Shakespeare's Historical Accuracy

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Shakespeare’s Historical Accuracy
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.
To begin, in the 1500’s, the social class was divided into two main groups; one with all the power and one without any power. Shakespeare demonstrates this in his writings. According to Civilization in the West, “European society was supposedly divided into two status groups- nobles and commoners” (Civilization in the West para. 1). Essentially, Medieval Europe consisted of nobles and commoners with all the power in the hands of the nobles. The nobles were in charge of politics, militaries, and economics while the common people grew crops. Shakespeare demonstrated this in Romeo and Juliet when he had servants like Sampson and Abram speak in prose while nobles like Lord Capulet speak in meter. This serves as a clear distinction between the common people and the nobles. Next, as published in Life in Italy, Italy faced great hardships because the Byzantine and Lombard were fighting for the control of the Italian Peninsula. Because two different groups were fighting for Italy, feuds could have arose between the citizens of Italy over which side they should support. This serves as a possible explanation as to why the Capulets disliked the M...

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...ife in Italy During the Middle Ages." Life in Italy. Life in Italy, 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
Mabillard, Amanda. "What Inspired Shakespeare?" Shakespeare Online. Microsoft, 1999. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
"The Biography of William Shakespeare." Poemhunter.com. Poemhunter.com, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
"The Experiences of Life in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1650." Civilization in the West. Pearson Education, 1995-2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
Thompson, James C. "Marriage in Ancient Athens." Womenintheancientworld.com. N.p., July 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .

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