51

16th Century
Age of Tudor soverigns: Henry VII, Henry VIII, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth Henry VIII establishes strong central government - Renaissance Colombus/expeditions affect the English Continued growth of market economy (sheep raising and cloth making for export) Decline of knights (gunpowder) Printing press increased literacy levels (30% by 1510, 60% by 1530) Begin to write in English, led to translations of classics into English Reformation: Martin Luther: 11/1/1517 Results: secularization of society; king become more powerful than church; identification/separation of nationalism and religion; individuality Precepts: conscience aided by a personal reading of the scriptures; works/grace English revolt: Henry VIII (Defender of the Faith) -- Catherine of Aragon Head of Church of England (executed Sir Thomas More-Utopia) Protestants from Continent came to England Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) -- Persecution of Protestants Elizabeth I: 1558-1603 (Elizabethan Age) Nationalism: Shrewd political maneuvering w/ France and Spain allowed England to grow in power Papal bull (Mary Queen of Scots) Elizabeth: Known for beauty (untrue) intelligence (true) Defeat of Spanish Armada in 1588 (God on her side) Commercialism/expansionism: Pope -- Portuguese and Spanish: Sir Francis Drake Ireland: colonialism, religion, nationalism (bloody subjugation) Patrons, writers and publishers Patronage for everything: not on intellectual ability but ability to function in court (courtiers); Poets, writers, etc, could not live off their earning Sir Walter Raleigh -- ability to dance and be gallant Art and nature Elizabethan aesthetics -- artificial; humans enhance nature Gardens--square with perfect design; Homes in shape of an E Concern with models, conventions, with tradition Literary conventions, modes, and genre Genres -- Pastoral, heroic, lyric, satiric, elegiac, tragic and comic Types -- Epic, tragedy, sonnet, verse epistle, epigram, hymn, masque, elegy Whole range of culturally-defined assumptions and values -- man/woman, nature, language, heroism, virtue, pleasure, work and love Dramatic theatre Mystery plays, morality plays, interludes, theatre Development of comedy: Elizabethan and Jacobean No scenery, few props Ideals, values Sir Philip Sidney: courtier, statesman, soldier, humanist scholar, Petrarchan sonneteer, romance, writer, literary critic, and earnest supporter of protestant reform

52 Poetry of the late 16th century Lyric poetry: undefined speaker, highly personal, emotional and contemplative Sonnet: a lyric poem of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter Italian (Petrarchan) -- octave (8 lines) and sestet (6 lines) Rhyme scheme -- abbaabba; cdecde First 8 lines develop a situation; next 6 go different way English (Shakespearean) -- three quatrains (4 lines) and a couplet (2 lines) Rhyme scheme -- abab; cdcd; efef; gg Three quatrains may work to prepare for conclusion Sequence: Sonnets work, too, when taken out of context as individual works; different from Petrarchan in that the subject is either a young man or a promiscuous Dark Lady as the degrading object of desire William Shakespeare Bio -- Born 1564 - little known of youth; appears in London in 1592; and becomes member of Lord Chamberlain's Men (theatrical group); in 1599 they build The Globe Theatre Theatrical Works -1592-1598: Chronicle history plays -- Richard II, III, Henry IV, King John Tragedy -- Romeo and Juliet; Titus Andronicus Comedy -- Two Gentlemen of Verona; Comedy of Errors 1598-1602: Romantic comedies -- As You Like It; Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing 1602-1610: Great tragedies --Hamlet, MacBeth, Othello, King Lear 1610: Romances (tragiccomedies) -- Tempest, The Winters Tale First Folio -- 1623; first collection of works (WS did not publish during his lifetime) Sonnets Subject: Evidence suggests not published in this order 1-126: Young man 127-154: Dark Lady One basic metaphor: Structure reinforces the image of the metaphor Beginning tool: Reminiscence; imperative; proverbial statement Situation: Ideal of eternal love shaken by age, suspicion, jealousy, shame, lust, and betrayal Resolution: Power of love, friendship, or the permanence of poetry Hamlet -- Great Tragedy Issues: Struggle between intellect and action; Individual vs communal responsibilities; Adaptation to role in a dysfunctional family; Personal and universal morality Summary: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, pretends to be "ill" in order to preserve his own life while he determines what to do/who is friends are after he discovers his father, the king, has been killed by his uncle, who not only assumes the throne, but also marries, too quickly it seems to Hamlet, the queen, Hamlet's mother. The plot is complicated by the roles of Horatio, loyal aide of Hamlet's, and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain, as well as the issue of the Norwegian invasion threat represented by Fortinbras. Christopher Marlowe Bio: Born two months before Shakespeare; awarded a clerical scholarship, but did not take holy orders; earned master's degree thanks to "special service" to Queen Elizabeth; killed in a tavern brawl; plays deal with idea of over- reacher (achiever)

53 Tamburlaine -- Portrayed as man of boundless energy and ambition; rhetorical blank verse, seeks power of rule Jew of Malta -- Seeks power of money The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus -- Retains some elements of the morality plays (good and evil angels), leading to tension and surprise ending Different from Goethe's, in which Faust is saved; Seeks Power of knowledge Summary -- Faustus chooses to make a deal with the Devil (believed in 16th century) Damnation of soul (taken seriously by Elizabethan audience) Faustus' fall is caused by pride and ambition (same as Lucifer/Satan) Comedy -- Audience expects to see clowns; explains scenes of low comedy History -- Drawn from German play: The History and the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus Possible collaborator? Characters Dr. John Faustus Good Angel Evil Angel Mephitopholes Lucifer Belzebub The Seven Deadly Sins Pride Covetousness Wrath Envy Gluttony Sloth Lechery