Brit Lit Shakespeare

**GONNA ASK** What were Shakespeare's birth and death years?

1564-1616

3 Periods we can associate with Shakespeare?

Elizabethan age, English Renaissance, Age of Theater

Age of Theater

Buildings of theaters were popping up everywhere

What was the first theater in London called?

"The theatre"

Two theaters associated with Shakespeare

The Globe - his summer theater (built and owned by Burbage bros)

The Black Friars - his winter theater

Which theater was more expensive to get into?

Black friars

The Actor, the writer, the owner

The actor - all about the role

The writer - all about the message

The owner - all about the money

What was the first play at the globe called?

Julius Caesar

What was different about Shakespeare's plays compared to todays plays?

Women weren't allowed in the audience, only male actors, and Shakespeare liked to play with gender roles

Drag

boy actor dressed as a girl

Drab

in 1660 when a female actor would dress as a boy

What is different about the layout of the theatre in Shakespeare's day?

Most expensive seats were in the back, nowadays the most expensive seats are in the front

**ASKED** How many plays did Shakespeare write?

37

**ASKED** How many narrative poems did Shakespeare write?

5 - collection of 154 sonnets

Sonnet

short 14 line poem

**ASKED** What is a Folio?

collection of PLAYS written after Shakespeare's life

**ASKED** What is a Quarto?

1 PLAY written during Shakespeare's life

What were the pluses and minuses of the folio of 1623?

Minuses- No chronological order, missing Pericles (only have 36/37 plays)

Pluses - 18/36 plays the include are printed for the first time

When did the first folio appear?

about 7 years after Shakespeare's death

Who were the acting friends of Shakespeare that were behind the folio in memory of Shakespeare?

Heminge + Condell

Stratfordians

Pro Shakespeare/believe Shakespeare wrote the play

Oxfordians

believe Earl of Oxford (Edward Deveres) wrote the plays

Who would be the best candidate to have written Shakespeare's plays if Shakespeare didn't write them?

Earl of Oxford (Edward Deveres)

What 2 documents were found and used as evidence that Shakespeare was alive at the time his writings were written?

christening certificate and marriage certificate

What was the wife's name that was listed on Shakespeare's marriage license?

Anne Whatley

Who is Shakespeare's wife that is 7 years older than him?

Anne Hathaway

Why do we believe Shakespeare left Anne Whatley for Anne Hathaway?

Loved Whatley, but Hathaway was 3 months pregnant already at the time of the wedding; Hathaway gave birth 6 months after wedding

What does Shakespeare leave Anne in his will after he dies? Why is this weird?

2nd best bed in the house; widow gets 1/3 of her husbands estate, nowadays they get 100%

What was the name of Shakespeare's and Hathaway's firstborn baby?

Susanna

Who does Susanna end up marrying? What does Shakespeare give her in his will?

Dr. John Hall; all of his property

What was the name of Shakespeare's and Hathaway's twins?

Judith (daughter) and Hamnet (son)

In 1596, which one of Shakespeare's kids dies from a fever?

Hamnet, taking Shakespeare family name and direct descendance with him

Who did Judith end up marrying? What does Shakespeare give her in his will?

jerk Tom Quiney; leaves 300 lbs to Judith, Quiney doesn't touch it or it all goes to Susanna

Shakespeare's plays got more darker and more tragic between _________ - _________. Why?

1596-1608; Shakespeare lost Hamnet, his mom, and his dad between these years

**ASKED** How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?

154

What are the 3 things we don't know about Shakespeare's sonnets?

1) when written

2) who they were written to

3) order they were written in

Who arranged Shakespeare's sonnets into 4 groups, numbered them, and publicized them?

