Shakespeare and the Elizabethan World

Shakespeare and the Elizabethan World

General characteristics of Renaissance

Renaissance has been about the interest and study of classical antiquity, people associated themselves with the classical antiquity and dissociated themselves from the Middle Ages

It was also the age of new discoveries in a geographical and intellectual way: Copernicus discovered the planetary system and Martin Luther caused the division of the Church
Italian Renaissance: began in the 13th century and was about great intellectual activity as studying architecture of Romans and Greeks. Since learning had been a privilege of the clergy the Renaissance has been a movement directed against the church
English Renaissance: began 1485 with the end of the civil war. When the Tudors got the power they brought a change. They created a new economic system and established banking houses. Further there were new standards in education and learning. Because the monarch did not want to share his power with the pope they broke with Rome in 1534. Due to the fact that the conflict was not over a Spanish fleet called “Armada” was sent in order to conquer England but it was defeated by the Royal Navy in 1588.

The Great Chain of Being

Every existing thing in the universe had its place in a divinely planned hierarchical order

The place in the order depended on spirit and matter  the more matter and the less spirit an object had, the lower it was ranked

On the top of the Chain of Being was God followed by angles and than humans. Lower than humans there were trees and flowers and at the bottom of the order there were inanimate things like metals stones and the four elements  within the groups there have been other hierarchies

Disorder in one realm meant disorder in another realm and e.g. thunderstorms were a sign for disorder as an upcoming civil war

The human being was seen as a microcosm and the world as a whole was the macrocosm  different segments of the microcosm reflected other things of the macrocosm, these were the so-called Correspondences ( the heart was the centre of the human being and the sun the centre of the universe)

Humanism

The highest cultural values have been active involvement in public life, in politics and in military action

A Renaissance man possesses knowledge and skills in many subject areas (classical literature, history and moral philosophy

Imitation

Since Renaissance has been the rebirth of the classical antiquity people were of the opinion that all great literary works already had been written in the antiquity

Writers translated the moral vision of the past for present readers by imitating great works and adapting them to a Christian perspective

The imitation of classical genres led to the revival of significant literary forms

The development of theatre up to Shakespeare’s time

Mystery Plays (10th century): in order to spread the word of God short dramatic representations of biblical scenes such as the birth and death of Christ were performed at the corresponding time of year

Miracle Plays (12th-15th century):lives of saints were portrayed and in the course of time short plays were performed, at first in Latin, later in English
With the staging of more complex plays scenery was put up in different locations of the church  these were called “mansions” and represented heaven, hell or hell-gate etc. Later the wooden mansions were placed outside the church in a row or a circle and each of it represented a scene of the story and each of it had its own actors. The place between and in front of the mansions was called “playne”, when actors where in the playne they had to convey the location of a particular scene by words and gestures
Pageant: mansions were mounted on four-wheeled waggons and rolled through the streets while the audience stayed where they were
Morality Plays (15th and 16th century):intended to teach a moral by showing the struggle of virtue against vice. Death, Goodness, Knowledge or Sin appeared as persons
Inn-yard performance: because stages were temporary there were a lot of performances in the yard of large inns. The actors made use of balconies, galleries and staircases while the audience stood in the inn-yard. The larger the audience was the worse was the view, therefore some people paid more money to get a place on a balcony

Different facts on theatre in Shakespeare’s time

Going to theatre was the most popular entertainment and people from all classes went to watch the plays

Theatres were often open air and the cheaper places had to stand during the performance, which did not took place in the evening
Spectators were allowed to drink and eat
There was just a small decoration on the stage the rest was left to the imagination of the audience
There only were actors, no actresses, who did not have any contract but who owned the theatre
Plays were often incomplete when they were handed out to the actors and they performed 30 or more plays in one year

Shakespeare’s London

During Elizabeth’s reign London’s population grew from 100.000 inhabitants in 1550 to 200.000 in 1600

The population included all social classes as lawyers, officers, rich merchants but also labourers, servants, and beggars
The city was surrounded by city walls and the river Thames was the centre of the city. London’s prosperity was linked to this river because it had a harbour and was the source for food. Because of the River Thames London became the most important trading city and therefore there was a remarkable economic rise
Centre of cultural and intellectual life: five hall playhouses and also ten open-air amphitheatres