engels samenvatting semester 2
William Shakespeare
about him °23 April 1564 † 23 April 1616
wore mask + had no arms => people assumed WS did not write
the play
- he was baptized 26 April 1564
- he was born (they think): April 1564
(23 April is also Saint Georges day)
- he lived in Stratford + grew up in well-respected family
John Shakespeare (= father) was a glovemaker :
- he had his own sheep / cows /.. -> sold wool and kept skin to make leather
- his father was a recusant (= crypto-catholic) (during reign of Elizabeth I = people had
to be protestant)
=> his father disappeared from public life to avoid being arrested because of his
religion)
William Shakespeare was educated in the King Edward VI Grammar School
> he had good basics: math’s, rhetoric, Greek, Latin etc.
> het didn’t go to Uni because of his dad. If he went to Uni, he would have to sign
a paper about accepting Elizabeth I + the Protestantism (he didn’t want to)
Anne Hathaway (= wife)
The Lost Years: (Shakespeare had disappeared)
> some say he was a school master during those years
> others say he was a PA (personal assistant)
during those years he:
- watched plays in Stratford
- went to London (had family there)
Shakespeare in London as an actor: (very popular)
His voice could fill a theater
He had good looks
joined Lord Chamberlains Men (one of the highest theatre school at the noble court
of Elizabeth I) => he had an established income
In case of a pandemic, theatres were closed. But he was allowed to tour the country
side, because of the fact he joined the company
He became rich by buying chairs in the Globe Theatre and later in the Blackfriars
Theatre.
He bought the biggest house in Stratford for his wife and kids + traveled back and forth
(= prove he loved his wife and kids a lot and they were very important to him)
After his dead, Susannah inherited the place + all of his books, Shakespeare was
famous so his sold house was visited continuously by tourists.
! People came to theatre to hear a play, not to watch a play.
! acting now = natural, but in Shakespeare’s time it was very different. Moves
had a special meaning. Everything was played by men, women/girls were played
by 16/17 years old boys who were trained for this.
,Body of work:
37 plays + 154 sonnets + three long poems first folio: 1623
=> his impact on the English language = HUGE
=> the fact that he made being a playwright ‘respectable’ (his plays performed at Cambridge
University)
wrote plays in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line; stressed/unstressed) and in bank
verse (no rhyme)
a sonnet: a fourteen line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme. Often, sonnets use iambic pentameter: five sets
of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables for a ten-syllable line.
stanza: strofe
rhyme scheme: rijmschema
paired rhyme: gepaard rijm
a quatrain: stanza with 4 lines (kwatrijn)
a tercet: stanza with 3 lines (terzine)
a couplet: stanza with 2 lines (couplet)
a volta: a turn or transition in a sonnet’s main argument, theme, or tone. There are Petrarchan and
Shakespearean Voltas. A volta can also be characterized by a change in opinion or even a shift from
one speaker to the next. The volta separates one part of the poem from the next. In some cases, it supplies a
conclusion, an answer, or an explanation to the first part of the poem.
*southwark = south bank of the Thames
* groundling = front row in a theater, in front of the stage (the pit); the least expensive tickets
Hamlet:
Hamlet was written in 3 weeks
some people say he didn’t write any of his plays => two groups are formed
Stratfordians Anti-Stratfordians
he wrote the play he didn’t write the play (frontman for
someone else)
Reason 1: he educated himself + Reason 1: he never went to Uni (=
learned a lot in primary school not properly educated + plays are
sophisticated?)
Reason 2: his friend was half-Italian + Reason 2: he never left England
you can find lots of info (you don’t
necessarily have to live there, to know
anything about it)
Reason 3: he was part of Lord Reason 3: he was a commoner, but
Chamberlains Men + later was men by wrote plays set at court, about
the King? aristocrats
Ben Jonson
John Webster
Christopher Marlowe => Shakespeare’s Nemesis / biggest rival
- Aristocrat
- Spy of Elizabeth
- Died young
Shakespeare’s ultimate revenge tragedy => violent, set in ancient Rome, huge success
(box office success)
1. Titus Andronicus (1588-15593) with cartoons, one of the characters is
black
=> to ‘outdo’ Christopher Marlowe and his very popular revenge tragedies
=> to show others that he too could ‘do’ Ancient Rome, even without having been to
university
, Roman general
He lost 22 sons
Wants to return to Rome to retire
Lucius, eldest son
Lavinia, daughter
Demetrius & Chiron het sons
Tamora, Queen of the Goths
Aaron Moor ( ↓her secret lover) = VILLAIN
Saturninus, Roman Emperor
Titus cuts of his left hand and sends it to the Emperor
Lavinia was raped
=> this play was ‘insane’
He catches Tamara and Aaron (= Villain) and hands them over to the emperor (Saturninus) as
slaves.
