The 1500s: Shakespeares Globe

Ugh, Shakespeare is so boring! This is how many people respond when they hear
Shakespeares name. It is easy to understand why so they have this response, since many are not
introduced to the historical context to which his work was written. When analyzing Shakespeare
it is very important to consider of some of the basic understandings and history of the time
period in which he was writing. As a reader of Shakespeare, one should know how it would have
originally been performed, how they perceived certain places, a little about Shakespeare himself,
about Englands religion, the politics, and how they perceived anatomy. Knowing at least a few
aspects of each of these points can make reading Shakespeare or seeing a performance of his
work all that much more enjoyable.
To properly understand and envision Shakespeares work, one must understand how it
was originally performed. The most widely known fact regarding the performances back in
Shakespeares time was that pre-pubescent boys were the ones to perform any and all female
roles; the reason for this is that women were not allowed on a theatres stage. Some of the lesser
known facts about how these plays were originally performed are that many times the actors
didnt have a long time to get stage directions, memorize their lines, or even to read through the
whole script. There were times when an actor would get his script as he is going on stage (The
Theatre). Also these performances had little to no background scenery. If there was scenery, it
would most likely have just been a plant sitting on the stage and maybe chairs brought out by the
actors at the beginning of the scene. The actors were also not in costume as our modern day
theatre or movie performances. They would simply come out in modern Elizabethan dress. This
would mean men in tights, the puffy shorts, puffy shirts and vests. The boys playing women

would be dressed in the typical womens fashion of the time, which was corset more so to give
the boys a female figure and a long sleeved dress with hoop skirt.
To go along with how the plays were performed, one should also understand what the
audiences were like. The audience was comprised of three types of members; this was mostly
defined by where they were during the performance. There was the groundlings were the ones
closest to the stage in modern terms, this was the mosh-pit. These audience members tended to
be the lower class citizens, because these tickets were the cheapest. The reason for this is the
same as the reasons today: they had to stand during the whole play, and as we know many of
Shakespeares plays were three or even four hours long. The next group consisted of those that
paid a little more to be seated in the galleries, which is similar to where everyone sits in todays
audiences. The last group, the ones that paid the most got to be seated on the actual stage behind
the performers. These seats were not for the people who wanted to actually see the play, but who
wanted to be seen during it. Another thing is that these audiences werent like they are today,
especially when it came to being quiet. They would often boo the bad guys and cheer on the
heroes. These audience members where as much a part of the performance as the actors, and
because of them no performance was ever the same.
It is also very important to know where the play itself is supposed to be taking place
when reading Shakespeare. As Tompkins mentions in her article, Shakespeare used certain
locations to draw out certain emotions and background knowledge of his audience of the time.
An example of this is how he set The Tempest on an island just off the coast of Italy in the
Mediterranean Sea. By doing this he set a certain feeling of beauty, mystery, and magic. To an
Elizabethan audience member, they would have thought of Italy as a beautiful country that was
foreign to them. Shakespeare also used his audience members background knowledge and

perception of Scotland to evoke fear in Macbeth. To many Elizabethans, Scotland was thought to
be a place full of witches, monsters, and evil. So when the audience members found out that
Macbeth was set in Scotland, they immediately got an idea of what would happen, and it made it
even more believable for witches to appear in the play. If Macbeth had been set on an island in
the Mediterranean Sea, and The Tempest in Scotland, neither of these stories would have had the
same impact to the Elizabethan audience members as it did. It probably wouldnt be able to make
the same impact to the modern day audience member either if the scenery of these two plays had
been switched. The fact is that even to todays audience, Italy seems to be a more romantic place
and Scotland is rainy and dreary.
Shakespeares own life is important to understand when reading his work. Not much is
really known about his personal life, but what we do know is that he married quite young, even
for his time. The average man in the 17th century would get married at 28, Shakespeare was 18.
He married a woman named Anne Hathaway (not the actress) who was 26 at the time. Six
months after the wedding Anne gave birth to Shakespeares first daughter, Susanna it is fairly
obvious that Anne and Shakespeare did not wait for their wedding night. Could this be why
Shakespeare had Angelo go after a betrothed couple who also hadnt waited until their wedding
night in Measure for Measure? Another commonality between Shakespeares work and his real
life, is that Shakespeares only sons name was Hamnet, which seems rather similar to the name
Hamlet. It is in The Tempest, his final play that Shakespeare hides his own goodbye to theatre:
You do look, my son, in a moved sort,/ As if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir./
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,/ As I foretold you, were all spirits
and/ Are melted into air, into thin air;/ And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,/
The cloud capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,/ The solemn temples, the great

