Doctor Who’s View on The Elizabethan Era

The Elizabethan era is marked from Queen Elizabeth I’s reign 1558 to 1603. William Shakespeare was born, and wrote during her reign. The Elizabethan era. During Doctor Who’s Season 3 Episode 2(“The Shakespeare Code”), we see a dramatized version of what life during Elizabethan England was like when The Doctor and Martha Jones meet William Shakespeare and encounter witches. Compared to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Trevor Nunn’s production of Twelfth Night or What You Will.

During this time, there was a heavy social rank, and no social mobility. People opportunities varied based upon their status and location. This can be shown through this Doctor Who episode when Martha and The Doctor went to the Global theatre (which may not be one hundred percent historically accurate).The wealthy and poor in different areas in the global theatre, and the floor area (where the poor would stand) was full and the seated area was emptier. Even with that, the theatre is full and we can see that the audience is enjoying the play. The play (and watching plays) seem like an important pastime for the community. Though the lighting, the vine covered buildings, and love undertones gives the episode and the Elizabethan era a Romantic kind of vibe. This shows that today we are in love with the Shakespearean time period so much that we idealize it. Even though the setup is not one hundred percent true, we go with it because it is better than what the accurate location looked like.

Within the heavy social rank, the audience can get a subtle view of the roles and views of women. In the beginning the witch maiden is seen as innocent, and in love. She is flirting with the man who seems to be in love with her. The sky is cloudy but beautiful, and light by the night lights. In the candlelight her face is light, and her voice full of passion for the young man. She is in her all white nightgown, and--although she invited him up to her room-- she makes it a point to tell him to meet her parents. Another scene where we see the roles of women is when Martha points out that all the actors were men. Women were not allowed to be in plays which was briefly talked about, but spoke volumes to their social structure. The fact that the “bad” guy is a woman shows the superstitious, and “evil in plain sight” view that people during this time had. Another scene that shows men’s view of women during the time is when Shakespeare first meets Martha Jones. When he was just meeting The Doctor, he was pushing him away until he saw Martha. Then he was interested in having a conversation, and his maid told his actors to leave. Not only did other men know how things worked during this time, but so did women. His maid said, “... there is another muse.” Showing that women are enough to inspire the play, but not high enough in society to play women. Compared to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night’s first line: “If music be the food of love, play on” they seem similar. We, as readers, are hit in the face with Shakespeare’s muse, or purpose. On the other hand, we see that the line from Doctor Who is one person using another for their personal gain, whereas the line from Twelfth Night is gaining love through the surrounding-- letting whatever may be be.

Within the episode “The Shakespeare Code,” there is an undertone of superstition paired with going mad. When Lynley (the proof reader of all the plays in the show) dies under strange cases, The Doctor lies about the reason so that the community would not go on a wild goose chase looking for a witch even when he knew it was the work of a witch. The architect of the Global theatre goes insane after building the theatre, and gets lock away. His getting locked up is due to him hearing, and seeing witches. This superstitious attitude makes people think he is mad, and in turn he gets put in Bedlam. Another scene that show superstition is when the actors were rehearsing the play given to them a strong wind began to blow. One man was confused by the wind, but then they see a “dark spirit.” After that, the man states they should never talk about it because they can end up in Bedlam.

When people think about the Elizabethan era, they think about Shakespeare’s writing as their spoken language which was the case, but the opposite was shown in Doctor Who. When Martha Jones tries to speak in that manner she is quickly discouraged by the Doctor. The people who are represented during this time speak normally—as Martha would to anyone. When the witch maiden speaks in the beginning she did give off a Shakespearean vibe. She said, “Such sweet music shows your blood to be a fire.” Then she spoke about having sex in a way that if you did not listen closely you would miss what she was saying, and her point. Whereas in reply her suitor said, “Oh yes tonight’s the night.” This response sounds more like a “modern” man than one that people idealize as a Shakespeare man. Which reminds the audience that people did not speak like Shakespeare wrote in the time. This shows how much changes have been made to the language so that the language had to be altered so that the mass population watching the show could understand. Unlike reading a text watching Doctor Who is quick and leave no time to overanalyze the language of the people at that time.

Although, the building has a Romantic view they still point out how “backward” this time is. When Martha and The Doctor get there, people are washing and hanging their clothing in the street, and throwing their bodily waste out of the windows. The rooms are bare and wooden, and lack personal decoration. When Martha and The Doctor are at the Global theater watching Shakespeare play, Martha point out the foul smell of the people. Within the play Twelfth Night, we don’t have much to base the location off of because the lack of descriptions, or stage direction. But within Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night or What You Will. The audience could see Maria, Olivia’s hand maid, going about doing her work as she talked to people within the movie.

Doctor Who shows the audience a view of the Elizabethan era in a dramatic way so it does not seem educational. We are shown social rank of poor and wealth and between men and women. Their view on superstition, and how anything odd be madness. Where ending up in a madhouse shapes everyone’s idea of normalcy. How Shakespearean writing is not the way that people spoke. How the scene was Romantic like, but still hygiene—as we modernly see it—did not exist that way.

Work Cited Page:

Elizabethan Life.” Elizabethan Life, Alchin, L.K., 16 May 2012, www.elizabethan- era.org.uk/elizabethan-life.htm. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Roberts, Gareth. “The Shakespeare Code.” Doctor Who, BBC, 7 Apr. 2007.

Shakespeare, William. “Twelfth Night or What You Will.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Gen. ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 9th ed. Vol. F. New York: Norton, 2012. 1187-1250. Print.

Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will. By William Shakespeare. Dir. Trevor Nunn. Perf. Helena Bonham Carter. 1996. DVD.