Elizabethan court and Elizabethan England

What did Elizabethan people fear and why?

Succession as she had no heir

What rumours present in Elizabethan England?

Death of ageing Liz and Earl of Essex wounded

What were playwrights forbidden to do from 1589?

Treat ‘matters of divinity or state’

What was Shakespeare inspired by? 

Senecan drama 

What does inspiration by Senecan dramas indicate?

A deeper purpose to Sakespearn tragedies

When was Hamlet written?

Final years of Elizabethan reign

What was the ‘cult of Elizabeth’?

Cultivated propaganda that shows a public image of Liz that elevates her status to a glorious symbol of the nation

What did the turn of the century 1600-1601 increase?

Reflective attitudes and confusion

Why was there an insecure state of monarchy?

Liz in late 60s and there was uncertainty on her successor

What does fin de siede mean?

End of cycle

How does Shakespeare critique Elizabethan court in Hamlet?

Exposes corruption and lack of genuine justice through the corrupt state of Denmark

What does the court in Hamlet reflect?

Real-world anxieties about succession Political intrigue

The declining power of an aging monarch

Concerns on national security

Prevalence of spying under Liz

Destructive nature of ambitious nobles

Revenge within a political landscape

What’s the main thing Hamlet is critiquing and why it’s set in Denmark?

Humanism in the English court

What was the Elizabethan monarch seen as and why?

A microcosm element of the whole as leaders actions ripple outwards into society

Who was Liz court favourite in 1590s?

Earl of Essex

What was patronage vital for?

Rising in society and government

What’s bond of association?

All of Liz subjects expected to pursue death of anybody who threatened Liz’s rule or life

What’s bond of association also called?

Honour bond for revenge

What happened to blood feuds?

Outlawed but still practiced

What does the corrupt court reflect?

Backstabbing in English court