Shakespeare Quarto Text

The Biography of William Shakespeare

  • What was a Quarto text?

  • Why were his plays documented in Quarto text?

  • Were plays stolen?

  • Payment for Plays?

  • Interesting information about the plays and quarto text of William Shakespeare

The 'Chandos' Picture of
William Shakespeare

 

Shakespeare Quarto Text

PLAGIARISM! PLAYS WERE COPIED!

  • Plays during the Elizabethan era were big business! Money!

  • The more Plays a Theatre produced the bigger the audience and the greater the profit!

  • Plays were written and then performed as soon as possible - they were not printed until after they were performed

  • Shakespeare was just paid a one-off fee for the play - there were no Royalties!

  • There were no Copyright Laws to protect Shakespeare's work!

  • The actors used 'foul papers' or prompts from the Playwrights own copy of the play which were produced as a Quarto text (sometimes the Playwright would pay a scribe to produce a better copy of the play)

  • So rivals from other Theatre companies would copy the plays!

  • Rival members would attend plays to produce unauthorised copies of plays - notes were made and copied as quickly as possible

  • These would be taken to the rival theatre and another version of the Play would be produced!

  • These unauthorised and inferior text copies of William Shakespeare's plays were produced as Quarto Texts

WHAT IS A QUARTO TEXT?

  • A Quarto is a sheet of paper folded in half and then in half again - thus creating four quarto sections

  • The reverse of the paper was also used for writing giving eight sections in all

  • Each of the 8 sections would be used as a page of the play

  • Shakespeare would have used a Quarto when writing his plays

  • His rivals would have written copies on a Quarto

  • The text on a Quarto was very basic with only limited stage directions

  • There are variations of Shakespeare plays due to Quarto Text - Foul Papers

  • As many of Shakespeare's plays were not printed in his lifetime changes to the original plays were inevitable made

  • Many of Shakespeare's plays were first printed seven years after his death in the First Folio

  • The content of the plays in the First Folio were committed to print from a fellow actor's memory or from the rough drafts or ' Foul Papers ' which had been written as Quarto Texts

  • Printers used the Quarto Texts and then sold the plays. They often made totally unauthorised changes to a play in order appeal to potential customers!

  • There are copies of these Quarto texts still in existence but none are believed to be in Shakespeare's own hand writing

  • The Shakespeare plays as detailed in the 'First Folio' are very much like the plays we read today

Shakespeare Quarto Text

William Shakespeares Life - Quarto - Text - Texts - Copyright - Quarto - Will - Wm - Bard - Writer - Author - Playwright - Poet - Dramatist - Williamshakespeareslife -  William Shakesphere - Shakespheres - Shakespere - Shakespear - Will - Wm - Shakspeare - Shaksper - Shakspeer - Williamshakespeare - Shakesphere - Williamshakespeares - Scriptwriter - Poetry - Plays - Prose - Writing style - Will - Quarto - Text - Texts - Copyright - Quarto - Wm - Shakespear Bio - Timeline Index - Fast Information - Short - Concise - Biography - Info - Bard - Stratford-upon-Avon - Quarto - Text - Texts - Copyright - Quarto - Biography - Life and Times - Shakespear Bio - William Shakesphere - Shakespheres - Shakespere - Shakespear - Shakspeare - Shaksper - Shakspeer - Williamshakespeare - Shakesphere Will - Wm - Williamshakespeares - Quarto - Text - Texts - Copyright - Quarto - Timeline Index - Fast Information - Short - Concise - Biography - Info - Bard - Writer - Author - Playwright - Poet - Dramatist - Scriptwriter - Poetry - Plays - Prose - Writing style - Will - Wm - Quarto - Text - Texts - Copyright - Quarto - Williamshakespeare - Written By Linda Alchin