Thomas Thorpe

**GONNA ASK** What were the group of numbers that Thomas Thorpe grouped Shakespeare's sonnets into?

1: Sonnets 1-17

2: Sonnets 18-126

3: Sonnets 127-152

4: Sonnets 153-154

**GONNA ASK** What is group 1: Sonnets 1-17 about?

addressed to a young man, exhorts him to marry and preserve his beauty in his children

**GONNA ASK** What is group 2: Sonnets 18-126 about?

addressed to the young man on any topic not encouraging him to marry and preserve his beauty in his children

**GONNA ASK** What is group 3: Sonnets 127-152 about

written to a dark woman, loves and loathes her passionately, she is skillful musician, faithless, unattractive, false to her husband, and yet irresistible

**GONNA ASK** What is group 4: Sonnets 153-154 about?

2 concluding sonnets to Cupid

Who was the man that we THINK groups 1 and 2 (sonnets 1-126) are addressed to?

Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's patron (who we know is gay)

Who created the English/Shakespearean sonnet?

Earl of Surrey

*ASKED* What is the English/Shakespearean sonnet?

3 quatrains - first 12 lines (present problem)

1 couplet - last 2 lines (solution to problem)

Definition of tragedy from Shakespeare

fall from greatness, fatal/tragic flaw, death

***ASKED*** Shakespeare's PLAYS are written in...

Blank verse - unrhymed iambic pentameter

**ASKED** What are the 4 periods Shakespeare's plays can be divided into?

1) Period of experimentation

2) Period of Rapid Growth and Development

3) Period of Great Tragedies and Bitter Comedies

4) Period of Romances or Tragicomedies

What were 2 plays written in the Period of Experimentation?

1) Lovers Labor Lost

2) Comedy of Errors

What were 2 plays written in the Period of Rapid Growth and Development?

1) Henry IV

2) Henry V

**GONNA ASK** What were 4 tragedies written in the Period of Great Tragedies and Bitter Comedies? What are their fatal flaws?

1) Hamlet - procrastination

2) Othello - jealousy and believing people are what they seem to be

3) King Lear - arrogance

4) Macbeth - ambition

What were 2 plays written in the Period of Romances or Tragicomedies?

1) Pericles

2) Cymbeline

What dates was Hamlet most likely written?

between 1600-1601

What did Francis Meres' write?

Palladus Tamia (this helped to date Hamlet)

**ASKED** What was the internal and external evidence proving when Hamlet was written?

Intrinsic - reference in the play (child actors fad and the war between theaters)

Extrinsic - reference outside the play (not mentioned in Francis Meres, Palladus Tamia)

**ASKED** What are the 3 sources for Hamlet?

1) Danish historian who in 12th-13th century gathered the legend

2) Francois de Belleforest - Frenchman, tragic history - MAG (melancholy (depression), adultery, girlfriend)

3) Thomas Kyd's Spanish Tragedy, Ur Hamlet

What does Thomas Kyd add?

6 ghost

Play within play

What are the texts of the play Hamlet?

Quarto 2 is superior to Folio 1

Who is Gertrude?

Hamlet's mom, Claudius' wife

Who was Hamlets faithful friend?

Horatio

Who are Hamlet's treacherous friends?

R+G

Where does Hamlet start?

Elsinore castle- in Denmark

What 2 events start off Hamlet that Claudius thanks everyone for?

1) Claudius's dead brothers funeral 2) Wedding of Gertrude and Claudius (Gertrude is his sister in law aka incest)

What is a soliloquoy?

When one character is speaking on stage toward the audience

Explain the situation of with Ophelia and Hamlet.

Laertes and Polonius warned Ophelia not to marry Hamlet because he will hit it and quit it and the marriage wouldn't work.

After night falls, who appears? What do they think he's trying to do?

A ghost, think the ghost is trying to kill Hamlet

**ASKED** Who is the ghost and what is it that they tell Hamlet to do?

Hamlet's dad; avenge his murder by killing Claudius (antic disposition) but let God decide how to handle Gertrude

How did Claudius kill his brother?

Poured poison in his ear while he was sleeping

What are the four clues that indicate there were months between Act 1 and Act 2?

1) Laertes need money in France

2) Everyone has a theory why Hamlet is mad and crazy

3) Ambassadors are back from Fortinbras

4) R+G are sent to Denmark to spy on Hamlet

What did Polonius do to spy on Laertes and Ophelia?

