Title: Context and shakespeare

Learning Objective:
To understand the life of Shakespeare in
the context of Shakespearean England
Starter:

What is
context?
Why is It
important?
• Context: The historical background of a text.
 Learning Objective:
To understand the life of
Shakespeare in the context
of Shakespearean England
Success Criteria
Bronze: To understand who
Shakespeare was.
Silver: To take detailed notes
Gold: To complete a detailed and
developed presentation of aspects
of life in Shakespeare’s time.
Discuss

• Why do we study Shakespeare?

• Do you think Shakespeare is relevant today?

What do you think life was like in Shakespeare’s time 1564 - 1616?
Write down as many words or phrases as possible.
Watch the video and note down some facts
about Shakespeare
• When did he
live?
• What was his
job?
• Why is he so
famous?
• What type of
plays did he
write?
• What other
types of writing
did he do?
Challenge: Make a note of words
you don’t understand.
 You are going to be the teachers!
In your groups, you will receive some information about life in
Shakespearean England. It will be your job to learn the information
and then develop an activity to teach the rest of the class about your
expert area.

1. Religion Possible teaching methods:

2. Shakespeare • Poster, presentation and quiz
3. Gender roles • Create a rap/song about the information
4. Tragedy (this must be performed!)
5. 16th century theatre. • Poster and human photocopier
• Dramatic representation

Challenge
Can you incorporate any facts that you learned
last lesson?
 Q ue
All en Eli
o
had f her abeth
z Gender roles
no died. immed I
m Facts and Info:
Had ale m She w iate m
s h e m b a s a le
ha v a
e c e mar er of nswer relati • Wives in general were treated not better than
ha v h an ried t h e a ble v e s slaves.
e g
hus been ed. E all th famil to
b l i y
She and. expec izabet s woul . • Elizabethan women were seen as inferior to men.
ted h d
pow retai to o
wou They were subservient to the men in the family all of
e
que r by ed a s
n bey ld
e n. sta her their lives and expected to obey the men in all
ying ense o
the f fe aspects of their life. Disobedience was seen as a
“vir minin crime against their religion.
gin” e
A cuckold - A man married • They were dependent on their male relatives to
to an unfaithful wife, support them.
especially when he is • They were used to forge alliances with other
unaware or unaccepting of powerful families through arranged marriages.
the fact that she was • Elizabethan women were tutored at home - there
cheating on him. Children of noble birth were no schools for girls.
ran a great risk if • Elizabethan women were expected to bring a dowry
they tried to marry to the marriage (dowry was an amount of money,
without the approval of goods, and property ).
their parents, since • After marriage Elizabethan women were expected to
they would be left run the households and provide children.
without resources. • The law gave a husband full rights over his wife. She
effectively became his property.

Marriages would be
With parental permission the legal age for Elizabethan arranged to bring
marriages was as follows:
• it was legal for boys to marry at 14. prestige or wealth
• it was legal for girls to marry at the age of 12. to the family.
 Shakespeare
Facts and Info:
• Life 1564 – 1616: Renaissance Era.

Shakespeare appeared in London in 1592, when • Born in Stratford upon Avon – outside of the major cities
(London).
he was already working in the theatre.
• Father a Glover NOT poor, but certainly NOT part of the
The 1559 Act of Uniformity e
n wer
aristocracy.
w o m e
laws were passed in which
i z a b e than a c t in the • Believed to have attended King's New School in Stratford
El to
attendance at church
t a l l owed res. NOT university.
became compulsory and non- no th e a t • At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old
attendance was punishable Anne Hathaway.
by fine or imprisonment. • Six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a
daughter, Susanna. Twins, son Hamnet and daughter
Judith, followed almost two years later.
• In Shakespeare's day, English grammar, spelling and
pronunciation were less standardised than they are now ],
and his use of language helped shape modern English.
Royalty: 1564 Queen Elizabeth I on the throne
major laws
There were (Elizabethan Era).
Queen Elizabeth was a
o v e rn in g t h e clothing
g  Queen Elizabeth remained unmarried and on the throne
protestant Christian.
c lu d in g f a b ric, colour for a long time (1558 - 1603).
(in
t each class
and cut) tha  Virgin Queen – had no children and no one to take over
y could be
wore, so the when she died.
ted and told
easily separa  Scotland and England were separate kingdoms at this time
apart.
Only the boys were allowed to attend formal
(not friendly).

education; girls were not pushed to do so.  1603 King James I on the throne.

