Transcript Bild 1

Welcome to
England in the
sixteenth
century
This is
where
we are
going to
start
our
journey
We are going to..
The
River
Avon
•William Shakespeare's parents lived in Stratford-on-Avon. This
means the city named Stratford and is placed by the River Avon.
•
His mother’s name was Mary Arden and she came from a landowning family in the
neighbourhood of Stratford.
•
His father owned some land. In 1590 he is known to have owned two houses in Henely
Street. One of them is shown to visitors as William Shakespeare’s birth place.
•
There are civic documents that tell us that the father seems, on more than one
occasion, to have been in debt.
•
We don’t know exactly when Shakespeare
was born. There are no document which tell
us the date. What we do know is the fact that
he was baptised on the 26th of April 1564.
There is a mark in the register of Trinity
Church at Stratford-on-Avon.
•
We do not know so much more about his
childhood. There are no records that he
attended any of the schools in Stratford. But it
seems likely, in view of his fathers position in
town, that William attended the Stratford
grammar school.
•
His marriage, to a woman called Ann
Hathaway, was contracted in haste, a
special licence having obtained from the
Bishop of Worchester on the 27th of
November 1582.
•
Seven months later, on the 26th of May
1583 the eldest daughter Susanna was
born. She married a doctor in 1607, John
Hall. He had been in practice at Stratford
since 1600, it seems quite possible that
Shakespeare got some knowledge of
medicine, shown in Shakespeare’s plays
from him
•
In 1585 two other children were born to
them, The twins Hamnet and Judith.
Hamnet died as a small boy 1596. Judith
died 1662.
•
William and his wife probably lived apart
during the years Shakespeare was active
as an actor and dramatist, but he went back
to live with his wife in 1611
• His career started around (roughly) 1590
and he was producing until 1610.
• When he stopped writing he had done
2 long poems
150 sonnets
a few other poems
37 plays
•
Some of his famous plays are
Romeo and Juliete
A Midsummer Night’s dream
Hamlet
King Lear
Macbeth
As you like it
The Merchant of Venice
Othello
•
There are few of the plays where the original
manuscript is preserved. Most of the plays have
been published after Shakespeare’s death.
•
At the same time as he was writing his works,
he was an actor and a part-owner of a
theatrical company.
•
At this time it was not so common with large
theatres. Instead small companies travelled
around the country and performed plays and
read poems.
•
The plays that these companies
performed were often satires of the
persons who ruled the country. Not
always mentioned with his or her name.
Instead the writers of the plays used
synonyms. They could also use
descriptions so that no one could miss
who they referred to.
•
The companies were also often owned
by a wealthy man. One example is The
Earl of Leicester’s company.
•
These wealthy families showed their
fortune by having actors employed.
They were there to entertain the wealthy
family and their guests.
•
One of these companies visited
Stratford in 1587. Maybe it was then
Shakespeare took his chance and
followed them to London
Queen Elizabeth
She succeeded her sister
Mary Tudor in 1588. She
ruled England to her death
in 1603. She was never
married and had no
children. This was very
uncommon at that time.
•
Some critics have since the middle of the
nineteenth century tried to ascribe
Shakespeare’s works to Francis Bacon
and a number of other authors.
•
These theories are not true. Today most
people really believe that is was
Shakespeare himself who wrote all the
plays that bear his name.
•
In the whole world there are only 8
original signatures from William
Shakespeare left.
•
The famous theatre in
London where Shakespeare
is said to have performed his
plays is called the Globe
Theatre. The original building
was placed on the banks of
the River Thames.
Unfortunately we can not see
the original building today
since it has been torn down.
•
This is a picture of a full
scale model, also built on the
banks of Thames
•
•
Observe the stage in the middle of the building with the balconies around it.
By this time women were forbidden to perform on stage so all the parts which required
women were played by either boys or young men.
•
Shakespeare died on
April 23 and was
buried on April 25
1616. He was then
52 years old and a
quite wealthy man
•
His epitaph reads:
Good friend for Jesus
sake forbeare To
digg the dust
encloased heare:
Blese be ye man yt
spares thes stones
And curst be he yt
moves my bones.
Holy Trinity Church in
Stratford-upon-Avon
Sonnets became popular around 1550. The way of
writing came from Italy and it was introduced in
England by a writer named Wyatt (1503-42)
There are always 14 lines in a sonnet and it is divided
into 3 quatrains.
The sonnet often tells us about a beautiful woman and
it glorifies her.
When you read a sonnet you have to use your
imagination. It is written with pictures.
Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And everyfair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men canbreath, or eyes can see
So long lives this, and this gives life tho thee
1609
Sonnet 18
First quatrain
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
•Shakespeare compares his love to a summer day. In this comparison
she is more beautiful and more humble than summer can ever be.
The summer is not perfect but he says that she is even better. The
summer will eventually end when the fall comes.
1609
Sonnet 18
Second quatrain
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
•Even if the summer is wonderful and lovely sometimes it can be a little bit too much. The
sun, that is the eye in the sky, shines to much and it can be too warm. The clouds can
cover the sun so that you can not see it but you know it is there anyway.
•In the third line we are told that even a beautiful person cease to be beautiful
•It happens either through a coincidence /by chance/ or by nature
1609
Sonnet 18
Third quatrian
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
•Her eternal summer = beauty will never go away /shall not fade
/, nor will she loose possession of the beauty that she is the
owner of /nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st/
•She will age in a beautiful way and an old woman can also be
beautiful
•The last line hints that what is written is forever /eternal/
1609
Sonnet 18
So long as men can breath, or eyes can see
So long lives this, and this gives life tho thee
As long as humans can breath and eyes can see so long will this
poem live on, (what is written is eternal) and thereby it will give
her life. She will never be forgotten, remembered forever.
1609
• PPlays
•
* Three kinds of plays
– Tradgedies
• Hamlet
• Romeo & Juliet
• Macbeth
– Comedies
• The merchant of Venice
• A midsummer Night’s dream
– Historical dramas
• Richard III
• Henrik IV
• Henrik V
Famous quotations written by Shakespeare
•To be or not to be, that is the question
Hamlet
• Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice
Hamlet
• Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Hamlet
• Look like the innocent flower. But be the serpent under it.
Macbeth
• By the pricking of my thumbs. Something wicked this way comes Macbeth
• is rotten in the state of Denmarkve ev
Famous quotations written by Shakespeare
•
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid
painted blind
A midsummer Night’s dream
•
If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us,
do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? The Merchant of Venice
•
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool
As you like it
• looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted
blindlooks not with the eyes, but with the
mind,