William Shakespeare Contextual Research Assignment

William Shakespeare Contextual Research Written Assignment

The Introduction:
For this written assignment, I have been instructed by my teacher to write about how William Shakespeare changed Modern Theatre, I am to include all the genre's of play's he had written and explain each genre in detail. I have also been asked to research the stage layout's and to research how the audience had involvment in each of the play's being performed in the Globe Theatre in London, England in the Elizabethan Era, or more commonly known as, The Golden Age. I also have to include note's about the language William Shakespeare had used in each of his play's; more specifically, the Iambic Pentameter.

How William Shakespeare Has Influenced Modern Theatre:
William Shakespeare has totally transformed everything we know about Theatre; this is evidenced by his Complex Character's, Moving Storyline's, and current day Broadway Shows.

An Example Of A Complex Character:
Romeo and Juliet – (One of the more famous playwright's designed by Shakespeare). Romeo and Juliet are in two different familie's (Montague's and Capulet's) that have a raging rivalry with one another. After Romeo had trespassed with his friend's into a Capulet house party to celebrate Juliet's marriage, he had gazed his eye's upon Juliet and instantly fall's in love with her at first sight, this also happen's with Juliet once she has noticed Romeo. The play goes on with these two character's thinking of a situation to try and get the two familie's to stop their rivalry so they can live happily ever after, this resulted in the play ending with Romeo and Juliet killing themselves and the two familie's feeling   sympathy for one another after their death. The complexity of these two character's are that Shakespeare had picked out two people and made them fall madly in love with each other, and put them both in a difficult situation where the two familie's hate each other which causes a tragic and overwhelming story that grab's the audience's attention and make's them feel deep connection's with both Romeo and Juliet.

An Example Of A Moving Storyline:
The entire world believes that Romeo and Juliet are the prime example of the phrase ‘True Love’ and we have grown over the years to believe this. But what do we see when  we analyse them further…
The Length of Romeo and Juliet's Relationship: 1 day
Age's of Both Character’s: Romeo, 16. Juliet, 14.
Result: They both love each other very much, and because the two family’s hate each other so much, the only way they can spend happily ever after together, is to kill themselves and spend eternal life in each other’s arms. This made the play end with the two familie's from becoming Rival’s, to better friend’s.

Example's Of Broadway Show's Currently Showing:
The Phantom of the Opera
(Romeo and Juliet, The Musical).
Wicked
(Merchant of Venice, Modern Day Version).
Twelth Night
(One of the most Poetic and Exquisite Musical's Shakespare had wrote).
Richard The Third
(A Charismatic, self deligting villain, relieving every moment in his journey to power).

The Three Genre's:
Tragedy:
The play's written for this Genre were influenced after real life events that had happened in the past and has added feelings of emotion that span all cultures. Some Tragedy play's were written by William Shakeseare himself and are still performed in Modern Theatre and Film's, Romeo and Juliet for example, are one of these play's, and are one of Shakespeare's most famous playwright's. While they all started happily, they all end up in death. Ironically, Shakespeare’s Tragedies are performed more today than they were during  his time in the Elizabethan Era.

Typed below is a list of all 12 of the 'Tragedy' play's that Shakespeare had wrote:

Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida

Comedy:
These play's were written to give the audience, as well as the cast, a laugh and to have a good time. Sometime's these play's were written so the Protagonist starts off in a bad place, and by progressing through the play, the Protaginist starts to experience better events, and this later on results in the play ending happily. Comedy play's were performed more frequently than other Genre's, since people that lived in the Elizabethan Era, did not live easily and could of needed something to keep them going and also to have the times pass quicker.

Typed below is a list of all 14 of the 'Comedy' play's that Shakespeare had wrote:

All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
Measure for Measure
Merchant of Venice
Merry Wives of Windsor
Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado about Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale

Historical:
The play's written for this Genre told the tales of many famous Kings/Queens and Emperors. This has spanned from the early Greek theatre to current day England.  There is not much else to be said about this Genre other than that the play's don't always end happily, and has much more violance included than the other Genre's.

Typed below is a list of all 12 of the 'Historical' play's that Shakespeare had wrote:

Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III

In some cases, it was'nt easy to catogorize each play, since Shakespeare had blurred the boundarie's between the three genre's. For example, the play called                                         'Much Ado About Nothing' begin's like a Comedy, but later on decends into a Tragedy. This lead to some descibing the play as a Tragi-comedy.

In total, William Shakespeare over the course of his career, had written 38 play's.

