WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

“All the world´s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits
and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts.” (As You Like It, Act II,
Scene VII).

Conocido como “The Bard of Avon”, W. Shakespeare (1564-1616) es considerado el

escritor más dotado en la lengua inglesa. W.S escribió 154 sonetos, 38 obras y varios
poemas. Sus obras completas han sido traducidas en numerosos idiomas y sus obras
siguen siendo realizadas en todo el mundo.

En sus trabajos literarios, W.S expresa la complejidad y variedad de la vida humana a

través de personajes como reyes, reinas, hadas, brujas, tontos, borrachos, campesinos
y filósofos. Sus trabajos siguen teniendo un profundo impacto en los teatros, cultura,
educación, arte y películas.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon. The son of John
Shakespeare and Mary Arden, he was probably educated at the King Edward IV Grammar
School in Stratford, where he learned Latin and a little Greek and read the Roman dramatists.
At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, a woman seven or eight years his senior. Together
they raised two daughters: Susanna, who was born in 1583, and Judith (whose twin brother
died in boyhood), born in 1585.

Little is known about Shakespeare’s activities between 1585 and 1592. Robert Greene’s A
Groatsworth of Wit alludes to him as an actor and playwright. Shakespeare may have taught at
school during this period, but it seems more probable that shortly after 1585 he went to
London to begin his apprenticeship as an actor. Due to the plague, the London theaters were
often closed between June 1592 and April 1594. During that period, Shakespeare probably had
some income from his patron, Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated
his first two poems,Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594). The fomer was a
long narrative poem depicting the rejection of Venus by Adonis, his death, and the consequent
disappearance of beauty from the world. Despite conservative objections to the poem’s
glorification of sensuality, it was immensely popular and was reprinted six times during the
nine years following its publication.

In 1594, Shakespeare joined the Lord Chamberlain’s company of actors, the most popular of
the companies acting at Court. In 1599 Shakespeare joined a group of Chamberlain’s Men that
would form a syndicate to build and operate a new playhouse: the Globe, which became the
most famous theater of its time. With his share of the income from the Globe, Shakespeare
was able to purchase New Place, his home in Stratford.

While Shakespeare was regarded as the foremost dramatist of his time, evidence indicates
that both he and his contemporaries looked to poetry, not playwriting, for enduring fame.
Shakespeare’s sonnets were composed between 1593 and 1601, though not published until
1609. That edition, The Sonnets of Shakespeare, consists of 154 sonnets, all written in the form
of three quatrains and a couplet that is now recognized as Shakespearean. The sonnets fall
into two groups: sonnets 1-126, addressed to a beloved friend, a handsome and noble young
man, and sonnets 127-152, to a malignant but fascinating “Dark Lady," whom the poet loves in
spite of himself. Nearly all of Shakespeare’s sonnets examine the inevitable decay of time, and
the immortalization of beauty and love in poetry.

In his poems and plays, Shakespeare invented thousands of words, often combining or
contorting Latin, French, and native roots. His impressive expansion of the English language,
according to the Oxford English Dictionary, includes such words as: arch-villain, birthplace,
bloodsucking, courtship, dewdrop, downstairs, fanged, heartsore, hunchbacked, leapfrog,
misquote, pageantry, radiance, schoolboy, stillborn, watchdog, and zany.

Shakespeare wrote more than thirty plays. These are usually divided into four categories:
histories, comedies, tragedies, and romances. His earliest plays were primarily comedies and
histories such as Henry VI and The Comedy of Errors, but in 1596, Shakespeare wrote Romeo
and Juliet, his second tragedy, and over the next dozen years he would return to the form,
writing the plays for which he is now best known: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King
Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. In his final years, Shakespeare turned to the
romantic with Cymbeline, A Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest.

Only eighteen of Shakespeare’s plays were published separately in quarto editions during his
lifetime; a complete collection of his works did not appear until the publication of the First
Folio in 1623, several years after his death. Nonetheless, his contemporaries recognized
Shakespeare’s achievements. Francis Meres cited “honey-tongued” Shakespeare for his plays
and poems in 1598, and the Chamberlain’s Men rose to become the leading dramatic company
in London, installed as members of the royal household in 1603.

