Shakespeare Reproducible Book, Grades 6-9 McR0258 by McDONALD PUBLISHING CO

England and Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth I ruled England from 1558 to 1603. During her forty-five year reign, England gained political power, national pride, and many cultural achievements. Because Elizabeth was so influential in leading this English renaissance, the last half of the sixteenth century in England is known as the Elizabethan Period. The Elizabethan period spanned most of William Shakespeare’s life.

Elizabeth came to the throne after the deaths of her half brother Edward and her half sister Mary, whose rule had left England in a state of political and religious turmoil. The intelligent and politically shrewd Elizabeth worked with Parliament to ease the divisions within the country. By remaining single, she sought to avoid the political entanglements that marriage to a foreigner could bring. She encouraged exploration, which led to Englishman Sir Francis Drake’s successful voyage around the world from 1577 to 1580. Also during Elizabeth’s rule, England became a world power with the triumphant defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. For the next three centuries, England would dominate world trade and colonization.

Before Elizabeth came to power, England had looked to the European continent for guidance in literature, fashion, and drama. Latin was the language taught in European schools and used for writing important works of literature and legal documents. Elizabeth spurred a cultural awakening by encouraging and patronizing the arts. Her support of the arts encouraged England’s poets, musicians, and playwrights. Growing national pride made it acceptable for them to produce their works in English, making literature more accessible to the common people.

Despite Elizabeth’s popularity, her reign was sometimes challenged. Elizabeth believed in the divine right of kings, which asserts that God gives a monarch the right to rule. She also insisted that all of her subjects follow the doctrine of passive obedience. This doctrine stated that since God had appointed the monarch, any act of rebellion was an act of disobedience against God’s will. Threats to the monarchy were dealt with harshly. Elizabeth even reluctantly executed her own cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, for treason.

1. Why do we have Queen Elizabeth to thank for the beautiful imagery, memorable speeches, and delightful puns of Shakespeare’s poetry and plays?
2. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan. Macbeth is then haunted by guilt and is eventually killed because of what he did. Why would Queen Elizabeth have viewed this as just punishment?
3. What three words do you think best describe Queen Elizabeth I? Why?

Young Shakespeare – Shakespeare’s Life: 1564-1592

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in England in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the oldest son of Mary and John Shakespeare. William’s mother was from a prominent family. His father was a glove maker who at one time was the high bailiff, or mayor, of Stratford. Records of Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church show that William was baptized there on April 26, and since infants were usually baptized three days after birth, April 23 is recognized as his birthday.

Scholars believe William Shakespeare attended the Stratford grammar school. Elizabethan grammar schools taught logic, rhetoric, composition, and public speaking—all in Latin. Shakespeare showed his knowledge of the Latin classics in the references he made to these works in his plays. It’s likely that Shakespeare was also influenced by the countryside around Stratford. His poetry and plays abound with images from nature, farming, hunting, and country folklore.

A marriage license was issued in 1582 to William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer. Their daughter Susanna was born in 1583, and their twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born in 1585.

There are no records of Shakespeare’s life from 1585 to1592. Biographers call this period of time “the lost years.” Some people speculate that during these years Shakespeare worked for a while at his father’s trade. One seventeenth-century biographer said that during this time Shakespeare was a butcher who made lofty speeches before butchering a calf. Others have said he was a sailor, a soldier, a lawyer, a clerk, and a teacher. A common story is that he left Stratford to avoid prosecution for poaching deer. One convincing theory is that Shakespeare joined a traveling theater company that visited Stratford in 1587. Shakespeare’s exact activities during this time remain a mystery.

Some of what we know about Shakespeare is based on fact, and some is based on speculation. Decide whether each of the statements below is a fact or speculation. Write F or S in each blank.

1. _ Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.
2. _ Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church on April 26, 1564.
3. _ Shakespeare studied Latin at the Stratford grammar school.
4. _ Shakespeare and his wife had three children.
5. _ Shakespeare was a deer poacher.
6. _ Shakespeare went to London with a traveling theater company that came to Stratford in 1587.
7. According to the passage, what two influences from Shakespeare’s childhood are evident in his work?