William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare
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Shakespeare??

• Most people have heard of Shakespeare, but some
  people dont know anything about him or his
  plays. You might think you are too young to study
  Shakespeare, or that the language is too hard for
  you to understand. I am here to tell you that is
  not true. Shakespeares plays are funny, scary,
  exciting, and even romantic. You can understand
  Shakespeare, and the more you know, the smarter
  you will be. I bet you will love Shakespeare as
  much as I do!!

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Shakespeare

• William Shakespeare lived a long time ago. He was
  born In England in 1564 and died in 1616.
  Actually, his exact birthday is unknown, but he
  was baptized April 26 of 1564, so his birth would
  have been shortly before then. Shakespeare was 52
  years old when he died.
• Shakespeare did not go to college.
• When he was 18 years old, he married a lady named
  Anne Hathaway who was 8 years older than he. Yes,
  the modern day actree Ann Hathaway is named after
  Shakespeares wife. They had 3 children,
  Susannah, and twins Hamnet and Judith.

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Shakespeare

• The family eventually moved to London where
  Shakespeare began acting and writing plays. Some
  of his most famous plays are MacBeth, Romeo and
  Juliet, and Hamlet.Shakespeare wrote 37 plays
  that we know of. Many people believe he wrote
  even more plays which have been lost.His plays
  were performed for common people as well as Kings
  and Queens.

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Nobility

• In Shakespeares time, there were only about 55
  noble families in England. A nobleman was someone
  who was a duke, baron, or an earl. They were the
  lords and ladies of the land. How do you become a
  noble? You are either born into it or the queen
  or king grants you a title. The only way to lose
  your title would be to commit treason. Treason is
  when someone turns against or plots against the
  queen or king or their country. If an American
  became a spy for another country then he or she
  would be guilty of treason. Treason is a crime.

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Nobility

• So what did these noble people do? They did not
  have actual jobs, but the kept busy overseeing
  their lands and the people who worked for them.
  Nobles lived in luxury and were expected to dress
  better and have grander houses than everyone
  else. Many nobles served as ambassadors, or on
  the king or queens counsel.
• After the nobles you had the gentry. These were
  people who were wealthy but not of noble birth.
• The yeomanry were people who had enough money to
  be comfortable but did not live in a grand way
  like the nobles or the gentry. The yeoman were
  content to live more simply.

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Peasants

• Below everyone else you find the peasants. These
  were the poorest people in the land and included
  the sick, disabled, old, and feeble. If someone
  was able bodied and refused to work, they were
  dealt with harshly. They would be whipped, and if
  they continued to avoid work would be burned
  through the gristle of the right ear with a hot
  iron.If a vagrant was found to be unemployed a
  third time, the punishment was death.

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Romeo and Juliet

• This is the story of two young people who fell in
  love. The problem was that their families hated
  each other. Romeo and Juliet met secretly and
  married. The story ends badly for these two
  however with both dying.

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MacBeth

• This is a story involving murder, witches, and
  insanity. MacBeth is an exciting and suspenseful
  story. MacBeth begins the story as a war hero.
  MacBeth begins the story as the Thane of Glamis.
  MacBeth was Scottish, and the title Thane was one
  given by the King. Thane was later replaced by
  the title Baron. MacBeth is married and his wife
  is referred to as Lady MacBeth.

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Shakespeare
William was part of an acting company called
Lord Chamberlain's Men. There would be about ten
men who would put on plays. Young boys would play
the womens parts because women were not allowed
to act. Early Plays Shakespeare wrote plays,
and worked as an actor. His plays became very
popular in London, and soon the Lord
Chamberlain's Men were one of the most popular
acting companies in the city. Some of
Shakespeare's early plays include The Taming of
the Shrew, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and A
Midsummer Night's Dream. The Theater Shuts Down
These early plays were put on at a theater
called the "Theatre". While Lord Chamberlain's
Men owned the Theatre, the land was owned by
Giles Allen. In 1597 Allen decided he wanted to
tear the Theatre down. He locked it up and
refused to let the actors perform. They tried to
renegotiate the lease on the land, but Allen
refused. One night, several members of the
company took apart the Theatre, and moved the
entire thing across the Thames River to another
spot. There they built a new theatre called The
Globe Theatre.
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The Globe Theatre

• The Globe Theatre became the place to be in
  London.
• It could hold up to 3,000 people, and had a
  uniquely designed stage with a painted ceiling,
  columns, and stage wall.
• They had specially trained musicians who made
  special effects noises during the plays.
• They even had a cannon that fired blanks.

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William Shakespeare

• The Globe Theatre burned in 1613 and was re-built
  in 1614. In 1642 it closed. A new Globe Theatre
  was built in 1997 and it is a modern
  reconstruction of the original. Because of the
  outbreak of the plague in Europe, all London
  playhouses were closed down between 1592 and
  1594. They closed them because they thought that
  if a lot of people were crowded together in a
  space the plague would spread.

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Plague

• A plague is a terrible illness which spread
  rapidly, and kills large amounts of people. In
  Chine or central Asia in 1347, a plague called
  The Black Death began. It killed between 75 and
  200 million people worldwide. It is believed to
  have been spread across the ocean by rat fleas
  who were on black rats. The black rats traveled
  on merchant ships from China to Europe and
  carried the plague. The Bubonic plague began in
  1665, and killed approximately 38,000 people in
  London.

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The Globe Theatre
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• Shakespeare is considered by many people to be
  the greatest writer in English history. His words
  are quoted second most after the Bible. The words
  curst be he that moves my bones are inscribed
  onto his tombstone. There is a superstition among
  theatre people that the play MacBeth is cursed.
  Actors do not say the word MacBeth aloud in the
  theatre unless they are rehearsing. Instead they
  call the play The Scottish play or The Bards
  Play. Shakespeare is called the bard because bard
  means poet. Instead of saying MacBeth they say
  the Scottish King or the Scottish Lord. Some
  people believe that bad things happen in the
  theatre when the play MacBeth is performed.