1 RENAISSANCE

Oct. 2nd, 97. Beowulf and the Elegies. The Anglo - Saxon Epic. Old English Poetry 6th BC c. Britannia was inhabited by the Celts - indigenous population. 1st - 5th AD c. conquered by Caesar Roman colony. 5th c. AD - new invasion by the Anglo-Saxons - Germanic tribes driven from the invasion of the Huns, became Brits - chain reaction. The Celts were pushed in the Western and North-western parts. The Anglo-Saxons came from Denmark and Sweden, and settled down in Britain - primitive social organization tribal: earls (masters) and churls - servant absolutely dispossessed, act as warriors or workers. Their culture was closely associated with the sea. The Anglo- Saxons founded 7 kingdoms in GB - Kent, Sussex, Essex, Wessex, East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia. The struggle for supremacy - rivalry brought success to different kingdoms. First Kent, then Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex - reign of king Alfred the Great. Danish invasions from the north across the water, Alfred in control of all the kingdoms, the Danes localized in North England. This is the OE period 7th - 11th c. 1066 Norman Conquest - French speaking - ME period dawns with it. The history of England changed. 6th c. - christianisation of Anglo-Saxons due to a Roman missionary in Kent - centre of English church today, the Celts were Christianised earlier. There were four dialects - Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon in Wessex, and Kentish - these were the kingdoms that had supremacy. OE literature can be divided in: secular and Christian literature. Basically works written in verse. Prose started developing later. Verse - more primitive and natural way of expression. Secular poetry - genre divisions: (i) gnomic verse (connected with knowledge) - lists of proverbs and sayings arranged in verse form. (ii) mnemonic verse - facilitates memorizing. Literature is oral, access only through public readings. Even in the 14th c. common public readings, Chaucer read in public. Verse is easier to memorize when heard mnemonic function of literature. (iii) riddles - give the atmosphere of the times, picture of the details of everyday life, visual picture, and imagery. 2 lays - poems glorifying Germanic heroes, tragic atmosphere. 3 epics - many destroyed, preserved Beowulf (rewritten many times). Expansion of the lays, deal with a string of hero exploits; their purpose is to glorify the hero - superhuman character but mixes with other ordinary humans on equal footing. We have bits and pieces of other such epics. Lyrical poetry - called elegies "Lament of Dear", "The Wanderer", "The Seafarer", "The Ruins of Bath". Dramatic monologues - complaints about solitude, lack of comfort and hope, conditions and insecurity of life, inevitability. The pagan goddess of fate Wyrd most important. Secular poetry was written and sung by scops poet and entertainer of the halls of the king. When literature was distributed orally, only privileged people had access to it. Christian poetry - Latin, lot of monasteries, imitated pagan past stylistically, impressed by its stylistic fineness. Bede "Ars Metrica" - one of the first books of poets in post classic. "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" - material from English monasteries, proud source of history of those days. Alcwin - 8th c, fine style, theological work. Cadmon and Cynewulf - poets on biblical epics, used figures from the Bible, not only saints but also warriors, oriented to poets and subjects from legends of church lives of saints, models of righteous behaviour. This anticipates the rise of the romance - mystical visions, saints, and martyrs. Not courage and strength but concerned with fortitude - virtue enables you to resist sin. Depicts state of mind, full of tears and pathos. Rhetorical language deviates from the norm of the OE period. Alfred - 9th c. to early literature prose in the dialect of the Wessex started a school of writings - philosophy, geography. Anglo-Saxon chronicle 7 manuscripts, 4 versions - impersonal, unornamented. Followed by several other schools - Dunston, Aelfine, and Bishop Wulfstan. Beowulf is entirely preserved; it consists of some 3200 lines. Probably it was written in the early 8th c. and it is preserved in a 10th c. West-Saxon manuscript (like most of the early English writings). The poem is based on old Germanic legends, in the tradition of the continent (where they come from). It refers to historical events which have been recorded in chronicles of the time; the two placed on the Baltic shores (the original home of the Anglo-Saxon) in the 6th c. The historical event around which the story revolves is the reign of king Hygelac of the Fricians. The main character is not Hygelac himself, but Beowulf, who is Geat (Gaut) (ethnic definition),

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member of the Gautar tribe. In the poem, Beowulf arrives in Denmark to rescue the king there, whose name is Hrothgar, from a monster - Grandel. This monster comes to the newly made mead-hall, pesters Hrothgar and his warriors nightly. The monster and his mother live in a cave, at the bottom of a lake; i.e. they are water monsters, which perform their deeds mainly on land. Beowulf is seen to arrive at Denmark, which is described in a very nice way with many details. Then, Beowulf and his warriors settle and wait for the night to come. During the night, he fights with Grendal and manages to tear one of his hands - runs away and hides. His mother comes to seek a revenge, but she is chased away too. Here comes the point in which Beowulf must follow them to the lake - he goes under the water, there is a fight. He kills them both, and now he can go back home. That is the end of the first part. The second part of the poem takes place later on in Beowulf's life where he has become king of the Geats (after Hygelac's death). Now he is challenged by another monster - a fire-dragon. Beowulf is much older now and less capable of escaping easily from such battles and while fighting - he is injured and dies off from his wounds. His followers bury him in a great style. The structure of the poem is a simple one, it introduces two stories - the first one is about the water creatures that have to be destroyed, and the other one is some kind of essence that is a associated with fire. Some scholars have suggested that this might be interpreted as a solar myth in which the cultural hero fights against the forces of nature. It is an epic poem and as such, it reveals some heroic code. This code does not necessarily have symbolic value, but every now and then, we are led to believe that there is another dimension in the poem. We are certain that we are facing a hero of a super human dimension. The hero is not pious and God hearing Christian of later writings, but rather primitive possessing the traditional pagan virtues of strength, courage and loyalty. He is the ideal medieval warrior taming the forces of the natural world. At the same time, Beowulf has the virtues of the new Christian knight: mildness, courtesy, and justice. The structure of the poem is uneven, interrupted by a lot of digression, repetition and retrospections. There is no neat line of development we can follow chronically and logically from the beginning until the end. Probably it is written by a learned poet, although anonymous. We judge by the contents that the obvious influence on it is of Virgil's Aeneid. We also can say that the epic is didactic and edifying. Beowulf is a mixture of Christian and pagan elements - a Christian revision of pagan legends. No pagan Gods are mentioned, instead we have names and events from the Bible, probably those are later accretions in the poem. The length of the rhythmic wave, the line fuses into sth greater, what is important here is the verse of the paragraph. This makes the poem sound more solemn and important as a statement. When we have neatly stopped lines then the poetry tends to sth like a song in which it is very easy to establish parallel structures. In this poem there are no easily established parallel structures, it runs all and long, any motion is expressed by a long sentence that runs through a number of lines. Oct. 6th, 97 : Medieval Romances and Ballads. The Spirit of Gothic Ren. The Arthurian Legend. The Gawain Poet It is marked by the flowering of the Middle Ages, its social organization and culture and at the same time the obvious rise and anticipation of a very different period. Very few major traces of the period, of the context of the literary development, there was a further growth of industry and commons in England, the strengthening of the middle class - the freemen, the townsmen - the people who organized themselves on a democratic basis into new structures of community and power. Also in this period there was a change in the psychology of the nation - growth in the confidence and rise of nationalism. It was no longer the Anglo-Saxon language, but a synthesis of it and French - language which little by little will substitute the different dialects. The war with France (1337 - 1453). These conditions help to bring poverty and misery on a large scale. New laws were introduced - they hardened the relationship b/n masters and peasants and people employed on the land. There was a sturdy increase in the wage labor, which created new social scheme and problems. In addition to these, we should say about the first serious pestilence in England, the so-called Black Death in 1348, in which 1/4 of the population died. It created the feeling that mankind was sinful and was thus punished by God. 1381 Tylor and J. Ball lead a peasant revolt. More important to the period is the religious heresy of Wycliffe (1328 - 1384), an Oxford scholar. Teaching the supremacy of the king over the church; it anticipates the nationalist movement. It bases its claims on national independence. A very important feature of this heresy is

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the idea of predestination and direct communication with God. When you are predestined from birth, the church cannot help you, it can only sell you a pardon at the end of your life. If man can communicate directly with his Creator, the church becomes irrelevant. Thus, the Bible needed to be translated for the very first time. Later this teaching was carried to an extreme, coming close to utopian communism. The alliterative revival - first half of the 14th c. in the West of the country. It is a revival of the old traditional techniques and poetic structure. B/n the end of OE period and the 14 c. we have a very large span in which poetry was written after the Continental tradition - the rhymed verse - classical meter - Greek and Latin stressed - unstressed, or short and long vowels. In the 14 c. in the West people were more conservative than the cultural center and thus the traditions were kept alive. Within the alliterative school, we have such writings as romances, mainly historical - "The Wars of Alexander", "The Destruction of Troy", "The destruction of Jerusalem", "Morte d Arthure", "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight". We also have religious poetry, largely allegorical - long narrative poems that contain a lot of lyrical characteristics, a mixture of the epic and the lyric. The three most important of them are found in the same manuscript as Sir Gawain, and most likely they were produced by the same author, who we refer to as Gawain Poet. These three poems are: The Pearl, Passions, and Purity (the manuscript dates from around 1370). Last in this group of writings comes the social satire Piers Plowman. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - in some ways it is a typical romance story, but still very different. It starts in Camelot during the New Year season when all knights have gathered to celebrate. A challenger appears - a knight in green. He challenges king Arthur and Gawain defends his king. Gawain is offered the first blow and he chops off the green knight's head. Surprisingly he picks it up and leaves. Gawain is supposed to meet him in one year's time and till then is left in suspense about the Green Knight's identity. Eventually he prepares for the journey, but nobody knows where the Green Knight lives. Gawain travels through the Western part of the country (very nice description of the landscape throughout different seasons; this interest in nature and details was not typical of the period). In the third section Gawain at last arrives at a castle and is invited to spend some time there since it is X-mas Eve. The host tells him that each day he goes hunting and whatever he brings back will be given to his guest, and respectively whatever Gawain gets in the castle should be given to the host. As soon as the host leaves his wife tries to seduce Gawain who decides to be loyal to his host. The first day he exchanges a kiss for a deer; the second - a boar for two kisses; on the third he exchanges a fox for two kisses, but Gawain does not give him the girdle green which is magic. He thus fails in his chivalric code. The host has to give him the first blow. Gawain manages to slip away, not because he is afraid but as a natural reaction. Only the third time thus he stands still, and the Green Knight leaves him a scar. Then he reveals himself as the lady of the castle and at the same time the knight. The scar will show that Gawain is not perfect. When he returns to Camelot, all the knights decide to wear green. The story is ironical, told in great circumstances and psychological details, which is unusual (G's feelings, the portrait of the lady). All this points to a new interest in man, which is usually associated with the Ren The romance is a series of adventures and usually does not follow a particular narrative structure. However, here we have a plot with two interconnected adventures. Structure - 1001 stanzas of different length, not rhymed, five rhymed lines - called Bob and Wheel follow each stanza. Movement from allegory to symbolism. Langland (partially true) Piers Plowman - the Dreamer has a vision of the bustling world around him. Here the clergy plays a central role. Lady Meed appears; she stands for the financial award. She is going to marry another allegorical figure called Falsehood. They are accused by Conscious and are put to trail. Reason - another allegoric figure; the Seven Deadly Sins. The goal - a moral reform of the community. ... sets out on a pilgrimage for Truth (standing for God). He meets Piers, a simple laborer of the land, and asks him to be his guide. Piers however has to plow his land first since each estate is supposed to perform certain functions. He sticks to the rules and thus the experiment of this organization collapses. Piers gets a pardon, decides to give up material possessions and turn to prayers and penance. He has called the Vita, Do-Well, DoBet, and Do-Best, the three categories of righteous life. He has to choose. Do-Well is the life of usefulness and honest work; Do-Bet - charity, approaching the life of the virgin; Do-Best - the life of the clergyman who has acquired the perfection of the bishop. Structure - a huge poem, rumbling and formless; series of dreams. The poem exists in three separate versions (1362 - 1398). The third version is three times bigger than the original. Ideas - a satire against the corruption on

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all social levels; largely deductive. It represents a firm and lasting social order, considered perfect, created once and for all, in which estate performs certain functions. Any change is evil. There is a contrast b/n the simplicity of the Christian message and the chaotic corrupted state of contemporary society, which claims to be Christian. There are many scenes of every day life. The poem is a mixture of popular and theological tendencies. The result is a contradictory work, harking back to medieval ideology and artistic expression, and at the same time revealing a new humanistic interest.

