1. Drama in the Age of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabethan Theater
Drama in the Age of Queen Elizabeth

2. Popularity
Going to the theater was the Elizabethan equivalent of going to the movies
Popular among all people
Most notable theater was The Globe
Held 2,500-3,000 people
Groundlings - paid a penny to stand
Queen Eliz. was a great patron of drama
April 22, 2017
British Literature

3. The Globe
Globe had no lighting or elaborate sets - plays had to be performed during the day
Playwright’s words had to create the mood
Talented actors had to bring the words to life - remember that women could not act
April 22, 2017
British Literature

4. The New Globe Theater
April 22, 2017
British Literature

5. Inside the Globe
April 22, 2017
British Literature

6. The Drama of Shakespeare
The Greatest of Elizabethan Playwrights

7. Background on Shakespeare
Born in Stratford-on-Avon
Father was a merchant
Received no education beyond grammar school
Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 (he was 18 and she was 26), had three children
Susanna, 1583
Judith and Hamnet (twins), 1585
Moved to London in late 1580s to pursue theater
Part owner of Lord Chamberlain’s men - very successful theater company
April 22, 2017
British Literature

8. Shakespeare’s Drama
Wrote 37 plays - tragedies, comedies, histories, and romances
Written to be performed
Plays first published in The First Folio
Did Shakespeare really write his plays…?
April 22, 2017
British Literature

9. Other Writers on Shakespeare
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”
Ben Jonson
“Shakespeare is the poet of nature: the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and life.”
Samuel Johnson
“He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets had the largest and most comprehensive soul.”
John Dryden
So why is Shakespeare still so popular after 400 years?
April 22, 2017
British Literature

10. The Tragedies
Most famous tragedies - Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth
Tragedy - inspired by the theater of Ancient Greece and Rome (think Oedipus)
Play in which disaster befalls the hero -he dies at the end
Tragic flaw - character trait that brings about the downfall of the hero
April 22, 2017
British Literature