Chaucer to Shakespeare

14th century to 16th century

 Ages in English Literature
⚫ Age of Chaucer 1340-1400
⚫ Middle Age 1400-1558
⚫ Elizabethan Age 1558-1603
⚫ Jacobean Age 1603-1625
⚫ Caroline Age 1625-1642
⚫ Commonwealth Period/Age of Milton 1642-1660
⚫ Restoration/Age of Dryden 1660-1700
⚫ Age of Pope 1700-1750
⚫ Age of Johnson 1750-1798
⚫ Romantic Age 1798-1834
⚫ Victorian Age 1834-1901
⚫ Modern Period 1901-1950
⚫ Contemporary Period 1950-
 Old English Period

⚫ English medieval literature after

500 AD is referred as Old
English Period.
⚫ Anglo- Saxons and Jutes were
the early Germanic invaders in
450 AD
⚫ Anglo-Saxons-North western
shores of Europe,
Jutes – from Jutland
⚫ With them came Anglo-Saxon
literature.
 Old English Literature/Anglo-Saxon
Literature
⚫ Literature produced by medieval
Christian Church.
⚫ Subject matter is either
Christianity or paganism.
⚫ No drama or prose , only poetry
was written
Old English Poems
⚫ ‘Beowulf ’ , ‘Widsith’ , ‘The Fight at
Finnsburgh’ , and Waldere had epic
qualities.
⚫ Caedmonian and Cynewul an poems.
⚫ Elegies -- ‘The Wanderer’, The Seafarer’,
The Ruin’, ‘The Wife’s Lament’.
⚫ 8th century-Venerable Bede wrote
‘Ecclesiastical History’ in Latin.
⚫ King Alfred the Great (9th century)
responsible for translations from Latin to
English & Anglo-Saxon chronicle.
King Alfred
Middle English Period
⚫ Began with Norman Conquest in 1066.
⚫ French became the o cial language.
⚫ In 1265,Henry 3rd agreed to give decrees in
English.
⚫ Hundred Years War (1338-1453)between
England and France.
⚫ 1348-the bubonic plague
⚫ 1381-the Peasant’s Revolt.
⚫ 1455-1486- War of the Roses
Geoffrey Chaucer(1340-1400)
 Age of Chaucer (1340-1400)
⚫ Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London as the
son of John Chaucer and Agens Northwell.
⚫ 1359-60-Soldier in the army of Edward 3,taken prisoner
and ransomed.
⚫ 1366-married Philippa, lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa.
⚫ Sister-in-law, Catherine became John of Gaunt’s mistress
and later his third wife.
⚫ Known as ‘Father of English Poetry’.
⚫ Patron-John of Gaunt.
⚫ Wrote in East Midland dialect.
⚫ Invented Rhyme royal-7 line stanza of iambic pentameter
rhyming ababbcc
 Chaucer’s Literary Output
⚫ 3 periods:
French Period- upto 1372
Italian Period- upto 1385
English Period-upto 1400
French Period
1. Courtly Lyrics
2. Complaints unto Pity
Complaint of Mars
Complaint of Venus
3.The A.B.C. Poem
4.Roman de la Rose
5.The Book of the Duchess
Italian Period
1. The Life of St.Cecilia
2. Anelida and Arcite
3. The House of Fame
4. The Parliament of Fowls
5. The Legend of Good Women
6. Troilus and Criseyde
English Period

The Canterbury Tales

Consolation of Philosophy-prose work
The Book of the Duchess
Elegy written on the death of John of
Gaunt’s first wife , Blanche in 1369.
Poem aims at praising the deceased and
consoling the bereaved.
Dream allegory IN 1334 lines written in
octosyllabic couplets.
Poet falls asleep reading the story of Ceyx
and Alcyone and follows a hunting party-
Meets a knight in black who laments the loss
of his lady –declares her dead.
Poet awakes from his sleep,still clutching the
book
 The Parliament of Fowls
⚫ A dream poem in 699 lines in rhyme royal
⚫ Falls asleep-Goddess Nature presides
over the choosing of mates on St.
Valentine’s day-3 male eagles intend to
court a female- long dispute-
⚫ Nature grants her 1 year to decide
The Legend of Good Women
⚫ Collection of secular saints’ lives
⚫ Imitates Bocaccio’s ‘De Claris Mulieribus’
⚫ Protagonists are not sainted ladies,but martyrs of love
⚫ A prologue to the Legend tells us about Chaucer’s
dream-God of Love charges Chaucer with false
accusation of Criseyde.
⚫ Chaucer denies the charge and to settle the tension,
he writes good things about women.
⚫ Unfinished poem contains nine sories of famous
women:Cleopatra,Thisbe,Dido,Hypsipyle,Medea,
Lucrece,Ariadne,Philomela,Phyllis and Hypermnestra
⚫ Used heroic couplet for the first time.
 Troilus and Criseyde
⚫ Influenced by Boccaccio’s Il filostrato’
⚫ A chivalric romance and considered the first psychological novel in
English.
⚫ Consists of 1177 stanzas of rhyme royal(ababbcc)
⚫ Calchas, a soothsayer, foresees the fall of Troy and abandons the
city in favour of the Greeks; his daughter, Criseyde stays in Troy.
⚫ With the help of sly Pandarus, Criseyde's uncle, Troilus and
Criseyde begin to exchange letters.
⚫ Calchas eventually persuades the Greeks to exchange a prisoner
of war, Antenor, for his daughter Criseyde- Criseyde promises to
deceive her father and return to Troy after ten days - she accepts
Diomede as a lover. Pandarus and Troilus wait for Criseyde
⚫ The narrator, with an apology for giving women a bad name, bids
farewell to his book, and briefly recounts Troilus's death in battle.
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
Based on Boccaccio’s Decameron
Prologue-portrait gallery of 14th century
England
29 pilgrims meet at Tabard Inn,Southwark
(31 including poet & Harry Bailey)
Pen-pictures of 21 pilgrims
23 pilgrims tell stories(Chaucer-2-Tale of Sir
Thopas &Tale of Melibeus(prose)
Begins with Knight’s tale and ends with
Parson’s.
The Chivalric, fought numerous
Knight battles
The Romantic lover/son of knight

