Renaissance

During the Renaissance, dramatic forms were subject to a variety of changes. As audiences changed in composition and education, the theatre necessarily changed as well. The Renaissance began at different times in different areas of Europe, and was a slow process rather than a sudden ideological shift. Though the change was to be dramatic, the past could never be entirely forgotten. In London, the people had the task of incorporating completely new schools of thought, …

…colloquial references, political commentary, and social critiques. The role of the clown became increasingly important in this drama; the cultural "shift" produced such a multiplicity of Renaissance individuals that it took more than the standard tragedy, comedy, or ritual physical figure to satisfy them. Indeed, this was an audience of people who were affected by as well as influential on the drama of their time, as we will see through the study of the clown.