-> Saturninus marries Tamara BUT she keeps secret lover Aaron and even has a secret love
baby with him.
Something happens with Tamora & Aaron & unnamed son??
Aaron goes to Titus and explains everything. Titus is unliked by many people (emperor etc?)
Aaron says: “Show your loyalty Titus and shop off your left hand”
-> Titus does
Lavinia (Titus’ daughter) gets raped (+ tongue and hands are cut off) by Chiron and
Demetrius
(she writes their names with a stick in the sand)
Titus tricks Demetrius + Chiron to come to his house -> butchers them + invites other
characters for dinner.
> VIDEO FRAGMENT
Lucius wants to hang Aaron
> VIEW DIALOGUE ON SMS
*People had to confess, so their soul would go to heaven not hell.
Aaron was going to be buried alive (= most horrendous way to die)
Aaron begs Lucius to save de baby, but Lucius smashes the baby against the wall (in film
version this does not happen)
>> It’s a play full of illogical happenings. The characters are flat (they’re cartoon
like)
BUT the play was a huge hit, because it was so over the top.
! Shakespeare was interested in people and wanted to write a story. But never did research
because he didn’t like to.
2. Richard III (1591)
SP writes a story about Richard III, but it’s not common with the reality.
(Example: Richard III died on the battlefield, In SP play he did not)
The only thing SP got correct about Richard III in his play, was the fact that Richard III had
scoliosis.
The play starts with a celebration: War of Roses (Yorks VS Lancaster) ends
Richard (Duke of York) is villain in the story
Henry Tudor crowns himself to Henry VII (Kind)
William Shakespeare
about him °23 April 1564 † 23 April 1616
wore mask + had no arms => people assumed WS did not write
the play
- he was baptized 26 April 1564
- he was born (they think): April 1564
(23 April is also Saint Georges day)
- he lived in Stratford + grew up in well-respected family
John Shakespeare (= father) was a glovemaker :
- he had his own sheep / cows /.. -> sold wool and kept skin to make leather
- his father was a recusant (= crypto-catholic) (during reign of Elizabeth I = people had
to be protestant)
=> his father disappeared from public life to avoid being arrested because of his
religion)
William Shakespeare was educated in the King Edward VI Grammar School
> he had good basics: math’s, rhetoric, Greek, Latin etc.
> het didn’t go to Uni because of his dad. If he went to Uni, he would have to sign
a paper about accepting Elizabeth I + the Protestantism (he didn’t want to)
Anne Hathaway (= wife)
The Lost Years: (Shakespeare had disappeared)
> some say he was a school master during those years
> others say he was a PA (personal assistant)
during those years he:
- watched plays in Stratford
- went to London (had family there)
Shakespeare in London as an actor: (very popular)
His voice could fill a theater
He had good looks
joined Lord Chamberlains Men (one of the highest theatre school at the noble court
of Elizabeth I) => he had an established income
In case of a pandemic, theatres were closed. But he was allowed to tour the country
side, because of the fact he joined the company
He became rich by buying chairs in the Globe Theatre and later in the Blackfriars
Theatre.
He bought the biggest house in Stratford for his wife and kids + traveled back and forth
(= prove he loved his wife and kids a lot and they were very important to him)
After his dead, Susannah inherited the place + all of his books, Shakespeare was
famous so his sold house was visited continuously by tourists.
! People came to theatre to hear a play, not to watch a play.
! acting now = natural, but in Shakespeare’s time it was very different. Moves
had a special meaning. Everything was played by men, women/girls were played
by 16/17 years old boys who were trained for this.