Squire
The Servant of knight/vigorous,alert/skilled in
Yoeman woodcraft

The Letter A on brooch/Amor vincit omnia

Prioress
The Monk Does everything that a true christian never
does/enjoys life
The Friar An insult to the clergy
The Profit is the only policy
Merchant
The Clerk Morally earnest & serious student
Sergeant-of- Powerful position/Exploits his knowledge of
law law
The Wealthy landowner
The Shipman Cheerful & confident

The Doctor of Love for gold

Physic
Wife of Bath Carnal temptress misleading man/5
marriages
Parson Brothers/ free from every ridicule
&Ploughman
The Miller Gross, rough ,strong as an ox

The Manciple Manager in an inns of court/shrewd and

cunning
The Reeve Manages an estate/cunning ,dishonest &
selfish
The Summoner Guilty of gluttony

The Pardoner Symbol of corrupt clergy

The Host Master of ceremonies/very clever

businessman
Chaucer’s
Contemporaries
1.William Langland
▪ A reformer & pious
Christian
▪ Major work-’Piers the
Ploughman’
▪ Set in Malvern hills
▪ A vision of “ a field full
of folk”
▪ 50 Manuscripts,3
versions-A,B andC text
A text-2567 lines
B text-7277 lines
C text-2567 lines
The Vision of William Concerning
Piers, the Ploughman
⚫ 2 parts-Visio [vision] and Vita [life]
⚫ Vision 1-While wandering on the Malvern Hills,
narrator, Will falls asleep-vision of Tower
where Truth dwells,a deep Dungeon and a fair
field full of folk-
⚫ Vision 2-Narrator observes Sermon,
Confession, Pilgrimage and Pardon
⚫ Total of 8 visions
• Best known contemporary of Chaucer
• Aristocrat in sympathies , hostile to
peasantry and rebels
• Chaucer’s ‘Troilus’ dedicated to Gower
• Works:
1. Speculum Meditantis
-written in French
-Vices of the time
2. Vox Clamantis
-in Latin
-Political satire
3.Confessio Amantis
-The Lover’s Confession’
-Confession of Genius,afflicted
with a passion for a beautiful,
unresponsive young lady
-Seven Deadly Sins illustrated
with a story each

2. JOHN GOWER
Confessio Amantis-The Lover’s
Confession
⚫ Poem over 33000 lines containing 141 siories
in octosyllabic couplets
⚫ Confession of a lover,Amans to Genius,priest
of Venus.
⚫ Genius leads Amans through the seven
deadly sins, interpreting them in the context
of the courtly love tradition. He explains the
various aspects of each one with exempla, and
requires Amans to detail any ways in which he
has committed them. The design is that each
book of the poem shall be devoted to one sin,
and the first six books follow the traditional
order for the first six sins: pride, envy, wrath,
sloth, avarice, and gluttony.
The Fifteenth Century
Caxton’s Printing press-1476
 English Chaucerians
John Lydgate John Occleve

• Moralises and • Work-’The

philosophises the Regement of Princes
human scene into a (Written for Henry,
grand organised Prince of Wales)
literary fabric.
• Works:
The Fall of
Princes-36,000 lines
Troy-book-Story of
Trojan war
 Scottish Poets
⚫ John Barbour-First Scottish Poet
⚫ Work-The Bruce
Events during 1304 to 1333,the reign of
Robert the Bruce(Battle of
Bannockburn)
 Scottish Chaucerians
⚫ Paid tribute to Chaucer
⚫ Imitative of Chaucer
⚫ 3 major poets:
King James 1
Robert Henryson
William Dunbar
King James 1

• Young James fell into English

hands while making his way to
France at the age of about 12
• Kept in England for 19 years and
in 1424 married Lady Jane
Beaufort
• Poem-The King’s Quair (King’s
Book)
- Celebrates his love for Lady Jane.
- Describes how as a prisoner,he
sees a beautiful lady in a garden
from his tower and is
transported to celestial realms.
- Pays tribute to Chaucer and
Gower.
Robert Henryson
⚫ Moral Fables:- ⚫ The Testament of
Cressied:-
Giving human
characteristics to
animals
⚫ A sequel to Chaucer’s
‘Troilus & Cresseid’
Tale of Cock and Hen,
Tale of Town Mouse
⚫ Tells how Diomede
wearies of Cresseid
&Country Mouse, and leaves her
Tale of Fox & Wolf ⚫ Cresseid blames
Venus & Cupid-Cupid
turns her to a leper-
Meets Troilus-Gives a
general sum-Cresseid
dies leaving a ring to
Troilus.
 William Dunbar
⚫ The Thrissil and the Rose
A dream allegory in which fresh May
awakens the poet and calls him to a
gathering of articulate birds and beasts
and flowers.
Concerned with the marriage of James
4 to Henry 7’s daughter, Margaret
 Sir Thomas Malory
⚫ Morte De Arthur:
Stories from vast cycles of Arthurian
Chronicles into a single fabric.
Quest for the Holy Grail.
Story of Arthur and Lucius
 John Skelton
⚫ Invented Skeltonics-Rhythmically anarchic
short lines are spilt down the page.
⚫ Some brought their clipping shears
Some brought this and that
Some brought I wot n’ere what
Some brought their husband’s hat
⚫ ‘Philip Sparrow’-Mock-heroic elegy for
the deceased pet bird of a young lady,
Jane Scrope
Origins of Drama
⚫ Drama began as a religious ritual
⚫ First plays performed in Church by clergyman
during Easter.
⚫ Performed by various guilds,like Glovers,
Tanners, Dyers, Grocers,Shearers etc.
⚫ Presented plays on wagons at strategic points
of their town.
⚫ Subjects were the outcome of combined
ecclesiastical and social developments.
⚫ Revival of Corpus Christi festival(1311)-public
holiday dedicated to drama.
 Miracle Plays
⚫ Dates back to 12 century
th

