As stated by Jeffrey L. Forgeng in his book, Daily Life in Elizabethan England, the Elizabethan era was hugely influential through its successful entertainment industry, most specifically through theatre. Although theatre was a booming business and popular with the people of England, there are multiple forms of entertainment that thrived during this time period; this includes sports, games, and more, many of which are foreign to the average person (Forgeng). Shakespeare incorporated numerous forms of entertainment into each of his works, including Much Ado About Nothing, Venus and Adonis, Hamlet, and more.
Theatre, aforementioned, was widely popular throughout England. The first public theatre was built in 1576 in London. The theatres were usually based around courtyards, containing “three-story galleries on three sides, facing a stage that projected out into the yard” (Forgeng). Common Folk and lower-class citizens occupied the open room on the ground, whereas aristocrats and upper-class citizens usually sat in the galleries.
Food and drink were typically carried through the audience during the production, hoping to encourage the observers to continue to pay for the showings. The demand for plays continued to grow, and actors began to receive much more attention and appreciation. University graduates were most often the ones writing the plays, Christopher Marlowe being one of them. Tamburlaine the Great was released in 1587, and was well-liked for its violence and horror. In the 1590s, William Shakespeare came into the picture, releasing two of his famous plays, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Shakespeare’s acting company, opened The Globe in the late 1590s, and all signed an agreement to each take 10% of the revenue the theatre produced. It contained a “lime-plastered wall, perhaps 80 to 100 feet in width, with three levels of galleries, encircled a yard open to the sky”, according to Mark Sidwell in the Salem Press Encyclopedia. Much nicer than the Rose and Swan, which were two other well-known theatres, The Globe surpassed competition and became a huge attraction for plenty of years to come. (“The Globe Theatre.”)
Dancing was a huge part of the Elizabethan era and was viewed as a form of pastime for both ordinary people and aristocrats. It was considered a “vital skill for an aristocrat (the Queen was said to look favorably on a man who could dance well)”, and it was deemed an important social interaction between unmarried citizens (Forgeng). Dancing tended to vary depending on social rank; the upper-class tended to enjoy songs written from other countries, typically from France and Italy, and the dances often consisted of two couples and a lot of footwork.
On the other hand, common people enjoyed songs written in England and danced in groups of people with simple footwork. Traditional dancing has passed down through generations and generations, and is even prevalent in our lives now. Shakespeare included countless dances in his plays; in Much Ado About Nothing, he writes about a masked ball in Scene One of Act Two, and it serves as an important interaction between Hero and Claudio, providing insight behind Don John’s purpose in the book. After Don Pedro woos Hero for Claudio and she agrees to marry him, Don Pedro informs Claudio of the news:
“I’ faith, lady, I think your blazon to be true, / though, I’ll be
sworn, if he be so, his conceit is / false.—Here, Claudio, I
have wooed in thy name, /and fair Hero is won. I have broke
with her father / and his goodwill obtained. Name the day of
Mar- / riage, and God give thee joy” (Ado 2.1.290-295).
This moment was incredibly influential as the beginning of Hero and Claudio’s romance, one of the biggest themes of the book. Not only does this scene inform us of the romance, but we also see Don John for who he truly is, as he says:
“Signor, you are very near my brother in his / love. He is
enamored on Hero. I pray you, dissuade / him from her. She
is no equal for his birth. You / may do the part of an honest
man in it” (2.1.161-164).
He’s wrongly informing Claudio that Don Pedro is actually in love with Hero, as Don John is aware that he is wooing her for Claudio’s benefit. The masquerade ball did not only serve as a form of entertainment for these characters, but it also helped readers become familiar with characters’ intentions:, specifically those of Claudio, Hero, Don Pedro, and Don John.
Although some Elizabethan entertainment is serene, there also are innumerable activities that require a large amount of violence and action. Proving this, a lot of forms of entertainment regarding animals, such as hunting or bearbaiting, were emphasized during this time period. Both men and women participated in hunting. Landowners were the only citizens that were allowed to hunt, as ordinary people were forbidden to do so. Deer was the typical prey, though occasionally foxes or hares were killed as well. In Shakespeare’s poem “Venus and Adonis”, Venus and Adonis have a prey-and-predator type relationship, emphasized when Venus says:
“…I’ll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer:
Feed where thou wilt, on mountain, or in dale;
Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry,
Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.
Within this limit is relief enough,
Sweet bottom grass, and high delightful plain,
Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
To shelter thee from tempest, and from rain:
Then be my deer, since I am such a park.
No dog shall rouse thee, though a thousand bark” (229-400).
Venus compares their love and affection for each-other as a metaphorical huntdown; Venus’ body is the park, whereas the deer represents Adonis. The metaphorical huntdown throughout this poem represents a “‘phallic impulse’ that constitutes masculine self-realization”, according to Shohet. Venus’ imagery relating Adonis to a deer emphasizes how widespread hunting was at the time, so much so that Shakespeare was able to understand and relate to those around him (“Shakespeare‘s Eager Adonis.”). There are many allusions to hunting in Shakespeare’s novels, some of them being in Henry VI. Queen Margaret says:
“Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds
Having the fearful flying hare in sight,
With fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath,
And bloody steel grasp’d in their ireful hands,
Are at our backs; and therefore hence amain” (2.5.129-30).
After Queen Margaret and Henry lose a battle against Edward and Richard, she begins to use hunting to explain how she feels as if they are like the hare, while Edward and Richard are the greyhounds hunting them and preparing to kill them. This was just one example of hunting being compared to war, which tends to happen a lot in Shakespeare’s works.