Gothic Renascence
The OE period ended in the 11th c. We usually have in mind a particular year 1066. It is a boarder line b/n the Old and the Middle English periods. Not an enormous change in the language or literature, but it was a political event that led to great changes in English history on all levels - the Norman conquest. They were so to say the grandsons of the Vikings that had been pushed away from the island to the continent two centuries before. Now Frenchified they came to seek their property on the island. William the Conqueror came from the continent with the concept of centralized feudal state. France was ahead of England at that time. The British social organization was more fragmented, each feudal lord in England had a relative autonomy. When William came, he conquered everything - establishing a system of vassalage on the island. He could give away land to the most loyal subjects and in this way they became vassals, the king could take away at any point the gifts from subjects that did not prove to be loyal. They were in a constant danger of dispossession. From now England became centralized monarchy. A very fine hierarchy would be established in England. The church became the greatest feudal institution and it was involved into an international system of policy - with the Church of Rome for its head. In the 12th c. this ecclesiastical system started expanding Eastward, through the so-called crusades. What triggered them was the centralization of power in European kingdoms. It led to imposition of the law of primogeniture (only the oldest son could inherit). So the aristocratic families had a problem - sons that do not know where they belong now and they need some kind of occupation, so they started gathering in bands and became what is known now as knights. Great number of knights needed some kind of application of their energy, ambition and of course, expansion is on the agenda. It was considered as a holly deed freeing the lands of Christ from the infidels. On their way, they passed through different lands, which had to be put to rights too. This is the atmosphere in which new cultural period emerges - Gothic Renascence. The greatest change that took place was in architecture (the transition from Romanesque style to the Gothic style in church architecture). It expresses a change in attitude - the way you look on the world. The previous style can be described as relatively low building, little light comes in it, and you are there in order to remember that you are a humble creature in the power of God and God is watching you from everywhere. On the other hand the Gothic church is much bigger - they remind you of abstraction that is bigger than you and more powerful. It became possible to build these much more impressive architectural structures because of the accumulation of wealth in the centralized feudal state and the new technologies. It is also the expression of the new self confidence that is expressed in theology, in philosophical writings, in the visual arts, etc. in the Gothic church the windows are bigger, they let more light through; the high arches make the ceiling almost non - existing. Man is impressed by it beauty, height, and thus he becomes aware of the splendor of God's essence; he is not depressed by the feeling that he is always watched and judged. This new period stresses on the beauty of the world, so all elements in the church remind you of the vegetation and the birds that fly in the sky. This gives you the impression that this is no longer the world of punishment, but a world of enjoyment, and it has been created by God. So the material world around you is not only sth that is doomed to decay and death, it is sth beautiful, an image of God. In these days, life for the aristocracy was becoming more comfortable and enjoyable. The centralized feudal state created these conditions much more to man. In addition, many objects of beauty were brought from the East by the crusaders. These tokens were based on the luxury of other civilizations, so they started imitating them. Christianity was softened thanks to the example of eastern civilizations and Christianity. The character of Virgin Mary was becoming very central; she stands for sympathy, mercy. The figure of Christ looms bigger; little by little his figure becomes more important than that of his father - the punisher. The medieval approach to the world can be described by two terms: other-worldliness and deduction. The other worldliness - the focus of interest should be on the world beyond the world that is given to our senses. This

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world is only temporal, full of temptations, what matters is the other world and we can experience it only through our souls. The deduction - it is contiguous of the first principle, because if you believe that there is a real world beyond ours imperfect reflection of it, then you must believe that that the truth established once and for all, and everything you experience is only an illustration of these truths. Deduction is a principle of thinking, leading intellectual life, which proceeds from truths that are ready-made. The change in attitude to Virgin Mary sketches a change in the attitude to all women. It was a great change from almost non-existing women, the sub-creature to the lady of the castle, she is the perfect human being, she has to be worshipped by the men, who have to plunge into deeds of valor for her sake. This raises only the status of the exceptional aristocratic women. She is far away from the deeds of men. The relationship b/n them has changed now. During this period emerged a new hero, who replaced the epic hero. The Anglo-Saxon warrior is replaced by the knight, who is champion of Christianity, who is a warrior and a worshiper of the beauty of the women. He is more refined than the pagan warrior is. The audience of literature is an assemblage of lords and ladies in a banquet or festival halls, royal entertainments. The performance - the link b/n authors and audience remains very direct, still oral. Side by side in the writing of the social formation, we notice elements of its decay and destruction. This is what happens with the ripening of feudalism. The emergence of its negation is also noticeable already in the 15th c, and this is the growth of industry given boost by the crusades, by building great castles. Those castles started being surrounded by artisans and craftsmen, who work for the needs of the aristocrats. With the merchants emerged the new class of free men, and filled the space b/n the aristocracy and the poor peasants. Later they will be called townsmen (their communities live in towns). They formed governments, autonomous to a certain extend; it is democratically elected. Little by little guilds were formed. England starts experiencing sth that we can call double political structure. In 1295, the Great Council is formed in England, or that is the beginning of the English Parliament with two sections - of Commons, and of Lords. Representatives of the middle class are now allowed to enter the Council and rival the authority of the crown. All these give us the right to divide literature of the period into two sections: literature of the aristocracy, and of the commons. The aristocratic literature can be divided into secular and religious. The literature of the commons is secular. We talk about common literature since that time, but not earlier because if there was such, it was oral and there are no records of it, and today it has remained basically in the form of traditions. On the other hand, it could have influenced the literature of the aristocrats in such ways that are no longer extractable. A new awakening, the notion that this world is not just a trial for sinners but also a trial for potential salvation. The pleasures of living in this world are recognized. This is still in the context of the Christian doctrine but the focus has changed from a pessimistic view of the world to a more optimistic one. This shift is reflected in the romances. There is the striving to grasp the world as it is, as we would like it to be. The romances - usually a tale of love and adventure, reflecting the spirit of Gothic Ren In the religious sphere there is a cult of Virgin Mary, and in general women became central characters. The plot - a beautiful lady who has to be courted by a knight. He has to strain himself to the utmost for her sake in order to save her from troubles. Of course, she is not just any woman but the lady of the castle. The romance deals with separation and reunion. It is a story that goes through several adventures; it usually starts with some kind of separation and ends with a reunion. The romance first appeared in France in the second 1/2 of the 12th c. It was mainly written in verse. Later it spread over the continent, and in the 15th c. started being written in prose. This change can be explained with the introduction of the printing press (literature started as an oral tradition and that's why it had to be in verse since verse had mnemonic functions). I. Secular literature - the subject of the romance is various: (i) classical romances, based on classical mythology, dealt with stories about Troy, Alexander the Great, etc. (ii) romances that imitate the novels of the so-called Alexandrian period. We often refer to that body of literature as Heliodorian novel after the name of one of the authors. These are tales of adventures and miracles. Other kinds of romances are grouped around some important figures - Charles the Great,

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Charlemagne. Another type is about king Arthur and his knights (very similar to the previous one). The story has to be about a great monarch, leader or warrior. The Arthurian romances are intimately connected with English literature, and later spread in Italy, Germany. and France. Arthur's name is first mentioned in a 9th c. chronicle in Britain as a leader of the Celtic Britain warriors who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons. The chronicle is in Latin. Arthur is successful in many battles. However he is rather a local leader than a king; he gradually became one into the people's imagination. He probably existed but had no kingdom, nor a circle of knights (they were mythological creations). The second mention of Arthur's name is in a 12th c. "History of the King of Britain" by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Here Arthur appears as a historical figure, but due to the period he was associated with the courtly ideals of the romance - chivalry, gentility, curtsy. In the 12th c. two other authors dealt with Arthur - Layamon and Wace. Here we already have a development of the English language. Wace wrote a poem "Brut", and so did Layamon, but his was more expanded. It is a historical writing dealing with the legend of Britains history. Brut is Eneus' grand-grand-son who escaped from burning Troy and established Rome. So they claimed that Eneus' children found another nation which will be more glorious and powerful. In the 12th and the 13th c. the story appeared in Br. and Fr., no longer just dealing with Arthur but with his whole circle of knights - Sir Gawain, Sir Perceval, Sir Lancelot, Tristram and Isolde. Thus the round table appeared, based on a certain chivalric code of manner and way of living. The story started expanding but the characters remained the same. After a lot of early romances, in the 15th c. sir Thomas Mallory wrote "Le Morte d' Arthure". He took his material from the rich French romances (English romances were simpler, shorter, and less sophisticated). He introduced the idea of Arthur's death and that he will return when Br. needs him. It is written in prose, and unlike the French romances the whole material is organized in a kind of a logical system, gradually heading towards the downfall of Arthur's kingdom. The development is glorious and at the same time seems doomed to failure. This trait betrays the late writings of the book, since it sees the whole story as completed and finished. The prose is good, clear, nave in narration. The book's structure is rambling and repetitive, but already a promise for future development. Besides the long romances there were also shorter ones called lays. Love lyrics - another genre modelled on songs written for wider popular audience; nave and simple in style; reveal a feeling for nature. During this period there is a division b/n secular and religious literature, where the religious is a reflection of the secular one. The religious is a kind of a spiritual perfection. II. Religious romances: (i) didactic - closely connected with the Holy Grail, which can be found by holy people or saints. Thus the knight who takes part in the quest must be spiritually purified, must possess all the virtues of the chivalric code + religious virtues. None of the knights of the Round Table have them. Then comes the knight of the new generation - Galahad (Lancelot's son). He is superior to his father. A great number of romances are written about the quest of the Holy Grail (ii) allegorical romances, modelled on the French "Roman de la Rose" (a group within the literature of the church). It is a 13th c. long narrative poem; the characters are personified abstractions. (iii) allegorical visions - writings about adventures in the new Jerusalem (the perfected world). They deal again with personified abstractions; didactic purpose + satire. In the 14th c. - Piers Plowman, Ch's House of Fame, and an anonymous poem The Pearl. (iv) hagiographical writings - typically medieval; tales of miracles, of fortitude and faith. The moral code is of a more passive nature. The saint is not a warrior; he has to withstand temptation. Thus he is innerly strong, not physically. Within the group of the saints' lives there are stories about he virgin. (v) as a parallel to the secular lyrical poetry there are religious lyrical poems. These are songs about the Virgin, crucifixion, death, and the vanity of human ambitions. III. Literature of the common people: We don't usually speak of such literature. It was oral and lived in the form of folklore. When the middle class got stronger they started producing their own literature. It was very different from that of the aristocracy, and consisted of several groups of works:

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(i) fabliaux (a tale). Short tales written in verse, working up to a comic point. The setting is the middle class; the experience of the townsmen. Realistically circumstantial in details; interest in human psychology. Favorite themes - dupery and adultery. The humor is licentious. Boccaccio s writings - light in spirit and entertaining, contain the vigor of the middle class and the enjoyment of life. (ii) ballads - from the 12th to 17th c. short narrative poems, meant to be sang, dealing with strongly dramatic and tragic situations. Subject matter: a) Tragic domestic situations of supernatural love affairs. Ghosts appear in the middle of the night and knock at the window. It is nice to be with your lover, but it usually takes you to the grave - a kind of reunion. Supernatural essence. b) Historical events - the so-called border ballads - about the long strife b/n the Scots and the English (14th - 17th c). c) Outlaw ballads - about the rebellion against the established order. Robin Hood - a fighter against the oppression of the people, defender of the poor and the women. He is the enemy of the organized church. He resembles Arthur. d) Political groups of social protest, satires of foolish fashions which are not written in the ballad form but are very close to it. The ballad has a stable form which is not obligatory and can be varied, but the stable form is based on the so-called septenarius (seven foot iambic line). The line is divided by a very strong caesura and we have the feeling of separate lines, only the 'b'-lines rhyme. Repetition of all kinds is typical of the ballad: of lines - refrain, of words - anaphora, even of whole phrases where every noun has a associated epithet. Most ballads were created in the North or in Scotland. CHAUCER / 1340 - 1400 / Nov. 20th, 97 Born in London, belonged to a continental tradition literary line - Gawain poet, W. Langland. His work is close to theirs in outlook, reflects the trends of the time, appreciated during his lifestyle, father of English poetry. Comfortable life - his father a prosperous merchant. Chaucer - page at the court 1360 - soldier in France in the 100 War - captured, saved with the help of the king. Became courtier in diplomatic missions to France and Italy. Petrarch, Boccaccio - he met them when he visited Italy, but not proved. He was aware of the flowering of Italian Ren; his work bears the stamp of his country, which is lagging behind. He was made controller of Customs - secure positions, allows to spend most of his time in what he was interested in. He was a courtier servant of the king, had some duties, and could not devote all his time to writing. He was affluent, capable, not literary amateur. He was in court from his birth to his death, but in contact with the lower social strata too. Not of noble birth, but aristocratic environment. Died under Henry IV, the third king in his time. Comfortable life by the contemporary standards, lesser opportunity for leisure, widely read, well educated - knew Latin, French, Italian. Knew the works of Ovid, Virgil, Seneca, Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Roman de la Rose, the Bible, apocryphal books, astronomy, medicine, physics, and alchemy. Three periods - each of about 15 years: (i) the French - until he was 37, elegant courtly poetry, elegy "The Book of the Duchess" which was influenced by the Roman de la Rose (the French romantic tradition). (ii) the Italian - strong influence of contemporary Italian literature, allegorical fantasies, dream visions "The Parliament of Fowls", "The House of Fame" idiosyncratic humor and delicacy. "The Legend of Good Women" - collection of tales about life of illustrious women of the time. "Troilus and Criseyde" first English psychological novel in verse, memorable portraits of two personages - Criseyde and the uncle Panda, his first immortal work, in rhyme ababbcc. (iii) the English - entirely given to his greatest work "The Canterbury Tales" (1385 - 1400). Slight resemblance to foreign models, but distinct originalities. This is Chaucer's mature period. It is a collection of stories like Ovid's "Metamorphosis" and Arabian Nights, Boccaccio's Decameron, but placed in a framework of originality. People of all social strata going on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, the others a collection of tales - people on the road, interaction, sharing tales. 30 people gather in an inn, make a contest for a pleasant journey. Each one tells two tales on their way to Canterbury. In addition, two on the way back, so 120 tales all together. The story does not go as far as Canterbury, only 24 tales, unfinished.

