Elizabethan Drama

Introduction

An Overview

Henry VIII’s schism from the Church of Rome hastened the

end of the Medieval religious drama. Drama flourished again

over a period of about a century from 1558, when Elizabeth I

became queen, to 1642, the year when all theatres were closed

down by the Puritans, who controlled the City of London. During

those years, drama became a major genre and the quality of the

plays was so exceptional that they became the major literary

contribution to the English Renaissance. They appealed to

people from all social levels, from the sovereign to the

lowest classes.

An Overview

Renaissance drama broke away from the religious roots of the

Middle Ages to reflect the humanistic spirit of the new

age, which exalted human nature in all its aspects and

emphasised man’s life and destiny on earth and his

position in the universe. Elizabethan drama presented heroes

and heroines larger than life as well as human types, taken

from contemporary English society. It also dealt with

themes taken from English history (like Shakespeare’s

historical plays) to express pride in the nation’s achievements

and tradition.

Queen Elizabeth I

Reign 1558-1603

Country filled with pride from conquest and academic growth

High Drinking Rate: Beer was cheap, so people drank a lot of it

to escape their problems, many deaths by drunkenness

3 Main Diseases: Bubonic Plague, Small pox, Tuberculosis

Lack of Personal and Public Hygiene: Neither rich nor poor

bathed very often

Common to have bad breath, rotting teeth, constant stomach

disorders, and scabs or sores

Queen Elizabeth I

Pollution: City ditches were used as toilets

Butchers threw dead carcasses in the street

Garbage was thrown in river

Mass graves for the poor

Lack of Medical Knowledge: Believed in the four humours,

the four chief fluids of the human body: black bile, yellow

bile, phlegm, blood

They made no connection between illness and the horrible

living conditions

Queen Elizabeth I

Women: No vote, few legal rights, and limited educational and job opportunities

Girls who could afford education were given a domestic education instead of an academic one—spinning, cooking, preserving fruit, weaving, and anything that could make the home life more pleasant

Married women lost all control of their property, even clothing, to their husbands

When a husband died, the most the woman could inherit was 1/3 of his property

Superstitions: Elizabethans were very superstitious; many had charms and such in their houses

They relied heavily on astrology and the stars

Queen Elizabeth I

Strengthened dramatic period after Medieval drama

Elizabeth loved the theatre (other rulers were hostile because of

disease and fights)

Elizabethan Age is known for its theater and thriving literature.

Queen Elizabeth and King James of Scotland were great

supporters of literature and the arts- they both supported

Shakespeare during their reign.

This time period also brought economic and social growth to

England.

Queen Elizabeth I

In late 1500’s theater was changing.

Before this time, actors would travel from city to city playing to

audiences… these actors were called “players.”

“Players” were not always greatly accepted by the cities they

visited because play-acting was considered sinful by some

communities.

In 1574 players were banished from London.

James Burbage built the first public playhouse or theater in

England leading to the development of other theaters.

Queen Elizabeth I

A Movement from Religious to Secular within the Theatre

Previously, most of the drama done was in the church in order to

help educate the people about their religion

Cycle plays were used to reenact history

Creation by God

Human’s fall to Satan

Life during the Old Testament times

Redemption by Christ

Final judgment at the end of the world

Queen Elizabeth I

In the 14th century the plays began to move out into the town

courtyards where they began to take on a more secular tone

Miracle and mystery plays

Used to teach stories from the Bible

Moralities Used to show people how they should live and die

Interlude One-act plays

Some used the framework of the Moralities

Other were written for entertainment and could be quite farcical

Devices

Iambic Pentameter- five sets of an unstressed

syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Blank Verse- unrhymed poetry written in iambic

pentameter. Usually spoken by the noble

characters, or when someone is being very serious.

Soliloquy- longer speech in which a character—

usually alone on stage—speaks as if to him/herself

Devices

Monologue- a long uninterrupted speech by one character

that others can hear

Aside- a brief comment a character makes to reveal

his/her thoughts to the audience or to one other character

The playwright used poetic dialogue to paint a picture of

the scene, establish the time and the place of the action

familiarize the audience both with

the characters’ identities and their physical appearances

Elizabethan Theatre

Shakespeare built his theater in 1599. He called it the “Globe”.

