The Renaissance started in England around 1509 and it lasted until the Restoration in 1660. Queen Elizabeth reassured her position as the head of the English church and her reign saw the emergence of England as an economic and political power, expanding their territories and colonies over seas. Queen Elizabeth's pleasure in the literature and arts of the time turned London into the capital of culture. The Renaissance in England includes such famous wirters as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, Graham Greene or the master William Shakespeare.
Queen Elizabeth I presided over the English Renaissance (from Wikipedia)
Links:
The Academy:
http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/siryan/academy/theory_history/elizabethan_period.htm
Elizabethan period and Shakespeare's works:
http://www.bardweb.net/england.html
Elizabethan Era: historical Background - prezzi presentation: https://prezi.com/kjjwqqgjyufy/the-elizabethan-era-historical-background/
Elizabethan period: history: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/elizabeth_i_01.shtml
History of England: http://www.britainexpress.com
The Tudor dynasty: http://www.britroyals.com/tudor.htm
English Renaissance: slide share: http://www.slideshare.net/pamhkiel/english-renaissance-40798798
Questions on the historical context and background:
1. Which event consolidated the position of England as a political and naval power?
2. Who is the Head of the Church in England? Was it always like that?
3. What was the Protestant Reformation?
4. What dinasty does Queen Elizabeth I belong to?
5. Complete the Tudor Family tree and write a short description for the names missing. (Activity found in a separate sheet)
Links:
English Renaissance - Literature: slide share: http://www.slideshare.net/fabiocastellan/the-renaissance-literature?related=1
Questions:
6. What was the significance of the invention of the printing? Compare it to the invention of the television.
7. What was the Renaissance? How did Man's view of himself change form the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?
8. What was the Reformation? How did it begin in England?
9. Why is the Bible so important for British literature?
10. What thoughts and feelings does Macbeth express in his speech? What techniques does Shakespeare use to express them?
11. What were the two sides that opposed each other in the English Civil War adn Revolution?
LITERATURE IN THE RENAISSANCE
Latin was still the language of literacy, despite the success of Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1589 Spenser's Faerie Queen was a revelation of the possibilities of the English language in prose.
Plays and playwrights proliferated after 1580, notably Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Plays were originally performed in the courtyard of inns, whose galleried design influenced the later design of playhouses such as Shakespeare's The Globe (1599). These theatres were open to the air in the centre, or pit. Performances were given in daylight, due to the difficulty of lighting the stage and the unsafe nature of travel after dark.
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Elizabethan_life.htm
Sixteenth Century Renaissance English Literature: Background Information: http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/renaissanceinfo.htm
12. Where were theatres built in London? Why? Where were plays represented before that?
13. Which was the first theatre in London and when and where did it open?
14. What do you know about the Globe?
15. What is the structure of the Elizabethan theatre?
THE SONNET & ITS INTRODUCTION IN ENGLAND
The word sonnet
comes from the Italian word “sonetto” which means “little song”. Invented in Italy in the 13th
century, the sonnet was made famous in the 14th century by Francesco Petrarch
(1304–74), Italian poet and humanist best remembered now for his sonnets
dedicated to an idealized lady named Laura. Petrach made use of the conventions of courtly love for a beautiful,
unattainable lady and presented love as something painful; the lady was cruel in rejecting the poet’s love;
and love is a religion, the practice of which ennobles the lover. Christian
and classical imagery coexist in his sonnets.
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1502–42) and Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey
(1517–47), are credited with
introducing the Petrarchan model to England in the 16th century and adjusting the rhyme scheme and the meter to accommodate the English
language. Writing sonnet
sequences became popular among gentlemen, and these poems were often
circulated in manuscript form, evidently
including Shakespeare’s.
Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets published in 1609 are a “collection and they are remarkably various. Shakespeare
explores the theme of love in different ways. The cruel loved one in
many of his sonnets is a young man, not a woman, and the “Dark Lady” of sonnets
127–152 is neither virtuous nor ideally beautiful. He took Petrarchan
conventions and adapted them to his poetry.
Bibliography: http://www.folger.edu/Content/Teach-and-Learn/Teaching-Resources/Teaching-Sonnets/A-Short-History-of-the-Sonnet.cfm
QUESTIONS:
16. Search in the Internet to find the three types of sonnets and their characteristics:
The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, the English or Shakespearean sonnet and the Spenserian sonnet
17. Who introduced the sonnet in England? and who made it famous?
FOOT
The most common poetic foot in the English language is known as the “iamb.”
An iamb is two syllables, where the first syllable is unstressed and the
second syllable is stressed. For example, the word “today” is an iamb
because the stress falls on the second syllable, like this: toDAY.
