The Winter's Tale: Bottom Line

I wanted to approach The Winter's Tale by following the money.  Regardless of how great we consider the literary aspect of Shakespeare's plays today, I guessed that as with most business people, Shakespeare was driven in part by the "bottom line." (Money talks.) For this play, I wanted to determine how Shakespeare's fiscal incentives may have affected specific attributes of his "product," the play.  First, I began by conducting a close reading of Act 3, scene 2.  The obvious focal point of the scene is Hermione, wife of Leontes, who is accused of betraying her husband.  Despite the accusations, Hermione is strong and defiant, explaining that she values her honor more than her life.

Since Hermione is such an admirable character, I guessed that Shakespeare had particular motivations for including her in the play, and that maybe these motivations included some sort of fiscal incentive.  For example, I wondered if maybe a large percentage of his audience was female at the time of the play's showing (the year 1611), and he thought that by including a female character he would appeal to his audience demographics.  Or maybe some of his plays were commissioned by a female member of the Royal family, so he felt inclined to satisfy his employer.  My research was an attempt to discover Shakespeare's "bottom line" motivation.

I searched several different databases online (EBSCO, JSTOR, World Shakespeare Bibl. Online, the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare), as well as the source and historical context information in the back of our Bevington textbook, but with no success.  I looked for historical background of the play, audience demographics of the time, relevant connections to King James and the Royal family, and business aspects of the play and time period such as revenue, marketing, etc.  Although I didn't uncover a specific financial incentive, here's what I learned:

1. The general admission price for an open-air playhouse (a cheaper option) was about a penny, or 10% of an average citizen's daily pay, and women of all social classes attended.  (Female attendance began to increase with the reigns of James and Charles).  So there were certainly women attending.
2. Although the show's first performance was likely in 1611, another significant performance occurred between 1612 and 1613, at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth.  I assume that in this case, the strong character of Hermione would appeal to Princess Elizabeth, although there's no evidence to suggest that Shakespeare wrote the character or play for this occasion in particular.
3. I found an article entitled "To Entertain a King..." which describes the excessive measures that were taken to provide music for King James' entertainment during a particular feast.  The article did not mention Shakespeare, that I could find, but its detailed list of costume, set, and musician expenses leads me to believe that King James was not afraid to pay well for his entertainment.  I can only assume that he was equally entertained by theatrical performances and may have provided some type of financial incentives to Shakespeare.
4. My favorite research find: a few years ago, Forbes did a projected yearly earnings for Shakespeare based on the royalties that he would receive from reproductions of his plays.  While the article mainly addresses how much money Shakespeare would be making now, I read in several locations that Shakespeare did just fine during his lifetime.

Unfortunately, I came up with no definitive evidence.  The search was interesting, though, and I think it will provide background for my future research into the business aspects of Shakespeare.

*I borrowed information for this post from The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare online, Forbes magazine, and "To Entertain a King: Music for James and Henry at the Merchant Taylors Feast of 1607,"  written by Ross W. Duffin, published in Music and Letters, Vol. 83, No. 4; Nov. 2002, Oxford University Press.