is being set behind. The raising
of the drop--which corresponds to the opening of the Elizabethan
curtains--not only reveals the setting behind, but also makes the whole
stage, including that part which was in front of the drop, the scene of
the action which follows.[3]

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[Illustration: TIMON OF ATHENS, v, 3. INNER SCENE.

_Enter a Souldier in the Woods, seeking Timon._

"_Sol_.--Timon is dead, who hath out-stretcht his span,
Some Beast reade this; There do's not live a Man.
Dead sure, and this his Grave, what's on this Tomb."

Reproduced from _The Shakespearean Stage_, by V. E. Albright, through
the courtesy of the publishers, the Columbia University Press.]

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The costumes on Shakespeare's stage were very elaborate, but there was
no desire to make them characteristic of any historical period.
Indeed, the striving after historical accuracy of costume is so much a
modern notion that it was nearly two centuries later when Macbeth and
Julius Caesar began to appear in costumes appropriate to their
respective periods. On the other hand, there probably was some attempt
to distinguish the dress of different nationalities. Some notion of
how elaborate the costumes of Elizabethan actors were is given by the
fact that Henslowe's {45} diary[4] has an entry of L4 14s. paid for a
pair of hose, and L20 for a cloak. In connection with this it must be
remembered that money was worth then about eight times what it is now,
and that a playwright of the time rarely received more than L8 for a
play. Another indication is given in Henslowe's list of the costumes
belonging to the Lord Admiral's men, which included some eighty-seven
garments, for the most part of silk or satin, ornamented with fringe
and gold lace.

+The Private Theater+.--In the preceding sections the type of theater
described has been referred to as 'public.' This has been done to
distinguish it from the 'private' theater, a type which, although
similar in so far as the general principles of staging employed are
concerned, differed from the public theater in important particulars.
The private theater is so called because it originated in the
performances given before the invited guests of royalty, the nobility,
or the universities. Since these performances were given in great
halls, the type of theate