Question

The right time. The right place. The right competition. Together, these three factors often foster exciting new art or ideas. And in many cases, something or someone rises above the rest. Think about well-known brands that dominate their competitors. What set them apart—what gave them an edge—can often be traced back to something simple.

That's what helped spur a golden age of drama during Europe's Renaissance (1300–1600). A key advantage helped William Shakespeare rise to the top as the most famous playwright from that period.

Back before Shakespeare was born in 1564, theaters weren't big business in England. Writers needed a royal or rich sponsor to support them if they wanted to make a living as a wordsmith. Permanent playhouses hadn't existed since the Romans occupied Britain (43–410 CE), so actors wandered around from town to town hoping to find a paying audience. Actors weren't exactly beloved celebrities. In fact, those who weren't servants of noblemen were classified by a 1572 law as "vagabonds" and "beggars." That status basically labeled them as criminals.

But all that changed in the decades following Shakespeare's birth. London's population started booming, and all those people needed to be entertained. Seeing the potential for permanent playhouses, savvy investors started converting inns and building new theaters. Between 1567 and 1642, 23 theaters were constructed, with seven or eight standing at any given time.

These theaters were all competing for audiences, so they needed a constant flow of fresh material. People didn't want to see the same play over and over. What fun would that be? Writers were in great demand to churn out stories that would fill seats. Some, like Shakespeare, penned plays as well as performed. Competing theater companies had rival writers. Like rivals in most fields, these authors kept an eye on what their competitors were up to so they could try to outdo them, sometimes by imitating or satirizing one another's plays. All this demand and rivalry really revved up the writers, which is what made the golden age so golden.

Shakespeare's contemporaries weren't nobodies. Ben Jonson actually dominated the scene back then with his political satires. These also got him in trouble with authorities who didn't like his critical portrayals. And Christopher Marlowe, who historians say ended up influencing Shakespeare, was a big deal before Shakespeare got going.

Shakespeare could be pretty crafty when it came to his competitors, though. For instance, when Jonson's satiric comedies were outshining Shakespeare's romantic ones, Shakespeare borrowed from Jonson's style and started penning edgier entertainment. Shakespeare also poached Jonson at one point, getting him to write for his company, the King's Men. Shakespeare chose to team up with other successful writers, too—such as John Fletcher, who took over as head playwright after Shakespeare left the business.

So why does Shakespeare get all the buzz and not these other writers? One simple distinction: Most of his plays were published.

Back in Shakespeare's day, the theaters usually owned the plays. Scholars say people in the theater business considered plays to be disposable entertainment, not prized art. Most writers' plays weren't preserved with much care, much less published for the masses. Publishing scripts would just make it easier for a competing playhouse to rip off their material. For the highly competitive players in the entertainment game, that just wasn't good business. Most original manuscripts were eventually lost, destroyed, or discarded—including some of those written by Shakespeare.

Shakespeare wasn't even the most prolific playwright in his day, but his name is now synonymous with Renaissance drama largely because his plays survived the centuries through publication while most others' works didn't. Some of his plays were published during his lifetime, and after his death in 1616, Shakespeare's friends assembled The First Folio, a collection of 36 Shakespeare plays, 18 of which hadn't been published previously—including All's Well That Ends Well, Macbeth, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night.

The First Folio is now considered one of the most influential books ever published in the English language. By preserving his legacy through its publication, Shakespeare's pals made him a lasting literary star.

Question 1


1 / 8

The Article primarily discusses __________.


why Renaissance actors wandered from town to town looking for a paying audience before theaters became a big business
how Shakespeare's legacy as the premier Renaissance playwright endured due to his work being preserved through publication
why the Renaissance playwright Ben Jonson chose to do political satires, which got him in trouble with authorities
how Shakespeare, like many writers of his time, would sometimes play the role of playwright and performer to help fill theater seats

Answer 1

how Shakespeare's legacy as the premier Renaissance playwright endured due to his work being preserved through publication