Shakespeare

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Shakespeare
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Shakespeare

• Important Facts
• date of birth
• April 23, 1564
• date of death
• April 23, 1616

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Shakespeare

• Family
• Mother-- Mary Arden
• Father-- John Shakespeare

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Shakespeare

• More Family
• Wife-- Anne Hathaway
• Children-- Susanna and twins, Judith and
  Hamnet (no, thats NOT Hamlet)

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Shakespeare

• The Writer
• He wrote 35 plays.
• He was also a poet.

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Shakespeare

• Other Facts
• Shakespeare also worked as an actor.
• He was once imprisoned for poaching.

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The Globe Theater
This is the theater where most of Shakespeares
plays were performed.
It was circular or polygonal, and made of wood
with galleries which surrounded an open court.
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The Stage
It was a broad platform about 4 and a half feet
high.
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The Audience
Those who had money could take a seat in the
galleries
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The Audience

• Others had to stand around the stage. They were
  called groundlings.

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• It only cost a penny to stand in the pit.

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What They Did Not Have

• There were no curtains or dressing rooms.
• There was very little scenery or props. (The
  language told the setting.)
• Women

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No women??

• No women were in the theater at this time.
• The female roles were given to young boys.

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They Did Have

• Rapid Action
• Stage Machinery to lower angels
• Trap doors for the appearance of ghosts, witches,
  etc.

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They Also Had...

• A curtained off inner stage for...
• -interior scenes,
• -tomb scenes,
• -throne room scenes,
• -and prison scenes

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And...

• A Balcony for
• -balcony scenes (what else?),
• -and city wall scenes

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Costumes

• Costumes were quite lavish.

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Performance Day

• There was a bell tower for the great bell which
  rang on performance day.
• There was a flag pole at the theater for the flag
  to fly on performance day as well.

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Definition of a Tragic Hero

• A tragic hero had to be all of the following
• 1. a man of high birth,

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Tragic Hero

• 2. a man of great promise, ability and integrity
  of character,

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Tragic Hero

• 3. a man with a tragic flaw or weakness,

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Tragic Hero

• 4. a man with a capacity for suffering, who
  fights back and seeks remedies,

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Tragic Hero

• 5. a man who makes choices,

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Tragic Hero

• 6. a man who dies at the end of the play due to
  the following
• - his tragic flaw
• - the supernatural
• - fate or bad luck
• - a combination of all three

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Tragic Hero

• And finally...
• 7. a man who is ambitious, who compromises, who
  is completely loyal, or who cannot see the truth.

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Definition of a Tragedy

• A tragedy is a drama in prose or verse which
  recounts an important series of events in the
  life of a significant person. It is treated with
  seriousness and dignity, and it ends in
  catastrophe.

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Tragedies in the Play

• 1. An honorable man discovers that his
  dishonorable sacrifice changes nothing.

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Tragedies

• 2. Men who are hungry for power will do anything
  to achieve it.

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Tragedies

• 3. Common people are used as pawns in a game
  which they do not understand.

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Tragedies

• 4. A man cannot see the motives of others.

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Tragedies

• 5. An honorable man believes that murder is
  justifiable.

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Tragedies

• 6. Men are willing to kill their own relatives
  in order to gain riches and power.

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Tragedies

• 7. A man is killed to save a republic that has
  already played itself out.

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Conflicts in the Play

• 1. Caesar (a strong ruler, loved by the
  commoners) vs. the aristocracy.

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Conflicts

• 2. Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius vs. Brutus and
  Cassius.

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Conflicts

• 3. Brutuss idealism vs. Cassiuss realism.

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Conflicts

• 4. Brutuss loyalty to Caesar vs. his loyalty to
  his country.

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Conflicts

• 5. Caesars desire to go to the senate and be
  crowned vs. his desire to stay home and remain
  safe.

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Themes

• 1. The world of an honorable man surrounded by
  men of lesser values is lonely.

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Themes

• 2. Power can change men.

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Themes

• 3. Effective oratory (speech) and propaganda can
  greatly influence the masses.

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Themes

• 4. It is erroneous to believe that even though a
  goal is virtuous, any means to achieve that goal
  is acceptable.

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Themes

• 5. Mass hysteria and mob rule can result in evil.

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One Other Thing...

• leave some room for the REST of the notes which
  we will add as we read the play!