Name: Malak Ossama Class: prep 3c

The life of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright,

and actor. He was born on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-
Avon. His father was a successful local businessman and his
mother was the daughter of a landowner. Shakespeare is
widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English
language. He is often called England's national poet and
nicknamed The Bard of Avon. He wrote about 38 plays, 154
sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses.
His plays have been translated into every major living
language and are performed more often than those of any
other playwright.

Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18.

She was eight years older than him. They had three children:
Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. After his marriage
information about his life became very rare. But he is thought
to have spent most of his time in London writing and
performing in his plays. 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.
 Shakespeare’s works

There have been many attempts to classify Shakespeare’s

play types, using labels to place them into categories to
define or restrict the ways in which people think about each
play. Shakespeare’s play types are defined as: Comedy
plays, Tragedy Plays and History plays.

Shakespeare’s comedies are generally identifiable as

plays full of fun and irony. The most popular comedies by
Shakespeare are: Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice
and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Shakespeare’s tragedies usually follow a story of a flawed

protagonist who makes a mistake and suffers a fall from his
position. The most known tragedies are: Macbeth, King Lear,
and Othello.

The history plays normally refer to the ten plays that cover
English history from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries,
and the 1399-1485 period in particular. Each play is named
after, and focuses on, the reigning monarch of the period.
The most remarkable works are: Henry VIII, King John and
Henry VI Part 1, 2, 3
 The Elizabethan Era

The Elizabethan Era is most famous for its theatres and the
works of William Shakespeare. English Renaissance theatre
began with the opening of "The Red Lion" theatre in 1567.
Many more permanent theatres opened in London over the
next several years including the Curtain Theatre in 1577 and
the famous Globe Theatre in 1599.

The period produced some of the world's great playwrights

including Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.
Today Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer of the
English language. Popular genres of theatre included the
history play, the tragedy, and the comedy

The government in England during this era was complicated

and was made up of three different bodies: the monarch, the
Privy Council, and the Parliament. The monarch was Queen
Elizabeth. She was very powerful and decided most of the
laws of the land, but she did have to get approval from
Parliament to implement taxes. The Privy Council was made
up of the queen's closest advisors. They would make
recommendations and give her advice. When Elizabeth first
became queen there were 50 members of the Privy Council.
She reduced this over time until there were only 11 members
by 1597.
 Parliament had two groups. One group was called the
House of Lords and was made up of nobles and high ranking
church officials such as bishops. The other group was the
House of Commons which was made up of commoners.

Social classes of the Elizabethan era

The Elizabethan Era occurred (1588-1603) marked by reign

of Queen Elizabeth. Some people call it the golden age of
English history. It was the start of poetry, music, and
literature. This era was also known for theatre including
William Shakespeare’s plays and poems that are still read
and shown today. It also was the beginning of exploration
and setting up colonies under English rule to further
England’s empire.

The social classes were monarch, nobility, gentry, merchant,

yeomanry, and laborers. The monarch was the ruler of
England, during that time the ruler was Queen Elizabeth 1,
the sixth and last ruler of Tudor. The nobility was at the top
of the social ladder and very rich and powerful. Gentry were
knights, squires, gentlemen and gentlewomen. They became
the most important social class in England. Merchants
emerged from the ashes of the War of Roses. Yeomanry
was named the middle class and were not very wealthy and
only saved enough money to live comfortably. The laborers,
the bottom of the social class in the Elizabethan Era, were
very poor and only made enough to live comfortably
Social classes were very important and very strict. It was
very difficult for one person to move from one class to
another. There were very few opportunities to change your
social status and for some it was impossible. These rules
were not taken lightly and people were pushed harshly if the
rules were broken. These rules were very strictly enforced
and everyone had to follow. These rules were in the form of
laws that maintained the social structure. could wear made it
easy for others to know which social class they were in.

These classes determined a person’s status in society, but

also determined what kind of job they had, what rights as a
human they had, and sometimes it even determined what
they could wear, even their jewelry and furniture.

