Shakespeare’s dates 1564-1616
Death of Elizabeth, accession of 1603
James I Elizabeth: OR absolutely brilliant OR
unable to make decisions which led to
crisis
Consummate politician w/ love for
theatre & political theatrics (ex.
execution of Mary, Queen of Scots;
found guilty of treason towards her,
asked parliament for judgement
who demanded her dead but she
couldn’t have death of another
monarch looming over her + would
create international unrest SO
stalled & signed death warrant but
never sent it out to be acted upon –
cabinet acted in her stead & killed
her, while Elizabeth punished those
men (but not really) and grieved
and demanded a royal funeral be
held
~ Tilbury speech that won hearts of
her soldiers invasion duke of
Parma)
Had a weird relationship w/ young Robert
Devereux at end of her years BUT ended
badly; she sent him out to Ireland to quell
rebels, but failed & presented himself in
her bedchamber as punishment – she
grounded him – he gathered forced and
planned a coup, as he saw himself as a
great king, but failed lol
James: a fool; went far to create great
international political treaties for himself
and thus out of vain, which overshadowed
his accomplishments + Scot, so complete
foreigner to England + couldn’t reconcile
w/ parliament + hated crowds BUT loved
theatre & aided the expansion of the
theatre as patron of Sh’s company,
renaming it the King’s Men
~ Stuarts’s status as love for
entertainment: ex. court masque = mix of
poetry, scenery, and dance < courtiers &
family of crown
Publication of the First Folio 1623; collected edition of Sh’s second
phase’s plays – only printed after his
death. Contained 36 plays (18 of which
already printed in single-play editions
called quartos)
Aristotle Attempted to codify the principles of
tragedy in the Poetics w/ catharsis &
tragic flaw: fatal flaw hamartia: error in
action
, expanded & renewed + no clear
boundaries between modes (especially in
Sh) + experimenting; practice precedes
history
Plato’s distrust of theatre?
Linked the elements to the humours, or
bodily fluids; warmer elements were
masculine, colder feminine – were less
capable of keeping humours balanced
(o.a. < period)
Attested the physiological &
psychological theories of inferior
women in early modern Europe
John Milton Imagined a theatre where the unlettered
Sh. is opposed to the man of books, Ben
Jonson.
Ben Jonson Opposed himself to Sh; he follows
scholarly works to write theatre (classical
forms) barbarous and natural creation
of improbable fiction – wrote in
commemorative verses for the First Folio
that Sh used the translated classics and
not Greek/Latin (can be read as a
celebration of Sh’s natural gifts OR
backhanded compliment) (also found out
it is not true: learned Latin at school &
was proficient)
= stereotypical opposition
HOWEVER Sh. did use lot of sources
(Greek & Roman lit, ex. Ovid’s
Metamorpheses, Plutarch’s Lives of the
Noble Grecians and Romans, Holinshed’s
Chronicles of England, Scotland, and
Ireland…) but hard to uncover which ones
he used (oral culture, lost texts,
traditionally published or not…)
Spoke up for theatre against puritans
Henslowe = patron of Lord Admiral’s Men + actor of
many heroic roles of his own
Built The Rose Lord
Chamberlain’s Men’s Globe (built
next to them!)
Built the Fortune in north of town
left by Chamberlain’s Men
James and Richard Burbage James: built one of first permanent
theatres (the Theatre) in Shoreditch
Built the Red Lion, the Theatre &
purchased the Blackfriars building
James’ son Richard: 1/8 shareholders Lord
Chamberlain’s Men & is lead actor in
company
Assembled the Lord Chamberlain’s
Men!!
= instant success, vehicle for Sh’s
Death of Elizabeth, accession of 1603
James I Elizabeth: OR absolutely brilliant OR
unable to make decisions which led to
crisis
Consummate politician w/ love for
theatre & political theatrics (ex.
execution of Mary, Queen of Scots;
found guilty of treason towards her,
asked parliament for judgement
who demanded her dead but she
couldn’t have death of another
monarch looming over her + would
create international unrest SO
stalled & signed death warrant but
never sent it out to be acted upon –
cabinet acted in her stead & killed
her, while Elizabeth punished those
men (but not really) and grieved
and demanded a royal funeral be
held
~ Tilbury speech that won hearts of
her soldiers invasion duke of
Parma)
Had a weird relationship w/ young Robert
Devereux at end of her years BUT ended
badly; she sent him out to Ireland to quell
rebels, but failed & presented himself in
her bedchamber as punishment – she
grounded him – he gathered forced and
planned a coup, as he saw himself as a
great king, but failed lol
James: a fool; went far to create great
international political treaties for himself
and thus out of vain, which overshadowed
his accomplishments + Scot, so complete
foreigner to England + couldn’t reconcile
w/ parliament + hated crowds BUT loved
theatre & aided the expansion of the
theatre as patron of Sh’s company,
renaming it the King’s Men
~ Stuarts’s status as love for
entertainment: ex. court masque = mix of
poetry, scenery, and dance < courtiers &
family of crown
Publication of the First Folio 1623; collected edition of Sh’s second
phase’s plays – only printed after his
death. Contained 36 plays (18 of which
already printed in single-play editions
called quartos)
Aristotle Attempted to codify the principles of
tragedy in the Poetics w/ catharsis &
tragic flaw: fatal flaw hamartia: error in
action
, expanded & renewed + no clear
boundaries between modes (especially in
Sh) + experimenting; practice precedes
history
Plato’s distrust of theatre?
Linked the elements to the humours, or
bodily fluids; warmer elements were
masculine, colder feminine – were less
capable of keeping humours balanced
(o.a. < period)
Attested the physiological &
psychological theories of inferior
women in early modern Europe
John Milton Imagined a theatre where the unlettered
Sh. is opposed to the man of books, Ben
Jonson.
Ben Jonson Opposed himself to Sh; he follows
scholarly works to write theatre (classical
forms) barbarous and natural creation
of improbable fiction – wrote in
commemorative verses for the First Folio
that Sh used the translated classics and
not Greek/Latin (can be read as a
celebration of Sh’s natural gifts OR
backhanded compliment) (also found out
it is not true: learned Latin at school &
was proficient)
= stereotypical opposition
HOWEVER Sh. did use lot of sources
(Greek & Roman lit, ex. Ovid’s
Metamorpheses, Plutarch’s Lives of the
Noble Grecians and Romans, Holinshed’s
Chronicles of England, Scotland, and
Ireland…) but hard to uncover which ones
he used (oral culture, lost texts,
traditionally published or not…)
Spoke up for theatre against puritans
Henslowe = patron of Lord Admiral’s Men + actor of
many heroic roles of his own
Built The Rose Lord
Chamberlain’s Men’s Globe (built
next to them!)
Built the Fortune in north of town
left by Chamberlain’s Men
James and Richard Burbage James: built one of first permanent
theatres (the Theatre) in Shoreditch
Built the Red Lion, the Theatre &
purchased the Blackfriars building
James’ son Richard: 1/8 shareholders Lord
Chamberlain’s Men & is lead actor in
company
Assembled the Lord Chamberlain’s
Men!!
= instant success, vehicle for Sh’s
