How did Shakespeare become so knowledgeable about and influenced by the Italian Comedia dell Arte?
The comic parts of many Shakespeare plays, such as Loves Labours Lost, show a strong influence from the Comedia dell Arte, indicating that the author almost certainly had some direct knowledge and experience of that form of art. Yet Shakespeare would have had to have visited either Italy or France, where the Italian Comedia dell Arte was being performed, in order to witness it. • Why do the Shakespeare plays contain so many political discourses, arguments and questions, demonstrating not only a personal interest but a good grasp of the issues involved in English politics? The Shakespeare plays contain many political discourses, arguments and questions, demonstrating that the author was clearly concerned about English politics and was both knowledgeable and well-versed in its intricacies and power play. Coriolanus, for instance, is a striking example of Shakespeare’s concern of the role of the aristocrat in a democratic state. Other contemporaries of Shakespeare had also taken Plutarchs