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Diverse in style, each character has a specific way of using language. The entire book is unified by a common purpose - a holy quest. Result of the project - psychological variety, wide range of narrative interest, the tales form an epitome of all medieval genres in Chaucer's time in kaleidoscopic order - 10 romances of chivalric, religious, moral, ironic, satirical, parodic kind. The fabliaux - bourgeois, erotical kind, humorous, ironical life of townsmen. 8 stories - most enjoyable for the modern reader - deal with rough matter in a delicate way. Saints' lives - hagiography, miracle tales, a couple of tales, sermons, for example - medieval genre, gives synopsis of life of illustrious persons in the past, teaches that world is unreliable, concentrate on salvation, not on affluence in this world. The Monk - a religious "him". All tales from various sources, not original treated with marked originality; all tales are adapted to the characters, attributed to characterization. Interludes, prologues, epilogues - reveal the characters in action and mutual relationships, draw scenes in which characters and tellers as an active group of people - a miller and a knight side by side. Class distinction was strong, but no so much that two people could not communicate and form a group. Gallery of characters - in the General Prologue - most characters are introduced in detail, all are Chaucer's contemporaries, types of various social groups - knight, priest, monk, plowman, man of law, scholar, rich and poor, learned and ignorant. Miraculous book, epitome of English society, all sorts of people put together, only a great poet can do that. Distinctive features of the book psychological realism, faithful observation and presence of meaningful details of life (Gawain poet), but even more apparent. Presence of the author - keen, shrewd, kindly observant, penetrative, a personality respected by the reader, wild self-irony, acute awareness of the social scene, superior to Piers Plowman in color, order, humor Chaucer - not a reformer, ready to accept the world as it is, anticipates Shakespeare. Comprehensive view of the world in its variety. Nothing is seen less dignified, nothing is excluded, variety of life is in the book Encyclopaedia of late Middle Ages. Chaucer only dislikes social parasites, hypocrites. No tragic urgent problem, nor ready solutions - it is a book of observation, no censure, no indignation, observes the comedy of human life, knowledge, faith, outlook - feudal, he transcends his age - cool humor, facility of descriptive phrase, amusing narrative, psychological insights, sensitivity, sympathy for humanity, aversion to didacticism. Unfading appeal to humanity. MEDIEVAL DRAMA Ren in England - flowering of drama, Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The model of drama - antiquity but also native elements in Sh - 16th - 17th c. Late Middle Ages - upsurge of drama, of religion, germs of Ren secular dramaturgy. The drama of this period is interesting only because of its first relationship, yet staged successfully in the 20th c. The origin of medieval drama - religious rites of Christian church, sacred services at Easter and X-mas, accompanied by familiar Christian episodes - The Three Shepherds, the scene of adoration impersonated by the three priests at services. The dialogue - extension of the liturgical text written in Latin not in the vernacular. Very sparing, mostly physical action rather than words. 'Stage' - synoptic, simultaneous, several localities represented, enforced by the circumstances of the church - the stage had to be synoptic, mix localities together. Medieval visual art - similar approach, different localities side by side. Addition of this dialogue - change of mood, originally dignified, now local, topical, reference, satire, hilarity in text and acting. Biblically named by realistic and contemporary characters, secularisation of the religious acting. 13th c. layouty, replacing the clergy in organ and perform medieval productions. Liturgy - too bulky, leaves the premises of the church, goes into the city - leave theatrical performances. Lay-outy took over developing communal life, fast growth of trade guilds, competition the Church Festivals - the Corpus Christie, late spring, encourage outdoor entertainments; the public square, the market - places for this. Mystery play emerged - truly communal national drama, developed in cycles in each city, series of biblical episodes, form of individual playwrights, grouped around main events - Easter, X-mas stories. Special attention devoted to these - focal points, the entire Bible story evolving - expulsion from Paradise, first great crime description of Abel, Gospel story - Christ's story, life, resurrection; apocalyptic end of the world. All these had a didactic point in it, taught various moral, religious lessons and also for entertainment /more and more important because of the entertainment element/. Encouraged the direct contact b/n audience and performers, the playwrights suited the craft competition b/n guilds, contest of artistic ability. The platforms came in the square one after the other drawn by horses - for a couple of days. Nave identification of character and actor - dangerous to play the villain, because the audience surrounds the stage from all sides and gets in a direct physical contact. The audience was in a meaningful dialogue with the performers, improvised dialogue developed in addition to the one in the script - model of Shakespeare's theater - lively

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interchange b/n audience and players. The play is not isolated from the context. People present a biblical story, but actually topical. Result of this approach - realism in theater, satiric and comic characters - Pilate, Herod enjoyed wide popularity, extra personages, derisive caricature, farcical horseplay to please the crowd; satire grievances of the common public. Atmosphere - sacred, secular holy, burlesque, serious, and comic. The playwright - left the church to go into the market place, the guilds wanted to organize the religious play. In France and Spain- not in the market, but on the steps of the church (initially, thanks to the Influence of the Catholic Church)- no direct contact b/n the players and the audience - very different defies the mixture of genres. Later on it was developed into parades and marches on major religious feasts. Shakespeare - mixture developed in the market place. French were shocked by Sh's theater, called him savage. In France, the aristocracy had the superior power, while in England the middle class was in the center. The cycles of mystery plays - around four cities. Only cities have cathedrals - mysteries: the Chester cycle - 24 plays; the York cycle - 48 plays; the Wakefield - 32 playwrights = the Towneby cycle; Ludus Coventriac - 42 plays. Secunda pastorum - the second Shepherd's play in the Wakefield cycle (the best for modern age). Two plays in each cycle deal with Christ's birth. The Shepherds take their gifts to the newborn Christ. Structure - interesting, 3 shepherds coming to the stage spend the night in the open, 3 long monologues - grievances of the people. Fourth figure joins - Mack anybody, stands for man, thief, not trusted, asks to join them for the night, they agree though unhappily. Mack steals one of the sheep - on the stage is his home, his wife is expecting him, has a cradle in the house. The Shepherds discover the loss and accuse him, he denies, the Shepherds take the sheep back, they settle down to sleep. An angel appears announcing the birth of Christ - they take the sheep to Bethlehem and perform the adoration. In one corner of the stage - Bethlehem, the other Mack's house, deception and holiness of the shepherds in the middle. The mystery at the beginning of the play is contrasted to the happiness in the end. Mixture of times and spaces on a single continuum - typical of medieval act. Morality play, developed later - 14th c., presented on stages even in the Ren origin - the teachings of the clergy. The mode is not a historical narrative but a fable - medieval allegory - based on the externalization of an inner conflict. It is a struggle b/n the forces of good and evil for the possession of man's soul. A fight b/n Christian virtues, God's grace and mercy and the world, the flesh, the power, the devil. The whole play develops on a metaphysical plane. The characters are personifications of abstract qualities - virtues and vices are individualized, at the center a figure which represents humankind. Names: Everyman, Humanity - represents the essential human nature - defective, sinful, needs help from above. The problem is how to save man in the environment of temptation. Tone - tragic/comic. Man's soul cannot be destroyed because it represents the whole humanity - man is promised salvation due to Christ's righteousness. The play is bound to reach a happy ending tragedy is ruled out by definition. The situation - grave, serious problems, sober tone, yet the end is positive. This kind of structure is inescapable in the Christian context. Little by little towards more strongly individualized protagonists - around the end of the period. Mostly figures of sinners, despotic rulers, destroyed in the end. However, if one is destroyed, it is only a case of single fate, not the whole humanity. This is the hybrid. Morality play approaches the tragedy. The new humanist tragedy would eventually develop from the morality play. Characteristic features: comic realism - those represented in a humorous way so their power is diminished. They are the most amusing figures on the stage - interest is focused on the dealings of Evil. The inadequacies of human nature are largely exposed and ridiculed. The Vice - a manipulator of human impulses through temptation, sinister and malevolent, combines amusement and real danger. Serious dramatic conflict - struggle b/n Good and Evil for the possession of man's soul. Seen as autonomous powers that affect man's life metaphysical approach. The stage - fixed, more elaborate, structures to provide space foe the actors to retire, separate positions of the actors. Ex.- God -highest, isolated. Performed by professional troops already - there's evidence they collected money from the audience - a new stage in the history of the development of the theater. Early morality of significance: "The castle of perseverance", "Everyman", "Mankind". "Everyman" derived from a Dutch morality play, the end of the 15th c., we see the entire life of humankind from birth to death until his soul is saved. Only one episode - when Death comes to summon man, he has to give account before God. Man has not lived up to the image of his creator, has yielded to temptation of profitable life. He hasn't concentrated on good deeds but on pleasure - worried by the summons, he has to go through a process of calling upon all his powers at the end. God offers help; man's soul is assisted in its way to Heaven. A firm dramatic structure, deep seriousness -a masterpiece of the genre. Didactic tone. Central theme -

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the art of dying like a penitent Christian. Within the traditional Christian doctrine, no man is righteous. We're all sinners - the original sin - purified through penitence and recognition of sin. The method is that of medieval debate = argument b/n opposites. Little physical action and humor - unusually serious, the others - farce horseplay. There's however directness, compression, no unrelated episodes are added, a much neater creation. It has been successfully revived on English stages today - appeals to this agnostic audience. Lasting legacy of medieval drama - from the Mystery the Ren drama took the mixture of tragedy and comedy, dual focus on the sacred and profane, the parallelism b/n serious dramatic action and farce - multiplicity of plots. From the Morality plays, the Ren drama inherited the dramatic conflict b/n the powers of Good and Evil; the central dramatic character is the pivot of the play. The Morality play was slowly transformed into Ren humanist drama. Individualism - judged on their individual problems and traits, not only representatives of humanity. The link b/n the two is obvious.

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EDMUND SPENSER (1552 - 1599) Early Humanism - intermediate b/n Medieval drama and Ren Marked with the renewed interest in the classic culture; the attempt to emulate it in England. Then it flowered into a new culture- Ren based on Christianity and Humanism. It's the continuation and flowering of the middle ages/ duality of the Ren/. Marks a new departure based on the new interest in man. Edmund Spenser is the first great Ren representative, the father of Ren poetry. 1579 - "The Shepherd's Calendar" - ushered in the new age. Spenser studied in the Merchant Tailor's School, Cambridge, platonic philosophy and Calvinism. What is real is the world of ideas, everything else is mere shadow of ideas. Material things are not reliable, they're mutable. Plotinus - Neo-Platonism - a link is established b/n the two worlds; the world is seen as a continuum of the power of love - Eros. It appealed to the Ren mind very strongly, made people more confident. The real world was seen as a projection of the Eternal. Calvinism - an extreme form of Protestantism. It makes a stand on the idea of predestination, on the division of people into damned and chosen. It creates a feeling that some people are angelic; the absolute inability to change one's fate. These two influences form a strange mixture in Spenser. Elizabeth's reign is associated with the High Ren Spenser failed to get an office in the court, and set out for Ireland as secretary of Lord Grey de Wilton = lord-deputy of Ireland, a zealous Puritan, stamping out all forms of rebellion. Spenser became his admirer due to his Calvinistic background, because it was a holy war against the Catholics in Ireland. Spenser was a sensitive, brilliant master of language, yet fanatic champion in the war. His main poetic work, "The Faerie Queene", is dedicated to the most mighty and complemented queen Elizabeth. He also began writing satirical attacks against court manners as soon as he failed to get an office. In 1594 Spenser married Elizabeth Boyle. His Irish courtship is commemorated in a sonnet sequence named "Amoretti". His marriage was celebrated in a long lyrical poem named "Epithalamion". In 1595 , in London, he wrote the second part of "The Faerie Queene" - books 4,5,6,7. In 1598 he was appointed sheriff of Kork (an Irish county); he fled after the uprising. He is buried in Westminster Abbey next to Chaucer. "The Shepherd's Calendar" - a pastoral poem of 12 parts =eclogues, named after the months. Central themes - the unsuccessful courtship of Rosalind by Colin Clout, the religious topic. Some of them are complementary, there's a contest b/n two shepherds who are singers. The characters - pastoral traditional type - China shepherds like statues. Aristocratic in behavior, turned to be so in descent. Allegorical representations of real life persons: Tityrus -stands for Chaucer, Hobbinol - Spenser's friend Harvey, Rosalind - beloved from Lancashire, Colin Clout Spenser himself. The language is richly poetic, strangely archaic. He's the master of archaic language, coins words that resemble the old diction. He has special interest in the beauty of the language, a typical Ren interest, because the national language is still very new and vigorous, unfixed and prone to change, still in the making. The meter is varied, experimental, and no precedent for such metrical variety. We notice his eagerness to explore the native capabilities of the language. Spenser is incomparable when it comes to rhyming and weaving complex patterns (alliteration, assonance, euphony) / phonetic dexterity. That's why Spenser is considered the poet's poet, the master of poetic art. He considered himself a disciple of Chaucer, he brought English poetry to perfection. "The Faerie Queene" is Spenser's greatest achievement, projected in 12 books, 6 completed, a most ambitious long poem in Elizabethan time. Its greatness resides in tone, language, stanzaic pattern, melody. It's a romantic epic about the adventures of knights and ladies, inspired by "Orlando Furioso" by Arrosto. Characters are freely borrowed - damsels in distress, knights in armour. Built after the medieval romances, love for colourful detail. Central themes - love, courtship, bravery. To enjoy the scenery on the way before reaching the final goal typical trait of Ren literature. Delight in the journey is more than the promised goal. The purpose of the poem didactic, to fashion a gentleman in a virtuous and noble discipline = to create the social existence of such. Fashioning = perfecting a person in a certain way (Ren constant preoccupation). Ren believes in social roles as constructive - the model should be defined and described. Lots of books creating those models to follow. The most individualistic period, yet in a qualified manner. Aesthetic structure of the poem.

