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- - - - Drama had existed long before the 16th c., but it was at this time that it was transformed & acquired most of its modern characteristics. It left aside religious matters & the imitation of the classics to become a new strong genre. Drama became the main source of entertainment, as important as television & films nowadays and the performers were professional actors usually belonging to companies attached to noble or royal households. From 1594, Shakespeare’s plays were performed only by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a company owned by a group of players that soon became the leading playing company in London.
        
        Morality & mystery plays
        
        Mystery plays
        
        Morality plays
        
        Mystery plays dramatized stories from the Bible, from the Creation to the Last Judgment. Their primary goal was to instruct the largely illiterate public in the teachings of the Bible. They conveyed religious messages & reinforced Christian values.
        
        Morality plays emerged from the mystery plays, focusing on moral instruction rather than dramatizing biblical stories. They typically featured allegorical characters, i.e., personifications of abstract qualities such as Virtue, Vice, Good Deeds, Knowledge & Death. The central figure was often a symbolic Everyman character representing humanity, who faced a moral or spiritual journey.
        
        native English examples of Medieval drama
        
        Latin tragedies & comedies
        
        influenced by the classical tradition of Roman & Greek drama
        
        Tragedies
        
        Comedies
        
        Tragedies emphasized themes of revenge, bloody violence & moral dilemmas, and were particularly influenced by Senecan tragedy. E.g. Shakespeare's Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello
        
        Comedies featured mistaken identities, disguises & happy endings. Characterized by witty dialogue, wordplay and exploration of love & relationships. E.g. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, As You Like It
        
        Theatres
        
        Very different from today
        
        Playhouse structure
        
        The first London theatre was called The Theatre and it was built in 1576, then it was followed by The Rose, The Swan, The Curtain & the Globe, which saw many of Shakespeare’s premieres. The way they worked & looked like was very different from a modern theatre: The play took place in the open air in daylight when the weather was good. Between 2 or 3 thousand people, from all classes of society, were in the audience. They were badly behaved shouting out rude remarks to the actors, climbing onto the stage or eating food & throwing it.
        
        The actors played on a stage with no scenery, so the audience had to use the imagination as special effects. There was only a balcony & a trapdoor. In spite of that, actors were colourfully & richly dressed. By law, no women were allowed to perform so women's roles were taken by boys. Playhouses were run by entrepreneurs and their activity had to bring profits.
        
        The stage was a platform with a movable curtain and two doors.
        
        The pit was the ground level of the playhouse open to the sky, where the lower-class audience members stood to watch the performance paying a lower price.
        
        The gallery included the seats for the aristocracy & the rich. Only the gallery was covered by the roof.
        
        History plays
        
        Shakespeare also popularized the history play genre, which dramatized the lives of English monarchs & significant historical events. They explored themes of kinship, power, legitimacy & ambition. One of the central themes is the question of "what makes a good king", so different monarchs in the plays embody different approaches to kingship. E.g. Shakespeare's Richard III, Henry IV & Henry V.
    - - Elizabethan poetry is also best known for Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene, which celebrates Queen Elizabeth I and is written in a unique verse form known as the Spenserian stanza. And Marlowe's exploration of human ambition & desire in Doctor Faustus laid the groundwork for themes later explored by Shakespeare.
    - - The sonnet form, which originated in Italy, became highly popular during the Elizabethan era, thanks to poets such as Sir Thomas Wyatt. The English (Shakespearean) sonnet emerged as a distinct variation (consisting of 3 quatrains & a final rhymed couplet). He became one of the most famous sonnet writers, with 154 sonnets that explored themes of love, beauty, time & mortality.
      - the sonnet
  - - - The Reformation transformed England into a Protestant state after Henry VIII’s divorce with Catherine of Aragon. For centuries, Europe had been united under the religious leadership of the Roman Catholic Church until a new religious movement, known as Protestantism, broke within the Church. Henry VIII’s daughter, who would rule as Queen Mary I, violently restored Catholicism in England for a brief period time after his father’s death. Nonetheless, after her execution, her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I, re-established the Anglican Church as the official religion of the country. She became a symbol of Englishness & nationalism.
        
        When Shakespeare began his writing career, Queen Elizabeth I, from the Tudor dynasty, was on the throne; she was a was a great supporter of the arts by providing financial support to the theatre industry, and enjoyed attending plays & performances. Shakespeare never wrote about Elizabeth directly, but his plays addressed the lives of her Tudor forebears. For instance, he dramatized the reign of Elizabeth’s father in his final history play, Henry VIII, which depicts the monarch’s break with the Catholic Church.
        
