Transcript Shakespeare PowerPoint

Shakespeare
What do you know about
Shakespeare and his time period?
As you watch the video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHVVodICrE
Make note of at least ten differences between theater
during our time, and theater during Shakespeare’s
We’ll be going to see Romeo and Juliet in a few weeks,
and will be reading it here in class—this should give you
some idea of exactly what we’re getting into
What did you learn about the
theater in Shakespeare’s time?
So Shakespeare…why study it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI2u-aagMqE
Why Study It?
Universal stories
Foundations of modern cultural clichés
Connecting then to now—realizing that human truths
exist across centuries and that the same stories have
always been part of us
Who was Shakespeare?
He was born in 1564 (probably in April, though we can’t
know the exact date)
He became an actor in London before he was a poet and a
playwright
Though he had a family from the time he was 18, his “city
life” and his “country life” were fairly separated
He did his work in London and occasionally visited his family
We know very little about him until he became famous and
became a playwright and partner of a major acting company,
The King’s Men
His work was hugely popular and he died a celebrity in 1616.
Who was Shakespeare?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geev441vbMI
Elizabethan England:
Shakespeare’s England
Refers to the time period that Queen Elizabeth I
reigned(1558-1603)
Only 3% of the population was “noble”—what you imagine
when you think of this time period
But that’s because the rest of the population was uneducated
and did not keep journals or record/preserve their lives in any
way, so we don’t know much about them
Before this time, only 5% of people lived in cities/towns,
but as businesses and industries grew, more people moved
into cities—changing the environment drastically
Major Life Changes for People
in Elizabethan England
There was room to grow (for once) and seek to do
better than your parents before you
There was a middle class of merchants and business
owners
People were slowly becoming more literate—from 1/5
of the population merely able to sign their names at
the beginning of her reign, to 1/3 of the population
becoming literate by the end
Middle and upper class children usually had some kind
of education—though schooling wasn’t free for anyone
Social Classes
There were noble, middle class, and poor citizens, and
it determined:
What you were allowed to wear
The amount and quality of schooling you received
Your lifespan
The food you consumed
Family Life
Everyone was expected to marry
Just in case
Women, especially, who remained
unmarried appeared “suspicious”,
and were often accused of
witchcraft
Having children was a norm as
well, and Elizabethan couples
tried to have as many as possible,
considering that many children
never made it to adulthood
Plan B
Plan A
Life Expectancy and Hygiene
Illness and early death were common during this time
because of the lack of sanitation
There were open sewers in the streets and garbage
everywhere (every once in a while, they cleared this out
by dumping it in to the local river—the Thames)
Diseases were spread by fleas, rats (both of which cased
the Black Death/Bubonic Plague, which killed 1/3 of
the population at the time), lice, and other vermin
There was no running water (which allowed diseases
like typhoid to spread)
Most people drank alcohol instead of water because it
was much safer to drink
Medicine
The best they could really do
was bleed patients (both by
simply having them bleed and
by using leeches) to get rid of
the “bad blood”
They also made herbal
mixtures they believed could
reduce the pain of symptoms,
though there was little hope of
curing someone of something
like the Plague
At times, outbreaks of disease
would be so severe, theatres
and other places where people
gathered close together were
shut down to prevent further
infection
Theatre
Playwrights wrote for
everyone—the goal was to
ensure anyone could enjoy
your play regardless of social
class or education
Theatre was associated with
crime and prostitution, and
if Elizabeth I hadn’t loved
theater as she did, it would
have never become so
popular
How Theatre Differs
It was a common place—audiences were never quiet or
respectful, but rather walked around, ate, drank, and made
comments at the actors (somewhat like watching a game at a
sports arena)
Theaters were open, and depending on how much money
you had, you stood in the pit or the gallery
Women were not permitted to act (it was considered
indecent) and so young boys played women
There was rarely a backdrop or set, but instead, huge
investment in costumes
Types of Shakespearian Plays
Histories
Comedies
Tragedies
Histories
Histories: stories loosely
based on historical figures
from England’s Medieval
history
Comedies
Comedies: stories generally based on misconception
and resolution. Just about all of them end in marriage,
and throughout, they are full of puns, irony, and
blundered disguises
Tragedies
Tragedies: stories generally based on someone who falls
from grace and struggles to succeed in accomplishing
some noble task due to the efforts of a villain, or else a
fatal flaw within the hero’s own self
Why was Shakespeare so
popular?
He had universal appeal, meaning he found a way to
present stories people of every class could enjoy
The theatre itself was one of the few places where
people from all walks of life gathered and socialized
The Queen was a frequent patron, which boosted his
popularity
Romeo and Juliet
A Shakespearian tragedy about young love in the face
of prejudice
Just about every 9th grade class in America has read or
will read this play
Things that happen in the
play:
Crude penis jokes
Gang fights
Murder
Elopement
Suicide
So why on earth do we teach it?
Okay. So. Tell me if this story sounds familiar:
There are two groups of people that don’t like each
other (pretty openly) and frequently fight
Two people from those two groups meet and fall in
love despite the fact that the groups they’re part of
hate each other
The couple decides to run away together, defying
everyone else, and true love conquers all
Why do we read it?
This story is such a significant part of our culture,
knowing it and understanding why we are so drawn to
it is important