When a poem is written using iambs, we say that it is “iambic.” For example,
the following line is iambic.
- / -
/ - /
- /
Today I had
a rotten day.
You’ll notice that an iamb does not have to be a whole word; it can be made
up of syllables from two different words, such as “I had.” One easy way to
remember that this kind of foot is called an “iamb” is to think of the words “I
am.” If you were to say the words “I am” over and over, they would be in
iambic.
Sometimes when people talk about poetry, they mention “iambic pentameter.”
You already know what “iambic” means so let’s see what is a “pentameter.” In
English, we have different prefixes for indicating numbers. For example, “uni-”
and “mono-” mean “one,” “bi” and “di” mean “two,” “tri-“ means “three,” and so
on. In poetry, we refer to the number of feet in each line by adding one of
these prefixes to the word “meter.” For example, if a poem has just one foot
per line, we say it is “monometer.”
|
Number of Feet
|
Prefix
|
Name
|
|
1
|
Mono-
|
Monometer
|
|
2
|
Di-
|
Dimeter
|
|
3
|
Tri-
|
Trimeter
|
|
4
|
Tetra-
|
Tetrameter
|
|
5
|
Pent-
|
Pentameter
|
|
6
|
Hexa-
|
Hexameter
|
So, if a
poem has five iambs in each line, we call that “iambic pentameter.”
QUESTIONS
18. So, what is an iambic pentameter? Write a complete definition.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE & HIS WORKS
William Shakespeare was born in
Stratford-upon-Avon, England on April 23, 1564. He most likely attended King
Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford, where he learned Latin grammar and
literature. In 1582, he married 26 year-old Anne Hathaway at the age of 18. In
1583, William’s first child, Susanna was born. In 1585, he had twins, Hamlet
and Judith. Between 1589 and 1590, William is believed to have written his
first play, Henry VIII (part I). The next year, he completed the second part of
the play.
By 1592, William had begun a career as a
playwright in London. In 1593 he starts writing The Sonnets and a year later, he
was an actor and part-owner of a playwright company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men. The company was successful and was adopted
by King James I. It was then renamed The
King’s Men. By this time, William was well-known throughout the London
theater world. In 1594, historians believe he wrote The Taming of the
Shrew, a famous comedy. The next year, in 1595, William wrote some of his
most famous stories including A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Romeo
and Juliet.
A Midsummer’s Night Dream is a romantic comedy about four
lovers and a group of amateur actors, and their interaction with fairies who
live in a moonlit forest. Historians believe it was written for a royal
wedding. Romeo and Juliet is arguably the most famous love story and
tragedy of all time. In 1596, William wrote The Merchant of Venice, a
famous comedy in which a Jewish merchant demands “a pound of flesh” when the
lead character, Antonio, defaults on a loan.
In 1598-99, the Globe theatre is built, where
the King’s Men would act and Shakespeare becomes a part-owner of the new
theatre. In 1599, Shakespeare wrote another history play, Julius Caesar,
and after that, he is thought to have written Hamlet (1599-1601),
historically considered as his greatest masterpiece. To this day Hamlet
is probably his most quoted and reproduced tragedy. It is also Shakespeare’s
longest play. The plot of the story involves Prince Hamlet, and his attempts to
seek revenge on his Uncle Claudius for poisoning his father, King of Denmark,
and ascending to the throne.
After Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote
several other timeless classics such as Macbeth, Othello, and
The Tempest. Macbeth, is the story of a soldier who is foretold to
become King of Scotland and his wife convinces him to kill all the possible
enemies that may interfere in his ascend to the throne. Later, the ghosts of
the people he killed chase him and he almost goes mad. He is finally killed and
the crown returns to its rightful heir. Othello tells the story of a black
soldier who loves Desdemona, despite her father’s opposition. When he is told
that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, he tries to kill her. When he
discovers that
it was a lie, it’s too late for Desdemona and
his remorse makes him commit suicide.
In 1613 The Globe Theatre burns to the ground
and it is later rebuilt and able to open in 1614. Two years later, Shakespeare
died in 1616 at the age of 52.
Many of his plays were performed by his
production company at royal courts and at prestigious theaters. Today, William
Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of English
language. He has succeeded in writing both comedies and tragedies and he
credited for revolutionizing theater. Although his plays were not published
until after his death, they have now been translated into every major world
language.
questions
19. Complete
a chart with Shakespeare’s works: tragedies, comedies and history plays
20. Complete
the timeline of Shakespeare’s life.
|
Chronology
|
EVENTS
IN Shakespeare’s life.
|
|
April 23, 1564
1582
1583
1585
1589 -1590
1591
1592,
1593
1594
1594
1595
1596,
1598-99,
1599,
1599-1601
1613
1614
1616
|
|
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