will’s world
DESCRIPTION
Will’s World. What’s to Come. Shakespeare’s Bio Shakespeare’s World The Authorship Debate The Sonnets. Shakespeare’s Bio. Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford upon-Avon Parents were John and Mary Middle class family of which little is known Attended King Edward VI School?. Marriage/Family. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Will’s World
What’s to Come
• Shakespeare’s Bio
• Shakespeare’s World
• The Authorship Debate
• The Sonnets
Shakespeare’s Bio
• Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford upon-Avon
• Parents were John and Mary
• Middle class family of which little is known
• Attended King Edward VI School?
Marriage/Family
• Married Ann Hathaway on 11/28/1582
• She was 27, he was 18
• Ann gave birth to Susanna on 5/26/1583 (Do the math!)
Lost Years 1586-1592
• Many theories about this period
• Catholic underground and teaching?
• Deer poaching?
• Acting?
London 1592
• Early success as a writer
• Turbulent times, Plague, Civil Unrest
• University wits and the “upstart crow”
The Sonnets
• Alternate income (plague)
• Dedicated to W.H.• Addressees are a
young man, a dark lady, and a rival poet
• 154 poems• Earl of Southampton Henry Wriothesly
Authorship Debate
• Did Shakespeare really write those plays?
• Why is there a doubt?
• If not Shakespeare then who?
Reasons to Doubt?
• Will was middle class• No university
education• Limited traveling• Name spelled
differently on some documents
Then Who Wrote Them?
• Oxfordians contend that it is none other than…
Edward de Vere
• 17th Earl of Oxford• Member of the Royal
Court• 2 Masters Degrees
from Oxford University by 17
• Traveled extensively• Not allowed to write
plays
Another Contender
• Christopher Marlowe• Cambridge and
Canterbury• London’s most
successful playwright until his murder in a pub in 1593
• Ghostwriter?
Most Scholars Agree
• Debate is only conjecture and conspiracy theory
• Moot (mock) trial held in 1987 with three Supreme Court Justices
• Stratfordians 3 Oxfordians 0
Shakespeare’s England
• Elizabeth reverted the country back to the Church of England
• Catholic to Protestant to Catholic to Protestant in 12 years.
• James I in 1603
Will The Businessman
• Co-founder of The Globe 1599
• Open-air• Groundlings• Burned in 1613
during a play• Rebuilt and closed
permanently in 1642
The Globe
• Women not allowed on stage
• As You Like It has a boy playing a girl playing a boy playing a girl!
Retirement 1611?
• Left London with fame, money, and a family crest
• Moved back to Stratford (New Place)
• Wealthy landowner
Death April 23, 1616
• Died of a “fever” contracted after “a merry meeting”
• Death leads to some questions…
Death 1616
• Interesting last will• “Second best bed”• Nothing literary• Tombstone
“unshakespearean”
He was not of an age but, for all time.
-Ben Jonson
The End