\u25cf Reign of the Tudor queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1.png?resize=809%2C1024&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Portrait (c.1588<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf London centre of culture and commerce beside The Common Citizens Elizabethan Theatre<\/strong> Gorboduc <\/p>\n\n\n\n Commedia dell\u2019arte By 1552, he bought the western portion of the William Shakespeare\u2019s birth is celebrated on 23 April Shakespeare\u2019s Family <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf In London, the Lord Chamberlain\u2019s Men (also called Lord Click to continue: Read Life of great dramatist William Shakespeare: History Part-2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf England emerged as the leading naval and
commercial power of Europe
\u25cf Defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588
\u25cf Spirit of nationalism
\u25cf Protestant Church firmly established
\u25cf Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir
Walter Raleigh pioneered the eastern navigations
and colonial trade<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image.png?resize=470%2C600&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
London in the Elizabethan Age<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
the Thames
\u25cf Growing population; dominant merchant class
\u25cf Immigrants from other towns
\u25cf A large number of poets and dramatists
\u25cf Drama most popular entertainment
\u25cf Noisy, dirty, narrow streets<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-2.png?resize=1024%2C542&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
\u25cf Unlike the gentry, the citizens
\u25cf generally lived in London
\u25cf derived their wealth from trade
\u25cf never attended the court
\u25cf sponsored entertainments
\u25cf ran the \u201capprentice system\u201d by which young men learned a
trade as an employee of a master
\u25cf From the citizens\u2019 perspective, the courtier was an immoral,
extravagant spendthrift, while the citizens themselves were
associated with the virtues of hard work, thrift and honesty
\u25cf The courtiers in turn derided the citizens as unfashionable and
vulgar.
\u25cf Strong ale common drink<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-3.png?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-4.png?resize=1024%2C637&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
\u25cf Round, wooden, roofless building
\u25cf Three galleries of seats
\u25cf Pit (no seats) cost a penny \u201cgroundlings\u201d
\u25cf Main stage
\u25cf 40 feet wide
\u25cf 27 feet projection into the pit
\u25cf Recessed inner stage (curtains and balcony)
\u25cf Music Room
\u25cf Provisions for Heaven and Hell<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-5.png?resize=417%2C500&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-6.png?resize=500%2C375&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-7.png?resize=1024%2C675&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-8.png?resize=744%2C300&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
The First Folio (1623)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf Titled \u201cMr. William Shakespeares Comedies,
Histories, & Tragedies\u201d
\u25cf Compiled by John Heminges and Henry Condell
\u25cf Dedicated to the \u201cincomparable pair of brethren\u201d
William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, and his
brother Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery.
\u25cf This was the first collected edition of his plays
\u25cf Only 36 included in the First Folio (Pericles not included)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-9.png?resize=1024%2C714&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-10.png?resize=786%2C1024&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
or Ferrex and Porrex (1561)
\u25cf First tragedy in English
\u25cf First play to be written in blank verse
\u25cf Theme of political rivalry
\u25cf Thomas Norton wrote the first three acts of
Gorboduc, and Thomas Sackville, the last two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-11.png?resize=790%2C1024&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
\u25cf In contrast to the learned Elizabethan plays, much of
European drama of this period was influenced by
Commedia dell\u2019arte, a bawdy street theatre of 15th
century Italy.
\u25cf It is characterized by improvised dialogue and a cast of
colorful stock characters
\u25cf Rapidly gained popularity throughout Europe.
\u25cf Traces of the form are visible in much Renaissance
drama, including Shakespeare\u2019s Twelfth Night, Taming of
the Shrew, Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost, As You Like It, The
Tempest, and A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-12.png?resize=1024%2C645&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Shakespeare](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-13.png?resize=600%2C451&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-14.png?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Shakespeare: Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf William Shakespeare was born the son of John
and Mary Arden Shakespeare in a small town,
Stratford-upon Avon, 100 miles northwest of
London
\u25cf His father John belonged to a farming family near
Stratford
\u25cf Like his son, John had also left his family and
moved to a larger commercial centre (Stratford)
\u25cf Here, he worked as a leather worker, a glover, and
soon became a leading merchant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
double-house in Henley Street, now known as
\u201cShakespeare\u2019s Birthplace\u201d.
