William Shakespeare (1564- 1616)
He was an English poet and playwright of the Elizabethan period.
He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the
world's pre-eminent dramatist.
He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". He was born
and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor,
writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's
Men. After the plagues of 1592–3, Shakespeare's plays were performed by his
own company at The Theatre and the Curtain north of the Thames. When the
company found themselves in dispute with their landlord, they pulled The
Theatre down and used the timbers to construct the Globe Theatre, the first
playhouse built by actors for actors, on the south bank of the Thames.
1610 portrait
The Globe theatre opened in After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the company was awarded a
royal patent by the new king, James I, and changed its name to the King's
1599.
Men. Acting was considered dishonourable for women and women did not
appear on the stage in England until the seventeenth century. In
Shakespeare's plays, the roles of women were often played by young boys.
His works consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets and several other poems.
He produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.
His early plays were mainly comedies and histories.
First Performed
1592-93
1593-94
1594-95
1594-95
1595-96
1595-96
1596-97
1598-99
1598-99
1599-1600
1599-1600
1599-1600
1600-01
1602-03
1604-05
1605-06
1605-06
1606-07
1610-11
1611-12
He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608.
In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and
collaborated with other playwrights.
First Printed Genre
Plays
French titles
1597
History
Richard III
Richard III
1623
Comedy The Taming of the Shrew
La Mégère apprivoisée
1597
Tragedy Romeo and Juliet
Roméo et Juliette
1598
Comedy Love's Labour's Lost
Peines d'amour perdues
1597
History
Richard II
Richard II
1600
Comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream Le Songe d'une nuit d'été
1600
Comedy The Merchant of Venice
Le Marchand de Venise
1600
History
Henry V
Henri V
1600
Comedy Much Ado About Nothing
Beaucoup de bruit pour rien
1623
Comedy As You Like It
Comme il vous plaira
1623
Tragedy Julius Caesar
Jules César
1623
Comedy Twelfth Night
La Nuit des rois
1603
Tragedy Hamlet
Hamlet, prince de Danemark
1623
Comedy All's Well That Ends Well
Tout est bien qui finit bien
1622
Tragedy Othello, the Moor of Venice
Othello ou le Maure de Venise
1608
Tragedy King Lear
Le Roi Lear
1623
Tragedy Macbeth
Macbeth
1623
Tragedy Antony and Cleopatra
Antoine et Cléopâtre
1623
Romance The Winter's Tale
Le Conte d'hiver
1623
Romance The Tempest
La Tempête
Shakespeare also wrote 154 sonnets throughout his career for a private readership. They were published in 1609.
He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 where he died three years later.
His reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular,
acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare.
His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted.
Main source: Wikipedia
Quiz
Shakespeare’s works
1- In which town was Shakespeare born?
A- Stratford
C- Cambridge
B- London
D- Oxford
1. For each French title, give the original title using
the following words: A - About - Ado - All's - As Caesar - Dream - Ends - It - Julius - Labour's - Like - Lost
- Love's - Merchant - Midsummer - Much - Night Night's - Nothing - of - of - Shrew - Taming - That - The the - The - Twelfth - Venice - Well - Well - You La Mégère apprivoisée
...................................
Peines d'amour perdues
...................................
Le Songe d'une nuit d'été
...................................
Le Marchand de Venise
...................................
Beaucoup de bruit pour rien
...................................
Comme il vous plaira
...................................
Jules César
...................................
La Nuit des rois
...................................
Tout est bien qui finit bien
...................................
2- Which river is associated with Shakespeare's
birth place?
A- The Thames
C- The Avon
B- The Tyburn
D- The Seven
3- When did Shakespeare write his plays?
A- 14th and 15th Century C- 16th and 17th Century
B- 15th and 16th century D- 17th and 18th Century
4- Which adjective is used to describe Shakespeare’s
historical period?
A- Edwardian
C- Georgian
B- Elizabethan
D- Victorian
5- Which noun is used as a nickname to refer to
Shakespeare?
A- The Poet
C- The Writer
B- The Playwright
D- The Bard
2. Find in which play these characters appear:
Ariel - Falstaff - Iago - Lady Macbeth - Ophelia - Shylock
fat, vain, boastful
.................
(vantard), and
in Henri IV
cowardly (couard)
perfidious, infamous
.................
in Macbeth
6- What was the theatre in London that Shakespeare
was associated with?
