Shakespeare dedicated his two narrative poems to a prominent nobleman, the Earl of Southampton, shown here. Southampton, several years younger than Shakespeare, was one of the court's most eligible bachelors and belonged to a set of irreverent wits who called themselves "The School of the Night" and enjoyed outraging conventional morality. There were rumors that Southampton and his friends dabbled in the occult arts. In this portrait he is shown with a black cat, one of the animals associated with witchcraft, as we see in Macbeth.

Shakespeare probably received no direct payment for flattering the ego of this young nobleman, but he did gain entry into a circle of the fashionable and intelligent men associated with the court. Some scholars see an effect upon Shakespeare's works, especially in his treatment of love. Before his acceptance by Southampton, Shakespeare's treatment of love can be seen in The Taming of the Shrew; afterwards we see the much more sophisticated and subtle way he deals with love in Romeo & Juliet. Many scholars believe Southampton was the "fair young man" who is addressed in many of Shakespeare's sonnets. If that is the case, Shakespeare's relationship with his patron in a love triangle is much more complex than simply friendship.

When the theaters reopened in 1593 Shakespeare's working relationship changed. He became a partner in one of the prominent acting companies, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This was the group of actors he would work with for the rest of his career. The Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey shown here, was like Queen Elizabeth's chief-of-staff and therefore one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. His sponsorship gave an advantage to Shakespeare's new company. The fact that Shakespeare was writing for the same group of actors and that as a partner he had some artistic control over performance meant that he never faced some of the frustrations of modern playwrights who have to put up with the vagaries of casting actors and of interfering directors.