\u25cf In 1557, John married Mary Arden, the daughter of
his father\u2019s wealthy landlord
\u25cf Though John had initially struggled with financial
difficulties, he was gradually rising in social stature,
and would soon be a burgess in the borough, an
alderman, and by 1568, bailiff (a position equal to
the mayor).
\u25cf William, the third child of their eight children, was
thus born into a respectable business household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1564, 3 days before his baptism was entered in the
parish register of the Holy Trinity Church on 26 April
\u25cf However, England followed the Julian Calendar at this time,
and Shakespeare\u2019s birthday would fall on 5 May according to
the Gregorian Calendar
\u25cf Shakespeare might have been born a day or two earlier, but
the date 23 April appeals to sentiments because
\u25cf This is the feast of St. George, England\u2019s patron saint
\u25cf It is on 23 April that Shakespeare died
\u25cf 23 April is also the birth as well as death day of Miguel de
Cervantes, according to the Gregorian Calendar<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-15.png?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Shakespeare\u2019s Family
<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf In 1582 at age 18, he married Anne Hathaway, a
woman eight years his senior and three months
pregnant with their first child.
\u25cf Pregnant brides were not uncommon at that time, nor
particularly censured
\u25cf Their daughter, Susanna, was born in 1583, and
twins, Hamnet and Judith, came in 1585.
\u25cf The twins were possibly named after Shakespeare\u2019s
friends, Hamnet Sadler, a baker, and his wife Judith.
\u25cf Hamnet died in 1596.
\u25cf As was unusual at that time, the Shakespeares
had no more children.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShakespeare in London<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf Shakespeare seems to have departed to London
sometime in the 1580s.
\u25cf The 7 years from 1585 to 1592 are called \u201clost
years\u201d
\u25cf There is no historical evidence on what he did at this
time
\u25cf In 1592, we have the first clear reference to
Shakespeare as an actor \/ playwright in London
\u25cf Robert Greene, in A Groatsworth of Wit (1592),
makes the famous attack on Shakespeare<\/p>\n\n\n\nGreene\u2019s Attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf \u201cYes, trust them not, for there is an upstart crow, beautified
with our feathers, that, with his Tygers heart wrapt in a
Players hide, supposes he is as well able to bumbast out a
blanke verse as the best of you; and being an absolute
Johannes Factotum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shakescene
in a countrie.\u201d
\u25cf \u201cUpstart crow\u201d: a crow from the folk tale, who sticks the feathers of
other beautiful birds to his tail, and thinks he himself has become
the prettiest
\u25cf \u201cTiger\u2019s heart\u201d: A tiger from the folk tale who wears sheepskin and
pretends to be a sheep; here, instead of sheepskin, the \u201ccheat\u201d
Shakespeare is wearing the \u201chide\u201d of an actor.
\u25cf \u201cJohannes Factotum\u201d: Jack of all trades; one who pretends to know
everything
\u25cf \u201cShake-scene\u201d: This is what reveals to us that he is referring to
Shakespeare<\/p>\n\n\n\nShakespeare & the London Theatre
<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Strange\u2019s Men) performed his plays, and also probably
the Queen\u2019s Men
\u25cf Shakespeare owned shares in the Second Blackfriars
Theatre, an indoor theatre built by James Burbage, and
later, the Globe.
\u25cf In the 1590s, the London theatre scene was unsettled
\u25cf Actors\u2019 companies were forming and disbanding
themselves under the pressure of the plague.
\u25cf All London theatres were closed from 1592 to 94 due
to the plague.
\u25cf Shakespeare seems to have turned to non-dramatic
poetry at this time<\/p>\n\n\n\n