Topic One (1.1): Introduction to William Shakespeare and Elizabethan England – Key Contexts
Introduction
As you know from AS course, the English playwright, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), is the world’s most famous literary figure. He lived and worked during the reigns of both Elizabeth I and James I, a time period sometimes known as the English Renaissance or the early modern period. His works include 38 plays and 154 sonnets, and these are still widely studied by students around the globe over 400 years after his death. His plays are frequently performed and adapted, both on stage and in film.
Hamlet is a tragedy written towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I. It tells the story of Prince Hamlet whose dead father’s ghost (Old Hamlet) asks him to avenge his murder. He reveals that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who has now taken over as King of Denmark and has married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Hamlet, already grieving and disgusted by his mother for remarrying her brother-in-law, and so quickly after her husband’s death, vows to avenge his father’s murder. The play is set in Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Many of Shakespeare’s plays are set in European countries and are adapted from existing stories and folklore, but in them, he critiques elements of English society and social customs of the time.
In this topic, you will learn about Elizabethan society and the key attitudes and values underpinning it. These historical and social contexts will enrich your understanding of important events, characters and themes in the play and Shakespeare’s presentation of them. They can and should be used as contextual factors in your essays where relevant.
Review
- You should have already read, and made notes on, the resources below as part of your AS course, but you may find it helpful to revisit these now before beginning more detailed work on Hamlet.
- If you have only joined Wolsey Hall for AL, and did not study AS with us, please ensure you use these resources to make notes now:
Shakespeare’s Life (Recap of AS Material)
- Use the following to make brief notes on Shakespeare’s life:
EXPLORE – Overview of Shakespeare’s Life (Cliffnotes)
READ – William Shakespeare – Factsheet (Globe Education)
EXPLORE – The Life and Legacy of England’s Bard: Timeline with Pictures (BBC)
- Listen to the following discussion about Shakespeare’s life and add any helpful additional detail to your notes:
LISTEN – Shakespeare’s Life: Discussion on Radio 4’s In Our Time (BBC)
- Now read about London in Shakespeare’s time using the following factsheet (this was also covered at AS):
READ – London in Shakespeare’s Time – Factsheet (Globe Education)
Shakespeare’s Works (Recap of AS Material)
- The following factsheet gives an overview of writing plays in Shakespeare’s time. Read it and make brief notes:
READ – Writing Plays in Shakespeare’s Time: Factsheet (Globe Education)
- Now listen to the following discussion about Shakespeare’s work and add any helpful extra details to your notes. This is all helpful background literary context.
LISTEN – Shakespeare’s Work: Discussion on Radio 4’s In Our Time (BBC)
Tasks
Elizabeth I and Elizabethan England
N.B. Although there is some overlap with the materials you covered at AS on the Jacobean era, the following materials relate to Hamlet specifically, so you must work through all of these.
- For a brief overview of the key events of Elizabeth I’s life and reign, visit the following website:
EXPLORE – Elizabeth I (1533-1603) (Hampton Court Palace)
- In your essays, as you did at AS, you will need to make brief references to relevant social and cultural contexts. The following PowerPoints give an overview of Elizabethan society and some of the important beliefs and ideas that Shakespeare’s audience would have held. These underpin the characters’ attitudes in the play and even some of the imagery Shakespeare uses so it’s important to understand more about them.
- Read through them and make notes:
READ – Key Context 1: Elizabeth I and Elizabethan England (PowerPoint)
READ – Key Context 2: Elizabethan and Jacobean Belief Systems (PowerPoint)
- The following article gives a helpful overview of Renaissance culture. Read it carefully and add to your notes.
EXPLORE – Overview of Renaissance Culture (The British Library)
- This free poster from The English Review gives a helpful and brief overview of a range of different contextual factors you may consider in your essays:
READ – Hamlet (Text in Context) Poster (The English Review – Hodder) (PDF)