ar's friend, who eventually kills Caesar.It explores what drives a group of well-respected men to commit murder, and theevents that take place afterwards.One of Shakespeare's most popular plays, and one of the most praised plays ofthe English language is Hamlet. This melodrama centers around the maincharacter, Hamlet, who had the great ability to express in words emotions thatmany people only slightly felt. This character won the crowd over quickly andit was an instant success. It received praise by many critics who weren't fondof Shakespeare before this time.Hamlet was published in 1603, the same year Queen Elizabeth died, ending theElizabethan era. The new ruler was King James, who was as much of a fan ofacting as Queen Elizabeth. In fact, one of the first things he did as the newruler of England was make a list of the best actors in England and form anacting company. The new group was actually just Lord Chamberlain's company withthe edition of Lawrence Fletcher, King James' favorite actor. This group ofactors now were called the King's Men.Shakespeare's next great tragedy was Othello, which was a tragedy of jealousy.It is about a man who believes that his wife is unfaithful to him. Thisjealousy finally turns into rage and he kills her. After Othello, Shakespearewrote Macbeth, a tragedy of ambition. This is about Macbeth and his wife, whobelieve that they can kill the King of Scotland and quietly take the throne.They find, however, that this murder leads to other murders and they areconsumed with guilt. Macbeth would have been very controversial if it had beenany other playwrite, but Shakespeare at this time could write whatever he wanted. He was thought of as the "Lord of Language". This, as well as his friendshipwith King James, allowed him to conquer any topic without fear of being censored.In 1608, the King's Men purchased a theatre at Blackfriars. They now had accessto two theatres, and the people who couldn't travel ...
