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Andres Perdigon

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(picture credit: Utrecht University Library)

The sketch at left is perhaps one of the most important in theatrical history. In 1596, a Dutch student by the name of Johannes de Witt attended a play in London at the Swan Theatre. While there, de Witt made a drawing of the theatre's interior. A friend, Arend van Buchell, copied this drawing—van Buchell's copy is the sketch rendered here—and in doing so contributed greatly to posterity. The sketch is the only surviving contemporary rendering of the interior of an Elizabethan-era public theatre. As such, it's the closest thing historians have to an original picture of what the Globe may have looked like in its heyday.

Shakespeare's company erected the storied Globe Theatre circa 1599 in London's Bankside district. It was one of four major theatres in the area, along with the Swan, the Rose, and the Hope. The open-air, polygonal amphitheater rose three stories high with a diameter of approximately 100 feet, holding a seating capacity of up to 3,000 spectators. The rectangular stage platform on which the plays were performed was nearly 43 feet wide and 28 feet deep. This staging area probably housed trap doors in its flooring and primitive rigging overhead for various stage effects.

The story of the original Globe's construction might be worthy of a Shakespearean play of its own. The Lord Chamberlain's Men had been performing in the Theatre, built by James Burbage (the father of Richard Burbage) in 1576. In 1597, although the company technically owned the Theatre, their lease on the land on which it stood expired. Their landlord, Giles Allen, desired to tear the Theatre down. This led the company to purchase property at Blackfriars in Upper Frater Hall, which they bought for £600 and set about converting for theatrical use.

Unfortunately, their aristocratic neighbors complained to the Privy Council about the plans for Blackfriars. Cuthbert Burbage tried to renegotiate the Theatre lease with Giles Allen in autumn of 1598; Allen vowed to put the wood and timber of the building "to better use." Richard and Cuthbert learned of his plans and set in motion a plot of their own. It seems that the company's lease had contained a provision allowing them to dismantle the building themselves.

In late December of 1598, Allen left London for the countryside. The Burbage brothers, their chief carpenter, and a party of workmen assembled at the Theatre on the night of December 28. The men stripped the Theatre down to its foundation, moved the materials across the Thames to Bankside, and proceeded to use them in constructing the Globe.

The endeavor was not without controversy. A furious Giles Allen later sued Peter Street, the Burbage's carpenter, for £800 in damages. The courts found in favor of the Lord Chamberlain's Men and ordered Allen to desist from any further legal wrangling. The Globe would play host to some of Shakespeare's greatest works over the next decade. In an ironic epilogue, the troupe won the right in 1609 to produce plays at Blackfriars, and subsequently split time between there and the Globe.

In 1613, the original Globe Theatre burned to the ground when a cannon shot during a performance of Henry VIII ignited the thatched roof of the gallery. The company completed a new Globe on the foundations of its predecessor before Shakespeare's death. It continued operating until 1642, when the Puritans closed it down (and all the other theatres, as well as any place, for that matter, where people might be entertained). Puritans razed the building two years later in 1644 to build tenements upon the premises. The Globe would remain a ghost for the next 352 years.

The foundations of the Globe were rediscovered in 1989, rekindling interest in a fitful attempt to erect a modern version of the amphitheater. Led by the vision of the late Sam Wanamaker, workers began construction in 1993 on the new theatre near the site of the original. The latest Globe Theatre was completed in 1996; Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the theatre on June 12, 1997 with a production of Henry V. The Globe is as faithful a reproduction as possible to the Elizabethan model, seating 1,500 people between the galleries and the "groundlings." In its initial 1997 season, the theatre attracted 210,000 patrons.

Cambridge History of English and American Literature—William Shakespeare

From the Bartleby.com website. This is the entry on the Globe Theatre; it also provides information on other theatres of the time, such as The Rose and The Blackfriars.

Elizabethan Playhouses, Actors, and Audiences

An overview of Elizabethan theatre presented by TheatreHistory.com. Reprinted from Bellinger's A Short History of the Theatre (1927).

Globe Theatre

Encyclopædia Brittanica's page on the Globe Theatre's history.

Map of Early Modern London: The Globe

MoEML is a digital atlas of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century London that includes an encyclopedia of early modern London people and places.

Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe is a world-renowned performing arts venue, cultural attraction and education centre located on the bank of the River Thames in London, UK.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Rosalind Tedford is a liaison between Wake Forest University and the Globe Theatre. There are some great shots of the Globe here.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Summary (eNotes.com)

Explore Shakespeare's Globe Theater with this detailed discussion of the most famous venue in English literature.

Shakespeare's Staging

The Cal Berkeley Shakespeare Program provides a survey of resources involving Shakespeare's stage and Shakespearean performance, both during his lifetime and through its subsequent development.

The Globe Theatre: A Study Guide

This Cummings Study Guides page dedicated to Shakespeare's Globe presents a good overview on the theater and related topics.

Shakespeare Globe Centre, USA Research Archive

A site that did quite well in presenting the modern reconstruction of the Globe. SGC US is now shut down, but the site remains live as an archive of its work.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (SBT)

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust presents the when, how, and why behind Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre at AbsoluteShakespeare.com

Another useful overview of the Globe Theatre.

The Virtual Globe

An animated imagined tour of the Elizabethan-era Globe courtesy of the University of Cambridge.

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Shakespeare's company erected the storied Globe Theatre circa 1598 in London's Bankside district. It was one of four major theatres in the area, along with the Swan, the Rose, and the Hope. The open-air, octagonal amphitheater rose three stories high with a diameter of approximately 100 feet, holding a seating capacity of up to 3,000 spectators.

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Comedy vs Tragedy

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Free Study Guide Answers, Book and Literature Notes - Novelguide.com

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Get homework help from novelguide.com. Get free study guide answers, book notes including complete summary analysis, chapter analysis from all authors.

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Andres Perdigon

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William Shakespeare (baptized on April 26, 1564 - April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, actor and poet who also known as the "Bard of Avon" and often called England's national poet. Shakespeare's works are known throughout the world, but his personal life is shrouded in mystery. Learn more at Biography.com.

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Andres Perdigon

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Elizabeth I is considered one of the country's most successful and popular monarchs. Clever, enigmatic and flirtatious, she rewrote the rules of being Queen. But what was Elizabeth really like? And was her success down to her own skill and judgement - or an intuitive grasp of public relations?

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Read a detailed account about Queen Elizabeth I. Discover why she's considered to be one of the country's most successful and popular monarchs.

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The Elizabethan period in England had a daily life based on social order: the monarch as the highest, the nobility as second rank, the gentry as third, merchants as fourth, and laborers as fifth. The queen was believed to be God's representation here on Earth.

They also believed that God had formed these social ranks and had showered blessings on each rank. Their Parliament had also regulated the clothes that can only be worn by each rank. For a laborer to wear clothes of the rich was not allowed and considered to be a defiance of the order.

Daily life revolved around religion and family

The Elizabethans had a high regard for family in a community. They believed that families were role models for the community. They were standardized and followed a deep respect for the importance of hierarchy.

They had customary rulings for the behavior of children that were taken from Bible passages. These passages were explanations on the duty of parents in properly raising their children and likewise the responsibility of children to respect and obey their elders.

Another law stated that when an individual dies, there was a need to write in an inventory all of the possessions accounted to that individual because this was an informative source or the remaining witness on how the subjects of Elizabethan era lived.

Life in the Elizabethan Era Facts

People from every social rank began to acquire more household properties during the period of Queen Elizabeth. It was noticeable how houses were constantly changing.

For reasons of privacy and comfort, medieval structures using a barn pattern were modernized and added up more chambers or divided rooms. Other town houses in London and big country properties were usually owned by counselors and courtiers of the Elizabethan time. These became great representations of architectural style during the period.

Despite the developing awareness of the significance of comfort in any household, daily life in England during the Elizabethan era was still very difficult for the majority of the subjects. The Westerners ate at least two day meals, which are dinner and supper.

The middle and low ranks ate vegetables and grains. The nobility class ate sweet food and meats. Generally, life expectancy reached until 42 years old, but of course the richer rank had lived years longer than that.

Sanitary conditions impacted daily life

All the more Elizabethan problems with sickness and diseases were worsened by the town's low sanitary measures. The treatment and procedures for medical attention were unorganized and fell short to complete the need; even people who were able to seek medical help had to go through painful procedures and other medication problems. Worst, the poor ranks had to undergo their medication through the traditional form of healing that was solely based on superstitious beliefs.

