THE ELIZABETHAN WORLD

1
THE ELIZABETHAN WORLD

• The World of William Shakespeare

2
INTRODUCTION

• The Elizabethan period refers to that time under
  which Elizabeth I ruled England
• It was also the period into which Shakespeare was
  born and in which he lived much of his life

3
THE CITY OF LONDON

• In Elizabethan times, London was very much like
  it is today
• The city was crowded, noisy and the people were
  very dependent on the Thames for transport around
  the city
• The streets were narrow, cobbled and slippery
  with the slime of refuse
• Houses were crammed together
• People were often drunk! No one drank water and
  tea was not in England yet, so they drank alcohol
  and lots of it!

4
LANGUAGE

• Some Elizabethan expressions
• How art thou? How are you?
• What wouldst thou have of me? What would you
  like me to do?
• I like thy face I think you are good
  looking
• I will go with thee I will go with you
• Thou art a rogue You are an awful person

5
MONEY AND COINAGE

• All coins in Elizabethan times were gold or
  silver
• There is no copper money or paper money
• The basic denominations are pounds, shillings and
  pence
• Some common coins
• A sovereign is worth one pound (gold)
• An angel is a common gold coin (worth ten
  shillings)
• The crown is the most common coin (both gold and
  silver)

6
RELIGION

• Everyone in Elizabethan times has a religion
• They are all Christians of one type or another
• The Puritans a type of Christian with a
  Calvinist attitude
• There are some who are Roman Catholics, this is
  not a crime however, Elizabeth was against the
  Catholics and people could be fined for not
  conforming to Protestant ways
• Everyone must attend an Anglican service once a
  month

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THE ELIZABETHAN HOUSEHOLD

• Bills are due and servants paid on traditional
  Quarter Days
• Celebrated Feast Days
• Lady Day, March 25 Feast of the Annunciation
• St. Johns Day, June 24 St. John the Baptist.
  Also called Midsummers Day
• Christmas Day, December 25 The birth of Christ
• In the country some services were paid in kind ie
  swapping goods
• Even noble ladies were responsible for many
  household duties

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FOOD

• Breads Manchet (fine white bread), Raveled
  (whole wheat bread), Carters bread (bran bread)
• Drinks Perry (slightly alcoholic pear cider),
  wines (Malmsey, Canary, Rhenish)
• Sugar and spice cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and
  clove

9
FASHION

• Fashion, for the wealthy was very elaborate
• Clothing was made using lace, gold, furs and
  silks
• The noble people would wear hoods, jewelry,
  sashes, and robes

10
CHILDREN AND CHILDHOOD

• Dress Little boys are dressed in skirts until
  the age of six or seven when they begin wearing
  breeches event is called breeching
• Infants are wrapped in swaddling bands (6 to 12
  months)
• Children must
• Honor their parents, be holy, healthy and
  wealthy, say their prayers

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SCHOOL AND EDUCATION

• Generally, only boys went to school, girls only
  education was at home
• Noble children had their education from tutors at
  home
• The school day begins at 700am in winter, 600am
  in summer. The day ends at 500 or 530
• Students have their education beaten into them,
  like their manners and deportment!

12
GAMES

• A common pass-time was drinking in taverns,
  alehouses or tippling houses
• People played games with dice ie Hazard
• Backgammon and card games were also popular
• Tennis was played indoors and was also a popular
  pass-time

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ELIZABETHAN THEATRE
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Development of the Elizabethan Theatre

• Protestant Reformation
• Tudor Pageantry
• Medieval Stagecraft
• Renaissance Learning and Ideas

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1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada

• The disgrace to Spain greatly damaged its
  prestige
• England's star was on the rise.
• Elizabeth took the defeat of the Armada as a sign
  of divine blessing
• English patriotism and devotion to the Queen
  soared to its greatest heights, shown in part by
  a profusion of literature that included
  Shakespeare's first plays--patriotic histories of
  the English monarchy.

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Tudor Pageantry

• A hybrid dramatic form of literature, ritual, and
  politics,
• Royal entries and aristocratic entertainments --
  fashionable literary forms were turned to the
  service of national propaganda
• Pageants
• Parades
• Masques
• Composed by the bright young men who haunted the
  court in hopes of securing political office.

Full of spectacle music, dance,
elaborate staging, fireworks
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Influence of Medieval Theatre

• Eager audience
• Established tradition of theatre and actors
• MYSTERY AND MORALITY PLAYS
• Mixing of high seriousness and low comedy
• FOLK PLAYS
• Pagan remnants fairies and sprites
• Feast of Fools
• INTERLUDES
• Humanistic debates

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Medieval Concepts of Tragedy De casibus
tragedies of fortune

• Tragedy is less the result of individual action
  than a reflection of the inevitable turning of
  Fortune's wheel.
• Fortune, traditionally female because of the
  association of women with the moon and
  changeability, has two faces, one benign, one
  severe.

