4. Who was he?
• Widely regarded as the greatest writer in
English Literature.
• Poet and dramatist
• Wrote 38 plays – comedies, histories,
tragedies.
• Composed about 154 sonnets and a few
epic poems.
• Started out as an actor.
5. Early Life
• Born 1564—died 1616
• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Parents: John Shakespeare and Mary
Arden
• Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner
• John—glovemaker, local politician
10. Education
• Attended grammar school in Stratford
• Educated in:
• Rhetoric
• Logic
• History
• Latin
• Literature
11. Married Life
• Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway (who
was eight years older than he) and had
their first daughter, Susanna (1583).
• Had twins, Judith and Hamnet, in 1585.
His only son, Hamnet, died as a young
boy.
• Sometime between 1585-1592, he moved
to London and began working in theatre.
13. Theatre Career
• Member and later part-owner of the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men acting company, later
called the King’s Men
• Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with
Shakespeare as primary investor
• The Globe Theatre burned down in 1613
during one of Shakespeare’s plays
18. The Plays
• 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare
• comedies
• histories
• tragedies
• Possibly wrote three others
• Collaborated on several others
• Which plays have you heard of?
19. Comedies
• The Taming of the
Shrew
• Much Ado About
Nothing
• As You Like I
• Twelfth Night
• A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
20. Tragedies
• Hamlet
• Romeo and Juliet
• Othello
• King Lear
• Macbeth
21. Histories
• Henry V
• Henry VIII
• King John
• Richard II
• Richard III
22. The Poetry
• Two major poems
• Venus and Adonis
• Rape of Lucrece
• 154 Sonnets
• Numerous other poems
23. Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
• Old English is the language of Beowulf:
Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum
Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon
Hu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!
(Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-
Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how
noble princes showed great courage!)
24. Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”
• Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the
Gawain-poet, and Malory:
We redeth oft and findeth y-write—
And this clerkes wele it wite—
Layes that ben in harping
Ben y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)
25. Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern
English.”
• EME was not very different from
“Modern English,” except that it had some
old holdovers.
26. 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
See http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm
27. Shakespeare’s Language
• A mix of old and very new
• Rural and urban words/images
• Understandable by the lowest
peasant and the highest noble
29. A theatrical convention is a
suspension of reality.
No electricity
Women forbidden
to act on stage These
Minimal, contemporary control the
costumes dialogue.
Minimal scenery
30. Soliloquy
Types of
Aside speech
Blood and gore Audience
Use of supernatural loves to be
scared.
31. Use of disguises/
mistaken identity
Last speaker—highest in
rank (in tragedies)
Multiple murders
(in tragedies)
Multiple marriages
(in comedies)
