Elizibethan Era

On or near April 23, 1564, English playwright William Shakespeare was born in Stratford Upon-Avon. He was the third of six children born to John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. It is believed that he gained his education at The King's New School in Stratford. In Worcester, Canterbury Province, he wed Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. She was 26 years old, and he was 18 at the time of their marriage. The union produced three children: Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet around 1585. Unfortunately, Hamnet, one of the twins, died of unknown causes at age 11. Anna and the other two children lived at Stratford-upon-Avon while William worked in London. Anna died in 1623 and William on April 23, 1616.

Shakespeare wrote plays and poems and actually acted in a few of his works. His plays were centered around the genres of comedy, tragedy, tragicomedy and history. His first play was written in the early 1590’s, and his first poem in 1593 due the closing of theatres because of the plague. His seventeen comedies include: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. He wrote ten history plays; these included ‘Henry V’ and ‘Richard III,’ and ten tragedies which include the classic: ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Othello,’ and ‘King Lear’. The Sonnets which were published in 1609 were his most illustrious poems. He wrote thirty-seven plays and one hundred and fifty-seven sonnets in all.

Women were prescribed to act in the Elizabethan theatre because it was believed that men were more likely to bring in a larger audience. Consequently there were no actresses at the Globe Theatre. The field of acting was not perceived as a plausible one, and it was seemingly illogical that any woman would be present in a play during this time era. The roles of female characters were carried out by young adolescent boys when their voices were still high and muscles had not fully developed. Their high-pitched voices and slender physique gave the illusion of a more feminine appearance and sound with the aid of wigs, skirts and make-up. These arrangements made it conceivable for boy actors to play women’s parts assuredly.

Women who acted in the theatre were often looked down upon. In fact,