Background Bullet Points

So, the Riverside Edition intro has been consumed. Lots of info. Here are some random, interesting (at least I though) bullet points:

• Shakespeare wrote his plays right around 400 years ago, from around 1590 to 1613, although there is some debate as to the exact dates.
• Fun Fact: A reasonably lengthy work of “Basic English” employs about 850 words. Shakespeare drew upon no less than 21,000 words.
• Shakespeare was born the same year as Galileo and died the same year as Cervantes.
• The Elizabethan age was really a golden age of theater. It peaked while Shakespeare was writing his plays, with half a dozen functioning theaters in London during this time (in addition to many “traveling shows” performed throughout England). On the other side of the 17th century, the number of theaters was less than half that (two).
• A Shakespearean Comedy averages eighteen characters, a Tragedy twenty-seven, and a History thirty-five.