By 1592, William Shakespeare was in London writing plays. Going to plays was very popular at that time, and theatre was big business. Drama then was like Hollywood today. It was not seen as literature to be studied, but entertainment to be enjoyed. Playwrights often borrowed plots and characters from earlier works, and didn’t bother to publish their plays until after they were performed. The first versions of plays were called “foul papers,’ they were hand-written, contained cross-outs, and were difficult to read. “Fair copies” were made by scribes for rehearsals. These texts were often changed by actors during rehearsals. “Quartos” were plays printed as small books, but were not necessarily checked by the playwrights themselves. In fact, …show more content…
Other Elizabethan playwrights at the time included Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. Marlowe is famous for writing Dr. Faustus, The Jew of Malta, and Edward II. Marlowe was better educated than Shakespeare, and may have inspired him. Marlowe was murdered, possibly by assassins who were paid to kill him because of his Catholic ties under Protestant rule. Next, Ben Jonson is famous for writing Every Man in His Humour, Eastward Ho!, The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fair. Jonson was educated but forced to become a bricklayer and soldier after his father died. He was known to be unruly at court, but had a close relationship with Shakespeare as he lent books to Shakespeare that would improve his writing. Beaumont and Fletcher are famous for writing Knight of the Burning Pestle, Philaster, The Maid’s Tragedy, and A King and No King. These playwrights were best remembered for their romantic tragi-comedies. Their upper class style poked fun at the London tradesmen and they were at first rejected by audiences, but their popularity grew. Shakespeare may have supervised their work when they began writing for the king’s men. After Beaumont died, Fletcher went on to write or help write 42