ELIZABETHAN THEATREEngland during the reign of queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth reigned over England from 1558 to her death in 1603.

She succeeded her sister Queen Mary and restored Protestantism as the official religion. She did, however, firmly believe that people should be allowed to practice the Catholic religion without fear of punishment so long as it presented no threat to peace in the realm and her rule over England.

The Show Must Go On!

Unfortunately, theatre had a bad reputation among both the Catholic and Protestant religions.

London authorities refused to allow plays within the city, so theatres opened in Thames, outside the authority of the city administration.

Thus, plays were often performed in the courtyard of inns, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen.

Rejuvenate!

James Burbage obtains lease and permission to build 'The Theatre' in Shoreditch, London. One of the first theaters allowed to be constructed in London.

More and more theaters were slowly allowed to be built in London.

Theater

Though many theaters were being built with permission, there were different occasions that caused all theaters to close.

Such as the Bubonic Plague, banning of all theaters (again),

Aaaaand the Bubonic Plague (again).

Though the theater survived through each hindrance.

PLAYWRIGHTS

Christopher Marlowe (1564 – 1593)

Wrote plays such as: Doctor Faustus Tamburlaine The Jew of Malta The Massacre at Paris

PLAYWRIGHTS

Marlowe's career, however, was cut short at a young age when he died in a tavern fight in Deptford, the victim of a knife in the eye.

Some would argue that Marlowe was better than his well known competitor–

PLAYWRIGHTS Continued

William Shakespeare (baptized 1564 – died 1616)

Wrote plays such as: The Taming of the

Shrew Macbeth A Midsummer Night’s

Dream Julius Caesar

COMEDY

Though Aristotle made The Six Principles of Drama there is no structure for comedy.

He accepted that the primary object of comedy as imitation. Imitation of low  characters--not morally bad, but ludicrous, ugly but not painful or destructive. 

He defended comedy’s impressionistic representation of ludicrous behavior because it would incite audiences to avoid its imitation.

COMEDY CHARACTERS

Although there was not a definite structure to comedy the characters within each comedic play were similar.

Stock characters are exaggerated stereotypical characters that rely heavily on cultural types or names for his or her personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics.

Stock Characters

Typical Stock Characters include: Stingy old man/ miser Young man in love, rebels against

authority Clever/ cunning slave/ peasant Stupid slave/ peasant, naïve victim Foolish and conceited Braggart Greedy Courtesan

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Are stock characters within William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Choose 5 characters within A Midsummer Night’s Dream and categorize each character within the correct archetypes.

Explain your reasoning.

~ Fin ~