Christian Zeffel
Ms. Perrin
English 9A 2nd
4­26­15

Shakespeare’s London
Shakespeare’s London was the center for English culture. London was a growing city with an estimated population around 200,000 people. With that growing population it was a dirty, smelly, and filthy place full of excrement and noise. Despite the filth, theater was a thing that brought all social classes together. All in all, Shakespeare’s London was a melting pot for English culture. London was a growing city due to trade and commerce. During Shakespeare’s time the population was around 200,000 people. (“Mark Love”) The River Thames was the center of all the commerce and trade in London. The occasional royal barge would float by, glistening with jewels and precious metals. (“Mark Love”) Even though the population was growing, there was an extreme lacking of a police force, making some parts of London extremely dangerous. (“Mark Love”) All in all the people of london melded together. Shakespeare’s London was a filthy, dirty, and extremely cruel place. His london was extremely cramped and filled with all the commercial activities that the growing population reinforced. (“Maggi Ros”) Anybody floating down the river could see the

criminals chained to the banks of the river, and anyone walking over London Bridge could see decapitated heads on pikes on the bridge. (“Maggi Ros”) The narrow streets were filled with excrement that was simply dumped from the chamber pots of peoples windows of those who lived in the building. (“Maggi Ros”) This runoff of excrement combined with the often broken sewage systems of London lead to pollution of the River
Thames. London was also loud and extremely crowded with animals and people alike.
These areas of commerce was where the people of London really collided. In Shakespeare’s time, theater brought all the social classes into one unsanitary place. Theater was a central part of London culture. (“ Elizabethan Theater”) The theater brought about both good and bad feedback. Some of the bad feedback hit on the details of profanity. Profanity was heavily censored, and extremely frowned upon.
(“Elizabethan Theater”) Other bad feedback talked about the spread of disease in the cramped and unsanitary theater. (“Elizabethan Theater”) One positive aspect of the theater was that it brought together all social classes. (“Elizabethan Theater”) Theater was a way for social classes to disappear and