The bubonic or "Black Plague“ was that a disease killed

nearly a quarter of London's population in 1563.
 c te r s
in chara ys are often
i n many
of
Religion
T h e ma re’s pla the temptation
k e s p e a
Sh a who fac
e
ts Facts and Info:
v i d u a l s th temp
i nd i M a c be
Lady • In Elizabethan England, members of society were
o f ev i l. nto d oing evi
l.
influenced highly by religion, and placed great
h i
Macbet importance on it.
• Before Shakespeare began writing, there were no
theatre companies, and plays were quite short and
were usually religion-based. After this time,
morality plays were still popular – these were plays
that focused on the ideas of being sinful ad
Shakes virtuous. In them, men often gave into temptation
pe
conscie are’s tragic h and then repented. Shakespeare would have been
nc ero
they fo e; they agonis es are haunte influenced by these plays.
llo e over
journey w what we ca their a d by the
toward n ctio
s heave presume is a s ns as • Shakespeare was influenced by the Protestant
n or he piritual faith, as that was the church that was in power at
ll .
the time that it was written.

• In Shakespeare’s time they believed in the Divine Right of Kings.

• This meant that God chose the king and that the king was God’s messenger on Earth.
• This meant that the King was only answerable to God and so no one on earth had authority over them.
• Therefore anyone who killed the king was also going against God and should therefore be punished
for it. The earthly punishment for this was to have the perpetrator hung, drawn and quartered which
meant that convicts were fastened to a wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution,
where they were hanged (almost to the point of death), emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded and
quartered (chopped into four pieces). Their remains were often displayed in prominent places across
the country, such as London Bridge. For reasons of public decency, women convicted of high treason
were instead burned at the stake.
• James I would have enjoyed this because it might make the audience feel scared at the thought of
plotting to kill the king and what might happen to them as a result.
 16th century theatre
Facts and Info:

• The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 in Southwark on the south bank of London’s River
Thames by Richard Burbage.
• The timber for The Globe Theatre was actually reused wood from “The Theatre” – an
earlier theatre owned by Richard Burbage’s father.
• The Globe was built as a large, round, open air theatre. There was a roof around the
circumference which covered the seating area, leaving the theatre looking like a doughnut
from above.
• The Globe had three stories of seating and was able to hold up to 3,000 spectators in it’s
100 foot diameter.
• At the base of the stage was an area called “the pit” which held “the groundlings” – people
who paid just a penny to stand and watch a performance.
• Part of the stage was called the “apron stage” – a rectangular platform that thrust out
amongst the audience into the pit.
• William Shakespeare was a shareholder who owned 12.5% of The Globe Theatre. As a young
writer Shakespeare bought shares in the theatre and benefited financially as his popularity
grew.
• Colour coded flags were used outside the theatre to advertise the type of play to be
performed – a red flag for a history play, white for a comedy play and black for a
tragedy play.
• A crest above the main entrance to The Globe Theatre was inscribed with motto “Totus
mundus agit histrionem” – Latin for “The whole world is a playhouse”.
• There were no actresses performing at The Globe Theatre – or any other theatre at that
time. Female roles were played by young boys as theatre stages were considered too risque
a place for ladies.
• The Globe Theatre burnt down in 1613 when a special effect on stage went wrong. A cannon
used for a performance of Henry VIII set light to the thatched roof and the fire quickly
spread, reportedly taking less than two hours to burn down completely.
According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt when The
Globe Theatre burned down – except for a man whose burning trousers were put out with a
bottle of beer!
• After burning down in 1613 The Globe Theatre was rebuilt on the same spot in 1614.
 Tragedy
Facts and Info:

• The fatal flaw. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are all

fundamentally flawed. It is this weakness that ultimately leads
to their downfall.

