plays
even before the Renaissance, the English had been writing and performing ____ for several centuries
its creation by God, its fall through the wiles of Satan, its life in Old Testament times, its redemption by Christ, and its final judgement at the end of the world
In the marketplaces of towns in the 1300s and 1400s, various workers’ guilds cooperated in staging cycles of plays that dramatized the whole history of the human race as then understood:
York, Chester, Coventry, and Wakefield
Parts of four cycles of these plays have been preserved and they are named after the towns where they probably originated:
deus ex machina
an artificial device arbitrarily used to resolve a plot
Everyman
most notable play of the period just before the Renaissance is _____, based on a Dutch orignal
miracle and mystery
plays written before the Renaissance that taught people stories from the Bible and saints’ legends
moralities
plays written before the Renaissance that taught people how to live and die
interlude
one act plays, some of them indistinguishable from moralities, others rowdy and farcical, that started in the early 1500s; with these the playwrights stopped being anonymous
dramatic traditions
even before the new humanist learning came in, there were strong ________ that the great Renaissance playwrights new about
James Burbage
In 1576, ________, the father of Shakespeare’s partner and fellow actor Richard Burbage, built the first public theater and called it, The Theater
Curtain
Shortly after the construction of the Theater, a second theater, called the _____ was erected
northern suburb of London
The Theater and the Curtain were in a _________, where they would not offend the staid residents of London proper
the Rose, the Swan, the Fortune, the Globe, the Red Bull and the Hope
Other public theaters
the Globe
is the most famous of the public theaters because the company that Shakespeare belonged to owned it; many of his plays received their first performances here; also known as “Wooden O”
the building proper, the stage, and the backstage area
the Globe has three main parts
C. Hodges
most scholars now accept as accurate the reconstruction of the Globe published by
Henry V
Shakespeare referred to the Globe as ” this Wooden O” in his play
Philip Henslowe
bought theatrical props
trumpets
announced the beginning of the play
in the great halls of castles and manor houses and in indoor, fully covered theaters in London
the acting companies performed in two other kinds of spaces
King’s Men
Shakespeare’s company
Blackfriars
a disused monastery that was entirely roofed over
groundlings
grimy, snaggletoothed creatures who stood on the ground without seats
Shakespeare
wrote more than 36 plays and 150 poems
Ben Johnson
a writer who seems almost modern in the way he publicized himself; published a poem praising Shakespeare, asserting that he was superior to all Greek, Roman , and English dramtists
Stratford-on-Avon
Shakespeare was born in _____, a historic and prosperous market town in Warwickshire, and was christened in the parish church there on April 26, 1564
John Shakespeare
merchant who was once involved in the government
Mary Arden
came from a prominent family in the county
Stratford
Shakespeare attended the _____ grammar school, where he obtained an excellent education in Latin, the Bible, and English compISITION
Anne Hathaway
At eighteen, Shakespeare married________, the 26 year old daughter of a farmer living near Stratford; they had 3 children, a daughter named Susanna and twins named Hamnet and Judith
plays
Shakespeare first became interested in the theater by seeing____ in Coventry
Robert Greene
fellow dramatist attacked Shakespeare in print and ridiculed a passage in his early play Henry VI; died of dissipation
Henry Chettle
immediately apologized in print to Shakespeare and commended Shakespeare’s acting and writing abilities and his personal honesty
Richard Burbage, Will Kemp
Shakespeare was a member of one company, which also included the great tragic actor ___________ and the popular clown_____
Venus and Adonis
Shakespeare first became famous as the author of a bestseller, an erotic narrative poem called
The Rape of Lucrece
Shakespeare wrote the more serious poem ________, which was dedicated to a rich and extravagant young nobleman, the earl of Southhampton
Richard III
a chronicle or history play about a deformed usurper who became king of England
The Comedy of Errors
a rowdy farce about mistaken identity, based on a Latin play
Titus Andronicus
a blood and thunder tragedy full of rant and atrocities
The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Love’s Labor’s Lost
three agreeable comedies
Romeo and Juliet
a poetic tragedy about ill fated lovers; the Shakespeare play still most frequently taught in schools
Heralds’ College
By 1596, Shakespeare had his father apply to the _______ for a coat of arms that the family could display, signifying that they were “gentlefolk” or people of high social standing
New Place
Shakespeare bought _____, a handsome house and grounds in Stratford, a place so commodious and elegant that the queen of England once stayed there after Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna inherited it
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
Shakespeare also, in 1599, joined with a few other members of his company, now called the _____, to finance a new theater—the famous Globe — on the south side of the Thames
Richard II, both parts of Henry IV, and Henry V
During the last years of Elizabeth’s I reign, Shakespeare completed his cycle of plays about England during the Wars of the Roses:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night
Shakespeare’s comedies that are most frequently performed today
Hamlet
Shakespeare’s tragedy that of all his tragedies, has provoked the most varied and controversial interpretations from critics, scholars and actors
The Merry Wives of Winsdor
Queen Elizabeth asked Shakespeare to write _______because she wanted to see the merry, fat old knight Sir John Falstaff in love
King James of Scotland
Elizabeth’s successor
King James
immediately took the company under his patronage, renamed them the King’s Men, gave them patents to perform anywhere in the realm, provided them with special clothing for state occasions, increased their salaries, and appointed them chief members, including Shakespeare, to be grooms of the royal chamber
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Anthony and Cleopatra
Shakespeare wrote his greatest tragedies in the early years of the 17th century while his financial affairs were flourishing
All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure
Comedies Shakespeare wrote in the early years of the 17th century
the Globe and the Blackfriars
After Shakespeare returned back to Stratford for retirement, he still took part in the management of the King’s Men and their two theaters:
Timon of Athens and Coriolanus
Shakespeare’s final tragedies
Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and the Two Noble Kinsmen
Shakespeare’s comedies, romances, or tragicomedies
Henry VIII
Shakespeare’s last English history play; contained a tribute to Queen Elizabeth; during the 1st performance the firing of the canon of Act 1 set the Globe on fire and burned it to the gorund
Dr. John Hall
Shakespeare’s last recorded visit to London was made with his son in law
church ceremonies
some scholars believe that medieval drama evolved from __________ such as the dialogue songs performed at Easter Eve services
Stratford Church
Shakespeare was buried under the floor of
quartos
eighteen plays were published in small books called ______ before Shakespeare’s partners collected them together and published them after his death
first folio
collection of quartos
