Comparing Life: Shakespeare's Era to Modern America

692 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The status of women in the Renaissance

Shakespeare's life is different than mine, you're probably wondering how. Well there are many ways that are lives are the same but also there are, any ways that are life is different. One of my first ways that are life is different is they wouldn't allow women to be on stage so when there was a girl part in the play they would have boys dress up as girls. Next reason is if someone did something wrong or if the police thought they did something wrong they would kill them on the spot even if it wasn't them. Also if someone was sick they would take them to a separate room so that they would not share their sickness with other people.
Shakespeare's plays have been performed for almost 500 years. The times have changed, but the words and stories remain. Consider how your own experience with Romeo and Juliet (or other works of Shakespeare) is different than that of his original audience in the Elizabethan era. Using your informational outline, movie notes, and/or any of the attached sources, write a multi-paragraph essay in which you compare the Elizabethan world of William Shakespeare to modern America. My life was way different then Shakespeare's for several reasons. Well I am a girl and he is a boy. he had friends I don't. he was popular I am not I could go on for hours saying things like
I feel bad that he had to be in hell that long if I was him I would have died. I can barely stand being at school as long as I have to be. In Shakespeare's time there were no female actors. This was because acting was not considered an honorable job, so no woman would be seen doing such a thing. The role of women had to be played by young boys who had not gone through puberty. This was because they had higher voices. Shakespeare himself even acted in some of his own plays, but because it was such a long time ago, it is not known which

Show More
Related

  • Love, Haste and Contrasts in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    and the way in which Romeo and Juliet talk to each other, I shall decide whether their love was real and talk about their parents contrasting views and opinions. I will also comment on the plays. relevance today and see how Shakespeare has used dramatic devices and structures to enhance the conversation between the young lovers. Throughout the play there is a constant theme of love and fate, I think. shall analyse this theme and show how it affects Romeo and Juliet.

    Read More

  • Impulsivity and Tragedy in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare was born on 26 April 1564 (died on 23 April 1616), in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Shakespeare was a poet, playwright and actor and has written about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems. Shakespeare wrote many successful plays such as, Julius Caesar, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet was written at the mid-1590s in London and even today it is considered to be one of the greatest plays ever written. It is a play based on a long dispute between two families, the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, and takes place in the cities of Verona and Mantua, Italy, over the course of four short days. From constant quarrels to deaths and a banishment, Romeo and Juliet go on loving each other until the end. The play starts with a somewhat happy and a tad comedic feeling but ultimately ends as a tragedy. In this essay I will be analysing how Shakespeare presents the consequences of impulsive behaviour of Romeo.

    Read More

  • Examining the Characters and their Weaknesses in Romeo and Juliet

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1997. Print.

    Read More

  • Juliet's Increasing Sense of Isolation in Act 3 Scene 5 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    2326 Words  | 5 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet is a play by Shakespeare that contains all the elements of a love story as well as a tragedy. They are a pair of ‘star-crossed lovers’ who go through a long ride with many ups and downs before they can finally be together, but not in the way that you would imagine. In the play Juliet is a maturing teenager that hasn’t yet gotten much of a say in what happens to her. Throughout the play she is ignored by her parents and restrained from living her life the way she wants to. In this essay I am going to focus on Act 3 Scene 5, in which we see Juliet in a different light. I will write about how Shakespeare conveys Juliet’s increasing sense of isolation in this scene, with the main points being the language he makes her use, stage directions and how the people around her – such as the Nurse, Lady Capulet and Capulet – treat her.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare, William, and Burton Raffel. Romeo and Juliet. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Print.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Historical Accuracy

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Shakespeare is possibly the greatest English writer every to live. Many people all around the world enjoy reading his plays. Often in his plays, Shakespeare describes things like lifestyle and laws of his time period. However, some people claim that Shakespeare’s plays are not historically accurate and therefore, mislead the people who read his plays. So how can one determine if Shakespeare is accurate or not? Well, one could ask, what was the social class like, what personal experiences did Shakespeare have, and what were some laws that governed the time.

    Read More

  • The World Of Shakespeare In The 1600's And Today

    405 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Shakespearean world of the late 1500's and early 1600's was very, very different from our own. Though there are differences, there are also some similarities. The world of Shakespeare is a unique, and again, is much different than our own.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare Research Paper

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    “William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was and English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s preeminent dramatist” (vodppl.upm.edu 2). He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK, he also passed away in his hometown. “When Shakespeare died in 1616 the event was barely noticed” (Epstein 7). “Shakespeare’s family was initially prosperous but began having financial difficulties in the 1570’s” (Allen 325). “Shakespeare gained his education by attending the local grammar school, King’s New School, where the curriculum stressed a classic education of Greek mythology and roman comedy”(shakespeareinamericancomunites.org 1). He never carried his educational career to a higher level as in a university. “William Shakespeare was not recognized as an actor, poet, and playwright until 1592” (Allen 346).

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night, As You Like It by William Shakespeare

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many details of Shakespeare’s person life were left a mystery for which we as readers must wonder if his plays and sonnets give clue. When going to a Shakespearean play one will find the experience in its self, is one of love, loss, and tragedy. People would come from all around to feel the way Shakespeare wanted the audience to feel. He wanted to express his life and his way of thinking through his art which was dramatic writing. Shakespeare expresses his love through his plays such as Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Hamlet and many others through his use of wit, humor and dramatic talent.

    Read More

  • Elizabethan Theater

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.

    Read More

  • Comparing Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    William Shakespeare has provided some of the most brilliant plays to ever be performed on the stage. He is also the author of numerous sonnets and poems, but he is best known for his plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. In this essay I would like to discuss the play and movie, "Romeo and Juliet", and also the movie, Shakespeare in Love.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Shakespeare

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Across the Universe of Time: Shakespeare’s influence on 21st century society. It is harder to imagine a more universal writer than William Shakespeare. Rarely, if ever, is one of his many plays not being performed anywhere in the world and similarly rare is the tertiary English student who has not examined his work at length. His plays, sonnets and poems are common fodder for high school English departments across the globe.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare Breaks the Way for Feminism

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    Orgel, Stephen, and Sean Keilen. Shakespeare and Gender. New York: Garland Pub., 1999. Online text.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Relevance Today

    2247 Words  | 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare's Relevance Today For as long as formal education has existed in Britain it has been a largely standard assumption that teaching the works of William Shakespeare is relevant and necessary. Perhaps the relevance of his writing is taken for granted, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the role of Shakespeare for the modern audience. There are indeed many people who question the relevance of this 440 year old playwright to a 21st century audience, taking it even as far as perhaps the greatest heresy of all, questioning the necessity of GCSE pupils learning Shakespeare at all.

    Read More

  • How Important Is Hamlet Still Relevant Today

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many have wondered why Hamlet, a work from around 400 years ago is relevant in modern society. One would think a piece of work written at the time based on a true story would eventually die out as it became irrelevant. That isn't the case of Hamlet and other works by Shakespeare simply because of how Shakespeare is able to wonderfully address the human condition and the fact that the human condition simply does not change within 400 years. As said by Craven a professor at UTSA, “Humans still experience love, loss, betrayal, war, humor and tragedy, which gives Shakespeare a foothold in modern times,”Due to this, Hamlet is still relevant today because its major themes such as love, betrayal, and tragedy are major forces that we as a species still have to deal with. These themes heavily resonates with us and can be seen in popular contemporary works that exist today such as Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games and the Twilight Series which shows us how Hamlet is relevant today because of its portrayal of human traits.

    Read More

More about Comparing Life: Shakespeare's Era to Modern America

Open Document