Thursday 30 September 2010

Welcome to Shakespeare Inc.

You will not have seen this site before perhaps, but is is for your use during AS and A Level English Literature study at SSPP.

This week we are focusing on the Ghost's story in Act 1 scene 5 of "Hamlet"and on the meaning of the "context" of the play. The context of a work of literature includes:
  • historical background/time period
  • developments in science/art/literature
  • culture
  • social life of the time
  • religion/religious life of the time period
  • structure of society (e.g. class)
  • new discoveries
  • attitudes
Any of these may have influenced the writer and may be reflected in the literature of a time period.

Find out more about Shakespeare's time period and life in Elizabethan/Jacobean England using the links on the sidebars on this site. Make notes and keep them for the next lesson to discuss and present.

Homework:
  1. Read the whole of Act 1 in the script;
  2. Make notes on the major characters.