William Shakespeare Characteristics of William Shakespeare’s Plays • Reflect influences from ___________________ _________________ • Primarily use __________________ • Display an immense range of_______________ • Represent cornerstones of centuries of English literature William Shakespeare’s Plays The Rise of the Renaissance Theater Several types of plays were written and produced before the Renaissance. • Shakespeare’s Plays The Rise of the Renaissance Theater • The English had been ______________ • __________________before the Renaissance. • Early medieval drama probably originated in the_________________________________. • Drama eventually moved out of the __________ and into the_________________. • Guilds staged cycles of plays about__________ __________________________. Shakespeare’s Plays William Shakespeare • He lived just over____________, but he created____________________________ ___________________________. • His work still fascinates us because__________ _________, _______________, and __________ _______ is precise and poetic. • His themes—often concerning _____,________,________, and________—still engage us. Shakespeare’s Plays Shakespeare’s Plays Written mostly in the_______, Shakespeare’s early plays were some of his most performed and admired. Among them were • ____________, a history play about a deformed usurper who becomes king • ________________, a rowdy farce about mistaken identity •________________, a blood-and-thunder tragedy •_______________, a poetic tragedy about ill-fated lovers Shakespeare’s Plays Shakespeare’s Plays In the late 1590’s, Shakespeare entered a period of great prosperity. • He completed a cycle of plays about the ______________: Richard II and both parts of Henry IV and Henry V. • During that time he also wrote ___________, ____________ __________, and _________ _________. Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Shakespeare’s PlaysPlays As the seventeenth century began, Shakespeare was writing his greatest _________: Hamlet King Lear Macbeth Othello These plays are preoccupied with____________________, but there is no evidence that Antony Shakespeare himself was and Cleopatra unhappy when he wrote them. Shakespeare’s Plays Shakespeare’s Plays Shakespeare was a man of business and action as well as a consummate writer. • He__________________________________ ______________________________________. • He provided good parts in every play for the________________, sometimes doubling or tripling roles for performers in his company. • He__________________________________ _______________________________________. Shakespeare’s Plays The Globe Drama in England was ________________ when the idea of housing it in a permanent building began to alter performances. • ____________________________________ _____________________________________. • ____________________________________. • ____________________________________ ______________________________________. Shakespeare’s Plays The Globe Unfortunately, the original theater was _________ ______________: Scholars were left to surmise its configuration. The tiring house The main building—____ (or backstage area) ______________________ THE STAGE ______________________ surrounded a spacious yard open to the sky. The main building Shakespeare’s Plays The Globe The Globe was___________________________ _______________________________________! • The__________________________________ , so actors performed very close to their audiences. • Performers were expected to be able to______, ______,_______,______, and _______. • Special effects were in high demand, so __________ helped witches and devils emerge as if from hell. The sky above the stage represented ____________. Shakespeare’s Plays The Globe The third section of the Globe was the ________ _______, a tall building that provided___________ • It contained______________, ___________, and a curtained space below the wall. • It supported a gallery above the wall for musicians or for “discoveries” of things hidden from the audience until the proper time. The rebuilt Globe theater closed in 1642, but a full-scale model was constructed in London in 1997. It houses a theater company and exhibits.. Shakespeare’s Plays The Power of the Imagination Renaissance audiences lent _________________to the make-believe happenings on stage. Actors carrying lanterns meant it was time to imagine nightfall; a few bushes on stage were understood to be a forest; a spoken line about sunrise led the audience to imagine dawn. Music for the Masses People heard music in the theater, too: Trumpets announced arrivals and departures, and varied songs established mood or revealed character. Shakespearean Tragedy All Shakespearean ________ are _____ acts long. Dramatic Conventions Soliloquy: ___________________________ ______________________________________ Aside: _______________________________ _______________________________________ Comic relief: _________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ The Tragic Hero: _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ The End.