The Language Used:
The Iambic Pentameter:
The Iambic Pentameter is the name given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs (a iamb being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed), used in an example, I could use the word "before" having the "be" as an unstressed lamb and the "fore" being a stressed lamb. It has been used in a lot of English poetry, it has been used since the English Renaissance to the present day.

It is not necessary that every line in a script of text should be entirely slavish in following the rhythm; in fact, doing so could make the poem sound dull. Swapping, dropping or adding stressed and unstressed syllables will lend variety to a line without changing the underlying rhythm.

Poems that use The iambic pentameter may or may not rhyme. Those that are written in continuous lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter are said to be in blank verse, while rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter may be called "heroic couplets", particularly when each couplet closes a thought or sentence on its second line.

The Iambic Pentameter has three different forms of verse's that William Shakespeare had invented, each one having their own unique features. These are the three forms of The Iambic Pentameter William Shakespeare had used in his plays:

Prose Verse:
The Prose is used whenever a verse seems more bizarre than others. Scenes that use the Prose Verse more commonly is in the play Macbeth, since some of the characters in this play have scenes where they actually go mad (examples include Macbeth, Lady Macbeth). There are also other plays that use this verse for The Iambic Pentameter; plays like Hamlet, Ophelia, Edgar and King Lear. Some audience members at the time of Shakespeare considered the Prose Verse to be too regular and orderly for expressing madness. Prose would mainly be used in cynical commentary (examples range from Jacques and Touchstone in the play As You Like It; Edmund also in King Lear). It is used for simple exposition, transitions or contrast (used in the first scenes of As You Like It, The Tempest, and King Lear). It is used also in scenes of everyday life (Bottom and company in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Corin in As You Like It; William, Bates and Court in Henry V). Furthermore, the Prose Verse can be used for bantering, relaxed or unbuttoned conversations happening in plays (Celia, Rosalind and Touchstone in As You Like It; Gower, Fluellen, MacMorris and Jamie in Henry V; Prince Hal and Falstaffin in Henry IV).

Blank Verse:
When William Shakespeare used the Blank Verse form for The Iambic Pentameter, each line began with a capitalized letter, even if the line ended with a comma instead of a full stop, the next line was to begin with a capitalized letter. This was still done without regarding the standard rules of capitalization. Blank Verse is employed in a wide range of situations, because this form comes closer to the natural speaking rhythms of English but will also raise it above the ordinary without sounding artificial. Blank Verse, opposed to Prose, is used mainly for passionate, lofty or momentous occasions and for introspection; it may suggest a refinement of character. Many of Shakespeare’s most famous character speeches were written in Blank Verse. The plays include Macbeth, Henry V, Hamlet and The Tempest. A speech or scene written in Blank Verse may end with a single rhyming couplet known as a capping couplet. It is mainly used to lend a final punch, a concluding flourish or a note of climax to end the speech or scene.

Rhyme Verse:
The Rhyme Verse is often used in ritualistic or choral effects and for highly lyrical or sententious passages that give advice or point to a moral (for example, the Duke’s speech at the end of Act 3 in Measure for Measure). The Rhyme Verse will also be used for songs written in the plays (Amiens in As You Like It; Feste in Twelve Night; Ariel in The Tempest); in examples of bad verse (the Pyramus and Thisbe scene in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Orlando’s bad poetry in As You Like It); also being contained in Prologues, Epilogues and Choruses of plays (the Chorus in Henry V; Pucks Epilogue in A Midsummer Night’s Dream); in Masques (Hymen In As You Like It; Iris, Ceres and Juno in The Tempest); and plays within plays (Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the Mousetrap play in Hamlet), where it distinguishes these imaginary performances from the ”real world” of the play. It is also used for many manifestations of the supernatural (examples like the witches from Macbeth; the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Ariel in The Tempest), but it will not be used for Ghosts/Spirits in plays (examples like Hamlet’s father), who retain the human use of Blank Verse.

After I had read and agreed with further evidence to support the webpage I had used, I will include the weblink for the website I had used to access some of the information provided: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/verseprose.html

The English Language:
The English language has changed a great deal over the last few hundred years, and it is still changing today with completely new word's.  Several of the words we still use since Shakespeare's day either have different meanings today or have been nearly forgotten.  Here is a list of some of the most commonly used words in Shakespeare which some may have never heard of before:

Hence = Away
Hither = Here
Prithee = A polite way of asking something to someone
Wherefore = Why
Fain = Gladly
Dost or Doth = Does or Do
Hark = Listen
Fie = An exclamation of dismay or disgust
Marry = Indeed
Sirrah = A term of address used for inferiors

How William Shakespeare Has Influence Modern Day Language:
The works of William Shakespeare has greatly influenced the English Language. Many words and phrases from his plays and sonnets have become iconic catch phrases throughout the years. His style of writing has also influenced many other writers.

