London1

Here's a cool website on Elizabethan England!

The London Bridge designed by John Rennie. Here's a video on Shakespeare's Globe and Southwark  The Globe Theatre built in Southwark, England.

WHAT WAS LONDON LIKE IN SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND? WHAT WAS SOUTHWARK OR THE SOUTH BANK LIKE IN SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND? WHAT WAS ITS REPUTATION? WHAT WAS LONDON BRIDGE? WHAT ROLE DID IT PLAY IN SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND?

England in the 1530’s was a metropolis city with large area suburbs and cities. By 1592, William Shakespeare had made his reputation in London, the capital city of England. London was a busy, crowded city with a growing population. London was mostly a port driven city. Many people lived in poverty while others lived a lavish life filled with wealth and luxury. These people didn’t face many difficulties. On the other hand, the poor man of London was faced with many challenges with day-to-day life. In the city, they were overwhelmed by the “Black Plague”, which was carried by fleas and rats. These pests infested the slums of London. I’m sure the satiation didn’t help the cause much either. Charles Dickens once said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This famous quote describes the period of Shakespearian culture in the extensive history of London.

London life wasn’t all about city life. There were many other suburbs in England. One of the well-known suburbs in England was called Southwark or the South Bank. Southwark is where the Swan, Rose, and Globe Theaters were built. The population was growing greatly in Southwark so it was an ideal spot to build these theaters. In this area, there was not much law enforcement, so a lot of illegal actions happened there. The only reason why theaters were built there was because Southwark was outside the jurisdiction of London, who opposed the arts. Southwark is where most of the taverns and brothels were located. As you may see it did not have the best reputation of all the cities of England. Southwark was the home of three theaters with rich and influential histories of all the theaters in England. On the other hand it was the epicenter of the bad parts of London. Southwark was filled with some of the highs and lows of city life.

In 1729, the London Bridge was built and it was somewhere where you wouldn’t expect to see one in London. The London Bridge stretched over the River Thames and linked London, England and Southwark. It was a very unique bridge in the way that it uses five arches for stability. The one responsible for the system is engineer John Rennie. He was the leader of the bridges constuction. This was the first bridge to stretch over the River Thames which gave London and Southwark tons of publicity. It was also a quick and easy way to get from place to place. The London Bridge was a official landmark in London in its lifetime and was recognized by most people.

Work Cited: Stewart, Gail. //Life in Elizabethan London//. 106. Print.  Picard, Liza. //Elizabeth's London//. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003. Print. "Southwark, London." //Forum Network//. N.p., 2003. Web. 2 Apr 2010. .  "Shakespeare's Globe." N.p., 2010. Web. 2 Apr 2010. .  "Elizabethian England." //Shakespeare Resource Center//. N.p., 2010. Web. 2 Apr 2010. .  "Shakespeare's comedy plays." N.p., 2010. Web. 2 Apr 2010. .  <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; letter-spacing: 1.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">"Elizabethan England." //Elizabethan Era//. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr 2010. <http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-england.htm>.