Per+5+Historical+Events+and+their+Influence

3. Shakespeare wrote many plays based on issues of the time. How did key historical events in England and around the world influence his writing?

Created by:
Jack P. Madeline S. Colton M. Mei C. Chelsea L.

Shakespeare is known as one of the greatest playwrights that ever existed. Many key historical events in England and around the world influenced his writing in many different ways.
 * England, at the time of Shakespeare...**

He also wrote about events that had already occured, such as previous kings in his works that are called the "Histories". Those works include __Henry IV__, __Henry V__, __Henry VI__, __Henry VIII__, __King John__, __Richard II__, and __Richard III__. Along with the "Histories", he reflected on many true stories, such as in __Julius Caesar__ and __Antony and Cleopatra__. To make the story more exciting, he would dramatize details and actions, combine battles, and speed up the timeline. Some of his plays were also set in glorious ancient civilizations, such as the ancient worlds of Greece, Rome, and Troy.

Religion, which played a major role in the lives of the individuals at the time, also impacted his plays. The Church of England was established by King Henry VIII. He established a Protestant branch of the Catholic church because he wished to divorce his wife. Although Shakespeare's family was Catholic, when he grew up it became dangerous to have Catholic leanings. **// Shakespeare was careful to not represent religion in his plays outright, which could sometimes result in the death penalty. He did, however, have references to religion, most specificaly the Catholic Church. Characters like Friar Laurence represent the clergy of the Church. He also talked about the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Things like marriage appear in __Romeo and Juliet__, and the concept of purgatory is also discussed in __Hamlet.__ //**


 * And the great William Shakespeare himself...**

=SOCIAL EVENTS=  =POLITICAL EVENTS=
 * Gerardus Mercator develops his map projection in 1568
 * Francis Drake in 1579 discovers and claims Present day California for England
 * Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 creates a new calender changing the new year's date from April 1st known today as april fools day
 * Queen Elizabeth has Queen Mary of Scots killed in 1587
 * in 1588 the Spanish Armada is defeated by the English
 * Johannes Kepler publishes his Mysterium cosmographicum (Which in English means Mysteries of the Cosmos) in 1596
 * Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was Queen during Shakespeare's time


 * Queen Elizabeth I strengthened and established the Church of England, started by Henry VIII (her father)
 * During this time, London was the heart of England
 * Merchant middle class emerged, and the economy thrived.
 * Population increased by 400% to 200,000 ( in London) due to increase in food supply, money, materials, job demand, etc.
 * Shakespeare's father, William Arden, was indicted for plotting against the queen in 1583
 * He was executed for this plot as well as believing in the Catholic faith
 * This made Shakespeare fearful and cautious about putting anything about politics or religion in his writing.
 * Shakespeare had to make sure that no religion, especially Catholic, was represented in his plays, or death penalty would occur in some cases
 * In January 1601, the queen was once again rebelled against by Earl of Essex, after she had had him arrested for making peace with Irish rebels
 * He was captured and executed.
 * This shows just how much power the queen had, and what she could do to anyone who did something that was displeasing to her.


 * **What examples are there in his plays that reflect his interest in history?**
 * Shakespeare wrote a number of plays that were modifications of earlier plays, wrote histories of various kings of France, Britain, and England, wrote plays that dramatized true historical events, wrote plays that were adapted from folk tales, and wrote plays set in the ancient worlds of Greece, Rome, and Troy. He was very knowledgeable in history, but often changed the facts to suit the medium of a play, such as condensing time, combining battle, adding or modifying characters, and creating of changing actions.


 * Additionally, Shakespeare’s works that are now categorized as “Histories” (such as one might categorize “Comedies” and “Tragedies”) include:
 * __Henry IV, part 1__ and __Henry IV, part 2__
 * King of France from 1589 to 1610
 * King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610
 * __Henry V__
 * King of England from 1413 until 1422
 * __Henry VI, part 1__, __Henry VI, part 2__, and __Henry VI, part 3__
 * King of England 1422–1461 and again from 1470 to 1471
 * King of France from 1422 to 1453
 * __Henry VIII__
 * King of England from 1509 to 1547
 * __King John__
 * King of England from 1199 to 1216
 * __Richard II__
 * King of England from 1377 to 1399
 * __Richard III__
 * King of England from 1483 to 1485


 * Plays that were modifications of earlier plays, dramatized true historical events, adapted from folk tales, or set in the ancient worlds of Greece, Rome, and Troy.