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Mode of the poem - allegorical, basically medieval form. Interwoven into a puzzling complexity - showing typical Ren inclination to multiplying devices in a limitless way, intricate network of allegory that dejects analysis. Layer of moral allegory - each character is a moral emblem, each book - one center character deals with a moral virtue embodied in the character. Prince Arthur - perfection of the 12 virtues, this combination of virtues is called Magnificence. The Red Cross Knight - first book stands for Holiness (virtue of religious type). Sir Guyon - second book - Temperance; Brittomast - turns to be a she - knight, virgin, and stands for Chastity. Kamble and Triamont = Friendship; Artegoll =Justice; Colidore = Courtesy. Incidental characters are also allegorical, symbolic in a sense - the Red Cross Knight - her name is Una, and she stands for truth. She has her opposite Duessa - falsehood; Archimago is the magician, he stands for hypocrisy. They are all figures from book one. The plot is typically romantic - there is a lot of fantasy, adventures leading eventually to a happy resolution. The second layer of allegorical significance can be said to be religious - in the institutional sense: the Red Cross Knight stands for the Anglican church, Una is the true religion, while Duessa is the Roman Catholic church. There is church policy involved. Spenser being Protestant introduced these ecclesiastical policies into his work. Thirdly each character is a portrait of a historical personality: Una - Queen Elizabeth; Duessa - Queen Mary of Scots; Prince Arthur - Philip Sydney who is Spenser's friend and patron, of the aristocracy, and also Lecester (Sydney's relation at the court); Sir Artegall (justice) - lord Grey de Wilton (Spenser's boss in Ireland). Sometimes one character represents two or more actual historical figures, eg Prince Arthur; sometimes we can have the opposite two or more historical figures are represented by one character, eg Queen Elizabeth. The language of the poem is archaic, like the one in Shepherds Calendar. Imagery is rich. The phrases are beautiful and elegant. The descriptions vivid and memorable, they define the puritanical deductive purpose of the work. Here we have the puritanical suspicion of aesthetic qualities, of beauty, of decoration. Puritans were notorious of that suspicion of beauty as tempting, as evil, and on the other hand, we have Spenser's great attachment to beauty. He tries to combine the two, which very often go one against the other. The dual nature of the Ren seems to be embodied in a single person. This inner conflict in him is very interesting, it is not shown as a conflict that can be resolved and therefore makes the poet suffer; not at all it is resolved in a very peaceful way, this is the magic in Spenser's poetry. The Spenserian stanza is created in this poem which is a modification of Chaucer's rhyme - royal, which has the following pattern: ababbcc (we have the alternating rhyme and the couplet). In Spenser this is extended into sth longer - a nine-line stanza: ababbcbcc. This kind of stanza is a great achievement of the English rhymed verse; the last line is Alexandrian, that is a six-foot iambic line. Each stanza is self-contained and closed in itself. This is the typical Ren tendency to establish a principle of coordination of independent components. The sonnet sequence "Amoretti": pays a conventional Platonic tribute to a beautiful and unattainable Petrarchan mistress. Employs the entire conventional system of the sonnet's themes, situations, postures, style and imagery. Mid 16th c. - a more realistic English attitude towards the mistress: she is treated as a woman that can be conquered and turned into a wife. Again we have the inner conflict in Spenser. On the one hand, he is a representative of the bourgeois spirit, and on the other - he is a Petrarchan The Petrarchan tradition did not allow the poet to treat the mistress as a prospective wife. The mistress is to draw the poet's soul to the beyond, to regions which are purer than everyday life. She is a messenger from heaven. She dies at the end of the sequence. Her departure from this world is also destructive because she starts drawing his soul even more to the beyond, and nothing remains of value or interest in this world. This tendency in Spenser has to be combined with a new, typically pragmatic view, that the courted girl will become a wife. The structure of his sonnets is also unusual - three quatrains and a closing couplet (the so-called interlacing pattern that knits the whole sonnet together). Spenser also wrote Epithalamium - a marriage ode appended to the Amoretti sequence. It surpassed everything that he had written before. It is fairly long and concentrates on all the positive emotions that marriage is associated with. LYLY Lyly belongs to a group of Elizabethan poets called the University wits. Most of them were educated and could use their new humanist education to serve popular commercial entertainment. They belonged to the middle classes. Their education made them intellectually anti-democratic; they saw delight in the arcane remote and the exalted was coupled with disdain for the local multitude. This became especially characteristic of Lyly, who aspired towards the position of court entertainer and was not attracted by the popular stage like most of his

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fellows. Educated in Oxford. In 1579 at the age of 25 he became famous - Euphues or The Anatomy of Wit. His plays were to be played in private theaters. Lyly was encouraged by the Queen to strive for a position at her court. However, he never got it and died in 1606 as a bitter man. Euphues - a Platonic romance about friendship and love. The name is meaningful - the youth gifted from nature. Euphues travels from Athens to Naples. This is an allegory of a trip from Oxford to London. Being, as the author puts it "of more wit than wealth and yet of more wealth than wisdom", Euphues persuades the pleasures of youth which seem to be reproached by an old gentleman of Naples (Eubulus). This is the background for the opposition old age - youth. When the debate is over, the old gentleman disappears from the story. Then Euphues meets a youth of his own age called Philautus (symbolic names - Eubulus = good advice; Philautus = self love). This is how Lyly discusses the questions of love and friendship. The character of Lucilla is introduced; she makes the relationship b/n the two youths more complicated since they both fall in love with her. Euphues wins her. Exhausting the theme to its utmost, Lyly takes the lady away from them and gives her to another character called Curio. This brings about a new situation and a new set of questions. Euphues and Philautus restore their friendship. Lucilla's father dies of grief and she is pushed off stage and forgotten. Euphues is determined never again to experience such form of delight, retires to Athens where he gives advice to all. The real interest of the author lays in the discussion of man's morals. Whenever a topic is discovered the narrative is suspended, so it can be discussed at length. This is the typical Ren carelessness as far as the central plot is concerned. The Ren author is interested in the discussion of various topics connected in some way to the main story. In Euphues language use is most important. A critic derived the name of this style from the title euphuism - elegant and effected, courtly, ornamented rather than direct, characterized by a careful balance b/n phrase and clause, and by an elaborately interwoven scheme of alliteration and assonance, similes and metaphors. This style however was not original - it was an imitation of Antonio de Guevara's style. Euphuism was a style that common people did not understand but one which the court needed in order to appear elevated. Thus in 1580 Lyly produced a continuation - Euphues in England which repeats the content of the formal story in England. However the narrative is now complex. The situations now invoke interest and expectations that would become characteristic of the future novel. Lyly's comedies were written for small theaters. They are marked by artificial symmetry (a static quality). Low comedy is excluded, and high comedy is established on the Elizabethan stage. For the very first time, as M. Mincoff suggests, love becomes a central theme. In this respect Shakespeare would have been impossible without Lyly. The setting is often unreal, mythological. Laughter is mixed with admiration. However, Lyly sees love as a mind's disease, and he wrote his comedies only to win the Queens favor. Alexander and Compaspe - it is about Alexander the Great and his beloved Compaspe who is a slave girl. He leaves her because he has more important work to do - to conquer the world. Another work of Lyly is Sapho and Phao. Eudymion or The Man in the Moon - about the love of the goddess of the Moon - Synthia for a shepherd Eudymion. The goddess is an allegory of the Queen. Gallathea - a story about two nymphs. They fall in love with each other, and Venus turns one of the into a boy. There is a lot of disguise in Lyly's comedies. They are not romantic. Midas - a satirical one on the theme of greed. Bombie - not concerned with love and honor; a play of matrimonial intrigue; local setting; merchants and servants as characters; almost a mathematical precision of organization; very rational construction; the young character succeeds and the old one fails. Metamorphosis and the Woman in the Moon - a satire against women (Lyly is already disappointed by the Queen). The only one written in blank verse. Lyly tries to switch from the private to the public theater. With Lyly we enter the Ren drama. SHAKESPEARE /1564 - 1616/ Feb. 26th, 98 Born in Stratford - upon - Avon in a middle class family; grammar school education. There is a lot of myth around him and his first years in London. Probably Francis Bacon who was in disfavour and wrote undercover; authors point to Christopher Marlowe or a circle of aristocrats / Sh was fairly illiterate to write such masterpieces/. Real experience is obvious behind his plays, the knowledge is defused; written by an avid mind with rich imagination, a man of genius. How can a man be endowed with so many talents? That is the only

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mystery about him. There is sth very vital and vigorous in his play, they stand the test of time - popular even today. Sh has not faded in his appeal to the audience. When he was 30, he wrote two narratives poems dedicated to the Earl of Southampton - looking for a patron - "Venus and Adonis", "The rape of Lucrece". He emerged as a play-writer 6,7 years before these poems. He was employed for the theater - the King's men (Lord Chamberlain's men). King James - keen on becoming a protector, Sh was one of the well-known actors, also a shareholder of his theater. Gradually he came into property - became a self-made man, bought the second biggest house in Stratford and secured a coat of arms for his father - became an aristocrat. He was a man of his time - very practical, took care of his capital - complexity of character, he wrote only things that were sellable, followed the tastes of the audience - has a keen eye to the requirements of the time. Different editions of Sh's plays - texts are unreliable, put down by memory. Sh wrote about two plays a year, produced 38 plays. What we have today is not the original texts but the interaction b/n author, stage and audience - most original texts burned in the Globe. Sh wrote very rarely in collaboration - only towards the end of his life, with John Fletcher. In 1612, he retired to Stratford; he is buried in the church. Characteristics as a dramatic poet: a man of an observing mind, sympathetic, an acquaintance of all classes, capacity of seizing upon dramatic elements, the actor's knowledge of the Art of the playwright - a perfect stage craft, immense power of poetic evocation. Life is revealed in full richness, his language is subtle and suggestive. His plays are well-constructed, clear, economical in effects; everything seems to contribute to the message. He uses a lot of parallel plots and constructive characters- the result is convincing verisimilitude. There's little use of surprise, but a lot of suspense based on interest in character. We see them as real human beings, although he worked at a time when the life of a character was not a must. Sh was an exclusive artist. His characters are real, represent basic human passions, but hyperbolized, seen in poetic terms as symbolically meaningful. The canon of Sh's plays consists of 36 plays after the Biblical canon. They're distributed into 14 comedies, 10 histories, and 12 tragedies published in the First Folio in 1623 by fellow actors. Another comedy "Pericles" has been added, then "The two noble kinsmen"- a collaboration. 17 of this body had been printed during his life in quarto editions (normal size). Problems of chronology - tentative. Periodization: (i) Ren 1588 - 1600 history (chronicle) plays due to the universal interest in national and political themes after the execution of Mary Stewart. Until that period, the middle class was content to be under the toe of aristocracy. The British defeated Spain - ships given freely by craftsmen. The representatives of middle class wanted an abolition of monopolies paid previously to the aristocracy - the alliance b/n the two classes was crumbling in the last years of Elizabeth's reign, it would result in the Civil war. The people started looking back into history for lessons and self-confidence. Sh produced a series of plays mainly about The War of the Roses. A great concern- class peace and national unity. Sources of material - the Tudor historians - Hall and Holinshed - they represented the official Tudor view that monarchy was sacred. Any kind of plotting against the king satanical. Now it is said that Sh was working within this ideology, but he was subtly undermining it. (Containment and subversion). The first history plays - Henry VI in 3 parts (1588-1592) - a trilogy that covers about 50 years of real time from the death of Henry V to the murder of Henry VI. Sh's art is still immature, the structure is largely episodic, no plot, the theme is continuous alternation b/n order and disorder. In the center - a weak sovereign. 1592- Richard III - more powerful, about the culmination of anarchy. The central figure - a monster physically and spiritually, yet tremendously effective. He's rhetorically very powerful. His monstrosity doesn't make him an outcast. For the first time history is centered around a human personality, not on a political event. It veers towards a tragedy because its interest in psychology is very strong - first grade success. With this play, Sh discovered the model. 1596 -"King John"- remote in historical reference. "Richard II" - started a second trilogy. Dealt with a late 14c. event, a closer study of the inapt monarch, also a very lofty poetic figure, a narcissistic person on the throne. "Henry IV" follows close, most mature chronicle written in two parts. Introduced a subplot, which deals with the central figure of Falstaff - the anarchical figure. The problem b/n statehood and true friendship. "Henry V" the heroic figure of a monarch; a patriotic play about the greatness of England. However, it is impossible to create a convincing figure of an ideal monarch. These plays cover an entire cent. in English history. Sh's interest was mainly in human psychology - this brings close these plays to tragedies.

