Context of Shakespearean Drama

 In Shakespeare's time, royalty was a popular subject so Shakespeare often wrote about royalty in his plays to please his audience. When Shakespeare was born Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne then later in his life when she passed James I took over. Another topic Shakespeare would often write about was religion, specifically the Protestant/Catholic debate as England was often changing between protestant and catholic as new royals stepped up to the throne. Shakespeare’s religious beliefs are unknown but some people believe he was Protestant. During Shakespeare’s time, they spoke early modern English so Shakespeare’s plays can be difficult to understand to newer generations. Early modern English can be difficult to understand as it has old fashioned vocabulary and different spelling compared to now. Shakespeare had a big impact on the English language as he created words, quotes and phrases that are still used today.

The Renaissance was a time of new inventions and new ideas. Many artistic techniques were discovered and people found it to be a way of expressing themselves. Shakespeare found playwriting and acting to be his passion and during the time playwriting and poetry was a popular way of entertainment to the public. Plays were normally performed in theatres or playhouses, but they had to make their set easy to move so they could perform at other venues. Shakespeare was part of a play company called “Lord Chamberlain’s Men”, in 1599 they built their own theatre called “The Globe Theatre'' which was located on the banks of the river Thames. This was where Shakespeare would write his plays and perform them. Shakespeare had a wide range of audiences. The non wealthy people paid one penny to stand in the pit in front of the stage (they were called “groundlings”). If the groundlings weren’t amused with the performance then they would throw rotten fruit at the performers, so Shakespeare had to make his plays appeal to all his audience. The wealthy people could afford to sit in tiered wooden seating, they also could pay extra for cushions. Sometimes the wealthy paid even more to have a seat on the stage. The Globe Theatre officially closed in 1642 due to a parliamentary decree.