Polonius sent Reynaldo to give money to Laertes to ask people if they know what Laertes is up to; Reynaldo said he can't do that to Polonius because it will ruin Laertes reputation.

What are the 2 theories for Hamlets madness?

1) *ASKED** Polonius Theory: Unrequited love for Ophelia

2) Gertrudes Theory: Fathers death and hasty marriage to Claudius

Who does Claudius summon to spy on Hamlet?

R+G

Who joins forces at the end of Act 2? What are they plotting?

Polonius and Claudius come together to spy on a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia.

What does Hamlet decide to do after he notices R+G?

Hamlet insists they aren't there to visit like they say they are. Plans to have a murder in front of Claudius like his dad's to test Claudius' guilt and determine how to kill him.

What is the difference between the ghost in Act 1 and the ghost in Act 3?

1 - ghost dressed in armor, visible, audible

3 - ghost dressed in night gown, invisible, inaudible

What would Claudius have needed to give up in order to be forgiven?

His wife and his thrown/crown

Why does Hamlet not kill Claudius and miss the opportunity?

Hamlet thinks Claudius was just forgiven and would go to Heaven if he killed him then.

Who does Hamlet kill (thinking its Claudius) when he/she is spying on Hamlet and Gertrude during their meeting?

Polonius

What are the clues no time elapsed from Act 3 scene 2 and scene 3?

R+G go straight from Claudius to tell them there's going to be a play tonight.

Claudius and Polonius are getting ready to spy on a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia.

4 things Hamlet says to see who's ears it is for?

1) Lashes out against all women

2) Told Ophelia to go to a nunnery

3) Insults Polonius

4) Indirectly threats Claudius' life

What does Hamlet interact to see if Claudius is guilty?

Murder of Gonzago

What is a pantomime?

Play without words

What is an extended metaphor?

A metaphor that is developed throughout the writing.

**ASKED** What is a conceit? Provide an example.

an extended metaphor (comparison not using like or as that is developed throughout the writing)

What 2 brilliant things does Claudius do after Gertrude tells him Hamlet killed Polonius?

1) Sends R+G to find Hamlet

2) Meets with advisors about what Hamlet did

Where did Hamlet put Polonius' body?

Rear staircase

What is a FOIL?

Character that contradicts another character

What three FOILs come together?

Fortinbras

Hamlet

Laertes

What are the differences between Hamlets and Ophelia's madness?

Hamlets is Fake, revealed through mean conceits

Ophelia's is real, she's passing out flowers, playing songs

Both mad about fathers death and unrequited love

Who was Yorick?

Medieval court jestor that died when Hamlet was a kid

After finding out Ophelia died, who fought over who loved her more in her grave?

Laertes and Hamlet

Who held Hamlet as prisoner after he read the letter saying R+G are getting executed?

Pirates that end up taking him back to Denmark

**ASKED** When a writer uses Deus Ex Machina, they use...

dumb luck to get the characters out of a situation they got themselves into.

What are the 3 clues that time has passed between scene 4 and 5?

1) theories for Ophelia's madness

2) Laertes is back from Paris

3) Hamlet is back from England

What are the 3 parts of the plan for Laertes to help Claudius to kill Hamlet?

1) Laertes and Hamlet have a fencing match (Laertes sword be real and Hamlets be fake)

2) Laertes suggests poisoning the end of his sword so it'll be 2x as deadly to Hamlet

3) Claudius has poisoned wine handy in case poisoned sword doesn't work

How does the queen tell us Ophelia died?

Drowning

What kind of tree did Ophelia fall out of?

Willow tree

**ASKED** What does Deus Ex Machina mean?

God in the machine

**ASKED** What are the 3 strokes of Deus Ex Machina (luck) that Hamlet has?

1) Hamlet has his dads ring to reseal the New Order calling R+G's execution?

2) Claudius using same seal as his brother

3) Pirates who take Hamlet are nice and take Hamlet back home

Who is Osrick

FOP