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To Recapitulate:. We started studying British Literature at the beginning: Medieval Literature during the Medieval Period. The Warrior culture dominated over the tribes: “Beowulf”
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To Recapitulate: • We started studying British Literature at the beginning: Medieval Literature during the Medieval Period. • The Warrior culture dominated over the tribes: “Beowulf” • We learned the prevailing theme/philosophy throughout the period was unabashed Christianity. The religious references in each work were obvious and a consequence of the Crusades: “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” (Arthurian Legend) • At the end of the period, when Chaucer comes in, we see an attitude shift. Everyone is returned from the Crusades, there is less plague, more art, and some discontent. A bawdier sense of humor: “The Canterbury Tales” (“The Pardoner’s Tale”) • Thus begins the next literary period we will be studying!
1470’s-1660 The Renaissance in England
Where did the Renaissance start? • The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy. • People traveling as a result of the Crusades brought back much of what was spreading culturally in Florence. If it was not for the Crusades, the Renaissance may not have happened. • Without the fear of plague, war, and civil upheaval, people began to turn to more intellectual pursuits.
Why did the Renaissance begin? • The Crusades were over, the plague was drawing to a close, and the dominating warrior culture had given in to a more chivalrous time. • Chivalrous people are attracted to the arts and that is what the Renaissance is about. They turned their eyes from God and unabashed Christianity to themselves. • Additionally, people had become so accustomed to death because of the plague so they began to embrace life.
HUMANISM • Consequently, there is a rise in a new philosophy called humanism. This become the philosophy/theme of the Renaissance. • Humanism is simply celebrating what is human. • It is evident in their entertainment, art, science, religion, and literature.
How did Middle English End with the Medieval Era and Early Modern English Begin with the Renaissance? • A new historical period begins when there is a distinct event. This one is called “The Great Vowel Shift” • Consequently, modern English is born.
How was the Renaissance different economically? • Because of the severe decline in population, workers became more valuable and land became cheaper. • Inherited wealth was very commonplace. • Royal families were bankrupted by the crusades.
Some of the famous writers/philosophers/politicians/scientist/musicians from the Renaissance are: • Shakespeare • Thomas Wyatt • Ben Jonson • John Donne • Christopher Marlowe • Newton • Da Vinci • Michelangelo • Galileo • Descartes • Sir Thomas More • Martin Luther • John Calvin • Erasmus • Copernicus • Don Quixote • Francis Bacon • John Milton
Holidays/Holy Days • The idea of taking time off and really celebrating holidays came from the Renaissance. • They actually had time for leisure so they would look forward to different religious feast days.
1517: The Reformation • Martin Luther nails a document called “The 95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” to Wittenburg, Saxony in Germany
Inventions/Communication • The printing press
Literature • 1516: Thomas More’s “Utopia” • 1592/94: Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
Here is a portrait considered accurate of William Shakespeare:
Who was William Shakespeare? • Shakespeare was a playwright who wrote during the Renaissance (1300-1650) –a historical and literary period after the Medieval Period.
Why and How did he Write? • He studied and wrote to entertain through what he studied. • He wrote in Early Modern English and NOT Old English. • He did not stick to formal Early Modern English. Instead he would use slang writing just as people spoke. • He is believed to have collaborated with other writers to produce his plays.
The Crusades and its influence on Shakespeare: • Many of the plots, ideas, themes that Shakespeare wrote about he got from Greek and Roman plays.
His Legacy • He produced 38 plays and 154 Sonnets –all translated into every major language on earth. • He reinvented many genres like the tragedy, the romance, and histories. • He revived classics (Greco-Roman) through his works. • Pushed slang phrases and words into common and formal usage. • Reinvented the soliloquy. • The most well known literary figure in the history of the world.
MOST IMPORTANTLY • Character Development: The entertainment of this time was not focused on an interesting event. Plots were focused on CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!
What, of Shakespeare’s, will we be reading? • “The Tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”
To Be or Not to Be? • Do you really think you’re going to die? • How much time do you spend contemplating death? • Is the amount of time you spend contemplating death proportional to how often you are confronted with death? Why? • How do individuals deal with the inevitability of death? How do societies deal with it?
DISCLOSURE • While this power point presentation may not bring you any closer to answering life’s philosophical quandaries regarding death, by the end of it, you will be closer to actual death.
Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” DEATH
(Please emphasize “tragedy” here) “The TRAGEDY of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”
Background • While Hamlet, the prince, is away at college, the King is found dead while napping in his garden. • About two months later, the queen marries her late-husband’s brother, Claudius –making him king. • Hamlet is upset about this.
Plot • Two guards see a ghost that looks just like the dead king. They tell Hamlet. • Hamlet goes to see the ghost. • The ghost tells Hamlet he was murdered by Claudius. • Hamlet wants to believe the ghost but needs to test the ghost’s theory first. • He decides to put on a play that acts out the murder scene, show it to everyone, while watching Claudius’ reaction.
Claudius freaks out when he sees the play within the play. • Hamlet believes this confirms the ghost’s theory so it must be a good ghost. • Now he has to kill Claudius. • He tries to do this but accidentally kills Polonius –who we don’t like anyway. • Hamlet drags Polonius’ body around because he doesn’t know what to do with it.
This freaks out Hamlet’s girlfriend, Ophelia, so she kills herself. • This freaks out Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, so he wants to kill Hamlet. • Claudius is excited about this duel because it could end Hamlet. • Claudius poisons a glass of wine, the queen accidentally drinks it so she is killed.
In the end… • The King is dead –poisoned by Claudius • Rosencrantz is dead –sold out by Hamlet • Guildenstern is dead –sold out by Hamlet • Ophelia is dead –drowned/committed suicide • Polonius is dead –stabbed by Hamlet • Gertrude is dead –poisoned by Claudius • Laertes is dead –stabbed by Hamlet • Hamlet is dead –stabbed by Laertes • Claudius is dead –stabbed by Hamlet
To be or not to be, that is the question. • To live or to die, that is the question.
Life (according to Modern Philosophy) doesn’t have an opposite.
DEATH IS CERTAIN • Life is full of uncertainties. That actually brings us comfort and not fear. • Death is certain. The inevitability of it, the uncompromising nature of it, the inescapable aspect of it, scares us…well, to death.
Only human beings are explicitly aware of their own immortality; we are the only creature that can understand we are going to die, and we are the only creature that can imagine living forever.
As an optimist… • Heidegger felt that having a constant consciousness of death will allow people to avoid “everydayness” and live life to the fullest. • “Without death, we are only half alive.”
