The Seven Ages of Shakespeare

Purposes of Presentation:

Examine “The Seven Ages of Man Speech” from As You Like It

Introduce Shakespeare’s life by making connections to the speech.

“The Seven Ages of Man Speech” from As You Like It

 

Jacques:            All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances,And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,Mewling and puking* in the nurse's arms.Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard*,Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,Seeking the bubble reputationEven in the canon's mouth.

“The Seven Ages of Man Speech” from As You Like It Cont’d

And then the justice,In fair round belly with good capon* lined,With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,Full of wise saws* and modern instances;And so he plays his part. The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slippered pantaloon*With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wideFor his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,Turning again toward childish treble, pipesAnd whistles in his* sound. Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,Is second childishness and mere oblivion,Sans* teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything

A Man of Mystery

    Although little is known about Shakespeare the man, there is in fact much more known about him than about many of his contemporaries.

Public records enable us to reconstruct the framework of his life, such as his baptism, death, marriage and many business and legal transactions. There are also a number of specifically theatrical documents that record facts about him.

Shakespeare's Childhood

    “At first, the infant,Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms…”

Shakespeare's Childhood

Born to John and Mary Shakespeare  and baptized on 26 April 1564

The custom of baptizing children soon after birth makes April 23rd a likely date. It is also Saint George’s day—the day of the patron saint of England.

It is also the day on which Shakespeare died in 1616, giving a pleasing, though possibly artificial, symmetry to his life.

“Sweet Swan of Avon”

Shakespeare grew up in the small, rural town of Stratford near the Avon River.

He is famous for his work as a playwright in London, England near the Thames River.

Shakespeare's Schooling

“Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school.”

Shakespeare's Schooling

Shakespeare would have attended the King's New School at Stratford, established in 1553. The standards at the Stratford grammar school seem to have been higher than average; existing records indicate that all the schoolmasters during the time Shakespeare would have been attending held university degrees. 

There he would have learned to read and write, and would perhaps have been introduced to some elementary arithmetic.

Shakespeare's Youth

“And then the lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eyebrow.”

Shakespeare's In Love

After Shakespeare's baptism, there are no public records of him until his marriage in 1582.

On November 28, 1582, a 40 pound bond was posted by two Warwickshire farmers for the legality of a marriage between "William Shagspere" and "Anne Hathwey."

Shakespeare and his wife lived together in Stratford long enough after the birth of Susanna to give occasion for an entry in the parish register recording the christening of twin children on February 2 1585, Hamnet and Judith, "sonne and daughter to William Shakspeare."

Was Shakespeare a sailor, a soldier, a law clerk or a country school teacher? Did he go to one of the larger towns nearby ?

Another theory has him beginning his theatrical career minding horses before the playhouses

The Plays of Shakespeare’s Youth

Before about 1594, Shakespeare experimented with a wide variety of dramatic and literary forms:

Four history plays (Henry VI, Parts One, Two, and Three; Richard III)

A severely moral narrative poem (The Rape of Lucrece) A comedy in the style of Plautus (The Comedy of Errors) A farcical comedy which today we might call a problem

comedy (The Taming of the Shrew) A tragedy of blood in the style of Kyd (Titus Andronicus) Possibly some sonnets

“Greene” with Envy

Robert Greene, has the dubious distinction of being best remembered as the first negative critic of Shakespeare.

Greene was a member of the “University Wits” and his attack on Shakespeare seems to be motivated by snobbery (Shakespeare comes from a poorer family and did not receive a university education) and perhaps jealousy.

“Those puppets (I mean) that spake from our mouths, those antics garnished in our colours. . . Yes, trust them not: for there is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you; and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.”

Success in London

“Then a soldierFull of strange oaths, and bearded like the pardSeeking the bubble reputationEven in the canon's mouth. “

Plays from about 1595 to 1600

Two profoundly original comedies (Love's Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream)

A tragedy of youth, love and fate (Romeo and Juliet) A comedy that seems at times more like the tragedy of its supposed

villain (The Merchant of Venice) Four histories, written over several years (Richard II, Henry IV, Parts

One and Two, Henry V) A tragedy set in Roman times (Julius Caesar) A comedy of the fat knight, Falstaff, originally created in the history

plays (The Merry Wives of Windsor) One of Shakespeare's (or anyone's) finest tragedies (Hamlet)

Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Lord Chamberlain’s Men The company was originally formed under the patronage of Lord Strange, but when he died in 1594, the players found a patron in Henry Carey, the Lord Chamberlain.

The reorganized company performed at the Theatre and the Curtain; in 1599 they moved to the newly built Globe. By 1600 they had emerged as the leading theatrical company in London, and in 1603 became the King's Men under a royal patent from James I. The company continued successfully until the closing of the theatres in 1642.

Richard Burbage

Richard Burbage (1568-1619) was the leading actor in the Lord Chamberlain's - King's Men, playing the dramatic leads, including Richard III, Hamlet, Lear and Othello.

He may have begun his career as early as 1584; ten years later he rivaled Edward Alleyn as the greatest English tragedian. He continued to perform until his death in 1619.

The Edict

In September of 1602 the puritan parliament by edict forbade all stage plays and closed the theatres.

“Whereas. . . the distracted estate of England, threatened with a cloud of blood by a civil war, calls for all pallible means go appease and avert the wrath of God, . . . it is therefore thought fit and ordained by the Lords and Commons in this Parliament assembled, that . . . public stage plays shall cease and be forborne.”

Shakespeare's Maturity

“And then the justice,In fair round belly with good capon lined. . .”

Shakespeare and the Queen

According to Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's plays were admired by Elizabeth. Indeed, during the last ten years of her reign, the Lord Chamberlain's Men performed at court thirty-two times, compared to thirty-seven performances by all other companies combined.

All the King’s Men

King James I renames Shakespeare’s company the King’s Men.

Shakespeare’s company becomes the official theater company of the King.

Later, James would have the Bible translated into English (King James Bible)

Last years in London

“The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slippered pantaloonWith spectacles on nose, and pouch on side. . . “

Shakespeare the Businessman

Unlike many artists, Shakespeare enjoyed prosperity during his own lifetime. It is impossible to calculate his income with any certainty, although as playwright, sharer in the Lord Chamberlain's company, and partner in the Globe and Blackfriars theatres/

Shakespeare invested his money effectively, purchasing several properties in and around Stratford, including a major investment in farm revenues.

One record shows "William Shakespere Lykewise holdeth one cottage and one garden by estimation a quarter of one acre and payeth rent yearly.

Shakespeare in Retirement

“Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,Is second childishness and mere oblivion,Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. “

Shakespeare’s Death

Shakespeare's burial is recorded in the Stratford Parish Register as occurring on 25 April, 1616; he died on April 23.

Shakespeare was buried on April 25, 1616 in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford, where he had been baptized just over 52 years earlier. His tomb, which lies beneath the floor of the church inside the chancel rail, is covered by a stone inscribed with a curse:

Shakespeare’s Tomb

Good friend for Jesus sake forbearTo dig the dust enclosed here!Blest be the man that spares these stones,And curst be he that moves my bones.