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William Shakespeare. Life and Times. Family Background. Parents: John and Mary Dad was a Glover – considered a skilled craftsman Served as Bailiff of Stratford – the town’s chief officer and local agent of the gov’t in London Born in 1564, William was 3 rd of 8 children (oldest son).
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William Shakespeare Life and Times
Family Background • Parents: John and Mary • Dad was a Glover – considered a skilled craftsman • Served as Bailiff of Stratford – the town’s chief officer and local agent of the gov’t in London • Born in 1564, William was 3rd of 8 children (oldest son)
Early Life • Best schooling available as the son of a well-to-do Burgess • Grammar, logic, rhetoric, Latin • Lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon • Small town with 200 homes, orchards, gardens • Important crossing point over Avon River
Marriage and Family • Married Anne Hathaway – 8 years older than he, and pregnant • A very common woman of the day - illiterate • Susanna - 1583 • Twins - Hamnet and Judith - 1585 • Hamnet died at age 11 probably of The Plague
William goes to London • Probably in search of more money than he could make in Stratford, William left Anne and the kids and went to London • Joined a company of actors (players) – all men – sometime in the mid 1580’s • Became involved in a theatre called “The Theatre”
Burst of Theatre Activity • Lyly, Peele, Greene, Kyd – popular writers • Christopher Marlowe was a peer of William’s • Most playwrights were university trained gentleman • Many theatres were built: The Theatre, The Curtain, The Rose, The Swan – all before Shakespeare’s famous theatre
The Globe is Shakespeare’s Theatre • Built in 1599 • Managed by a company of men called “sharers” because they shared the expenses and profits • The Lord Chamberlain’s Men ran The Globe – Shakespeare was one of them • There were 8 Sharers in 1596 • Hired men were paid weekly – did not share the profits
Strangely Built • Timbers used from tearing down The Theatre because their landlord was not renewing their lease • Not really circular – had 20 sides • Was 100 feet across • Held about 2000 people • The Yard – where people stood around the stage • 3 Galleries where people sat on benches
1599-1613 • Fire destroyed The Globe during a performance of Henry VIII • A cannon shot off thru the open roof ignited the thatch roof on fire • It kindled inwardly and consumed the building in less than an hour • Only one man had his breeches set on fire • The 2nd Globe Theatre had a tiled roof
Life Back at Home • William seems to have been an “absent” husband and father, sending money home occasionally but not visiting often • Both daughters married and stayed in Stratford • His granddaughter Elizabeth lived from 1626-1670 and was his last direct descendent
The Last Years • Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and was succeeded by King James I • The Lord Chamberlain’s Men were recognized as The King’s Men • Shakespeare was seen as a member of the Royal Household • 1613 Shakespeare retired to New Place in Stratford (the home of Susanna and her husband, a doctor)
37 works live on 1590: Henry VI, part 1 Henry VI, part 2 Henry VI, part 3 1592: Richard III Titus Andronicus 1593: The Comedy of Errors The Taming of the Shrew 1594 : The Two Gentlemen of Verona Love’s Labour’s Lost 1595: Romeo and Juliet Richard II 1596: A Midsummer Night’s Dream King John 1597: The Merchant of Venice Henry IV, part 1 1598: Henry IV, part 2 The Merry Wives of Windsor 1599: Henry V Much Ado About Nothing Julius Caesar 1600 : As You Like It Twelfth Night 1601: Hamlet 1602: Troilus and Cressida 1603: All’s Well That Ends Well Measure for Measure 1604: Othello 1605: Timon of Athens 1606: King Lear Macbeth 1607: Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus 1608: Pericles 1609: Cymbeline 1610: A Winter’s Tale 1611: The Tempest 1612: Henry VIII
Bibliography • Morley, Jacqueline and John James. Shakespeare’s Theater. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1999. • Parker, Michael St. John. WilliamShakespeare – The Pitkin Guide. Hampshire UK: Pitkin Unichrome, 2000.