• The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Shakespeare
tragedies often focus on the fall of a nobleman. By presenting
the audience with a man with excessive wealth or power, his
At the end of a eventual downfall fall is all the more tragic.
tragedy there are
• External pressures. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often fall
often lots of deaths. victim to external pressures. Fate, evil spirits and manipulative
characters all play a hand in the hero’s downfall.
These often include The Elements:
the main characters. 1-tragic hero: person with noble qualities and a flaw in his
character
Shakespeare wanted 2-tragic error: some disorder that has been committed against
the laws of nature and needs to be corrected.
to show his audience 3-conflict ...with country or with the hero himself
4-revenge ...the hero is usually often revenge or he is being
how attitudes at the avenged
5-sad ending: the death, downfall or destruction
time could lead to 6-comic relief : some light scenes to relieve the stress of tragic
events
negative 7-isolation of main character
consequences.
Plenary

• What are the

three most
interesting
facts you
have learned
today?

• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
 Starter: DO IT NOW
How do these pictures link to the facts you have
learnt about the Shakespearean era? Why? How?
Stark contrasts: the rich V poor

On the one hand, London

was the home of the
Queen’s court, where life
was luxurious. On the
other hand, life in the
crowded streets was
harsh. The poor became
poorer which resulted in
more beggars and
vagabonds spilling onto
the streets.
Poverty, health and disease
Health was a major concern in
Elizabethan England. A growing
population contributed to the
spread of DISEASE,
particularly in the crowded city
of London. Poor SANITATION
was the main cause of disease.
The most common and painful
diseases spread included the
plague, smallpox and typhus.
Sickness was particularly
common among the poor, and it
could also contribute to greater
poverty by making people unable
to work.
London’s dark underworld
The way that houses were built
closely to one another led to lots of
dark alleyways and twisted corners
for people to get up to no good.
Taverns were places of corruption
where betting, gambling and
prostitution took place. However,
the poorer classes has a ‘gallows’
humour’, they laughed about things
like death, revenge and poverty.
There were no sewers, so toilet
waste and rubbish ran down the
streets too – this was very smelly
and spread disease.
Brutal crime and punishment

"The greatest and most

grievous punishment used in
England for such as offend
against the State is drawing
from the prison to the place
of execution upon an hurdle or
sled, where they are hanged
till they be half dead, and then
taken down, and quartered
alive; after that, their
members and bowels are cut
from their bodies, and thrown
into a fire, provided near hand
and within their own sight,
even for the same purpose."
The place of women

Women were taught from birth

they were inferior to men.
Women were taught, and
believed, they were instruments
of the devil. As a result, a lot of
emphasis was placed on the
woman to remain pure before her
wedding (aged 13 up). A man had
to keep his wife and daughters
under control, otherwise they
would lead him into evil. Fathers
‘owned’ their daughters until
they were married, and then
their husband’s ‘owned’ them.
 The Elizabethans were very fond of any type of
entertainment and they had plenty of ways of enjoying
themselves. Street theatre like acrobats, jugglers and
musicians would play in streets.
 Other, more gruesome forms of entertainment that always
attracted crowds were public hangings or executions.
 Another cruel sport that the Elizabethan’s enjoyed was
animal fighting. Special arenas or yards were built with
galleries all around where people could pay to see how many
dogs would dare to attack a fierce bull or huge bear. This
was called bull or bear baiting.
 Queen Elizabeth I had her own bull and bear master to
organise these tournaments.

Entertainment/past times
Schooling
Children were taught to read
using simple 'abc books‘ which
were religious and included
the Lord's Prayer, the Creed
and the Ten Commandments.
There were no pens or pencils
in Shakespeare’s time, so to
learn to write, children had
to use a quill pen and ink.
A quill pen was made from a
bird’s feather.
The sons of the richer citizens
would move on, at the age of
seven, to grammar school (girls
were not educated in schools).
School hours were 7 am in the
morning until 6pm in the evening
and boys attended school 6 days
a week (Monday to Saturday)
Although there was a break of a
couple of hours in the middle of
the day, there was no PE or play
included in the timetable and no
holidays except for the
occasional day's holiday. On
Sundays, the boys had to go to
church .
Let’s watch the groups and learn…
As the groups present, you will need to fill in your notes table.

Context Notes

Religion

Shakespeare

Gender roles

Tragedy

16th Century theatre

Challenge: Consider their presentation skills as well as the content.

Plenary

• WWW
• EBI

• Exit ticket: What do

you know about
Shakespearean
England that you
didn’t know before?