Shakespeare
was aware of the danger of dabbling in politics
Plays were
censored
The Catholic
religion was not approved of - Queen Elizabeth was
constantly in fear of Catholic plots
Shakespeare knew
people who had been arrested and tortured - friends and
family members!
Relatives had
been arrested and taken to the Tower of London
William Arden,
was a second cousin of Mary Arden of Wilmcote, the mother of
Shakespeare
In 1583 Arden
was indicted for plotting against the life of the Queen
Arden protested
his innocence only admitting to adhere to the Catholic faith
but was executed at Smithfield on 30th December, 1583
Shakespeare knew
of the strict laws prohibiting any explicitly religious or
current political events being represented on stage
THE ESSEX REBELLION
Robert Devereux,
the Earl of Essex was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I
She heaped
favours on the ambitious young man and appointed him Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599
He signed an
unauthorised truce with the leading Irish rebel, the Earl of
Tyrone
The Queen was
furious and ordered his arrest, stripping him of his titles
In January 1601,
the rebel earl led an abortive raid against the Queen and
London - he plotted to start a rebellion to overthrow the
Queen
The supporters
of Essex arranged for Richard II to be played at the Globe
the day before the rebellion
The play,
Richard II, tells the story of how Richard II was overthrown
by Henry IV and how Richard the King, like Elizabeth the
Queen, had abdicated many of her powers in favour of her
advisors Cecil and Raleigh
The theme
expressed in the play was hoped to generate support for the
rebellion amongst Londoners
The Earl of
Essex marched into the streets of London with his followers
But the play had
failed to stir up support for Essex and Londoners stayed
away from the trouble
The rebellion
collapsed and Essex was captured and, on 25th February
1601 he was executed for treason
Did Shakespeare
and his company realise the significance of playing Richard
II? Did any of them know about the rebellion? Nothing was
proved and no charges were made - the company were forgiven
by the Queen and they performed for her in December of the
same year as the rebellion
