Shakespeare and His Times

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Shakespeare and His Times
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His Birth

• born in 1564. We know this from the earliest
  record his baptism which happened on Wednesday,
  April the 26th, 1564.
• celebrate birthday three days earlier.

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His Parents and Siblings

• third child of John and Mary Shakespeare
• Seven siblings
• John was also a prominent man in Stratford.
• William's mother was Mary Arden who married John
  Shakespeare in 1557.

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His Family

• November 28, 1582
• eighteen year old William married the twenty-six
  and pregnant Anne Hathaway.
• Barely seven months later, they had his first
  daughter Susanna.
• twins Hamnet and Judith were born in February
  1592
• Anne never left Stratford, living there her
  entire life

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The Globe Theater

• 1596, a Dutch student by the name of Johannes de
  Witt attended a play in London at the Swan
  Theatre.
• While there, de Witt made a drawing of the
  theatre's interior.

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The Globe Theater
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The Globe Theater

• constructed in 1599.
• was three-stories high and had no roof.
• could together hold more than 1,500 people.
• In 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, a
  misfired canon ball set the Globe's thatched roof
  on fire and the whole theatre was consumed.

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The Globe Theater

• 1 Penny roughly 10 of a workers daily wage
• 2 Pennies
• 3 Pennies
• Because there was no artificial lighting, plays
  typically occurred in the early afternoon,
  lasting from 2 pm until roughly 4 or 5 pm.

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The Globe Theater

• The first play we know of that was performed at
  Shakespeare's famous playhouse was Julius Caesar
  in 1599.

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Want to build The Globe?
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Another model!
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His Works

• estimated that roughly fifteen of his 37 plays
  would have been written and performed by 1597.
• 37 plays
• 154 sonnets

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His Death

• William dies on April 23rd, his burial being
  recorded in the Stratford Holy Church Register
  two days later.

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Terminology

• Soliloquy
• Blank Verse
• Aside

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Shakespeares Sonnet

• Wrote 154
• 1-120 to W.H.
• 121-154 to Dark Lady
• 14 lines
• Iambic pentameter
• Set rhyme scheme
• Abab, cdcd, efef, gg

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Sonnet 73

• When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
  Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
  Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds
  sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day
  As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by
  and by black night doth take away, Death's
  second self, that seals up all in rest.In me
  thou see'st the glowing of such fire That on the
  ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed
  whereon it must expire Consumed with that which
  it was nourish'd by.This thou perceivest, which
  makes thy love more strong,To love that well
  which thou must leave ere long.

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Sonnet 18

• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art
  more lovely and more temperateRough winds do
  shake the darling buds of May, And summer's
  lease hath all too short a dateSometime too hot
  the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold
  complexion dimm'd And every fair from fair
  sometime declines, By chance, or nature's
  changing course un- trimm'dBut thy eternal
  summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of
  that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou
  wander'st in hisshade,When in eternal lines to
  time thou grow'st So long as men can breathe,
  or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this
  gives life to thee.

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Julius Caesar
http//shakespeare.about.com/
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JULIUS CAESAR THE MAN, THE MYTH, AND THE TRUTH
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What was his childhood like?

• Caesar had many advantages as a child. His
  family was of the old patrician class of Rome and
  they claimed to be descendants of both Aeneas and
  Romulus, the early heroes and founders of Rome.
  Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 BCE.

ROMULUS
AENEAS
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• Gaius (Caesars real name) was given a
  first-class education in both Greek and Latin and
  his family had prestige (but not wealth) in Roman
  society. Julius Caesar told people that he spoke
  better Greek than Latin and he probably did. This
  would come in handy as he moved throughout the
  Roman world.

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As a young man Julius was too often unsuccessful
and unhappy he married a woman he did not love
for her money and family influence, he was given
positions of power which he did not deserve or
earn, and he lost a lot of money in failed
business ventures. It would have been hard to
predict glory for him based on his early life.
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There were two defining moments in Caesars adult
life (ages 25-32) that changed him.
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• On his way to Greece in 75 BCE, Caesar was
  kidnapped by the famous and feared Cilician
  pirates. He told the pirates that they should
  either kill him or ask for a higher ransom,
  because when he was free he would return and kill
  them all. The pirates laughed.

After the ransom was paid and Caesar was freed,
he raised a fleet, returned to the pirates lair,
and captured them all. He had them crucified just
as he had promised to do when their prisoner!
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The second defining moment..

