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Introduction to Shakespeare - Literature Notes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (William Shakespeare)
  • Born in 1564 and died 52 years later, in 1616.
  • Married Anne Hathaway in 1582.
  • Unfortunately, any understanding of Shakespeare’s childhood is speculative because children did not often appear in the records that scholars used to attempt to reconstruct Shakespeare’s life. 

INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT
  • People in Shakespeare’s time looked at science and the universe very differently from the way we do.
  • An example of this is that they believed that the Earth stood at the center of the universe.
  • They believed in the ‘chain of being’ – where all creation was organized in an order.
  • God was at the top, then angels, men, women, animals, plants and rocks.
  • Therefore, they can be viewed as archaic in our eyes, but their knowledge must still be appreciated because many of their discoveries form the foundation of today’s modern science.

RELIGIOUS CONTEXT
  • The Protestant Reformation was in progress.

POLITICAL CONTEXT
  • Elizabeth I was on the throne.
  • She was succeeded by James I .
  • Many of Shakespeare’s plays were influenced by the happenings of this people’s reign.

SOCIAL CONTEXT
  • England was divided into two social classes: the aristocrats (nobility) and every-one else.
  • The aristocrats possessed wealth, power and ancestry, while others outside of this class were viewed as peasants.
  • Women were not allowed public or private autonomy.
  • Men were the head of their homes.
  • The society practiced primogeniture – a system where all the family’s wealth was passed down through the first male child.
  • Women could not inherit their family’s wealth and titles, upon marriage, they lost all their limited legal rights.
  • Queen Elizabeth is an exception to this, and it is speculated that if she had married, she would have lost much of her power and authority.
  • The mortality rate was high, especially among infants.
  • Infections and diseases were common place because doctor’s did not realize the importance of antiseptics and sterile equipment.
  • There were two major outbreaks of the bubonic plague during Shakespeare’s  lifetime, from 1592-1594 and in 1603.
  • London, during Shakespeare’s time, was overcrowded, without a sewage system
  • The lack of a sewage system facilitated health epidemics.
  • Theatres were not located in the city of London, but along the banks of the Thames River.
  • This was to avoid the censorship and regulation that it was placed under (they were not suppose to reflect socially or politically sensitive material.
  • Many of Shakespeare’s plays were staged at Globe theatre in London, which still exists today.
  • All actors were male in Shakespeare’s time, young boys , whose voices were high, played female parts.
  • Scenery was not employed in the plays, but great emphasis was placed on costumes.

CONVENTIONS OF A TRAGEDY
  • The tragic hero - There is always a central character, who meets a tragic end, around whom the plot is based.
  • The fatal flaw - The hero has a weakness that leads to his/her's downfall.
  • External pressures - The hero often falls victim to fate, evil spirits or manipulative characters.
  • Contrasts - The hero undergoes an extreme reversal of fortune, for example, the hero goes from happiness and glory to suffering and calamity.
  • Hero is of high social status - His/her's fate affects the welfare of a nation or empire.   
  • Psychological issues - There are often abnormal conditions of the mind, such as insanity and hallucinations.
  • The supernatural - The presence of ghosts etc.
  • Inner conflict - The hero is conflicted about a decision.
  • Action - Action is created when thoughts become reality, war is usually the result. 
  • Cycle of a tragedy - good = evil = chaos = death = reassertion of good.  

CONVENTIONS OF A COMEDY
  • The main action is about love.
  • The lovers must overcome obstacles and misunderstandings before being united in harmonious union. 
  • The ending frequently involves a parade of couples to the altar and a festive mood or actual celebration (expressed in dance, song, feast, etc.)
  • Frequently (but not always), it contains elements of the supernatural, or the miraculous.
  • There is usually a happy ending, which is, at times, facilitated through supernatural / divine intervention, or may merely involve improbable turns of events.
  • Complex plot (as much as four), main plot and sub-plots.
  • Mistaken identities

DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES (These techniques do NOT only apply to plays.)
Aside
  • This is when a character temporarily, and deliberately, turns away from the other actors in the play in order to speak directly to the audience.
  • The purpose of the aside is to highlight the real feelings of the character at a particular moment in time. 

Entrance & Exit
  • It is important to note events that are occurring when a character enters and leaves because it can affect the mood of the play.
  • Shakespeare sometimes employs dramatic rhyming couplets and uses a dramatic exit to heighten the effect, or mood.

Recurring Imagery
  • These are words, images or phrases that are repeated throughout the play.
  • Recurring images affect the mood of the play.

Scenes & Acts
  • Note when a scene or an act ends with a cliff hangar, it is for dramatic effect and must be noted.

Soliloquy
  • This is when a character is alone on stage and reveals their thoughts and feelings.
  • This can affect the mood of the play and furthers the plot of the play by encouraging action.

Speech Direction
  • These are the words in brackets, in the play, where the playwright directs the actors in terms of their tone.
  • The relevance of this is to allow the reader, or audience, to understand the characters' feelings.

Stage Direction
  • Stage directions tell the reader, and the audience, what is suppose to be happening on stage in terms of the movement of the characters.
  • This will often give a hint of actions to come.

Symbolism
  • This is where a physical object is used to represent something. For example, the bloody knife in Macbeth could be a symbol of death.

Punctuation
  • Where the punctuation is omitted for dramatic effect, ie anxiety or joy.
  • A particular punctuation, example a full stop/period, is used excessively in order to produce a sharp tone.


  • Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas


Lamb, Sydney (editor). Shakespeare's Macbeth (Cliff's Complete).New York NY: Hungry Mind's, 2000.
http://sawstonvc.org/docs/file/Content/Departments/English/Year_11/english_yr11_dramatic_techniques.pdf
http://shakespeare.about.com/od/thetragedies/a/Shakespeare_Tragedies.htm
http://kilby.sac.on.ca/faculty/KRAMON/English/Grade%2010%20Files/Macbeth%20Files/Characteristics%20of%20a%20Shakespearean%20tragedy.htm

 
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