Brooke Drumgole
Final Paper
“The Shoemaker’s Holiday”

The Jacobean Era, preceded by the Elizabethan era, marks the reign of King James VI. The two eras were revolutionary eras for many arts, specifically, theater. The characteristics found in the Elizabethan era theater are very similar to those found in Jacobean theater. The two time periods seem to only be distinguishable by the ruler of those respective times. The genre reflects the financial and economic standing of that time period. Many issues represented in Elizabethan literature are also reflected within literature of the Jacobean era. The notion that all things are purchasable is a recurring theme of the Jacobean Era. All sexual and platonic interactions can be reduced to financial transactions.
During the Jacobean and Elizabethan era, London was a booming city. The population grew exponentially transforming the city into a host of social, financial and economic issues. The rise of the merchant class, poverty and governmental wealth lead to societal evolution. This was portrayed in most of the literature of the time. Jacobean City comedy became a very popular genre. The satirical nature of the genre made fun of the condition of London, its government, and the inhabitants.
Thomas Dekker’s “The Shoemaker’s Holiday,” performed in 1599, gives the reader insight on what London society was like during the time in which it was written. The play heavily focuses on the mobile middle class, financial opportunities, the state of the economy and moral values, as they relate to the overall structure of society. The theme I found most intriguing in this text is that a monetary value can be given to, or traded for anything of worth, whether it be a product of consumption, a person or social rank.
In several of the plays, a quantitative value is placed on human interaction, or traded for something deemed as