright”)
• References to “dark” words, such as
“night” and “gloom”
Time
Look for references to time:
•References to “time” words, such as
“hours”
•References to the passage of time,
especially if it seems “rushed”
Fate
Look for references to fate:
•Look for instances where events are
blamed on “fate,” “destiny,” or “the
stars”