Preview

Elizabethan Theater Essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1803 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Elizabethan Theater Essay
What is the Elizabethan theater? The Elizabethan theater is a prominent theater during the English Renaissance. It's a general term for covering plays that are written and performed publicly in England during the reign in 1558-1603. The Elizabethan theater history had started in 1576, Until the Protestants came and took over the power they had. However in 1648 the Elizabethan theater was ordered to be shut down, and every single actor would end up being seized and whipped, Also anyone who attended a play would be fined.
The theater was built to be in a similar style to the roman coliseum, but it was much smaller. The Elizabethan theater was designed to hold up to 3000 people. The theater had attracted so many people since there was many great
…show more content…
Women’s weren’t allowed to be playing a woman role for the plays because others thought it wasn’t very “lady like”. Women who wanted to act was seen as a very low job for them and what society wanted for women is to be at home taking care of their family and be obedient. Also, women couldn’t even be part of being on the Elizabethan theater stage because they were very poorly educated, So they wouldn’t be able to know what to do. Women didn’t had that much many rights back then, Men had more freedom through that time, for women it was very limited. Older women who decided to be acting on stage would shave their heads and make sure no one finds out about …show more content…
The Elizabethan theater was a great entertainment area that people can afford to enjoy the things the audience would like to see or do over there. The Elizabethan theater was introduced from the different plots that were mentioned and the way that were played. Also, the way how the theater had different genres and put their minds into it, using lots of creativity that the people had in the theater. Through the Shakespeare’s plays and other directors that were performed helped gets the audience a much better understanding from what they're

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    „h The form of Elizabethan theatre derived from the innyards and animal baiting rings in which actors had been accustomed to perform in in the past. They were circular wooden buildings with a paved courtyard in the middle. Such a theatre would hold around 3,000 spectators. The yards were about 80 feet in diameter and the rectangular stage 40ft by 30ft in height…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Globe Theater History

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1592 there was a plague that broke out and killed 15,003 people and caused the theaters to close down. In 1596 all plays and theaters were banned by London authorities. Because there was drinking, gambling, the plague could spread, and because the church didn’t like it. In 1598 the document for the theater to stay on the land became expired. So they had to dismantle, they had to manually move the timber from the on Theater to the new Globe Theater. The Globe Theater was made up of timber and it was first built in 1599 which is located next to the Rose and on the south side of Thames. It was designed and build for Cuthbert Burbage who was an English theatrical figure and he is the son of James Burbage who is the one that built the theater. The theater is co-owned by Burbage, his brother Robert, Will Kempe, Augustine Phillips, John Heminge, Thomas Pope, and the legend William Shakespeare. Some of the most famous plays they had in 1613 were Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and Midsummer Night’s Dream and also on 29 June, 1613 while a play or show was happening there was a misfire with a cannon and surprisingly it hit the roof and landed in the Globe’s thatched roof which is a roof made of dry and dead vegetation such as straw and sedge. Because the cannon ball was so hot from being fired; it caught the whole roof on fire and so they closed down the place because of the incident. Surprisingly it took them just one year of building to…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Globe Theatre was located in London and associated with William Shakespeare. It was built by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1599. It was not called the Globe Theatre because of its shape. In was in fact the same shape as the theatres called The Curtain, The Rose and The Swan. The reason it was called The Globe Theatre was because the audience could see “all of the world” upon the stage. Shakespeare frequently compared the world to a stage. The Globe theatre as a whole world in itself runs throughout Shakespeare. The Globe was probably a reference to the fact that the actors create a world for the audience.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The overarching research question, what is the intersection of women in Elizabethan acting practices, specifically the role of censorship via the Master of Revels, between representation and casting female roles in Elizabethan theatre was covered through the explanation of who The Master of Revels were and how women were portrayed. Elizabethan acting practices, specifically the role of censorship through the Master of Revels, between representation and casting female roles set up Elizabethan theatre and how it was made as well as viewed during the Elizabethan Era. This is all very important in understanding Elizabethan Theatre because it showed just how women were being viewed and portrayed. It is important to look into how society looked at women to understand the societal stereotyping that emerged from this form of…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The wide technology and new theatres built on such incredible large scales allow performances to advance to a level beyond anything an Elizabethan audience would have seen. In the contemporary play special effects were used at key scenes which helped emphasis, create an atmosphere, set the scene and mood. This allowed a contemporary audience to fully comprehend and experience the story as if they were going through it with the characters on stage. However in an Shakespearian production characters would be using his voice alone to tell the story with very little special effects to help.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Baroque Era

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The subjects of plays turned out to be less centered on religion and more centered on the collaborations or disclosures of mankind. The Baroque style of the theater was abnormal for the time, frequently exuberant and considered obscene because of offensive clothing designs, extensive stage settings, and enhancements. Moreover, the time period delivered a portion of the world's most regarded writers and was the premises for contemporary theater. Writers of Baroque theater, for example, William Shakespeare and Jean Baptiste Poquelin Moliere, composed plays about legislative issues, the universe, or the appropriateness of private life. As playwrights composed more complicated plots the stage became more decorative. This combined drama with fine art. The Baroque came out with the appearance of special effects to the stage as well as buildings for production. The first theater was built in Venice and many more followed throughout…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jacobean Theatre

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    • This theatre style evolved from its preceding, more widely known predecessor called Elizabethan theatre.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greek and Roman Theater

