Let us consider for a moment the physical conditions of the theatre,
the methods of stage representation, in Shakespeare's day. Theatres
were in their infancy. The theatre was a new institution in social
life for Shakespeare's public, and the whole system of the theatrical
world came into being after Shakespeare came into the world. In
estimating Shakespeare's genius one ought to bear in mind that he was
a pioneer--almost the creator or first designer--of English drama, as
well as the practised workman in unmatched perfection. There were
before his day some efforts made at dramatic representation. The
Middle Ages had their miracle plays and moralities and interludes. But
of poetic, literary, romantic drama, England knew nothing until
Shakespeare was of age. Marlowe, who in his early years inaugurated
English tragedy, was Shakespeare's senior by only two months. It was
not till 1576, when Shakespeare was twelve, that London for the first
time possessed a theatre--a building definitely built for the purpose
of presenting plays. Before that year, inn-yards or platforms, which
were improvised in market-places or fields, served for the performance
of interludes or moralities.
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