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Feast of Fools

• Held between Christmas and Epiphany, particularly
  on New Year's Day
• The ruling idea of the feast was the reversal of
  status.
• The celebrations were relics of the ancient
  ceremonies of birth and renewal which took place
  at New Year and involved a temporary overturning
  of all values.
• The Ass, a widespread feature of the festival,
  was a mixture of Celtic, Roman and Christian
  traditions, for the Ass is at once a relic of
  ancient magical cults, a fertility symbol, a
  symbol of strength and the epitome of stupidity.

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Renaissance

• Rebirth of Classical knowledge and ideals
• Roman theatre as model
• Humanistic Ideas
• Universities
• Oxford
• Cambridge
• Inns of Court

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Influence of Roman Theatre

• 5 act structure
• Comedy Plautus and Terence
• Plots
• Stock characters
• Tragedy Seneca
• Revenge motif
• Irony
• Use of ghosts
• Violent spectacle

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Elizabethan Stock Characters

• Senex old man in authority
• Miles gloriosus braggart soldier
• Shrew sharp-tongued woman
• Clever servant
• Machiavel political schemer
• Calumniator believed a liar who is believed
• Idiotes a malcontent
• Pedant in love with the sound of his own
  didactic voice
• Fools and clowns

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Humanismfrom Morality to Chronicle

• It was the aim of the humanists to educate those
  who ruled in wise and virtuous government.
• How do you teach a king? Very tactfully . . .
• The effectiveness of the morality play was
  attractive to humanists, who changed the nature
  of the moral from religion to political virtue
  without changing the techniques of the drama.
• A natural medium for the humanists to use in
  educating the king, for plays were frequently
  performed at Court.

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Chronicle or History Plays

• Explore the workings and legitimacy of kingship
• What is a good King?
• Historical exemplars (Lear, Macbeth, Julius
  Caesar)
• Often turn into tragedies

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Acting Companies

• 1590 -- 1642 approximately 20 companies of
  actors in London (although only 4 or 5 played in
  town at one time)
• More than a hundred provincial troupes.
• Companies usually played in London in the winter
  and spring and to travel in the summer when
  plague ravaged the city
• Members
• Shareholders
• Apprentices
• Hired men

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Boy Actors

• No women on the English stage in Shakespeare's
  day.
• The parts of women were acted by child
  actors--boys whose voices had not yet changed.
• Whole acting companies were created with child
  performers the Children of the Chapel Royal, and
  the St. Paul's Boys. The children's companies
  played regularly at Court.
• The Puritans, who disapproved of the theatre in
  general, were particularly scandalized by boys
  cross-dressing as women.

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Censorship

• Largely Puritan leaders of the City of London
  disapproved of the theatres.
• The Privy Council was wary of the political
  comment often present in topical plays.
• Censorship under the direction of the Master of
  Revels was strict.
• In 1596 the City Corporation ordered the
  expulsion of players from London and the closing
  of the inn-theatres.
• Theatres moved across the River

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Types of Plays

• Tragedies
• Senecan Revenge
• De casibus -- turn of Fortune
• Fatal flaw
• Romances
• far-away adventures
• Any combination of the above

• Chronicle or History Plays
• Comedies
• Romantic
• Pastoral
• Feast of Fools
• Social
• Humors

The best actors in the world, either for
tragedy, comedy, hisotry, pastoral,pastoral-comica
l, histoircal-pastoral, tragical historical,
scene individable or poem unlimited. -- Hamlet
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William ShakespeareApril 23, 1564-April 23, 1616

• Born in Stratford-upon-Avon
• Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 at age of 18
• 3 children Susanna (1583) and Hamnet and Judith
  (1585)
• 1585-92 the lost years
• 1595 record of membership in Lord Chamberlains
  Men

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Lord Chamberlains Men

• Originally formed under the patronage of Lord
  Strange, but when he died in 1594, the players
  found a patron in Henry Carey, the Lord
  Chamberlain.
• Performed at the Theatre and the Curtain
• 1599 moved to the newly built Globe. By 1600 they
  had emerged as the leading theatrical company in
  London
• 1603 became the King's Men under a royal patent
  from James I. The company continued successfully
  until the Puritans closed the theatres in 1642.

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The Globe

• Built by the Burbages in 1598 for the Lord
  Chamberlains Men
• Burned down in 1613 during production of Henry
  VIII
• Rebuilt 1614

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Theatre Interiors
Blackfriars Theatre
Sketch of the Swan Theatre
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Shakespeare was buried on April 25, 1616, in Holy
Trinity Church, Stratford, where he had been
baptized just over 52 years earlier Good friend
for Jesus sake forbearTo dig the dust enclosed
here!Blest be the man that spares these
stones,And curst be he that moves my bones