[16] Somewhat similar situations between Lycus and Megæra in _Hercules Furens_, Locrine and Estrile in _Locrine_, and Tamburlaine and Zenocrate in _Tamburlaine_ must have been known to Shakespeare. [17] See H. DeW. Fuller, "Romeo and Julietta," _Modern Philology_, 1906. It seems clear, however, that Shakespeare drew directly from Brooke. CHAPTER V SHAKESPEARE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES After "Richard II" and "King John," Shakespeare turned aside from tragedy, and within the next half-dozen years produced his masterpieces of romantic comedy and non-tragical history. With the exception of "Titus Andronicus" and "Romeo and Juliet," the first half of his dramatic career was devoted entirely to comedy and history. With "Julius Cæsar," about 1600, began the period of tragedies and bitter comedies, which lasted until about 1608, when he turned again to romantic comedy and tragicomedy. In these main divisions and turning-points of his dramatic activity there is a correspondence with the development of the contemporary drama which we are able to mark with an approach to definiteness. Both romantic comedy and chronicle history had their hey-day during the dozen years that he was devoting to those species. Then at the close of the century various influences produced an abandonment of those forms, a revival of tragedy, and an extensive production of satirical and domestic comedy. About 1608, again, the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher led a return to romance. The Shakespearean period of tragedy may thus be separated from the Marlowean by an interval, during which few tragedies of importance appeared; and its beginning was coincident with new and important developments in the drama.