Why Does Nathan Field Time-Travel in ' the King of Shadows'

Why does Nathan Field time- travel in 'King of Shadows' by Susan Cooper, and what does he learn in Elizabethan England?

Nathan Field tripped back in time to the year of the plague but why...Nathan Field was a young boy who adored acting with his company who were to perform at The Globe in 1999 but when he meets his inspiration Shakespeare he thought he was dreaming. The main characters are, of course, Nathan Field, Shakespeare and Arby (Nat's Company Director). Will Nat ever find out why he went back in time; to calm his wounds and to help Shakespeare have a wonderful play? Though there is another Nathan Field that swapped places with the modern Nathan Field this was to let Shakespeare not have the plague as Elizabethan Nat was down under with Black Death. Though yet to discover modern Nat is to find quite unpleasant experience with the heads on the poles and the grotesque stench at least the pleasure to meet Glorianna (Queen Victoria) and play puck in Midsummer's Night Dream is with him.

When Nathan first woke wakes up in Elizabethan England, he learns that everyday life is very different to what he is used to; the clothes are different, and so is the food and drink. In Chapter 4, Susan Cooper describes his surprise: "I realised, incredulously, that it was a kind of beer. Ale, they called it." Susan Cooper uses the adverb 'Incredulously' to emphasise how amazed Nathan is to find himself drinking beer, instead of what he is used to. 'Incredulously' suggests complete amazement, not a simple mild surprise. She also shows the reader that Nathan is beginning to learn more about Elizabethan life, here, he learns that Elizabethans do not use the word beer. They call beer 'Ale'. This is just one of many things he comes to understand during his time- travel to 1599. Another surprising thing that Nathan learns about everyday life is that people, even children, normally carry weapons: "Round my waist went a leather belt, with a knife like a dagger in a leather sheath attached to it." Susan Cooper has described in very clear detail about the clothes Nathan wore. Nathan is amazed with wearing a dagger, this shows that the streets are very dangerous unlike streets today where you can mostly walk around without a problem. You can see later on in the novel how dangerous.

The next paragraph reveals the objectionable details of the year of the Black Death. Nathan is disgusted with how London is very messy and grotesque in 1599 as you will see here: "And there London swept over me, caught me up, in a nightmare mix of sight and