Transcript William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare
1564-1616
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“Not of an age, but for all time”
(Ben Jonson)
Biography not written until 30-40
years after death—
contemporaries were dead by
then
 Born in Stratford –on-Avon
c. April 23rd –not certain- 1564
 Married Anne Hathaway at 18
3 children: Susanna, Judith,
Hamnet
 1592 Shakespeare was living in
London without family; actor
and playwright
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Enormous vocabulary
estimated at 24,000
words
average = 3,000-6,000
when plague closed
theatres, Shakespeare
turned to poetry
154 sonnets
wrote 37 plays
joined Lord
Chamberlain’s Men
(later became King’s
Men)
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Plays performed in
the Globe theatre
1590’s
Shakespeare’s mood
changed –turned to
tragedies perhaps
from death of Hamnet
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3 main types of
plays
history : Henry V
comedy: Taming of
the Shrew
tragedy: Julius Caesar
tragicomedy: The
Tempest
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Shakespeare died April 23, 1616 –his 52nd
birthday.
He is buried in Holy Trinity Church in
Stratford and his epitaph is below:
Elizabethan Theater
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Globe theatre –
octagonal
“Wooden O”
groundlings
thrust stage
simple sets/
elaborate
costumes
trapdoors/ special
effects--blood
women on stage
people of all
classes attended
theatre
flag flew over
theatre on
performance days
audience within
“spitting” distance
language of play
was all important—it
was their language
Queen / King liked
theatre --patrons
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The Merchant of Venice
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First printed in 1600
Story combines two folk tales: a creditor
who tries to obtain a pound of human
flesh for a debt, and a lover who tries to
gain his lady by choosing the correct
casket among three in a riddle game.
Is categorized as a comedy, but is
considered problematic and disturbing
Famous lines from The Merchant of Venice:
**Choose one and be ready to discuss it.**
“All
that glisters is not gold” (II.vii.73).
“But love is blind, and lovers cannot see/The pretty follies that
themselves commit” (II.vi.37-38).
“Hath not a Jew eyes? If you prick us, do we not bleed?”
(III.i.57,63-64).
“The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle
rain from heaven/Upon the place beneath” (IV.i.190-91).
“The devil can cite Scripture for his own purpose!” (I.iii.107).
“I never knew so young a body with so old a head” (IV.i.164-65).
“The man that hath no music in himself…Is fit for treasons,
strategems, and spoils…” (V.i.92-94).