Did you know...?
That soap operas are NOT an invention of the 21st Century? Let me explain. It's too much. Let me some up. (Sorry. Random Movie Quote right there. I haven't been doing that feature on my blog the past few weeks--too busy--so they're just falling out of my head like a fit of Tourettes.)
Anyway.
Back in the 1400s (you know I love medieval stuff, right?) two rival houses of Plantagenet vied for the throne. Both branches were direct descendants of king Edward III. One of the houses was Lancaster, which sported a Red rose as its sigil. The other was the house of York, under the badge of the White Rose. Hence the name history has given this soap operatic battle, The War of the Roses.
The ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with unpopular nobles. To add to that, civil unrest was high, and the feudal system was on a decline. Many powerful lords had their own private armies, and when Henry VI began showing signs of mental illness, it was anyone's game.
A handful of actual battles was fought between the two factions over thirty years. But there was so much more to it than that--intrigue, affairs, wars of succession, basically all the good stuff.
Different people name different events as the end of the war of Roses, but it was pretty much over when Henry VII, surname Tudor, finally took the throne. He was father to Henry VIII--the same one who cut many a head off his wives and mistresses--who in turn was father to Queen Elizabeth I She ruled over England's Golden Age, or what most other people knew as the Renaissance.
So...obviously soap opera-type stories have been around since long before the advent of T.V. In fact, given his penchant for historical plays, it was even long before Shakespeare's day! Just sayin.'
Kind of want to go write about this now. :D
So, do you think the War of the Roses constitutes a soap opera?
That soap operas are NOT an invention of the 21st Century? Let me explain. It's too much. Let me some up. (Sorry. Random Movie Quote right there. I haven't been doing that feature on my blog the past few weeks--too busy--so they're just falling out of my head like a fit of Tourettes.)
Anyway.
| Source |
The ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with unpopular nobles. To add to that, civil unrest was high, and the feudal system was on a decline. Many powerful lords had their own private armies, and when Henry VI began showing signs of mental illness, it was anyone's game.
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| Source |
Different people name different events as the end of the war of Roses, but it was pretty much over when Henry VII, surname Tudor, finally took the throne. He was father to Henry VIII--the same one who cut many a head off his wives and mistresses--who in turn was father to Queen Elizabeth I She ruled over England's Golden Age, or what most other people knew as the Renaissance.
So...obviously soap opera-type stories have been around since long before the advent of T.V. In fact, given his penchant for historical plays, it was even long before Shakespeare's day! Just sayin.'
Kind of want to go write about this now. :D
So, do you think the War of the Roses constitutes a soap opera?
I think that sometimes when I read the Bible, even. Drama in live has been around probably as long as people have!
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