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Shakespeare in Love Scene 5 Summary

  • The next morning, Henslowe is dragged away by the loan sharks.
  • His money troubles are getting worse, because theatres have been closed by the plague.
  • A bell crier in the square announces that the theatres have reopened. Wow, shortest plague ever.
  • The loan sharks let Henslowe go, and he runs to Shakespeare's apartment.
  • Will has wonderful news: Romeo and Rosaline, Scene 1.
  • He runs to deliver to Burbage, and he finds Rosaline in bed with another man: Mr. Tilney, the Master of Revels.
  • Will says that Burbage has just lost the play, and that Rosaline won't be immortalized in it either.
  • Dejected, Will leaves and throws the play into a fire.
  • In a tavern, Henslowe recruits actors for the new play, which Will tells him is almost finished.
  • Will sits at the bar, where he's addressed by Kit Marlowe, another playwright.
  • Kit says he has a new play almost finished: The Massacre of Paris.
  • Good title, especially when compared to Romeo and Ethel, The Pirate's Daughter.
  • Will admits he hasn't written a word of it.
  • Kit gives him a couple of story ideas: Will loves the daughter of an enemy, his best friend is killed in a duel, etc. Hmm… that sounds familiar.