Julius Cesar Prereading

Julius Cesar Prereading

1. Elizabethan England

   • Elizabeth was born in 1533 to Henry VIII, who was disappointed to not have a son
   • When she came into power in 1558, England was torn by religious strife, almost bankrupt, lost the last of it’s French possessions, and Spain posed a threat to them
   • She began her rule at 44 years old.
   • She built a church of England that was too catholic or protestant
   • She needed to get the respect of the nation after the terrible rule of Mary I.
   • She used her gender as an asset to get their respect.
   • She showed love to them, and her subjects loved her.
   • The popes didn't like the queen as much; in 1570, Pope Pius V issued a papal bull excommunicating Elizabeth.
   • Supported new trading enterprises from Southeast asia, setting the stage for the British Empire
   • Started her rule on November 17, 1558.

2. The Renaissance

   • The Renaissance was the time period immediately following the middle ages.
   • This time period consisted of reviving interest in classical learning values of Greece and Rome
   • Renaissance art can be traced to Italy in the late 13th century and early 14th century
   • Some of the artwork from the time period, a lot from the most famous Renaissance artist, Giotto, made advances in the technique of representing the human body realistically
   • A lot of the art that was produced in the early Renaissance was commissioned by the wealthy people of Florence or by the government

3. Theater in Elizabethan England

   • There would be a floor in front of the stage with no chairs that the normal people would stand in.
   • Theaters would have seats above where the rich people sat in the gallery
   • There was a gallery behind the stage which was usually used by musicians and sometimes spectators.
   • Stagecraft is the skill or experience in writing or staging plays.
   • Some concepts used for stagecraft are design, lighting, stage machinery, makeup, sound, and costume design.
   • Stagecraft was based more on the culture of the time during the Elizabethan England.
   • The Blackfriar Theatre was located in the London.
   • The Blackfriar was a theatre where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed.
   • The first Blackfriar theatre was built over a monastery that was closed and Henry VIII’s rule.
   • The theatres had to close during the English Civil War in 1655.

4. William Shakespeare

   • William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
   • He died on April 23, 1616, which would have been his Fifty-second birthday, in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
   • William Shakespeare was an English poet, dramatist, and actor, considered the greatest dramatist of all time by many
   • He was born to John and Mary Shakespeare
   • He was married to Anne Hathaway from 1582-1616
   • He had three children named Hamnet Shakespeare, Susanna Hall, and Judith Quiney
   • Around 4 billion copies of William Shakespeare’s work has been sold
   • He has written several plays including Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet