READING SHAKESPEARE.WEB. William Shakespeare. Step Three B1.2. Love in Shakespeare: Five Stories FREE WEBACTIVITIES. audio

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1 Step Three B1.2 READING SHAKESPEARE.WEB William Shakespeare Love in Shakespeare: Five Stories FREE WEBACTIVITIES audio CD

2 William Shakespeare Love in Shakespeare Adaptation and activities by Jennifer Gascoigne Illustrated by Gianni De Conno

3 Editor: Michela Bruzzo Design and Art Direction: Nadia Maestri Computer graphics: Carla Devoto, Simona Corniola Picture research: Alice Graziotin 2011 Black Cat, Genoa, London First edition: January 2011 Picture credits: Cideb Archive; Michel Setboun/Corbis: 26cr; Earl & Nazima Kowall/CORBIS: 26bl; Getty Images: 26br; De Agostini Picture Library: 29; Universal Pictures/WebPhoto: 30; Uip/WebPhoto: 31; Getty Images: 44cl; Luis Marden/National Geographic Society/Corbis: 72; PoodlesRock/Corbis: 109. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. We would be happy to receive your comments and suggestions, and give you any other information concerning our material. info@blackcat-cideb.com ISBN Book + CD Printed in Italy by Litoprint, Genoa

4 Contents About the Author 4 The Taming of the Shrew 7 PART ONE 9 PART TWO 20 Romeo and Juliet 33 PART ONE 35 PART TWO 45 Twelfth Night 53 PART ONE 55 PART TWO 64 Othello 75 PART ONE 77 PART TWO 86 Antony and Cleopatra 93 PART ONE 95 PART TWO 102 DOSSIERS Courtship and Marriage in Elizabethan Times 29 Elizabethan Acting Companies 72 INTERNET PROJECTS 43, 71 ACTIVITIES 8, 16, 24, 40, 50, 60, 70, 83, 91, AFTER READING 110 PET Cambridge PET-style activities 8, 16, 18, 24, 28, 34, 42, 44, 50, 54, 60, 69, 70, 76, 83, 91, 99, 100, 101, 109 T: GRADES 5 Trinity-style activities 27, 71 The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night are recorded on the accompanying CD. Part two from Othello and Antony and Cleopatra are downloadable from our website: 0 These symbols indicate the beginning and end of the passages linked to the listening activities. passage downloadable from our site.

5 William Shakespeare ( ) by the Romantic poet and painter William Blake ( ). William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is probably the most well-known English playwright. His plays have been translated into many languages and are performed all over the world. There are many famous film versions of them too. However, not much is known about his life. The information that exists comes from birth, baptism and marriage certificates, court 1 records and wills 2. William was born in 1564 in the Warwickshire town of Stratford-upon-Avon. We know this from the earliest record we have of his life the record of his baptism. This took place on Wednesday 26 April There is no proof of his real date of birth but he was probably born three days earlier on 23 April, St. George s day (St. George is the patron saint of England). The baptism record also tells us that William s father was called John Shakespeare. He was a town official and a local businessman. He worked with white leather, which was used to make things like purses and gloves. William s mother was called Mary Arden. She was the youngest of eight daughters. She inherited 3 a lot of her father s land in a nearby village called Wilmcote when he died. 1. court : Court of law. 2. will : a legal document that explains what you want done with your money and possessions when you die. 3. inherited : money or property received from someone who has died. 4

6 John and Mary had eight children and William was the third. However, three of his brothers and sisters died when they were still children. William probably attended the King s New Grammar School in Stratford because of his father s status in the town. At grammar schools, boys between the ages of 7 and 14 were taught to read and write. They also studied Latin and Greek. We don t know for how long William attended the school but we know that he didn t continue his education when he left. So, although his works are studied in universities now, Shakespeare didn t go to one himself. The second documented event in William s life is his marriage to Anne Hathaway. They married in November He was eighteen and she was twenty-six. Anne was already expecting their first child, Susanna, who was baptised on the 26 May Baptism records show that Anne also had twins in February They were called Hamnet and Judith but sadly Hamnet, William s only son, died in There isn t very much information about what William did between the years 1578 and 1592, so that part of his life is a mystery. However, there is evidence that in 1592 he was living in London. Nobody really knows why he left his wife and children, but perhaps it was because he was wanted for poaching 4 and went to London to escape prosecution 5. By 1594, he was not only acting and writing for the Lord Chamberlain s Men but was also one of their business managers. The company of actors was very popular with theatre-goers and even Elizabeth I went to some of their performances. In 1597 William and his friends built a new theatre in Southwark, London s Bankside district. They called it the Globe Theatre and it was one of four most important theatres in the area. The others were the Swan, the Rose, and the Hope. The open-air, octagonal amphitheatre had three levels and held up to 3,000 spectators. William made a lot of money from the theatre and his plays and soon he was a rich man. He started to invest some of his money in his home town of 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 near Stratford. He was able to make enough money from the income of 4. poaching : illegally catching or killing an animal on someone else s property. 5. prosecution : the act of being formally accused and judged in court for a crime. 5

