Forms of Entertainment Free Essay Example

Everyone has been to a play, movie, sport event or some other type of entertainment before. People nowadays have so many different kinds of entertainment, so we always have something to do. Now imagine being in the 16th century in the time of people like William Shakespeare, Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth, etc. with no technology. There were not a lot of forms of entertainment back in these days so they relied mostly on the theatre, sports, and games.

Theatre

Even though entertainment wasn’t much back then, it in fact played a large role in the society.

Many of the reasons why, was because of Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s impact on entertainment was big. He brought a lot like theatre, court masques and people often came to watch his plays. People enjoyed his plays because it explained real life situation, with love and tragedy.

For example, one of his famous plays was Romeo and Juliet. This play involved a lot of love between the two characters and yet there were also deaths which made the play tragic.

Another popular entertainment involving theater was court masques. In a way, masques and plays were very alike. Both had costumes, scenery, and acting. Although, there were some minor differences. Plays were usually performed publicly, in front of a large audience. Masques were performed at court, in a smaller crowd.

Games and activities

If the theatre didn’t impress you or if you simply didn’t enjoy it, you could have went and seen a bear or a bull fighting against a pack of dogs.

This was called bear baiting, it was a very popular sport, even enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth. The point of this game was a bear would be chained to a post in the ring, still able to move, but not escape, and dogs would be set to attack the animal. Cockfighting was enjoyed too. This took place in the many cockpit theaters in London where the spectators sat in the round betting and cheering the birds on. The fighting was violent and sometimes lasted for four or five hours, with feathers flying and blood splattered all around.

Sports

Sports back in the 1500s were really entertaining to watch and play as well. Most of the sports played back then are still played now. One example would be football (soccer). It had been a popular sport for a number of years. It was very different in Europe when compared to the game today. There was no limit to the number of players on each side and the goalposts were set about one mile apart. The rules also allowed opponents playing to pick up and throw the ball as well as kick it into the opponent’s net.

These games were rough and many young men were hurt while playing it. Another popular sport was jousting. This involved two armoured knights separated by a four-foot-high wooden barrier. Each knight carried a kind of sword and the objective was to knock your opponent off his horse as he galloped past. Tennis too was played a lot. It’s one of the oldest of all racquet sports. During the Tudor times it was played indoors in a large room with a net. Like tennis today, players had to hit the ball over the net. But, in the Tudor times, the ball could also be bounced off the walls and points were also scored by hitting the ball into one of three goals high in the walls.

Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre also named Shakespeare’s Theatre is where most of the events where held. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

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