English "Shakespeare background" Flashcards
Places from which we get information about Shakespeare’s life
Church
Legal documents
The most famous play writer in the world
Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s place of birth
Stratford
Shakespeare’s birth date
April 23, 1564
Shakespeare’s age of death
52
Shakespeare’s date of death
April 23, 1616
Where was Shakespeare buried
Under the old stone floor in the chancel of the holy Trinity church in Stratford
How many siblings did Shakespeare have
7
What was his father’s name
John Shakespeare
What was his father’s occupation
Shopkeeper
Who was Shakespeare’s wife
Anne Hathaway
How many years were he and his wife apart
8
How many children did Shakespeare have
3
What were the names of his children
Suzanna
Hamnet
Judith
(Hamnet and Judith were twins)
What year did he become an actor and playwright by
1592
What was the first name of his acting company
Lord Chamberlin’s men
What name did his acting company change to
King’s Men
Who were the two English monarchs that supported Shakespeare
Lord Chamberlin
King James
What date was Romeo and Juliet supposedly written
Between 1594 and 1596
How many plays did he write before retiring
37
When did he return to his home to retire
1612
What verse is carved on his gravestone
Good friend, for Jesus’s sake forbear to dig the duet enclosed here! Blessed be the man that spares th
Who was his business partner
Richard Burbage
What was the name of the first permanent theater in London
Theatre
Where did touring acting companies usually rent space to preform
Courtyards of Inns
In what manner was the theatre set up
Temporary platform stage at the end of the yard and play to an audience that stood around the stage or sat in the tiers of balconies (there were 3) that surrounded the courtyard
Where did the Burbage theater derive its shape
Globe
What was the name of Shakespeare’s theatre
Globe Theatre
What was the nickname of Shakespeare’s theatre
Wooden O
What is the description of Shakespeare’s theatre
Large, round building, 3 stories high with a large platform stage & projected from one end to the other
What time of day were the plays performed and why
Morning/afternoon because they couldn’t use artificial lighting or the whole place would burn because it was all wood
What did the waving flag mean
That a play was to be performed that day
Describe the costumes of the play
Elaborate
Fabulous
Describe the lighting of the plays
Natural light
Describe the sets of the plays
Hung with colorful banners and trappings
What are groundlings
Those 800 people or more who stood shoulder to shoulder and around the stage
What was the price of admission for a groundling
A penny
Which religious group did not like plays
Puritans
What was the gender of all Shakespearean actors
Male
Name the type of stage we use today
Proscenium
Describe a proscenium stage
No outer stage : only inner stage with a large curtain that separates it from the audience
Describe a thrust stage
Arena stages
What form of poetry did Shakespeare use in writing Romeo and Juliet
Prose
What is a couplet
2 consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Name the poem upon which Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet
The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Iuliet
What does star-crossed mean
Thwarted by bad luck
What does archaic mean
They have disappeared from common use
Define tragedy
Narrative about serious and important actions that end unhappily
What is the pattern for a Shakespearean tragedy
Act I : exposition —> Act II : rising action or complication —> Act III : crisis, or turning point —> Act IV : falling action —> Act V : climax and resolution
Any piece of writing that is not poetry The servants and lower-class people in Shakespeare's plays usually speak in this
Prose
A lengthy speech in which a character, alone on stage, expresses his or her innermost thoughts to the audience
Soliloguy
A character’s brief remark that is not heard by other characters, even though they may be in close proximity to him or her on the stage
this is often necessary for the audience to continue to know the character’s true feelings while keeping the information secret from the other characters
aside
when a character has personality characteristics that are the opposite of another character
by being opposites, these characters make each other more noticeable
Dramatic foil
Always
Ever
For eternity
Aye
Soon
Right away
Coming
Anon
Expect
But
Does
Do
Doth
Good evening
Good-en
Luck
Lucky
Hap
Happy
Has
Hath
Mood
Bodily fluids
Humor
Unmarried girl
Maid
Listen to
Mark
Mild oath
Marry
Owns
Owes
Confession
Forgiveness for sins that have been confessed to a priest
Shrift
A person after confession
Shriven
Quiet
Hush
Slow up
Soft
Wait
Stay
Here
Hither
There
Tither
Always
Still
With that
With
Withal
Know
Wot
Interjection
What ho!
You
Thee
Thou
Yours
Thine
Await
Wait for
Expect
Attend
Term of address for young men
Sirrah
2 weeks
Fortnight
Holiday on august 1 in England
Lammastide
Asked
Bade
Will
Wilt
Over
O’er
Even
Evening
E’en
Before
Ere
Are
Art
Where
Wither
There
Yonder (yon)
What is Shakespeare called
the Bard of Avon
why is Shakespeare so famous
The people like his themes because they are timeless
Why is there not a lot of documentation on the early life of Shakespeare
He want born into a prominent family
What was usually set as the birth date in the records
Christening date
What language did Shakespeare probably study
Latin
How old was he when he married Anne
How old was she
18
26
Where did he leave his family
Where did he go after he left them
Stratford-upon-avon
What was Shakespeare’s possible career before an actor
Teacher
Who took a liking to Shakespeare
She also spent all her extra money on funding the arts
Queen Elizabeth I
When did they build the first permanent theatre
The Renaissance
What man became the sponsor of the group because he liked Shakespeare so much
King James I
What did Shakespeare do after acting
Poetry then writing plays
Why did he die a very wealthy man
He started to invest in theaters and real estate
What religion was Shakespeare
Protestant
Who built the very first theater
James Burbage
What were the concerns regarding the first theater
Fear of fire with so many people in one place and the fact that it was all wooden
Disease spreading easily with so many people so close together
Where did Richard and Shakespeare get the wood for their theatre
The burnt down Theatre
Who was Richard Burbage
King James I’s son
Shakespeare’s friend
What river did they build the other theatre across
Thames
When did the Globe Theatre burn down
1613
It was rebuilt in 1614 and rebuilt again since then
How many sides did the globe theater have
16
What kind of roof did the globe theater have
Thatched
What color flag was a tragedy play
Black
What color flag was a comedy play
White
What color flag was a history play
Red
What kind of stage did the globe theater have
Thrust stage
Describe a thrust stage
One part that juts out into the audience
Audience stood on three different sides
How many trap doors did the globe theatre have
2
Where were the 2 trap doors located
One on the stage itself - evil things would come up from here
One on the roof of the stage - things that came from god would descend from here
What was the roof of the stage painted like
The sky
Who would play the girls in the play
Young men with no facial hair
What was used for changing wardrobes and storage
Tiring houses
Where were the tiring houses located
Behind the building
What was a long-term storage room
The hunts
What was the hut used for besides storage
Sound effects
Example : rolling a barrel across the floor for thunder
Where was the hut located
On top the stage
What does perineum mean
Open to the top
What is the stage like from modern-day tv
Sitcoms
No actor’s back is to the camera
What was very very minimal in the plays
Scenery
How would the actors tell where they were with very little scenery
They would tell the audience through their dialogue
Where did some of the costumes come from
They were handed down by the sponsor and their family after they got tired of them
Other royalty would hand some down too of they liked theater
