Film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays and life have become very popular in recent decades. There are some who describe Bard's plays and society in a very precise way, but others take some liberties. For this reason, I would like to focus this essay on Shakespeare in Love, a 1998 film directed by John Madden with a soundtrack by Stephen Warbeck, and how it presents the society surrounding Shakespeare. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay But first: Shakespeare in Love was not intended to be a factual portrait. This film shows us a young William Shakespeare, struggling to satisfy the demand for plays from two theaters. Meanwhile, William falls in love with Viola, a courtly lady fascinated by the theater. They both experience a passionate romance that is very similar to that depicted in Romeo and Juliet. Most people would think that through centuries of research, there must be enough information on Shakespeare to fill an entire library. Unfortunately, the things we know for sure about him would only fit on half a sheet of paper. That's why I would especially like to talk about the things we know for sure about his life: the aspects related to society, history and culture.SocietyAs far as society is concerned, we must consider that the film revolves around the world of theater, that is to say plays, how it works, actors (not actresses). This last point is quite interesting because women were not allowed to perform on stage as actresses. This was against the law, so men (usually young boys) dressed in costumes to portray the role of a woman. The actors were normally aged 13 to 19 when their voices were high. The voices of Elizabethan boys are thought to have broken much more recently than today, due to the difference in lifestyle and diet. So an actor could play the role of a woman in her late teens. Regarding this situation, Viola, one of the main characters of the film, complains: "His fingers were red from fighting (speaking of the man who played Silvia in Two Gentlemen of Verona) and he spoke like a schoolboy in class. . Love on stage will never be true love as long as the law of the land dictates that our heroines are played by peeing boys in petticoats. » Apart from that, people from high society would not go to see a play at the theater. That is, they did not want to mingle with others, so they had actors to perform for them 1 in private, as Elizabeth I does in the film. In fact, Viola's nurse says that "playhouses are not for high-born women" since high society should not go to see public plays. In addition, very important people acted as patrons to finance a play, because plays were good ways to convey political messages and propaganda. Here we have the example of Henslowe, an Elizabethan entrepreneur who was able to finance the plays featured in the film. Regarding the performance halls, we can see how they are constantly open and closed to the public throughout the film. This is mainly due to two reasons: - The increase in cases of plague, which is spreading in theaters. - The Puritans, who considered it sacrilege and shame for male actors to dress as women. History In this section I want to focus on the historical aspects shownin the film. Although the story of Shakespeare in Love may be fictional, besides William Shakespeare, many characters appearing in the film actually existed. In fact, actors Richard Burbage and Ned Alleyn, played by Martin Clunes and Ben Affleck respectively, would be considered part of Hollywood today. One of the historical figures appearing in the film is Christopher Marlowe. Shakespeare and Marlowe can be seen discussing the latter's plays at the bar. Shakespeare praises Doctor Faustus and Marlowe tells him that he is currently writing another of his major works: The Paris Massacre. Later in the film, we learn that Christopher Marlowe died with a dagger stabbed through his eye. He died in the summer of 1593, the same year the film was filmed. So it is historically accurate. Another character I would like to highlight is John Webster. He was an English playwright, whose most famous work is The Duchess of Malfi, a macabre work that seems to prefigure the Gothic genre. He is portrayed as a boy obsessed with blood and death, and he even admits that his favorite scene in Romeo and Juliet is when they both die. Later in the film, he is the one who discovers Viola's disguised role. Here is the dialogue between William Shakespeare and John Webster, where we can see the role of the obscure author in the near future: 2 - JW: I was in a play. They cut off the head of Titus Andronicus. When I write plays, they will be like Titus.- WS: You admire him.- JW: I like when they cut off heads and the girl mutilated with knives.- JW: [...] ( he offers live mice to a cat) Lots of blood. It's the only writing. Aside from the two characters above, I wanted to make a point that I consider quite interesting. In the film, Lord Wessex (Viola's fiancé?) talks about his tobacco plantations in Virginia and how he will later settle there (and in fact he does). That said and knowing that the film takes place in 1593, it must be considered that this information is not historically accurate. First, there were no tobacco plantations of any kind in Virginia and, second, Virginia did not exist on its own at that time. The colony would not develop until fourteen years later, in 1607, and tobacco plantations would appear later.CultureIn the last part of the essay, I wanted to talk about the elements of culture throughout the film. For example, let’s look at this excerpt from the dialogue between Fennyman and Henslowe at the very beginning of the film: “A play takes time. Find the actors, rehearsals. Let's say we open in two weeks. That's what, 500 people on the ground at 400 cents in advance. Plus, 400 threepence backsides, a penny more for the cushions. Call it, uh, 200 throw pillows. Say two performances for safety. How much does it cost, Mr. Frees? ". As we can see, theater in the Elizabethan era was considered a public spectacle, where a person paid two to three pence depending on where they wanted to be or their means. If they were on the stalls, standing up, they would pay a penny or two. But if they preferred to participate in the dress circle, they would have to pay three cents; let's not talk about comfort (it will cost you an extra penny if you want to place your butt on a soft surface). As they said, going to see a play was a way of having fun in public and most people went. They normally bought food (the plays took several hours to put on) and people acted as judges themselves, feeling free to throw food on stage in case they weren't happy with what they were watching . In the film, it is also necessary.