        After Queen Elizabeth died childless, King James VI of Scotland was named her successor becoming King James I of England. James proved to be a true enthusiast of the theatre, so Shakespeare welcomed the new king with Macbeth which is set in James’s native Scotland
      - Queen Elizabeth's restoration of Protestantism
    - - Rivalry with Spain
        
        New World exploration
        
        Acts of piracy
        
        Much of England’s exploration & expansion was driven by competition with Spain, the dominant global power in the 16th c. with a vast empire in the Americas & a powerful navy. In fact, England had been late to the exploration game after Cristobal Columbus' discovery of the Americas in 1492. In 1588, the defeat of the Spanish Armada (a large fleet intended to invade England & restore Catholicism) was a key moment in the reign of Elisabeth I & the beginning of the decline of Spain's supremacy. England's victory began its rise as a naval power, encouraged Protestantism & fostered a sense of national identity & pride.
        
        Explorers like Sir Francis Drake & Sir Walter Raleigh ventured to the New World, establishing trade routes and laying the groundwork for future British colonization. Overseas exploration & trade (beyond Europe) brought wealth to England, and this newfound prosperity helped finance cultural & artistic endeavors, including the construction of theaters.
        
        In addition, these English explorers sought to challenge Spain’s dominance. Pirates or "privateers" (state-sanctioned piracy) like Francis Drake were regularly attacking Spanish treasure ships & settlements in the New World. They operated under letters of marque from Queen Elizabeth, allowing them to legally attack Spain’s New World assets. These acts of piracy were a key part of England's growing naval power & contributed to its eventual dominance at sea.
      - the beginning of England’s colonial/imperial expansion
    - - Humanism / individualism
        
        Scientific method
        
        revival of Classical literature &
        development of the vernacular
        
        The period of Shakespeare's life was influenced by the broader European Renaissance. One of the central ideas of the Renaissance was humanism, which encouraged the exploration of individual identity, self-expression & personal achievement. This individualism led to the idea that individuals could shape their own destiny (exemplified by figures like Leonardo da Vinci).
        
        It also encouraged curiosity & learning in fields like science, philosophy & the arts. There was a renewed interest in understanding the natural world through observation & experimentation. Figures like Sir Francis Bacon laid the groundwork for the scientific method, while improved navigation technology allowed for successful sea voyages & trade expansion.
        
        In literature, scholars rediscovered the works of ancient philosophers like Aristotle & Plato and made them available to a broader audience. This produced a great revival of interest in Classical literature, with an emphasis on education, rhetoric & the study of languages like Latin & Greek. In addition, Renaissance writers began to produce literature in their native languages (vernacular) to reach a wider audience. For example, Dante's Divine Comedy in Italian, Cervantes' Don Quixote in Spanish & Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in English
- - - - Born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire) into a middle-class family. The 3rd of 8 children, his father was a prosperous glove-maker & businessman. Unlike many of his contemporaries who were university-educated, Shakespeare's studied in Stratford's grammar school, where he received education in Latin, rhetoric, classical literature & the Bible.
        
        At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was 26, that is, 8 years older & already 3 months pregnant. They had 3 children, Susanna and twins Hamnet & Judith. Tragically, Hamnet died at age 11, possibly influencing Hamlet.
        
        The necessity to provide for his family may have initially drawn him into participating in his father's business, which was experiencing a decline during that period. Dissatisfied with this life, he ventured to London, leaving behind his family for a time and became an actor & playwright. He was a part-owner of the famous Globe Theatre and his plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a company of which he was both an actor & shareholder or founding member. So, despite the romanticized view of Shakespeare as a struggling artist, he was actually quite wealthy by the standards of his time.
        
        Mysterious early life: the "lost years"
        
        Born & died on the same date
        
        Coined thousands of words & phrases
        
        The "authorship question"
        
        Prolific writer & posthumous fame
        
        There are large gaps in Shakespeare's life history, especially his early years. The period between 14-18 y.o and then between 21-28 y.o., often called the "lost years", remains one of the great mysteries in Shakespeare’s life.
        
        Interestingly, he was born and died on the same date (April 23, 1616) at the age of 52. Shakespeare's early life was rooted in a middle-class family background, his father being a successful businessman involved in glove making & wool dealing.
        
        Shakespeare is credited with coining or popularizing more than 1,700 words, many of which are still in use today, such as lonely, generous, champion, addiction, etc. and phrases like "The world is a stage", "Brave new world", "To be or not to be" or "It's all Greek to me".
        
        Some scholars & critics have questioned whether Shakespeare really wrote all the works attributed to him, proposing other writers like Francis Bacon as the true authors. However, the mainstream academic consensus remains that Shakespeare was indeed the author.
        
        Shakespeare wrote 39 plays, 154 sonnets & 2 narrative poems, many of which are considered to be the finest ever written in English. And although Shakespeare was well-known during his life, his fame grew exponentially after his death. His works have been translated
        into every major living language and nearly 400 years after his death, they continue to be performed around the world.
        
