Elizabethan Era

In this collection, you'll find expert analyses on major literary works from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) including William Shakespeare's plays, Michel de Montaigne's essays, and Philip Sidney's poems.

Publication year 1595Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: LoveTags Lyric Poem, Elizabethan Era

Publication year 1592Genre Play, FictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Femininity, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Play: Tragedy, Elizabethan Era, Mystery / Crime Fiction

Arden of Faversham is an Elizabethan play originally performed in 1592. The play’s authorship is disputed. While potential authors include Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Watson, computer stylometric analyses attribute probable authorship to William Shakespeare. The Oxford Shakespeare attributes the play to Shakespeare and an anonymous collaborator, potentially Watson.The play is the first extant example of English domestic tragedy, which would subsequently flourish throughout Elizabeth and Jamesian drama and be rekindled in the 1700s... Read Arden of Faversham Summary


Publication year 1599Genre Play, FictionThemes Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: SiblingsTags Elizabethan Era, Play: Comedy / Satire, Romance

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare. The date of its first performance is unknown, but it is believed to have been written in 1599. As You Like It was first published in 1623 in the First Folio, the first of the posthumously published collections of Shakespeare’s plays.This summary refers to the 2019 Folger Shakespeare Library updated edition. Your edition’s line numbers and spellings may vary slightly.Plot SummaryWhen the play begins... Read As You Like It Summary


Publication year 1589Genre Play, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Play: Tragedy

In the play Doctor Faustus, an ambitious scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Written by Christopher Marlowe, the work was first produced in 1592 in London, where it caused a sensation, influenced Shakespeare’s plays, and launched a cottage industry in books, music, and other arts about the man who risked eternal damnation for the chance to control reality.Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England, in 1564 and died... Read Doctor Faustus Summary


Publication year 1593Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era

Christopher Marlowe published the Elizabethan play Edward II in 1593, basing it on the life of the English king of the same name. The play, for the most part, is an accurate depiction of Edward II’s tragic reign and demise. It is highly stylized, however, according to the theatrical traditions of the time. Edward II is notable for its clever treatment of the homosexual relationship between the king and Gaveston, his consort. Over five acts... Read Edward II Summary


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William Shakespeare
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Publication year 1609Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, British Literature

First performed in 1609, Hamlet is one of the best-known and most influential works of the playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616). This summary refers to the 2001 Pelican edition of the play.Plot SummaryOn a dark night, sentinels see a ghost stalking the battlements of Elsinore Castle, the royal seat of Denmark. It is the dead king, who has returned to tell his son Hamlet to avenge him. He was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who then... Read Hamlet Summary


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Maggie O’Farrell
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Publication year 2020Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Femininity, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Order & ChaosTags Historical Fiction, History: European, Gender / Feminism, Health / Medicine, Arts / Culture, British Literature, Elizabethan Era

Publication year 1597Genre Play, FictionThemes Relationships: Fathers, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & BetrayalTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, British Literature, Play: Historical, Play: Drama

Henry IV, Part 1 is the second play in English playwright William Shakespeare’s Henriad tetralogy, preceded by Richard II. The play was written sometime prior to 1597, and it was a hit with critics and audiences. Henry IV, Part 1 introduces Sir John Falstaff, one of Shakespeare’s most enduringly popular characters, who also appears in Henry IV, Part 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. The play follows the wayward Prince Hal, the son of... Read Henry IV, Part 1 Summary


Publication year 1580Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: LiteratureTags Lyric Poem, Renaissance, Elizabethan Era

Along with his contemporary Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser is one of the most important literary figures from the English Renaissance (c. 1550-1660), also known as the Early Modern Period. Spenser’s work was greatly influenced by his studies of Classical and Italian Renaissance poets, including Virgil, Ludovico Ariosto, and Torquato Tasso. His faith and study of Christianity also informed his work. With Sidney, who was also an influence, and his friend Gabriel Harvey, Spenser belonged to... Read Iambicum Trimetrum Summary


Publication year 1599Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, British Literature, Play: Tragedy, Play: Historical

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a history play and tragedy written by William Shakespeare and first performed in 1599. The play dramatizes the events surrounding the 44 BC assassination of Julius Caesar, a Roman general and statesman. Shakespeare’s main source material for the play was Plutarch’s Lives, a series of biographies of famous men, published in the second century, and translated into English by Thomas North in 1579. Shakespeare sometimes deviated from his source... Read Julius Caesar Summary


Publication year 1606Genre Play, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Truth & LiesTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era