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His comedies - first half 1592-1595 - first comedies: "Comedy of Errors", "The Taming of the Shrew". "Comedy of Errors"- a classical comedy of situation, based on Plautus's "Menaechmi"(?) - softened by the new Ren attitudes- based on confused identities- two twins, and Sh adds two servants. This makes it very lively. It was probably his first comedy- simple but successful. "The Taming of the Shrew" - of character akin to the tradition, of farcical comedy and Italian comedia dell' arte. Vigor and gaiety, a clash b/n vigorous Ren characters. 1604 - "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" - first attempt at romantic comedy - deals with love and friendship, series of adventures and trials; creates suspense. Under Lyly's influence- euphistic writing. Amorous complications. Sh introduced life-like characters set in an idealized world (the formula of romantic comedy) it foreshadows great plays. 1594-1595 "Love's Labors Lost" - a court comedy, particular Lylyian type. Differences: Sh's approach is ironical, it shows its magnitude, undermines things he imitates. It's the last of his early comedies in the period of trial. Period of maturity - second half 1595 - 1600 "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Twelfth Night", "As You Like It", "Much Ado About Nothing", "The Merchants of Venice" - all romantic comedies. They introduce us into a magic world of idyllic fairyland contrasted to the social world of conflict and trouble. Conflicts are excluded, people find their true potentials for happiness. Courtly traditions and bourgeois moral tradition - marriage. Aristocratic protagonists and clowns - interaction b/n different levels of the social hierarchy. Sh does not ridicule love, he mocks cultural traditions. There is a lot of poetic beauty - fascinating women characters, versatile, turned in the mainstream of action, witty, resourceful. 1600 "The Merry Wives of Windsor" - it was probably commissioned by Queen Elizabeth - Falstaff -unimpressive, humorous, the butt of irony, less than in the history plays; city comedy - Ben Jonson. Early tragedies - "Titius and Andronicus" - revenge tragedy of horrors, meant to surpass Kyd's Spanish Tragedy. Accumulates horrors on the stage. Firm structure, less impressive characters than Kyd's, basically a tragedy of situation. 1604-1605 "Romeo and Juliet" - very popular, challenged even "Hamlet", a defective play by critical opinion, lacks inevitability, everything happens by chance, a lot of fun - Nurse, Mercutio, the joy of life. "Romeo and Juliet" - attractive, effective, true to life. "Julius Caesar" - a political tragedy about Brutos - a man of integrity, involved in intrigue and ruined. Himself an honest person, loves democracy, agrees to kill Caesar (best friend). Brutos - the victim of situation. Defects: protracted, few brilliant scenes, lacks organization, but more evocative. (ii) Period of the revolt (Period of mannerism) 1600-1608 - transitional period - a revolt against the Ren humanism. Sh partook the sceptical and cynical attitude of his age, disillusionment with man's ambitions and ideals, conscious of man's flawed nature . Concentration on man's failings, sinking into the lower ranks of being, sense of tension expressed through manneristic jarring elements of form vs. the symmetry and balance of his first period. Here there's chaos and fight for supremacy of the elements. Sh remains a Ren Humanist, the new critical spirit only adds physical depth and richness to his metaphorical expression. This is his great period - wrote his immortal great tragedies: "Hamlet"- can be grouped with the early tragedies, very peculiar; "Othello" - a double time scheme; "King Lear"; "Macbeth"- the three written b/n 1604-1606. "Antony and Cleopatra"- it seems a decline, marginal great play; "Coriolanus", "Timon of Athens". Sh's formula for the great tragedies - the inner conflict b/n reason and passion, outer conflict b/n innate human goodness and evil society. Tragic heroes - grand and impressive, each of them is everyman, yet a distinctive individual. Passion overcomes reason in the end, ex. Lear spoilt by too much respect as a king, a reformed man before his death. View of man - weak, prone to temptation, melancholic-Hamlet. All these plays show that the conflict is internal - Lear - culmination, both internal and external "tempest" - shows the dimensions of man's nature, he's comparable to the universe (Ren Idea). All these heroes - slaves of passion. In "Romeo and Juliet" - the conflict is external, they are untouched- their eventual destruction is arbitrary, vs. "Antony and Cleopatra" - the outer conflict is internalized and destroys them from within. Yet another genre - problem

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dramas = dark comedies - overtone of menace, tragic events and on the happy note of reconciliation. They depict man's fallibility in an imperfect social order. "Troilus and Criseyde", "All's Well that Ends Well", "Measure for Measure" (iii) the Baroque period 1608-1612/13. Sh's last works reveal the Baroque sensibility. The spirit complete disillusionment, the human ideal withdraws, trust and admiration in men is replaced by trust in Providence. A return to mysticism (Middle Ages), in literature - abstract ideas instead of individual characters. The type comes as the general form - conflicting passions and social norms, no individual psychology, but automatic social reactions (the essence of Baroque art). Subjectivism, the senses leave room for the intellect. People are no longer interested in reality, retire in a fancy world - a kind of surrender. Man cannot cope with his plight, and thus creates an imaginative world. Everything in it finally comes to a happy end. Fine poetic visions and symbolism. Baroque drama lacks the seriousness of the Ren; the interest is sensational, the conflicts are not treated in depth. Fletcher and Bormend became the rulers of the theater- Sh retired. "Pericles", "Cymbeline", "The Tempest" - Sh's farewell to the theater. The speeches seem to be autobiographic, a return to reality. These are plays that sound like parables - a lot of symbolism and allegorical meanings. Allegory seems to be important for the general scheme. Sh deals with unreal characters and their adventures in fantastic settings, have serenity vs. festivity, stress and agony; emphasis is put on innocence and the restoration of loses. A different kind of poetics. The characters- flatter, there's a lot of harmony and music, but they don't provide the same satisfactory probing into life. "The Tempest" - shallow as problems of life, but pleasant and rewarding. 1612 "Henry VIII" - Elizabeth's father, Sh has come right to his contemporary period, in collaboration with J. Fletcher. Sh also wrote non-dramatic poetry: two narrative poems - short love epics "Venus and Adonis", "The Rape of Lucrece"- dedicated to an aristocrat for financial support; the same kind as Marlowe's "Hero and Leander". These two - among the best in their genre. "Phoenix and Turtle" -a cycle and sonnets- seems to cover the entire development of Sh among the most interesting sonnets of the period. Reveals features of earlier and late works - written over a period, but seem to fit into a couplet story. It's a lyrical drama. Sh's work in general is very elusive.

BEN JONSON / 1573 1660 / B. Jonson was chiefly a master of the comic, comic that is very different from the one that Sh did. Like Marlowe he did very little for the development of Ren tragedy, but he made contributions to different genres: dramatic and non - dramatic. Contemporary of Donne, not of Sh and Marlowe. Just like Donne he can be seen as the leader of the Revolt period - in that sense he represents the later generation with different a priory, attitude, values than the former generation. He was representative of the new spirit of satire, based on the growing awareness of mans imperfection, and the society that he had created. He was born in London, son of a minister (clergyman), and a step - son of a brick - layer. Studied in West Minister School, later completed his self - education. He is the typical case of a self - thought man. He was an actor, soldier. He had certain physical deficiencies (in a poem he mocked himself: she cant embrace my belly). When it comes to self-characterization in spiritual terms B Jonson is not so humble, he sees himself as a brave and outspoken castigator of all the absurdities that surround him. He was the official court poet during the reign of king James I, after 1603 he remained such till 1625 - James death. He wrote for the court masques - he became master of these; worked in co-operation with Inogo Jones. Later, he lost favor and after a stroke in 1528 he was permanently imbedded. Died in poverty - buried in West Minister Abbey. He was one of the chief men of the gatherings of literary men in the Mermaid tavern in London (Sh use to go there, it is believed that some of his stories came through there by conversations). B Jonson was master and instructor of the young poets, who called themselves the sons of Ben. They introduced the new tradition of

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English lyrical poetry, which was no longer Rens; their poetry was marked by the classical clarity and economy, coupled with ironical distance from the object. Jonson was dramatical and lyrical poet, essayist, critic, and theorist of literature. He is a stern moralist, often unpleasant, yet very successful popular entertainer. 1. Comedies: In 1598 he wrote his first comedy (almost 10 years after Shs first comedy) - Everyman in his Humour. The word humour in Latin means liquid, in the Middle Ages it was used to refer to the four basic types of liquids in the body, supposed to determine the temper of a person. According to the predominant fluid a character could be: (i) sanguine - blood predominates; (ii) choleric - choler (yellow bile) predominates; (iii) melancholy - black bile predominates; (iv) phlegmatic - based on the phlegm. These are the classical types, B Jonson used the word humour in a slightly different sense, though connected with this theory. Each person has a particular quirk because of one of the humours (liquids). He focused on the eccentricity of the character: eg. in Everyman in his Humour we have a character called Knowell. His humour is anxiety about his young sons behaviour. Captain Bobadill is a character displaying the self - assurance of the soldier. The model of such plays dealing with the eccentricity of the characters, each presented by a single tray, affectation - is obviously the old Aristophanic comedy. Brainworm (the servant) is the successor of the old comedy, he gets all the characters confused through an intrigue. The play requires this kind of confusion, he himself is not interested in it, he gets nothing of it. The Justice appears at the end to set things right (like the mechanism of God, who appears at the end in the classical theater). In a prologue B Jonson declares that his comedy will show an image of the times. The tone is satirical but still playful, not sarcastic but light-hearted. B Jonson, unlike Sh is a person who cant bear the fool, he must expose him for what he is. Develops individuals who embody psychological types, without presenting definite social groups. Dickens liked B Jonson a lot and based some of his characters on his model. Presented middle and low life in his works (again Dickens). He presents a kaleidoscopic, slightly manneristic picture of the contemporary London scene. Manneristic because the Revolt is the period when mannerism became the central style in art. Mannerism is characterized by co - ordination and harmony. There are two versions: one is Italian - Italian setting; and the other is English. Characters like Bobadill go beyond the flat caricature that is the root of the play, and acquire more of the real life. In 1600 he wrote a continuation of this play, called Everyman out of his Humour. There all the humours are meant to be cured. Here humours seize to be eccentric. Over the years his plays became more and more satirical. He reached the pick of his career as a comic writer in the middle of the first decade of the cent with Volpone or The Fox /1606/. Here he shows a concentration on the single vice. The vice is the basic one of the time, that of the age of accumulation of private wealth and its greed, economic individualism, political realism and brutal interest in self-enrichment. The central mechanism in this play is legacy hunt. It is a comedy of dupery. Mosca is the schemic parasite, the successor of Brainworm. His behaviour is motivated by the same greed that propels everybody in the play, however he is more inventive than the others in the play. He seems to be more successful than the others, at least for a while, but the whole world around him is of the same kind. The model of the two conflicting yet complementary groups of crooks and fools is established, that is going to be rather permanent feature of the satirical comedy of J. and the writers who later followed his footsteps. The two groups are set against each other. If we look at them separately, at their desire to establish moral hierarchy, will be difficult because there is no difference b/n them. The only difference is that the fools are less active. At the end we are faced with punishment again and it is administered by an extreme force, not from this world. Justice is administered quite fairly. The play is very successful. Sir Politic-would-be and his wife. Politic at that time meant cleaver. Theyre people involved in the so-called projects - funded by the government. People hoped to make fortune by discovering things. Civil dramatic mechanism. Again Jonson opposes fools to crooks. The setting is English, not Italian. (Italy was often picked up because in the eyes of Ren Europe it was not a moral place, theyre Catholics, the rest of Europe Protestants Also the Ren in Western and Eastern Europe was different. The image of Machiavellian Italy was as of a moral affection. So many of the plays are set in Italy when dealing with such stories, plots, but later on in the Jacobean period, one comes upon a play that is obviously dealing with a situation that is recognizable in Elizabethan and yet it is set in Italy - to deal with things which you do not easily deal at home. It is easy to burden other people with negative features. It is the kind of Aesopian language - during the El. and Jack. time