        Interesting facts
  - - - Sonnets
        
        Petrarchan influence
        
        Structural & thematic innovation
        
        The sonnet was the most popular verse structure in England when Shakespeare began writing, influenced by Petrarch´s Italian poetry, which revolved about the unrequited love of an idealized woman. The new generation of poets, including Shakespeare, introduced new elements in their compositions, both structurally & thematically. He made innovative departures from the traditional Petrarchan sonnet focus, such as:
        
        Love & friendship,
        
        The passing of time & the inevitablity of death,
        
        The loss of beauty,
        
        The nature of poetry itself.
        
        a collection of 154 sonnets
      - Deeply personal, intimate works, probably reflecting Shakespeare’s own thoughts & experiences
    - - Tragedies
        
        Universal themes & madness
        
        Tragic hero formula
        
        Fate/Desnity vs free will
        
        The role of the fool
        
        Known for their exploration of universal themes, which is part of the reason why they resonate with audiences of all times. In addition, madness plays a central role in many of his tragedies. It serves as both a literal & metaphorical device.
        
        In most tragedies, the protagonist is a tragic hero—a character who is generally noble but has a fatal flaw (an excessive emotion like pride, jealousy, etc.) that leads to his downfall.
        
        In addition, most of his characters explore the tension between fate & free will: the extent to which their actions are determined by destiny versus their own choices.
        
        The figure of the Fool plays an important role. The fool often speaks truth to power in a way that other characters cannot, providing a mix of wisdom and humor.
        
        Themes like
        
        Ambition: Macbeth,
        
        Jealousy: Othello,
        
        Revenge: Hamlet,
        
        Madness: King Lear,
        
        Unrequited love: Romeo and Juliet
        
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      - Comedies
        
        Romantic & happy endings
        
        Mistaken identities & misunderstandings
        
        Strong female protagonists
        
        The role of the fool
        
        Shakespeare’s comedies typically center around romantic relationships, with the plot culminating in marriages or reconciliations. Unlike his tragedies, which end in death or ruin, the comedies celebrate love & union, almost always with happy endings.
        
        A key feature is the frequent use of disguises, mistaken identities & gender-swapping, where characters hide their true identities leading to comic misunderstandings & love triangles.
        
        These comedies are notable for their strong & witty female characters, who often take control of the plot, playing key roles in resolving the conflicts of the story.
        
        They often include a "fool" or a clown character who provides humorous commentary on the events, often serving as a voice of wisdom under the disguise of humor, hence revealing truths about love, society & human ignorance.
        
        E.g. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night are classic examples where multiple couples find love and happiness by the play’s end.
        
        E.g. In both Twelfth Night and As You Like It, the female heroines dress themselves as a man, leading to comic situations & romantic confusions as both men and women fall in love with them.
        
        E.g. Rosalind in As You Like It is probably Shakespeare’s most powerful female protagonist, using her intelligence & disguise to steer the play’s romantic entanglements.
        
        Feste in Twelfth Night and Touchstone in As You Like It are examples of Shakespearean fools.
        
        As You Like It
        
        Twelfth Night
        
        A Midsummer Night’s Dream
        
        Much Ado About Nothing
        
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      - Histories
        
        Not always historically accurate
        
        The Wars of the Roses
        
        Exploration of Kingship & Balanced criticism
        
        While Shakespeare's histories are based on real events & monarchs, he often took dramatic liberties to enhance the narrative, altering timelines, characters & events for dramatic effect.
        
        Shakespeare's history plays are deeply influenced by the Wars of the Roses, a series of conflicts between the Houses of Lancaster and York for control of the English throne, of which he dramatized the power struggles & betrayals during this period.
        
        The theme of kingship—what makes a good ruler, the burden of power, and the divine right of kings—runs through all of Shakespeare’s history plays. When exploring the ethical dilemmas faced by rules, he portrays them as flawed & human rather than idealized figures. His portrayal of the monarchs is remarkaby balanced as this happens with both Lancastrians & Yorkists, despite Elizabeth I being a Tudor monarch.
        
        E.g. Richard III is portrayed as villanous while Henry V is presented as an heroic, idealized king. However, many historians believe Richard III's reputation was exaggerated for political reasons and that Henry V's behaviour was ruthless.
        
        E.g. The Henry VI trilogy & Richard III follow the tumultuous events of the Wars of the Roses, portraying the chaos and bloodshed that tore England apart. The color imagery of the red rose (Lancaster) & white rose (York) is a symbol of the opposing factions.
        
        E.g. While Richard III depicts Richard as a villain, Shakespeare also criticizes Lancastrian kings like Henry VI, who is portrayed as weak & ineffectual.
        
        Richard II
        
        Richard III
        
        Henry IV (Part 1, Part 2)
        
        Henry V
        
        Henry VI (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
        
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      - Each genre exhibits Shakespeare's unique ability to delve into the complexities of human experience with great psychological depth, emotional intensity & philosohpical insight