Life in Shakespeare’s England  28545

• Preface   J. Dover Wilson

1. England and the English (Richard II, Henry V etc.)
   England, the English, birth and rank, snobbery, English women

Part One: Shakespeare’s Youth, Stratford, 1564-86
Born 1564: son of a farmer and shopkeeper of Stratford-upon-Avon: probably attends the free grammar school of the town

2. The Countryside
   Midsummer Night’s Dream, induction to The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Winter’s Tale
   1. Country Folk
      A country gentleman, a franklin, a farmer, a milkmaid, a shepherd
   2. Sport
      Hunting, football, bowling, a cock-fight, a local play
   3. Festival
      Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, May Day, Robin Hood, the Lord of Misrule
3. Superstition
   Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest
   1. The Nature of Superstition
   2. Ghosts and Spirits
      Exorcism
   3. Witchcraft
      Witches in Scotland, the witches’ cauldron, transformation
   4. Fairy-Land
   5. Astrology
4. Education
   Love’s Labour’s Lost, Merry Wives of Windsor
   1. Child and Parent
      Two views of childhood, parents and children
   2. The Grammar School
      An interesting parallel, the school day, punishment, country schoolmasters
   3. The University
      The universities of England, the life at Oxford, a young gentleman of the university, a mere scholar
   4. Travel
      The use and abuse of travel, the Italianate Englishman

Part Two: Shakespeare in London 1586-1608
Goes to London (? on foot) c. 1586: recognized as a rising dramatist 1592: published Venus and Adonis 1593: acts before the Queen at Greenwich 1594

5. London
   1 and 2 Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure
   1. The Road to London
      The state of the roads, means of communciation, inns, highwaymen
   2. First impressions of London
      A foreign view, the buildings, the Thames, a waterman, London Bridge, Cheapside, a shopkeeper, Paul’s walk, noise and bustle
   3. Disorders
      A busy week for the authorities, duelling and street brawlings, constables and watchmen, London at night
   4. Temptations
      1. Drink: its effects, a fearful example, ale-houses, taverns, English sobriety
      2. Tobacco: a tobacco seller, royal disapprobation
      3. Dicing and Gaming: cheaters, a gaming-house, false dice, card-sharping
      4. Debt and Usury: a usurer, the debtors’ prison
   5. Dress and Fashion
      Fashion in general, gorgeous attire, a dandy, fashion descends, barbers, fashionable ladies, pride of merchants’ wives, lap-dogs
   6. The Plague
      The beggar’s opportunity, medical treatment, flight from London
6. Books and Authors
   Patronage, portrait of a poet, an author’s complaint, a pot-poet, a worthy poet, ballads and monsters, troubles of authorship, fashion in books, stationers and booksellers
7. The Theatre
   Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V, Hamlet
   1. Theatrical conditions in 1590
      Aesthetic and moral condemnation
   2. Playhouses and Bear-gardens
      The first London theatres, a German at the theatre, structure of a playhouse, playhouses, English and Italian theatres, Paris-garden
   3. The Audience
      General behaviour, a gallant at the playhouse
   4. The actor and his craft
      Shakespeare’s opinion, character of a player, magnificence of players’ dress, the queen’s players on tour, a royal licence
   5. Puritan opposition to the theatre
      Denunciation from Paul’s Cross, a sweeping condemnation, attitude of the city authorities, a dramatist’s reply, the actors’ remonstrance
8. The Court
   Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Historical Plays
   1. Queen Elizabeth at Greenwich
   2. The Courtier
      The ideal, the other side of the picture
   3. Masques at Court
   4. The Death of Queen Elizabeth

Part Three: Shakespeare’s Last Years, Stratford 1608-16
Buys New Place and other property at Stratford 1597: leaves London c. 1608: writes his last plays The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest: dies 1616

9. House and Home
   Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, 2 Henry IV, Coriolanus, I, iii, iv, v, The Winter’s Tale
   1. Houses and furniture
   2. Gardens and orchards
   3. Housekeeping and the table
      An English housewife, the table, hospitality, the kitchen, the dairy
   4. Sleep and health
      The bedroom, the care of the body, the physician, death
10. Rogues and Vagabonds
    King Lear, The Winter’s Tale
    Rogues and the law, a courtesy man, an abraham man, rufflers, hookers, two rogues and a parson, a counterfeit crank
11. The Sea
    The Merchant of Venice, Antony and Cleopatra, The Tempest
    England’s naval power, a merchant, the sailor’s life, the story of the Revenge, discovery, colonization, travellers’ tales

• Conclusion: An Elizabethan Day

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