# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
much ado about nothing free online study guide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Much Ado About Nothing: Study Guide | SparkNotes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the SparkNotes Much Ado About Nothing Study Guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A' Level English Language: Understanding A02: Concepts and Issues

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction

They say, 'all the world's a stage.' At least that's what William Shakespeare believed. During the 15th century in London, stage plays and performances were very popular forms of entertainment. You couldn't have a play without a place to perform it, and when the Globe Theatre was built, it became one of the most popular theatres in the world. William Shakespeare was, and still is, one of the most popular and influential writers of all time. His plays were often performed at the Globe Theatre; when many people think of the Globe Theatre, they think of William Shakespeare.

The Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre (also known as the Shakespearean Globe Theatre) is one of the most recognized theatres in the world. It was built in 1599 and was one of four major theatres in London, including the Swan Theatre, the Rose Theatre, and the Hope Theatre. The original Globe Theatre was surprising to most people because it was much smaller than anyone would expect; it held around 3,000 people and was made from oak. It was designed as a 3-story, open-air, circular amphitheater built near the Thames River on the outskirts of London.

Despite class divisions in British society, the Globe Theatre became a place where poor and wealthy people could enjoy entertainment together. The groundlings, who were people who paid a penny to stand to see a performance, stood in an area called the pit, while the wealthy occupied the main seating areas. All female roles were performed by young boys because theatres were considered improper for 'ladies.' During each performance, flags were used to advertise the type of play being performed; for example, a white flag depicted comedy shows, a black flag was used for tragedies, and a red flag for historical plays. Above the entrance to the theatre, there was an inscription, Totus mundus agit histrionem, which means, 'the whole world is a playhouse.'

The Lord Chamberlain's Men

The Lord Chamberlain's Men was a group of stage performers. William Shakespeare wrote many plays that were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. When the lease ended on the building where they'd previously performed their plays, the Globe Theatre was constructed to give the Chamberlain's Men a new place to perform their acts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
shakespeare's globe theatre: history & facts - video & lesson transcript | study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: History & Facts - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
They say, 'all the world's a stage.' At least that's what William Shakespeare believed. During the 15th century in London, stage plays and performances were very popular forms of entertainment. You couldn't have a play without a place to perform it, and when the Globe Theatre was built, it became one of the most popular theatres in the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

# data[].attributes.body
Iambic pentameters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Shakespeare loved iambic pentameter - David T. Freeman and Gregory Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shakespeare sometimes gets a bad rap in high schools for his complex plots and antiquated language. But a quick peek into the rhythm of his words reveals a poet deeply rooted in the way people spoke in his time — and still speak today. Why do Shakespeare’s words have such staying power? David T.…

# data[].attributes.body
timeline

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Shakespeare: The Intersection of Art & Life Timeline | PBS Shakespeare Uncovered

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
See the history, comedy & tragedy of William Shakespeare in an interactive video experience.

# data[].attributes.body
Audios, films

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shakespeare, Shakespeare,and more Shakespeare. All Bard, all the time. Hamlet? Yes. Romeo and Juliet? Oh Yeah! Merchant Of Venice? Si, Senor! Richard III? He's right here! Make Brush Up Your Shakespeare your one-stop shop for all your Shakespeare needs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
shakespeare online

Shakespeare on Jealousy

Jealousy and the suffering it inflicts on lovers is at the heart of Shakespeare's later romances, Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale. Few moments in Shakespeare's plays are as intense as that in which Posthumus comes to believe that Imogen has slept with Iachimo (Cymbeline, 2.4). Although they bring us to the brink of tragedy, Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale end with the defeat of jealousy, and so they are considered comedies. This is not the case with Shakespeare's best-known exploration of the "green-eyed monster" -- Othello. Read on...

Imagery of Disease in Hamlet

In Hamlet Shakespeare weaves the dominant motif of disease into every scene to illustrate the corrupt state of Denmark and Hamlet's all-consuming pessimism. Images of ulcers, pleurisy, full body pustules, apoplexy, and madness parallel the sins of drunkenness, espionage, war, adultery, and murder, to reinforce the central idea that Denmark is dying. Read on...

Shakespeare's Characters

So how do you pronounce Jaques, anyway? Here is our comprehensive list of every Shakespearean character and the play in which he or she appears. Included is our spelled pronunciation guide, essential for all drama students and teachers.

Themes in The Tempest

"The great and striking peculiarity of this play is that its action lies wholly in the ideal world. It differs, therefore, from every other work of Shakespeare in the character of its mediation. Our poet, in most of his dramas, portrays the real world, and exhibits man as acting from clear conscious motives, and not from supernatural influences. But here he completely reverses his procedure; from beginning to end the chief instrumentalities of the poem are external; its conflicts and solutions are brought about by powers seemingly beyond human might and intelligence." J. D. Snider. Read on...

Sonnet 73

An analysis of Shakespeare's inspired sonnet, hailed as one of the best in the Western canon. Included is a paraphrase of the poem in contemporary English.