⚫ Deals with lives of saints

⚫ Eg:-
Harrowing of Hell
Raising of Lazarus
 Mystery Plays/Corpus Christi Cycle
⚫ Long cyclical dramas
⚫ Themes-Creation,Fall,Redemption and
other stories from Bible
⚫ York, Chester, Wakefield are main cycles.
 Morality Plays
⚫ Allegorical
⚫ Describing moral virtue
⚫ Eg:-
The Castle of Perseverance
Everyman
Everyman-a frequently revised
morality play
⚫ God sends Death to summon Everyman to render
accounts of his life in the world.
⚫ Everyman turns to Kindred,Fellowship & Cousin to
accompany,but declines.
⚫ Everyman stumbles on Good Deeds lying on the
ground tied by sins.
⚫ Knowledge,sister of Good Deeds leads to
Confession & Penance.
⚫ Good Deed is freed & joins Everyman along with
Discretion,Strength,Beauty & Five Wits who
forsakes at grave.
⚫ Knowledge & Good Deeds stay with him when he
entrusts himself to God.
 Interludes
⚫ Under the patronage of Henry VIII
⚫ Morality grew into interlude
⚫ Short dramatic piece filling intervals
⚫ Forerunner of regular drama
⚫ The Four P’s-John Heywood
Palmer, Pardoner and Apothecary meet-
Pedlar joins-competition in lying-Palmer
wins the prize –says he has never seen a
woman “out of patience”
Sir Thomas More
⚫ Wrote ‘Utopia’ in Latin which was
translated into English in1551.
⚫ An ideal state devoid of slave labour, no
private property,uniformity of dress etc.
⚫ William Roper,son-in-law wrote about More
in ‘Life of Sir Thomas More’.
⚫ ‘Life of Richard III’
⚫ ‘Dialogue of comfort against tribulation’-
wrote in prison,waiting execution for refusal
to take the oath of supremacy to the king.
 Utopia
⚫ correspondence between Thomas More and several people he had met on the continent: Peter
Gilles, town clerk of Antwerp, and Hieronymus van Busleyden, counselor to Charles V
⚫ Traveller Raphael Hythlodaeus & More discuss modern ills affecting Europe, kings to start wars-
Utopia as New World & More links Raphael's travels with Amerigo Vespucci
⚫ The island was originally a peninsula but a 15-mile wide channel was dug by the founder King
Utopos to separate it from the mainland -contains 54 cities -Each city divided into four equal
parts. The capital city, Amaurot, is located directly in the middle of the crescent island.
⚫ There is no private property on Utopia, with goods being stored in warehouses and people
requesting what they need. There are also no locks on the doors of the houses - Agriculture is
the most important job on the island. Every person is taught it and must live in the countryside,
farming for two years at a time, with women doing the same work as men.Slavery is a feature of
Utopian life and it is reported that every household has two slaves. The slaves are either from
other countries or are the Utopian criminals - Slaves are periodically released for good
behaviour.
⚫ Wives are subject to their husbands and husbands are subject to their wives although women
are restricted to conducting household tasks for the most part. Only few widowed women
become priests. While all are trained in military arts, women confess their sins to their
husbands once a month-do not like to engage in war.
Bible Reformers
1.William Tyndale
⚫ ‘New Testament’-1526
⚫ Words he invented-’passover’, long-suffering’,
scapegoat’, flowing with milk and honey’,
‘filthy lucre’
2.Miles Coverdale
⚫ Published 1st complete English Bible in 1535
⚫ Revision under Cromwell-’The Great
Bible’(1539).
⚫ Revised again to ‘Bishop’s Bible’ in 1568.
⚫ King James Bible/Authorised Version-1611
Other Prose Writers
1.Sir Thomas Elyot
⚫ ‘The Book Named the Governer’
⚫ Dedicated to Henry VIII
2.Roger Ascham
⚫ Tutor to Princess Elizabeth
⚫ ‘Toxophilus-Praising archery/form of
dialogue
⚫ ‘The Schoolmaster’-On the education of
boys/published posthumously/criticises
Morte De Arthur
The Elizabethan Age/Age
of Shakespeare/Age of
Renaissance
Queen Elizabeth(1558-1603)
 Renaissance
⚫ ‘Rebirth or revival
⚫ Rebirth of Greek and Italian culture,learning,
literature,art,painting and architecture in
European countries.
⚫ Around middle of 15th century.Turks invaded the
Greek empire & Greek scholars fled to Europe.
⚫ Fall of Constantinople at the hands of Turk-1453-
scholars found shelter in Italy-Italy became centre
of art & literature & finally reached England.
⚫ English writers crazy about Greek models
Features of Elizabethan Age:-
⚫ An age of renaissance
⚫ An age of reformation in religion
⚫ An age of new discoveries and
explorations of new lands through
adventorous voyages across unchartered
seas and oceans.
⚫ An age of intense patriotism-people took
a keen interest in England’s past,pride in
its greatness,hatred of England’s enemies
and unflinching loyalty to its queen.
Elizabethan Poetry
Sir Thomas Wyatt

Henry Howard,Earl of
Surrey

⚫ Introduced blank verse

⚫ Relation with Ann Boleyn into English poetry
⚫ Translated and imitated ⚫ Translated Books II & IV of
Petrarchan sonnet Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ to blank
⚫ Introduced terza rima verse.

