The years 1594-1599 were momentous for Shakespeare.  He produced a steady stream of plays of the highest quality and verbal invention.  He continued as a principal actor and manager in the Chamberlain's men, blessed with a stable work environment in the all too unstable world of the theater.  Consequently, he prospered financially and made investments in his native Stratford, assembling a comfortable life and a solid estate.  Finally in 1599, he became part owner in the most prestigious public playhouse in London, the Globe.

The Works.  Shakespeare's early works, to mid-1594, can be divided into four groups:

1. The Classical plays: his first works which were heavily influenced by the classical examples he had learned as a student.  Plautus served as the model for The Comedy of Errors, Seneca for Titus Andronicus.  Both crude works when compared with Shakespeare's later work, but better than most plays being performed on the English stage at the time.
2. The History plays: where Shakespeare took the rough materials he found in certain early chronicle plays, and virtually invented a new genre called the history play.  His early works in this genre, of course, were the three Henry VI plays (the first part probably composed after parts 2 and 3) and Richard III.
3. The Narrative Poems and Sonnets: his favorite author Ovid served as the model for Venus and Adonis and the Rape of Lucrece, both dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton.  It is also extremely probable that Southampton is the young man of the sonnets, and that the sonnet sequence (spurred by Sidney's Astrophil and Stella in 1591) was begun (perhaps on commission) to encourage Southampton to marry.  The sonnets were probably composed over a number of years, but were probably completed by 1597.
4. Experiments in comedy:  The Taming of the Shrew, based on Italian comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona, an experiment with plot and character, and the more mature Love's Labour's Lost, probably all belong to this period.

With the reopening of the playhouses in the summer of 1594 and the firm foundation of being a Chamberlain's man, Shakespeare began an unprecedented output of works. Francis Meres, in his Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasury, published in 1598, mentions twelve plays of which he knew:

As Plautus and Seneca are accounted the best for Comedy and Tragedy among the Latines : so Shakespeare among y' English is the most excellent in both kinds for the stage; for Comedy, witnes his Ge'tleme' of Verona, his Errors, his Love labors lost, his Love labours wonne, his Midsummer night dreame, & his Merchant of Venice : for Tragedy his Richard the 2. Richard the 3. Henry the 4. King John, Titus Andronicus and his Romeo and Juliet.

This list is the single most important tool in externally dating the plays.  We can see from it that A Midsummer Night's Dream (probably written in late 1594 or 1595), Romeo and Juliet (probably 1595) Richard II (probably 1595), King John (probably 1596) The Merchant of Venice (1596-97) and the Henry IV plays (probably 1597-98).  This period is often called Shakespeare's lyric period based on the poetry in plays such as Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Richard II.  The identity of Meres' Loves Labour's Won is not known, and much effort has been spent attempting to identify it.  Taming of the Shrew (which Meres does not mention but certainly was in existence by this time) and Much Ado About Nothing are the leading contenders, though it is possible that there was a lost play by this name.

By 1599 Shakespeare must have composed Much Ado About Nothing (a character assignment in the quarto names Will Kemp in the part of Dogberry--Kemp left the Chamberlain's men in 1599).  He may well have also composed As You Like It in 1599.   He certainly composed Henry V that year and began his string of great tragedies with Julius Caesar. There is a record of a performance of Julius Caesar at the Globe on September 21, 1599.  The Merry Wives of Windsor probably also belongs to this period, following upon the popularity of the Henry IV plays, though it may be slightly later.   Had Shakespeare died in 1599, he would still be thought the greatest playwright the world had ever known, even before his most mature work had been accomplished.