Why is King Leir Important?

The story of King Lear and his three daughters is an old tale, well known in England for centuries before Shakespeare wrote the definitive play on the subject. The first English account of Lear can be found in the History of the Kings of Britain, written by Geoffrey Monmouth in 1135. However, it is clear that Shakespeare relied chiefly on King Leir, an anonymous play published twelve years before the first recorded performance of Shakespeare's King Lear. Read on to find out more about Leir and see side-by-side versions of Leir and Shakespeare's masterpiece.

What Did Shakespeare Look Like?

The Stratford Bust, located on the wall of the chancel of Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-upon-Avon, is the oldest and, along with the Droeshout Portrait, most credible of all the known images of Shakespeare. But there are many representations of the Bard that have been handed down throughout the centuries, each with its own fascinating story to tell.

Shakespeare in Print: The Perils of Publishing in Elizabethan England

During Shakespeare's lifetime Elizabethan playwrights cared little about seeing their work in print. Only the rare drama was actually intended to be read as well as performed. Writers would usually sell their plays to the theatrical company which staged the performances, and if the company committed a particular play to paper, it would create only one copy - the official copy - in the form of a prompt-book. A prompt-book was a transcript of the play used during performances, cluttered with stage directions, instructions for sound effects, and the names of the actors. If a play was printed for a reading audience, it was often without the author's consent. Unprincipled publishers would steal the prompt-book, and sell copies for about fivepence apiece. Read on...

Playing Fast and Loose with Shakespeare's Name

The Elizabethans cared as little for spelling as they did for the Spanish and nowhere is their comical disregard for simple consistency more evident than in their treatment of the surname Shakespeare. And how did Shakespeare spell his own name, anyway? Find out...

A Guide to Shakespeare's Theatres

Find essential facts fast with this handy chronological reference guide to every Elizabethan and quasi-Elizabethan playhouse from 1576 to 1663.

Richard Burbage: The Poet Maker

There are no records of any significant tributes to Shakespeare by his fellow actors and writers at the time of his death. The great eulogies praising the Sweet Swan of Avon appeared much later, in the First Folio of 1623. The situation was quite different for Shakespeare's friend and legendary actor, Richard Burbage. When he died in 1619 the nation mourned and eulogies poured forth from distraught writers whose characters would surely die with him. The shock and sadness over Burbage's passing may be the key to our understanding of why so little was written on Shakespeare's death just three years earlier. Read on...

Why Study Shakespeare?

Ben Jonson anticipated Shakespeare's dazzling future when he declared, "He was not of an age, but for all time!" in the preface to the First Folio. While most people know that Shakespeare is the most popular dramatist and poet the world has ever produced, students new to his work often wonder why this is so. The following are the top reasons why Shakespeare has stood the test of time.

School Features:
How to Analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet
Shakespearean Sonnet Basics
How to Study Shakespeare: Five steps to success reading a Shakespeare play
Shakespeare's Metaphors and Similes
Shakespeare's Influence on Other Artists
Shakespeare Study Guides and Essays
Top Questions About Shakespeare

The Fascinating Stage History of Othello

Many of Shakespeare's plays have fallen in and out of favour throughout the centuries, but Othello has remained one of his most popular. One performance of Othello, produced in 1660, starred an actress by the name of Margaret Hughes in the role of Desdemona. This production is of particular importance because it marked the first time a woman was accepted on the English stage. Before this, all the characters, whether male or female, were played exclusively by men. Read on...

Entertainment in Elizabethan England

In Elizabethan England, during the times when plays were not completely outlawed, going to the theatre was the favourite activity of the masses. When disease ravaged London, actors would travel across the English countryside, entertaining farmers. There were also many days devoted to feasting, such as Mad Day, Midsummer Day, and Ascension Day (just to name a few), when people would drink and make merry. Dances were popular, whether you lived in London or in a small town, and so was getting together at the local pub for sing-alongs. Read on...

Shakespeare's Biography

Our detailed biography of Shakespeare covering his ancestry, parents, childhood in Stratford, siblings, marriage, children, career as an actor, contemporaries, and much more!

Julius Caesar Study Questions and Answers

This selection of questions and detailed answers is part of our Julius Caesar study guide, which provides students with a general overview of the play, an introduction to its central characters, excerpts from Plutarch, a list of essay topics at both high school and college levels and much more. To the full study guide...

Elizabethan Fashion Faux Pas

We have the Elizabethans to thank for many of the jewels of Western literature. But they were also responsible for some of the worst fashion disasters the world has ever seen. With ruffs so large that ladies had to eat soup with a two foot spoon and men's hose so stuffed with bran that they popped and spilled onto the floor, the Elizabethans showed no fashion shame. Find out more about Clothing in Elizabethan England.

Shakespeare Reveals Your Fortune

It is the stars,
The stars above us, govern our conditions. (King Lear)
Have some fun while you let Shakespeare predict your future. Choose from nine questions on long life, love, prosperity and happiness and you will receive your answer from the wisdom of Shakespeare's timeless verse. Your future awaits...