Wyatt & Surrey-works published

in Tottel’s Miscellany (1557)
Sir Philip Sidney( 1554-1586)
• ‘The poet is the right popular
philosopher
• ‘Arcadia’-
⚫ prose treatise
⚫ Composed for sister,
Countess of Pembroke
⚫ A romance epic in prose
• Astrophel and Stella
◦ Sonnet sequence addressed to
Penelope Devereaux whom she
loved even after her marriage
with Lord Rich.
◦ Series of meditations of love
and life
• The Defense of Poesie-in reply
to Stephen Gosson’s School of
Abuse’
 Arcadia
⚫ In 2 versions-Old Arcadia & New Arcadia
⚫ Characters
Arcadia’s ruler,Basilius
Wife,Gynecia
Daughters-Pamela & Philoclea
Musidorus and Pyrocles
Euarchus,ruler of Macedon
 Edmund Spenser
⚫ Patron-Philip Sidney
• Works
⚫ The Shepherd’s Calendar-12 eclogues
⚫ The Faerie Queene-Related with Arthurian legends
⚫ Epithalamion-(Greece-Song in honour of newly wed
couple)Marriage with Elizabeth Boyle in 1594
⚫ Prothalamion-Celebrate marriage of Katherine &
Elizabeth Somerset
⚫ Amoretti-108 sonnet sequence
⚫ Colin Clouts Come Home Again-pastoral allegory-
journey to London
⚫ A View of the Present State of Ireland-prose with
colonial zeal for destruction of Ireland
Spensarian Stanza-ababbcbcc[Keats/Shelley/Byron]
 Epithalamium
⚫ A poem celebrating a wedding, sung on
the bridal night.
⚫ Spenser’s ‘Epithalamion’ is the classic
English model.
⚫ Others by Sidney,Ben Jonson,Andrew
Marvell,John Dryden,P B Shelley, and
Auden
 Prothalamion
⚫ Published in 1596 to celebrate the
double marriage of Lady Elizabeth and
Lady Katherine Somerset,the earl of
Worcester’s daughters.
⚫ Each verse ends with Sweet Thames,run
softly,till I end my song
⚫ Formed the titleon the model of
Epithalamion
Astrophel
⚫ Pastoral elegy written on the death of Philip
Sidney
⚫ Published with Colin Clouts Come Home Again
⚫ Spenser previously lamented in ‘the Ruins of
Time’
[A C Swinburne used the title for a volume of
poems in 1894]
The Faerie Queene
⚫ Introductory letter to Walter Raleigh
⚫ Only 6 out of 12 completed
⚫ Each book describes adventures of a knight
⚫ Book 1 Redcross knight Holiness
⚫ Book 2 Sir Guyon Temperance
⚫ Book 3 Britomart Chastity
⚫ Book 4 Triamond&Campbell Friendship
⚫ Book 5 Artegall Justice
⚫ Book 6 Calidore Courtesy
⚫ Faerie Queen-Gloriana/Britomart/Belphoebe/Mercilla
⚫ Arthur-Magnificence
⚫ Glorifies Tudor Dynasty
Continued…
⚫ Twelve of Faerie Queen’s knights- examples of
12 different virtues.
⚫ Each undertake an adventure on the 12
successive days of the queen’s annual festival
⚫ Prince Arthur,perfection of all the virtues, has a
vision of Faerie queen and determining to seek
her out is brought into adventuresof several
knights.
Elizabethan Drama
 University Wits
⚫ John Lyly
⚫ George Peele
⚫ Thomas Kyd
⚫ Thomas Lodge
⚫ Robert Green
⚫ Thomas Nash
⚫ Christopher Marlowe
 Features