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there was a kind of censorship. Plays were controlled.) However some of the stories were Italian, they cant be easily turned into English - R. and J., Othello. Instead of the previous mechanism of hunting, we have the new mechanism of alchemy. The Alchemist during the plague period in London. The master of the house has left for the country, and the less important people are left to die in London(Shurbanov). The master - Loveit has left, but the butler - Face is left behind. His face is good, but what is behind it, is not. In the absence of the master he invites to the house another crook who is even more vicious - Subtle. The two of them pretend to be alchemists and know how to turn each metal into gold. They invite to the house a lot of fools who bring metal things. The house gets full of metal property. They come every now and then to check if the gold is ready, so quarrels arise. The play is very vivid, many characters involved - we see much of these fools who hope to become rich while the plague is raging outside the walls of the house. The master comes back unannounced, finds out what they have been doing in his absence, he is not amused, but gradually he is convinced by Face that all this is done for his own good and the two of them can divide all the things inside the house. Loveit agrees. Subtle has to run for his life now. Face turns out to be the better crook. No justice appears on the stage, so the play is much more realistic than the previous. J. decides to see the world as it is. The comedy is satirical, but not didactic. At the end one asks why not, it is a world where the superior crook survives. The only moral presence is the author, but he decides not to interfere. Other plays: Epicoene [episi:n] or The Silent Woman - 1610. Bartholomew Fair 1614 - set on St. Bartholomews day. It is a panoramic comedy of Londons city life. The devil descents as an ass - written in 1616. The devil descents into the streets of London as an ass - its a fantastic comedy - to be duped there by everybody, and it proves to be inferior devil to the Londoners. The later comedies are not successful. They show his declining power of a writer. 2. Tragedies - only two: Sejanus His Fall 1603 - he is the emperor of Rome. Catiline 1611. These two can be ascribed to the classical genre of tragedy. B Jonson tried to reconstruct the Roman atmosphere. His interest was basically antiquated -> antiquarian. Theyre formally correct and therefore rather stiff. They didnt appeal to the audience because they didnt expect an exact representation of the past. Thats why when Sh wrote Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus he is using the stories in order to dress them into Elizabethan clothes and to present them as if of their own time. People behave as if theyre his contemporaries. B Jonson shows in them a society in which judges and criminals dont differ in their morals. The world he shows is very similar to the one in Jack. drama - especially of Webster - he was very sceptical. He would not show this in the Roman world, but in the Italian society. 3. Masques - for the court entertainment. These are combinations of dramatic work (not serious at all), song, dance, allegorical pageantry. They focused on a story that is allegorically meaningful. There is a lot of mythological atmosphere. They are cosmic. Theyre solicited for ceremonial occasions, wedding parties. Theyre meant for the people of the aristocratic house to act. The Masque of Queens - 1609. Oberon 1616. Theyre published in a volume together with his poems in 1616, entitled The Works of B Jonson. Thats unusual for the time, because plays were not considered long lasting. This shows how innovative he was. Many of his plays were written in verse - so he was a dramatic poet. His poetry is very distinguishable. He wrote in several genres. One of them is the epigram - basically satirical form, which is narrative and witty. He published them in the folio of 1616; and a collection of works which is called The Forest. In 1640 another collection of his works appeared (long after his death), which contains poems that had been excluded from the previous collection. It is called The Underwoods - less important poems. His poems are very neat and solid, no imageries that would be unusual and striking. Theyre preparation for the Neo-Classical clarity. 4. Prose - part of it is included in the folio of 1616. Its title Timber (again the wood imagery) or Discoveries Made Upon Man and Manner. This is a kind of essayistic fragments, dealing with various subjects philosophy, criticism, and comments. Theres a short bit about Sh he was honest and a man of opened nature, with excellent fantasy. A modern critic says: BJs world is complete in itself, but not alive, you can not live in it. It is its completeness and neatness - the classical world, that makes it impossible to live in it. If we compare B Jonson to Sh one of them is ruled by the principle of exclusion and the other by inclusion - we sense the presence of the author all the time - he is very critical. Sh dissolves, he is all the people.

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LYRICAL POETRY

April 9th, 98

During this period side by side with the drama, developed the sonnet. It is representing a variety of lyrical genres. Most of the books that were published during this period were titled Song and Sonnets (they bared this standard title). The sonnet has a characteristic form which is very important. Technically it is 14 lines lyrical poem, invented for the first time, most probably by a poet at king Frederic II in Sisily in the first half of the 13th c. and probably it was influenced by models that were no European, from the Arab world. The divisions of the classical sonnet are two: octave - the first 8 lines, and sestet - the next 6 lines. The sonnet was used by all the Italian lyrical poets (Cavalcanty, Boticcely, Dante). ??? used the sonnet in his book Vita Nuova, published at the end of the 13th c. Both sonnets and prose, connected prose. The prose actually performed the function of carrying on of the story while the sonnet expressed the emotional outbursts of the speaker at moments of inner tension. This is a very interesting division of the sonnets and prose. They perform an expressive function rather than narrative. The love poetry that Dante and his contemporaries presented was of a semi-platonic, semi-Christian kind: worshipping the lady who was seen as unattainable image of heavenly beauty and virtue. An ideal figure that was sent from Heaven and eventually retired there. Dantes Beatrice dies at the end of the sequence, and the poet is looking forward to reunion with here. Later this became a model. In later sonnet books the prose disappeared, it was no longer needed as a uniting tissue. Francesco Petrarch (1304 - 1374). he provided for the Late Middle Ages and for the Ren a summery of that mass of themes, conventions, situations, attitudes - known as courtly love - a book of songs, called Cancionere. A tutor and the unreachable, ruthless mistress are introduced as a permanent model. The mistress is not only unattainable, but she shows no sympathy for the suitor. He is inferior creature who strives for her attention, but always fails. eventually Lora (the mistress will draw to the beyond). In the 14th c. and for the next two cent. at least, he was the leading figure. The first English sonneteers tried to imitate him. The two cases in which it approaches the state of translation are: Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey, two aristocrats at the court of Henry the 8th. Their sonnets were published in 1557, characteristically entitled Song and Sonnets, by a publisher called Tottel, so Tottels Miscellany. This was translation - imitation of Petrarch.s sonnets. The classical sonnet which consists of an octave and a sestet we shell refer to as the Italian sonnet, but they created a new model that is going to be known as the English or the Sh-ian sonnet. It consists of three quatrains and a closing couplet. The octave and the sestet have a very complex pattern of rhyming: abba abba - cde cde, but it works as a whole. Usually in the octave we contemplate the object, and then the sestet - the part of meditation. In the English form we have the possibility for sth else - to develop an argumentative poem in stages: 3 quatrains; each one of them introduces a new approach to the topic and some kind of a conclusion is drawn in the final couplet. Later in France appeared a croup called the Pleade. One great figure is that of P. Ronsard. they introduced this more Earthly attitude to life. While the Italian turned love into a transcendental, religious experience in which the soul of the lover was elevated through the contact with the beloved, no physical contact. Petrarch starts seeing the pleasures of love in Nature, even in bed - very domestic. This kind of seeing the earthly pleasures that love can offer, together with its beauty is a very interesting French combination and modification of the original model. The English sonneteers would learn from both. The Elizabethan sonnets boom covers the last two decades of the 16th c. and the attempt is to create sonnet sequences rather than single ones. They would tell stories - from the moment of falling in love to the lost of the mistress (like Petrs Lora sequence). The English mistress do not die, withdraw into regions that are unattainable for the sonneteer. So he loses her because of unpardonable mistake, usually because he treated her as a normal human being of course she is more than that. Sidney is the first great master of the Elizabethan sonnet. He left a sequence of sonnets called Astrophel and Stella. The two figures are allegorical. The hierarchy is established from the very title. Astrophel is Sidney himself. The sonnets were written for a lady called Penelopy Rich, she married another person. He started

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writing the sonnets at this point. The mistress is not attainable not because of here perfection but because of her marriage. He deals with the problem of love as opposed to other interests and activities. Sidney was an aristocrat, close to the queen, man of many gifts - diplomat, warrior (died after a battle), poet, theorist in literature. He feels that love is a destructive thing in his life and he might do other things rather than to love.(Shurbanov) We find this position in Lyly too. Sidney also introduces the theme of the true religion - to God not to a fake goddess. At a point he tries to kiss Stella which is punished with banishment. The sequence ends with a slight hope for a reconciliation, but no signs of reconciliation are coming. His sonnets have a sincere note (this is very rear). His sonnets suggest that they are based on real experience. They are also experimental in form. He tries to combine the two (Italian and the early English versions), his octaves are intacted while his sestet breaks into a quadrain and a couplet. This is important because he has to draw some kind of a moral conclusion, may be motivated by the English Protestant culture. Daniel. He wrote a sequence called Delia /1592/ most likely she did not exist, he invented her. Full of tenderness but lacking originality. The poet is always plunged into sorrow, he warns her that her beauty and youth will pass and then she will regret her cold - heartedness. Thus he introduces the theme of Carpe diem (seize the day), from classical poetry. It is very useful for the male poets. Another classical theme is that he will immortalize the mistress by building her a monument with his poetry. Daniel and later Sh looked on poetry not as a monument for the poet himself but for the object of their admiration. Lodge /1593/ and Constable /1594/ are two sonneteers Drayton produced Ideas Mirror?, is sentimental and standardized which is already mocked by satirists of that time. He strives after a realism in attitude and expression. He warns his mistress that if she is not agreeable he will forget about her and find some one else to prize. Spenser. - Amoretti /1595/ these poems are conventional in themes and imagery, but moral in form. He hopes to marry her and to become a respectable person. This is a complete reversal of positions - from the unattainable mistress to an obedient wife. Of course this does not happen in the sequence itself, Spenser. attaches a poem called Epythalamion. It is a celebration of the wedding. Of course the whole sequence leads to that moment. There is a moment when they have problems, for similar reasons Sidney had, but at the end there is a reconciliation. The Epythalamion poem at the end comes as a small surprise. Spenser. introduces a sonnet that is a kind of stanza. It runs as follows: abab bcbc cdcd ee. It was named after him - spenserian. This means that he was a great master of rhyming. He does the same in The Fairy Queen. They become so melodious that you forget about the sense (not that important), but just listen. We have a combination of conventiality and a reaction against this conventionality, individuality is very strong (can be found in The F. Q. too). Shakespeare - his sonnets were published without his consent. The situation is very different - the play involves more than two characters - an aging poet who advises an young friend to marry and produce an offspring because his beauty and perfection are so exceptional that they have to be preserved. It turns out that the young man is not absolutely indifferent to his old friend and the vise. B/n them at a point gets a mistress who is like Luccia in Euphues by Lyly. First of all her skin seems on the dark side, her eyes seem to be of the wrong color, her breath is reeking; however they both fell in love with her and she destroys their relationship. The story is interesting because she is not attractive nor moral but yet attracts them. So Sh turns a sonnet sequence into a drama. Many of his plots are based on this rivalry b/n two lovers. No one after Sh tried to write a sonnet sequence, till the Romantics but they did it in a very different way. The characters are real human beings and at the same time they are abstractions of certain qualities and aspects of the love relationship. Donne his early works are very different from the other sonnets. It was basically anti - Petrarchan. He discarded the sonnet from his work. The poet turned religious. As far as the form is concerned he wrote sonnets of the Italian form but wholly sonnets dealing with religion, the relationship man - God. Man is in the position of the mistress, he is no longer the obedient creature of the Middle Age. Now he is disillusioned, he can not submit fully to the commands of God. This tension b/n the two sides of this metaphysical relationship is studied in his poetry in the later period. Religion is used as an imagery but not the one where the mistress is compared to a goddess but the other way around religion is compared to love. This is a result from the human disillusionment. Milton his works generally belong to the period of Restoration, but during the Commonwealth he wrote some lyrical poetry again in the Italian sonnet style. They were not collectable like Donnes but on different topics like political, religious, etc. This broadening of the circle of interest was later followed by the Romantic writers.

