Transcript William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare
An Introduction
Translate the following clichés.
 All that glitters is not gold
 Dead as a doornail
 Love is blind
 A sorry sight
 Tower of Strength
 A laughing stock
 Flesh and blood
 Forever and a day
 In my mind’s eye
 Eaten out of house and
 Fair play
 Mum’s the word
 Vanish into thin air
home
 Not slept a wink
 Send you packing
 Wear your heart upon your
sleeve
Yes! They all come from The Bard
His language
still affects how
we speak!
That’s why we
study him!
Early Life
 Born in Stratford-Upon-
Avon, England on April 23,
1564
 Son of Mary and John
Shakespeare
 John Shakespeare was a glovemaker and an alderman of the
town, but lost his position
and money due to illegal
sheep trafficking.
 That’s his home on the right!
School Life
 He attended King’s New
School, which was highly
respected.
 There he put on Christian
plays and memorized the
works of the Greeks.
 He was introduced to
acting when a traveling
troupe came to perform.
A Player?
 At 18, he married Anne
Hathaway, who was 26.
(Rumor is that she was
pregnant)
 They moved into Anne’s
home with her family and
proceeded to procreate.
 They had 3 children that
survived after infancy:
Hamnet, Judith, and
Susanna
The Lost Years: A Deadbeat?
 Will soon left Anne and the
kids behind to live with her
family—supposedly to
make some cash.
 We think he was a teacher,
but there is speculation that
he traded in illegal wool.
A Move to the City
 We do know that he soon
moved to London where he
joined the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, an
acting troupe
 He also met James Burbage
in London—an important
friendship was struck!
The Globe Theatre
 James Burbage was the
owner of a theatre where
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
performed. It was simply
named “The Theatre”
 Unfortunately, he owed his
landlord money and was
threatened with
foreclosure.
The Globe
 Instead of paying back rent,
Burbage, his son, and a few
cronies went late at night
and moved “The Theatre”
across the Thames River.
 It was renamed “The
Globe”
The Globe
 This theatre can hold 3000
people---just not
comfortably.
 Think of plays as the
superbowl—they were one
of the only forms of
entertainment.
 The Globe was an open-air
theatre that opened for
people of all classes.
The Layout
Shakespeare’s Later Life
 Shakespeare wrote and
acted throughout his life,
never returning to his wife
at Stratford-Upon-Avon.
 Four years after his
retirement, he died of a
fever on April 23, 1616.
 He is buried under the
floor of the Trinity Church
in Stratford-Upon-Avon
His Legacy
 On his tomb is a curse to
anyone who dares to move
his bones, which is perhaps
why he has never been
relocated to St. Paul’s
Cathedral in London