why did drama become so popular during the elizabethan period (course hero)

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Why are Elizabethan plays so popular?

Dec 26, 2019 · Quiz Week 11 Question 1 Why did drama become so popular during the Elizabethan period? Elizabeth insisted on entertainment for the Londoners. The London monasteries were converted to theaters. The middle and upper classes had more leisure time. Plays gave expression to England's religious strife

How was drama and literature different in the Elizabethan period?

Jun 17, 2019 · Response Feedback Good work Question 5 4 out of 4 points Why did drama become so from HUM 111 at Strayer University, Lithonia. Study Resources. Main Menu; ... Good work Question 5 4 out of 4 points Why did drama become so popular during the Elizabethan period? Selected Answer: Correct The middle and upper classes had more leisure time ...

Why is there so much humour in Elizabethan drama?

Aug 24, 2020 · Response Feedback: Good work Question 2 4 out of 4 points Why did drama become so popular during the Elizabethan period? Selected Answer: The middle and upper classes had more leisure time. Correct Answer: The …

How did Elizabethan theatre change the world?

Question 34 2 out of 2 points Why did drama become so popular during the Elizabethan period? Answer Selected Answer: The middle and upper classes had more leisure time Correct Answer: The middle and upper classes had more leisure time

What is Elizabethan drama?

Elizabethan Theatre and Drama. The simple definition of Elizabethan theatre and drama is that it is drama written during the reign of Elizabeth I, but that is absurdly simplistic: Elizabethan drama is much more than that. Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland reigned from 1558 to 1603, during the time when Europeans were starting to break out ...

What did Elizabeth's plays teach?

When Elizabeth came to the throne most of the plays on offer to the public were Miracle Plays, presenting in crude dialogue stories from the Bible and lives of the saints, and the Moralities, which taught lessons for the guidance of life through the means of allegorical action.

What is the humour of Shakespeare's plays?

In Shakespeare’s plays there is humour even in the darkest plays, such as the frequent ‘laugh’ lines in Hamlet. Shakespeare more or less invented a form of drama that mixed all genres, so that his tragedies contain comic elements, his comedies tragic elements, and his histories contain both.

Why are Elizabethan plays considered humanist?

Although most of the plays of the Elizabethan period have an underlying Christian assumption, because of the culture of the time in which they were written they are essentially humanist – in tune with the Renaissance spirit of the time. In Elizabethan drama, because it is about people rather than God, we see a lot of humour.

What was the Jacobean theatre?

Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign playwrights were developing new themes and techniques which led to the distinctive Jacobean theatre with its more crusty, violent plays that focused on the human being’s capacity for selfishness, dramatised in in-depth representations of ambition and its effects.

What was the Renaissance in Europe?

The Renaissance flowered right across Europe but had different emphases in the different European cultures – it was religion and philosophy in Germany, for example; art, architecture and sculpture in Italy. And in England, it was Elizabethan theatre drama. All through the Middle Ages English drama had been religious and didactic.

How many theatres were there in London during Elizabeth's reign?

By the time Elizabeth’s reign ended there were over twenty theatres in London, all turning over several plays a week – plays that were secular in their nature, and about people. That represented a complete revolution in theatre, and makes Elizabethan theatre distinct.

When did the Elizabethan age end?

Some consider the age to have ended at the queen's death in 1603, whereas others place the end of Elizabethan Drama at the closing of the theaters in 1642. Elizabeth I was a powerful, resolute monarch who returned England to Protestantism, quelled a great deal of internal turmoil, and unified the nation.

How many plays did Chapman write?

Chapman wrote approximately twenty-one plays between 1596 and 1613, but his output was very sporadic.

Why did Kyd get into trouble?

During a government search, some antireligious papers were seized in Kyd's home, and he was accused of atheism.

What was Ben Jonson's first play?

He also spent a brief time as a soldier, returning to England and marrying sometime prior to 1592. Upon his return to England, Jonson became an actor and by 1597 was working as a dramatist for the theatrical entrepreneur Phillip Henslowe. Jonson's first play, co-written with Thomas Nashe in 1597, was The Isle of Dogs. It was deemed offensive and landed Jonson in jail for a brief time. Then, in 1598, Jonson was arrested for killing a fellow actor in a duel. That same year, however, Jonson also gained his first dramatic success with the play Every Man in His Humour. This play was the first instance of a new comic form that came to be known as "the comedy of humours," and it turned him into a celebrity. Jonson became a favorite of King James I and wrote over thirty masques for court performance. In 1616, King James I made him poet laureate, the official poet of the Court. This position also came with an annual pension, allowing Jonson to live out his life comfortably. Jonson suffered a severe stroke in 1628 and died in Westminster on August 6, 1637.

Why did the Puritans oppose the playhouses?

Puritans considered the theater to be an ungodly institution and denounced it as wicked and profane. Throughout the Elizabethan era, they actively campaigned against the public playhouses because they felt that such institutions threatened England's morality. Numerous Puritan writers produced pamphlets warning against the dangers of attending the theater and attacked the actors as sinners and heretics. As John Addington Symonds notes in his essay "Theatres, Playwrights, Actors, and Playgoers," "The voices of preachers and Puritan pamphleteers were daily raised against playhouses." The Puritan mindset eventually prevailed, and the Puritans succeeded in closing all of the public theaters in 1642.

How long was Thomas Dekker in prison?

He served several prison terms for debt, with the longest being the six years from 1613 to 1619. Dekker was last heard from in 1632.

Why did noble patrons become important?

They became servants of the nobleman, thus providing him more prestige. In return, the nobleman would protect them if they got into trouble. He did not pay them regular wages or allowances, however. In 1572, noble patronage became very significant because of a law that allowed only registered servants of a nobleman to go on tour. Since touring was one of the main sources of income for theater troupes, it was necessary for the actors to gain patronage to survive financially.

What were the most common subjects of theatre during the Elizabethan period?

During the Elizabethan period the most common subjects of theatrical performance were moralities and mystery . The morality plays entertained the audience while teaching of the goodness of God and the dangers of sin. Most of the morality plays focused on a central figure – always a male – which represents all of humanity.

What is the most popular character in the moralities?

He is confronted with a situation which involves a moral decision. One of the most popular characters in the moralities, called the Vice, disguised himself as a virtue and went about playing tricks on both virtues and vices alike. Slapstick comedy was a big part of this act as well. The prominence of vices in moralities due to our human nature of finding vices more interesting than virtue becomes typical of later moralities, where the vices take up most of the time on stage.

Movement Origin

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Movement Variations

  • Boys' Companies
    Boys' companies were performing troupes that were made up entirely of young boys. The practice of using boys in the English theater dates back to the early 1500s, when choirboys sang and performed at court for the king, and during Elizabethan times, these acting companies were still …
  • Court Masques
    Masques were short entertainments that were held at Court as one part of a royal evening of entertainment. They were much shorter thanregular plays. Masques usually contained romantic and mythological themes and consisted of elaborate settings in which players posed,danced, an…
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