STATION 1: SHAKESPEARE IN HIS TIME

 William Shakespeare, born over 450 years ago, is widely acclaimed as the preeminent imaginative
writer in the English language, recognized for his mastery as both a poet and a playwright. His lasting
impact is particularly evident in the field of drama, where his plays showcase his finest lyrics. Born in
1564 to a prosperous middle-class glover in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, Shakespeare received a
basic education at grammar school. In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway and later ventured to
London around 1590 to pursue a career as an actor and playwright. Rapidly gaining public and critical
acclaim, he rose to become the most popular playwright in England and a co-owner of the Globe
Theater. Shakespeare, a favorite of both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, received the prestigious
title of King's Men from the latter. After a prosperous career, he retired to Stratford and passed away
in 1616 at the age of fifty-two, with contemporaries like Ben Jonson hailing his works as timeless.
 Posthumously, Shakespeare's plays and sonnets were collected and published in various editions
during the century following his death. By the early eighteenth century, he had solidified his
reputation as the greatest English-language poet. Despite the widespread admiration for his works,
the scarcity of biographical details has left many aspects of Shakespeare's personal life enigmatic.
With a literary legacy comprising thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets, Shakespeare's influence has
transcended mere brilliance, profoundly shaping the course of Western literature and culture for
centuries to come.
Introduction to Early Modern England
 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) lived during a period in England’s history that people have
generationally referred to as the English Renaissance. The term renaissance, meaning rebirth, was
applied to this period of English history as a way of celebrating what was perceived as the rapid
development of art, literature, science, and politics: in many ways, the rebirth of classical Rome.
 Though his understanding of human nature and relationships seems to apply to our modern lives, we
must try to understand the world he lived in so we can better understand his plays.
Universal Hierarchy
 During the early Modern period, many people believed that all of creation was organized
hierarchically. God existed at the top, followed by the angels, men, women, animals, plants, and
rocks. This order must be preserved in order to maintain peace and order.
Elements and humors
 People believed that the human body contained all four elements in the form of humors- blood,
phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile- each of which correspond to an element.
Religious context
 Shakespeare lived in an England full of religious uncertainty and dispute. From the Protestant
Reformation to the translation of the Bible into English, the Early Modern era is punctuated with
events that have greatly influenced modern religious beliefs.
Bloody Mary
 During Shakespeare’s life, a great deal of religious dissent existed in England. Protestants were
executed in large numbers, which earned the monarch the nickname Bloody Mary. Many Protestants
fled to Europe to escape persecution.
 Thus, in the space of a single decade, England’s throne passed from Protestant to Catholic to
Protestant, with each change carrying serious and deadly consequences.

Social Context
 Shakespeare’s England divided itself roughly into two social classes - aristocrats (nobility) and
others.
 Distinctions based on ancestry, wealth, and power.
 Aristocrats possessed all three elements.
 Aristocrats inherited wealth, while trade and professions provided wealth for others.
  Middle class concept emerged post-Shakespeare, but some social mobility existed.
 Shakespeare used theater wealth to secure a coat of arms, moving into lower aristocracy.
 Aristocracy feared social movement.
 Harsh laws restricted certain clothing styles and materials.
 Only aristocracy could wear specific articles of clothing and colors.
 Dressing above one's station considered a moral and ethical violation, despite enforcement
challenges.
The status of women
 The societal structure of Early Modern England was deeply rooted in patriarchy and hierarchy, where
women lacked both public and private autonomy. Operating within a system mirroring the state,
men, starting from the family unit, and wielded absolute control, with a husband's authority akin to
the king's divine right. This dominance extended to apprentices and servants, viewed as integral
parts of the family. The practice of primogeniture, passing family wealth through the first female
child, further limited women's inheritance rights. Post-marriage, women generally lost legal rights,
including property ownership and contract signing, though exceptions like Queen Elizabeth retained
authority in the absence of a male heir. Additionally, women faced constraints in education and
professions, being excluded from certain roles like acting and predominantly confined to the
domestic sphere within societal norms.