Elizabethan period was considered to be the period where parlor was introduced, which became a section for new entertainment. The recreation was based on team or blood sports and other activities for personal amusement. For the wealthier rank, hunting became their favorite leisure game.

More Info on- Elizabethan England Medicine, Childrens Education, Clothing Law for Women, Clothing Laws for Men, Language

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Elizabethan Era Daily Life Facts in England | Religion and Family

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The Elizabethan period in England had a daily life based on social order: the monarch as the highest, the nobility as second rank, the gentry as third, merchants as fourth, and laborers as fifth. The queen was believed to be God's representation here on Earth.

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Andres Perdigon

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What We Know About William Shakespeare

Considering how famous and well-regarded William Shakespeare's work is today, it's kind of surprising that we really don't know a whole lot about his life. Some people even challenge the fact that Shakespeare actually wrote the plays he was credited with - that's how mysterious he is. Some people don't even believe he wrote his plays!

It's ironic that he is such an incredibly influential figure and, with regard to his personal life, a blank slate. We just don't know much about him, but that doesn't mean that this will be a short lesson. Sorry!

Let's go over the biographical details that we do have. We'll also talk about his most famous plays and poems, as well as their lasting influence. So, when I say we don't know that much about William Shakespeare, we really don't. We don't even know his birthday because birth certificates - short or long-form - didn't exist back then. People born into noble families might have had their birthday recorded for posterity, similar to how these days you can find Brad Pitt's birthday by Googling it, but you probably can't find your next-door neighbor's birth date.

Shakespeare, though, was born into a family of commoners. We do know that he was baptized. There are some public records of that. So, he must have been born somewhere near his baptism date of April 26, 1564. His father was a glover from Snitterfield, which sounds like a Harry Potter name, but apparently was a real place. The Shakespeare family wasn't badly off, but they were still commoners. We don't really know where Shakespeare went to school, but he probably did go because he ended up literate.

The next solid record we have of the life of William Shakespeare is his marriage, which took place in 1582. Shakespeare married at the age of 18, while his wife, Anne Hathaway (no, not that Anne Hathaway, though seriously, what were that Anne Hathaway's parents thinking, naming her that) was actually of the ripe old age of 26. Six months after their wedding, their first daughter, Susanna, was born... so I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that. They then had twins in 1585, named Judith and Hamnet (Hamnet, you say? That sounds familiar! - We'll talk about that later). Hamnet sadly died at the age of 11, and there's been a lot of speculation that his death may have influenced Shakespeare's playwriting, including the famous (and similar-sounding) Hamlet. While the name Hamlet technically comes from a different Scandinavian name, scholars still search for a connection.

At some point, while still married to Anne, Shakespeare scooted off to London and got involved in the theatre scene - rather like the Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore of today, William and Anne's marriage was a May-December romance that was destined for failure. From various records, we do know that he worked as an actor as well as a playwright. He wrote plays for a company called Lord Chamberlain's Men. Starting in 1599, the company performed at the Globe Theatre, which is south of the Thames in London. If you go to London now, you can watch Shakespeare performances in a rebuilt Globe roughly in the same spot. Why was it rebuilt? Well, it was made entirely of wood, and it burned down in 1613, but the recreation is pretty good. Well, I mean, it looks good to me. I didn't see the original, but it looks great now, and if you go to London, you really should see a Shakespeare play at the Globe. It's pretty incredible.

So, the Globe burned down from a fire started by a special effects cannon fired during a performance. So even back then, there was always a desire for snappy special effects, and this one had a pretty serious consequence. Personally, I'd rather see a real, live cannon go off than some lame video projection. That would have been awesome.

Shakespeare had a lot of success from his playwriting and grew reasonably wealthy from it, which was a rare feat at the time... or now, really, I don't know how many wealthy playwrights you can name. He competed for audiences with the likes of Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, Ben Jonson and other famous playwrights of the time. Christopher Marlowe might sound familiar if you've seen the movie Shakespeare in Love. Shakespeare's work has enjoyed a far wider audience in modern times than it did in his time, though.

Plays

What was it that he wrote that was so awesome and influential and long lasting? Well, let's talk about it. Shakespeare is really pretty unavoidable for most people. You've probably had contact with some of his plays; almost no one escapes high school without having to read Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's famous tragedy of star-crossed lovers in Verona. If you haven't read it, you've probably seen one of the numerous movie adaptations, or maybe even West Side Story, which is based on the plot of Romeo and Juliet.

