The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Elizabethan era is the renowned period in history marked by the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). This period is described as the golden period in English history because the state was never so prosperous before. England got expanded and it became healthier and optimistic than ever before so this period could be called as the renaissance that inspired the nation and brought uplift. Therefore, this age holds great significance. Under Queen Elizabeth guidance and rule, the prosperity of the nation rose and patriotism brought romantic spirit, youthful freshness and themes of love to the field of literature so it is considered as one of the splendid ages of English literature.

Elizabeth herself was a great writer and she used to write poetry and speeches and similarly there was a great flourishing in the field of literature in this era specially poetry and drama. There have been great writers in this era, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, John Donne are to name a few. However, when one talks about the drama of Elizabethan age, Shakespeare stands out the rest of the poets and playwrights. He marked his name as one of the biggest playwright as he was incredibly versatile. He surpassed many of the other professional playwrights of this age and stood out on his own with his great pieces of literature.

Similarly, Jacobean era was yet another age in the history which refers to the reign of James VI of Scotland (1567-1625). The Elizabethan era is succeeded by Jacobean Era. This era denotes architecture, art and literature of this period. There was a practical unification of England and Scotland under his rule which proved very important for the development and progress of both the nations. In the field of literature...

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... was Jonson was always difficult and somewhat arrogant in his play. He used to represent crude reality of life and make use of bold language. Critics or contemporaries either loved Jonson truly from their hearts or scorned him and hated him.

Both the playwrights of the Elizabethan and Jacobean era had same themes in their writings but their writing style, their approaches were different and this makes them both unique in their ownselves. Johnson used more kind of straightforward and difficult and on the other hand, Shakespeare had been somewhat generous in his writing. The themes however yet remained the same but the approaches were totally different. Both contemporaries were best of their times and it must not be forgotten that Jonson himself has praised Shakespeare for his work by saying the most famous lines “Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time”.