king lear
aged king
advisor kent
daughters goneril (oldest), regan (middle), cordelia (youngest child by far)
no children by goneril and regan

other side:
duke of gloucester (equal to lear, but not king because of poor judgement)
son: edmund the bastard/whoreson (with a chip the size of mars), edgar(legitimate, older)
edmund recently recognized by father, complete villian of this play, noone knows he is

play begins with crazy: lear decides to divide kingdom in 3, one for each daughter, wants to see who will rule best
cordelia is the only one likely to produce an heir
lear asks: which daughter loves me the most, older daughters will lie and say they do, youngest kicked out for saying equal
for this year, the astronomers predict eclipses (darkness/blindness), coming storms (madness), earthquakes (instability) -> crazy happening, so says god


presentation
shakespeare said to be most influential
baptized april 26
born in stratford upon avon
born to john and mary shakespeare
john was member of the local govt
got married to anne hathaway
had son hamnet that died early
had twin daughters
moved to london to work, family stayed in stratford
7 lost years, believed to be part of a traveling troupe
became part owner of globe theater
favorite of james I and elizabeth I

first great play was richard III
12th night was probably written the same year as hamlet
wrote several comedies focusing on parents instead of youth, aka dark comedies
wrote dream-like plays in later years, aka romances
154 sonnets, particular rhyme pattern: abab cdcd efef gg, focus on young beautiful men
fame grew after death
works timeless


powerpoint notes
no great foreign wars except for spanish armada
civil war frightened england
growing sense of national greatness
many plans deal with how to replace one king with another
father was glove maker and member of local govt council
no college
worked for his father
married at 18, she was older and already preggers
susanna first daughter, hamnet and judith later
son died in infancy
said to have penned 38 or 39 plays
sonnets reveal his sexuality, rumored bisexual, young man, married woman...
famous for richard III
trying to win elizabeth's favor

early plays: taming of the shrew, comedy, set in italy, similar to wife of bath
first roman play, titus andronicus, rape and cannibalism, older shakespeare was more mature