William Shakespeare Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-

Avon, in England. His father, John, was a glove-maker. His
mother, Mary, was a farmer’s daughter. He had two older
sisters, two younger sisters and three younger brothers.

William probably studied Latin, Greek and history, and left

school when he was 14 or 15. Three years later he married Anne Hathaway. They had a
daughter called Susanna and twins named Judith and Hamnet. Sometime before 1590
he left Stratford and went to London, the capital city of England.

London’s first theatre opened in 1576. Shakespeare worked in London as an actor and
then started writing plays too. In 1593 the plague, a terrible disease, killed thousands
of people and theatres were closed. During this time William started to write poems
instead of plays. His short poems are called sonnets.

Shakespeare helped build a new theatre called The Globe. It opened in 1599. It was
round and had space for 3,000 people. At The Globe some people stood in front of the
stage and others had seats. The audience shouted, clapped, booed and laughed while
they watched plays. Musicians created special noises to make the plays more exciting
and they had a cannon to make big bangs! No women acted in Shakespeare’s time:
men and boys played all the parts.

Shakespeare wrote comedies with happy endings, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
He wrote tragedies which had sad endings, like Romeo and Juliet. His history plays are
about kings and queens, like Henry V. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, maybe more. He
loved language and invented new words and expressions that we still use today.

William became rich and famous. He had houses in London and in Stratford. He died
when he was 52 on 23 April 1616. His plays and poetry were very popular 400 years
ago and they are still popular today. People all over the world love his work because
he wrote wonderful stories about very interesting people.
 William Shakespeare

What’s the order?

Watch the story and put the sentences in order.

He helped build a new theatre called The Globe, which opened in 1599.

Three years later he married Anne Hathaway and they had three children.

1 William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, in England.

He died when he was 52 on 23 April 1616.

He worked in London as an actor and then started writing plays.

William left school when he was 14 or 15.

He wrote at least 38 plays, and was rich and famous.

Sometime before 1590 he left Stratford and went to London.

1. Choose the answer!

Watch the story. Circle the correct answer.

a. Two of William Shakespeare’s children were . sons / twins / brothers

b. He started writing poems when were closed. schools / libraries / theatres

c. The Globe Theatre was . round / square / long

d. Musicians made special to make it more exciting. food / noises / pictures

e. All the characters were played by men and . women / girls / boys

f. He wrote comedies, tragedies and plays. geography / science / history

g. He invented lots of new English and expressions. words / letters / sounds

h. His and poetry are still very popular today. songs / plays / letters
Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare
Many years ago in Verona, Italy, there were two families.

‘We are the Capulets.’

‘We are the Montagues.’

These families are always fighting. The Montagues have a son, Romeo. The Capulets
have a daughter, Juliet.

One night the Capulets have a party and Romeo goes. He meets Juliet and they fall in
love. Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, sees Romeo and is very angry.

‘He’s a Montague! Get him!’

‘Oh Romeo, why are you a Montague?’

Romeo and Juliet talk and decide to get married.

They know that their families will be very angry so they go to Friar Lawrence and are
married in secret.

The next day, Tybalt sees Romeo. He is still angry with Romeo and wants to fight him.
Romeo doesn’t want to fight but his best friend, Mercutio, does.

‘If you won’t fight him, I will!’

Mercutio fights Tybalt. Tybalt kills Mercutio! Romeo is so upset he fights Tybalt and
kills him too!

The Prince of Verona is very angry and sends Romeo away. Juliet goes to Friar
Lawrence for help.
‘Here is a special drink. You will sleep for two days. Your family will think you are dead
but you will wake up. Then you and Romeo can be free together.’

Friar Lawrence sends Romeo a letter to tell him the plan. But Romeo doesn’t get the
message. He hears that Juliet is dead!

Romeo is so upset he buys some poison and goes to see Juliet.

‘Now I will stay with you forever.’

Too late, Juliet wakes up! She sees what happened.

‘Oh no! You didn’t leave any poison for me but here is your knife.’

Romeo and Juliet are both dead. Friar Lawrence tells the Capulets and Montagues
what happened. They are so sad they agree not to fight any more.
Romeo and Juliet

1. What’s the order?

Watch the story and put the sentences in order.

Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love.

Romeo kills Tybalt so the Prince of Verona sends him away.

1 The Capulet family and the Montague family are always fighting.

Romeo is so sad that he kills himself, then Juliet sees Romeo is dead and she kills herself.

Romeo doesn’t get Friar Lawrence’s letter and thinks Juliet is dead.

Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, kills Mercutio, Romeo’s friend.

The families are so sad that they agree not to fight any more.

Juliet makes a plan with Friar Lawrence to drink a special drink and pretend to be dead.

2. True or false?
Watch the story. Circle true or false for these sentences.

a. The Capulet family and the Montague family don’t like each other. true false

b. Romeo meets Juliet at a Montague party. true false

c. Romeo and Juliet get married in secret. true false

d. Tybalt kills Mercutio, then Romeo kills Juliet. true false

e. The Prince of Verona is very happy and sends Romeo away. true false

f. Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a drink to make her sleep. true false

g. Friar Lawrence sends Romeo a letter to tell him the plan. true false

h. Romeo buys a knife and goes to see Juliet. true false

i. Romeo and Juliet kill themselves. true false

j. The Prince of Verona tells the families what happened. true false
Hamlet Shakespeare
Many years ago in Denmark there was a prince called
Hamlet.

One day Hamlet’s father, the king, dies suddenly and

Hamlet is very sad.

