ENGLISH PARLIAMENT ABOLISHED STAGE PLAYS
1642 SEPTEMBER 6 LED BY CROMWELL
DEMOLISHED IN 1644 -CIVILWAR STARTED
Globe Theatre and the Puritans
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.[4] A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed by an Ordinance issued on 6 September 1642.[5]
The Puritans
The Puritans were a Protestant religious faction and the term came into general usage at the end of the reign of Bloody Mary and the start of the Elizabethan era. A broad definition of puritans is 'those who wanted to completely change the Church of England, with its Roman Catholic type of structure and traditions, for another reformed and plain church model'. This strict religious view spread to encompass many social activities within England moving to a stricter code of conduct which deplored any kind of finery or flippant behaviours. The Puritans deplored the Globe Theatre.
Why the Puritans were against the Globe Theatre
The Globe theatre and its plays were a new idea, a new form of entertainment for Londoners. The Globe theatre attracted huge crowds - up to 3000 people. The theatres were also used for bear baiting, gambling and for immoral purpose. It appealed to young people and many apprentices were said to have been lured to the theatres instead of working. The crowds attracted thieves, gamblers, pick-pockets, beggars, prostitutes and all kinds of rogues. Many Londoners were strict Protestants - Puritans in fact, who abhorred the theatres and many of the people they attracted. Objections by the Puritans to the theatres escalated and were supported by other Londoners. Respectable citizens were concerned about the rise in crime and the bawdy nature of some of the plays, fighting, drinking not to mention the risk of so many people and the spread of the Bubonic Plague!
The Puritans and the demolition of the Globe Theatre
The end of the Globe Theatre was in sight. In 1642, under the force of the Puritans, the English Parliament issued an ordinance suppressing all stage
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