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Classical Greek and Roman theatre, often combined in a sort of Ancient “Grome” fashion, are similar in the most basic but superficial of aspects. The most basic of the aspects is the fact that the height of their movements and societal impact were before the start of the Church and its influence of the downfall of the Roman Empire. The playwrights and actors of both Greek and Roman theatre lived in an area supported economically by the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, both had performance spaces better attuned to acoustical perfection than existed in later periods including many theatres that are in use today. Acoustics were much better than the Globe in London which was made famous as the home of the works of Shakespeare. As with later theatrical periods, such as the Shakespearian era, any theatre era, women were not permitted to act and all female parts were performed by men. While the two had their similarities there were differences as well.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theatre is one of Ancient Rome form of entertainment. The characters in Roman plays were all played by male slaves. Men played the parts of the women. The typical characters that were played in Ancient Rome theatres included the rich man, the king, the soldier, the slave, the young man and the young woman. If necessary, an actor would play two or more roles in a single performance. The mask was the most notable part of an actor’s performance. More masks and wigs were used for comedies that tragedies. Gray wigs represented old men, black for young men and red for slaves. Young men wore brightly colored clothing, while old men wore white so that the audience can easily identify the characters. Pantomimes were popular during the first century BC. Pantomimes involved miming roles to accompaniments of singers, dancers and musicians. Women wore allowed in mimes and pantomimes, but eventually degenerated into vulgar and disgusting tastelessness. In Ancient Rome, plays were usually presented on contemporary wooden stages at the time of the games. In 55 BC, the first permanent Roman theatre was built. It had a seating capacity of twenty seven thousand. In Greek theatres there was a circular space located in front of the stage called the orchestra, since Roman plays usually lacked a true chorus, the area in front of the stage simply became a semicircular area. Admission to the Roman plays were free for citizens. Originally, women were only admitted to view tragedies, but, later, no such restrictions were imposed.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The mystery that is Ancient Greek theatre has been wondered about from the 5th century onward by historians and philosophers alike. Because no one really has an accurate knowledge on the exact origins, Aristotle and others suggested theories of how tragedy and comedy came about. These theories are generally accepted, even with the lack of proof. Greek theatre introduced new art forms that are still popular today, but they were so different then. Imagine going to see a play now: there is usually comfortable seating and adequate lighting and sound equipment. The actors are not overburdened with heavy costumes and masks. However, ancient theatre was entertainment for the masses.…

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Queen Elizabeth's rule during 1558-1603 is known as the Golden Age or the Elizabethan Era (Benson and Stock 1). During this span of time, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre was built in 1599 (JiffyNotes: 1). Also in the same year, Shakespeare wrote one of his most famous plays, Julius Caesar (JiffyNotes: 1). Julius Caesar is said to be the first play to be performed at the globe theatre, in England (Shakespeare’s 1). Though the play takes place in ancient Rome, Shakespeare writes from his home country of England. Issues presented throughout the play such as monarchy vs. republic, governmental overthrow, and civil war connect the audience of England during the Elizabethan Era to the setting of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While he demonstrated his unique take on the specific words throughout his places, Shakespeare also introduced new elements that forever changed the performances of all theatres. His first remarkable innovation was engaging the audience. As a skillful tactic in his plays, Shakespeare imbued them with “universal truths of human existence” rather than having them “[act as] mirrors of the privileged life,” which most play writers had done before him. As a result of the realism integrated in Shakespeare’s writing, both the poor and the wealthy came to see his plays, causing Shakspeare to become popular. His second most accomplishing contribution to modern play-writing was the effect that his plays had on the audience. It was often during his plays that many audience members would “[become] vocal and often raucous,” which made it hard to tell who was actually performing the play and who was part of the attentive audience members. The third major modification of play-writing came regards to Shakespeare’s elaborate plots accompanied by complex characters. Through his multiplex characterization and invention of “genres that mixed both tragedy and comedy,” Shakespeare was able to create new experiences that utilized both storytelling and theatre. In consequence to Shakespeare’s never-ending drive to innovate the theatre, his work continuously…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elizabethan Theater

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people's viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare's time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days. Actors were expected to memorize hundreds of lines at a time. While one play could be performing, actors would be practicing lines for their next show. Play writers also began to make roles for the actors in the theatrical pieces. The theaters that actors performed in were roofless so that the sun could be used as lighting. Theatrical shows were held in the afternoon because it provided the best amount of light for the show. When the people gathered into the theater,…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare changed the nature of drama in England. Arriving in London in the last decade of the sixteenth century, Shakespeare began his play-writing career by adapting the forms of already-successful plays - plays about historical characters (both English and Roman), the Senecan 'Tragedy of Blood', Romantic Comedy and plots centering on the Machiavellian villain. From the very first, however, Shakespeare transformed everything he touched: characters developed from the elementary stock characters of earlier traditions - such as the young Hero and Heroine, the Stern Father and the Tyrannical Ruler who must be overthrown - into recognizable human beings. Chronicle plays dealing with the sequence of English monarchs in consecutive order were replaced by studies of good governance - what made a 'good' king? And how - after over a hundred years of turbulence - was England to be well managed? The last decade of the sixteenth century, and the first decade of the seventeenth century, saw the greatest period of English…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    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.…

    • 2401 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays