Who is Shakespeare to you?
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet . . .
We all know him. Shakespeare, Will, The Bard, or Big Daddy Shakes (as my 10th-grade English teacher used to call him) has probably played a role in your life somehow. Perhaps his plays inspired you to pursue an academic major in theater or English. Maybe you learned what love is by reading one of his sonnets. Or, Shakespeare might have been the bane of your existence as a high school student trying to decipher early modern English in Romeo and Juliet . All of these experiences are valid, and all of them explain why we are still talking about this writer from Stratford-upon-Avon who lived over 400 years ago.
Critical-Thinking Questions:
- Describe your first experience reading Shakespeare or watching an adaptation of a Shakespearean work. What was memorable about this experience?
- Based on your own observations and experiences, how has Shakespeare's influence transcended time and geography?
Image: Portrait of Shakespeare featured in the Fourth Folio of Shakespeare, 1685. Courtesy of the Bentley Rare Book Museum.
Setting the Stage
"Like all societies, Elizabethan England is full of contradictions. Some practices will impress you as enormously sophisticated and refined; others will strike you with horror."
--Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England
Major Events:
What were some of the major events in early modern England that impacted Shakespeare's world? Let's take a look. . .
- 1558-1603: Reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland
- 1564: Shakespeare is born
- 1599: The Globe theatre is built
- 1603-1613: Globe theatre experiences shutdowns because of the Plague
- 1603 – 1625: Reign of King James the I of England and Ireland
- 1611: Printing of the King James Bible
- 1616: Shakespeare dies
Language and Literacy
- English language is growing (the number of words available to English speakers doubled between 1500 and 1650)
- Little standardization of language
- Spread of printing in Europe
- Increase in demand for books
- Books and printing largely controlled by the church and government
Theater
- Going to the theater was a loud, dirty, and often smelly experience
- Little scenery but luxurious costumes
- All-male cast (males ([often boys] would play female characters)
- Socialization and entertainment
- Shakespeare was a well-known and respected playwright
Background Image: Prologue to The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida, 1632. Courtesy of the Bentley Rare Book Museum.
A Few Facts about Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 (exact birth date is unknown but is somewhere around April 23rd) in Stratford Upon Avon.
Shakespeare most likely attended Stratford's Grammar School, probably until age 15.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582. Together, the couple had three children. Today, there are no direct descendants of Shakespeare.
Records from the 1590s evince Shakespeare's involvement in London's theatres as an actor, playwright, and later, a business partner.
Shakespeare became a successful business partner in the acting company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as The King’s Men.
Shakespeare wrote at least 38 plays and over 150 short and long poems during his lifetime.
Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. His cause of death is unknown.
Image: Excerpt from a facsimile of the First Folio, 1902. Courtesy of the Bentley Rare Book Museum.
The Folios
What does the word "folio" mean?
Books are made from folded sheets of paper bound together in a structure called a codex. In book history terms, the word folio refers to books with sheets folded one time. Folding the sheets once produces two leaves and four pages. Folio-format books tend to be on the larger side. In early modern Europe, books in folio format were usually religious in nature. The printing of Shakespeare's First Folio was the first time a folio format was used to print a collection of plays.
What is a Shakespeare First Folio?
When Shakespeare died in 1616, only about half of his plays had ever been printed. These plays were printed as small, cheap, individual quartos that often contained inconsistent content. The printing of the First Folio was the inaugural printing of all the plays in Shakespeare's repertoire. Without the First Folio, eighteen of his plays including The Tempest, As you Like It, Macbeth, and Taming of the Shrew may never have been discovered. Here are some quick facts about the First Folio. . .
- First printed edition of Shakespeare's plays
- Printed in 1623 (7 years after Shakespeare's death)
- Published by John Heminge and Hendry Condell (actors from Shakespeare's company)
- 750 copies printed, 235 are known to survive, 82 at the Folger Shakespeare Library
Later Folios
- Second, Third, and Fourth Folios published in 1632, 1664, and 1685, respectively
- Third and Fourth Folios include 7 extra plays that modern scholars do not attribute to Shakespeare
Critical-Thinking Questions:
- We are told not to judge a book by its cover, but we all do. How can the size of the book influence your views on what it contains? How does a book's size impact your reading experience?
- Why do you think John Heminge and Hendry Condell chose to publish all of Shakespeare's plays? Consider both personal and professional motivations.
Background image: Title page to the Fourth Folio, 1685. Courtesy of the Bentley Rare Book Museum.
Shakespeare Folios in the Bentley Rare Book Museum
Excerpts from a 1902 Facsimile of The First Folio
Excerpts from a Partial Second Folio, 1632
Excerpts from the Fourth Folio, 1685
Critical-Thinking Questions:
- Describe some of the front matter (content prior to the main text) that you see in the First Folio facsimile and the Fourth Folio. Discuss the role of this content.
- Note some of the spelling and grammar differences you notice among the Folios. How do these differences impact your reading and overall understanding of the text?
- Describe the preservation issues you observe in the Second Folio. What can these issues tell you about the book's previous environment?
- Read the poem underneath the portrait of Shakespeare in the Fourth Folio. This same poem appears in the First Folio facsimile. According to this poem, why are Shakespeare's written works more enduring than any images made of him?
Inconsistencies
Early modern England was the land of literary inconsistencies. The absence of language standardization and copyright laws resulted in writings with made-up words, variably spelled words, and editions of questionable authorship.
The Quartos
In book history terminology, a quarto refers to a book with sheets folded twice (as opposed to a folio book where sheets are folded once). The folds of a quarto produce four leaves and eight pages. This was the most common size for books in early modern England. Many of Shakespeare's plays were printed in individual quarto editions; however, some of these editions were inconsistent, largely due to the evolving nature of scripts and theatrical performances. Let's take a look at the famous prologue from Romeo and Juliet that appears in quartos from 1597 and 1599.
Critical-Thinking Questions:
- What are some of the major differences you notice between these two versions?
- Which version are you more familiar with? Which version do you prefer and why?
Now, let's compare the two Romeo and Juliet prologues in the quartos to the Romeo and Juliet prologue featured in the Second Folio. . .
Let me guess, you cannot find the prologue. Don't worry, it's not you - it's the Folio. The prologue is not there! The prologue to Romeo and Juliet does not appear in the First, Second, Third, or Fourth Folio even though it has become one of the most recognizable parts of the play for contemporary audiences. The Fourth Folio provided the standard text for most printed editions of Shakespeare's plays until the late eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, editors started to include content that previously, had only appeared in early quarto editions.
Critical-Thinking Questions:
- Why do you think the prologue to Romeo and Juliet was added back into printed editions of Shakespeare even thought it does not appear in the Folios?
- How might the inclusion of the prologue impact the experience of reading the play or seeing it performed?
Illustrated Shakespeare
The Bentley Rare Book Museum holds a selection of illustrated editions of Shakespeare's plays ranging from the eighteenth-century to the twentieth-century. Here are two examples:
The Works of Shakespear[sic], 1744
The Plays of Shakespeare in Three Volumes, 1858 - 1865
Critical-Thinking Questions:
- Take a closer look at the sample illustrations above from the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century texts. What are some differences you notice in their artistic styles?
- Observe the illustration for Act 1, Scene 6, of The Tempest in the 1744 edition. How does this illustration compare with your own imagination of the characters and scenery?