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His poems are unusual - they consist of epic phrases running across the traditional form of meter. You hear a strong prophetic voice within a small measure and turns into sth solemn and powerful. The Song Byrd / 1543 - 1623/ Campion /1567 - 1620/ Dowland /1563 - 1626/ JOHN DONNE John Donne (1572-1631) - 17th c. poetry. An exact contemporary of B Jonson - the two major reformers of Ren poetry. B J., however, wrote mainly in the field of drama; introduced a classical style, more economical in order to achieve classical balance. J Donne. - a striking innovation in English poetry, both in form and content. Donnes influence was immense, but short-lived due to the flexibility of form. Early poetry - shockingly anti-Petrarchan. Tended to be Ovidian in its erotic focus. He tried to replace the previous misanscene - focused on how the two lovers are involved in a real love relationship. His poems are like little plays- reactions are studied carefully, not just the lovers intense feelings but the interaction b/n the two. Inserting of suggestions and implications. The new sceptical poetry of the Revolt in which idealization is replaced by a critical study of reality (the attitude to women is sceptical and cynical). Donnes innovation - the two are equal partners in the experience of love - a departure from the Petrarchan model, treats them as human beings. The former mistress is now a being of flesh and blood. J Donne also wrote satirical verse and prose - in an amateurish way, for his own pleasure, read among close friends. 1594 traveled around Europe. He was supposed to start a career at court but instead became a great preacher (sermons and religious poetry), became Dean of St. Pauls church and was preoccupied with the idea of death. A new religious feeling and self esteem. Early period: (i) started with satires and epigrams - modeled on the Roman satirical criticism. Included all social classes and occupations, very harsh at times, reflecting the new spirit of scepticism and irony. (ii) elegies - Ovidian amorous poems, mainly narrative in form and dramatic in structure, challenging accepted norms. J Donne introduces new attitudes to a accepted axioms of society. Un-Petrarchan attitude complete faithfulness to the mistress who is incomparable and god chosen. Erotic innuendo - to do her service- in Elizabethan love poetry this was unfamiliar. The new pose - scepticism of all previous affectations. The elegy was a rather long argumentative narrative, not equally length (5 foot a iambic lines). It no longer meant to be sang, but to be followed in the wanderings of thought. (iii) prose Paradoxes and Problems - the relativity of traditional axioms, of truth and morality in general. It is done in a playful way. Exposes the rather superficial nature of some axioms; the instrument of formal logic. Prose essays - main ideas. 1. a defence of womens inconstancy - women must change. 2. women ought to use make-up (considered critical before) 3. good is more common than evil; it is possible to find some virtue in some women 4. nature is our worst guide 5. gifts of the body are better than those of the mind 6. virginity is virtue His most important work - the collection Songs and Sonnets - love poetry of an original anti - Petrarch kind; sceptical of love and women generally. Direct, ironical, even cynical at times, related to actual experience rather than literary convention, no longer a Platonic game, but a complex experience of love. Examples:

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The Sun Rising - love is greater than other experiences, and even the sun can not control the course of love. The lyrical speaker appears as the suns rival; the sun should be shut off. A radical and striking position - the lovers create a universe of their own, asserting their own rights. J Donne tries to explode the system of conventions by using familiar conventions in a surprisingly new way. Loves alchemy- tone of scepticism and suspicion of all kinds of received truths. A totally different attitude compared to the previous poem- changing attitudes; J Donne is contradicting himself. Mind means soul, denial of sex ; he doesnt believe in the experience of love. The wish to reject the whole tradition. A new religious attitude to love - the communion of two in love - not worshipping or Platonic. Love can be experienced only by the truly elect. Dualism - high idealization of love and at the same time questioning the very notion of love two opposing attitudes. J Donne not only rejects Petrs attitudes, but also those of courtly, polished diction and verse of earlier writers, the decorative smoothness of verse and phrase. His form is rough, angular, not fitting the pattern. He creates his stanzas in the process of writing, on the spur of the moment. This natural composition of stanzas is an innovation. The poet thus becomes a real authentic voice. NB - not a truly Ren treating of poetry - J Donne represents the Revolt period - the transitional period of Mannerism, that will lead to the Baroque. Thats why his poetry is rough, full of inner contradictions. Its harsh everyday diction, its lack of polish and restrained are just the opposite of BJs style. Thus Ds writing is not harmonious and full of dissonance. The diction doesnt represent the lofty poetic diction of B Jonson, but peoples speech. Imagery: conceit (Italian - concetti) concept, idea. Witty, ingenious, long and elaborated or short and sparkling; unexpected quality, the yolking together of unrelated things - ex. Forbidding Morning (the pair of lovers compared to a pair of compasses). J Donne attaches new meanings. The single soul will expand when the two part (the image already existed in Spanish poetry). A wholemark of Donnes poetry. J Donne as the founder of the Metaphysical School. Its poetry was compact and intellectually hard, unlike the mellifluous poetry of the previous period. What mattered was not the imposed pattern but the living voice. Hence the sacrifice of metrical regularity. Later works (J Donne - the Anglican preacher) He wrote divine poems - Holy Sonnets. He turned to the classical Italian sonnet form. His religious poetry deals with mans relation to God; Donne is again outspoken. Sonnet #14 - invites God to ravish his worshiper (a mistress who should be raped in order to be won). Aim - to inflict the rape of God on himself. Transition from secular to religious poetry (amorous imagery used to define a religious experience). A tense union b/n the two. The point of view of the former mistress, now absolutely passive - to violate her honor in order to make love happen. Typical paradoxes at the end. J Donne is a poet of paradoxes. The paradox - the language of religion. Late prose writings - seem to approach the Baroque period. Wrote long theological poems- An anatomy of the world.

JOHN MILTON Around 1640 - the Civil War broke out; civil unrest and reform - 40ies - 60ies. England became a Republic, but only for a short period. The execution of the monarch who was seen in traditional terms as divinely appointed. Now the comic herd beheaded him- a unique time in English history, an exception to Englands total development. It signaled the great change in English society. Milton - should be studied in close relation to the political context of the times in which he took active part. His role was both controversial and heroic. He was devoted to the idea of the Republic. He wanted England to follow the example of the Republics of the Antiquity. His political beliefs make him an interesting phenomenon in the literary world. Milton was aware of his mission, and was considered almost a prophet in English poetry. His mission and ambition was to turn peoples faces to the truth. He started preparing himself from an early age for that mission (elaborate education

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and hard learning). Tremendous awareness of his exclusive place in this world. His greatness is cultivated yet genuine. Milton was born in London in the family of a prosperous lawyer. Studied in Cambridge and in 1632 got his MD. Retired to Horton with his father where he studied and wrote. In 1635 he was granted a MD from the Oxford University. Consistent training how to write (apprenticeship). Early works: 1634 - Comus - a masque with serious moral and philosophical aspects. The moral - virtue triumphant in a world of corruption. The central character is a lady whose virtue is tested. She faces terrible odds but still she proves her virtue. According to Milton virtue has to be exposed to opposition, and proved not in seclusion but in struggle and strife. This is an allegorical story written in verse; a rather unusual masque. 1637 - Lycidas - elegy in the form of a pastoral, probably dedicated to the drowned poet Edward King. The pastoral figure of a shepherd. Deals with philosophical problems - what are Gods ways to the elect. An intellectual idea of the idea - artistically gifted people chosen by god for their deeds die young. Why does God allow this - Miltons main preoccupation. A kind of a parting song for his friend. Milton was concerned how can the life of a gifted person be cut short. His own life could be interrupted in the same absurd way. Death at an early age - he himself faced such danger (being a gifted man of intellectual activity). Companion pieces: L Allegro and Il Penseroso - two moods and views of life are contrasted: the social man vs the scholary man. The first is lively, communicative, likes to mix with people while the second enjoys being on his own, thinking over philosophical issues. Both these attitudes were Miltons. He tried to achieve classical clarity and distance from the object he is concerned with. The style was quite different from his previous one. 1638 - Milton undertook a journey on the continent. Such journeys were very fashionable at the time. Milton chiefly visited Italy and France, hoped to see Greece - the cradle of civilization, but couldnt since he preferred to go back home and be part of the political scene (the collapse of the Monarchy and the establishing of the Republic - Cromwell). Thus Milton proved to be a man of high seriousness and lofty ideas. It was exactly his ideas that cut his journey short. Back in London he did private tutoring in order to earn a living. 1641 - issued a treaty: Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline in England. It focused on the opposition b/n Protestants and Catholics - the revolution dressed in religious gown; the appearance of a religious war. Milton sided firmly with the Protestants. Other pamphlets followed. 1643 - a tract: Doctrine and Discipline with Divorce. Before one could divorce his wife if she was proved unfaithful; the wife however couldnt divorce her husband. Now Milton pleaded for divorce based on incompatible characters. Both husband and wife were seen as personalities with equal rights, not mere puppets in a marital game. The tract was written from personal experience, but still poetically tainted. 1644 - a pamphlet meant to be a parliamentary speech - Areopagitica. A defense of the freedom of speech , an attack on censorship. Milton cannot respect a virtue that is not proved in battle. Every revolution was bound to reach a stage in its development when it established a censorship of its own, and Milton realized this inevitability - Cromwell himself had by that time established a kind of censorship. During that same period there was another important event that influenced Miltons writing, and this was the popularity of a man who was thought to be an expert on education - John of Cominius. On this occasion Milton wrote a pamphlet to enter in a polemics . He believed that education shouldnt always be geared towards practical skill. What John of Cominius considered appropriate was the training of people with practical skill; all other forms of education were treated as useless and irrelevant. Milton, however, had a more profound and much wiser attitude to education. He was not a man of his times, but a man of all times. 1649 - He was appointed Latin secretary to the Commision of Foreign Affairs. Since then the pamphleteer eclipsed the poet. He wrote only pamphlets on religious controversy and political issues. 1649 - Eikonoklastes or Breaker of images - a pamphlet against a book Eikon Basilice by Charles I who wanted to establish a scholarly image of himself. Milton fiercely fought against the royalists. He believed that the king owned his power not to God but to the peoples consent, and therefore they can interrogate and punish him . Thus Milton favored the practice of the ancient states.

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1651 - The Defense of the English People 1654 - Defend your Secunda 1660 - Parliament decided to call back the king from France to the throne. Milton saw this as an act of betrayal to the Republican idea. Thats why he wrote Ready and easy way to establish a free Commonwealth. After the Restoration Milton was impoverished and imprisoned for his views but was still staunch in spirit. Now he turned from the national cause (one of religious belief - the Protestant cause) to his poetic work. He was nearly 60 years old by then. First he wanted to write a drama but then decided on an epic poem - the highest genre in Rens thinking. First it was supposed to be based on the Arthurian legend. Then Milton changed his mind and thought he should turn to the profound truth of all Europeans - the Book of Genesis. Thats how he wrote Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost - a biblical epic ( a secondary epic acc. to some). Milton drew the story of the Fall; this Fall was also seen as the good, beneficent Fall which gives people the chance to prove their worthiness, and thus regain their bliss at a higher level, a bliss acquired after trail. The epic is about the loss of bliss but still the end is optimistic; the hope that man kind will overcome its inner weakness, and will regain its Paradise through hardship. It is also the story of Satans rebellion - a parallel story; a cause-and-effect link; Satans ambition to occupy Gods throne = usurpation of power - the overwhelming Ren ambition (Faustus). Furthermore, Satan tries to instigate the humans to repeat his rebellion. So first this is an angelic revolt against Gods power, and then a human revolt. Thus the structure of PL resembles Ren dramas with their double plots. Focus - the ways of God to man. How God could be right in his punishment; why doesnt he protect people from temptation. Milton believed that we are not Gods puppets but his children, and to live up to the image we have to be free and dignified. The attractive idea of the free spirit that knows no limits (the devil wants what is forbidden). The idea of the free spirit appealed very much to Milton - he was an evolutionary, and without knowing it he put a lot of himself into the devils image. In Satan he saw his story - the figure of the rebel against supreme authority. Milton makes us sympathize with Satan. The rational scheme of PL opposes the emotional content. A contradictory work - unintended effects that go against the intention. Miltons epic is religious (J Donne) - the absolute necessity of the new age - major concern of literature. The Bible - main source, many allusions drew a lot on classical mythology. The result was a synthesis: a mixture of biblical an d classical matter, the two fuse into one form. However, PL is considered as basically biblical. Style: unique diction - Miltonic - new usage of Engl. language - artificial. Rhetoric, solemn, ritual use of language. Latin syntax and examples; he turns every sentence into a melodious statement. What makes it even more valuable is that Milton was blind when writing it - mainly during the night, in the winter, through dictation. Paradise Regained /1671/ - NB not a sequel. Drawn from the Gospels. Describes Christs trail and the devils attempts to tempt him. A dialectical poem / a thesis poem - consists mainly of conversations. Compared with PL, PR is a tamed piece of poetry. The Devil is simply the negative antagonist of Christ. 1671 - Samson Agonistes- a classical drama. Milton writes from his own experience, everything refers to his own state - the light of God and blindness Milton also wrote a series of sonnets- the last of the Ren writers. Their number was presumably 20, but they were very different from the 16th c. ones. Miltonic tone - solemn. They dont break easily into quatrains. Defy even the Italian form; run-on lines. The sonnets deal with a variety of topics and dont form a sequence- again a departure from the tradition. In the Romantic era poets would again turn to his example. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REN. DRAMA 21st, 98 I. Revenge Tragedies 1. Kyd - The Spanish Tragedy /was the first of the kind in the English tradition/. 2. Ur - Hamlet is of unknown author, some tend to ascribe it to Kyd. 3. Sh wrote two plays that belong to the genre: Titus Andronicus /1593 - 4/ and then Hamlet /1601/. 4. J. Marston - Antonios Revenge /1601/. 5. Tourneur wrote two plays that are remarkable: The Revengers Tragedy /1606/ and Atheists Tragedy. May

