Transcript Document

What was life like when
Shakespeare was writing his
plays?
Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne of England.
The population of London doubled
during Shakespeare’s lifetime (from about
100,000 to approximately 200,000).
The theater was a new and
exciting business.
An actor’s profession was
limited to men (considered
disreputable)
No royalties or copyright
existed so writers were paid a
pittance for scripts.
Scholars estimate that until about 1603 the average
payment for a play was £6 (six pounds); by 1613 the
price had risen to £10 or £12.
William Shakespeare
was one of these playwrights,
but he went on to become one of
the most famous writers of all
time!
Few details are known about
Shakespeare’s life (gathered
from town and church records
etc.)
Born in 1564 to a middle-class
family in Stratford-upon-Avon,
England. His baptism took place
on Wednesday, April the 26th,
1564.
Shakespeare attended grammar school (standard
education at the time).
In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway.
They had three children:
Susanna, Hamnet (who died at
the age of eleven) and Judith.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
Around 1590, Shakespeare moved to London to
work as an actor and playwright.
Quickly became very successful.
Became a joint shareholder in
the Lord Chamberlain’s Men
(later called the King’s Men),
receiving received a
percentage of the profits.
The Globe
Shakespeare
performed for most of
his career at the Globe
Theatre.
The Globe theatre was
destroyed by a fire in
1613 during a
production of Henry V
but was rebuilt the
following year.
Shakespeare’s career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I
(ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and
he was a favorite of both monarchs.
James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest
possible compliment by bestowing upon its members
the title of King’s Men.
Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to
Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two.
The famous Bard is buried at the Holy Trinity Church
in Stratford.
.
Good friend, for Jesus´ sake forbeare
To digg the dust enclosed here!
Blest be ye man that spares thes stones
And curst be he that moues my bones
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written by
William Shakespeare in approximately 1595.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy which portrays the
adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors in a
moonlit forest, and their interactions with the fairies who inhabit it.
Comedy – simply, the play will end happily
Romantic comedy - usually based on a mix-up
in events or identities. Shakespeare’s
comedies often move towards tragedies (a
death or lack of of resolution) but are resolved
in the nick of time.
 Comedy – despair to happiness
 Tragedy – happiness to despair
Shakespeare’s comedies often end with a
wedding.
A Midsummer Night's Dream sources:
Story of Pyramus and Thisbe was borrowed from
Ovid’s Metamorphosis.
The wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta was
described in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
The theme of a daughter who wants to marry
against her father's desires was explored in
Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet.
Bottom and his friends are caricatures of the
amateur players of the time and they satirize many
of the theatrical conventions of the time; for
example, using young men to play the roles of
women.
Fairies: prior to Elizabethan times,
considered evil spirits who stole
children and sacrificed them to the
devil.
Shakespeare redefined fairies
during this time period, turning
them into gentle, albeit
mischievous, spirits. Puck, for
example, brags about his ability to
perform harmless pranks.
The title draws on the summer solstice,
Midsummer Eve, occurring June 23 and marked by
holiday partying and tales of fairies and temporary
insanity.
There are several theories at to the
origins of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.
The play might have been written for an
aristocratic wedding.
Possibly written for the Queen to celebrate
the feast day of St. John the Baptist
(celebrated on June 24. It was believed that
on Midsummer Night’s Eve the fairies and
witches held their festival.
THE THREE WORLDS of
1. THE ATHENIANS:
Theseus and his bride, Hippolyta
(Theseus represents law and order.)
The four lovers: Hermia, Helena,
Demetrius, Lysander (They represent
adolescent rebellion.)
Egeus (Hermia’s father)
Helena and Demetrius
Left to right: Helena,
Demetrius, Lysander,
Hermia
Theseus and Hippolyta
2. THE ACTORS:
Bottom (the rather vain “leader” of the group who
wishes to play all the parts
Other members of the cast: Quince, Flute,
Starveling, Snout, Snug, Philostrate
3. THE FAIRIES:
Their realm is the woods where they
interact with the humans who wander there.
This setting is outside the walls of Athens
and so disorder prevails.
Titania (Queen)
Oberon (King)
Puck (a.k.a. Robin Goodfellow) – Oberon’s
loyal helper
Bottom and Titania
Puck and Oberon
The three worlds come together in the woods at night: a place of
magic and mystery where illusion reigns!
Shakespeare cleverly weaves together not only fairies and lovers, but
also social hierarchies with the aristocratic Theseus and the "rude
mechanicals," or the artisans and working men. This allows the play to
become more lyrical, since it is able to draw on the rougher language of
the lower classes as well as the poetry of the noblemen.
In act One, Lysander laments: “The course of true love never
did run smooth” (1.1.134).
The play deals with the trials of those “in love” both in the
world of the Athenians and the world of the fairies.
Because the play is a romantic comedy, the audience can
enjoy the conflicts, mix ups, and misunderstandings without
ever doubting that all will turn out well.
Other topics (besides “love”):
Reality versus illusion
Friendship
Parental authority
Dreams
The play is a study in
The contrasts add balance to the play.
Some of the contrasts in the play:
Reality vs. illusion (dreams)
Athens vs. the forest
Day vs. night
Order vs. confusion
Aristocrats vs. workmen
Tall vs. short
True love vs. false love
Lyrical language vs. rough prose
Motifs
• Eyes – sight as a powerful weapon
• Flowers – beauty of nature, associated with
love
• Love potion – fickle nature of love
• Contrast – characters have opposites
Shakespeare writes in both VERSE and PROSE
VERSE – elevated passages, significant ideas, speeches by high ranking
individuals
PROSE – comic scenes, dialect or broken English (slang/not proper) and
speeches by commoners are in prose (written or spoken word)
POETRY is usually blank verse – iambic pentameter lines without rhyme
IAMBIC PENTAMETRE – five beats (feet) per line with a light/ heavy
stress pattern (ten syllables).
RHYME is used (couplet or sonnet) to underline important passages
(e.g.soliloquy – the act of speaking when alone or regardless of any listeners,
often a character’s inner thoughts)