Built in 1599 for The Lord Chamberlain’s Acting Company of which

Shakespeare was a member (Shakespeare owned 10%)

Made of wood

Held 2,000 – 3,000 people

1,500 seats were covered

Room for 800 – 1,000 people to stand in the “pit”, an uncovered area

surrounding the stage

No lights so all performances were held between 2 – 5 pm

The stage was circular with all sides open

Elizabethan Theatre

There was an enclosed building to the side for costume changes

No curtains so characters were “announced”, acts and scenes

melted into each other, and dead bodies had to be carried off the

stage

3 levels of the stage

› * Main stage with small curtained area in the rear

› * Upper area (heaven) for balcony scenes

› * Lower area under the stage (hell) accessible by a trapdoor on the

stage

Elizabethan Theatre

The acoustics were poor so actors had to shout and use

exaggerated gestures to be understood

Because there were no curtains to close at the conclusion, all

tensions had to be “cooled” before the end of the play.

1613 – burned during a performance of Henry VIII when a real

cannon was fired onto the roof

1614 – rebuilt

1644 – Puritans destroyed it in an effort to “clean up” the

morals of London

Drama Details

Plays were held in the daytime, since there was no electricity to light the

stage

Flags announced play’s beginning

White for comedy

Black for tragedy

All classes were welcomed

“Groundlings” (everyday citizens) paid a penny and stood through

performances

Nobility paid more and sat in the gallery

Audience participated in play’s action

Drama Details

No scenery

Limited props

Costumes were expensive and rarely historically accurate (most just

wore everyday clothes).

No women acted.

Young boys played female parts

Acting was well-paid, but strenuous and unpredictable.

No curtains dictated that scenery be kept to a minimum since no

changes could be made during a performance.

Costumes were elaborate and highly decorated with hats and plumes.

Elizabethan Playwrights

Lyly, Peele, Greene, Lodge, Nashe, Kyd, Marlowe, Shakespeare,

Jonson

The University Wits

Lyly, Peele, Greene, Lodge, Nashe, Kyd and Marlowe are

known as the university Wits because they came either from

Cambridge or from Oxford. They were romantic by nature and

they represented the spirit of Renaissance. The great merit of

the University Wits was that they came with their passion and

poetry, and their academic training. They paved the way for

the successive writers like Shakespeare to express his genius.

The contribution of the university Wits to the development of

drama is great.

John Lyly

Eight comedies: the best are Campaspe, Endymion,

Grallathia, Midas and Love‘s Metamorphosis. He wrote

for the private theatres. His writing is replete with

genuine romantic atmosphere, homour, fancy for

romantic comedy, realism, classicism and romanticism.

Lyly established prose as an expression of comedy. He

deftly used prose to express light feelings of fun and

laughter. He also used a suitable blank verse for the

comedy.

John Lyly

High comedy demands a nice sense of phrase, and Lyly is the

first great phrase maker in English. He gave to English

comedy a witty phraseology. He also made an important

advance at successful comic portrayal. His characters are

both types and individuals. Disguise as a devise was later

popularized by Shakespeare in his plays especially in his

comedies. The device of girl dressed as a boy is traced back

to Lyly. The introduction of songs, symbolical of the mood

owes its popularity to Lyly.

George Peele

His work consists of The Arraignment of Paris, The

Battle of Alcazar, The Love of King David and Fair

Bethsabe and The Old Wives‘ Tales. He has left

behind a pastoral, a romantic tragedy, a chronicle

history and a romantic satire. He juxtaposes

romance and reality in his plays. As a humorist he

influenced Shakespeare. In The Old Wives‘ Tales he

for the first time introduced the note of satire in

English drama.

Robert Greene

Greene wrote The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of

Aragon and Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. Greene was the

first master of the art of plot construction in English drama. In

his plays Greene has three distinct words mingled together –

the world of magic, the world of aristocratic life, and the

world of the country. There is peculiar romantic humour and

rare combination of realism and idealism in his plays. He is

the first to draw romantic heroines. His heroines Margaret

and Dorothea anticipate Shakespeare‘s Rosalind and Celia.

