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William Shakespeare FREE W eb A ctivities William Shakespeare The Tragedy of Richard III Adaptation and activities by Richard Elliott illustrated by Gianni De Conno William Shakespeare Characters The Tragedy of Richard III CHAPTER ONE 10 CHAPTER TWO 25 CHAPTER THREE 34 CHAPTER FOUR 45 CHAPTER FIVE 60 CHAPTER SIX 70 CHAPTER SEVEN 77 DOSSIERS The Renaissance: Art of Manners and the ‘Galateo’ 21 Niccolo Machiavelli 56 Richard III on screen and stage 86 INTERNET PROJECTS 43, 55, 67, 89 ACTIVITIES 16, 30, 39, 51, 65, 74, 82 AFTER READING 89 PLAYSCRIPT 91 PET Cambridge PET-style activities 16, 18, 19, 24, 30, 32, 33, 39, 41, 51, 54, 59, 65, 66, 68, 69, 75, 76, 82, 83 T: grade 5 Trinity-style activities 42, 66 im These symbols indicate the beginning and end of the passages linked to the listening activities. H ill www.biackcat-cideb.com are downloadable from our website William Shakespeare (1800-03) by the Romantic poet and painter William Blake (1757-1827), William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is probably the most famous playwright in the history of theatre. His plays have been translated into numerous languages and have been both performed and transformed into films the whole world over. However, not much is known about his life, as no personal records exist. This is not unusual for a writer who lived at that time. The information that does exist comes from birth, baptism and marriage certificates, court records and wills. Shakespeare was born into a middle class family in the market town of Stratford- upon-Avon in Warwickshire. This area is in the centre of England, south of Birmingham, and is famous for its artisans and fruit growers. Shakespeare was baptised in Holy Trinity Church on 26 April 1564 but was probably born several days before that. This is however, the earliest record of his life. His father, John Shakespeare, was a leather merchant and glove maker. He must have been an important man as by 1568 he was the mayor of the town. John married Mary Arden in 1557 and William was the third of their eight children. William learned to read and write at the local primary school and then probably continued his studies at grammar school where he learned Latin, history, logic and rhetoric. 4 The second documented event in William's life is his marriage to Anne Hathaway. They married in November 1582. His wife was eight years older than William when they married. They had a daughter, Susanna, who was born in May 1583 and twins, Hamnet and Judith, who were born in 1585. Unfortunately Hamnet died several years later when he was eleven. Shakespeare doesn't appear again in any official records until 1592 and no one really knows what he did during those seven years. Between 1585 and 1613 Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays. We can date Richard III to between 1591 and 1592, and was first performed by a theatre company called Lord Strange's Men. By 1594, he was acting and writing for the Lord Chamberlain's Men and was also one of their shareholders. The Lord Chamberlain's Men became the most important dramatic company in England and from 1603 enjoyed the patronage of James I. In 1597 William and his friends built a new theatre in Southwark on the south bank of the Thames in London. They called it the Globe Theatre and it was one of the most important theatres in the area. The open-air, octagonal amphitheatre had three levels and held up to 3,000 people. It was burned down in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII. William became a rich man and so he started to invest some of his money at home in Stratford. In 1597 he bought the second largest house in Stratford, called New Place, for £60. This was the new family home. Then in 1602 he bought a piece of land and later some cottages. He then retired to Stratford with his family where he lived the life of a local businessman. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church on 25 April. Q Comprehension check Answer these questions. 1 Where and when was Shakespeare born? 2 What do we know about Shakespeare’s parents? 3 What did William learn at school? 4 What did Shakespeare call his children? 5 For which two theatre companies did Shakespeare work? 6 What was the name of his theatre? The Characters From the left: Duke of Clarence, The Duchess of York, Edward and Richard, Lady Anne, Richard, The Duke of Buckingham, King Edward IV, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Margaret, Lord Hastings. 1 Cjeorge, Duke of Cfarence, 'Richard's brother. 2 T’he Duchess of York, Richard (jeorge and Edwards mother. 3 Edward, the young Rrince ofWafes and Richard, the young Duke of York, Edward QV’s sons. 4 Lady (Anne who becomes (Anne Duchess of (jfoucester. 5 Richard, Duke of Cjfoucester, who becomes Richard ddd. 6 T’he Duke of (Buckingham, Richards friend. 7 Ring Edward TV, the obdest brother. 8 Queen Efizabeth, Edward dV’s wife. 9 Queen Margaret, Ring O-fenry VTs widow. 10 Lord ddastings, the ford chamberfain. 8 A C T I V I T I E S Before you read Q Reading Read the first part of Chapter One. For each question put a tick (/) in the box under T (true) if the sentence is correct, or in the box under F (false) if the sentence is not correct. T F □ □ 1 The Wars of the Roses weren’t over. □ □ 2 Henry VI is the new King. □ □ 3 Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, is not very happy. □ □ 4 He wants to be king of England one day. □ □ 5 Richard wanted his brothers to trust each other. □ □ 6 The guards are taking the Duke of Clarence to the tower. 7 Brakenbury, the keeper of the tower, doesn’t want the Duke □ □ of Clarence and the Duke of Gloucester to speak to each other. □ □ 8 Lord Hastings is still in prison. m o Listen to the beginning of Chapter One. Look at this list of words that appear in the beginning of Chapter. One. Can you remember what they meant? cunning hunchback barked prophecies begged 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 3 ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 ....................................................................................................................................................... Now look at these sentences about the beginning of Chapter One. For each question, complete the sentence with one of the words above. 1 Richard was a very clever and...............................man. He was always making nasty plans. 2 When dogs saw Richard in the street they often..............................at him because he was very ugly. 3 Magicians and soothsayers predict the future. They make.... about what they see. 4 Richard was deformed. He had a ................................. 5 Richard wanted the King to free the Duke of Clarence. He.............................him to do it. 9 CHAPTER ONE The Wars of the Roses 1 were over. At the Battle of Tewkesbury 2 the House of York, the white rose, defeated the House of Lancaster, the red rose. King Henry VI was dead and Edward IV was the new King of England. Edward and the House of York celebrated long into the night. However, one member of Edward’s family, his brother Richard the Duke of Gloucester, didn’t join in with the celebrations. He was happier when the two houses were at war with one another and he didn’t know what to do with himself now that England was at peace. He was a very clever and cunning man but was ugly and a hunchback. He was determined to be powerful one day. Here he was now, waiting alone, by the Tower of London. He spoke, ‘Now is the winter of our discontent. 3 The war is over, my brother the 1. The Wars of the Roses : were civil wars in England between the houses of Lancaster and York (the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively). They were fought between 1455 and 1485. 2. The Battle of Tewkesbury : one the most important battles of the Wars of the Roses, 4 May, 1471. 3. Now is the winter of our discontent. One of the most famous lines from the play. England is at peace after many years of war. Everyone should be happy but Richard is not. 10