STAGE

William Shakespeare
2 Jennifer Bassett

Introduction

This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only

and should not be given to students.

The story
An old man called Toby is telling the story. He lives
very quietly in Stratford-upon-Avon now, remembering
the past and his friendship with ‘the greatest man in
England’ – William Shakespeare. He first met William,
or Will, as he calls him, when they were both boys,
and Will persuaded Toby to help him steal a farmer’s
Background to the story
apples. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
For most of Shakespeare’s life, Queen Elizabeth I
Will lived in Stratford with his father, sister, and
ruled England (1558–1603). This was a wonderful
brothers, and Toby was surprised to discover that
time for writers and poets, as the Queen was an
he went to school every day. Will loved reading, and
intelligent woman who loved the theatre and who
wanted to be a writer. The boys made lots of plans to
was happy to encourage great writers. King James I
get away from Stratford, because they wanted more
(1603–1625), who became king when she died, also
excitement and freedom, but nothing came of their
enjoyed watching plays, and employed Shakespeare
ideas. Then in 1582 Will had to marry Anne Hathaway,
and his friends to write and act plays for him. But
a young woman eight years older than him, because
things changed under King Charles I (1625–1649),
she was expecting his baby. For a short time Will was
because the Puritans began to grow more powerful.
happy in Stratford with his young family (twins were
They were people who believed strongly in God and in
born in 1585), but soon he decided that he wanted
simple rules, and they were against drinking, dancing
to be an actor and to write plays. The only place
or going to the theatre. The king and parliament could
where he could do that was London, so Toby and Will
not agree, and in 1649, the year when this story is
moved there, and joined a company of actors. Will
being told, King Charles was beheaded by the English
worked very hard, acting, writing, and learning all the
Parliament.
time. His plays were performed in many theatres,
Stratford-upon-Avon is a small market town in
and soon the whole of London knew the name of
central England, where William Shakespeare was born
William Shakespeare. He had many friends all over
and buried. Young artists and writers usually prefer to
the country, both men and women. He wrote beautiful
live in a big city like London, where there are more
poems, but he was most famous for his plays, which
people to meet, ideas to discuss, and opportunities
were extremely popular. The Queen herself loved
for work.
them, and always asked to see his latest one. Will had
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is the most
some sadness in his personal life, however. He was
famous English dramatist and poet. He wrote a large
not very happy with his wife, and his only son died at
number of poems, but he is best known for his plays,
the age of eleven. But he became very rich, and was
including Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice,
always busy with his writing. He and some others
Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth,
had a new theatre built, called the Globe, and many
Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest. He used
of his best plays were performed there. He died of
such rich and poetic language that critics are still
a fever in 1616, and was buried in Stratford, but Toby
finding hidden meanings in his work, and his plays
thinks that people will never forget his old friend Will
are frequently performed and discussed in schools,
Shakespeare.
universities and theatres around the world.

164
 STAGE
William Shakespeare
2 Pre-reading activity

Match the words with the pictures

1 7

2 4 8

a The river Thames froze right up to

5
Westminster.
b When Will left school, he worked for
his father in Henley Street.
3
c ‘The theatre’s on fire!’
d All kinds of people . . . Will
Shakespeare could please them all.
e It was a good party at the Mermaid,
6 I heard.
f In September we opened the Globe
theatre.
g We were riding back to Stratford
and stopped for the night in Oxford.
h We used this door when a ghost
came on in a cloud of smoke.

To the teacher

Aim: To familiarize students with the setting
Time: 15 minutes
Organization: Give one copy of the worksheet to
each student or to each pair of students. When they
have matched the pictures and the captions, ask the
following questions:
1 What do you already know about William
Shakespeare?
2 Have you discovered any more about him and his
life from the information above? Tell your partner
or the class when he lived, where he lived, and
how he lived.
Key: 1d, 2b, 3f, 4h, 5a, 6g, 7c, 8e

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 STAGE
William Shakespeare
2 While reading activity

Spot the mistakes

Correct the mistakes.

