2. Who is Shakespeare? An English poet and playwright Called the “Bard of Avon” Born in year 1564 but actual date unknown, died in 1616 aged 52 Married to Anne Hathaway The father of three children Son of a glover
3. Shakespeare's biography Shakespeare’s original job was a deliveryman Became a writer when his friend recommended him to become one Went to the Globe to apply to become a writer and started his journey on becoming the most influential writers of all time
4. Interesting facts Started off writing comedies instead of tragedies It was those play genres that made him rose to fame but the tragedies he wrote ended up being more remembered currently His language, though pretty different from current day english, helped to standardize grammar in his times and shape the english language we use nowadays
5. What inspired him to write? Shakespeare, like most other play writers, was inspired by nature Great novelists such as Ovid and Seneca also inspired him His social status was low at first as he did not graduate from any university Later on well-respected as a successful play writer
6. His plays His plays were well-received He successfully used romance as a topic for tragedy A new and fresh idea for the people then, this thus became a reason for his successful tragedy plays
7. England in his time (1) Not as prosperous and busting as it seems now Many people live in the countryside London, the capital city, was also far more dangerous and dirty it is today despite the beautiful buildings it had Pottery and carpentry is also a common shop in towns then
8. England in his time (2) Queen Elizabeth ruled England during Shakespeare’s time There was a huge difference in the way the rich and the poor lived The rich could have hundreds of permanent servants at their beck and call Little could be done to raise your social status unlike today, where it could be raised through education
9. How does it affect his plays? Shakespeare’s plays thus became a reflection of the differences between the different classes of people The humorous scenes in Shakespeare’s plays are often dealing with ordinary people as firstly, most of the people who watch plays are people of the higher social status. Secondly, Shakespeare thus want the people to laugh at the people of the “lower” social status rather than the “upper” ones The heroes are also usually people of the higher social status
11. How does it affect his plays? Encouraged in the use of romance in plays due to the facilities like a balcony for the lovers to stand ( Romeo and Juliet) and the trap door tat allow performers to descend down from the sky The balcony an also be used to house musicians which he used during the play “Twelfth night”
12. The Renaissance The Renaissance meant the rebirth of learning It begun in Italy in the fourteenth century Affected all of the intellectual inquiry in England such as art, literature, philosophy etc. The most vital period of change in the past. People no longer believe what they were told but instead tried to find things out for themselves
13. Significant events (1) The black death(a plague) hit Europe and resulted in a massive amount of people dying The England then with only a population of 4.2 million lost 1.4 million people due to the plague This familiarity with death caused the people to think about their life on Earth rather than on spirituality and the afterlife
14. Significant events (2) The invention of the telescope The lead Galileo to prove that the moon had craters and Jupiter had moons just like Earth do This led people to change their perspective on the universe and to have the urge to know more about it
15. How does it affect Shakespeare’s plays? Shakespeare was influenced by the renaissance and this led him to create an English language of his own that is different than what we speak today Shakespeare coined nearly 10,000 words Expanded the grammar structure
