In Shakespearean time were theaters in the heart of London or the suburbs of London? ?

Question

I'm doing a project comparing the suburb and the city during Shakespeare's time, but I don't know which side the theater goes on, which is practically the whole point.

Also if you happen to know if the brothels would be in the suburbs or in the city...that would be good also.

THANKS!

Answer 1

They were in the city of London.  Here's a map:

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/eliz...

The "red light" area of London of the time was Southwark, on the south bank.  

Then, of course, there were the brothels. Southwark was famous for its ladies of the night who worked from the stews on the Bishop of Winchester lands. The Bishop regulated the industry and made himself a tidy profit.

http://www.britannia.com/history/londonh...

Answer 2

Suburbs. London by definition is a Roman town that is one square mile in size. Today it is home to the finaical district and the Crown Court. However London as most people think of is not actually a City but an area that is made up of several small towns to form England's largest city. Shakespeare put on his plays at the Globe Theatre in what is now known as south east London, just outside of the Roman city of London.

The brothels you speak of by definiton would be in the suburbs.

Answer 3

London was much smaller in those days.

Shakespeare's theatre, The Globe was on the south bank of the Thames and outside the City of London so it could be regarded as in the suburbs but that is a modern concept.

Brothels were everywhere.