After this, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, gets married again very quickly. She marries her
husband’s brother, Claudius, and Claudius is now the king!

‘Aargh! How could you do this to me!’

One night Hamlet’s friend, Horatio, tells him that there is a ghost in the castle. It is the
ghost of Hamlet’s father!

‘Claudius killed me with poison! Hamlet, you must punish Claudius for me!’

Hamlet is confused. He doesn’t know if he believes the ghost and he doesn’t know what
to do.

Hamlet now acts very strangely. He is mean and angry, and he upsets his girlfriend,
Ophelia.

‘Go away! Leave me alone!’

‘Oh, he is so mean!’

One day a group of actors come to the castle and Hamlet makes a plan. He asks the
actors to change their play. The new play will show a king poisoned like Hamlet’s
father.

‘With this play I will catch the king.’

When Claudius watches the play he looks very worried and runs away. Hamlet sees
him and he knows the truth.

Claudius is very worried about Hamlet now and makes a plan with Ophelia’s brother,
Laertes.

‘You will fight him and we will put poison on the sword and in his drink too.’

Laertes and Hamlet fight. Laertes cuts Hamlet, but in the fight Hamlet takes Laertes’
sword and cuts him with it too!

‘Here, Hamlet, drink this.’

‘No, thank you, Mother. I’m not thirsty.’

‘No, don’t!’

‘It was him! He poisoned us all!’

Finally, Hamlet knows he must stop Claudius.

‘Aargh! Have this and this!’

All the royal family are now poisoned and Hamlet tells his friend that there must be a
new king.

‘Goodbye, my prince.’
Hamlet

1. What’s the order?

Watch the story and put the sentences in order.

Hamlet asks some actors to perform a play showing a king poisoned like Hamlet’s father.

Hamlet and Laertes cut each other with the poisoned sword.

1 Hamlet’s father dies and his mother gets married again to Claudius.

Claudius and Laertes make a plan to kill Hamlet.

The ghost of Hamlet’s father tells Hamlet that Claudius killed him.

Hamlet kills Claudius with the poisoned sword and the poisoned drink.

Claudius runs away from the play so Hamlet knows that Claudius killed his father.

Hamlet’s mother drinks the poisoned drink.

2. True or false?
Watch the story. Circle true or false for these sentences.

a. Hamlet’s mother gets married to his father’s brother, Claudius. true false

b. Hamlet sees the ghost of his friend. true false

c. The ghost says that Claudius killed him with a knife. true false

d. Hamlet is confused and doesn’t know what to do. true false

e. When Claudius watches the play he is very happy. true false

f. Hamlet knows that Claudius killed his father. true false

g. Claudius and Laertes want to kill Hamlet. true false

h. Hamlet and Laertes dance. true false

i. Hamlet’s mother sleeps from the poisoned drink. true false

j. Finally, Hamlet knows he must stop Claudius. true false

Macbeth Shakespeare
Macbeth and his best friend, Banquo, are brave soldiers.
One day, after a battle, three ugly witches come out of the
fog.

‘Macbeth. You will be the new King of Scotland! He, he, he,
ha, ha, ha!’

‘Me? The new King of Scotland?’

Macbeth writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth. He tells her what the witches said.

‘Yes! If he is the king, I will be the queen!’

King Duncan comes for dinner and sleeps at Macbeth’s castle. When Duncan is asleep,
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to kill him.

‘I really want to be king. But I am very frightened about killing Duncan. He is a good
king …’

Macbeth sees a knife in front of him. He knows it is wrong, but he decides to kill Duncan.

‘I must do this quickly.’

Duncan is dead but Macbeth feels bad about killing him.

‘It’s OK. Nobody will know our secret.’

Macbeth becomes king but he is worried that his friend Banquo knows he killed
Duncan. He decides that Banquo must die too and he orders his servant to kill him.

‘I am king, but I am not happy. I feel terrible about killing Duncan and Banquo and I am
worried people will know my secret.’
Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost in front of him. He’s very frightened. He goes to see the
witches again.

Macbeth asks the witches if he’s in danger.

‘Don’t worry. Everything will be OK.’

‘Yes, everything will be fine.’

Macbeth believes the witches but they were lying.

‘He, he, he, ha, ha, ha!’

Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking. She wanted to be queen but now she feels terrible. She
understands that it is wrong to kill.

An army comes to attack the castle. The people know that Macbeth killed Duncan.

‘The witches said I was safe. They lied to me!’

Macbeth is dead and now the people have a good, new king.
Macbeth

1. What’s the order?

Watch the story and put the sentences in order.

Macbeth feels terrible about killing Duncan and Banquo.

Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to kill King Duncan.

1 Three witches tell Macbeth that he will be the new King of Scotland.

An army attacks the castle and kills Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth now understands that it is wrong to kill.

Lady Macbeth is very happy because she wants to be the queen.

The witches tell Macbeth that everything will be OK.

Macbeth tells his servant to kill Banquo.

2. True or false?
Watch the story. Circle true or false for these sentences.

a. Three witches tell Macbeth that he will be the new King of Scotland. true false

b. Lady Macbeth knows if Macbeth is the king, she will be the queen. true false

c. Macbeth is happy about killing King Duncan. true false

d. Macbeth thinks Banquo knows that he killed Duncan. true false

e. Macbeth is not happy being king. true false

f. Macbeth is excited people will know his secret. true false

g. Macbeth goes to see the army again. true false

h. Lady Macbeth is dancing because she feels terrible. true false

i. Macbeth sees the army and knows that the witches lied to him. true false

j. Macbeth is killed by the witches. true false