Renaissance Literature

1. Renaissance Literature What do you know about Renaissance?

2. Topics • The Elizabethan age • English theatre • Some poets; • Shakespeare; • His plays; Romeo and Juliet

3. Goals • To know the political and cultural situation in England around the 15th Century • To develop an appreciation for literature in general and Renaissance literature in specific. • To understand Renaissance literature and place it in its cultural context. • To create an awareness of our cultural history; to familiarize with some of the most influential works in the English canon.

4. Equipment • Rhyme and Reason • Several handouts • Film • notebook

5. Lesson 1Cultural background: the Elizabethan period • Goals • To become insightful in the political situation in England from 1500 onwards • To see the rise of theatre against the political and cultural background

6. Kings and Queens • House of Tudors: • Henry the VIII: 1509-1547; first he was Catholic but became Protestant; head of the Anglican Church of England • Edward VI: 1547-1553; died at the age of 16 • Bloody Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon: 1553-1558 • Elizabeth: 1558-1603; daughter of Anna Boleyn (second wife of Henry)

7. Elizabeth died childless; she never married and never wanted to. She was known for her wit and intelligence. During her reign, culture blossomed in England. • End of Tudor era. • House of Stuarts; Scottish reign • James VI of England (though he was a Scot) • After a few Charleses -> Mary Stuart (cousin of Elizabeth I), whom married William III, Prince of Orange

9. The Renaissance: 1500-1660 • What do you know about the Renaissance?

10. From collective to individual • From theocentric to anthropocentric • From dogmatic to critical investigation

11. Lesson 2From Medieval to Renaissance theatre Goals - to know the theatrical situation before the Renaissance period

17. Mystery plays • Biblical stories • Following the Church calendar • To support the sermons in church • Most popular in 15th Century • Mystery ‘miracle’ or misterium (craft) • Performed by guilds • Banned after 1553 by Church of England

18. Miracle plays • Similar to the mystery plays, apart from the intervention of a saint.

19. Morality plays • Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a godly life over one of evil. • Derived from the mystery plays -> shift to more secular theatre • education through entertainment

20. Interludes

22. Background • Mystery plays; miracle plays; moralities; University dramas; commedia dell’arte; masques • Existing companies of players; from amateurs to professionals • Hostile government; Southwark

23. Dangers to the theatre • London city government • Cromwell; Puritan movement • Histriomastix (1632) Prynne • fire

24. Week 4English Renaissance theatre • Goals: to knowhow the theatre in Englandprofessionalized and knowitsposition in society: • From private to public • From amateurs to companies of players • From inn to theatre • To know the genres in drama, and especially the characteristics of the Shakespeariantragedy

25. The rise of public theatres • From private to public • The Theatre 1576 (James Burbage) • Curtain Theatre 1577 (Marlowe) • The Rose 1587 • The Swan 1595 • The Globe 1599 (Shakespeare) • Fortune 1600 • Red Bull 1604

32. Work in the theatre • Christopher Marlowe: the Lord Admiral’s Men • Shakespeare: The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later: The Lord King’s Men) • Master of the Revels • Actors and playwrights: • Heavy workload • No female actors • A playwright wrote, sold and ‘lost’ his play

33. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages.

34. Genres • History play: Richard III, Edward II • Tragedy: Dr. Faustus, Macbeth • What is the difference between a Greek Tragedy and Shakespearian Tragedy? • Comedies

35. Shakespearian drama

36. Comedy • Narrative for laughter • Happy ending • Light-hearted • Internal and external conflicts • Not so much emphasis on characters (distance) • Struggle of young lovers • Separation and re-unification

37. Deception among characters • Clever servant • Tension between characters • Multiple plots • Comic style • Pastoral element

38. History plays • Lives of English kings • Often Tudor propaganda • Richard III, Henry VIII

39. Tragedies • Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet • Most popular: Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth (1601-1608) • Protagonist: capable of good and evil • 5 acts: a train of bad decisionsdownfall

40. Tragichero: - good nature - tragicflaw: error in judgment “the hero's misfortune is not brought about by vice and depravity but by some error of judgment” (Aristotle).

41. Characteristics: • Noble birth; heroic deeds • Flaw; instigating the downfall • The downfall is caused by the hero’s ownactions; he is himselfresponsible • Shakespeare’s heroes: neither fully good/ fully evil • The hero learns something from his mistake • The suffering is meaningful • His misfortune is not wholly deserved

42. Wheel of fortune

44. “I am in bloodstepped in sofar, that, should I wade no more, returningwere as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.135-137).

46. Lesson 5Christopher Marlowe‘A reckoning in a little room’ • Goals • To know about Marlowe’s turbulent and mysterious life and death • To know his character and reception by contemporaries

48. Keywords • Blank verse • Overreaching protagonist • Mysterious death

49. Source: article Christopher Marlow: Life and background • Read the text and underline important events • Make notes concerning • His character and reputation • The allegations surrounding his arrest