1593 - “Love comforeth like sunshine after rain, But Lust's effect is tempest after sun…”

1593 - “Love comforeth like sunshine after rain, But Lust's effect is tempest after sun…”

The plague hit London very badly late in 1592 and into 1593. The watchmen and death cart carriers had started to move through the streets around Bishopsgate where Shakespeare had recently moved. The bodies did not seem to even stop through the Winter and Spring and by May, with the temperatures increasing, the death cart’s appearance seemed to be a daily occurrence.

Shakespeare had spent a considerable amount of money (probably about £11) at the end of 1592 acquiring a one twelfth share in the Lord Strange’s Men (later to be known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men) and he had expected this would pay dividends in 1593. Shakespeare must have heaved a sigh of relief when the theatres re-opened on January 1^st 1593 and he probably went back to playwrighting in earnest. But by January 21^st, the deaths had started to build up again and the theatres were closed again. As the deaths started to mount up and almost 10 percent of London had died, Shakespeare knew no plays would be performed that season. He may have done some provincial touring as an actor with the company during some months in 1593 or he may have started on ‘Edward III’ and the comedy ‘Love’s Labour Lost’ with the hope of the playhouses or with the hope of the inn yards opening up again in early 1593 as performance venues. But with the playhouses indefinitely shut and controls tightening on any activities in London’s inns due to the plague, Shakespeare had to find another avenue for revenue and another outlet for his writing. He needed to do this quickly since his one twelfth share in the Lord Strange’s men would not be paying dividends in 1593.

After talking to player friends and perhaps even having a chin wag with Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare started to toy with the idea of writing poetry and dedicating it to a sponsor. He had probably started on his own poetic version of ‘Venus and Adonis’ late in 1592 based on the story and passages from Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ as translated by Arthur Golding in 1567. He had heard that the family of Henry Wriothesley (The Third Earl of Southampton) were keen for him to get married. Although he wasn’t a very rich patron, Southampton would probably accept (and pay for) being a “muse” for Shakespeare’s poetic offerings. Besides, the 1580’s trend of poets and the aristocracy reading and recreating Ovidian and erotic poetry had continued into the 1590’s. The form was full of lustful metaphors, aphorisms and parisons, ripe to flatter the young Southampton and elicit his excitement and his patronage.

When Henry Wriothesley (the third Earl of Southampton) saw his father (Henry Wriothesley, the second Earl of Southampton) die in 1581 when he was only eight years old, William Cecil (Lord Burghley and one of Queen Elizabeth's ministers, became his legal guardian until Southampton turned 21 years old. William Cecil wanted Southampton to marry well and when Southampton turned 17 in 1590, Cecil made a contract for Southampton to marry Lady Elizabeth. Southampton knew that the marriage contract would be binding but like Adonis, he wanted to remain unattached and single. By 1593 things were getting a little desperate for Southampton because he knew that if he didn't fulfill the contract by his 21st birthday, Cecil could impose fines and cripple Southampton's estates. In 1593, Southampton had 1 year left to fulfill the contract. So although Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis' is dedicated to Southampton, Shakespeare (an excellent but obscure writer at the time) is likely to have received some payment from William Cecil for the poem to encourage Southampton to marry Lady Elizabeth and then got paid something from Southampton on delivery of the poems. Southampton may have never known that Cecil had paid Shakespeare. 

It is possible that the first poems that Shakespeare wrote to and for Southampton were his Sonnets 1-17 which are sometimes known as the Procreation sonnets. They centre around the theme and purpose of praising a young man's beauty and encouraging him to marry and procreate. When they appear with all the other sonnets years later, they are dedicated to Southampton but Shakespeare may have written and sent off Sonnets 1-17 in early 1593. Venus and Adonis was probably written in February or March of 1593 since the poem was registered with the Stationer's Company, without attribution. on April 18, 1593. This long poem (over 1000 lines)  would have taken over 100 hours to write. It is a narrative poem which revolves around the tale of a young man who is desired by Venus, the goddess of Love). But the young Adonis spurns her advances preferring the bachelor's life. The story ends in tragedy with Adonis killed by a boar, leaving Venus to lament her loss.

So Shakespeare obviously avoided the Plague, poverty and starvation in 1593. It is alleged that he was paid £100 (£50,000 in today's money) by Southampton (though for £50 (£25,000 in today's money) is another figure sometimes estimated) Venus and Adonis. Some other sources suggest higher. Some other sources suggest that Shakespeare was also paid by Lord Burghley for the poem to be written and given to Southampton. Lord Burghley may have paid Shakespeare £100-150 for his services and the poem.

Ultimately, while the poem Venus and Adonis may have been successful and widely read, it purpose as an encouragement for Southampton to marry the young Lady Elizabeth was not. When Southampton reached the age of 21 on October 6^th 1594, he still refused to marry and he was fined £5000. Southampton was forced to take out a loan to pay the fine and was burdened with the interest on that loan.

With the money he had received, Shakespeare was able to send money to his wife Anne Hathaway back in Stratford upon Avon. She probably invested wisely in more grain storage and grain. Anne Hathaway was a beer brewer too so this money may have gone towards setting up this business properly. Shakespeare was able to stay in London and get down to writing more plays in anticipation of the Plague abating and the playhouses opening again. 

When the summer season of 1593 came and went without the playhouses reopening, Shakespeare knew that he had more time to write for the 1594 season. Shakespeare probably felt despondent during May and June of 1593 not only due to the closure of the theatres and the plague but due to the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Christopher Marlowe. William Shakespeare would have thought of all the great plays which Marlowe had written Dido, Queen of Carthage, Tamburlaine Part 1 and Part 2, The Jew of Malta, Doctor Faustus, Edward II and Marlowe's most recent offering The Massacre at Paris. So, as the days grew shorter and 1593 headed towards December and a mild winter, Shakespeare thought of Marlowe and the multitude of deaths due to the plague and knew he would need a range of plays for the new year that matched the brilliance of Marlowe. So Shakespeare sat down to start work on another history play and a couple more comedies.