Transcript Renaissance - Walton High

Renaissance
Theatres and verse
Shakespeare’s life
• What we know about Shakespeare
comes from church documents and
legal records.
– Some documents that we have are
baptismal registration, marriage
license, and records of real estate
transactions.
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Shakespeare was the 3rd of eight children
Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford
Shakespeare’s dad was a shoemaker and
sometimes served as a justice of the peace
• Shakespeare died April 23, 1616.
Family Life
• William Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway in
1582 and had 3 children
• Susanna (1583)
• Judith (1585)
• Hamnet (1585-died as a child)
He left Stratford and was working in London by
1590. He worked in London for the next 20+
years.
• When his theatre burned down in 1613, he returned
to Stratford and finished his life there.
Shakespeare’s home
Shakespeare family tree
• Shakespeare died on his birthday April 23,
1616 (he was 52 years old)
• He is buried under the old stone floor of
Holy Trinity Church in Stratford
• The following is carved on his tombstone
– “Good friend, for Jesus sake forbear to dig the
dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that
spares these stones and cursed be he that moves
my bones.”
Shakespeare’s Professional Life
• Shakespeare was an actor
• By 1594, he was a charter member of the
theatrical company called Lord
Chamberlains Men, which later become The
Kings Men.
• The Kings Men were supported by King
James
• Romeo and Juliet was among the early
plays of Shakespeare
• The play was written between 1594 and
1596
• By 1612, Shakespeare had written 37 plays
Theatres
– Public Theatres
• Primary playing spaces for theatre companies
– James Burbage built the 1st one in 1576 called The Theatre
– Burbages’ sons built the Globe in 1599
– Other theatres followed: The Swam, The Rose
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seated between 1500-3000 people
pit, boxes and galleries
raised stages with trap doors
Tiring house (similar to the Greek skene)
– It was on one of these tiers that the “balcony scene” would
be played
– Private Theatres
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Indoor theatre
Seated about 500 patrons
More expensive
Lit by candlelight
• Acting companies played where they could
find a spot.
– Not all actors or acting companies had access to
a theatre
• Usually this would be in the courtyards of
inns
James Burbage’s theatre
The Globe Theatre
Rebuilt Globe Theatre
Acting
• Acting was not considered a respectable
profession by the English Puritans
• All women’s parts were played by boys
– Women did not enter the theater until much
later.
– Juliet would have been played by a boy.
• Acting Companies
– Acting companies had about 25 members
– Plays were produced in rep
• Short rehearsal periods
– Actors were paid based on the success of the
theatre
• Shareholders- shared in profits of theatre
• Hirelings- hired per piece
• Apprentices
Stage
• The stage protruded into the audience
• Little scenery
– SPOKEN scenery
Inigo Jones (1573-1652)
• Prominent scene designer
VERSE
• Blank verse- unrhymed iambic pentamenter
• Rhythm was very important and mainly
resulted from patterns of stressed and
unstressed syllables
• The pattern of stresses is METER
• Meter is made up of FEET
Types of Feet
• Iamb- unaccented followed by an accented
– weak / strong
• Trochee- accented followed by an
unaccented
– strong/ weak
• Anapest- unaccented, unaccented, accented
– weak/ weak/ strong
Cont.
• Dactyl- accented, unaccented, unaccented
– strong/ weak/ weak
• Spondee- accented, accented
– strong/ strong
• Pyrrhic- unaccented, unaccented
– weak/ weak
Vocabulary
• Feminine ending- consists of an extra
unaccented syllable at the end of the line
• Caesura- brief pause within a line
• Scan- analyze the rhythm of a line
• Folio – printed corrected version of
plagiarized scripts
• Quarto- name of paper people used to take
notes to plagiarize plays