Mortality rates
 During Early Modern England, high mortality rates, especially among infants, were exacerbated by
rampant infections and diseases. The lack of antiseptics and sterile practices contributed to swift
disease spread, notably in cities like London. The bubonic plague, occurring twice during
Shakespeare's lifetime, was perceived as God's punishment, with no cure or understanding of
transmission. These outbreaks directly affected Shakespeare's career as theaters were often closed
by the government to curb disease transmission.
London Life
 In the sixteenth century, London, the largest city in Europe with a population of around 200,000
inhabitants in the city and suburbs, faced challenges including crowded conditions, the absence of a
sewer system contributing to epidemics like the plague, and high crime rates attributed to inefficient
law enforcement and a lack of street lighting. Despite these drawbacks, London was the cultural,
political, and social heart of England. As the home of the monarch and most of England’s trade,
London was a bustling metropolis. Not surprisingly, a young Shakespeare moved to London to begin
his professional career.
Shakespeare’s language
 Words like “thou” (you), “thee” and “ye” (objective cases of you), and “thy” and “thine”
(your/yours appear throughout Shakespeare’s plays.
 Shakespeare’s language is also verbally rich as he, along with many dramatists of his period, had a
fondness for wordplay. This wordplay often takes the forms of puns, where a word can mean
more than one thing in a given context. Shakespeare often employs puns as a way of illustrating
the distance between what is on the surface-apparent meanings- and what meaning lie
underneath.
 Shakespeare’s lines were meant to be spoken; therefore, reading them aloud or speaking them
should help with comprehension.
 Although Shakespeare’s language can be difficult at first, the rewards of immersing yourself in the
richness and fluidity of the lines are immeasurable.
Later Years and Death
 Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars
believe this is a myth. Church records show he was interred at Holy Trinity Church on April 25,
1616. The exact cause of Shakespeare’s death is unknown, though many people believe he
died following a brief illness.
STATION 2: THE PLAYWRIGHT AND HIS PLAYS
Over a span of approximately two decades, from around 1590 to 1613, William Shakespeare authored 37
plays encompassing three main themes: history, tragedy, and comedy. While some plays blend these
categories, our interpretation of them has evolved over time. Initially conforming to the conventional style
of the era with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases, Shakespeare later innovatively adapted this
style, allowing for a more natural flow of words. Using primarily unrhymed iambic pentameter (blank verse)
with occasional deviations into forms of poetry or simple prose, Shakespeare's works demonstrate both
adherence to tradition and creative experimentation.

Characters
The tragic heroes in Shakespeare’s plays are great men who are unquestionably noble, but each one has a
tragic flaw from where stems the tragedy. In Hamlet, the tragic flaw is in decision, “To be or not to be, that is
the question.” In Macbeth, it is the tragedy of ambition brought on by a very willful wife. In Romeo and
Juliet, the flaw in Romeo is acting on impulse-so he kills himself.
Actors and staging
 Performances in Shakespeare’s England do not appear to have employed scenery. However, theater
companies developed their costumes with great care and expense. In fact, a playing company’s
costumes were its most valuable items. Extravagant costumes were the object of much controversy
because some aristocrats feared that the actors could use them to disguise their social status on the
streets of London.
 Costumes also disguised a player’s gender. All actors on stage during Shakespeare’s lifetime were
men. Young boys whose voices had not reached maturity played female parts. This practice no doubt
influenced Shakespeare’s and his contemporary playwrights’ thematic exploration of cross-dressing.
Ben Jonson’s prophetic line about Shakespeare in the First Folio- “He was not of an age, but for all time!”-
Certainly holds true.
Histories

 Many of Shakespeare’s first plays were histories. All three Henry VI plays, Richard II, and Henry
V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers and have been interpreted by drama
historians as Shakespeare’s way of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty. Other histories
include Richard III, King John, the two Henry IV plays, and Henry VIII. With exception of Henry VIII,
which was Shakespeare’s last play, these works were likely written by 1599.

Tragedies

 Although Shakespeare wrote three tragedies, including Romeo and Juliet, before 1600, it wasn’t until
after the turn of the century that he truly explored the genre. The characters in Othello, King Lear,
and Macbeth present vivid impressions of human temperament that is timeless and universal.
 Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest, and
moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare’s plots, destroying
the hero and those he loves.
 Julius Caesar, written in circa 1599, portrays upheaval in Roman politics that might have resonated
with viewers at a time when England’s aging monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had no legitimate heir, thus
creating the potential for future power struggles.
 Titus Andronicus, Anthony and Cleopatra, Timon of Athens, and Coriolanus are Shakespeare’s other
tragic plays.

Comedies

 Shakespeare wrote comedies throughout his career, including his first play The Taming of the Shrew.
Some of his other early comedies, written before 1600 or so, are: the whimsical A Midsummer
 Night’s Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing,
and the charming As You Like It.
 Some of his comedies might be better described as tragicomedies. Among these
are Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Although graver in tone than the
comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with
reconciliation and forgiveness. Additional Shakespeare comedies include:
 The Two Gentlemen of Verona,
 The Comedy of Errors,
 Love’s Labour’s Lost,
 The Merry Wives of Windsor,
 Twelfth Night,
 Measure for Measure, and
 All’s Well That Ends Well
 Troilus and Cressida is emblematic of the Shakespearean “problem play,” which defies genres. Some
of Shakespeare’s contemporaries classified it as a history or a comedy, though the original name of
the play was The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida.
STATION 3: SHAKESPEARE AS BARD OF AVON
William Shakespeare was an English poet mystery, playwright and actor of the Renaissance era who is considered
one of the greatest writers to ever use the English language. He was an important member of the King’s Men
Company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. He is also the most famous playwright in the world,
with his plays being translated in over 50 languages and performed across the globe for audiences of all ages
known colloquially as “The Bard” or “The Bard of Avon,” Shakespeare was also an actor and the creator of the
Globe Theatre, a historical theatre, and company that is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
Shakespeare’s writings capture the range of human emotion and conflict and have been celebrated for more
than 400 years.

