William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is one of the most important playwrights the world has ever known. Theatres throughout the world perform his plays more than any other playwright’s, living or dead. Shakespeare was born in the small village of StratfordUpon-Avon. Stratford is about 120 km northwest of London. Shakespeare’s father was a glove maker. His father also served as alderman and mayor of Stratford. Young William likely attended the grammar school in Stratford. Only the sons of prominent families could attend the schools of the time. William would have been eligible to attend, due to his father’s elected office. The details of Shakespeare’s childhood remain a mystery. At the age of 18, William married Anne Hathaway. They had a daughter named Susanna. Two years later, Anne gave birth to twins, a boy, Hamnet, and a girl, Judith. Shakespeare left Stratford soon after the birth of the twins. No one knows what Shakespeare did from the time he left Stratford until he became known in London seven years later. Historians refer to this time as the “lost years”. The first record of Shakespeare in London appears in 1592. By 1594 he was a member of a theatrical troupe, The Lord Chamberlain’s men. Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and several poems from 1590 to 1608. According to legend, Shakespeare worked as an actor as well as a playwright for the company. In 1599 Shakespeare and his associates built the Globe Theater. They built the Globe on the south bank of the Thames River, just opposite the centre of London. The Globe was an open-air theatre. The company performed in the Globe in the summers. During the winters, they also performed in The Blackfriars, an indoor theatre.

Shakespeare’s plays became popular, and his company often performed for Queen Elizabeth I and her court. They later performed for King James I. The King issued a patent to Shakespeare’s company, and the name was then changed to The King’s Company. Shakespeare gradually retired from the theatre. He built a home in Stratford, which he named New Place. He died in April 1616 and was buried in the crypt of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies, and histories. He is noted for his wonderful use of language; his plays contain beauty as well as prose. He used many jokes, puns, and other language tricks. Many of Shakespeare’s lines are still quoted today. His plays are also famous for their important characters. Shakespeare was very observant of human nature. His characters are remarkable human beings. Numerous stage, film, and video productions of his works bring Shakespeare to new audiences each generation.

How Shakespeare Saw the World The world of William Shakespeare was much smaller than the one we live in today. The parameters of how a person could behave and what a person could believe were limited. ________________________________ freedoms which we consider so important today were unknown to the people of Shakespeare’s England. To fully appreciate a play by Shakespeare, it is helpful to understand how he and his fellow citizens viewed the world. They saw the world as a huge _________________________ written, staged, and directed by God. In this play there were only ____________________________, with nothing in between. Everything happened so there would be a balance between good and evil. If the king or queen was cruel and tyrannical, or if a family was struck by a devastating _________________________________________, it was a sign that God was ______________________________. Going against what was taught to be God’s will would certainly lead to severe punishment in life and hell after death. There was no mistaking right and wrong. They were taught in the _________________________________. God was the ruler of everything and everyone. Events occurred according to what He wanted. There were no _______________________. The church and its leaders were _________________________of God on earth, and the king was king because God intended him to be. Everyone else existed at ___________________________________, with noblemen and churchmen above the common people. _________________________ held the authority which otherwise would have gone to a king. Children had no rights except those allowed by ____________________________. Teenagers had to obey every wish of their parents until they married, and marriage was

usually arranged by the parents with little concern for the child’s desires. Children married young, often by _________________ A wife was _________________________ her husband, just as she had obeyed her father. A father had the God-given right to force his daughter to ___________________ a man she did not love. If she refused, he could send her to a ____________________ (or perhaps worse) for the rest of her life, and she could do nothing about it. The earth was the ____________________ of the universe with God and church in charge. God had made the king the centre of the _____________________. A father was the centre of his home, and the “king” of his own ______________________________. Everyone was obliged to obey this order. There were severe _______________________ ____________________ for anyone daring to go against it.

Activity Complete the Venn diagram on the next page by: • In section A list values and beliefs which were held by the people of Shakespeare’s England but which are not held by us today. • In section C list values which we hold today but which were not held by the people of Shakespeare’s England • In section B list values and beliefs which both we and Shakespeare’s people time hold. How Shakespeare Saw the World

A Shakespeare’s Time

B Both Times

My Time C

The Globe Theatre

William Shakespeare and his partners built the Globe Theatre in ______________ in a London suburb named Southwark. Southwark was on the south bank of the

______________________________, just across from the centre of the city. This was a major entertainment area of the time. The Globe was a three-storied building. It had a small ______________ on top of the roof. The owners of the theatre raised a __________________________ on top of the hut on the days of performances. London citizens could look across the river and see which of the theatres would have a production that day. The Globe enclosed an open courtyard. The theatre patrons named this courtyard the ______________. People who paid the lowest ticket price stood in this area; they were referred to as the __________________________. Almost surrounding the pit were three seating _____________________. Audience members who paid for more expensive tickets would sit in these galleries. In addition to being able to sit while watching the play, the audience members in the gallery were ________________________ fro the sun and rain by a _________________________________. A large platform, called the ____________________________, protruded from one end of the pit. Most of the action of the play occurred here. The theatre owners cut a _________________________ into the main stage floor. The trap door could be opened to allow scenes in which ________________ and _________________ would appear or disappear; it could also become a grave, as in a famous scene from Hamlet. A roof, supported by two large _____________________, covered the stage area. This roof protected the actors and their costumes from the rain. Paintings of the sun, moon, and stars covered the underside of the roof. The roof area above the stage became known as ______________________________ because of this decoration. In some plays, technicians lowered actors portraying angels or spirits from the heavens onto the main stage as if the actors were descending from heaven.

In the back of the main stage was a small room. A curtain hung between this room and the main stage. The name of this room was the ___________________________. They opened this to reveal scenes to the audience. Above and to the rear of the stage was a balcony that was used when actors needed to ____________________ some action on the main stage below. In back of this balcony was another small curtained room, called the ______________________________, that was used in much the same manner as the inner-below. The theatre also had two small ________________________, one on each side of the main stage. In Shakespeare’s time the audience did not expect the plays to be ___________________. Scenery was not used; one or two items or pieces of furniture would suggest the location of the scene. If the audience saw a _________________ on the stage, they knew the location was in a palace or castle. If they saw a couple of ______________________ on the stage, they knew the scene was in a forest. Since the crew did not need to move the scenery, the plays contained many ________________________ and a variety of ______________________. Though theatres of the time did not use scenery or special lighting, they did use colourful ___________________, musical ______________________, and special ____________________________.