The commoners, however, had an ally in Elizabeth and her
court. The leisured aristocratic classes had plenty of free time
to fill, and most found plays delightful. Elizabeth was particularly
fond of inviting theater companies to perform at her palaces during
holidays, and these performances increased the theatre companies' repute.
The dramatic presentations before the royal court became an important
social event, and Elizabeth even proudly brought ministers from
other countries to see them, in order to show off the achievements
of English culture. Elizabeth, never the religious fanatic, refused
to listen to the Mayor of London's claims that playwrights and
actors were God's enemies. Yet the middle class never warmed to
the theatre, and this gave playwrights a unique audience with which
to contend: rather than writing for people of a continuous spectrum
of backgrounds, they were writing for two groups separated by a
huge gulf, the lower-class commoners and aristocracy. The plays
thus have plots that could be appreciated by the relatively unschooled
"groundlings," (those who could not afford real seats stood on
the ground in front of the stage), but also are filled with allusions
and literary references to delight the well-educated aristocracy
of Elizabeth's court. This complexity of audience is part of the
reason for the depth and complexity of the Elizabethan plays.
Edmund Spenser's poetry today seems a description of impossible
fantasy scenes. However, a major inspiration for these faerie realms
was the glittering splendor he saw in Elizabeth's court. We might
also think that his emphasis on knights and jousting is another
manifestation of fantasy; yet these, too, had their basis in Elizabeth's
court: although gunpowder had put an end to the era of armored
knights carrying lances on horseback in real battles, jousting and
tournaments were much alive as forms of entertainment for Elizabeth
and her aristocracy.
Ad-free experience
Study Guides for 1,000+ titles
Full Text content for 250+ titles
No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
Flashcards
Mastery Quizzes
Infographics
Graphic Novels
AP® Practice & Lessons
Note-taking
Bookmarking
Dashboard
