Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-avon, England April 23,1564. William Shakespeare was born in a small market town. He is the third of eight children. His mother, born Mary Arden, was the daughter of a landowner from a neighboring village. His father, John Shakespeare, son of a farmer, was a glove maker and trader in farm produce. At the age of seven William Shakespeare attended school at the Stratford grammar school. Shakespeare studied Latin grammar during his early years and then went on to study of logic, rhetoric, composition, oration, versification, and the monuments of roman literature like other Elizabethan schoolboys. Shakespeare discontinues his education at Stratford Grammar School when about 13 to help his father in 1578. He …show more content…
The companies had aristocratic patrons, and the players were mostly servants of nobles that got sponsored by them. The companies were commercial operations that relied on selling tickets to the general public for income. Some connections between Shakespeare’s plays and the number of plays were performed by the Queen’s Men, a company that played in Stratford in 1587. By 1594 Shakespeare was fully engaged in his career. In that year, Shakespeare became the principal writer for the successful Lord Chamberlain’s Men. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men were one of the most popular companies in London. Shakespeare’s position was a sharer allowed him to achieve a level of financial success unmatched by other dramatists of the age, many who lived in poverty. Shakespeare maintained a relationship with a single company. London authorities closed the theaters because of repeated outbreaks of the plague. Without earnings provided by acting and playwriting, Shakespeare turned to poetry. When the theaters reopened, Shakespeare returned to acting and …show more content…
The ruler of the political system at the time was Elizabeth the First. Many opposed Elizabeth for her decision to never marry. The nobility and merchants were in the political system. Elizabeth the First had reigned unmarried and without an heir for 45 years, but without a male heir the same secession crisis that brought her to the throne hung over her entire reign. The society in Shakespeare’s time was divided by class. The first class were the nobility, which were the richest people, who were the lords and ladies in Shakespeare’s time. Below them were the gentry, they were knights, esquires, gentlemen, and gentlewomen who did not work with their hands. They were not noble, but they became gentry by owning their own land and being wealthy. The middle class were the merchants, craftsmen, and the yeomen which were farmers that owned their own land. Shakespeare was from this class because his father was a glove maker. The lower class were the poor. They worked as servants or as labourers. The poor were responsible for each parish. The poor were not allowed to leave the parish and if they did they would have gotten punished. Some of Shakespeare’s plays had all of the
The Middle Class of The Clergy would be “The Nobility” was more of a military based class it help the knights and mounted warriors who swore away their land to fight for the sovereign. The lowest class of The Clergy was
Medieval time period there were different classes that played different roles in the society. There was upper class, middle class, lower class. In today society its not judged as much as it used to be in medieval times. People shouldn’t be judged on how much money they make, race they are, and if they are a women. Life as commoner is very different than the upper class people.
Even if a family did work that was no guarantee that they had enough money to support themselves (“Daily Life in the Elizabethan Era”). Middle class workers were artisans (“Daily Life”). The Upper Class had life easier than everyone else because they didn’t have to work as much. Wealthier people had more freedom and were important from a social standpoint. With that being said, those that were well off were the people who had the worst morals.
When Shakespeare was given a chance to display his work to the world due to the theaters closing because of the great bubonic plague of London in 1593, he wrote two narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, marking the beginning of his superlative sonnets. 154 of his sonnets have survived, verifying his reputation as a phenomenal poet and playwright. As time passed, he also wrote The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Love's Labor's Lost. Because he established himself as an actor and playwright, Shakespeare became a business partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1594 which was one of the most popular acting companies in London. Owing to this, he frequently performed in the court of
Social class played a key role in the Elizabethan Age; without social hierarchy society would have fallen apart, the people did not know of anything else other than the role of classes. Each class had different situations of life, some were wealthy and had nice homes while others were poor and living off of the streets. The class rankings were given to each individual by situations such as birth, fame, wealth, and known skills(“Elizabethan Era.”). One could only move up a class by the Queen's approval, obtaining sudden wealth, going into debt, losing your job, and many other specific conditions(“Elizabethan Era - The Lost Colony.”). For instance, marriage between two people from separate classes could alter social class and was often frowned upon.
The social classes of the Elizabethan era are similar to todays through the merchants control of the middle class, the support for the poor, and the separate lifestyles of the ranks. All of the classes had different rules and roles in society. For example, the yeomanry was made up of farmers and craft makers that lived simple lives. The size of this class was similar to the size of today's middle class. Improving and expanding their land is how they spent their money.
He established himself as an actor in London and joined “Lord Chamberlain’s Men,” later known as “The King’s Men,” which consisted of Shakespeare, Will Kempe and Richard Burbage. The group often performed at the Globe theatre, one of the most well-known theatres in London. It was originally built in 1599 before being torn down in 164 and being rebuilt in the 1980’s. The wealthier patrons sat in the tiered galleries, while the lower class, or groundlings, sat around the stage. Shakespeare owned a share in the building and most of his plays were first presented
People in the lower class were commoners, slaves, foreigners, and many other groups of people. In Modern
By 1592, William Shakespeare was in London writing plays. Going to plays was very popular at that time, and theatre was big business. Drama then was like Hollywood today. It was not seen as literature to be studied, but entertainment to be enjoyed. Playwrights often borrowed plots and characters from earlier works, and didn’t bother to publish their plays until after they were performed.
The middle class consisted of merchants, artisans, and craftspeople. They lived in townhouses, and some could afford servants or education for their sons. Farmers, fishermen, servants, and slaves made up the lower class. They worked hard but received little acknowledgement for
The Globe Theater was an essential component of Shakespeare’s life; it was the place where his plays were performed, and it contains the memory of years of skill and cultural tradition. The Globe Theater was a major artistic component in the Elizabethan era, for it held some of the period’s greatest performances, and it was where Shakespeare directed and acted his plays. At the time of the creation of the Globe Theater, the theater business was booming. Queen Elizabeth loved the theater and the arts, and theater companies sprang up across England. Though popular, the theater business was often scorned because of its coarse humor.
The playwright’s composition for tragedy mainly focused on rich royalty actors like Julies Caesar, and Henry V, and vaguely categorized them in a play because they were dead and long gone. These gentlemen were very clever and ingenious men during this era. The way that Shakespeare categorized or singled out the characters hundreds of years ago still have the same idea to the audience many years
Shakespeare attended the Stratford grammar school and learned the standards. But unfortunately he had to quit school at the age of 13 to help his father John financially. Shakespeare got most of his wealth in real-estate purchases in Stratford and bought the second-largest house in town, New Place, in 1597. Also his death is unknown. And historians are still trying to find the cause of his death.
“The plays were extremely popular and attracted vast audiences to the globe” (William-Shakespeare.info). The Theatre attracted between ten thousand to twenty thousand patrons a week, although they could only perform plays during the day because artificial lighting did not exist at the time. Because the Theatre was very affordable, it attracted many diverse people which ultimately was the reason for its major
One of the most important factors of a play is a location to present it in. During Shakespeare’s time the Globe theatre was created for the use of performing. Before the Globe was created, actors would have to present in various inns and homes. This all changed when James Burbage built a theatre in Shoreditch around 1576. Unfortunately, due to leasing difficulties, this theatre was not in use long.