Toby first met Will Shakespeare in November 1579, just outside Cambridge. Will was a boy of 16,

with brown hair. He lived with his mother and the rest of the family in Henley Street, and went

to work in a shop every weekday. Toby lived with his parents and worked for his father, making

gloves. Will and Toby became friends for a short time, and Toby taught Will a lot about music. The

girls wanted to run away to sea and drive round England, like Donald Duck, but their plans did

not come to anything. Will was already writing short stories, and Toby thought that they were very

bad. Will had a lot to learn about dancing, and a lot to learn about horses too. One night in 1583

he told Toby that Mary Hathaway was going to have his baby. She was 26, and he was only 28. He

had to marry her, and now it seemed that he had a good chance of getting away from the busy town

of Stratford. Soon Will and his wife had four children, and at first he was happy. But when Will

was 25, Toby noticed a change in his brother. Will was very unhappy, and decided that he must stay

in Stratford. In the winter, companies of actors often came to act out their plays, and Will hated

talking to the actors and listening to all their boring photos of London. In the beginning, he decided

to move to Paris, and told his wife that he wanted to be a doctor, and write detective stories. She

was very pleased, but Will did not speak to her. He and Toby both found work with a theatre

company, and Toby became a good actor.

To the teacher

Where: At the end of Chapter 4, page 15
Aim: To help with summarizing and revision of
reading
Time: 15 minutes
Organization: Give each student or pair of students a
copy of the summary, and ask them to write in their
corrections. This activity includes a summary of the
first four chapters of the book. There are a number
of factual mistakes in the summary. Correct the
answers together or ask students to check in their
books.
Key: November 1579: October 1579; Cambridge:
Stratford; 16:15; brown: red hair; mother: father;
work in a shop: went to school; parents: sister and
uncle; father: uncle; gloves: shoes; short time: life;
Toby taught Will: Will taught Toby; music: books; girls:
boys; drive: sail; Donald Duck: Francis Drake; short
stories: poems; bad: good; about dancing: about
writing; horses: women; night: day; 1583: 1582; Mary
Hathaway: Anne Hathaway; 28:18; a good chance:
no chance; busy: quiet; four children: three children;
25: 23; his brother: his friend; stay: leave; winter:
summer; hated: loved; boring: exciting; photos:
stories; in the beginning: in the end; Paris: London;
doctor: actor; detective stories: plays; pleased: angry;
speak: listen; Toby became a good actor: Will became
a good actor

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 STAGE
William Shakespeare
2 After reading activity

Who’s who?

1 Elizabeth 8 A man with red 15 Will’s daughter 22 Didn’t like singing

hair or dancing
#
........................................

2 Will Shakespeare 9 A young woman 16 The best actor of 23 Always drinking

who married a his time and arguing
........................................ doctor

3 Toby 10 An old man now, 17 A clever writer 24 Liked having

with no teeth or good-looking men
........................................ hair around her

4 Anne Hathaway 11 A man who 18 Queen of England 25 Acted the part of

was eight years King Lear
........................................ younger than Will

5 Ben Jonson 12 A man with a 19 Will’s wife 26 Sometimes still

wonderful voice visits Toby
........................................

6 Susanna 13 A very serious 20 The most famous 27 Sits in his chair,

woman who often English writer remembering
........................................ went to church

7 Richard Burbage 14 A very, very clever 21 Will’s lifelong 28 Worked hard all
old woman friend his life for his
........................................ family

To the teacher

Aim: To focus attention back on the characters
Time: 20 minutes
Organization: Give each student or group of
students a copy of the chart below. Ask them to
match up the names and the information. See how
much they can do without referring back to the book.
Key: 1: 14, 18, 24; 2: 8, 20, 28; 3: 10, 21, 27;
4: 13, 19, 22; 5: 11, 17, 23; 6: 9, 15, 26;
7: 12, 16, 25

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