The Elizabethan And Elizabethan Theater

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Intro:

A) The Elizabethan/Jacobean theater
1. Stepping stone to modern theater
2. Heightened the popularity of theater in England
3. Gave artistic Englishmen the opportunity to express themselves theatrically

Historical Background:

A) Influences
1.Queen Elizabeth I’s reign
a) Considered the golden age in English history
i. Economic and social change occurred ii. English renaissance iii. Shakespeare defied odds of traditional England plays

B) Age of exploration and expansion abroad
1. Protestant reformation in England
a) People wanted to leave England because of religious restriction
i. Edict of Nantes

C) Queen Elizabeth I (b. 1533; r. 1558-1603 ((d.)) )
1. Expansion of British Monarchy to North America
a) Took the throne after the death of her brother Edward VI
2. Virtually started the popularity of theater

Background on the Movement

A) English Renaissance
1. Englishmen expressed their creativity through fine arts
2. Time period with most art and literature produced
3. Shakespeare: the most known writer of the Renaissance

B) Wandering minstrels
1. Treated badly
a) Considered peasants and vagabonds
2. Traveled from town to town doing performances

C) Elizabeth’s love for poetry and theater
1. Had private performances to herself
2. Wrote poetry herself

Theatrical conventions

A) Stages
1. Flexible stages
a) Performed in the inns or houses.
b) Private theaters, provincial theaters, and playhouses.
i. Typically four stories and had balconies ii. An archway that led from the courtyard area to the street iii. empty space that was extended out into the audience and it could be viewed from three sides
c) Trap doors on stages
d) Completely flat

1. normal clothes with a little more “pizzaz
a) Men’s...

... middle of paper ...

...1647, with a lot of help from Fletcher and other people as well.
Influence
A) Many authors and artists borrowed some of Shakespeare’s new phrases/words
B) Movies/Musical based off of his works
1.West Side Story
a) 1960s version of Romeo and Juliet
i. Set in the city
2. Taming of the Shrew
C) Changed writing style forever
1. focused on human characters/emotions
D) His use of language helped standardize and shape the modern English language.
1. Ben Jonson, another Elizabethan playwright and critic, described Shakespeare’s works as “not of an age, but for all time.”

Other
A) Shakespeare’s parents were probably illiterate, and his children almost certainly were.
B) Shakespeare wrote 36 plays that survive to today
1. At least two plays did not survive
a) Love’s Labor’s Won (which some believe is Much Ado About Nothing)
b)The History of Cardenio

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