Transcript I. King James - HonorsSophomoreEnglishONeill

The Times and Life
of
William Shakespeare
Part I: The Life of Shakespeare
The Mysteries about Shakespeare
1. With only an 8th grade education, how did he know
about court life, foreign countries, history, writing,
diplomacy, the classics?
2. Was he forced to marry Anne Hathaway due to her
pregnancy?
3. Why did his father’s fortunes change: alcoholism,
religious tensions, illegal wool trading?
4. How did Shakespeare get his theatre training?
5. Why did he live in London when his wife and three
children lived in Stratford?
Early Life
A. Born on April 22 or 23rd in 1564 in
Stratford-upon-Avon (Galileo also
born)
1. Mary Arden and John Shakespeare
married in 155
2. Father was a glove maker by trade in
Strafford, involved in local politics
3. Father was upstanding citizen: aletaster, constable, alderman, bailiff, chief
alderman
4. Father was a glove maker,
Involved with illegal wool trading
5. Around Will’s 13th birthday, father’s
fortunes change: does not go to
alderman’s meetings, sells Mary’s
properties/fortunes, restraining order
placed, does not attend Protestant
church services
Glover’s Workshop
Shakespeare’s Marriage
November of 1582, at age of
18, married Anne Hathaway
(she was 8 years his senior;
she was possibly pregnant
(Susanna born in May of
1583)
1. three children:
Susanna, Hamnet and Judith
(twins)
2. “second best bed”
mystery: in his will he left his
wife the second best bed;
controversial—first best bed
reserved for guests
A.
Shakespeare’s Career
I. 1592 jealous playwright makes mention of Shakespeare, indicating he had moved to
London to write/act, and had already served an apprenticeship:
“There is an upstart crow, beautiful with our feathers, that with his
tiger’s heart wrapped in a player’s hid supposes he is as well able
to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you, and being an
absolute Johannes-factorum is in his own conceit the only Shakesscene in a country.”
A. By 1594 he was an actor and playwright in a new theatrical company—
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
a. one of London’s two chief companies
b. actors sometimes looked down upon by university men
c. not considered suitable profession for gentlemen, but
considered part of the upper/middle class
became King’s Men’s in 1603/stayed w/company until
B. He retired in 1611
Shakespeare’s Career
II.
C. In 1596 Shakespeare and his father possibly received a coat of arms—
“gentlemen” status
D. 1597 Shakespeare bought property in Stratford (very nice property for the time)
E. Between summer of 1592-1594 theatre shut down due to the plague
Achievements:
A. First 8 plays don’t have his name on it (not unusual)
B. after 1598, his name does appear on printed plays
C. Shakespeare was a stockholder in theatre
D.
completed his first 16 plays by 1598
E.
wrote 13-15 plays in the following 10 years of his life
F.
wrote 37 plays in all, 154 sonnets; two non-dramatic poems/one elegy
G.
5,000 to 25,000 new words invented by Shakespeare
III. Inscription on tombstone:
Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares my stones
And cursed be he that moves my bones.
The Globe Theatre
Parts of the Globe
1. Flag: indicates a performance is going on/every day but
Sunday
2. Trumpet: sounded to announce performance
3. The Heavens: ceiling (trompe l’oeil): area where sound
effects made, god-likecharacters lowered to the stage,
represented “Heaven,” deus ex machina (god from a
machine)
4. Behind the theatre: area for costume storage/waiting
area/offices for actors
5. Balcony: musicians and wealthy patrons
6. Two Penny Gallery: middle class seating
7. Private Rooms and Boxes: seating area for the wealthy
(queen & king never at Globe)
Parts of Globe, Continued
8. Stage: Main stage area/two doors for exits and entrances of
characters
9. Curtained Recess: third entrance for actors
10. Strap Door: considered “Hell,” area where “bad” characters
appear and disappear: Hamlet’s father’s ghost, Macbeth’s
witches, etc.
11. One Penny Audience: “cock-pit” or groundling area;
audience would not often throw food at actors, but drank and
stole (once an audience tied a man to the stage posts who was
caught stealing)
12. The Entrance: (self-explanatory)
About the Globe
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The original Globe Theatre: built in 1599 by the acting
company the King’s Men and destroyed by fire in 1613 after
a cannon in Richard III lit the roof on fire.
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The Globe Theatre was rebuilt in 1614, closed in 1642, and
demolished in 1644. No records left of original Globe.
A modern reconstruction of the original Globe, named
"Shakespeare's Globe Theatre", opened in 1997.
