CHAPTER 1 - Shakespeare's England

Abstract

This chapter presents the text that describes Shakespeare's England. A numerous library of books about Elizabethan England are available; the political and social life of that unforgettable time. It briefs about the land, its ownership, tenancy, use, and state; on London and the towns, on government and administration, on the Church and religion—a most carefully organized reconstruction made possible by the study of contemporary documents and records. A particular attention to the Sonnets and the evidence they contain of Shakespeare's awareness of this watershed in thought is paid, and to the influence of the young poet John Donne on the style and methods of the established playwright.