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William Shakespeare. Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 Born in Stratford upon Avon Died on April 23, 1616. Parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. William was the third child of eight, but the first to survive. Attended school in Stratford May have taught there as well.
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Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 • Born in Stratford upon Avon • Died on April 23, 1616
Parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. • William was the third child of eight, but the first to survive.
Attended school in Stratford • May have taught there as well.
Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 • He was 18. She was 26 and pregnant • They had 3 children: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet
Nothing known about him for eight years. • Turned up in London in 1592 • Belonged to “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men”
Puritans disapproved of theater • Queen Elizabeth was a patroness of the theater • Theaters closed because of an outbreak of plague
Shakespeare joined The King’s Men • King James I was the patron of the acting troupe
No scenery • No curtain • Few props • Elaborate costumes
Wrote in poetic form called iambic pentameter • Often used sentence inversions • Often combined words • Sometimes used rhyme • Sometimes used prose
iambic Pentameter • This meter focuses on dividing each line by its syllables, and bringing the reader’s attention to each word’s significance in the poem. • This line has 5 feet, so it’s written in pentameter. And the stressing pattern is all iambs: • if YOU | would PUT | the KEY | inSIDE | the LOCK • da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM
Aside • A dramatic convention by which an actor directly addresses the audience but is not suppose to be heard by other actors on the stage.
Example from the Play • ACT II Scene II – Romeo says, “ Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?” • Explanation – Romeo is asking a rhetorical question to the audience. He is not actually speaking to any of the actors or actresses on the stage and only the audience is suppose to hear his question.
Character Foil • Sets off or illuminates the major character – usually to create a contrast that is favorable to the major character.
Example from Play • Act I Scene III – The nurse serves as a foil for Lady Capulet • Explanation – The nurse rambles using bawdy, common language. She is frank and unrefined. Lady Capulet speaks like a noble woman. Her lines are in blank verse or rhymed couplets. Lady Capulet’s language is indirect and refined.
Chorus • A characteristic device in ancient Greek drama, wherein a group of actors speaking or chanting in unison – often while dancing – convey information about the play, particularly an emotion about the action or characters.
Example from Play • The Prologue at the beginning of the play is sung or chanted by a chorus. • Explanation – The chorus lines are in the form of a sonnet. See the paraphrased version in your handout. You will complete a paraphrased version of the chorus in ACT II of the play.
Foreshadowing • The author uses hints and suggestions to foretell the end of the story.
Example from Play • The opening Prologue foreshadows the fate of Romeo and Juliet by stating, “A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life .”
Monologue • A long, uninterrupted speech that a character speaks in front of other characters • An example would be Mercuito’s Queen Mab speech.
Oxymoron • Two concepts that do not go together but are used together. • For example, “loving hate” and “heavy lightness” from Romeo’s dialogue with Benvolio in Act I scene I.
Paradox • A statement that contradicts itself. There are more words in a Paradox than an Oxymoron. An Oxymoron is only two words, and a Paradox is similar but has other words separating the Oxymoron. • For example, Juliet is upset after she hears that Romeo has killed her cousin Tybalt. She describes Romeo as a, “Book containing such vile matter so fairly bound .”
Pun • A play on words based on the similarity of sound between the two words with different meanings (“son” and “sun” or “I” and “eye”)
Soliloquy • A speech in which a character, alone on the stage, addresses himself or herself to let the audience know his/her inner thoughts/feelings. • ACT II Scene III Friar Lawrence is on stage alone and speaks his thoughts so only the audience can hear them.