The Chamberlain's Men.  Over the years 1594-1599 the Chamberlain's Men had become the most popular acting company in London, being invited to perform at court far more often than any other group.  Shakespeare must have done a great deal of acting.  He is listed by Ben Jonson in  Jonson's magnificent 1616 Folio of his Workes  as having acted as the chief comedian in Every Man In His Humour in 1598:

He is also listed by Jonson as one of the principal tragedians in the 1603 Sejanus:

The Construction of the Globe. During the years before 1599 the Chamberlain's Men performed publicly primarily at The Theatre, which had been leased by James Burbage, father of Richard.  The ground landlord was one Giles Allen, a puritan, and by no means in favor of theatrical activities.  In 1597 the lease expired, and the Chamberlain's men were forced to move to The Curtain, another public playing house near The Theatre.  In the mean time the Theatre stood empty.  (At this time, while considering alternative playing houses, Burbage purchased the Blackfriars for £600, within the city but under the control of the crown and not city officials, who were most assuredly anti-players.  The local residents protested, however, so that it would be years before the players were allowed to use the Blackfriars as a playhouse.)   Negotiations to move back in to The Theatre were at an impasse, the landlord being exceedingly avaricious.  In the mean time James Burbage died, leaving the struggle to his two sons, Richard and Cuthbert.   Allen formed plans to pull down The Theatre and "...convert the wood and timber thereof to some better use..."  (quoted from S. Schoenbaum, William Shakespeare A Documentary Life, Oxford, 1975).  Since the players could not come to terms with Allen, and since a clause in their former lease allowed them to dismantle the building, the Burbages and their associates and workmen gathered by night and took The Theatre apart, transporting its timbers across the Thames to the Bankside where they were used to build the Globe.  Allen was powerless to do anything other than vent his spleen, describing the dismantling work party as:

ryotous...armed...with divers and manye unlawfull and offensive weapons...in verye ryotous outragious and forcyble manner and contrarye to the lawes of your highnes Realme...and there pulling breaking and throwing downe the sayd Theater in verye outragious violent and riotous sort to the great disturbance and terrefyeing not onlye of your subjectes [that Allen claimed were attempting to stop them]...but of divers others of your majesties loving subjectes there neere inhabitinge. (Schoenbaum, p.153)

The Globe, built by carpenter Peter Smith, was certainly the most magnificent Theater London had ever seen.  It was situated just a few hundred yards from the Rose Theatre, run by Philip Henslowe and his son in law, the famous actor Edward Alleyn (famous for his portrayal of Marlowe's great characters).  Feeling the pressure of competition, a year later Henslowe and Alleyn moved to new quarters, building the Fortune Theater in St. Giles without Cripplegate. 

The Globe was owned by a syndicate, a fact that gave it unique power and flexibility among the London playhouses.  The syndicate was made up of Sir Nicholas Brend, the land owner, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, and five members of the Chamberlain's men: Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope, and William Kemp.  It worked so that the Burbage brothers were responsible for half the lease on the land, and shared in half the profits, and the five players were responsible for the other half of the lease and shared among themselves in the other half of the profits.  Therefore, Shakespeare's share, as a "householder" was one-fifth of fifty percent of the profits, or 10% of the total profits.  Kemp soon departed the Chamberlain's men, so Shakespeare's share increased in value, but soon two new partners entered in, Will Slye and Henry Condell, so his share decreased again.  In any event, these were the ownership provisions of the Globe and the foundation of Shakespeare's prosperity.  It is not possible to determine exactly how much Shakespeare earned, but the common consensus among scholars is that it was somewhere near £200 - £250 per year, a very substantial sum by Elizabethan standards.

Chantal Miller-Schütz maintains the best web site devoted to the Globe (both historical and new): Shakespeare's Globe.  Use your browser's BACK button to return to this page after viewing it.

Shakespeare's Life in Stratford.  Apparently Shakespeare's wife and children remained home in Stratford while he worked in London.  Presumably he made the trip back and forth, a trip that would have taken about 4 days on foot or 2 days on horseback.  In August, 1596 Shakespeare's only son Hamnet died.  It is often thought that the poignant lines from King John refer to this event:

Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form.
Then have I reason to be fond of grief.

In the same year the College of Heralds granted the John Shakespeare a coat of arms.   The application must have been paid for by the playwright for his own as well as his father's benefit.  The motto was NON SANZ DROICT--not without right--but seems never to have been used.  It does not appear with the crest on the Shakespeare monument in Stratford church nor anywhere else.  In May 1597 Shakespeare purchased New Place, the second largest house in Stratford, along with barns, orchards and gardens.   By his artistic efforts and business acumen, and by pure good fortune, Shakespeare had grown prosperous.  From this foundation of financial security, his next few years are unprecedented for creativity in the life of any artist.

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