Romeo at the Rose in 1598

Abstract

In two plays of the Lord Admiral’s Men, Englishmen for My Money and The Two Angry Women of Abingdon, echoes of Romeo and Juliet appear. The first performances of both plays took place at the Rose in or very close to 1598. What may the presence of these echoes have to say about the ethos and practices of the Lord Admiral’s Men, about the dramatists who wrote for them, and about the company’s place in the literary and dramatic milieu within which it operated? It suggests a degree of integration into urban literary fashion. And it suggests that some at least of the company’s playwrights exhibited the kind of knowing playfulness that was soon to characterize the repertory of the childrens’ companies and which was already shaping the erotic and satirical poetry to reach print publication at this time.