![]() ![]() Elizabethan tragedy dealt with heroic themes, usually centering on a great personality who is destroyed by his own passion and ambition. These playwrights wrote plays that were patterned on numerous previous sources, including Greek tragedy, Seneca's plays, Attic drama, English miracle plays, morality plays, and interludes. ![]() Some of the most important playwrights come from the Elizabethan era, including William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe. Because of the perceived bad influence of the theaters, the Puritans were vocally opposed to them and succeeded in shutting them down in 1642. The theater also drew many unsavory characters, including pickpockets, cutpurses, and prostitutes. Although women were not allowed onstage, they did attend performances and often made up a substantial part of the audience. Theater was a popular pastime, and people of all walks of life attended. There was a great deal of theatrical activity at Court, and many public theaters were also built on the outskirts of London. During her reign, some playwrights were able to make a comfortable living by receiving royal patronage. She was also a avid supporter of the arts which sparked a surge of activity in the theater. Elizabeth I was a powerful, resolute monarch who returned England to Protestantism, quelled a great deal of internal turmoil, and unified the nation. ![]() Some consider the age to have ended at the queen's death in 1603, whereas others place the end of Elizabethan Drama at the closing of the theaters in 1642. Although it is generally agreed that the period began at the commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558, the ending date is not as definite. From the Elizabethan Age come some of the most highly respected plays in Western drama. ![]()
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