A- The World
C- The Circle
B- The Britain
D- The Globe
beauty, desperate
love
.................
in Hamlet
jealous manipulator
.................
in Othello
7. Which job did Shakespeare NOT do?
A- Poet
C- Actor
B- Publisher
D- Playwright
witty (spirituel),
aerial, funny
.................
in The Tempest
Jewish, mean
(radin), tragic
.................
in The Merchant
of Venice
8. What was the name of Shakespeare’s last company?
A- The King’s Actors
C- The King’s Entertainers
B- The King’s Players
D- The King's Men
3. Match these quotes with the works they appear in:
9. Who played the female roles in Shakespeare’s plays
in his time?
A- The actors’ wives
C- Prostitutes
B- Young boys
D- Noble women
10- How much did Shakespeare write?
A- 1 play, 38 sonnets and 154 epic narrative poems
B- 54 plays, 5 sonnets, and 38 epic narrative plays
C- 54 plays, 38 sonnets and 5 epic narrative poems
D- 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 epic narrative poems
11- Where did Shakespeare retire to?
A- London
C- Stratford-upon-Avon
B- Brighton
D- Oxford
12- How old was Shakespeare when he died?
A- 49 – B- 50 – C- 51 – D- 52
As You Like It - Hamlet - Macbeth - Richard III - Romeo and
Juliet - The Merchant of Venice - The Sonnets - The Tempest
“To be or not to be, that is the question”
“a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and
fury, signifying nothing.”
“All the world's a stage, And all the men
and women merely players”
"A pair of star-cross'd lovers" - “what
light through yonder window breaks? “
“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate”
"All that glitters is not gold"
“The pound of flesh”
"Hath not a Jew eyes?”
“A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a
horse!”
O brave new world! That has such people
in it! (Miranda)
The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the late 15th to the
early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as
beginning in Italy in the late 14th century. Like most of northern Europe, England saw little of these
developments until more than a century later. The beginning of the English Renaissance is often taken, as a
convenience, to be 1485, when the Battle of Bosworth ended the Wars of the Roses and inaugurated the
Tudor Dynasty. Renaissance style and ideas, however, were slow to penetrate England, and the Elizabethan
era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance. The
dominant art forms of the English Renaissance were literature and music.
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign
(1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. It was
the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and
literature. English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre,
refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between
the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. It includes the drama of
William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and many other famous playwrights.
Movies illustrating the period
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film directed
by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard. The film
depicts an imaginary love affair involving Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) and
playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) while he was writing Romeo and
Juliet. Several characters are based on historical people, and many of the characters,
lines, and plot devices allude to Shakespeare's plays.
Movie versions of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
1968 British-Italian romance film
by Franco Zeffirelli.
Romeo + Juliet
1996 American romantic drama
film directed by Baz Luhrmann.
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela
2013 Indian romance drama
film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Romeo and Juliet (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/)
1- Answer the following questions with the following names of characters or places:
Capulet, Friar Lawrence, Juliet, Juliet’s nurse, Mantua, Mercutio, Montague, Paris, Romeo, Rosaline, The
Prince, Tybalt, Verona
1 Where does the scene take place?
2 Which families are enemies?
and
3 Who is the ruler of the place?
4 To which family does Romeo belong?
5 Who is he in love with?
6 To which family does Juliet belong?
7 Who has asked for her hand in marriage?
8 During the feast, who does Romeo fall in love with?
9 Who does Juliet fall in love with?
10 Who secretly marries Romeo and Juliet?
11 Who else is in the secret?
12 Who is Romeo’s friend?
13 During the duel, which cousin of Juliet’s kills Mercutio?
14 Who kills Tybalt?
15 Where does Romeo escape?
2- Watch the trailer of the 1996 movie, and fill in the blanks in the quotations of Shakespeare’s text:
beauty , daughter , fatal , heart , heart , life, love,
romeo, two , unclean, verona, who
banished, draw, fool, hate, houses, live, love ,
murder , night, villain
Romeo:
Did my ……………. love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true ……………. till this night.
Tybalt: Romeo,--thou (you are) art a …………….
Turn and draw – turn and …………….!
Narrator:
In fair ……………., where we lay our scene,
……………. households, both alike in dignity,
From forth the ……………. loins of these two foes
Where civil blood makes civil hands ……………..
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their …………….;
Benvolio: ……………. is that you love?
Juliet: O gentle …………….,
If thou dost ……………., pronounce it faithfully
Romeo: my ……………. 's dear love is set
On the fair ……………. of rich Capulet
banished
Lady Capulet:
Romeo slew (a tué) Tybalt, Romeo must not ……….
Juliet: My only ……………. sprung from my only
…………….!
The Prince: Romeo is …………….!
Juliet: If they do see thee, they will ……………. thee
Mercutio: A plague (peste) on both your …………….!
Romeo: I am fortune's …………….!
Juliet: Good night! Good …………….!