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An Introduction to Shakespeare's Life and Times
Fathom
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| Seminar Introduction |
Strikingly little is known for certain about the life of William Shakespeare. There is documentary evidence, for example, of the day in 1564 on which he was baptised, but the celebration of his birthday on April 23 is founded only on speculation--and the desire to have it coincide with St George's Day.  He is believed to have attended "a free school", but how he spent his early twenties is entirely mysterious. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, and together they had three children. From 1592 until around 1613, three years before his death, he was prominent as a man of the London theatre, but his character and personality can only be intuited from his writing. In this seminar, Fathom draws on essays from The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, published by Cambridge University Press, together with other references, to offer an introduction to Shakespeare's life. Key events in his biography are sketched sketched of the political and religious world of the final years of the Tudor dynasty and London, where he spent much of his adult life, is explored, both as a dynamic commercial city and as a glamorous court where he is known to have performed. The Elizabethan theatre is introduced, as are the most prominent of his contemporaries in that world, including Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Approaching and experiencing those dramas, either on the page or in the theatre, can be a richer and more rewarding experience for the reader who knows something of Shakespeare's life and times.
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| Learning Objectives |
- Identify the main events in Shakespeare's life for which there is documentary evidence.
- Compare and contrast the City of London with the nearby Court at Westminster.
- Describe the key components of the Elizabethan theatre.
- Identify three late sixteenth-century poets and three playwrights, other than Shakespeare, who were active in the Elizabethan theatre.
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| Credits |
Copyright Cambridge University Press.
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| Technical Requirements |
To appreciate this seminar experience, it is critical that you have the appropriate software, plug-ins, and network connections. Please take the time to download the latest versions of the plug-ins mentioned below if you do not already have them.
Browser: Netscape versions 4.x up to 4.76, or Internet Explorer versions 4.x or later. Your browser must be JavaScript-enabled and must be set to accept cookies.
Network Connection: The recommended minimum connection is 56Kbps with a throughput of 34Kbps or more. A faster connection is encouraged to take better advantage of the media elements in the seminar.
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