The Upper Class in Shakespeare's Plays

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Recommended: Renaissance era and Shakespeare

Elizabethan Society had a very strict social code at the time that William Shakespeare was writing his plays. Social class in Elizabethan England could determine many things, from how a person spoke or what they could wear. This led to Shakespeare basing his plays on these social classes, mostly the upper class. Shakespeare used the upper class in a majority of his plays, such as “Shakespeare’s Henry IV.” Shakespeare relied on the innovations of the Renaissance in his plays related to the upper class, because he liked to give his characters more depth and vary the overall rhythmic structure of his plays to make them interesting for the audience. The way the upper class spoke was important in Shakespeare’s plays. They spoke by using blank verse, as proved in this quote: (bard.org) “The verse form he uses is blank verse. It contains no rhyme, but each line has an internal rhythm with a regular rhythmic pattern.” Blank verse is mostly used in plays like Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, which is a good example of this. This quote shows that the upper class was the main focus, because the way they spoke was most favorable by Shakespeare. Blank verse was a complex and powerful way of speaking, which makes the conversation more interesting in his plays. This form of speaking is also used in poetry today. Another example of blank verse is in this quote: (Holowienka) “With the upper class being able to achieve a higher and better education, their speech was more The way the upper class dressed was also important in Shakespeare’s plays. They wore refined, sophisticated, and expensive clothes, which they wore more for display than for comfort. This is proved in the following quote: (bardstage.org) “…Costumes therefore conveyed an... ... middle of paper ... ...d dress differently than the lower class to give each of them unique characteristics not found in the other class. In the modern world day, most people speak the same, regardless of whether they’re rich or not, as long as they’re from the same place. Most people tend to dress the same, too, unless they can’t afford certain types of clothes. The Renaissance days differ in lots of ways from today because of this. Works Cited Brown, Starla. “Costumes and Sets in Shakespeare’s Theater.” www2.springfield.k12.il.us. Web, 23 April 2014. Debora B., Schwartz. “Shakespearean Verse and Prose.” Cla.calpoly.edu. Web, 23 April 2014. Holowienka, Roxanne. “Henry IV, Part One: Language of the Upper and Lower Class.” www2.cedarcrest.edu. Web, 23 April 2014. “Globe Theatre Costumes.” Bardstage.org. Web, 23 April 2014. “Shakespeare’s Language.” Bard.org. Web, 23 April 2014.

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