Shakespeare in Love that the claim was "unwarranted". The film is "not constrained by worries about literary or historical accuracy" and includes anachronisms such as a reference to Virginia tobacco plantations, at a time before the Colony of Virginia existed. A leading character is a member of the House of Wessex, which died out in 1066. Queen Elizabeth I never entered a public theatre, as she does in the film. Between "Romeo and Juliet" and "Twelfth Night", Shakespeare wrote ten other plays over a period of six years. The biggest historical liberty concerns the central theme of Shakespeare struggling to create the story
The Two-Character Play marked departure from the naturalism of his classics, familiar themes permeate. Confinement due to mental illness, repression leading to social isolation and the tyranny and claustrophobia that come from impinging on one another’s psychological and physical space are all present in "The Two-Character Play". When the play premiered in its various forms, it was not well received by critics or audiences. At the time many audiences attended the theatre as a form of escapism. "The Two-Character Play" provided the exact opposite. Clare and Felice, the actors, as well as the characters they play, cannot, no matter how hard they try