Shakespeare’s London and Elizabeth Audiences
What London was like in Elizabethan times?
Map of Elizabethan London
London in Elizabethan times was a bustling city, full of many different types of people, different trades, and full of entertainment. The population of London increased from 70,000 to 200,000 during this period. London had got so crowded that a Swiss visitor said “One simply cannot walk along the streets of the crowed.” and another visitor described it as “dark and narrow.” This much overcrowding meant that thieves became more attracted and diseases were spread more easily. In some ways, London was not so different to how it is now. However, Elizabethan London also had a lot of problems. For example, there was a lot of crime because there were many poor people, and no system to help them. Another problem was that London was very dirty, filthy in fact. There was no sewage system or proper rubbish systems. The streets would have been filled with rubbish, human and animal waste because people just left things where they fell, and people emptied their chamber pots into the streets. The smell must have been awful.
Homes in London looked quite different to today, although there are still some Elizabethan buildings.
These are Elizabethan buildings that were still standing in the early 20th century near Holborn. You can see how the top floors, overhang the bottom. In some streets, if you leaned out of a top floor window you could touch the opposite building.
This shows what the inside of Elizabethan buildings looked like. This is a picture from a large hall but the building and design methods are the same for all Tudor buildings.
Below is a 3D animation that was created to show what London looked like before the Great Fire of London. Although it is an idea of what London was like a little after Elizabeth’s death, London did not change that much. Therefore it gives you a really good idea of what the city was like.
People in Elizabethan times were at risk of many illnesses, especially in London. Because of so many people living close together, and the waste everywhere, diseases spread quickly. Personal hygiene wasn’t good either, with a lot of people thinking that too much washing was bad for you and using twigs to clean their teeth. Dirty water could spread cholera, so people would drink a weak beer instead, there was typhoid, vomiting from dirty water, and also outbreaks of the plague. Many babies and children died very young. You could call a doctor if you could afford it, but they may not have been very useful. They used leeches, bloodletting and poultices to try to treat many illnesses. However, many things that we survive easily today could be very dangerous during the period.
Living in London had a lot of benefits though. It could be easier to survive than relying on farming and it may give you an easier life. You also had plenty of entertainment opportunities. There were theatres opening, plays in inns, bear baiting and cock and dog fighting, and plenty of places to eat and drink. Some of the entertainment would make us shocked today, for example the ones that involve animal cruelty, but life in Tudor England was very different.
This is an engraving by CJ Visscher, showing the area around London Bridge and all the shops on the bridge.
Working in London
Finding work was very difficult and a lot of people wanted a job at the same time so not many were available. This caused many people to be unemployed. Jobs that people had depended on which class they were in. Classes were divided by The Monarch, Nobility, Gentry, Merchant, Yeomanry and Labourers. Monarch being the highest class and Labourers being the lowest.
- Monarch - Ruler and leaders
- Nobility - Knights
- Gentry - Knights and squires
- Merchants - Making material
- Yeomany - Farmers, tradesmen and craftsmen
- Labourers - Artisans, shoemakers, carpenters, brick builders or anything that means you’re working with your hands.
What were the audiences and their experiences like?
Audiences: By 1600 London theatres could hold 3000 people for the most popular plays. This meant that between 10,000 and 20,000 people a week were attending London theatres. Just about everyone in society attended the theatre. Generally it was more men than women. Even Royalty loved watching the plays.
Cost: In open air theatres, the rice was really cheap! It was only 1 penny to get a place to stand in the yard around the stage. For another penny you could have seat in the lower galleries surrounding the yard and for a penny more you could sit on a cushion. These low costs were the reason theatre was so popular.
Behaviour of audience members: Audiences didn’t sit in silence as they do today. They clapped the heroes and booed the villains and cheered the special effects. Thieves were common in audiences and occasionally fights would break out. They could buy food and drink in the theatre and may well have been very rowdy. It would have been an intense sensory experience due to the sounds and smells, particularly in the yard section where people would have been crammed in together.
Performance venues: Performances in yards would have been standing only, and open to the elements. Indoor theatres were slightly different. Upper class women would have sat in the balcony seats and some would have worn masks to avoid being recognised. At theatres like The Globe, the standing area was open to the weather so the audience would get wet, sunburned, and so on, but the performance would still go on.
No one knows for sure what the Globe interior looked like as there are no surviving images. However, The Swan is a suggested example for comparison.
Johannes de Witt's sketch of the Swan Theatre
Theatres were often overcrowded, and this made the spread of colds and other illnesses much easier. In fact, theatres we closed during outbreaks of bubonic plague to try and halt spread of it.
Sources
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