⚫ Group of young writers from Oxford/

Cambridge university.
⚫ Heroic themes,heroic treatment etc.
John Lyly
⚫ Prose treatise:-Euphues/
Anatomy of wit-
⚫ Campaspe:-prose
comedy-Alexander the
Great has Theban
beauty,Campaspe-
Orders Apelles to
paint-Painter & sitter
fell in love-Alexander
agrees
⚫ Midas:-King-wish to
turn everything into
gold-food turns to gold
⚫ Endimion:-Endymion’s
passion for the moon,
Cynthia(later told by
Keats)
George Peele
⚫ The Arrangement of Paris’-
Paris’ call to judge beauty
of Juno,Pallas &Venus-
selects Venus-complains to
Zeus-Diana gives apple to
Queen Elizabeth
⚫ The Battle of Alcazar-
Centred on Sebastian,King
of Portugal
⚫ The Old Wives’ Tale-2
brothers seek a lady held
captive by a magician
 Thomas Kyd
⚫ The Spanish Tragedy/
Hieronimo is mad again
⚫ Plot-Bel-imperia,royal lady
lost lover,Don Andrea,killed
in battle by Balthazar. Horatio,
Hieronimo’s son and Lorenzo
took Balthazar as prisoner.
Balthazar falls in love with
Bel-imperia-
Lorenzo&Balthazar kills
Horatio-Hieronime takes
revenge.
⚫ Play within a play
⚫ Lorenzo and Balthazar are
stabbed to death
Thomas Nash
⚫ Work
‘The Unfortunate Traveller’ or ‘the life of
Jack Wilton’.
⚫ -A prose tale
⚫ -Important for the development of
novel
 Thomas Lodge
⚫ Work
⚫ ‘The Wounds of Civil War’
⚫ ‘Rosalynde ‘ [Basis of Shakespeare’s
‘As you like it’]
Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593)
⚫ Wrote 6 tragedies
in 5 years
⚫ Used blank verse
Marlovian Hero
⚫ Lust for power
⚫ Renaissance spirit
⚫ Tragic fall
 Major Works
⚫ Tamburlaine the Great
⚫ The Jew of Malta
⚫ Edward II
⚫ Doctor Faustus
⚫ The Tragedy of Dido( with Nash)
⚫ The Massacre of Paris
Tamburlaine the Great
⚫ A drama in blank verse published in 1590
⚫ Source-Pedro Mexia’s ‘Spanish Life of Timur’
translated into English in 1571.
⚫ Part I-Rise to power of Scythian shepherd-
robber Tamburlaine-supports Cosroe’s rebellion
against his brother,King of Persia – then
challenges him for the crown and defeats him-
Conquers Turkish emperor Bajazet and leads
him as a prisoner in a cage and taunting him and
his Empress,Zabina until they dash out their
brains against cage.
⚫ Love for captive Zenocrate-daughter of Sultan of
Egypt and when he takes Damascus,he spares his
life.
⚫ Part 2-further conquests-Play ends with his
death.
 The Jew of Malta
⚫ Tragedy in blank verse pub in 1633
⚫ Governor of Malta decides that Jews
should pay tribute demanded by Turkey.
⚫ Barabas,rich Jew resists-his wealth
impounded and house turned into
nunnery-In revenge,he kills his daughter,
Abigail’s lover and poisons Abigail-
⚫ Betrays Malta to Turks and becomes the
governor
⚫ Plots to destroy Turks,is himself betrayed
and hurled to a cauldron and dies.
William Shakespeare
 SHAKESPEARE
⚫ Jonson-Shakespeare knew “small Latin
and less Greek”
⚫ 37 plays, 154 sonnets ,2(?) long poems
(Venus&Adonis , Rape of Lucrece)
⚫ Sonnets -1 published by Thomas
st

Thorpe
⚫ W.H. (Henry Wriothesley or William
Herbert) dark lady (Mary Fitton or
Emilia Lanier)
⚫ Francis Meres- Pallades Tamia, or Wit’s
Treasury (1st reference of Shakespear’s
 Works
⚫ 37 plays
⚫ 2 narrative poems
Venus and Adonis
The Rape of Lucrece
⚫ 154 sonnets
126 addressed to a man
28 addresses to a dark lady
 Literary Periods
First Period Second Period
1588-1593 1594-1600

∙ Period of experiments Great comedies

The Merchant of Venice
∙ First comedies The Taming of Shrew
Love’s Labour’s Lost The Merry Wives of Windsor
Much Ado About Nothing
Two Gentlemen of
As You Like It
Verona Twelfth Night
The Comedy of Errors ∙ Chronicles
Richard II
A Midsummer Night’s
Henry IV[1&2]
Dream Henry V
Romeo and Juliet King John