The Monarchy

In the days of queen Elizabeth the people thought the queen

or the king were God’s representative on Earth and the king
or queen were thought to be greater than all the living things
on earth. Naturally they were better than any other humans.
A person obtained this status usually by birth, they spent
their entire life in this status. From birth on they were told
how to act, what to say, and how the rest of the kingdom
should treat them. They knew how all others should behave
around them and punish those who did not behave properly.
The highest social class was the monarchy in the
Elizabethan era, also known as Queen Elizabeth 1 was the
leader, she was the last leader of the era and she ruled for
forty five years.
 The Nobility

The second highest rank was Nobility. They were very rich
and had huge houses. Most owned large amounts of land
that they inherited. A Noble could only be a Noble if he was
born into it or was made a Noble by the king or Queen. They
had special rights. They could not be put in jail for debt. They
could not be tortured. They could not be punished for a
capital crime by hanging or other abuses. If put to death they
had to be beheaded. They could only be tried by other
Nobles. The richest people were usually Nobles

The Gentry

The Gentry is the third highest order of society in the

Elizabethan Era. They were sometimes called the
Aristocrats. This order was made up of Lords, which owned
a lot of land, Gentlemen freeholders who took care of the
land owned by the Lords. They did not have to work hard
and did not do manual labor. They supported themselves off
the rent paid by their tenants. They were thought of as the
true rulers of the countryside.

The Gentry often held the local offices, such as sheriff and
surveyor of the roads. Some were the Justice of the Peace.
This gave them much power. Of interest, they held these
offices without pay.
 The Merchants

The fourth order of society were the merchants. Unlike the

first three classes, they had a very quiet lifestyle. Most of
them lived in London. Most had a goal in life to become Lord
Mayor of London. This would give them a lot of power. So
much power that they could take on the King or Queen.
These men were shopkeepers, traders, innkeepers and
citizens of London. The merchants were responsible for
producing goods for others to use.

The Yeomanry

Yeomanry was the fifth order of society. These were the

people who had large amounts of property and had a Noble
title if they could buy one. They did not work much since they
usually had enough money to live. Those that did work were
farmers, tradesman or craftsman. It seems they were happy
not to be part of the lowest part of society.

The Peasantry

The Peasantry is the lowest order of Society. These people

worked very hard to keep what little they had. At best, they
owned a very small cottage which gave them the name of
cotters. They could help themselves if they had a skill such
as carpentry or weaving that allowed them to make some
money. They most often worked for other large landowners.
But they did not get paid well.
 Social issues during Elizabethan era

Although there were many issues and problems that occurred

during her reign, Queen Elizabeth I successfully addressed
and responded to many of the social, political, and
educational issues of her time. Elizabeth worked to spread
literature, prevent crime, and expand the art of theater. As
she strived to solve these issues, Queen Elizabeth led
England to a long period of growth and prosperity. During her
reign, Queen Elizabeth I worked to spread education and
literature throughout England. Before her rule, literature was
uncommon because texts were usually written in Latin and
were only affordable to members of a high social class. Most
members of poorer classes couldn’t afford books, didn’t know
how to read, or didn’t have an education. This was due to
poverty in that time period. Poverty had many causes and
reasons such as: population growth, rising prices and bad
harvest

Population Growth

The reign of Elizabeth saw the population of England grow

by around 35%. This growth was particularly noticeable in
the cities and towns which grew rapidly. However, this rising
population caused problems for the people living in the
towns and cities. Firstly, is the price of food. As more people
required food in towns, the price of the food rose quickly
which meant that some people lost out and could not afford
the food. Another issue was that of housing. As populations
grew, there simply wasn’t enough houses to house everyone
and as a result rents also increased.

Rising Prices

Linked to population growth is rising prices. An increase in

the demand for food meant that prices rose quickly. People
could often not afford these increase as although wages for
people were rising, they were not rising by more than food
was, meaning that wage increases would not keep up with
the price of food. In some cases where many people were
looking for work it lead to a fall in wages due to so many
people wanting to be in work.

Bad harvest

Harvests were particularly bad in the 1590s leading to even

higher demand and more rising prices. Many landlords
decided to enclose their fields and keep sheep instead of
growing plants. However, sheep farming needed large
amounts of land and this causes problems. The increase in
land required means that this land cannot be used for food
crops, second that some food must be used to feed the
sheep and cannot be used to feed people.