Shakespeare's World

So three things that I found in our reading that caught my attention and explains why or how Shakespeare plays came about are... 1. the regulation put up during the plague that determined the shutdown of the theater 2. how due to the plague The Rose was competing with one or two other plays performing the same night and 3. the freedom single women had.

1. The regulation in London tried to minimize the spread of the plague and the increase of deaths due to it. how ever it had the city keeping tabs on how many deaths would occur in a week. If the death toll surpassed a certain number then the theaters would be shut down until the death rate decreased. This was a smart move because it would prevent the spread of the disease in closed overly populated areas.

2. The theater, The Rose, was competing with other plays that were being performed down the street and at the same time. This encouraged Shakespeare to write a captivating play to bring people into the theater. It was interesting that going to the plays even back then was a form of entertainment. It’s like for us going to the movies.

3. I also found interesting the fact that single women in London during Elizabethan times were fairly more independent then women in other countries. According to the reading they were able to go out unattended. And they were allowed to inherit property and have legal rights, such as suing, and signing contract. However married women don’t have the same rights as single women. This independency of women at that time shows how it affected Shakespeare’s play. The females in his play tend to be very strong minded and independent.