What did Elizabethan audiences think of Shakespeares plays?

Answer 1

Yes, people have always liked Shakespeare's plays. Usually they want to tweak them to be a little more like the current style (For example, in the Restoration period, they couldn't stand the idea that Cordelia dies in King Lear and so they rewrote the ending!)

Answer 2

When the plays were first performed, audiences crammed into the playhouses to see them. They were generally well recieved, though this is a very sweeping statement, as each play gave rise to different issues which may or may not have affected different members of the audience. Whilst Elizabeth I and James I are recorded as having watched his plays, Shakespeare found criticism from groups such as the Puritans. Puritans did not believe in theatre as a form of entertainment and made many attempts to close them down. Though the theatres were closed down periodically due to the plague, they reopened soon after, due to popular demand.

Today, attitudes towards Shakespeares plays are still mixed. For example, some feminists object to the treatment of Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew, and Hero's acceptance of Claudio as a husband in Much Ado About Nothing. This often not only depends on the script, but also on the perspective of the performance.

Answer 3

well back in shakespeares time people loved shakespeares plays people would go to the theatres all the time and watch his plays in shakespeares time art,literature and music were getting more popular and noticed so people definetly enjoyed his plays as going to the theatres and watchin plays especialy shakepeares was a form of entertainment. back in those days plays were very popular and the 'inn thing'

Answer 4

Shakespeare's plays were quite popular with the London audiences of his day--popular enough that copies of the scripts were published and sold. The King's Men certainly were not keen to change their main playwright.

Answer 5

Shakespeare's plays have been popular ever since they were first performed, and still are. Of course, some of his plays are better liked than others, and fashions change in which ones are more popular. In Shakespeare's day, Titus Andronicus was a well-known and well-liked play, but later, in the nineteenth century, it was thought to be too violent and over-the-top, but later still, in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, more people are saying that they like it. On the other hand, the Victorians loved Henry VIII and King John which nobody ever talks about any more. The first Shakespeare movie, in 1899, was of King John. Nobody has made a movie of that play since (although they have made movies of Titus Andronicus).

Answer 6

It would have depended on the plays but what would they do to the actors?

Answer 7

William Shakespeare's plays were popular at the time. Even Queen Elizabeth went to see the plays.

Answer 8

Did you know that Shakespeare wrote around 41 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 narrative poems? Unfortunately, although he is world famous, we don't actually know a lot about him. Theatre-going was very popular in Shakespeare times because it was an exciting entertainment and was quite cheap as well. It was 1 penny to stand, 2 pennies to sit an 3 pennies to sit with a cushion and be seen by the lower class people. Hope this helps with what you wanted to know! x

Answer 9

People thought that Shakespeare's plays were very entertaining because it was very popular. The Globe Theatre was one of the most popular theatres.