globe itself,/ Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,/ And, like this insubstantial
pageant faded,/ Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff/ As dreams are made
on, and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep. (4.1.146-58)
Another aspect of Shakespeares personal life that needs to be taken under consideration
when reading his plays is which theatre he was writing for at the time. For example, Shakespeare
wrote Romeo and Juliet when he was writing for The Rose Theatre. So when Juliet says that
which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, is she really talking about a rose
or about The Rose? All of the theatres in Shakespeares time, were found in a smelly and gross
side of town, and some believe that The Rose Theatre was one of the least smelliest of them.
Then in 1600 Shakespeare wrote As You Like It and wrote the famous quote all the worlds a
stage. It is important to know that at this time Shakespeare is not only writing for, but also owns
The Globe Theatre. It doesnt seem to be a coincidence that world and globe means the same
thing, especially in the play. He does this again in his final play, The Tempest. The main
character, Prospero towards the end of the play says the great globe itself, most likely
referencing The Globe Theatre once again.
Another fairly obvious fact that can be seen in Shakespeares work is how important
religion was to him. During his time, known as the Elizabethan Era after Queen Elizabeth I,
England was dominated by Protestants. Some of the main differences between Catholics and
Protestants are that Catholics believe the Pope is the head of the church, while Protestants
believe that Jesus is the head. Also, Protestants dont pray to saints like Catholics do, Catholics
use holy water, and Catholics believe that the wine and bread during communion become the
blood and body of Jesus which the Protestants believe they are just symbolic. It also is not
important for a person to go to church to the Protestants like it is to Catholics; Protestants believe

anyone can be saved whether or not they go to church. This had been a huge conflict when
Elizabeths older sister, Mary Tudor announced that Elizabeth was to be her successor of the
English crown Mary was Catholic and Elizabeth Protestant. This all happened before
Shakespeare was even born, but there were still many Catholics in England when he was alive,
so it is unknown whether or not Shakespeare was Protestant or Catholic; this is relevant because
by the time Shakespeare was alive, it was illegal to be Catholic in England. Possibly the best
example of religion in his writing is Measure for Measure which gets its title from the book of
Matthew in the Bible. Even his most famous piece of work, Hamlet is related to a section in the
Bible: Romans 12:19 Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord, (Lund). In Hamlet
Shakespeare has left us a little hint that he was Catholic and not Protestant. In Hamlet he
describes Hamlets father as being stuck in purgatory something in which Protestants do not
believe in. Norman Lund also related Macbeth to the verse Pride goes before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall, (Proverbs 16:18).
Shakespeare did just hide hints of religion within is writing, but also quite a bit of his
modern politics. It is a well-known fact that many of Shakespeares work have hidden critiques
of the politics going on in England at the time. The Tempest is an excellent example of
Shakespeares political comments. It is widely believed that the name Caliban is a play on the
word cannibal, suggesting that this play was a response to the essay Of the Cannibals written
by Montaigne. Also the term moor in Shakespeares time, did not necessarily mean black. It
was more in reference to darker skin, so they would have considered not only black Africans but
also anyone with darker skin. This means that Othello the moor, may not have been even
African. Many believe he was supposed to represent a Moroccan who had come to London in the
late 16th century that Shakespeare would have heard about. If you look at pictures of Moroccans

