Shakespeare’s Style

1. Shakespeare’s Style And Other Fun Facts “Shakespeare is truly amazing: the emotions, the jealousies, and the passions make his work exciting, and, realistically, quite relevant in today’s world.” -Michael Wilson, More Scenes from Shakespeare

2. Introduction • So you’re doing Shakespeare! That scares everyone, kids and professional actors alike. Why? Because he’s been dead for almost 400 years? Because his characters “talk funny” in their Elizabethan English? Because someone told you that his works are “poetry” and you can’t imagine how to act poetry? For most of us, it’s all of the above. But Shakespeare tells stories of love, jealousy, anger, war, greed, guilt, fear, and what it means to be human. Turns out, he’s not that different from us after all.

3. Plays during Shakespeare’s Time • There were no sets; actors performed on a bare stage. • No lighting; theaters didn’t have roofs, and plays were performed in the daytime to make use of natural light • Actors wore their own clothes with hints of costume (ex.a crown for a king) and used only the props they could carry onstage with them. • Most of the audience members stood, talked, got drunk, talked back to the actors, and were as rowdy as people at an outdoor concert today. http://www.dawn.com/news/713342/shakespeare-had-helping-hand-with-alls-well-play

4. How did Shakespeare pack the house and hypnotize his rowdy audiences? How did he help his audience envision the setting of the play without sets or costumes and few props?

5. http://wufniks.wordpress.com/words-with-friends/

6. Then & Now http://www.india-forums.com/tellybuzz/wassup/12540-weekly-report-card-of-your-favorite-daily-shows.htm -THEN - Words were so important, people called it going to “hear” a play, the way we say going to “see” a movie. - Fewer people could read; most people were accustomed to listening for their information. • -NOW – We have been • conditioned to gather info. • visually – TV, billboards, • advertising logos. • We get “soundbites” – • employ minimum # of • words to give max amount • of info, or to stimulate • favorable response to • products & services: • “Just do it,” “Got milk?,” • “Wider is better,” • “Supersize it!” http://www.carrmg.com/courses-offered/customer-service-specialist/effective-listening/

7. Shakespeare’s Words • Elaborate descriptive detail & imagery • 2 properties: sound & meaning, work together to create an image • When performing WS, warm up tongue, lips & jaw in order to articulate clearly! • Some words are archaic – no longer used • Some words have changed from what they meant then to what they mean now. • It is critical to understand each & every word you’re saying in order to create a real character who is really communicating! http://learn.lexiconic.net/shakewords.htm http://myctrring.com/clip-art/body-parts-clip-art/

8. Words Invented by Shakespeare -gloomy -barefaced -lonely -lackluster -zany -excellent -fretful -yelping -hint -dwindle -tongue-tied -majestic -aerial -bump -frugal -hurry -leapfrog -seamy -hoodwinked -tranquil http://shakespeareisahipster.tumblr.com/post/15172421441/fun-fact-1-did-you-know-the-first-full-version-of

9. Common Expressions from WS Plays “dull as dishwater” “budge an inch” “set your teeth on edge” “one fell swoop” “melted into thin air” “the long and short of it” “the game is up!”

10. Verse & Prose • Most of WS’s plays are written in verse. You can recognize verse because it looks like poetry, the first letter of each line capitalized and the lines not going all the way to the end of the margin. • blank verse – verse that does not rhyme • rhyming couplet – a pair of rhymed lines • prose – text not in verse; less-formal language; free-form, regular paragraphs, like in a novel • For variety and effect, WS chooses when characters speak in prose or verse. • Iambic pentameter is the type of blank verse poetry that WS used in his plays.

11. Iambic Pentameter • Has five pairs of unstressed-stressed beats per line. The rhythm is: da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM http://izquotes.com/quote/286916 http://yourdailyshakespeare.com/the-winter-of-our-discontent/equalities

12. Shakespeare’s Plays Listed by Genre • COMEDIES HISTORIES TRAGEDIES • All’s Well That Ends WellHenry IV, Part IAntony and Cleopatra • As You Like ItHenry IV, Part IICoriolanus • Comedy of ErrorsHenry VCymbeline • Love’s Labour’s LostHenry VI, Part IHamlet • Measure for MeasureHenry VI, Part IIJulius Caesar • Merchant of VeniceHenry VI, Part IIIKing Lear • Merry Wives of WindsorHenry VIIIMacbeth • Midsummer Night’s DreamKing JohnOthello • Much Ado About NothingPericlesRomeo and Juliet • Taming of the ShrewRichard IITimon of Athens • TempestRichard IIITitus Andronicus • Twelfth NightTroilus and Cressida • Two Gentlemen of Verona • Winter’s Tale

13. Study Questions • 1.) Describe plays during Shakespeare’s time. • 2.) What were audiences like in the 16th century? • 3.) How would people gather information during WS’s time? How do we gather information now? • 4.) What are two properties of WS’s words? Define archaic. • 5.) List three words and one expression invented by WS. • 6.) Define blank verse, rhyming couplet, prose, and iambic pentameter. • 7.) List 3 comedies, 3 histories, and 3 tragedies written by William Shakespeare.