William Shakespeare - Quiz Review

  William Shakespeare 

Quiz Review 

General Information 

• William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright in English

• His works include themes of passion, comedy, drama and human nature

• Shakespeare lived during the “Elizabethan England”, ruled under Queen Elizabeth I (a time where the English language was becoming popular) 

Early Life and Education 

Birth Year: 1564 (unknown date but likely April 23rd)

Baptism: April 26, 1564 at Holy Trinity Curch, Stratford-upon-Avon

• The year Shakespeare was born, Stratford faced a devastating plague outbreak (bubonic plague, Black Death) 

• Many people died, survival was remarkable

Family Background 

Siblings: 2 sisters named Joan & Margaret died during infancy because of the plague 

Parents: 

• John Shakespeare: A glover, leather worker, and businessman who became the High Bailiff of Stratford

• Mary Arden Shakespeare: Woman from a farm family 

Shakespeare came from a well-off family during that time

Education

• Attended a local grammar school in Stratford 

• Learned Latin, English and writing

• Exposure to classical Roman texts influenced Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.

Exposure to Theater

• Saw traveling actors perform in Stratford’s taverns

• At 11, he attended the Kenilworth Castle Festival with his father

• Festival inspired works like “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Lost Years

• Shakespeare did not attend university due to his family’s declining financial situation.. 

• It is thought that he left school at 14 or 15 to become an apprentice to his father’s glove-making business.

• Very little is known about these years.

Marriage to Anne Hathaway 

• Shakespeare married a woman 8 years older who lived in a nearby village

• She became pregnant when Shakespeare was 18 

• Married quickly because of the pregnancy 

• Married on November 28, 1582, six months before their daughter was born 

• Little is known about their marriage, but 10 years later, Shakespeare worked in London 

Shakespeare in His Twenties & Early Career 

Theories about his whereabouts (1580s-1590s) 

• Some believe he was a soldier (plays about battles and soldiers) 

• Some believe he was a sailor (plays containing references to the sea) 

• Some think he traveled to Italy (plays in Italian settings) 

• Theories about him being a schoolmaster in the countryside

Family Life

• Married Anne Hathaway

• Had 3 children 

• Susanna (May 26, 1583), born the summer after marriage

• Twins Hamnet & Judith (1585) 

• Hamnet died at the age of 11 (August 11, 1596) 

• Shakespeare left Stratford for London in the 1580s 

Arrival in London (1592) 

• Started writing for professional theatres 

• Early plays: 

• Literary Rival: Robert Greene, criticized Shakespeare, he thought he was more talented because he attended university. 

Rise to Fame (1590s) 

•  Henry VI, Part 1, was a success with 10,000 viewers 

Shakespeare wrote: 

• Comedies (The Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona) 

• Tragedies (Titus Andronicus)

• History Plays (Henry VI, Richard III) 

Association with Nobility 

• Gained patronage from Earl of Southampton (1593-1694) 

• Dedicated 2 poems to him: 

• Venus & Adonis 

• The Rape of Lucrece

Shakespeare’s Sonnets & Relationships 

The Sonnets

• Some of the most famous love poetry in English 

• Many of them are addressed to a “young man” (possibly the Earl of Southampton) 

• Famous sonnet: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

• Sonnet reflects affection and a possible relationship with the young man. 

Rival Poet & Dark Lady 

• Rival poet is the th dark lady and a rival for the young man’s affection in later sonnets, a woman Shakespeare describes negatively. 

• Shakespeare shows self-loathing through the sonnets, & reflects his true feelings.

• Both characters are portrayed as “fickle” (unstable), the narrator expresses frustration with both of them.

Shakespeare was possibly homosexual? Bisexual? → He was hanging around a lot of young men 

Writing Career & Personal Life 

• Shakespeare had to write more plays due to the demand from the theater

• Theaters were greedy with new scripts & Shakespeare was under constant pressure

• He produced 37 plays in around 20 years

• Shakespeare lived away from his family 

• He wrote plays like Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet & A Midsummer Night’s Dream during this time.

• In his play Twelfth Night, Orsino says don’t marry an older woman, suggesting that Shakespeare’s marriage was unfufilling 

Plague & The Impact 

• London experienced many plague outbreaks in the 1590s, killing 1,000 people per week in its peak. 

• Forced the closure of theaters, stopping Shakespeare’s work during this time. Distributed theater productions 

• Shakespeare’s career was interrupted several times by this plague.

Personal Tragedy: Death of Hamnet

• 1596, Shakespeare’s only son Hamnet died at 11

• The event had a big impact on Shakespeare 

• Devastating because there was no other male heir to inherit Shakespeare’s wealth 

• Shakespeare wrote sonnet-like pieces to share his sorrow 

• Influenced his writing with his darker plays like Hamlet

• Hamlet → themes of grief, loss, existential questioning (To be, or not to be…?) 

