constructive periods in English history. Literature bloomedthrough the works of Spenser, Marlowe and Shakespeare. Francis Drake and WalterRaleigh were instrumental in expanding English influence in the New World. Elizabeth'sreligious compromise laid many fears to rest. Fashion and education came to thefore because of Elizabeth'spenchant for knowledge, courtly behavior and extravagant dress. Good QueenBess, as she came to called, maintained a regal air until the day she died; aquote, from a letter by Paul Hentzen, reveals the aging queen's regal nature:"Next came the Queen in the sixty-fifth year of her age, as we were told,very majestic; her face oblong, fair, but wrinkled; her eyes small yet blackand pleasant; her nose a little hooked; her lips narrow... she had in her eartwo pearls, with very rich drops... her air was stately; her manner of speakingmild and obliging." This regal figure surely had her faults, but the lastTudor excelled at rising to challenges and emerging victorious.Elizabethan EnglandThe age of Shakespeare was a great time in Englishhistory. The reign of Elizabeth(1558 - 1603) saw Englandemerge as the leading naval and commercial power of the Western world.Elizabeth I's Englandconsolidated its position with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, andfirmly established the Church of England (begun by her father, Henry VIII,after a dispute with the Pope). Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleighsent colonists eastward in search of profit. In trade, might, and art, Englandestablished an envious preeminence.At this time, Londonwas the heart of England,reflecting all the vibrant qualities of the Elizabethan Age. It was in thisatmosphere that Londonbecame a leading center of culture as well as commerce. Its dramatists andpoets were among the leading literary artists of the day; this is theenvironment in which Shakespeare lived and wrote.London in the 16th century underwent a transformation. Itspopulation grew 400% from 1500 to 1600, swelling to nearly two hundred thousandpeople in the city proper and outlying region by the time an immigrant from Stratford came to town. Arising merchant middle class was carving out a productive livelihood, and theeconomy was booming.Inthe 1580s, the writings of the University Wits (Marlowe, Greene, Lyly, Kyd, andPeele) defined the Londontheatre. Though grounded in medieval/Jacobean roots, these men produced newdramas and comedies using Marlowe's styling of blank verse. Shakespeare outdidthem all; he combined the best traits of Elizabethan drama with classicalsources, enriching the admixture with his imagination and wit.Factsand Legends on ShakespeareThe first attempts at biographicalresearch were not begun until over a half a century after Shakespeare's death,and are therefore not based on first-hand accounts. Few biographies, even ofthe famous, were written during the period, and (though it may seem odd to us)drama was not considered serious literature at the time--so dramatists ingeneral were not considered worth writing about. In addition,the theatres were closed by the puritans in 1642, 36 years afterShakespeare's death, with the result that many records and manuscripts werelost. Nonetheless, there are a surprising numberof facts we know about Shakespeare and his theatrical enterprises, and thereare additional inferences we can make on the basis of the lives of similarpeople. Then there are of course the legends that gather around