I'm not going to list off all of his plays. If you really want to know the names of all of them, you can go to Wikipedia. But I want to give you a timeline of some of his most significant works. I'll talk a little bit about each one, but keep in mind that we've got separate videos devoted to each the really big plays, so you should check those out. Also, you should bear in mind that scholars are divided on the dating of many of these. They're working off of multiple versions and incomplete records. Shakespeare's plays didn't have copyright dates like books do now, so not all of these dates are 100% accurate; they're really a best estimate based on the evidence available. So, take this chronology as a suggestion, and use it for slotting the plays in relation to each other, but don't hold on to the dates as gospel.

Before we start - what did Shakespeare's plays look like when he wrote them? They tended to be written in something called blank verse. This is made up of lines of iambic pentameter that don't rhyme. What's iambic pentameter? Well, it's a 10-syllable line divided into five units, or feet, called iambs. An iamb is just two syllables that go light-STRONG in stress. For example, one of the more famous lines of iambic pentameter comes from Romeo and Juliet. This is when Romeo sees Juliet on the balcony at the start of that famous balcony scene:

'But SOFT! what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS.' Obviously, the actors don't read it that way, but that's a line of iambic pentameter, and that's how the syllables are supposed to work together.

Earliest Plays

So, Shakespeare went to London in the early 1590s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Scholars fight about which play was the first he wrote, but many agree that it was probably The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which was written sometime between 1589-1591. Though it is significant for being (maybe) his first play and definitely the first instance of cross-dressing, which Shakespeare LOVED, it's generally not considered to be his best work.

Next, possibly, came The Taming of the Shrew, around the same time period (1590-1591). It's another comedy and one of my personal favorites. If you want to know the plot of this play, you should watch the movie 10 Things I Hate About You - it's very similar, it's really based on the play - but then go and read or watch The Taming of the Shrew as well, since that's where it came from.

Remember how, in the movie, Julia Stiles is this cranky, mean girl, and she doesn't want a boyfriend, but her younger sister really wants a boyfriend, and so Heath Ledger (RIP) has to wear her down and make her fall in love with him? Julia Stiles plays 'the shrew' in The Taming of the Shrew, or the Catherine character, and Health Ledger is the Petruchio character - his name is Patrick Verona in the film.

Rolling right along, we hit Richard III sometime around 1592-1593. This is a play about a villain, Richard III, scheming to get the crown and - SPOILER - he gets it, hence the kingly name. He kills a ton of people, including smothering a few children. This is an example of one of Shakespeare's history plays because it has a basis in history.

Next up comes Romeo and Juliet, in 1595. You probably know the drill: Romeo falls in love with Juliet, but he's a Montague, and she's a Capulet, and their families hate each other. Their plan to be together goes awry, and they both end up killing themselves.

Late '90s Plays and Events

1596 brings The Merchant of Venice. It's the first entry in 'Cultural Studies with William Shakespeare.' This play is famous for the character Shylock, who's portrayed as a miserly Jew who demands a 'pound of flesh' as payment for a debt. That's problematic; anti-Semitism is not cool. It's an interesting play, but you've got to take it with a grain of salt and keep in mind when it was written.

Now we're coming up to the big daddy, the grand poobah, the big cheese: , written around 1599-1601. It's probably the most famous and frequently discussed play he ever wrote. It's referenced in everything and performed a ton; it's even the basis for The Lion King. The play is about poor Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, who just can't seem to make up his mind about whether he should kill his uncle Claudius to avenge his father's death. It features his mother, Gertrude; his poor love interest, Ophelia; hilarious old fool, Polonius; and probably the most famous skull in theatre history - the 'Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well...' scene. Hamlet is really the first of Shakespeare's great tragedies and, arguably, the most well known.

Later Plays

Moving right along, we've got , features an old man (King Lear) who wants to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. He ends up banishing one daughter, Cordelia, because she doesn't kiss up enough. The other two, Regan and Goneril turn out to be really nasty and, again, pretty much everyone dies. That's the third of the great tragedies. If you're familiar with the book or the movie called A Thousand Acres, that's based on the story of King Lear.