King Lear is a play written around 1606 by the English playwright William Shakespeare. Widely considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, King Lear tells the story of a king who goes mad after bequeathing his fortune and power to his daughters. It is loosely based on the myth of Leir of Britain, a legendary monarch said to have ruled Ancient Britons in the eighth century B.C.This guide refers to the 1999 Pelican Shakespeare edition. Please... Read King Lear Summary


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William Shakespeare
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Publication year 1623Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, British Literature

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays. Classified as a tragedy and thought to be performed for the first time in 1606, it tells the story of a Scottish nobleman who becomes obsessed with power and is driven mad by guilt.Plot SummaryThe play opens with three witches, who make plans to meet again. In a military camp, King Duncan of Scotland hears the news of his generals’ success. Macbeth and Banquo have defeated... Read Macbeth Summary


Publication year 1592Genre Essay Collection, NonfictionThemes Relationships: FriendshipTags Philosophy, Elizabethan Era, French Literature

Montaigne: Selected Essays comes from the pen of Michel de Montaigne, a 16th-century French jurist, advisor, and diplomat whose many adventures would make a compelling autobiography. Instead, Montaigne writes a series of short works that examine his innermost thoughts and feelings, attitudes and beliefs, preferences and daily habits. This would seem a dull topic, but Montaigne’s charm, wit, and wisdom shine through and make the mundane seem fascinating. His attitude is tolerant and open-minded for... Read Montaigne: Essays Summary


Publication year 1598Genre Play, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & BetrayalTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Play: Comedy / Satire, Modern Classic Fiction, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Class, Gender / Feminism, Renaissance

Much Ado About Nothing, a comedy dating from the mid-career period of William Shakespeare was probably written just prior to 1600. The play has the trappings of a theatrical farce with its use of assumptions and misunderstandings. Main characters Benedick and Beatrice are duped into announcing their love for each other while Claudio is fooled into spurning Hero at the altar when he mistakenly believes that she has not been faithful to him. The theme of lovers being tricked... Read Much Ado About Nothing Summary


Publication year 1779Genre Play, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Play: Historical, Religion / Spirituality, Relationships, Elizabethan Era

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William Shakespeare
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Publication year 1604Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, British Literature, Elizabethan Era

William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy written in approximately 1603 and published in 1622. The play begins in Venice, where Iago, a subordinate of Othello’s and a captain in the Venetian defense forces, tells Roderigo that Othello has passed him over for promotion. Instead, Othello, a Moor, has chosen the noble and popular Michael Cassio to be his lieutenant. Iago tells Roderigo that he will have his revenge on Othello but behave as a loyal... Read Othello Summary


Publication year 1595Genre Play, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: FateTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, British Literature

Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s best-known plays. First performed before 1597 (the date of its earliest known printing), it has been popular and influential ever since.This summary refers to the 2011 Folger Shakespeare Library edition. Your edition’s line numbers may vary slightly.Plot SummaryA feud between two noble families, the Montagues and the Capulets, is tearing apart the city of Verona. Young men allied with these households fight each other in the streets... Read Romeo and Juliet Summary


Publication year 1609Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: LoveTags Lyric Poem, Elizabethan Era, Love / Sexuality

Publication year 1609Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: EnvironmentTags Romance, Arts / Culture, Elizabethan Era

William Shakespeare is the best-known author of the English Renaissance—also known as the Early Modern Period and the Elizabethan Age. Though readers’ attention tends to be more riveted toward his plays, Shakespeare published 154 sonnets during his exceptionally prolific career, in addition to the longer-form poems Venus and Adonis (1593), The Rape of Lucrece (1594), and The Phoenix and the Turtle (1601). Fifteen editions of Venus and Adonis—a poem in the form of 199 six-line... Read Sonnet 18 Summary


Publication year 1609Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: GriefTags Lyric Poem, Depression / Suicide, Love / Sexuality, Elizabethan Era

Publication year 1609Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: BeautyTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Lyric Poem, Religion / Spirituality, Relationships

“Sonnet 55” (1609) is an English love sonnet by renowned poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The sonnet is part of Shakespeare’s Fair Youth sonnet sequence, which makes up the first 126 of his sonnets. This sonnet follows a number of the Fair Youth sonnets in the way it praises the fair youth’s beauty and claims his beauty is eternal. In this sonnet specifically, Shakespeare claims that the subject’s beauty will outlive all monuments of princes and... Read Sonnet 55 Summary