 * __The Comedy of Errors__:
 * Primary Source: // __Menaechmi__ // by Plautus (a Roman comic playwright)
 * Borrowed from the central plot, which revolved around mistaken identity involving identical twin brothers

__**Religion's Role:**__ Religion played a major role in people's lives during Shakespeare's lifetime. Religion controlled the people, and the leaders controlled the Church. The Church, both the Catholic and later the Protestant, influenced how people thought, acted, and behaved. Your religion would affect how others saw you, and would affect what you believed was right and wrong. Legislation was passed saying that those who did not attend the new church were to be punished, so it was unwise to have sympathetic thoughts toward any other religion.
 * __All’s Well That Ends Well__:
 * Primary Source: // __Decameron__ //// by //Giovanni Boccaccio (translated by William Painter in // __The Palace of Pleasures__ //// in 1575 //), written in 1353
 * Shakespeare added the character of Parolles and the subplot in which he is the main character, some other characters, and another situational twist at the end of the play.
 * __Hamlet__:
 * Primary Source: __Ur-Hamlet__ (also referred to as the __Original Hamlet__), whose composition was linked to Thomas Kyd (author of __The Spanish Tradgedy__)
 * A lost play that scholars believe was written well before Shakespeare’s version.
 * Shakespeare borrowed much of the dramatic context for __Hamlet__ from this version.
 * __Taming of the Shrew__:
 * Primary Source: __Supposes__ by George Gascoigne, written in 1566
 * Derived from Ludovico Ariosto's __I Suppositi__ (1509), and many of its elements can be traced to the classical Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence.
 * Borrowed by Shakespeare for the Bianca-Lucentio subplot.
 * __Antony and Cleopatra__:
 * Primary Source: __Lives__ by Plutarch (ancient Roman historian)
 * Shakespeare borrowed the historical background, plot, and intimate details of Cleopatra and Antony
 * A play about the real love story of the Roman general Antony and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra
 * __Coriolanus__:
 * Primary Source: __Lives__ by Plutarch
 * Shakespeare relied upon on an account of the main character’s career by Plutarch
 * Debates the conflict of the patrician autocracy and plebian democracy that existed the ancient Rome
 * Coriolanus, the main character for whom the play is named, was a real military and political leader of ancient Rome.
 * __Julius Caesar__:
 * Primary Source: __Lives__ by Plutarch
 * Shakespeare borrowed information from this work, using it as the primary source of his play’s plot and characters.
 * Dramatization of the actual events that occurred in the life of the Roman general Julius Caesar.
 * __King Lear__:
 * Primary Source: a folk tale that was based on spoken stories from the 12h century into the Middle Ages
 * Shakespeare took the main plotline of an aged monarch from the folk tale
 * __Measure for Measure__:
 * Primary Source: // __Hecatommithi__ // by Giovanni “Cinthio” Battista Giraldi (an Italian dramatist and novelist), written in 1565
 * Shakespeare’s plot was derived from this source, along with his other work, the __Epitia__.
 * __The Merchant of Venice__:
 * Primary Sources: Two ancient folk tales
 * One involved a vengeful, greedy creditor trying to get more money that he should.
 * The other involved a marriage suitor’s choice among three chests to determine his or he mate.
 * __Othello__:
 * Primary Source: __Hecatommithi__ by Giovanni “Cinthio” Battista Giraldi (an Italian dramatist and novelist)
 * Shakespeare adapted the plot of his play from this work.
 * __Timon of Athens__:
 * Set in Ancient Greece
 * __Titus Andronicus__:
 * Set in Ancient Rome
 * __Troilus and Cressida__:
 * Set in Troy, an ancient city.
 * __The Two Noble Kinsmen__:
 * Primary Source: __The Two Noble Kinsmen__ by Chauncer, “The Knight’s Tale”, a narrative poem set in ancient Greece.
 * __The Winter’s__ Tale:
 * Primary Source: The novel __Pandosto__ by Robert Green
 * Shakespeare’s basic format parallels the novel, but did make some alterations, such as a quicker succession of plot events, additional characters, and additional situations and scenes.
 * The Church of England...**

"All's Well That Ends Well: Introduction." __Shakespeare for Students__. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998. __eNotes.com__. January 2006. 13 February 2010. .
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