7 these properties to live without working. However, he stayed in London until 1610, when he finally returned to his family in Stratford. There he lived the life of a respected businessman. William Shakespeare died on 23 April Just four weeks before his death, on 25th March 1616, he made his will so perhaps he knew that he was going to die. His will is famous because in it Shakespeare leaves most of his possessions to his daughter, Susanna, and only the second best bed to his wife Anne. The Globe Theatre. This sounds unusual but we must remember that by law Anne also had the right to one-third of his estate as well as the right to live at New Place for the rest of her life. William Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. A request to be left to rest in peace and a curse on the people who try to move his bones is written on his tomb. Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones. 1 Comprehension check Answer the following questions. 1 How do we know that Shakespeare was born in April 1564? 2 Why was Shakespeare probably a pupil at the Grammar School in Stratford? 3 What sad event happened in 1596? 4 What was the name of Shakespeare s acting company? 5 When did he finally return to Stratford to live? 6 What did he leave to his wife in his will? Glosses for page taming : training a wild animal to obey you. 2. shrew : a small animal like a mouse; (here) an aggressive woman. 6

8 1 The Taming 1 of the Shrew 2

9 A C T I V I T I E S Before you read 1 Look at the list of characters in the story before you start reading the story. Characters in the story: Baptista Minola: gentleman of Padua Katharina: Baptista Minola s elder daughter Bianca: Baptista Minola s younger daughter Petruchio: gentleman of Verona Gremio and Hortensio: two men who would like to marry Bianca Setting: the cities of Padua and Verona in Northern Italy 2 2 PET 3 Listening Listen to the beginning of Part One. You will hear a conversation between Baptista Minola, his daughters and Hortensio and Gremio. Decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect. If it is correct, put a tick ( ) in the box under A for YES. If it is not correct, put a tick ( ) in the box under B for NO. 1 Katharina frightens men. 2 Katharina wants to marry Gremio. 3 Baptista decides to lock Bianca in the house because he doesn t want her to marry. 4 Bianca likes studying. 5 Hortensio knows someone who wants to marry Katharina. A YES Vocabulary Listen again to the beginning of Part One. Complete the sentences with a word from the list. You will hear the words in the recording. B NO bad-tempered court dowry pestering suitors 1 Hortensio and Gremio wanted to marry Bianca. They were her Every time they saw Baptista, they asked for his permission to see her. This annoyed him. Stop... me! he told them. 3 Katharina was always angry about something or with someone. She was Hortensio and Gremio wanted to spend time with Bianca because it was important for a man to... a woman before asking her to marry him. 5 Rich men like Baptista could give their daughters a lot of money when they got married. This large and generous... was attractive to some men who were looking for a wife. 8

10 PART ONE t was mid-morning in the city of Padua and the main square was full of people. Baptista Minola was there with his two daughters, Katharina and Bianca. Bianca s two suitors, Hortensio and Gremio, were there too. Katharina didn t have any suitors. She was a pretty girl but she was very bad-tempered and men were frightened of her because she shouted at them. She shouted a lot at her sister too. Bianca had a completely different character. She was quiet and sweet and she was also prettier than Katharina. That morning Hortensio and Gremio were pestering Baptista for permission to court Bianca and he was getting a little annoyed. How many times do I have to tell you, gentlemen! he said. The answer is no! I have decided that Katharina must marry first because she s the eldest. That s ridiculous, father! Katharina shouted angrily when she heard this. I don t want to marry, and I m certainly not going to marry one of these two idiots! Bianca s suitors weren t happy about Baptista s decision either. But Baptista, Hortensio said. That means that Bianca will never marry because her sister will never find husband. 2 9