Publication year 1609Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Lyric Poem, Elizabethan Era

Publication year 1528Genre Book, NonfictionTags Sociology, Elizabethan Era, Italian Literature

Baldassare Castiglione, an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier, and prominent Renaissance author, wrote The Book of the Courtier between 1513 and 1527. Principally an instructive work, the book takes place over the course of four evenings in the Italian court of Urbino in 1507. To entertain themselves, the courtiers discuss the nature and traits of the ideal courtier, dealing with topics of individual morals, behavior, and etiquette, particularly in situations involving royalty.The book begins with a... Read The Book of the Courtier Summary


Publication year 1595Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & EvilTags Lyric Poem, Christian literature, Religion / Spirituality, Elizabethan Era

Publication year 1595Genre Book, NonfictionTags Elizabethan Era, Creative Nonfiction

Sir Philip Sidney’s The Defence of Poesy, also called An Apology for Poetry, is one of the earliest works of English literary criticism. Presented in the format of a speech, as if it were a rhetorical exercise, this treatise responds to contemporary and ancient criticisms of poetry. Relying heavily on examples from ancient history and literature, Sidney argues in this work that poetry surpasses the other literary genres in its ability to stir its audience... Read The Defence of Poesy Summary


Publication year 1596Genre Play, FictionThemes Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Natural World: Appearance & RealityTags Classic Fiction, Play: Tragedy, Elizabethan Era

The Merchant of Venice is a play written in the 1590s by the English playwright William Shakespeare. It concerns a Jewish moneylender in Venice named Shylock who is determined to extract a pound of flesh from a merchant who fails to pay a debt on time. The play remains controversial due to the anti-Semitic stereotypes it perpetuated in its time and for centuries thereafter. Despite this, the play continues to be read and performed frequently... Read The Merchant of Venice Summary


Publication year 2020Genre Novel, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & SpiritualityTags Historical Fiction, British Literature, Elizabethan Era, History: European

Publication year 1594Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: War, Identity: MasculinityTags Elizabethan Era, Narrative / Epic Poem, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Grief / Death

“The Rape of Lucrece,” written by William Shakespeare, was originally published in 1594 by Richard Field. This poem comes early in Shakespeare’s canon, with its original publication near the end of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, shortly after Taming of the Shrew and around the time of A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. As a companion piece to “Venus and Adonis,” Shakespeare dedicates “The Rape of Lucrece” to the Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, his patron. It went... Read The Rape of Lucrece Summary


Publication year 1500Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era

The Second Shepherd’s Play is a medieval mystery play written by an anonymous author known as the Wakefield Master that centers on a retelling of the Biblical story of the Nativity. The play is written in verse. At the beginning of the play, the 1st shepherd, Col, and the 2nd shepherd, Gib, are guarding their flocks and grumbling about the freezing weather. In his opening speech, Col complains about the fact that as poor shepherds... Read The Second Shepherd's Play Summary


Publication year 1593Genre Play, FictionThemes Relationships: Marriage, Identity: Gender, Society: ClassTags Elizabethan Era, Play: Comedy / Satire, Humor

The Taming of the Shrew is one of William Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, probably first performed around 1593. While the play’s depiction of women is the subject of much debate among modern readers and scholars, its popularity endures, and the play continues to be reproduced in various mediums. Notable adaptations include the 1967 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and the 1999 romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.This guide refers to the 2014... Read The Taming of the Shrew Summary


Publication year 1611Genre Play, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Society: ColonialismTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Play: Drama, Modern Classic Fiction, Play: Comedy / Satire, Romance, Relationships, Race / Racism, British Literature

One of the most popular plays by William Shakespeare, The Tempest tells the comic tale of Prospero, the overthrown duke of Milan, who maroons his betrayers on a magical island. There, he creates spells and enchantments that toy with the evildoers until they promise to return him to his throne. The production, first staged in London in 1611, provides spectacle, elaborate effects, screwball comedy, intrigue, and romance in a story about ambition, revenge, remorse, love... Read The Tempest Summary


Publication year 1602Genre Play, FictionTags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era

Exploring themes of love, gender, and identity, William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will was first performed in England in 1602 and first published in 1623 after Shakespeare’s death. Twelfth Night takes its title from the twelfth night of Christmas, a raucous holiday marked with feasting and entertainment. The subtitle What You Will refers to freedom or a lack of restriction. This guide refers to the Folger Shakespeare Library edition of the text. Plot Summary The... Read Twelfth Night Summary