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Caesar

William Shakespeare Biography

• William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England in 1564.

• His parents were John and Mary Shakespeare. John Shakespeare was a prosperous glove-maker and held many titles in his life time including bailiff which was the equivalent of mayor.

• Shakespeare went to grammar school where he learned Latin grammar and read texts from Ovid, Cicero, and Virgil.

• Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and had three children- Susanna born in 1583, Hamnet and Judith in 1585. The late 1580’s are known as “The Lost Years” because no evidence survived to show where he was or why he left Stratford for London.

Biography• By the end of 1592, Shakespeare was an established

playwright in London receiving much acclaim for his plays.• After being an actor and a writer, he joined a group of actors

know as Lord Chamberlain’s men which later became known as the King’s Men.

• Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1610-1611. In the country, Shakespeare spent some time as a schoolmaster in the country.

• Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52 and is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

• Popular legend claims that unpublished works by Shakespeare may lie inside his tomb, but no one has ever verified the claims perhaps out of respect for the greatest playwright that ever lived.

Elizabethan Stage

Elizabethan theatre is sometimes called English Renaissance theatre . The term "Elizabethan theatre” covers only the plays written and performed publicly in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603).

Elizabethan Stage Some wandering acting companies in England

originally set up their stages (platforms) Wherever they could find space, often in courtyards.

The first permanent theatre was built by James Burbage in 1576. Burbage called it “The Theatre.” There was no electricity, so the plays had to be done during the day.

In 1599, because of unpaid rent, the landowner decided to raise the rent . The company took their theatre apart piece by piece and rowed the pieces across the river, where they later reconstructed the theatre and called it “The Globe.” This was the theatre where Shakespeare’s greatest plays were performed.

A replica of the Globe Theatre has been reconstructed very near its former location and Shakespeare’s plays are still performed there today

Elizabethan Stage All actors were men. Yes, even the female

parts were played by men. The sets were fairly simple . The audience had

to use their imagination. “Let us on your imaginary forces work. Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them printing their proud hoofs I’ th’ receiving earth; for ‘tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings…”

The actors generally wore the dress of their own time period. While it was against the law to wear clothing above your status, actors were able to wear any clothing that served the purpose of the play by decree of Queen Elizabeth

Elizabethan Stage The Elizabethan theatre was a place where people arrived early to visit with

friends, make new acquaintances, move around freely, and eat and drink before and during the performance.

In order to capture the attention of the audience, Elizabethan actors had to keep on the move so that spectators on all three sides could catch their expressions and hear their voices.

While we like to sit closer for a better view today, in this time period, people bought seats that were high in the balconies so that they could be seen. If you really wanted everyone to see you, you could purchase a seat on stage with the actors.

GenresShakespear

ean literature followed a

strict set of rules to define a genre.

Comedy: a play that moves toward a happy ending and implies a positive understanding of human experience. In most comedy, the happy ending involves a marriage or at least some kind of union or reunion that resolves the conflict and brings the characters into a state of harmony. Comedy moves from confusion to order, from ignorance to understanding,. From law to liberty and so on.

Tragedy: A play that moves toward an unhappy ending and thus implies an unfavorable assessment of human experience. The audience is invited to witness the misfortune of individuals. Not only does the hero or heroine die, but others do also, often at the hands of the tragic figure. Tragedy ends in annihilation, misery, separation, and loss. Order is invariably restored at the end of Shakespearean tragedy, but this gesture hardly compensates for the death of a Hamlet or the unspeakable sufferings of a King Lear.

Genre continued History: a play that uses subjects such as royalty to

tell the story of their lives. This genre is more difficult to understand, because the genre was only being invented during the time Shakespeare was writing them. The History plays are not a reliable source of information in that they are not historically accurate.

Romance: Romance was not defined as a genre until after Shakespeare’s death. It is a distinctive kind of comedy, romance arrives at a happy ending through a perilous route. The action involves desire for love, but the defining characteristic of Romance is an adventure story.

Shakespearian insults

Shakespeare was a master of name-calling. He combined dozens of nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives to create some of the best insults ever written.

Iambic Pentameter Iambic Pentameter is the form that many of Shakespeare’s lines

take. However, it is also what he used in his famous sonnets. In order to understand iambic pentameter, you must first understand some basic vocabulary.

A Syllable is a beat created by the vowel sound in a word: hat = 1 syllable, mother = 2 syllables.

A Stressed Syllable is where you naturally add emphasis to the beat of a word (DUM).

An Unstressed Syllable is where you naturally deemphasize the beat of a word (da).

A Foot is a pair of syllables that use an unstressed beat followed by a stressed beat. (da-DUM)

Iambic Pentameter: a set of 5 feet

Sonnet: 14 iambic pentameter lines that end in a specific rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg.

Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? AThou art more lovely and more temperate. BRough winds do shake the darling buds of May, AAnd summer’s lease hath all too short a date. BSometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, CAnd often is his gold complexion dimmed; DAnd every fair from fair sometimes declines, CBy chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed. DBut thy eternal summer shall not fade ENor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; FNor shall Death brag thou wand’r’st in his shade, EWhen in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. FSo long as men can breathe or eyes can see, GSo long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G

Middle English to Early Modern English

• 1470-1650 in England• The most striking feature of Shakespeare is his command of

language. There were no dictionaries; the first dictionary was compiled in 1604. Shakespeare as a youth wouldn’t have studied his own language more than any educated man of the period.

• Despite this, Shakespeare is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with the introduction of nearly 3,000 words into the language. His vocabulary numbers upward of 17,000 words. An Average person has a vocabulary of 5,000 - 7,000 words.

• ://everything2.com/title/Phrases+Shakespeare+Invented• Shakespeare's English is only one generation removed from

what we speak today which is why we are still able to understand it.

• This facility with language, and the art with which he employed its usage, is why Shakespeare is as relevant today as he was in his own time.

Language

Alliteration The repetition of sounds at the

beginning of a group of words. apt alliteration's artful aid.

Blank Verse Blank verse can be composed

in any meter and with any amount of feet per line.

Ready. Name what part I am for and proceed.

Assonance The repetition of vowel

sounds within a group of words.

Try to light the fire

Rhyme two or more words

corresponding in sound. Let, pet, set

Characters Julius Caesar: The victorious leader of Rome, it is the fear that he may become King and

revoke the privileges of men like Cassius that leads to his death at the hands of Cassius, Brutus and their fellow conspirators. The threat that Caesar was moving away from the ideals of the Roman republic towards an Empire ruled directly by himself is the chief reason so many senators, aristocrats and even Caesar's friend Brutus, conspired to kill him.

Octavius Caesar: The adopted son of Caesar, Octavius by history, ultimately became ruler of the Roman Empire following his defeat of Mark Antony in Egypt . In this play, Octavius with Mark Antony and Lepidus destroy the forces of Brutus and Cassius on the Plains of Philippi, which results in the death of both these conspirators.

Marcus Antonius : One of the leaders who rule Rome following Caesar's assassination. Mark Antony is famous in this play for his speech, which turns the Romans against Brutus following his group's assassination of Caesar. Famous for the immortal lines "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears“.

M. Aemilius Lepidus: This old man holds little power and is used in Mark Antony's own words as a loyal, trusted man “fit to be sent on errands:"

Cicero: A well-known orator (public speaker) and Senator, Cicero is killed following Caesar's assassination.

Publius: A Senator who travels with Caesar to the Senate House the day Caesar is killed, he witnesses Caesar's assassination.

Popilius Lena: The Senator who terrifies Cassius by telling Cassius that he hopes his assassination attempt may be successful just as Caesar goes into the Senate house on the "ides of March" .

Marcus Brutus: The most complex character in this play, Brutus is one of the men who assassinate Caesar in the Senate. Brutus is complex, because he does not kill Caesar for greed. Brutus makes very clear in his speech that his actions are for the good of Rome. Unlike the other conspirators, Brutus is in fact a dear friend of Caesar's but kills his beloved friend not for who he is, but what he could become as a King..

Cassius: One of the original conspirators against Caesar. Like the other conspirators he fears what life under King Caesar's rule could mean for him and the privileges he has. Cassius plays a leading role in Caesar's assassination. It is he who gathers those against Caesar around him and it is Cassius who carefully manipulates Brutus to their cause.

Casca: One of the conspirators against Caesar, he starts the actual assassination of Caesar. Terminus: The only conspirator who does not actually stab Caesar, he is the man

responsible for saving Mark Antony's life following Caesar's assassination. Ligarius: The reluctant assassin, Caius Ligarius at first hesitates in killing Caesar, but later

enthusiastically follows the others in killing Caesar after Brutus restores his conviction. Decius Brutus: A man who lures Caesar to his death by his deep understanding of

Caesar's true vanity. Cinna: A conspirator against Caesar, who plays a key role in enlisting Brutus to their

cause.. Flavius and Marullus: Two leaders introduced at the beginning of the play. Their

conversation reveals the deep mistrust and fear many in Rome have about Caesar's growing popularity, which eventually leads to Caesar's assassination.

Artemidorus: The man who nearly saves Caesar, he presents Caesar with a letter warning Caesar that he will be killed Caesar however does not read the letter and so proceeds to his doom...

Cinna, the Poet: A humble poet, this man dies because he has the wrong name at the wrong time. After Mark Antony incites (angers) the people of Rome against Caesar's assassins, Cinna who shares the same name as one of the assassins, is killed.

Lucilius, Titinius, Messala, Young Cato and Volumnius: Friends to Brutus and Cassius. Varro, Clitus, Claudius, Strato, Lucius and Dardanius: Servants to Brutus. Pindarus: A servant to Cassius,. Calphurnia: The wife of Caesar,. Portia: The wife of Marcus Brutus,. Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attendants and others...