Life and Times of William Shakespeare

Dill 2025

Shakespeare is also called:

Bard

When was Shakespeare baptized?

April 26, 1564

Which small English town was Shakespeare born?

Stratford-upon-Avon

Which date is recognized as Shakespeare’s birthday? (3 days before his baptism)

April 23, 1564

When did Shakespeare die?

April 23, 1616

Three major Renaissance English playwrights:

Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe

When did Shakespeare marry 26 year old Anne Hathaway?

November 1582 (age 18)

Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare’s children:

Susanna, Hamnet + Judith (twins)

3 types of Shakespeare’s plays

• histories

• tragedies

• comedies

How many plays did Shakespeare write?

36

How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?

154

What is a sonnet?

• 14 line stanza

• ababcdcdefefgg

• iambic pentameter

• 3 quatrains and 1 couplet

Name of some of London theaters:

New Place, The Theater, The Curtain, The Swan, The Rose, and The Globe (most famous)

What is a quarto?

small, inexpensive book typically used for leisure books as plays; the printer folded the paper four times (paperback)

What is a folio?

first collected works of Shakespeare were in this format, printer folded each sheet only once/reserved for format for works such as the Holy Bible

What is conflated Shakespearean text?

combination of quarto and folio

Shakespearean Language: “thou”

you

Shakespearean Language: “thee” and “ye”

object case you

Shakespearean Language: “thy” or “thine”

you/yours

What is blank verse?

unrhymed iambic pentameter (10 syllables in each line)

When was the Elizabethan Era?

Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

When was the Jacobean Era?

James I (1603-1625)

Where did the Reformation begin?

Germany

Who began the Reformation?

Martin Luther

Why was the Reformation started?

prioritize focus on personal interpretation than a Priest’s interpretation