Share Shakespeare's life and time
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NEW IDEAS! Name the invention that gave many more people access to information.
The printing press.
TRUE OR FALSE? Elizabethan England was peaceful and tolerant at all times.
False. It had stability and cultural growth, but also religious conflict, plots, persecution and plague.
WHO CAME NEXT? Who succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603?
James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England.
WHY OUTSIDE? Why were many public theatres built outside London's city walls?
To escape city control and opposition, especially from the authorities and the Church.
WHO AM I? I paid little, stood in the open yard and watched the stage up close.
A groundling.
STAGE MAGIC: With almost no scenery, how did audiences know where a scene took place?
The actors' words and the audience's imagination created the setting.
NO ACTRESSES! Who usually played female roles on the Elizabethan stage?
Boys or young male actors.
THE CROWD! Name two things Elizabethan audiences did during performances.
For example: cheered, booed, shouted, reacted emotionally or spoke to the actors.
BOTH AT ONCE: Which two ways of understanding the world existed side by side?
New empirical/scientific thinking and belief in the supernatural, such as ghosts and witchcraft.
CHAIN REACTION: What could happen if the Chain of Being was disturbed?
Chaos and disorder in nature and society.
SHAKESPEARE IN 5 SECONDS: Where and when was he born?
Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564.
FACT OR MYSTERY? Do we know Shakespeare's life story in reliable detail?
No. There are major gaps, uncertain stories and later legends about his life.
SAY IT: de-DUM. Which kind of rhythm is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one?
An iamb.
de-DUMS: How many iambs are normally found in one line of iambic pentameter?
Five iambs (normally ten syllables).
PASS THE LINE! What can a line shared by two speakers show or create?
Agreement, disagreement or interruption; it also speeds up the pace.
BREAK THE RHYTHM: What might an irregular line reveal? Name one possibility.
Strong emotion, social status, an important word, a pause or something significant in the scene.