Holds about 3,000 people
1625 women first allowed to act on stage
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Strange Facts about
The Globe
Reproduction made with authentic Elizabethan supplies:
 The Globe Theatre is 33ft high to the eaves (45ft overall)
 6,000 bundles of Norfolk Water Reed were used on the
Globe’s roof
 36,000 handmade bricks were used
 90 tons of lime putty were used for the Tudor brickwork
 180 tons of lime plaster went into the outer walls
 Sound effects of thunder made by rolling cannon balls over a
troth with wooden bumps
Theatre in England
I. Before Renaissance, most acting not done in
theatres, but as playacting in schools, pageantry
in streets, masques at court, miracle plays,
morality play, interludes, mystery play—
emphasis often religious
A. Actors traveled from town to town
B. Most female parts played by men
C. Actors often performed in bearbaiting and
bull baiting arenas, courtyards of inns, great halls
at court
Theatre, Continued
II. 1576 James Burbage constructs a theatre on edge of
city—called The Theatre
A. performances only in daytime—no artificial illumination
B. typical Elizabethan theatre is polygonal, wooden, could hold
3,000 with 2,000 groundlings standing in yard “cockpit”
C. exposed to sky
III. The Globe—built 1599 (Shakespeare & other actors pay
to build)
A. 1613 burned down during 1st performance of Henry VIII
B. 1649 King Charles I executed/ Puritan revolution closed all
theatres; did not reopen until the restoration of the crown in 1660
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The Reformation:
Henry VIII and
Elizabeth I
Henry VIII splits from Catholic
Church in 1533
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Henry VIII wants to divorce Catherine of
Aragon, Spanish
Pope refuses
Henry breaks with Church
Puts all English Churches under rule of
King
No male heir; daughter Mary rules:
Bloody Mary restores Catholicism
Elizabeth I rules after Mary: tries to be
tolerant of Catholics, but Pope declares
her excommunicated/anyone to
assassinate her a Catholic martyr
Creates great tension in Shakespeare’s
day between Catholics and Protestants:
lots of traitors heads on sticks of London
Bridge
Shakespeare’s mother’s family was
Catholic
Elizabeth also begins English
Renaissance
Monastery door turned
Henry VIII’s Castle
The Witches and
King James I
King James I
I. King James
A. Followed Elizabeth I, who had no heirs
B. Born at the only child of Mary Queen of Scots in 1566—
infant king
C. (father mysteriously murdered; Mary flees into exile in
England making James king at the age of one)
D. James VI of Scotland was cousin to Elizabeth (much
angst about Liz’s successor)
E. Became King of England (1603-1625); retained Scottish
crown
F. Man of contrasts: homely but vain, addled but erudite,
called by Henry VI of France “the wisest fool in Christendom.”
James I, continued
G. Pressed Parliament about “divine right to rule”/authoritarian
H. “Kings are not only God’s instruments on lieutenants on earth…but
even by God himself they are called gods.”
I. Angered public by making peace with Spain (long-time enemy of
England)
J. Angered Puritans due to commitment to Anglicanism
K. His Puritan/Catholic conference produces the King James Bible
L. Placed all English theatre under royal patronage—King’s Men
M. Son, Charles I beheaded due to insistence of absolutism
Obsession with Witches
I.
James’ Obsession with Witches
A. Participated in witch trials
B. Wrote Daemonogie –pamphlet addressing the dangers of witchcraft
C. Many of the witches stories taken directly from trials of witches of
the day:
“In the night a cat was conveyed into the midst of the sea by all these
witches sailing in their sieve and left right before the town of Lieth in
Scotland: this done, there did arise such a tempest in the sea…
D. It was said that the said cat was the cause of the King’s Majesty’s
ship at his coming forth of Denmark…” It was faith alone that saved
the King’s ship from destruction.
Obsession with Witches, Con’t.
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Dances and circling believed to give power to spells
Witches could turn themselves into animals (always
without a tail)
Three Fates alluded to by Shakespeare—represent evil
and disorder that undermine stability of the state.
James I & Shakespeare
The Question of Succession
I.
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Issues of succession present throughout Shakespeare’s plays; part of the consciousness of living
under a monarchy
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First performance of Macbeth in 1606, Aug 7th at Hampton Court for king
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No real Banquo in Scottish history, yet Holinshed’s Chronicles invented a Banquo in Scottish
history, where Banquo is complicit in Duncan’s murder. Then, Banquo is murdered on his way
home from Macbeth’s feast. Macbeth ruled for 10 years until becoming tyrannical; Duncan
wasa young, weak king.
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Witches show Macbeth eight kings with Banquo last—Stuart kings who ruled Scotland,
including James I
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James/Elizabeth had to ensure Mary was out of the way to secure James as the successor to
Elizabeth (Mary executed 1587-16 years before Liz’s death)
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First public speech after the plague (1604) reinforces his links to English crown--the “loynes of
Henry VII” who united England & Scotland.
Tours at the Globe
Thank you, Shakespeare!