Globe Theatre & Shakespeare’s Success 

• Faced obstacles including renewing the lease for the old theater

• They demolished the old theater and relocated it to Southwark (an area known for gambling & brothels)

• 1st play at the Globe was Julius Caesar

• Shakespeare used language to create worlds, set moods, and use vivid visual imagery. 

Shakespeare Roles

• Shakespeare may have played ghosts (Hamlet’s father) in plays

• Shakespeare referred to himself as a playwright, actor and poet

• Many of his phrases/words became part of the English language 

Sources for His Plays 

• Many plays are based on popular legends & historical figures 

• Adapted from existing works 

Shakespeare’s Growth 

• By the 1600, he started more complex and disturbing plays 

King James & the King’s Men : 

• 1603 King James became England’s king, and Shakespeare and his troupe became the King’s Men and performed at the royal court 

• Peak of his career

Tragedies of 1604-1607

• He wrote the greatest tragedies, Othello, Macbeth, & King Lear

• Focused on psychological depth and violent themes

Shakespeare & Fatherhood 

• Shakespeare later became more concerned with father-daughter relationships, in his plays he writes about fathers who are preoccupied with their daughters.

• Appears in Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest 

• King Lear is one of the most famous examples, the main conflict of the story is the relationship between King Lear and his daughters. 

Final Years 

The Globe Fire (1613) 

• The theatre was destroyed by fire during a performance of Henry VII, marking the end of his career in London. 

• Retired to Stratford where he lived as a wealthy man 

• Became a gentleman, businessman and landowner 

• Owner of the 2nd largest house in Stratford

• Without a male heir, he was concerned about what would happen after his death.

Will & Family Struggle 

• Shakespeare wrote a document split into 2 parts showing conflict within his family. 

• Susanna, his daughter and her husband John Hall, gained all power, leaving barely anything for his 2nd daughter and wife. 

• There was a controversy between Shakespeare and Susanna’s husband 

Death & Legacy 

• Died on his 52nd birthday, 23rd April 1616, while drinking too much with his friends 

• He ate too many pickled herring and drank too much wine, leading to a fever and sickness.

• Buried on 25th April 1616

• The epitaph, possibly written by him, asks for his grave to remain undisturbed.

Works Not Published

• Shakespeares plays were not published in his time

• They were put together and written down by actors during performances, which lead to inaccurate versions

• 1st compilation → called the First Folio, was published in 1623, seven years after his death 

• Put together and published by Ben Jonson, Shakespeare’s greatest rival and friend

Folio Act = Contained 36 plays, 18 of which had never been published including Macbeth, Twelfth Night & The Tempest

Influence in Modern Times

• 1899, the first film version of Shakespeare 

• Countless films and television shows have been created and performed worldwide

Other Notes : 

King Lear = represents the relationship between Shakespeare’s daughters

• Posibily a character written by Shakespeare by Shakespeare, and shows the strained relationship he has with others

• Another character written by Shakespeare for himself is the ghost of Hamlet’s father (represents him & his sone who passed away) 

• Poet = A bard 

• The Kings Men = A title that was very important and a grand title

• Female actors were actually played by males that didnt reach puberty 

• After the death of his son Shakespeare started to have a fascination with death 

• Theaters became somethign that seemed “ungodly” during Shakespeare’s time 

• After his death his daughter Susanna and her husband were given his will and his younger daughter and wife were barely left with anuything

Tradegies: Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo & Juliet 

Comedies: The Tempest, 12th Night, 2 Gentlemen of Verona 

Tempest Preface Notes

• Born in April 1564, is Strat-upon-Avon, died in April 1616

• Playwright, poet, actor ; considered the best english dramatist

• Likely attended the King’s New School for grammar 

• Studied Latin grammar, literature, Greek at school 

• No official doumentiation on his life between schooling and jis rise in London theater

• Married Anne Hathaway in 1582, had 3 children

• Was an actor and playwright in London by 1592

• Works: Venus and Adonis (1953), The Rape of Lucrecre (1594) 

• Theaters closed due to plague in 1593-1954, focused on poetry 

• Became a shareholder of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later the King’s Men)

• Built the Globe Theatre in 1599 with his company 

→ Wrote major tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Kear, Macbeth at the Globe

• Plays preformed at court for Queen Elizabeth I and King James I 

• Wrote The Winter’s Tale & The Tempest for the Blackfriars Theatre (1608-1612) 

• Likely retired to Startford-upon-Avon around 1612 

• Continued earning profits, manuscript sales, and Globe Theatre shares 

• Died on April 23, 1616, and buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford

• First Folio published in 1623, collecting his plays

• Works of Shakespeare reflect knowledge of Roman and Christian traditions

• Hamlet: mixed Roman revenge tradgedy with Christian beliefs

• Age of explorationon, new worrlds and ideas 

• London grew as a center of trade, government, and culture