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Because in Elizabethan times Italy was thought of as more advanced or sophisticated. Also, Italy was known (and is still known as) the country of romance. But most of all, the stories Shakespeare got his ideas from were mostly Italian stories set in Italy. He just kept the setting.

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7y ago
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11y ago

Most of Shakespeare's plays are not set in Italy, although a number of them are. In many cases the reason for this is that the sources set the story in Italy. So, Plutarch said that Coriolanus and Julius Caesar took place in Rome, so Shakespeare set those plays in Rome. Arthur Brooke said Romeo and Juliet took place in Verona, so Shakespeare set it in Verona. The Merchant of Venice is also an Italian story, although not set in Venice in the source, as is Othello. The Two Gentlemen of Verona was originally a Spanish story, but because of the hostility between England and Spain, it was changed.

All in all, people recognized Italy as a land of storytelling, through the many translations of Bocaccio and other Italian storytellers which were popular at the time. Therefore people were comfortable with the Italian settings; they seemed familiar.

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12y ago

He didn't, actually. The Tempest is set on an island in the Medittereanean Sea. However, the characters (apart from the locals like Ariel and Caliban) are Italians from Milan and Naples. Why? We can never know, but it is possible to speculate. A lot of stories which Shakespeare used as sources came from Italy, although not the sources used for the Tempest. Italy was far enough away and romantic enough to be a plausible setting for a story about sorcerers, monsters and spirits.

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Q: Why did William Shakespeare set The Tempest in Italy?
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Duke of Milan in the tempest?

Prospero was originally the Duke of Milan but he was removed from power by his brother Antonio who is the Duke of Milan at the beginning of the play. By the end of the play, Prospero is restored as the Duke of Milan.


Where is the island in the tempest?

The Tempest is set on a fictional Island, which many scholars agree is meant to be located in the Mediterranean Sea. Another reading suggests that it takes place in the New World, as some parts read like records of English and Spanish conquest in the Americas. Still others argue that the Island can represent any land that has been colonized.


What shakespear play was inspired by Copenhagen denmark?

None of Shakespeare's plays were "inspired by" any places outside of England, since, as far as we can tell, Shakespeare never left England in his life. He was inspired by the books he read, many of which were set in France, Italy, Greece or other places. Only one of Shakespeare's plays is set in Denmark: Hamlet. Hamlet does not take place in Copenhagen, but rather in a castle outside of Copenhagen called Elsinore (the real castle's name is Kronborg, and Elsinore is the anglicised version of the town next to the castle, called Helsingor)


One play set in both Venice and Cyprus?

Shakespeare's Othello.


What is the name of The Taming of the Shrew city?

"Tranio, since for the great desire I had to see fair Padua" (I, 1)"Vincentio's son, brought up in Florence." (I,1)"Tell me thy mind, for I have Pisa left" (I, 1)"As Anna to the Queen of Carthage was" (I, 1)"Verona, for a while I take my leave" (I, 2)"this young scholar that hath long been studying at Rheims" (II, 1)"Father and wife and gentlemen adieu. I will to Venice." (II, 1)"An argosy that now is lying in Marseilles' road" (II, 1)"As far as Rome and so to Tripoli if God lend me life." (IV, 2)"Tis death for anyone in Mantua to come to Padua." (IV, 2)"Near twenty years ago, in Genoa, where we were lodgers at the Pegasus (IV, 4)

Related questions

Did prospero set 3men free in the tempest by William shakespeare?

Only after imprisoning them first.


Where was romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare set?

"In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…" Verona is a city in Italy.


Where was Shakespeare set?

most of it was set in Venice, Italy.


Where is Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing set?

It is set in Messina, Sicily, Italy.


What Shakespeare play is set in Verona?

Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" was set in Naples. The Tempest was believed to have been written between 1610-1611 and is one of his most well known works.


Is Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew set in Padua Italy?

Yes it is.


Why were many of Shakespeare's plays set in Italy?

because he wanted them to be


What are facts about the Tempest shakespeare the settings either the plot the settings or the characters?

1. The Tempest is the only Shakespeare play to include a masque. 2. The Tempest is one of only two Shakespeare plays which adhere to the Aristotelian unities. (Can you guess the other?) 3. The Tempest is one of four Shakespeare plays which is set at least in part on an island in the Mediterreanean. (Can you name the other three?) 4. The Tempest is one of two Shakespeare plays which mention Morocco. (The Merchant of Venice is the other.) 5. The Tempest is one of the five Shakespeare plays to have a character called Antonio, and that doesn't even include Mark Antony. 6. Two regular moons and seven irregular moons of Uranus are named for characters in The Tempest. The regular ones are Miranda and Ariel. 7. The name of Caliban is thought by some people to be an anagram of "cannibal"


How is VeronaItaly related to Shakespeare?

Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy.


Was william shakespeare known for advancing the art of set design?

No. He had no interest in set design.


Why were most of shakespeares plays set in Italy?

Shakespeare got the Romeo and Juliet story from Arthur Brooke's poem, Romeus and Juliet. In Brooke's poem the story was set in Verona, Italy. Shakespeare saw no reason to change it.


What country did William Shakespeare write his plays?

Shakespeare wrote all his plays in England. They are not all set in England, though.