Featured Quote
They say, if money go before, all ways do lie open.
The Merry Wives of Windsor, (2.2), Ford

Shakespeare acquired substantial wealth thanks to his acting and writing abilities, and his shares in London theatres. The going rate was £10 per play at the turn of the sixteenth century. So how much money did Shakespeare make? Read on...

___

Director Michael Almereyda and Ethan Hawke are teaming up to bring us a modern-day film adaptation of Shakespeare's masterpiece, Cymbeline. Hawke will play the mischief-loving villain, Iachimo. Please click here to read more and view the trailer.

Featured Quote
Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more.
Macbeth, (5.5), Macbeth

"There is a magic in the expression "brief candle" which I have never known any one to deny. What is the secret of it? A candle is a commonplace enough object; in itself it is not a poetical thing; it is something useful, something with regard to which the idea of use and ownership naturally arises; it stands low down, as an inanimate thing, on the scale of images which culminates in man. Yet, as Shakespeare has used it, it is a central image in a consummate bit of poetry." Arthur Fairchild. Read on...
______

Word of the Week: palmy
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
Hamlet, (1.1), Horatio

palmy ] flourishing. Invented by Shakespeare.
In classical texts the spirits of the dead were a disorganized bunch, meandering about town talking gibberish in high-pitched shrieks. Shakespeare likely would have been familiar with Homer's description of ghosts in the Odyssey. Read on...

More Hamlet Resources
Revenge in Hamlet
All About Yorick
Philological Exam Questions on Hamlet
______

Featured Quote
There is no ancient
gentleman but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers:
they hold up Adam's profession.
Hamlet, (5.1), First Clown

The Clowns (also known as the Grave-diggers) express the sentiment of the common people that Ophelia has committed suicide, although the audience has only Gertrude's poetic account of the drowning, which she says was accidental. Later in this scene we see that the Priest also doubts Ophelia's death was an accident Read on...
______

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
shakespeare online Shakespeare on Jealousy Jealousy and the suffering it inflicts on lovers is at the heart of Shakespeare's later romances, Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale . Few moments in Shakespeare's plays are as intense as that in which Posthumus comes to believe that Imogen has slept with Iachimo (Cymbeline, 2.4).

# data[].attributes.body
plays, sonnets, quotes, biography

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
William Shakespeare Shakespeare is renowned as the English playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in history of English literature.

Shakespeare PlaysAll the plays from 'All's Well That Ends Well' to 'Twelfth Night' in the complete original texts with summaries. Divided into comedies, histories and tragedies.

Sonnets All of the Bard's 154 sonnets including the much acclaimed sonnet 18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day..."

Pictures Engraving of paintings of William Shakespeare and those inspired by his famous plays. Indexed by play and accompanied by the text inspiring the painting.

Bard Facts Trivia about the world's most famous bard from words coined by the bard to his marriage.

BiographyEverything you would ever want to know about the immortal Bard's life and more.

Authorship Debate The controversial debate on who really wrote the complete works continues to rages unabated to this very day.

Quiz Test your knowledge of the bard by taking our gruelling quiz, answers included.

Summaries Shakespeare summaries provide a quick and easy guide to Shakespeare's most famous plays. Divided by act, the summaries make an ideal introduction.

Poems The complete collection of the Bard's poetry in the original text including A lover's complaint and Venus and Adonis.

Quotes Over 130 of the most famous quotes from the Bard's complete works indexed by play.

Globe Theatre The story of how the Bard created one of the greatest theatres of all time, the playhouse is also where he first performed many of his greatest plays.

Films The ultimate list of all film adaptations of the complete works, there are well over 250 movies to date.

Bibliography The complete list of the plays, poems and sonnets attributed as written by the Bard.

Timeline Describes the many chapters in the immortal Bard's colorful life from birth, his disappearance, marriage, his death and ending in the printing of the First Folio in 1623.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
william shakespeare immortal bard shakespeare play sonnet essays quote poem plays shakspear sonnets charactersbiography essay timeline globe theatre paintings picture film facts authorship debate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Absolute Shakespeare - plays, quotes, summaries, essays...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
William Shakespeare Shakespeare is renowned as the English playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in history of English literature. Shakespeare Plays All the plays from 'All's Well That Ends Well' to 'Twelfth Night' in the complete original texts with summaries. Divided into comedies, histories and tragedies.

# data[].attributes.body
Characters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The security system for this website has been triggered. Completing the challenge below proves you are a human and gives you temporary access.

# data[].attributes.body
Vocab 2

# data[].attributes.body
Vocab 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Much Ado About Nothing Flashcards | Quizlet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Start studying Much Ado About Nothing. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

# data[].attributes.body
quiz

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Start studying Much Ado About Nothing. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Globe Theater Model - Free Printable 3D Paper Cut Out Template

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Make a Shakespeare’s Globe Theater Model out of paper with our free to print & download PDF cutout and fold paper craft!