Elizabethan Theatre and Its Audience
Elizabethan Theatre and its Audience
Soumita Samaddar
Roll: ME10 00 14
Year: M A English, 2nd Semester
Supervisor: Prof. Tamalika Das
The posthumous impact of ancient Rome has an unsurpassable influence on the historical background of Elizabethan Theatre. The defining feature of the period is the growth of a modern consciousness, which has another alternative name, ‘Early Modern’. This is not only apparent in the theatre of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century but in present time also. During Middle Ages the individual artists were evolved first. These artists, normally poor and depended on the audience’s generosity, were essentially minstrels. They used to perform in the King’s court, social festivals or market places. The church did not support these minstrels but some of the priests imitated their techniques and amalgamated religious guidance and secular stories. Thus, they invented ‘Dramatic Rituals’, which were spoken in Latin language and enacted by clerics. In the course of time, these dramatic rituals became the basis of biblical stories, presented in liturgical and dramatic manner in the church which was considered to be the stage and the audience sat amidst the actors. During thirteenth and fourteenth centuries this method experienced a huge change. The new secularized version of drama found its expression in English instead of Latin. The convention of script was invented. Even characters were developed from homely and comic ground. People came across the evolution of Mystery, Morality and Miracle plays. But during Renaissance, the Elizabethan theatre reached the position of excellence. Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne of England in the year 1558. At that point of time there were no specially designed buildings in England. There were some companies of actors which toured the country and delivered their performances in a wide variety of temporary acting spaces, sometimes building stages and scenery for
Soumita Samaddar
Roll: ME10 00 14
Year: M A English, 2nd Semester
Supervisor: Prof. Tamalika Das
The posthumous impact of ancient Rome has an unsurpassable influence on the historical background of Elizabethan Theatre. The defining feature of the period is the growth of a modern consciousness, which has another alternative name, ‘Early Modern’. This is not only apparent in the theatre of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century but in present time also. During Middle Ages the individual artists were evolved first. These artists, normally poor and depended on the audience’s generosity, were essentially minstrels. They used to perform in the King’s court, social festivals or market places. The church did not support these minstrels but some of the priests imitated their techniques and amalgamated religious guidance and secular stories. Thus, they invented ‘Dramatic Rituals’, which were spoken in Latin language and enacted by clerics. In the course of time, these dramatic rituals became the basis of biblical stories, presented in liturgical and dramatic manner in the church which was considered to be the stage and the audience sat amidst the actors. During thirteenth and fourteenth centuries this method experienced a huge change. The new secularized version of drama found its expression in English instead of Latin. The convention of script was invented. Even characters were developed from homely and comic ground. People came across the evolution of Mystery, Morality and Miracle plays. But during Renaissance, the Elizabethan theatre reached the position of excellence. Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne of England in the year 1558. At that point of time there were no specially designed buildings in England. There were some companies of actors which toured the country and delivered their performances in a wide variety of temporary acting spaces, sometimes building stages and scenery for