8-3Southwark

WHAT WAS SOUTHWARK OR THE SOUTH BANK LIKE IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND? // Answer Prepared By Clifford P. // Most people would think that south bank was actually a, "bank." Like a place that would give out money and hold money for. This is a different type of bank. The bank that this is referring to a side or area. Thats what the south bank or preferably called southwark was. It was an area in London. Southwark is the area of London immediately south of London Bridge.

Southwark is the hood of elizabethan, England. It was undergoing aggressive development by speculators in Will's day. Crowded tenements were going up as fast as they could build them. And houses were being divided up into apartments to make more space. The streets and alleys in Elizabethan, England were like the mothers of New York cities alleys. If you lived on that side of town you were either poor, or you were poor. People living in higher standards never thought of even turning their head to that area. The area also was home to glass work and tanneries industries. One part they made Southwark into what it was, was all the pollution and weird smelling odors that it had came from the industries surrounding it. Their was some positives about Southwark. Southwark's booming population attracted many businesses to move their to make more money. It especially attracted theatre to the area. Southwark became the home of the Globe, The Rose and The Swan; three major theaters of the time. Near the theaters, their were many places that the people could relax. their were more than 300 inns and alehouses where people could eat, drink, gamble, and sleep the night away until their hangovers came in the morning. So if you like getting hangovers and bad beer breath, Southwark is the place for you.

// Work Cited //

Boyce, Charles. Shakespeare A to Z. 1. New York: Bantam Division Dell Publishing Group Inc., 1990.

Love, Mark. "Southwark, London." PBS. march 2009. MayaVision International. 14 Apr 2009 .

Pearce, joseph. The Quest For Shakespeare. San Franscisco: Ignatius Press, 2008.