How Extensive Was Shakespeare's Vocabulary?:
Shakespeare, in his plays, poems, and other writings, used 29,066 unique words. Most people today only use 7,500 to 10,000 unique words in their writing and speech.

How Did Shakespeare Influence Modern Language?:
Shakespeare introduced nearly 3,000 words into the English language. In addition, Shakespeare's works, which were often quoted, became such commonplace that they helped set the standards for Modern English; prior to Shakespeare, English grammar and spelling had few standards. In addition, many of Shakespeare's expressions (such as "a foregone conclusion") are commonly used today.

How Did Shakespeare Use Insults In His Plays?:
William Shakespeare used cleverly fashioned insults in his plays to amuse his audiences. He wrote insults that everyone could enjoy, and he used a large range of insults, some of which were vulgar, comical, cruel, or simply heinously descriptive.

How Did Shakespeare's Influence On Modern Language Reflect That He Was A "Man Of Words":
If William Shakespeare had not demonstrated such a mastery words as he did, he certainly would not have influenced the English language so robustly. His ability to formulate new, popular words and his ability to maintain an extensive vocabulary positively define him as a "man of words." For his phrases to stand the test of time, Shakespeare must have had a proficiency for the English language.

After agreeing with what was written on the webpage, I shall follow up with the weblink to the website I had used to access the information provided: http://www.efficientcode.com/shakespeare/influence-on-language

Stage Layout's And Audiences Involvement To Play's:
Proscenium Layout:
The audience is positioned in front of the stage, and the stage can be looked upon like a picture frame. The ‘frame’ itself is called the Proscenium Arch. This is the style of most traditional theatres.

Apron Layout:
In some proscenium theatres, the stage extends forward in front of the proscenium arch. This is called an Apron stage.

End Stage or Open Stage Layout:
Similar audience layout to a proscenium theatre, but without the arch. The audience is positioned in rows facing the stage.

Thrust:
The audience is on three sides of the stage as if the stage has been ‘thrust’ forward. This can be very apparent, like a catwalk, or more like an extended apron stage.

In-the-Round:
As the name suggests, the audience is seated all around the stage on four sides. A few theatres in the country are permanently arranged like this. Sometimes the 'In The Round' layout is called the Arena stage.
  
Traverse:
In this more unusual style, the audience is seated on either side of the stage, facing each other. The acting takes place between.

Hybrid or Flexible:
In an attempt to combine the best qualities of each style, many newer theaters have flexible staging arrangements in order to change between layouts as required.

Other theaters are a hybrid, or mix, of different layouts. The apron/thrust stage, for example, is a popular style for contemporary theaters as it allows the acting space to be closer to the audience whilst retaining a sense of the traditional proscenium style. It is also most similar to the original design of ancient amphitheaters which curved around the acting area.

Black Box or Gallery space:
A Gallery is basically just a room. Often it will have lighting bars and sound. A black box theatre is a subset of the 'gallery' category, and is exactly what the name suggests, a black room. Usually these are extremely configurable, with seating prostrate which can be oriented in a variety of ways. Most of these spaces do not use a raised stage, instead the actors act at ground level.

Rolling Stage:
A temporary stage with wheels toured with large (usually rock & roll) productions playing arenas.

A rolling stage is a way of taking advantage of the amount of floorspace available in a large arena to save time getting the show in and out. While riggers and lighting crew are working on the lighting rig, the stage is assembled elsewhere on the arena floor. Set, back line and monitors can then be set up on the stage whilst work continues on the lighting rig.

Once the lighting rig is at trim, the stage (along with everything on it) is "rolled" into position and the brakes applied.

The Globe Theatre Layout (Including Drawn Diagram): 

Audience's Involvement To Play's During Shakespeare's Time:
When Shakespeare peeped through the curtain at the audience gathered to hear his first play, he looked upon a very motley crowd. The pit was filled with men and boys. The galleries contained a fair proportion of women, some not too respectable. In the boxes were a few gentlemen from the royal courts, and in the lords' box or perhaps sitting on the stage was a group of extravagantly dressed gentlemen of fashion. Vendors of nuts and fruits moved about through the crowd. The gallants were smoking; the apprentices in the pit were exchanging rude witticisms with the painted ladies.

