I think it is because back then the people wanted to see mainly drama & violent plays to occupy them and distract them from their normal lives.
Why was Shakespeare so dramatic in his plays?
Shakespeare was writing for a clientele that was altogether 'new', to London, in that they flocked to the capital, attracted by it's philosophical, financial, social and cultural programmes, each man convinced he could make his fortune virtually overnight!
In London, faced with overcrowding, sky high rents, disease in the form of Bubonic Plague rife, no police force, and no standing army, a man could be excused for giving it all up, and 'escaping' back home.
Shakespeare knew this, and therefore made his plays dramatic and sensational, seasoned with wit, mirth and tragedy in equal doses, so much so, that the populace forgot its own troubles, living them out on the stage instead.
