Shakespeare's Language

The man himself

William Shakespeare

Born: 23rd

April 1564

Died: 23rd

April 1616

Place:

Stratford-on-
Avon

England in the 16th Century

• Was mainly rural.
• Pop: 3 million
• Economy was

mainly
agricultural

• Time of fear and

upheaval

Parents

Mother:
Mary Arden –

daughter of a
local gentry.

Father:
John Shakespeare

– a glover and
tenant farmer of
yeoman class.

Shakespeare's eventual fame and success

spilled over to his parents in the form of
both money and title. On the eve of John
Shakespeare’s death in 1601, Queen
Elizabeth granted the Bard's father a
"gentleman's" family coat-of-arms.

Family Tree

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Education

• Probably attended Stratford Grammar

School where he would have learnt:
• Greek and Latin Literature
• Rhetoric
• Christian ethics

• Left school in 1579 at the age of 15.
• Did not attend university and was not

considered to be a truly learned man.

After school

• In 1582 (18yrs) he married Anne Hathaway who

was 8yrs his senior.

• 6 months later their daughter Susanna was born.

2yrs after that, twins Hamnet and Judith arrived.

• Speculation has that Shakespeare was not happy in

his marriage.

• There is a period of 7 years (1585- 1592) from which

there is no primary source materials about
Shakespeare.

• During this time he travelled back and forth

between London and Stratford, and by the time
sources can be found again he was living almost
full-time in London.

Life in London

• Before he took up a career as a playwright

Shakespeare had many and varied other
jobs.

• He most probably worked with his father in

commercial trade, as a law clerk and served
as a soldier or sailor as England was
threatened by Spain.

His plays

• Between the early 1590’s and 1620’s

Shakespeare composed the most
extraordinary body of works in the history
of world drama.

• He moved roughly from comedies to

histories to tragedies.

• His farewell to the stage was The Tempest.

Title

Date Written

Date Range

First Published

The Comedy of Errors

1590

? - 1594

1623

Titus Andronicus

1590

? - 1594

1594

The Taming of the Shrew

1591

? - 1594

1623

2 Henry VI

1591

? - 1592

1594

3 Henry VI

1591

? - 1592

1595

1 Henry VI

1592

? - 1592

1623

Richard III

1592

1592 - 1597

1597

Love's Labor's Lost

1593

? - 1597

1598

Two Gentlemen of Verona

1593

? - 1598

1623

A Midsummer Night's Dream

1594

1594 - 1598

1600

Romeo and Juliet

1595

? - 1597

1597

Richard II

1595

1595 - 1597

1597

King John

1596

? - 1598

1623

The Merchant of Venice

1596

1594 - 1598

1600

Henry IV Part 1

1597

1595 - 1598

1598

The Merry Wives of Windsor

1597

1597 - 1602

1602

Henry IV Part 2

1598

1596 - 1598

1600

As You Like It

1598

1598 - 1600

1623

Henry V

1599

1599

1600

Much Ado About Nothing

1599

1598 - 1600

1600

Julius Caesar

1599

1598 - 1599

1623

Twelfth Night

1600

1600 - 1602

1623

Hamlet

1601

1599 - 1601

1603

Troilus and Cressida

1602

1601 - 1603

1609

All's Well That Ends Well

1603

1598 - ?

1623

Measure For Measure

1604

1598 - 1604

1623

Othello

1604

1598 - 1604

1622

King Lear

1605

1598 - 1606

1608

Macbeth

1605

1603 - 1611

1623

Antony and Cleopatra

1606

1598 - 1608

1623

Timon of Athens

1606

1598 - ?

1623

Pericles Prince of Tyre

1607

1598 - 1608

1609

Coriolanus

1608

1598 - ?

1623

Cymbeline

1609

1598 - 1611

1623

A Winter's Tale

1610

1598 - 1611

1623

The Tempest

1611

1610 - 1611

1623

Henry VIII

1613

1612 - 1613

1623

Personal Tragedy

• As Shakespeare’s success and popularity

were on the rise, his son Hamnet died in
1596 from drowning.

The Globe Theatre

• The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by

Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord
Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by
fire on 29 June 1613.A second Globe
Theatre was built on the same site by June
1614 and closed in 1642.

• A modern reconstruction of the Globe,

named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in
1997 approximately 230 metres from the
site of the original theatre.

Multiple Choice

What is the greatest obstacle between Shakespeare's plays and students?

• The length of the plays

• Unfamiliar language

• The historical context

• The complex characters

Multiple Choice

Who was the ruler during the time Shakespeare's language was named after?

• Queen Elizabeth I

• Queen Victoria

• King Henry VIII

• King James I

Multiple Choice

What is the pattern of rhythm in iambic pentameter?

• Four stressed syllabes followed by an unstressed syllable

• Five unstressed syllables each followed by a stressed syllable

• Three unstressed syllables followed by two unstressed syllables

• Two unstressed syllables followed by three stressed syllables

Multiple Choice

What is blank verse?

• Rhymed lines of iambic pentameter?

• Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

• Rhymed lines of haiku

• Unrhymed lines of limerick

Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of Shakespeare's use of contractions in his writing?

• To maintain iambic pentameter

• To confuse the reader

• To modernize the language

• To shorten the play

Multiple Select

What does the contraction of "e'en", "ne'er", and "wi" stand for in Shakespeare's writing?

• With

• Even

• Never

• Tis

Multiple Choice

What does "thee" mean in modern English?

• They

• You

• We

• He

Multiple Choice

What is the possessive adjective form of "thou"?

• Your

• Thy

• Their

• His

Multiple Choice

What does "thee" function as in a sentence?

• Subject

• Object

• Possessive noun

• Plural subject

Multiple Choice

What is the function of "thine" in a sentence?

• Subject

• Object

• Possessive adjective

• Possessive noun

Multiple Choice

What does the word "anon" mean?

• Never

• Later

• Soon

• Yesterday

Multiple Choice

What is the translation of the phrase "Though you respect not aught, your servant doth?"

• 
  

  Though you respect everything, your servant does.

• 
  Though you respect nothing, your servant does.

• 
  Though you respect something, your servant does.

• 
  Though you respect anything, your servant does.

Multiple Choice

What does the word "base" mean as used in the context of the provided text?

• Honorable, high, worthy

• Dishonorable, low, unworthy

• Wealthy, prosperous, rich

• Intellgient, wise, clever

Multiple Choice

What does the word "meet" mean in the context of the phrase "It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe"?

• Unnecessary

• Suitable

• Dangerous

• Unlikely

Multiple Choice

What does the word "marry" mean in the context of the phrase, "Marry, sir, I am helping you?"

• Certainly

• Maybe

• Never

• Always

Multiple Choice

What does the word "prithee" mean?

• Thank you

• Please, I ask you

• Goodbye

• Excuse me

Multiple Choice

What is the translation of the phrase: "I have not from your eyes that gentleness / And show of love as I was wont to have"?

• 
  I don't see that gentleness and love in your eyes that I am accustomed to.

• 
  I see more gentleness and love in your eyes than before.

• I am surprised by the gentleness and love in your eyes.

• I am confused by the lack of gentleness and love in your eyes.