Shakespeare

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Shakespeare 

Introduction to Shakespeare 

Shakespeare,
What do you know?

Guess: Shakespeare was born in which century?

1. 14th Century
2. 15th Century
3. 16th Century
4. 17th Century

Shakespeare's life (1564 - 1616)

• April 1564: born in Stratford-upon-Avon
  
• November 1582: marries Anne Hathaway
  
• May 1583: daughter Susanna born
  
• early 1585: twins Judith and Hamnet born
  
• c. 1585: begins acting career in London
  
• c. 1592: well-known dramatist in London
  
• August 1596: son Hamnet dies
  
• c. 1610: retires to Stratford, buys a large house there
  
• 23 April 1616: dies in Stratford
  

Guess: How many plays (toneelstukken) did Shakespeare write?

1. 31
2. 37
3. 49
4. 54

Guess: How many sonnets (gedichten) did Shakespeare write?

1. 154
2. 265
3. 765
4. 5

Shakespeare

• Shakespeare = influential writer in all of English literature
• 37 plays, 154 sonnets
• Many famous stories and movies are based on his works, such as Lion King (Hamlet), West Side Story (Romeo & Juliet)  & She's the Man (Twelth Night)
• 500+ film adaptions of his plays

Shakespearean Tragedies

1. Tragic flaw

2. Supernatural elements

3. Revenge

4. An internal struggle

5. External pressure

6. Story ends with (mass) death

Shakespearean Comedies

1. A struggle of young lovers overcoming difficulty

2. A separation and reunification

3. Mistaken identities

4. Frequent use of puns and wordplay

5. A clever servant or friend

6. Story ends with marriage(s)

Sonnets

- Shakespeare's main form of poetry

- 14-line poem 

- 1609: Shakespeare's Sonnets = 154 poems

- Focused on love, devotion, delight, pride

- Or darker themes: shame, disgust, fear

Sonnet 18

This is one of Shakespeare's sonnets turned into a rap. 

Watch and learn.

There are a number of reasons to study Shakespeare:

1. The Tragedy plot is one of the seven basic plots.

2. He has some extraordinary storylines

3. Shakespeare's characters are very powerful

4. His plays are full of meaning and messages that are still relevant today. 

We don't use any of the words Shakespeare made up anymore.

1. True
2. False

What was Shakespeare's theatre called?

1. The Globe
2. The Orb
3. The Royal
4. The Circle

Globe Theatre

- Opened in 1599

- Basis for plays by Shakespeare

- Burnt down in 1613

- Rebuilt in 1614

- English civil war: all theatres were demolished

- In 1997 the globe was rebuilt

William Shakespeare

- Born 1564

- Married to Anne Hathaway (not the actress)

- The Lord Chamberlain's Men

- 1599: performing at Globe Theatre

- Performed at Queen Elizabeth I's court 

Women were not allowed on stage.

1. True
2. False

Shakespeare's London

Take a guess: The current population of London is 8.1 million, in 1530 there lived...

1. 50.000 people
2. 100.000 people
3. 200.000 people
4. 250.000 people

Take a guess: a huge fire occured in London in 1666, what percentage of the city burned down?

1. 40%
2. 60%
3. 80%
4. 100%

16th Century London

- religion changed depending on ruler (catholic < > protestant)

- Elizabeth loved plays: lots of theatres were built

- 1530: 50.000 people  >  1605: 225.000 people in London

Two disasters in a row

- The Great Plague of 1665
- "The Black Death"

- May: 53 people die
- June: 6000 people die
- July: 17.000 people die
- August: 31.000 people die

- In total 15% of London dies in one summer

Shakespeare's plays

Name a few Shakespeare plays you know

What do you think? What is Macbeth going to be about? 

Tragic love

The love of Romeo & Juliet is called a 'tragic love'. Tragic love means a love does not go smoothly and/or ends up bad. It could end in a break up or even in death (like in the story of R&J). 
Some examples of famous tragic love stories...

Now move to next slide

Titanic
Brokeback mountain
Pocahontas
Orpheus & Eurydice
Cleopatra & Antony

Assignment

You are going to reenact a scene from a play of Shakespeare in modern text. You can choose the play. But I will give you a few tips:

-  Romeo & Juliet (star-crossed lovers)

- Macbeth (hungry for power king)

- Hamlet (betrayed by friends and family)

- Mid Summer Night's Dream (love potions lead to trouble)

(Website that might help you:https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translations )