Henry vi
Third Period Fourth Period
1601-1608 1608-1612
Great tragedy Romances
Julius Caesar Cymbeline
Hamlet The Tempest
All’s Well that Ends well Winter’s Tale
Measure for Measure In collaboration
Troilus and Criseyde Pericles
Othello Henry VIII
King Lear [with Fletcher]
Macbeth
Antony&Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Timon of Athens
The Merchant of Venice
⚫ Antonio's friend, Bassanio, informs him that he
intends to seek the wealthy Portia's hand in
marriage- Antonio offers Bassanio 3,000 ducats -
Bassanio convinces the merchant Shylock the Jew
to lend him 3000 ducats, with Antonio putting up
his property as the bond.
⚫ Antonio's ship has sunk -At Portia's house,
Bassanio correctly chooses the lead casket,
though, and wins Portia's hand in marriage - Portia
gives Bassanio a ring - Gratiano then announces his
intention to wed Nerissa - Salerio informing
Bassanio that Antonio lost his ships.
⚫ Bassanio leaves for Venice to repay the loan. In
Venice, Shylock has Antonio arrested for failure to
repay the loan. she and Nerissa will disguise
themselves as young men and travel to Venice.
As You Like It
⚫ Source-Thomas Lodge’s ‘Rosalynde’
⚫ Frederick usurped kingdom from Duke who is living with his
followers in Arden.
⚫ Celia& Rosalind watches wrestling match-Rosalind falls in
love with Orlando[son of Rowland,the Duke and who was
driven out of his house due to Oliver,elder brother]
⚫ Frederick banishes Rosalind-disguises as Ganymede & Celia
passes as Aliena,his sister and reaches Arden
⚫ Oliver comes to kill Orlando-Orlando rescues him from a
lion-Falls in love with Aliena-Wedding for the next day.
⚫ Ganymede & Aliena reveals their identity.
⚫ News of Frederick as a changed man Duke is restored.
 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
⚫ queen
Theseus (the Duke of Athens) announces he will marry Hippolyta, the
of the Amazons in four days.
⚫ Demetrius
He hears Egeus' complaint daughter Hermia refuses to marry
[in love with Lysander]
⚫ Theseus declares Hermia must marry Demetrius
⚫ Helena,informs
Lysander instructs Hermia to flee to the forest- Hermia's friend,
Demetrius, whom she likes-Demetrius loves Hermia.
⚫ Bottom,
Helena hopes they will all meet in the forest. Meanwhile, Quince,
Flute, Starveling, Snug, and Snout organize a play to be
performed at Theseus' wedding.
 Continued
⚫ In the forest, Oberon (the King of the Fairies) argues with Titania (the Fairy
Queen) that he should have her orphan child as his page.
⚫ Oberon orders the fairy Puck to obtain a flower from Cupid that causes
on to love the first person a person sees. Oberon plans to give it to Titania,
so she'll love a vile thing and give him the child.
⚫ Oberon orders Puck to anoint Demetrius so he'll love Helena. Oberon
then anoints Titania with the flower. Puck, thinking Lysander is Demetrius,
anoints him with the flower. Helena appears and Lysander immediately falls
in love with her.
⚫ Puck appears and transforms Bottom to have an ass' (donkey's) head-Titania
awakes and falls in love with Bottom
⚫ Puck realizes he gave the flower to the wrong man. Oberon tries to remedy
- both men love Helena.
⚫ Hermia arrives and Helena accuses her of conspiring with the men to tease
her. Oberon orders a thick fog
⚫ Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus appeDemetrius and Lysander inform the men
of their love for Helena and Hermia. The lords agree to let them marry.
⚫ At dinner, they all hear Quince's ten word, tedious, brief, tragical play,
’Pyramus and Thisbe’Thisbe(played by Flute) and Pyramus (played by
Bottom)
 Hamlet
⚫ Old Hamlet,King of Denmark is dead & his brother Claudius is King who
married Gertrude,the widow.
⚫ Young Hamlet,from University at Wittenberg learns that Claudius poured poison
in his father’s ears[from father’s ghost]
⚫ Hamlet warns Horatio & guard,Marcellus that he is to feign madness.
⚫ He rejects Ophelia whom he has loved.
⚫ Arranges a play [‘the mouse trap]about fratricide which Claudius breaks off,in
guilty and fury.
⚫ Hamlet kills Polonius-Hamlet is send to England with orders to be killed on
arrival-outwitted him-arranged the deaths of Rosencrantz& Guilderstern
⚫ Ophelia gone mad and is found drowned during Hamlet’s absence-Her brother,
Laertes,vows to avenge her.
⚫ Claudius arranges a duel b/n Hamlet & Laertes and gives poisoned foil to Laertes.
⚫ Gertrude drinks poisoned cup intended for her son& dying Hamlet kills
Claudius-Fortinbras,King of Norway gives Hamlet a military funeral.
 Othello, the Moor of Venice
⚫ Desdamona, d/o Brabanzio secretly married Othello,a Moor-asked
by the senate to lead the venetian forces against Turks.
⚫ Othello reaches Cyprus with Desdamona-Cassio is promoted to be
his lieutenant-resented by Iago & plans to destroy Othello.
⚫ Iago uses Roderigo to fight with Cassio-Persuades Cassio to ask
Desdamona to plead for him-Suggests to Othello that Cassius is
the lover of his wife-Procures the handkerchief through his wife,
Emilia and arranges Othello to see Cassio in possession of the
handkerchief.
⚫ Othello smothers Desdamona in her bed
⚫ Iago kills Roderigo and Emilia-Iago is arrested and Othello tries to
stab Iago
⚫ Othello stabs himself.
 King Lear
⚫ King Lear is deciding to divide his realm amongst his three daughters, Cordelia, Regan, and
Goneril.
⚫ Lear's plan to give the largest piece of his kingdom to the child who professes to love him the
most,
⚫ Cordelia replies simply that she loves him as a daughter should- disowns Cordelia completely-
the Earl of Kent, tries to speak on Cordelia's behalf, Lear banishes him –
⚫ Cordelia accepts the King of France's proposal, and reluctantly leaves Lear with her two cunning
sisters. Kent, although banished by Lear disguises himself and takes a job as Lear's servant.