Next up we've got 'the Scottish play', aka Macbeth, written around 1606. People refer to it as 'the Scottish play' because it's considered bad luck to say 'Macbeth' in the theatre - not really sure why. It features Macbeth, a Scottish lord, who tries to become king through murder and avarice at the encouragement of his nutty wife, Lady Macbeth. It features a lot of witches, ghosts, kilts and some great monologues. It's a lot of fun, but it's also a bummer because it's a tragedy.

The Tempest is probably the last play that Shakespeare wrote on his own. and The Two Noble Kinsmen were most likely co-written, both in 1613.

OK, I need to take a breath. That was a lot of plays, and I didn't even tell you about all of them. Again, if you want to find out the names of all of Shakespeare's plays, go look on Wikipedia. So, that's a lot to remember, and I don't expect you to recite that all back to me.

So, what should you keep in mind after hearing this massive list of plays? I would say, first, that Shakespeare's plays can generally be divided into three categories: comedies, tragedies and histories. At this point, the timeline we've been building could become color-coded for each type of play. The lines can get fuzzy, especially in the tragedy/history areas, because some of the tragedies have a historical basis - also, what kind of history isn't tragic in some way?

The comedies are things like The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. They have fun hijinks like cross-dressing or mistaken identity. They tend to end with a wedding - sometimes more than one wedding. Tragedies are plays like Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth, and they tend to end with pretty much everyone dying, or at least a significant number of people dying. The histories are the ones like Henry IV Parts I and II and Richard III - really, if it's got a strong basis in British or Scottish or whatever history, it's a history play.

Other Works

So, in addition to all of those plays (and, like I said, I didn't even hit on all of them), Shakespeare actually wrote even more. He wrote poems, sonnets in particular, which are 14-line poems with a very specific rhyme structure. You can learn more about them in our lesson on Shakespeare's sonnets. But if you see a 14-line iambic pentameter poem in Shakespearean-type language, odds are you're looking at one of his 154 sonnets. This guy was busy. He wrote a ton!

You've probably heard the oft-parodied 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' poem. Depending on your point of view, you may find it gloriously romantic or seriously cheesy, but that's a Shakespearean sonnet, and really, the remaining ones are just as good. They're beautiful; they're really worth checking out.

In addition to the sonnets, he also wrote some longer poems - Venus and Adonis, written in the 1592-1593 range, and also The Rape of Lucrece in 1594. In Venus and Adonis, the Greek goddess Venus tries to get the mortal Adonis (who is really, really hot and buff - that's where the term 'Adonis' comes from) to sleep with her, but he refuses and then is killed while on a hunt. Bummer. It's written in 6-line stanzas that go a/b/a/b/c/c. The Rape of Lucrece is pretty self-explanatory, unfortunately. Lucretia is raped by the son of the King of Rome and commits suicide, which incites a revolt against the king. That poem is written in 7-line stanzas that go a/b/a/b/b/c/c, also known as 'rhyme royale.'

Lesson Summary

So, those are Shakespeare's works in the tiniest of nutshells. Unfortunately, William Shakespeare died in 1616 - that's another date that we have associated with his life. In true Shakespeare fashion, he wrote the following epitaph for his own tombstone:

'Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.'

It rhymes, and it's funny, and it's self-referential - it's everything you'd come to expect from Shakespeare. Some scientists actually have wanted to exhume Shakespeare, to dig up his bones, but this seems like a terrible idea because, clearly, Shakespeare will curse them. So no one else has moved those stones, and you can still see his grave and the epitaph today in Stratford-Upon-Avon, so if you're ever in England, go do that.

Whew! We have talked about a lot. We've gone over Shakespeare's life. He was born in in Stratford; he was married to Anne Hathaway (but not the one who's still alive, obviously); he had three kids, including a son named Hamnet, who died young; he moved to London and became an actor and playwright, and his marriage kind of went south then. We've covered a bunch of his plays and laid down a timeline for when they were written and how they relate to each other; we've briefly touched on his poems, both his sonnets and his longer poems.

It's true that Shakespeare's life may be a mystery to us, but we're really lucky that the words that he wrote, the works that he created, are still available to us now, centuries later. So, go and check out our other videos on his notable plays and get to reading or seeing them for yourself!

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Introduction to Shakespeare: Life and Works

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Considering how famous and well-regarded William Shakespeare's work is today, it's kind of surprising that we really don't know a whole lot about his life. Some people even challenge the fact that Shakespeare actually wrote the plays he was credited with - that's how mysterious he is.