answer the following in your writer’s notebook how does love affect your choices in life?
TRANSCRIPT
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
How does love affect your
choices in life?
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S
DREAM
by: William Shakespeare
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England
in 1564
40 official documents name
Shakespeare himself, and 50
references are made to him by people
living during his life
He most likely attended the free
grammar school in Stratford and
studied: Latin, mathematics, natural
sciences, rhetoric, and literature
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
In 1587, he married Anne Hathaway. They
had three children.
No one knows why he left Stratford for
London.
In 1592, the first reference to Shakespeare
as an actor and playwright is made.
His first 8 published plays do not have his
name on them.
18 plays were published during his lifetime
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
He wrote 37 Plays:• The Comedy of Errors• Love’s Labor Lost• Henry VI• Richard III• Titus Andronicus• The Taming of the Shrew• Romeo and Juliet• A Midsummer Night’s Dream• The Merchant of Venice• Much Ado About Nothing• Julius Caesar• As You Like It• Twelfth Night• Hamlet• All’s Well That End’s Well• Othello• King Lear• Macbeth• Antony and Cleopatra• …to name a few….
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
He wrote 4 collections of
poetry:• Venus and Adonis• The Rape of Lucrece• Sonnets• The Phoenix and the Turtle
He was a part of
company called the
Chamberlain’s Men,
later called the King’s
Men
This company
primarily acted at the
Globe Theatre
He died April 25, 1616
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
AUTHORSHIP AND COLLAB ORATION
Shakespeare was writing for the stage, a living breathing place.
A playwright sold a script to a theater company, and the script
then belonged to the company.
No doubt, during rehearsals, the script was edited as the actors
suggested alterations or as other forces of the times required it
(i.e. governmental forces)
The “intended” play is one that the actors and society would help
to construct.
Yes!• He gets a lot of technical and scientific
details wrong!• Not enough evidence to suggest that
he didn’t write the plays!• He didn’t personally put his name on
his first plays because publishing wasn’t really important to playwrights. Getting your play on stage was!
• Acting companies didn’t want plays published because they didn’t want other play houses to use them!
• In 1623, after his death, two men, who had worked with him for 20 years, collected all his plays and published them in volume called a Folio.
THE SHAKESPEARE DEBATE:D I D H E R E A L LY W R I T E T H E M A L L ?
No!• The “simple,
uneducated” man from Stratford couldn’t possibly have written all of these plays!
• He didn’t have enough knowledge of science, society, legal terms, medical terms, classical writing!
• He didn’t even go to university!
Elizabeth I was in power during
Shakespeare’s time. (1558-1601)
Returned English from Catholicism to
Protestantism
Bubonic Plague persists (1300-1700) 1/3 of
European population died
Elizabeth’s stability and her love of
humanities led to a transformation of
English literature, especially plays and
poetry.
ELIZABETHAN ERA
Written: 1595
Setting: • Athens- Court of Theseus• The woods- Fairy Realm of Oberon
When: • Midsummer’s Night• June 24th- the summer solstice• a night that suggested
merrymaking, enchantment, and witchcraft
• “midsummer madness”- state of mind marked by the craziness associated with the summer heat
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
4 Interwoven Plots:1. Duke Theseus and
Hippolyta are getting married!
2. Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius are caught in a weird and twisted love mess!
3. Oberon and Titania (fairies) are fighting and Oberon’s jester, Puck, is causing trouble!
4. A company of artisans is preparing to put on a play for Theseus’s wedding day
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
THESEUS AND HIPPOLYTA
HERMIA , LYSANDER, HELENA, AND DEMETRIUS
OBERON AND TITANIA
PUCK
TITANIA AND BOTTOM
WRITER’S NOTEBOOK:
Why do parents and children
disagree/argue? How do these issues
get resolved? Who usually gives in?
Who should give in?