,Body of work:
37 plays + 154 sonnets + three long poems first folio: 1623
=> his impact on the English language = HUGE
=> the fact that he made being a playwright ‘respectable’ (his plays performed at Cambridge
University)
wrote plays in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line; stressed/unstressed) and in bank
verse (no rhyme)
a sonnet: a fourteen line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme. Often, sonnets use iambic pentameter: five sets
of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables for a ten-syllable line.
stanza: strofe
rhyme scheme: rijmschema
paired rhyme: gepaard rijm
a quatrain: stanza with 4 lines (kwatrijn)
a tercet: stanza with 3 lines (terzine)
a couplet: stanza with 2 lines (couplet)
a volta: a turn or transition in a sonnet’s main argument, theme, or tone. There are Petrarchan and
Shakespearean Voltas. A volta can also be characterized by a change in opinion or even a shift from
one speaker to the next. The volta separates one part of the poem from the next. In some cases, it supplies a
conclusion, an answer, or an explanation to the first part of the poem.
*southwark = south bank of the Thames
* groundling = front row in a theater, in front of the stage (the pit); the least expensive tickets
Hamlet:
Hamlet was written in 3 weeks
some people say he didn’t write any of his plays => two groups are formed
Stratfordians Anti-Stratfordians
he wrote the play he didn’t write the play (frontman for
someone else)
Reason 1: he educated himself + Reason 1: he never went to Uni (=
learned a lot in primary school not properly educated + plays are
sophisticated?)
Reason 2: his friend was half-Italian + Reason 2: he never left England
you can find lots of info (you don’t
necessarily have to live there, to know
anything about it)
Reason 3: he was part of Lord Reason 3: he was a commoner, but
Chamberlains Men + later was men by wrote plays set at court, about
the King? aristocrats
Ben Jonson
John Webster
Christopher Marlowe => Shakespeare’s Nemesis / biggest rival
- Aristocrat
- Spy of Elizabeth
- Died young
Shakespeare’s ultimate revenge tragedy => violent, set in ancient Rome, huge success
(box office success)
1. Titus Andronicus (1588-15593) with cartoons, one of the characters is
black
=> to ‘outdo’ Christopher Marlowe and his very popular revenge tragedies
=> to show others that he too could ‘do’ Ancient Rome, even without having been to
university
, Roman general
He lost 22 sons
Wants to return to Rome to retire
Lucius, eldest son
Lavinia, daughter
Demetrius & Chiron het sons
Tamora, Queen of the Goths
Aaron Moor ( ↓her secret lover) = VILLAIN
Saturninus, Roman Emperor
Titus cuts of his left hand and sends it to the Emperor
Lavinia was raped
=> this play was ‘insane’
He catches Tamara and Aaron (= Villain) and hands them over to the emperor (Saturninus) as
slaves.
-> Saturninus marries Tamara BUT she keeps secret lover Aaron and even has a secret love
baby with him.
Something happens with Tamora & Aaron & unnamed son??
Aaron goes to Titus and explains everything. Titus is unliked by many people (emperor etc?)
Aaron says: “Show your loyalty Titus and shop off your left hand”
-> Titus does
Lavinia (Titus’ daughter) gets raped (+ tongue and hands are cut off) by Chiron and
Demetrius
(she writes their names with a stick in the sand)
Titus tricks Demetrius + Chiron to come to his house -> butchers them + invites other
characters for dinner.
> VIDEO FRAGMENT
Lucius wants to hang Aaron
> VIEW DIALOGUE ON SMS
*People had to confess, so their soul would go to heaven not hell.
Aaron was going to be buried alive (= most horrendous way to die)
Aaron begs Lucius to save de baby, but Lucius smashes the baby against the wall (in film
version this does not happen)
>> It’s a play full of illogical happenings. The characters are flat (they’re cartoon
like)
BUT the play was a huge hit, because it was so over the top.
! Shakespeare was interested in people and wanted to write a story. But never did research
because he didn’t like to.
2. Richard III (1591)
SP writes a story about Richard III, but it’s not common with the reality.
(Example: Richard III died on the battlefield, In SP play he did not)
The only thing SP got correct about Richard III in his play, was the fact that Richard III had
scoliosis.
The play starts with a celebration: War of Roses (Yorks VS Lancaster) ends
Richard (Duke of York) is villain in the story
Henry Tudor crowns himself to Henry VII (Kind)
