Proclamation: Though King Henry VIII officially closed London's brothels in 1546, historian John Stow affirmed that the brothels continued to thrive despite the law. Under King James I, however, the law became more severe. Specifically, there had been a Proclamation in September 1603 calling for the destruction of the rooms and houses in the suburbs to stem the tide of plague then ravishing London [32]. Being that Measure for Measure was performed at court for the new King James I on December 26,1604, logically, it would seem Shakespeare was in fact commenting on the new regulations of his time, and boldly, before the very king that implemented them. |