Plot: 1593 London. Master William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), an up-and-coming playwright and sonneteer, is not nearly as well known as his counterpart, Christopher Marlowe (Rupert Everett). So William's current writer's block does not help matters for him or for the owner of the Rose Theatre, Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), for whom Will generally writes his plays, that is when the theater is not closed due to the plague or Henslowe's financial problems. That current unwritten play commissioned is a comedy tentatively titled "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter". Will's block is partly due to the loss of his muse, his mistress, who he caught in bed with another man, he having a mistress as he would otherwise be alone with his wife back in Stratford. Will begins to write again and passionately when he falls in love with Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), who comes from a well respected well-off family. Shakespeare also learns that Viola and Thomas Kent, the young man who recently joined the company of the Rose, are one and the same, Viola masquerading as a man to infiltrate the theater world, a domain purely for the male sex, as she is in love with the written word, especially Shakespeare's. As such, she too falls in love with Shakespeare the man and Shakespeare the writer. Without telling Henslowe or Ned Alleyn (Ben Affleck), an egotistical actor, the play is neither the comedy "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter" nor one called "Mercutio" - the name of Alleyn's character - but is rather morphing into a love story called "Romeo and Juliet", the love based on his mutual feelings for Viola. Beyond her continuing to masquerade as Thomas Kent, their own love story has a major obstacle in that she is betrothed to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), a man she detests and a union sanctioned by her merchant father and Queen Elizabeth (Dame Judi Dench) primarily for financial and business purposes. The mounting of the play, Viola and Will's personal love affair, and their professional collaboration as playwright Will Shakespeare and actor "Thomas Kent" are set against the cutthroat business side of sixteenth century English show business.
Alternative Plot: "Shakespeare in Love" is a romantic comedy for the 1990s set in the 1590s. It imaginatively unfolds the witty, sexy and timeless tale behind the creation of the greatest love story ever told. A young Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is out of cash and ideas, he meets his ideal woman and she inspires him to write one of his most famous plays.
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