Elizabethan England: Fashion, Crime, and Theatre “’O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’” This quote from the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet is well known to essentially everyone. But this common phrase may never have been repeated if Shakespeare was not taught in schools ubiquitously. While studying Shakespeare, it is vital to contemplate the life he lived in the Elizabethan era. Three notable components of daily life in Elizabethan England include fashion, crime and punishment, and theatre life. A prominent piece of living in Elizabethan England was fashion. Fashion was used to show wealth and class. The upper class would wear more clothes, fur, wigs, gowns with geometric shapes, and ruffs to display their importance.
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The theatre was a public entertainment spot where all could enter for just a penny. Theatres were usually amphitheaters with no seats in the lower sections. Consequently, the poor would reside for a show in those areas. The privleged would sit in upper levels due to the blockage from the sun and the less crowded conditions. The wealthy could also purchase cushions to provide comfort while sitting through a lengthy show, like most plays were in Shakespeare’s time. Although the extensive size of a play, there were no intermissions, so most people would go to the bathroom right on the ground. Because of this and the nearness of the citizens in the facility, disease was spread rapidly in all playhouses. Performances were held in the afternoon. They contained little to no set and had flamboyant costumes donated by the nobles right out of their own closet. Acts were organized in less than a week and usually exhibited for three or four days. Due to the strict law of no women in the theatre, all women’s parts were played by men. If a woman was found on the stage, the building would most likely be shut down. Despite the complications of the audience and the stage, plays were the main form of entertainment in the Elizabethan era.
To conclude, it is necessary to study the subjects of style, torment, and public shows when studying Shakespeare and the Golden Age. As instruction on Shakespeare’s most famous
The theatre was a public entertainment spot where all could enter for just a penny. Theatres were usually amphitheaters with no seats in the lower sections. Consequently, the poor would reside for a show in those areas. The privleged would sit in upper levels due to the blockage from the sun and the less crowded conditions. The wealthy could also purchase cushions to provide comfort while sitting through a lengthy show, like most plays were in Shakespeare’s time. Although the extensive size of a play, there were no intermissions, so most people would go to the bathroom right on the ground. Because of this and the nearness of the citizens in the facility, disease was spread rapidly in all playhouses. Performances were held in the afternoon. They contained little to no set and had flamboyant costumes donated by the nobles right out of their own closet. Acts were organized in less than a week and usually exhibited for three or four days. Due to the strict law of no women in the theatre, all women’s parts were played by men. If a woman was found on the stage, the building would most likely be shut down. Despite the complications of the audience and the stage, plays were the main form of entertainment in the Elizabethan era.
To conclude, it is necessary to study the subjects of style, torment, and public shows when studying Shakespeare and the Golden Age. As instruction on Shakespeare’s most famous