William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright of all time. He lived in Stratford – upon – Avon during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
Playwright and Poet
Shakespeare wrote many very famous plays and poems such as Romeo and Juliet and his sonnets. These are all very typical of the forms of literature of Elizabethan England. During the period people would go to watch plays, such as those of Shakespeare, for entertainment. The plays would be performed in theatres such as the Swan Theatre. These theatres were a little different to modern playhouses and theatres. The stage would probably be raised as it is today but the ‘stalls’ would most probably not have seats in them. This area would be for poorer people to stand. In the first and second floors of the larger theatres would be booths for people to sit and entertain guests whilst the play was performed.
The most popular plays of the time were love stores, comedies and history plays. This is clear from a look at the plays written by William Shakespeare. Poetry and singing was also popular at the time.
William Shakespeare was the most successful of the Elizabethan playwrights. His plays are still widely performed and studied today.
The Tudors
People
King Henry VII – King Henry VIII – King Edward VI – Queen Mary I [Bloody Mary]– Queen Elizabeth I – Anne Boleyn – Mary Boleyn – Sir Walter Raleigh – Sir Francis Drake – William Shakespeare – Margaret Beaufort – Lambert Simnel
Events
The Wars of the Roses – Battle of Bosworth – Battle of Stoke Field – Protestant Reformation – Spanish Armada
The Elizabethan Age
England in 1588: Society and Government – Elizabethan Religious Settlement – Challenges to the Religious Settlement – Mary Queen of Scots – Plots and Rebellions in the Elizabethan Age – Anglo-Spanish Relations in the Elizabethan Age – How did the English defeat the Spanish Armada?– Education, Culture and Leisure – Elizabethan Poor Law – Voyages of Discovery – Sir Walter Raleigh and the Roanoke and the Virginia Colony