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Elizabethan Drama

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Although it is generally agreed that the period began at the ... the Elizabethan era, including William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Elizabethan Drama


1
Elizabethan Drama
2
Elizabethan Drama
  • From the Elizabethan Age come some of the most
    highly-respected plays in Western drama. Although
    it is generally agreed that the period began at
    the commencement of Queen Elizabeth Is reign in
    1558, the ending date is not as definitive.
  • Some consider the age to have ended at the
    queens death in 1603, while others place the end
    of Elizabethan Drama at the closing of the
    theatres in 1642.

3
Queen Elizabeth
  • Elizabeth I was a strong, resolute monarch who
    returned England to Protestantism, quelled a
    great deal of internal turmoil, and unified the
    nation.
  • She was also a strong supporter of the arts, and
    this sparked a surge of activity in the theatre.
    During her reign, some playwrights were able to
    make a comfortable living by receiving royal
    patronage.
  • There was a great deal of theatrical activity at
    Court, and many public theatres were also built
    on the outskirts of London.

4
Popular Event
  • Theatre was a popular pastime, and people of all
    walks of life attended. Although women were not
    allowed onstage, they did attend performances and
    often made up a substantial part of the audience.
    The theatre also drew many unsavory characters,
    including pickpockets, cutpurses, and
    prostitutes.
  • Because of the perceived bad influence of the
    theatres, the Puritans were vocally opposed to
    them and succeeded in shutting them down in 1642.

5
Playwrights
  • Some of the most important playwrights come from
    the Elizabethan era, including William
    Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe.
  • These playwrights wrote plays that were patterned
    on numerous previous sources including the Greek
    tragedy, Senecas plays, Attic drama, English
    miracle plays, morality plays, and interludes.
  • Elizabethan tragedy dealt with heroic themes,
    usually centering on a great personality who is
    destroyed by his own passion and ambition. The
    comedies often satirized the fops and gallants of
    society.
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