Transcript 2011 Shakespeare England Background

An Elizabethan
Introduction
Shakespeare’s Language
•Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
• Old English is the language of Beowulf:
“In the dark night the
shadow-goer came stalking.
The warriors slept, those
whose duty it was to guard
the building, all but one. It
was known to me that, if the
Ruler did not wish it, the
injurer could not draw them
into the shadows, but
Beowulf, awake and fiercely
angry, awaited the battle’s
result, enraged in heart.”
Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Middle English.”
• Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the
Gawain-poet, and Malory:
And it is don, aftirward Jesus made iourne bi cites &
castelis prechende & euangelisende þe rewme of god, &
twelue wiþ hym & summe wymmen þat weren helid of
wicke spiritis & sicnesses, marie þat is clepid
maudeleyn, of whom seuene deuelis wenten out & Jone
þe wif off chusi procuratour of eroude, & susanne &
manye oþere þat mynystreden to hym of her facultes —
Luke ch.8, v.1–3
• Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English.”
Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare coined many words we still use today:
• Critical
• Majestic
• Dwindle
• And quite a few phrases as well:
• One fell swoop
• Flesh and blood
• Vanish into thin air
The Renaissance
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1500-1650
“Rebirth” of arts, culture,
science
Discovery of “New
World”
King Henry VIII =
renaissance man (ideal)
Reformation of Catholic
Church
Rulers of Note
King Henry VIII
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17 when crowned
6 marriages
1530—broke with the
Catholic church and
created Church of
England (a.k.a.
Anglican Church)
King Henry VIII
Queen Elizabeth I
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Daughter of King Henry
VIII and Anne Boleyn
(2nd of his 6 wives)
Henry had Anne
beheaded for “treason”
Younger sister of “Bloody
Mary”
“Virgin Queen”?
Renaissance A.K.A. Elizabethan Era
• Elizabethans considered drama a lower form
of literature than poetry
• English women had limited rights.
• Commoners suffered from poor diet and
crowded living conditions.
• The people were vulnerable to outbreaks of
the bubonic plague.
• In 1564, the plague killed nearly 1/3 of the
people in Shakespeare’s hometown.
• Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, and King James
of Scotland assumed the English throne.
• He was a supporter of the arts and
literature.
•He renamed Shakespeare’s theater
company the King’s Men.
*A theatrical convention is a suspension of reality.
 No electricity
 Women forbidden
to act on stage
 Minimal, contemporary
costumes
 Minimal scenery
These
control
the
dialogue.
 Soliloquy
 Aside
 Blood and gore
 Use of supernatural
Types of
speech
Audience
loves to be
scared
 Use of disguises/ mistaken identity
 Last speaker—highest in rank (in tragedies)
 Multiple murders (in tragedies)
 Multiple marriages (in comedies)
Theatre in London
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Traveling troupes of
actors performed in
courtyards of inns
The Theatre-first public
theater-1576
Daytime/open air
Limited set design
Relied on music, sound,
costumes, props and
great description
The Globe Theatre
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Built in 1599
Across the Thames River- “Wrong side of town”
King’s Men - Shakespeare’s company
Rebuilt Globe Theatre
The Globe
Theatre
Capacity 2,0003,000 spectators
The theatre stood
until the 29 of June,
1613. The thatched
roof was set ablaze
by a cannon firing
during Henry VIII;
1614 reconstructed,
shut down in 1642,
and torn down in
1644
Admission
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1 shilling to stand
2 shillings to sit in the balcony
3 shillings to sit in the Lord’s Rooms
1 shilling was 10% of their weekly income
Broadway today:
 $85 Orchestra
 $60 Balcony
 10% of a teacher’s weekly salary
The Groundlings
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Poor audience members
Stood around stage in “the pit”
Theatre was open-air; pit
became mud when it rained
Women not allowed (had to
dress up as men to attend)
Threw rotten vegetables at bad
performances
Actors
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All men; theatre/acting
considered too
“dangerous” for
women
Actors looked down
upon in society
Female parts played by
young boys who had
not yet hit puberty
No actual kissing or
hugging on stage
Tragedies
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End in the death of
one or more of the
main characters.
Most of Shakespeare’s
tragedies involve
historical individuals
and events
Tragic Hero
 Often
a man of
high rank, such as
a king or prince
 Creates,
or is put
into, a difficult
situation which he
must try to
resolve.
Tragic Hero
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A combination of bad
luck and bad decisions
lead to his death.
Often a relatively
sympathetic figure. His
soliloquies show his
feelings and motives, and
show the audience how
easy it would be to make
similar mistakes.
Doom and Destiny
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Many people believed in fate, or destiny, and
in the power of the stars to foretell the
future.
Shakespeare uses the idea of fate or destiny
to add excitement and anticipation to the
tragedies
 Uses a prophecy as a way of holding the
audience’s interest, because everyone
wants to see if it will be fulfilled.
Tragic Endings
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Tragedies give a very bleak view of the world.
At the end, the hero (and usually several other
characters) are dead, and the survivors are left to start
again without them.
Although most tragic heroes are partly to blame for
their own fates, death can be a very high price to pay
for what may have seemed initially like a small
failing.
Tragic Endings
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In most tragedies, there is also a feeling that some
good may have come out of the terrible suffering.
 At the end of Romeo and Juliet, because the
families’ fighting has partly caused the tragedy,
they finally resolve to end their feud.