Themes and techniques

Themes

Shakespeare would have grown up watching Tudor morality plays, which were the most popular form of drama in Elizabethan England up until the late 1580s. These plays were entertaining allegories, using humorous techniques such as farce and slapstick. As the word morality implies, the themes of these plays dealt with virtue. The characters in the plays represent the importance of choosing a Godly, or virtuous life, over a less pious path.

At the same time, intellectuals and academics were interested in studying and performing the plays of the ancient Romans, particularly writers such as Plutarch and Seneca. These plays were not as entertaining as the Tudor morality plays, often having little action and dominated by long soliloquies. More important than entertainment in these plays was a focus on poetic style and correctness.

By the time that Shakespeare moved to London, both these styles had merged and created a new style of play that could be appreciated by the general public as well as being intellectually challenging for academics. You will often find, during your study of English, examples of where a part of a Shakespearean text works on different levels. This is part of the genius of Shakespeare's work. He wrote his plays for a diverse audience with complex themes, mostly exploring the concepts of humanity and the frailty of the human condition. The stylistic techniques appeal to a wide audience. This makes Shakespearean texts ideal to debate and to practise inferring meaning and examining relevance to audiences, even in modern times. The following are just a few examples of themes in famous Shakespearean plays.

Some themes in Shakespearean plays

Play	Themes
Romeo and Juliet	The power of love
	The individual versus society
	The inevitability of fate
Julius Caesar	Fate and free will
	The distinction between public and private faces
	The importance of compromise
	Misinterpretation
A Midsummer Night's Dream	Magic
	Dreams
	Difficulty in love

Which of the themes above do you think are relevant to modern-day life? Certainly love and society are themes that are still explored in modern texts.

Dramatic techniques and the Globe Theatre

On the banks of the Thames, in Southwark, London, The Lord Chamberlain's Men were shareholders in the Globe Theatre. Although it has been twice destroyed, historians and enthusiasts have pieced together information from references within Shakespeare's plays, as well as from archaeological remains, in order to have a good idea of what the theatre was like. There is even a replica of the Globe in modern London only a few hundred metres from the original site.

As most of Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed in the Globe, it is important to understand the structure of the theatre as it would have had a significant impact on how Shakespeare wrote his plays. The Globe, as the name suggests, was either circular or octagonal, the modern reconstruction has 20 sides and could house up to 3000 spectators, which, even by today's standards, is a large building. Because of its size, as well as the fact that it was open air (did not have a roof) an actor had to have very good voice projection. Shakespeare also needed to compose his plays in such a fashion that the actions on the stage helped to clarify the plot.

There were three main sections of the audience. In front of the stage was the yard. The yard was the cheapest place from which to view a play. Spectators who purchased admission to the yard were known as groundlings and had to stand throughout the whole performance. There were then three levels of seating surrounding the yard, two levels called two-penny rooms, and the highest level known as the one penny gallery. This arrangement reflects society in Elizabethan England where there was quite a lot of difference between classes of people. Of particular relevance is that only people of high social status received quality education. For our study of Shakespeare it is important to note that this indicates a diverse audience that Shakespeare would have had to compose his plays to reach. As mentioned earlier, this required Shakespeare to compose his plays so that each responder could understand the plot and themes of the play. While you are studying any of Shakespeare's plays, notice the techniques that would appeal to varying classes. A smutty sense of humour is often used to appeal to the more 'uncouth' groundlings.

There are other factors that influenced Shakespeare's plays. In particular, although women were allowed to attend performances they were not allowed to be performers in the productions. This meant that the female characters in the plays were played by young boys. Shakespeare uses this fact by turning the gender ambiguity into a technique. Many of Shakespeare's plays have characters that are women dressed as men to establish a theme of misunderstandings. Twelfth Night is a good example of this.

The Globe was built in 1599 and was the rival of other major theatres in the area including the Swan, the Rose and the Hope. In 1613, The Globe was burned to the ground. Historians believe that this occurred during a performance of Henry VIII, when a cannon being used as a special effect ignited a thatched section of the roof. The theatre was quickly rebuilt, the thatching replaced by tiles. In 1642 the Globe was shut down by the Puritans. The Puritans were a group of people whose ideals were concerned with morality and virtue. They wanted the Globe shut down because, unlike many theatres in modern times, the theatre attracted many unsavoury characters such as pickpockets, prostitutes and thugs.