Transcript William Shakespeare

William
Shakespeare
and Elizabethan England
April 23, 1564
Stratfordupon-Avon
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
1571 (age 7)
King Edward VI
School
May 26, 1583 Susanna born
(5 months after wedding)
1585 twins Judith and Hamnet
Hamnet dies age 11
According to legend
Caught poaching deer
Left Stratford upon Avon
Acting Companies
1597 Buys New Place in Stratford
Retires in 1610
Died April 23, 1616 in Stratford
Church of the Holy Trinity
StratfordUponAvon
1564 Galileo Galilei born
1609 Galileo studies the
sky with telescope
1564
Swiss theologian
John Calvin dies
Geneva Bible
Roman typeface
Numbered verses
First taken to America
Quoted by Shakespeare
Presbyterianism
Literal reading of scripture
Predestination
1587
Mary
Queen of
Scots
Tower of
London
Beheaded
Comedies
histories
Tragedies
Selected Plays
(Plays studied at Tracy High)
1599-1613
1614-1642
1994-Present
The Globe Theater
The Virgin
Queen:
Elizabeth I
1533-1603
The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I
•Henry VIII
•Tudor
•6 wives
•No male heirs
•Anne Boleyn
•Beheaded for “infidelity”
in 1536
•Really because she
miscarried a male baby
The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I
Never married
Advantage being single queen
Possibly a forbidden love
Subordinate role
Marry and rule with husband
Half sister
Tower of London
Died 1558
Elizabeth takes
throne
Mary Queen of Scots
Cousin of Elizabeth
Granddaughter
of Henry VIII
Executed in 1587
Ousted from court
for disobedience
Attempted coup
“Richard II”
Small group
Elizabethan Fashions
Elizabethan Women’s Fashions
Ruff
Bumroll
Farthingale
Corset
Elizabethan Men’s Fashions
Codpiece
Hose
Doublet
Slops
The Elizabethan Masque
Music and dance
Beginning, end, during interludes
Festivals
Weddings, Christmas, etc.
Indoors or outdoors
Elaborate sets and props
Themes
Strength of man
vs. weakness of
woman
Male heroism
Marriage, men
protecting
women
No wonder Elizabeth herself
never sponsored a masque!
Elaborate
costumes
Mythological or
allegorical figures
Male and
female courtiers
performed
Courtly Love
Love in LITERATURE
Women idealized
Delightful disease
Physical and mental affliction
Symptoms:
sighing won’t eat
pale
suffering depression jealousy
blush
heart pounds
Courtly Love
Tokens of love
Songs, poems, flowers from man
Woman minimally acknowledges
Inspires man to perform
great deeds for the woman
A virtuous woman would reject the man
at first but would eventually be won
Adultery
Idealized
Real marriages were usually for
social or monetary gain
Woman is older, higher social
status, completely in control
Man remains chaste except for
his beloved
Affair must remain secret
Eventually mimicked by lords
and ladies
Authorship?
•Sir Francis Bacon?
•Earl of Southampton?
•Many others…
William Shakespeare