Thomas Kyd

Kyd‘s The Spanish Tragedy, a Senecan tragedy,

is an abiding contribution to the development of

English tragedy. It is a well constructed play in

which the dramatist has skillfully woven

passion, pathos and fear until they reach a

climax. Kyd succeeded in producing dialogue

that is forceful and capable. He introduced the

revenge motif into drama.

Thomas Kyd

He, thus, influenced Shakespeare‘s Hamlet and

Webster‘s The Duchess of Malfi. The device of

play within play, which Shakespeare employed in

Hamlet, is used for the first time in The Spanish

Tragedy. He also introduced the hesitating type

of hero, suffering from bouts of madness,

feigned or real, in the character of Hieronimo,

who anticipates the character of Hamlet.

Christopher Marlowe

› Graduated from Cambridge, with B.A., allowed

back for Masters with Queen’s permission

› Next to Shakespeare, greatest tragedy writer of

the time

› Killed at 29 in tavern brawl

› Wrote Tamburlaine, Edward II, The Jew of Malta,

and Dr. Faustus.

› Perfected blank verse

Christopher Marlowe

Marlowe‘s famous plays Tamburlaine, the Great, Dr.

Faustus, Edward II and The few of Malta give him a

place of preeminence among the University Wits.

Swinburne calls him ―the first great poet, the father of

English tragedy and the creator of blank verse.‖ He is,

indeed, the protagonist of tragic drama in English and

the forerunner of Shakespeare and his fellows. Marlow

provided big heroic subjects that appealed to human

imagination.

Christopher Marlowe

He for the first time imparted individuality and

dignity to the tragic hero. He also presented the

tragic conflict between the good and evil forces

in Dr. Faustus. He is the first tragic dramatist

who used the device of Nemesis in an artistic

and psychological manner. Marlowe for the first

time made blank verse a powerful vehicle for

the expression of varied human emotions.

Christopher Marlowe

His blank verse, which Ben Jonson calls, ―Marlowe‘s Mighty

Line‖ is noticeable for its splendour of diction,

picturesqueness, vigour and energy, variety in pace and its

responsiveness to the demands of varying emotions. Marlowe

has been termed the father of English tragedy. He was in fact

the first to feel that romantic drama was the sole form in

harmony with the temperament of the nation. He created

authentic romantic tragedy in English and paved the way for

the full blossoming of Shakespeare‘s dramatic genius.

Ben Jonson

› College Graduate

› Writer of classics

› Scorned Shakespeare for lack of knowledge of

classical languages

› Abided by Aristotle’s three unities

› Gifted in satire

› Entertained court with extravagant

productions.

William Shakespeare

› Greatest of all English dramatists

› Born in Stratford-on-Avon

› Father was glover and town official

› Attended grammar school only

› Married older woman, Anne Hathaway

› Left his wife and 3 children and began working as

an actor, manager, and writer in London’s theaters

› By 1596 was beloved by Queen Elizabeth

William Shakespeare

› 38 plays attributed to him

› Wrote 10 tragedies, 18 comedies and 10 histories

› Balanced plot, serious vs. comic tones, and climax

› Approached many universal ideas

› Beautiful language and poetry

› Memorable characters

› Soliloquies (Speeches where actors talk alone to

reveal their thoughts aloud)

William Shakespeare

› While the average author uses about 7500 words,

Shakespeare used over 21,000, many that he made up

himself.

› All that glitters is not gold

› Into thin air

› Knock knock, who’s there?

› It’s Greek to me!

› Wild Goose chase

William Shakespeare

› 1589 – he wrote his first play (Henry VI, Part I)

› 1594 – he became a member of The Lord

Chamberlain’s Men which developed into the

premier theater troupe in London, first as an actor

and then a playwright

› 1598 – he became the principal comedic writer and

actor of the troupe

› 1603 – he became the principal tragic actor and

writer of the troupe

End of Elizabethan Theatre

Reign of James I (1603-1625) led to a civil war

Charles I gained throne when war broke out

Oliver Cromwell, Puritan, beheaded Charles and took

throne

Closed the “dens of iniquity” in 1642

Theatre dead until 1660

Theatre continued secretly, and many actors were

arrested

Next Lecture

ElizabethanHistory Play