• While serving as governor in Spain at age 32,
  Caesar visited a statue of Alexander the Great

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• Upon viewing this statue, Caesar fell to his
  knees, weeping. When asked what was wrong, Caesar
  sighed, and said that by the time Alexander was
  his (Caesar's) age, Alexander had conquered the
  whole world. All Caesar had done was marry a rich
  woman, squandered her and his familys immense
  wealth, and been appointed in a position because
  Roman corruption and family connections.

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Caesar decided to change..

• Gaius Julius Caesar returned to Rome. He married
  again, borrowed money from new wealthy
  supporters, and began to pursue a career in
  politics. One way he did that was by giving
  speeches to the poorer Romans and sponsoring
  expensive games and spectacles for the masses.

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Things started to go Caesars way and he became a
political power.
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All Julius Caesar needed now was....

• ..AN ARMY

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Caesar was given command of a Roman legion in
south Gaul (France) when he was 41
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EUROPE TODAY
CAESARS CONQUESTS IN EUROPE

• From 58-51 BC Julius Caesar led his army all
  over France, Belgium and even into England. He
  conquered the entire land of Gaul and all its
  warrior tribes.

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How did Caesar explain his success as a military
leader and conqueror? With these simple words
I came, I saw, I conquered
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But it certainly was more than that..

• Julius Caesar was a tactical genius and a
  brilliant general. He knew how to use his Roman
  army to defeat every opponent.
• He was unmerciful in his punishment of the
  enemies of Rome. It is estimated that he killed
  over TWO MILLION people in Gaul (France) during
  his conquests there.

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• That makes him a mass murderer as well as a
  military genius.

No better than Adolf Hitler.
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• Julius Caesar was also an author and spread his
  fame using the pen. He even wrote down his
  exploits in a book that you can still read today.
  As reports of his victories and his book reached
  Rome, all of Rome sang praises to Caesar!

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But there was a problem

• Caesar was not the favorite of all the rich and
  powerful in Rome. They preferred Pompey, Caesars
  former friend and now rival

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• In 49 BC, the Roman Senate ordered Caesar to
  disband his army and enter Rome as a private
  citizen or they would declare him an enemy of
  the state. Caesar responded by leading 5000 of
  his troops across the Rubicon and into Rome,
  starting a civil war.

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Caesar destroyed his rival Pompey and had himself
appointed dictator for life

• Pompey fled to Egypt and Caesar followed him.
  The Egyptians presented Caesar with Pompeys
  severed head when he arrived. The fight was over!

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• During his stay in Egypt Julius Caesar met and
  fell in love with Cleopatra, the beautiful
  co-ruler of the country. They had a child
  together and Caesar took them both back to Rome.

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Caesar became famous for a quote he
made which was finally about to come true. He
was asked his understanding of the best way to
die. He answered Which death is preferable to
every other? The unexpected.
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• Many of the Senators of Rome thought Caesar was
  a dangerous man who was living and ruling like a
  god. They thought he wanted to be a king, and
  they did not believe in kings.

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• Even though Caesar refused the crown, a band of
  rich men led by Brutus and Cassius stabbed Caesar
  to death during a senate meeting on the Ides of
  March (March 15), 44 BC.

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He was 55 years old.

• It isnt an impressive site today, but you can
  still visit the spot of Caesars murder in Rome
  today.

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What conclusions can we make about Julius Caesar?
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First the good things he did

• He increased the territory and power of Rome.
• He made necessary reforms in the corrupt Roman
  government.
• He created the solar calendar that we still use
  today in place of the lunar.
• He had a magnetic personality and many talents
  great politician, military commander, writer,
  astronomer, and fantastic speaking skills.
• He was intelligent, brave, and loved adventure.

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But he did some terrible things as well

• He not only killed two million Gauls, but he
  ruthlessly eliminated his political rivals
  through murder.
• He led his army in civil war against the Roman
  state and defeated it.
• He pretended to like the common people when in
  fact he only wanted to use them.
• He kept many mistresses and was not faithful to
  his wife.
• He had himself chosen dictator for life against
  all Roman principles.

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What Do Most Historians Think?

• They believe that Julius Caesar was a arrogant
  opportunist who lived by the sword and..
  rightfully died by the sword. He got what he
  deserved and what he had given others death.

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• http//absoluteshakespeare.com/
• http//www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespe
  ares-globe-theater