⚫ Gloucester hear that the two sisters are planning to murder the King- Cornwall, Regan's husband,
gouges out Gloucester's eyes.
⚫ Cordelia with an army of French troops at Dover. Kent sets off with Lear to DoverGloucester
on the way, finds his own lost son, Edgar.
⚫ Lear sleeps through the battle between Cordelia and her sisters. When Lear awakes he is told
that Cordelia has been defeated -the orders have come for her death.
⚫ Cordelia & Regan in love with Gloucester's conniving son, Edmund (who gave the order for
Cordelia to be executed), Goneril poisons Regan. But when Goneril discovers that Edmund has
been fatally wounded by Edgar, Goneril kills herself as well.
⚫ Cordelia is hanged. Lear appears, carrying the body of Cordelia in his arms.
⚫ Lear falls dead on top of his daughter. Kent declares that he will follow his master
⚫ Edgar becomes the ruler of Britain.
 Macbeth
⚫ Macbeth and Banquo are generals of King Duncan-encounters
3 witches-prophecies that Macbeth will become Thane of
Cawdor & King of Scotland.
⚫ Macbeth ambitious and murders King Duncan
⚫ Duncan’s sons escape to England-Macbeth becomes King
⚫ Macbeth arranges a banquet and kills Banquo
⚫ Haunted by ghost of Macbeth- meets Witches-makes 3
prophecies-
⚫ Macbeth finally beheaded by Macduff
 The Tempest
⚫ Prospero,Duke of Milan castaway on lonely island[once the place
of witch Sycorax] with child Miranda- [Antonio,brother usurped
his kingdom]& living for 12 years.
⚫ Prospero released many spirits like Ariel – also keeps Caliban,the
monsterson of Sycorax.
⚫ When play begins,shipwreck of Antonio,his confederate Alonso,
King of Naples,brother Sebastian and son Ferdinand
⚫ Ferdinand & Miranda fall in love-Sebastian & Antonio plan to kill
Alonso & Gonzalo-Caliban,Stefano,butler & Trinculo,jester plot to
kill Prospero
⚫ Prospero asks Antonio to restore dukedom-union of Miranda
&Ferdinand
⚫ Ship magically repaired-All embark for Italy-Frees Ariel from his
service-Leaves Caliban on the island
Quotes
 Hamlet
⚫ Fraility,thy name is woman
⚫ All that live must die
Passing through nature to eternity
⚫ Neither a borrower nor a lender be
⚫ That one may smile,and smile,and be a
villain
⚫ Brevity is the soul of wit
 King Lear
⚫ Nothing will come of nothing”
⚫ I am a man more sinned against than
sinning.
⚫ As flies to wanton boys,are we to the
Gods.They kill us for their sport
 Dr.Samuel Johnson
⚫ “In tragedy he often writes with great
appearance of toil and study,what is
written at last with little felicity,but in his
comic scenes,he seems to produce
without labour,what no labour can
improve.”
⚫ “Scenes are occupied only by men,who
act and think.”
 Alexander Pope
⚫ “If ever any author deserved the name of
an original it was Shakespeare.
⚫ “His characters are so much Nature
herself,that it is a sort of injury to call
them by so distant a name as copies of
her”
 Milton
⚫ “The sweetest Shakespeare,
Fancy’s child!”
 Mathew Arnold
⚫ Others abide our question:
Thou art free
 William Wordsworth[sonnet]
⚫ And such was Shakespeare,whose strong
soul could climb
steeps of sheer-terrors,sound the ocean
grand
Of passions deep,or over Fancy’s strand
Trip with his fairies,keeping step and
time
Ben Jonson[1573-1637]
⚫ Born at Westminster
⚫ Adopted trade of stepfather,bricklayer-became a soldier-acting &
writing plays with Lord Admiral’s Company
⚫ Wrote successful masques
⚫ Favorite place was Mermaid Tavern
⚫ Buried in Westminster Abbey with an epitaph, “O rare Ben
Jonson”
⚫ Comedy of Humours-individual as marked by one characteristic
distortion or eccentricity based on one of the 4 humours- [Blood,
Phlegm,Choler or yellow bile,Melancholy or black bile]
Major Works
∙ Comedies ⚫ Tragedies
‘Sejanus, His fall’
‘The Case is Altered’ ‘Cataline, His conspiracy’
‘Everyman in his Humour’
‘Everyman out of his Humour’
‘Epicoene or the silent woman’
‘The Alchemist’
‘Volpone or the fox’
⚫ Masques
‘The Masque of Beauty’
‘The Bartholomew Fair’ ‘The Masque of Queens’
‘The Devil is an Ass’ ‘Oberon, the fairy Night
‘The Light Heart’
‘ Humour Reconciled’
‘A Tale of a Tub’
⚫ Criticism
- ‘Timber’
 Volpone or The Fox
⚫ Volpone,rich & childless Venetian,pretends to be dying in
order to draw gifts from his would-be-heirs.
⚫ Mosca,his servant,extracts costly gifts
⚫ Corvino attempts to offer his wife
⚫ Volpone bequeaths property to Mosca & feigns death.
⚫ Mosca blackmails Volpone.
⚫ Volpone informs all to the authorities.
⚫ Volpone cast in irons-Mosca whipped and confined to the
galleys.
⚫ Names of characters
Volpone[the fox] Mosca[the fly] Voltore[vulture]
Corbaccio[the crow] Corvino[the raven]
 Epicene or The Silent Woman
⚫ Morose,an old bachelor,disinherits nephew Sir Dauphin Eugenie
–decides to marry provided he get a silent woman.
⚫ Cutbeard,his barber finds one,Epicene
⚫ Epicene turned out to have a big mouth
⚫ Sir Dauphine arrives with his friends and guests,Captain Otter,his
wife,the Collegiate ladies & boastful nights.
⚫ Frantic,Morose accepts Dauphine’s offer to get rid of Epicene For
$500 a year and the reversion of his property.
⚫ Dauphine pulls off Epicene’s wig revealing a boy.
⚫ Dryden opined –the most perfect plotted of all comedies.
 The Alchemist
⚫ Lovewit,during an epidemic of the plague,leaves his house in
Blackfriars in London in charge of his servant Face[Jeremy]
⚫ Face sets up in business with Subtle, a fake alchemist, and Dol
Common, a prostitute.
⚫ Lure a variety of victims.
⚫ Dapper-summon a ghost to help in gambling
⚫ Drugger,tobacconist wanted to prosper his business
⚫ Sir Epicure Mammon,a knight wanted the ‘philosopher’s stone’
⚫ Drugger informs of widow Dame Pliant-Subtle & Face seek to win
her-
⚫ Surly,sceptic reveals Subtle & Face
⚫ Return of Lovewit-Jeremy offers Dame Pliant if he pardons them-
Lovewit married Dame.
Francis Beaumont John Fletcher