you would see that they were not that dark of skin at all, but rather very tan. Even though they
arent what the modern day person would consider to be dark skinned, they were still moors to
the pale English citizens of the 16th century.
Another aspect of politics that is relevant to know when reading his work, is knowing
who the ruler of England was at the time each play was written. This can drastically change how
one perceives the play, especially if you know the background of the ruler. At the beginning of
his career, Shakespeare wrote a number of plays specifically for Queen Elizabeth I. The play The
Merry Wives of Windsor is the best example because Queen Elizabeth loved the character
Falstaff from Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V so much, that it is widely believed
she requested that Shakespeare write him in another play where he is in love. You can also tell
that the Queen loved comedies because much of Shakespeares early works all of which would
have been performed for the queen at some point were comedies. However, the absolute best
example of this is Macbeth which was written shortly after James IV of Scotland (James I of
England) became king. James IV was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots who was beheaded in
1587 by Queen Elizabeth for trying to kill her. Because of his mothers beheading, James IV was
extremely paranoid that someone was going to assassinate him. It is also widely known that
James IV was rather fascinated by witchcraft. Knowing these things of James IV, makes many
Shakespearian critics believe that this play was specifically written for the king. Some scholars
even believe that it was originally performed privately for James IV (Thomson).
Human anatomy and the medicinal practices of the time were also huge influences on
Shakespeares work. According to Hattaway, Elizabethan women were considered to not be as
developed as men. They thought this way because they thought that semen was the purest form
of blood, so since women dont produce it they were not as developed as men. Elizabethan

doctors also had a fairly complex, and misleading understanding of how the body worked. They
believed that the body was connected to the elements and that certain body fluids meant a
different misalignment in the bodys health. The element fire was associated with yellow bile,
and meant angry/temperamental. Air was represented through blood, and was associated with
jolly and lusty which makes sense with their view on blood and semen. Water was represented
by phlegm and meant sluggish/slow, and finally earth was linked to black bile and meant sad or
lovesick (Science). It is common knowledge that doctors of this time period would bleed their
patients when they were sick, and it was because they believed that there was an imbalance in
them. The people of the Elizabethan era also thought that the liver was the source of emotions
and love, the stomach the source of courage, and the spleen the source of anger (Science). So
when Hamlet says now could I drink hot blood, he most likely meant literally drinking hot
blood because it was believed to make someone angry; this is related to the modern phrase
makes my blood boil, which means it angers the person greatly. In some ways their form of
thinking, with the little technology they had, makes sense. When a person is nervous, they get
butterflies in their stomach.
There are so many more ways to analyze Shakespeares work in regards to connecting it
to the things going on in his life time. One could write an essay twice the size of this one,
focusing on only one of these topics, and many have. That is how influential the way these plays
were performed, and how the setting, and religion, and politics, and their perception of anatomy
was on his work. After learning even this little bit about how things worked in Shakespeares
time, a reader is truly ready to tackle the complex work that is Shakespeare.

Works Cited
Hattaway, Michael. "Male Sexuality and Misogyny." Shakespeare and Sexuality. Ed. Alexander,
Catherine M.S. and Wells, Stanley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 92115. Print.
Lund, Norman. Why Study Shakespeare? Oxford Tutorials 11 June 2005. Web. 21 April 2014.
<http://www.oxfordtutorials.com/why_study_shakespeare.htm>
Religion Life in Elizabethan England 29 March 2008. Web. 11 May 2014.
<http://elizabethan.org/compendium/7.html>
Russell, Wendy Thomas. 12 Simple Differences Between Catholics and Protestants. WTR 10
June 2013. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://wendythomasrussell.com/catholics-protestants/>
Science and Health Life in Elizabethan England 29 March 2008. Web. 11 May 2014.
<http://elizabethan.org/compendium/31.html>
The Bible. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.
The Theatre in Shakespeares Time. The Shakespearian. Web. 12 May 2014.
<http://alexryan8x.tripod.com/theatre.html>
Thomson, Gale. The Historical Context of Macbeth. EXPLORING Shakespeare 27 February
2007. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://www.westirondequoit.org/ihs/library/his.html>
Tompkins, Joanne. "The Politics of Location in Othello, Djanet Searss Harlem Duet, and Ong
Keng Sens Desdemona." Contemporary Theatre Review. 19.3 (2009): 269-278. Web. 13
Apr. 2014.