Shakespeare in Love

During class I had thought of another scene in the movie which seems to tie together several of the points in the "New Historicism" handout. The opening scene, where Henslowe has his feet over the fire being pressured be a financier to write a profitable play had me thinking. This scene is a perfect example of the social and economic circumstances that lead to the creation of a play, which later became Romeo and Juliet. This shows the powerful influence of class on the play as well. However, this also reminded me of Henslowe trying to get the play finished and written as well. The scene with the Queen watching the comedy play then came to mind. Here Henslowe tries to tell Shakespeare to write a comedy. He wants the play to be successful and make money, and thinks that comedies are the successful profitable plays of the time. Looking at other popular works of the time, I wouldn't be surprised if the most successful ones were indeed comedies. Although Shakespeare doesn't write a comedy, this is still a great example. I feel that it shows how his economic and social position requires him to turn a profit quickly with the play, and he tries to influence Shakespeare's writing accordingly. Finally, this even reminded me of the scene where the queen requests "something more cheerful" from Shakespeare next time. I think that the Queen is using her political power here to pull from Shakespeare the kind of play she wishes to see in the future. Here, politics and power play their role in shaping the route of Shakespeare's next work.