Week 2: The Plays


In class this week Angelo started us out with Vocabulary and Ms. Marina did a presentation on God, Religion, and Superstition during Shakespeare’s time.  Ms. Ursula Taught us all about the characters in hamlet.  She also went over the entire summary of hamlet before we read in class Act I scenes 1-2.  We ran out of time so we will finish the lecture on the types of plays next class.

Presentation: God, Religion, and Superstition given by: Ms. Marina
The two major religions in Elizabethan England in the 1500's were the Catholic and Protestant religions. In Shakespeare’s time the law said that you had to go to church every week.  England at the time had no separation between church and state. Traditionally, the country was ruled politically by the king and spiritually by the Roman Catholic Church. However, Shakespeare's was the first generation in which the monarch, rather than the Pope, served as the country's spiritual head. The shift to Protestantism came shortly before Shakespeare's birth, during King Henry VIII's rule.

Ignorance, Lack of Modern scientific knowledge, Insecurity, fear, myths and false conceptions contributed towards superstition. Bad luck superstitions included shoes on a table, spilling salt or pepper, black cat, a pot stirred counter-clockwise, leaving the door open behind you, keeping a peacock's feather, and a lunar eclipse.  Good luck superstitions include the seventh son of the seventh son, touch a man about to be executed, cow breathing on you, and spitting into a fire.

A superstition that was most influential to them was that witches exist. Witches were also blamed for mostly everything unexplainable -- the plague, famine, diseases and low crop yields during harvest time.
It was said that red hair meant that the person has a short temper.
It was during this era the saying "God Bless You" following a sneeze originated. The Elizabethans used this saying to ward off the devil that could enter one's body when you open your mouth to sneeze.’
Ring Around the Rosy is game in which a song is sung with the phrase "pocket full of posy." The song is based on an Elizabethan superstition. Many Elizabethans believed that carrying flowers in their pockets would protect them from the plague. Elizabethans also commonly believed that burning scented wood and carrying bouquets offered plague protection.

Assignment Reminders:
September 26th Presentation: Romeo (Haakon)
September 26th Vocabulary ShaRE: Sampson (Ian)

Writing Assignment:
What does “frailty, thy name is woman” mean?  Are women more frail than men? Explain.

 Frailty means breakable, weak, or delicate in nature.

We had a class discussion on Hamlet describing all of womankind as frail and weak in character.  He was upset about his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage.

Bonus Question: What does “mote in the eye” mean?



Our New Class Shakespearean Names:


Brandi: Ms. Ursula

Amy: Ms. Marina

Donovon: Charles

Zeke: Adriano

Makayla: Patience

Gavin: Roderigo

Kimberly: Rosalind

Daniel: Angelo

Haakon: Romeo

Ava L.: Portia

Elise: Juliet

Ian: Sampson

Olivia: Titania

Ava B.: Bianca

Matt: Stephano



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