Sometime after 1612, Shakespeare retired from the stage and returned to his home in
Stratford. He drew up his will in January of 1616, which included his famous bequest to his
wife of his “second best bed.” He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later at
Stratford Church.
Los alumnos de 6 año buscarán y traerán información sobre William Shakespeare (en
inglés o español). La idea es que ellos sepan quién fue W. Shakespeare y porque fue y
es tan importante. Para conocerlo los alumnos realizarán al principio algunas
actividades muy simples relacionadas con la información que hayan traído a clases.

Luego de hablar de W.S, presentarlo y conocer dónde nació, cuando nació, a qué edad
se casó, cuántos hijos tuvieron, que escribió, cuando murió, etc… se realizarán las
siguientes actividades.

Luego la docente presentará palabras como:

Renaissance, sonnets, play, comedy, Elizabeth, theatre, Tragedy, globe.

Los alumnos y docentes interpretarán el significado de estas palabras y según la

información que ellos tengan discutirán porque estas palabras son importantes y
porque se relacionan con W.S

Una vez terminada la discusión los alumnos realizarn una sopa de letras, en la cual
tendrán que buscar las palabras nombradas anteriormente.
Como ya hemos dicho antes las obras escritas por este autor popular incluyeron
tragedias, comedias y obras históricas así como también poemas y sonetos. Pero…
¿Qué es un soneto? Un soneto es un poema de 14 líneas en pentámetro yámbico, con
un esquema de rima formal.

Se les presentará a los alumnos el soneto Nº53, en esta actividad ellos deberán prestar
atención a la pronunciación y a la rima de este soneto. Tendrán que estar atentos a la
rima porque la siguiente actividad es reconocer los sonidos /ei/ y /ia/ que aparecen
en el apellido SHAKESPEARE /seikspia/

Soneto 53
What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since every one hath, every one, one shade,
And you but one, can every shadow lend.
Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
Is poorly imitated after you;
On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,
And you in Grecian tires are painted new:
Speak of the spring, and foison of the year,
The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
The other as your bounty doth appear;
And you in every blessed shape we know.
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.
¿Cuál es tu sustancia, de qué estás hecho, que millones
de sombras extraordinarias te escoltan? Pues todos
tienen, cada uno, una sombra, y tú, sino uno, puedes
todas las sombras dar. Pinta a Adonis, y el retrato es
pobre imitación de ti; sobre la mejilla de Helena todo el
arte de la belleza pon, y tú en atuendo griego apareces
pintado de nuevo. Habla de la primavera y la abundante
cosecha del año: la una, sombra de tu belleza muestra,
la otra como tu esplendidez aparece, y a ti en toda forma
adorable te reconocemos. En toda gracia externa tienes
parte, pero tú como ninguno, ninguno como tú en
corazón constante.

–William Shakespeare
La profesora expondrá obras escritas por W.S. los alumnos deberán clasificarlas en
comedias o tragedias. Luego realizaran la siguiente actividad.

La profesora les mostrará a los alumnos un poster de “Romeo and Juliet”, y se les
hará una serie de preguntas relacionados a la obra.

QUESTIONS

1. What do you think the play Romeo and Juliet is about?

2. Do you think this play would be interesting to read? Why or why not?
3. Do you think that the story of Romeo and Juliet is important? Why or why not?
4. Define “tragedy” in your own words and give an example from real life (for example,
from the news, your life, or someone you know).
5. What does “tragic love” mean? Give an example of “tragic love” from stories, movies,
or television shows.

Estas preguntas serán realizadas en forma oral para estar más familiarizados con los
personajes.

Luego de responder estas preguntas se mostrara el tráiler oficial y un video con

pequeñas partes de la historia para que los alumnos se introduzcan más en la obra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S6IJWilpx4#t=19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwdX4K8fIWQ.Luego de mirar los videos los alumnos
responderán otra vez la pregunta Nº1.

