Jacobean Drama

Jacobean drama in England covers the period from 1603 to 1625, coinciding with the reign of King James I. The Jacobean professional theatre has been described by David Farley-Hills in Jacobean Drama as "the most brilliant and dynamic the world has seen." The dominant figure during the first part of the Jacobean period was William Shakespeare (1564—1616). Although many of Shakespeare's plays were written during the reign of Elizabeth I, some of his greatest works appeared in the first decade of the Jacobean age, including the tragedies of Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra, and the romances Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. During this decade, Shakespeare's preeminence was challenged by other dramatists, including Ben Jonson (1572—1637), George Chapman (c. 1560—1634), John Marston (c. 1575 or 1576—1634), Middleton, John Webster (c. 1580—c. 1625), and John Fletcher (1579—1625).

The Jacobean theatre enjoyed the rich legacy bequeathed...