Bearbaiting was a fairly popular pastime during the Renaissance. In bearbaiting, the bear is typically tied to the middle of the arena, and there are multiple dogs, usually Mastiffs, trying to clamp their jaws on it’s or nose, all while the bear tries to shake them off. Bearbaiting is different from bullbaiting as the dogs are more likely to lose because bears are relatively expensive, so the fights are created in the favor of the bears (Forgeng).
There are many allusions to bearbaiting in Shakespeare’s works, one of them being in The Merry Wives of Windsor when Slender says: “…Why do your dogs bark so? / be there bears i’ the town?” (1.1.244-245). There is also another instance where Shakespeare alludes to bearbaiting in Macbeth when Macbeth says: “They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But, bear-like, I must fight the course…” (5.7.1-2). As a result of this form of entertainment being common in the lives of those in this time period, Shakespeare utilized it to relate to these characters in his plays (Dickey).
Sports also had their fair share of violence and action during the Elizabethan era, serving as a crucial part of entertainment in the lives of many people. Fencing was incredibly well-known during this time period, and was enjoyed by both those participating in the sport and those observing it. Although the weapons and armour were designed to cause less severe injuries, the sport was still incredibly dangerous, as death and serious injuries were always possible for those taking part in the sport.
Proving this fact, fencing was usually played until “the winner could draw blood from his opponent”, according to Forgeng (Forgeng). Shakespeare utilized fencing in many of his books in order for “two actors to display their skill in fencing”, according to Richmond (Richmond 157). In Hamlet, Laertes and Hamlet duel after Laertes’ father death, and Laertes says:
“…But in my terms of honor/
I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement
Till by some elder masters, of known honor,
235I have a voice and precedent of peace
To keep my name ungored. But till that time
I do receive your offered love like love
And will not wrong it” (5.2.234-238).
Although Laertes accepts Hamlet’s apology, he must participate in a fencing duel with him in order to save his honor, which was a common theme for many of Shakespeare’s novels at the time. Additonally, tennis was very popular during the Elizabethan era. The game was established in France, and was instituted into England during the Middle Ages. Typically the sport was only played by the rich as the equipment and court were incredibly expensive. Lower-class people participated in handball as “the ball was hit with their hands rather than with a racket” (Forgeng), meaning it was much cheaper to play. Shakespeare includes many allusions and references to tennis in his works, one of them being Henry V. Henry says:
“When we have marched our rackets to these balls,
We will in France, by God’s grace, play a set
Shall strike his father’s crown into the hazard.
Tell him he hath made a match with such wrangler
That all the courts of France will be disturbed
With chases” (1.2.287-292).
Henry compares tennis to warfare after the Dauphin of France sent him a gigantic container full of tennis balls, insinuating that the King would accomplish more through playing a game of tennis than participating in a war, according to Holinshed (Holinshed 64).
Not only were contact sports and other simple sports popular, but so were board games and small forms of entertainment. Chess was the most prestigious game during this time period, and was very unusual among other table games, as it did not normally involve betting. The chess board could be changed to play a game of checkers, with mostly the same rules as it was played with today. The only time that chess was flat-out mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays was in The Tempest in a stage direction which states: “Here Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess” (5.1).
Although chess was favored during this time period, Shakespeare rarely mentioned the game in his novels. Dice, however, was mentioned a handful of times throughout his works. Dice was a common pastime of lower-status citizens. They were inexpensive, portable, and effective at passing time, which caused soldiers to love them. They were also played by aristocrats too; Elizabeth being one. In Henry V, the chorus sings ‘The confident and over-lusty French / Do the low-rated English play at dice” (4.Prologue.18-19), insinuating that the French are so incredibly powerful compared to the English that they have time to spare playing dice, instead of preparing for the war.
Bowling, or bowls, was also very well-known during this time period, although it was played much differently than it is now. Every player threw two balls, and tried to get them as close as they could to every ball that had been thrown. Commercial bowling alleys began to open during this time period because of how popular the game had been. An example of bowling being in one of Shakespeare’s plays is in Richard II when Lady and the Queen discuss playing the game:
LADY: Madam, we’ll play at bowls.
QUEEN: ’Twill make me think the world is full of rubs,
And that my fortune rubs against the bias (3.4.3-5)
The Lady suggests playing a game, while the Queen does not want to because she believes it will convince her that the world is full of obstacles.
Prior to the Elizabethan era, there were a lot of changes to the festivals and festivities that had been passed down through generations. As Henry VIII ruled, he cancelled many religious festivals that had been traditions for centuries. Festivals used to be the main form of entertainment for nearly everyone, but during the ruling of Henry VIII they began to experience a lot of hostility from religious icons and authority, so theater began to become the main attraction for civilians as more companies toured the London area.
Henry VIII had eventually created a law that banned all religious festivals, causing the Renaissance festivities to be drastically different than previous eras. After the emancipation of the national church, a lot of religious festivals were suppressed, and a lot of Elizabethan festivities removed traditional celebrations from the orbit of religion. There had been a lot of opposition between towns and the countryside because of their differing views on festivities, as the countryside focused more on religious festivities, whereas towns did not.
Shakespeare tended to stick with the countryside view the majority of the time, and this was emphasized in his works (Bartels). The name of one of Shakespeare’s plays, Twelfth Night, is not only the name of the book, but is also the name of a festival in some practices of Christianity that celebrate Epiphany, the twelfth night of the Christmas celebration (Chanter).
Entertainment prospered during the Elizabethan era, and Shakespeare showcased it in many ways; either through alluding to, or characters participating in these pastimes, they were constantly mentioned. A lot of the games, sports, and more are all still played today, even if there might be more rules, and it is fascinating how they were so popular centuries ago as well as now.
