Intro+to+Shakespeare

__** Age **__ 21

Stephen
 * __ Name – please select a name from [|Elizabethan Names] or [|Faire Names for English Folk] __**

__** Sex **__ Male

Married, but not with me as I am working as a blacksmith in a different part of the city for now.
 * __ Marital status __**

Blacksmith
 * __ Occupation (if any) - find ideas at the ____ [|Services and Occupations] listing from Life in Elizabethan England __**

£6 per year.
 * __ Income __**

I live in a temporary inn called Gray's Inn since I am only staying there for couple months because my old blacksmith workshop broke down, so I have to make do with this new one until my old one is fixed.
 * __ Where in London do you live? [|Tudor London map] __**

I was educated enough to know important information about the history of London and all about Shakespeare's plays since his family admired his work when I was young.
 * __ How much education did you receive? __**

__** What were you taught? **__ History, poetry and proper english. I was taught poetry because my parents grew up admiring Shakespeare's work.

Christian
 * __ What is your religion? __**

I was treated decently since Elizabeth made all people who believed in different religions equal.
 * __ How has your religion affected your life in terms of how you are treated by people in power? __**

I went to see a new play called "Romeo and Juliet."
 * __ What play do you go to see? __**

A raised flag was sign that a play was going to be performed soon, it would stay raised until the play was over in which it was then taken down. I also knew it was playing by word of mouth, many people talk about the upcoming plays in their conversations.
 * __ How did you know it was playing? __**

I was going to watch A Midsummer's Night Dream, but I decided at the last minute to watch Romeo and Juliet.
 * __ What other Shakespeare plays might you have been able to see? __**

My favorite play up until now was Titus Andronicus, but Romeo and Juliet is my new favorite.
 * __ What play by Shakespeare was your favorite until now? __**

My favorite actor in the company is Ricard Burbage because he played many important roles such as Hamlet and Richard III.
 * __ What actor in the company is your favorite actor? __**

I wore stockings, a shirt, separate sleeves, a belt, and a pair of shoes.
 * __ How are you dressed when you attend the play? __**

The costumes that stood out to me were the men who wore what seemed to be very uncomfortable women's costumes since women were not allowed on stage, and the men had to wear a lot of makeup.
 * __ Describe some of the costumes the actors wear. __**

I would wear my finest shirt, stockings, a belt, a hat, and shoes I got imported from France.
 * __ You are planning to go to a ball (fancy dance party) after the play. How will you dress for that? __**

Wheat bread, beef and cheese.
 * __ What did you dine on before going to the theater? __**

Before I went to the theatre to watch the play.
 * __ When did you eat? __**

I drank famous hot wine, and beer.
 * __ What did you drink? __**

It cost approximately 5 pence.
 * __ How much did it cost? __**

10 pence for the ticket and food. The ticket itself was 9 pence and I got a beer which cost 1 pence, I thought that the beer was overpriced.
 * __ How much did you pay for your ticket? __**

The Galleries
 * __ Where did you sit? __**

They went to see archery, they did not go to the play as they were not interested in poetry and any kind of theater plays.
 * __ A number of your friends chose to spend the afternoon seeing another kind of entertainment, What was it? __**

Queen Elizabeth as it was the opening night for the theatre for the new year.
 * __ Who was the most important person you recognized in the audience? __**

Queen Elizabeth I ruled England at the time.
 * __ Who ruled England at the time? __**

There was gossip about Queen Elizabeth's friendship to Robert Dudley, as he was married but wanted to be freed from her to marry Queen Elizabeth.
 * __ What was some gossip about the ruler? __**

Stephen Slanye
 * __ Who was the Lord Mayor of London at the time? __**

The Sea-Law of Scotland
 * __ What is the last book you read? __**


 * __ Journal __**

Dear Journal,

Today was very hectic, I decided to take a day off of work of forging metal in my blacksmith workshop in a new location in London since my old workshop broke down where I lived with my wife and two kids. I am extremely lucky to get to work as a blacksmith since my education was decent when I was little and I have been living a casual life, and I wish to keep it that way. Using my time wisely on my day off, I planned a schedule. First, I would eat breakfast eating some wheat bread. This was pretty different as the price was a little more expensive at 1 penny, the bread was also slightly different since it was different from what I was used to from my old town. After breakfast, I was touring the town and examined the society. Overall, the environment was very friendly and everyone I had a conversation with asked my name, age, and occupation. I answered by saying "My name's Stephen, I'm 21, I work as a blacksmith here, but I am new here and won't be staying for too long as I worked as a blacksmith in a town close by which broke down. I am also a Christian. I was a little reluctant with telling them my age and religion, as I looked older than I actually am and I wasn't sure how they would react to my religion, but everyone seemed to be fair, I found out later that Queen Elizabeth made everyone an equal in the way of the society's religion. Just when I had finished touring the town, I saw a lot of raised flags around and heard many people talking about this upcoming play called "Romeo and Juliet," I asked the people I talked to what the raised flags symbolized, they all explained that was a sign that there would be an upcoming play. I immediately decided to watch a play later in the day. I went to the ticket stand to buy a ticket, I saw that there was another upcoming play called "A Midsummer's Night Dream." I was not sure which one to watch, but once I was at the front, I decided to pick Romeo and Juliet. An hour before the play, I decided to get something to eat. I ate beef and cheese with beer, the flavor of everything was different from my usual diet, but I think it was better than the same old food. I dressed very casually for the play, I was sitting in the gallery of the Globe Theater. Luckily, there were benches for us to sit on. I immediately noticed that Queen Elizabeth I was there and knew that she would be here for the opening night of the Globe theater for the new year. The play was quite good, I really enjoyed it and as I thought, I made the right choice to watch a once in a lifetime play. After the play, I caught up with some of my new friends and decided to watch archery afterwards. Overall, my day off was tremendous and I wish to do it once every month as a reward for my hard work and to occupy myself since I don't get to visit my family.