Seguido, se mostrara una presentación de PowerPoint (Tragic Love: An Introduction

to Romeo and Juliet PowerPoint Presentation ), la presentación es una introducción a
R&J. Los SS deberán prestar mucha atención y tomar nota para luego completar la
actividad. La presentación se pasará dos veces, en la primera los alumnos la verán
completa sin interrupción y explicarán qué fue lo que entendieron y en la segunda se
irá haciendo una pausa para enfocarnos en vocabulario, personajes, etc.

Luego de mirar el PowerPoint los alumnos verán la última versión de R&J y al finalizar
completarán la siguiente actividad.

Romeo and Juliet: Summary

A family feud
 The story takes place in _________________, Italy, in the late _________________s.
 The ___________________ and the __________________, have been fighting for several
years.
 The ______________________ throw a big party.
 ____________________ Montague wants to go to the party to see Rosaline, a girl he
likes. Because of the feud, his family is not invited. He dresses in costume and
sneaks in anyway.

Falling in love
 Romeo sees a girl, ____________________, and falls in love. Soon he finds out that
she is a ___________________.
 Juliet sees __________________ and falls in love with him, too. She has no idea that
he is a member of the___________________ family.
 Juliet learns that Romeo is a _________________. She goes out on her balcony to
talk to the stars about her love for__________________.
 ___________ hears her and tells her he feels the same.

A secret marriage
 The next day Romeo and Juliet are _________________secretly by Romeo’s friend
_____________________.

A fight
 The same day that Romeo and Juliet are _______________, Romeo's cousin Benvolio
and his best friend, __________________, get into a fight with Juliet’s cousin Tybalt.
 _____________ is mad at Romeo for coming to the Capulets’ party, so he starts a
fight with Benvolio and Mercutio.
 __________ shows up. He does not want to fight Tybalt because he is married to
___________, but he cannot tell anyone.
 Romeo’s friends don’t understand why Romeo won’t fight so _____________ fights
Tybalt instead. ______________ kills Mercutio.
 Romeo is _______________ and kills _____________.
A banishment
 The ___________ of Verona tells Romeo that he must _________ the city forever and
never come back.
 Juliet is very sad because _____________ is gone.

A match-making father
 Juliet's __________________, who doesn’t know that Juliet is already married to
Romeo, decides to marry her to a man named _____________________.

A desperate plan
 Juliet goes to _______________________ for help.
 He gives her a potion to drink that will make her look _________________________,
even though she really will just be sleeping.
 The Friar says he will tell _______________ to come get her from the family
______________.

Some deadly gossip

 Before the ____________ can tell ______________ that _______________ is not really
dead, Romeo gets a message from a friend that _______________ is dead in Verona.
 Romeo wants to die beside his wife, so he buys ___________________ and goes to
Juliet's tomb.
 At the door of the ____________, Romeo fights and kills ______________.

The deaths of Romeo and Juliet

 Inside the tomb, Romeo drinks the _____________and dies next to ______________.
 One minute later, ____________ wakes up and sees Romeo _____________ next to
her.
 Friar Lawrence comes into the ______________ and tells Juliet what happened.
 Juliet takes Romeo’s _____________ and kills herself.

A lesson learned:
 The Montagues and Capulets learn a lesson from the _______________ of their
children. They agree to never ______________________ again.

TRAGEDY
 Romeo and Juliet is a ________________.
 Definition: a dramatic work that has a serious or ___________ theme. It has a
character that has many ____________ or weaknesses. A tragedy usually ends with
the _____________ of the _________ characters.

 Examples of Tragedy
o Examples of tragedy in our everyday life:

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 Thinking about Tragedy
o What T.V. shows or movies show a tragedy?
o
o
o
o
o
o How does real tragedy affect people’s lives?
 Tragic Love?
o You just learned the definition of tragedy. Romeo and Juliet is considered a “tragic
love story.” How would you define “tragic love”?
o How does tragic love affect teenagers today?

Finalmente luego de ver la presentación y mirar la película los alumnos expresarán

través de carteleras, dípticos, trípticos, dibujos, posters, noticias, etc. de que se trata
la obra R&J y que entendieron por “un trágico amor”.