Narrative Poems
 Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention and patronage of Henry Wriothesley, the
Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his first and second published poems: Venus and
Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594). In fact, these long narrative poems—1,194 and 1,855
lines, respectively—were Shakespeare’s first published works. Wriothesley’s financial support was a
helpful source of income at a time when the theaters were shuttered due to a plague outbreak.
 Venus and Adonis was Shakespeare's first-published work. Modelled after the Roman poet Ovid, it is a re-
telling of the classical myth: Venus, the goddess of love, falls for a young mortal who dies after being
attacked by a wild boar. Shakespeare interprets the myth comically as well as tragically, for Adonis
continually resists Venus's desire. The poem is considered an experiment in delicate eroticism.
 The Rape of Lucrece is also a long poem based on Ovid, but rather more serious, and based on history
rather than myth. The story is the rape of Lucretia, wife of Collatinus, by Tarquinius Sextus, son of the
Roman king Tarquinius Superbus. Devastated and filled with shame, Lucretia stabs herself to death. The
poem comments on the problems of masculine violence and institutionalised attitudes towards feminine
chastity.
 Another of Shakespeare's poems 'The Phoenix and Turtle' was commissioned to be included in a
collection by Robert Chester called Love's Martyr (1601). The Oxford edition of the complete works
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986) also includes as Shakespeare's various poems, some songs, and epitaphs.

Shakespearean Sonnets

 Thomas Thorpe published 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets in 1609, followed by the long poem 'A Lover's
Complaint' in the same volume. Six additional sonnets are found in his plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V,
and Love's Labour's Lost.
 Shakespeare's sonnets delve into love and life, with the first 126 urging a young man to marry, who then
becomes the speaker's desire, and the last 28 addressing the 'dark lady.' Some sonnets, like 'Shall I
compare thee to a summer's day?' from Sonnet 18, challenge a linear reading with a gender-neutral
nature. Starting serious sonnet composition around 1592, Shakespeare popularized the English sonnet
form, deviating by addressing conflicting feelings for a young man and a dark woman, reshaping poetic
conventions.
 While he may have experimented with the form earlier, Shakespeare most likely began writing sonnets
seriously around 1592. What is now known as the Shakespearian sonnet is the English sonnet form
Shakespeare popularised: fourteen lines of iambic pentameter (a ten-syllable pattern of alternating
unaccented and accented syllables). The rhyme scheme breaks the poem into three quatrains (four lines
each) and a couplet (two lines).
 Shakespeare transformed poetry by using a new form and diverging from standard content. Instead of
traditional romantic fiction, he writes to a young man and a dark woman, evoking conflicting emotions in
the speaker.
STATION 4: SHAKESPEARE: INSIGHT CHECK
Answer the questions based on the information that you gathered. Write the letter of your answer in
your notebook.

1. When was William Shakespeare born, and what are the two primary roles for which he is widely
recognized?

A. 1601, Scientist and Politician

B. 1564, Playwright and Poet
C. 1582, Actor and Soldier
D. 1616, Philosopher and Gardener

2. What is a distinctive feature of Shakespeare's language, as mentioned in the text?

A. Use of modern slang

B. Complexity and difficulty
C. Use of abbreviations
D. Limited vocabulary

3. How did Shakespeare innovate in his writing style over time, particularly in terms of language and
verse?

A. He continued using elaborate metaphors throughout his career.

B. He adhered strictly to traditional forms of poetry.
C. He experimented with a more natural flow of words and blank verse.
D. He wrote exclusively in prose to simplify his works.

4. What were the three main themes of Shakespeare's plays, and how many plays did he author in
total?

A. Themes: Comedy, Tragedy, Mystery; Total plays: 25

B. Themes: Romance, Thriller, Comedy; Total plays: 50
C. Themes: History, Tragedy, Comedy; Total plays: 37
D. Themes: Adventure, Horror, Drama; Total plays: 30

5. What form of poetry did Shakespeare popularize through his sonnets, and what themes do they
predominantly explore?

A. Limericks; Exploration of nature

B. Haikus; Exploration of tragedy
C. Sonnets; Exploration of love and conflicting emotions
D. Epics; Exploration of historical events
STATION 1: GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What key events and milestones mark Shakespeare's life, from his birth to his
significant roles in London's cultural scene?

2. How were religious and political events, including the Protestant Reformation and
government responses to diseases like the bubonic plague, influential in shaping both
Shakespeare's life and writings, and how did these factors impact social dynamics
during his time in Early Modern England?

3. How does Shakespeare employ wordplay, particularly puns, to convey deeper

meanings and create layers in his language?

STATION 2: GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. How many plays did William Shakespeare write, and what were the three main
themes that encompassed these plays over the span of approximately two decades?

2. How did Shakespeare initially conform to the conventional style of the era in terms
of language and style, and how did he later innovate and adapt this style, as reflected
in his use of iambic pentameter and occasional deviations into forms of poetry or
prose?
STATION 3: GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What are the main differences in tone and genre between Shakespeare's early
narrative poems, "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece"?

2. What are the key themes in Shakespeare's sonnets, and how are they divided
between the first 126 and the last 28 sonnets?

3. How did Shakespeare's sonnets transform poetry, including changes in form, the
use of iambic pentameter, and the shift from traditional romantic fiction to conflicting
emotions for a young man and a dark woman?