⚫ Abler among the two ⚫ Cousin of Giles & Phineas

⚫ Son of a judge Fletcher
⚫ Died of the plague
⚫ ‘The Faithful Shepherdess’

Beaumont and Fletcher

Beaumont and Fletcher
⚫ Comedy of London ⚫ Tragedies -
life ‘The Maid’s Tragedy’
⚫ Tragi-comedies ‘Philaster’
⚫ Full of witty ‘The Faithful
Shepherdess’
dialogues
⚫ Lack Shakespearean ⚫ Comedies
wealth of imagery A king and No king’
⚫ 52 works [Dryden’s acclamation]
‘The Knight of the
Burning Pestle’
‘The Scornful Lady’
 The Maid’s Tragedy
⚫ Amintor,gentleman of Rhodes breaks engagement with Aspatia at
King’s request & marries Evadne,sister of Melantius
⚫ On the wedding night,Evadne reveals she is King’s mistress
⚫ Amintor reveals the truth to Melantius who persuades Evadne to
kill the King.
⚫ Aspatia disguises as her nbrother and duels with Amintor
⚫ As she lies dying,Evadne arrives,killing the King
⚫ Amintor didn’t pardon Evadne & she committed suicide
⚫ Aspatia reveals herself and dies
⚫ Amintor takes his own life
⚫ Last act rewritten by Edmund Waller where Amintor marries
Aspatia[Aspatia’s lines taken by Eliot in an epigraph to ‘Sweeney
Erect’ & Emily Eden in Detached House]
George Chapman
⚫ Works
‘The Blind Beggar of
Alexandria’
‘Charles, Duke of
Byron’
‘The Tragedy of
Chabot’
‘Eastward Ho’
‘All Fools’
⚫ Translation of
Homer’s Iliad[Keats
sonnet-On first
John Marston
⚫ Works
Antonio and Melinda’
‘Antonio’s Revenge’ -
[Ridiculed by Johnson
in ‘The Poetaster’-as
Crispinus]
The
Malcontent[Webster]
Eastward Ho[Chapman
& Jonson]
 The Malcontent
⚫ Considered his best play
⚫ Altofronto, banished Duke of Genoa,
disguised as malcontene Malevole
⚫ Reveals Pietro,his successor that he is
deceived by his wife,Amelia
⚫ Watches Mendoza’s designs to banish
Aurelia, & marry Altofronto’s wife,Maria
⚫ Altofronto & Pietro exposes Mendoza’s
villainy and regain their wives.
⚫ Plot resembles ‘Measure for Measure’
Thomas Middleton
⚫ Works
‘The Changeling’
‘Women Beware
Women’
‘The Witch’ –
[resemblance to
Macbeth]
‘The Spanish Gipsy’-
[As You Like It]
Thomas Heywood
⚫ Works
A Woman killed with
Kindness’
‘The English Traveller’
‘The Royal King and
The Loyal Subject’
‘The Captives’
John Webster
⚫ Famous revenge ⚫ Criticism on poor
tragedies sense of structure,
‘The White Devil’ his inconsistencies,
‘The Duchess of Malfi’ excessive use of
⚫ Wrote several plays
horror,
in collaboration with
other dramatists.
⚫ Tragedies frequently
revived.
 The White Devil
⚫ Brachiano,husband of Isabella[sister of Francisco,Duke of
Florence] is weary of her & in love with Vittoria,wife of
Camillo.
⚫ Flamineo,Vittoria’s brother helps Brachiano to seduce her and
kill Camillo.
⚫ Isabella is poisoned by Brachiano
⚫ Vittoria is sentenced to confinement in ‘a house of penitent
whores’from where Brachiano rescues her and marry.
⚫ Flamineo kills his younger brother,Marcello who dies in the
hands of his mother Cornelia.
⚫ Francisco avenges her death by poisoning Brachiano - Vittoria
& Flamineo dies at the hands of the people.
The Duchess of Malfi
⚫ Duchess,a widow loves Antonio,steward at her court-secretly marries
him.
⚫ Brothers,Ferdinand,Duke of Calabria and Cardinal resists- places Bosola,
a slave as a spy who betrays her to them
⚫ Duchess & Antonio flee & separate
⚫ Duchess is captured by the brothers and subjected to mental tortures-
finally she is strangled along with her two children and waiting woman-
Ferdinand goes mad.
⚫ Bosola becomes the avenger but kills Antonio by mistake.
⚫ Bosola kills Cardinal & Ferdinand who kills Bosola at his dying breath.
FrancisAscham
Roger
John
Bacon
Lylyhooker
Richard
Robert burton
Prose writers of
Elizabethan Age
 Francis Bacon
⚫ Baron Verulam , Viscount St.Albans
⚫ English Works :
‘Essays’ -First appeared in 1597 - 10
numbers
Second appeared in 1612 - 38
numbers
⚫ Third appeared in
1625 - 58 numbers
‘The Advancement of Learning’
‘The History of Henry VII’
‘Apophthegms’
OF Studies
a) Studies serve for delight,for ornament
and for ability.
b) Some books are to be tasted,others to
be swallowed and some few to be
chewed and digested.
c) Reading maketh a full man;conference a
ready man;and writing an exact man
 Of Marriage and single Life
⚫ He that hath wife and children hath given
hostages to fortune
⚫ Wives are young men’s mistresses;
companions for middle age;and old men’s
nurses
 Robert Burton
⚫ Famous for The Anatomy of Melancholy
⚫ Written under the pseudonym, Democritus[laughing
philosopher]Junior
⚫ Tone-satirical,mocking,self-mocking, confidential, pessimistic
⚫ Melancholy-vast range of obsessions,mental malfunctions
⚫ Conclude that the whole world is mad,including his readers and
himself
⚫ Book –lengthy introduction & 3 partitions
⚫ 1st-nature,causes and symptoms of melancholy
⚫ 2nd –on its cure
⚫ 3rd -2 forms,love melancholy & religious melancholy
⚫ Admired by Samuel Johnson & Charles Lamb-Keats’ Story of Lamia
Thank You