When Shakespeare addressed his audience directly, he did so in terms of gentle courtesy or pleasant raillery. In Hamlet, however, he does let fall the opinion that the groundings (those on the ground, the cheapest seats) were “for the most part capable of nothing but dumb shows and noise.” His recollections of the pit of the Globe may have added vigor to his ridicule of the Roman mob in Julius Caesar.

On the other hand, the theatre was a popular institution, and the audience was representative of all classes of London life. Admission to standing room in the pit was a penny, and an additional penny or two secured a seat in the galleries. For seats in the boxes or for stools on the stage, still more was charged, up to sixpence or half a crown.

Attendance at the theaters was astonishingly large. There were often five or six theaters giving daily performances, which would mean that out of a city of one hundred thousand inhabitants, thirty thousand or more spectators each week attended the theatre. When we remember that a large class of the population disapproved of the theatre, and that women of respectability were not frequent patrons of the public playhouses, this attendance is remarkable.

Arrangements for the comfort of the spectators were meager, and spectators were often disorderly. Playbills seem to have been posted all about town and in the theatre, and the title of the piece was announced on the stage. These bills contained no lists of actors, and there were no programs, ushers, or tickets. There was usually one door for the audience, where the admission fee was deposited in a box carefully watched by the money taker, and additional sums were required at entrance to the galleries or boxes. When the three o'clock trumpets announced the beginning of a performance, the assembled audience had been amusing itself by eating, drinking, smoking, and playing cards, and they sometimes continued these occupations during a performance. Pickpockets were frequent, and, if caught, were tied to a post on the stage. Disturbances were not infrequent, sometimes resulting in general rioting.

The Elizabethan audience was fond of unusual spectacle and brutal physical suffering. They liked battles and murders, processions and fireworks, ghosts and insanity. They expected comedy to abound in beatings, and tragedy in deaths. While the audience at the Globe expected some of these sensations and physical horrors, they did not come primarily for these. (Real blood and torture were available nearby at the bear baiting, and public executions were not uncommon.) Actually, there were very few public entertainments offering as little brutality as did the theatre.

Elizabethans attended the public playhouses for learning. They attended for romance, imagination, idealism, and art; the audience was not without refinement, and those looking for food for the imagination had nowhere to go but to the playhouse. There were no newspapers, no magazines, almost no novels, and only a few cheap books; theatre filled the desire for story discussion among people lacking other educational and cultural opportunities.

The most remarkable case of Shakespeare's theatre filling an educational need is probably that of English history. The growth of national patriotism culminating in the English victory over the Spanish Armada gave dramatists a chance to use the historical material, and for the fifteen years from the Armada to the death of Elizabeth, the stage was deluged with plays based on the events of English chronicles, and familiarity with English history became a cultural asset of the London crowd,

Law was a second area where the Elizabethan public seems to have been fairly well informed, and successful dramatists realized the influence that the great development of civil law in the sixteenth century exercised upon the daily life of the London citizen. In this area, as in others, the dramatists did not hesitate to cultivate the cultural background of their audience whenever opportunity offered, and the ignorance of the multitude did not prevent it from taking an interest in new information and from offering a receptive hearing to the accumulated lore of lawyers, historians, humanists, and playwrights.

The audience was used to the spoken word, and soon became trained in blank verse, delighting in monologues, debates, puns, metaphors, stump speakers, and sonorous declamation. The public was accustomed to the acting of the old religious dramas, and the new acting in which the spoken words were listened to caught on rapidly. The new poetry and the great actors who recited it found a sensitive audience. There were many moments during a play when spectacle, brutality, and action were all forgotten, and the audience fed only on the words. Shakespeare and his contemporaries may be deemed fortunate in having an audience essentially attentive, eager for the newly unlocked storehouse of secular story, and possessing the sophistication and interest to be fed richly by the excitements and levitates on the stage.

This information was grabbed from this web link:
http://www.bard.org/Education/studyguides/shakespeare/audience.html#.UvfkJ7Sw57g

I agree with the information provided by this web link, because William Shakespeare's intentions for writing these plays was to have the audience take part as well as the actors in each production. This is one of the main things that made William Shakespeare more successful in his career as a playwright, since the audience can enjoy it a lot more and it makes people come back to watch more of his productions.