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6. Webster - The White Devil /1612/. 7. Chapman - The Revenge of Bussy dAmbois /1613/. What is interesting is that Chapman questions the very notion of revenge from the point of view of rational stoicism. Logically with him this type of drama came to an end because the very notion was questioned. This does not mean that he destroyed the genre but that he is indicative of the change in the attitude to the revenge. The notion of revenge is an interesting production in the Ren and the fact that it caught the imagination of the English audience is suggestive of some kind of meaning in revenge that Ren found congenial. Of course before the revenge tragedy there was the De Casibus - the usual Latin way of referring to the traditional tragedy and it comes from Boccaccios work The Fall of Illustrious Man. This kind of drama was inherited from the Middle Ages and in fact Ch in his Cant. Tales incorporates series of such tragedies in his narrative in verse in the socalled Monks Tale. And in the prologue to this tale we have an attempt of Ch to define this traditional tragedy: tragedy means a certain kind of story as old books tell of those who fell of glory, and were cast down out of their high degree into calamity and so they died. This the notion that man should not be too sure in himself on this world, it is not his, this world is a place of trial for him. Man should always remember his sinful nature and fortune is not reliable. What we learn from them is the scheme of the Universe, the nature of man. The revenge tragedy is not like this, we come to mans role in securing some kind of dignity and it depends on the particular human being. What makes all this very interesting is a passage from the Bible: Vengeance is mine, I will repay said the Lord. This statement obviously prohibits, you should not handle revenge on your own it is Gods job to do it - it is also a promise. However the Bible says nothing how God will do sth about that promise - in this world or in the next. If it is in this world God does not participate in our dealings directly so he must use an instrument - is the Revenger his instrument? There is a parallel story - The Scourge of God this is a Medieval belief that this is a man used by God to punish villainy. However the story says that the lash with which the child is beaten must be thrown into the fire, so the instrument of evil also must be destroyed. This story is very close, parallel to the story of the revenger. In Marlowe Tamburlaine is such a kind of instrument and he proudly calls himself that but ironically he must be destroyed too. Hamlet is brought to this dilemma he does not know if the ghost is brought from Heaven or hell. There is uncertainty of the justification of his righteousness. This is much more interesting than the king who turns into a beast and ultimately dies. This is a situation in which man must make a very difficult decision how to deal with this situation and this makes us enter into his psyche. We are interested in his (i) psychological movements and so the Ren being interested in the man embraced this notion of the revenge. It also enters (ii) social problems - personal honor and the vestiges of the feudal lawlessness. Personal honor very central both to the aristocratic Middle Ages and the humanistic Ren How do you keep your honor - do you take justice in your hands? (iii) the problem of political tyranny - Hamlet, very often the person on the throne does not deserve this position. Can you expect from him justice? - no. So the alternative is wild justice. That is what troubles Heronimo in The Spanish Tragedy. Obvious influence of the revenge tragedy is Seneca. Horror accumulates in the plot of the plays, it actually moves from one horror to another. It is a stylistic feature and we have to take it as a part of the play. As much bodies as possible. II. Heroic Tragedies 1. Marlowe - Tumberlaine the Great and Dr. Faustus. The first one was written in two parts. He is a conqueror, a real historical figure from the 14th c. He fought the Turks and was one of the reasons to stop their further expansion. He is also known as Timur. He excited the imagination of the Ren humanists because he was according to the story a shepherd and rose to a high position. He conquered one country after the other. He fought the Egyptian sultan etc. According to Marlowe he was a superhuman being. Of course he is a human being and must die at the end. He dies in a battle because he is exhausted, he is like the fire that has consumed everything and dies out. He could win a battle just by his words and appearance. His immoral hero - he kills everybody on his way but we do not sympathize with them because they are his enemies. Part of his portrait is drawn by the impression of his enemies. The image Marlowe. creates is of accumulation of precious things gold, stones, etc. So we get the feeling of a gigantic statue, colossus not a human being, but of course this is the Ren way of dealing with beauty. (even in the sonnets we have very often the mistress described as an accumulation of stones, gold, stars and moon). The first part end with his conquering of vast territories and his marriage to a girl who he had captured, she is in love with him. There is nothing tragical in this end. The

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second part he dies of illness but not before he has challenged Death - a masculine figure, a warrior; the gods too. He speaks in a very rhetorical way and it was not difficult to be parodied. It became the model of many heroic tragedies. His other tragedy is Dr. Faustus it is not like his previous. Here we do not deal with a conqueror although he wants to be the ruler of the world. He is a scholar who is dissatisfied at the end with his disciplines. Those are limited and he want more than that. He wants to be equal to God. So he has to turn to black magic. One of the devils becomes his servant. He wants absolute knowledge then absolute power - the omnipotence of God and absolute wealth. Apart from that he has minor wishes, such as rule over Germany. Marlowe. through his hero expresses the Rens yearning for political rulery. There is a gradation of his wishes. Several parts of the play approach the farcical comedy. The tragedy is re-enforced by the closing soliloquy. In the first play there is very little criticism towards the hero while in the second we see him as the super human being and at the same time as a clown. There is the dual vision of the Ren which may be is best explained in Hamlet. This is best in Sh because from this period he proceeded working into the period of the Revolt. There is this clash b/n the idealistic, poetically hyperbolized, the heroic and on the other the sceptical and critical. 2. Sh. - Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coraleanus, Timon of Athens. 3. Chapman - The Conspiracy and the Tragedy of Byron /1608/. 4. Webster - The Duchess of Mulfi /1614/. 5. Middleton - The Changling /1623/. It is the tragedy of the superman or the exceptional personality, the Ren individualist, motivated by the world of self realization and elevated above the normal morality which raised the possibility of turning him into a villain hero. He is a monarch or a ruler of some kind who effects large groups of society and by extension effects the entire universe. Individual fate acquires cosmic dimensions - the storm inside king Lear also outside. There is a link b/n these plays and the Everyman type - the morality plays of the late Middle Ages because the hero is of universal personality - he represents the whole of the humanity. However he is very strongly characterized individual unlike the protagonist of the morality play. The conflict b/n the individual and society is central. We focus on the penetration of the social evil into the self of the hero and into the dramatization of this self. The perfect being is the one who completely controls passion by reason. In the tragic hero passions raise over reason and destroys them. Why in the center is the monarch? - they can effect large group of the society. It is a kind of a philosophical problem. The language is very rich, full of pathos, the rhethorics is not as stiff as the one in the revenge tragedies, poetic imagery that contribute of the opening of the personal towards the cosmic by metaphor, simile. Imagery forges links b/n things that seems to be divided. There is a combination b/n tragic plot and comic sub-plot structures - reflecting issues from the main action ironically, providing change of tone. Sh manages to include it without effecting the over-all of the play. The character of the protagonist is not lowered as in Dr. Faustus, the fool here seems to take away the laugh of the protagonist. Lear is always on the verge of ridiculous, he is over inflated figure in his madness, in his raging and the fool seems to absorb the ridiculous Also paralleling the main action in a grotesque way, showing the richness of the manifestations of life, the ability to turn any kind of situation upside down and showing the reverse.

III. Domestic Tragedy - probably the opp. of Heroic Tragedy. 1. Kyd - again the master and the pioneer of this type of tragedy. We are not sure if this play is written by him, it remains anonymous - Arden of Feversham /1587/. 2. Another anonymous work is - A Warning of Fair Women. 3. Th. Heywood - A Woman Killed with Kindness /1603/ remains the masterpiece. 4. Another anonymous in 1608 called The Yorkshire Tragedy. The difference is that it takes a situation in a narrow family circle of the middle class. It reveals simple human world that is largely lacking in Heroic tragedies. Circumstancial and psychological realism. It uses the language of the everyday but it is expressive and suggestive. The direction is different we get into a psychological

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analysis rather than flying into poetic heights. There is nothing of the great cathartic power of the Heroic tragedy. IV. Tragic Satire 1. Marlowe is probably the only representative of this type - The Jew of Malta The character is very far from the hero in Tamburlaine or Faustus or Lear. Here we have a very cleaver manipulator of others faiths, lives. He is immoral, capable to plan the murderer of his own daughter. Marlowe sees the Christians as immoral as the Turks. The story goes like this: the Turks come to rise taxes from Malta and the easiest way is to turn to the Jewish community. Most of the Jews succumb but one of them refuses and he is the most wealthy on the island and this is Barabas. It is a matter of pride, stinginess, he is hurt in the depth of his nature. He is sentimental but rather Marlowe shows him as the villain. We are in a world where all people are evil, they are all Macheavelian. The play is introduced by a figure who calls himself Macheavel. The hero is alternatively successful and unsuccessful and at the end of the play he reaches a point in which after many plots and counter plots he tries to outwit everybody and to take full possession of Malta and of course this is his destruction because he over reaches himself and he falls in a boiling ... which he has prepared for his enemies and from there dully he utters his long closing speech. 2. Middleton - Women Beware Women /1612/. This is a drama of the intrigue and intrigue is a technique of the comedy. Tragic tonality is coupled with comic episodes. The language is ironic and colloquial. V. Classical Tragedy 1. Shakespeare was the master of that tragedy based on the history of the antiquity: Julius Caesurae, Antony and Cleopatra, Corelanus, Timon of Athens. 2. Ben Jonson also wrote two of this kind: Sejanus his Fall and Catiline. The two of them had a different approach B Jonson tried to re-create the ancient world. VI. The history play The history play is a strange kind of drama. It has to be viewed as an inseparable part of the political context of the times. During that period nationalism was extremely powerful. National unity was achieved after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. In the Tudor period class alliance was precarious. The War of the Roses - an explosion of feudal anarchy. So, it was a period of relative calmness and precarious ballance. The last years of Elizabeths reign were marked by conspicuous monopoly. Exclusive rights were given to the aristocrats, so that they could lisence their businesses and extract huge profits; their monopoly was over whole branches of economy. That was a separistic arrangement that the bourgeoisie didnt like. They kept quiet for some time, but after the defeat of the Armada in 1588 the middle class believed in its strength. Now England was the supreme power, and the middle classes wanted relative freedom and independence. The monarch, however, was pleasing only the aristocracy. This led to a class conflict which later culminated in the Civil war (mid 17th c.). This process couldnt be averted. It was further exacerbated when Elizabethan was succeeded by a king from ScotlandJames I. Now England was in terrible danger, in a state of fragile peace that could easily crumble. Together with this national pride was extremely high. This was the motivation for the current interest in Englands recent history. People were fed up with feudal anarchy, and tried to define what the ideal monarch should be like (strong and just). The problems of statehood were predominent. Thus the central theme of the history play was the struggle for supremacy b/n the crown and the feudal lords. The wars against France, the arch-rival, arose patriotics feelings, and posed questions about the efficient monarch. Main sources for the history play: Tudor historiography. The Chronicles of Holinshed. These sources were mainly Tudor absolutist propaganda. They promoted the kings divine right and that he was divinely appointed. According to this doctrine the king was responsible for his actions only before the Creator. (It was much later when Milton attacked the Tudor doctrine of divine right, claiming that the king was responsible before the people.) Thus all attack on the king was sinful. Disobedience was considered the greatest sin. 1. Ch. Marlowe - Edward II. Edward II was a rather weak person who became king by chance. He lived a separitic life of pleasure and delight, was artistic and homosexual. Instead of doing his duty he was having fun. Still, we get to like him despite his irresponsibility. He is a human being, weak but real. There was radical opp of the aristocracy and he was later murdered. What makes us like the character was his stamina. He never moaned or complained. Furthermore, he was ready to sacrifice himself for his son. Edward was a complex

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personality, almost dual and innerly contradictory. The play is concerned with the mechanism of statehood and the inner struggle for supremacy. There was also marked interest in Edwards personality. All history plays come close to the genre of tragedy; it is only a matter of emphasis. The main interest is political, however. Tragedy focuses on how does it feel to be there, on how a human being acts under pressure, under a certain existential burden. The focus is on person, not mechanism. With the history play there is a subtle transition. 2. Sh - Richard II, Richard III. They come close to tragedies. Richard II is similar to Edward II in the kind of central figure they deal with - self-centred, self-pitying, feeble people, not fit for the crown. Richard II was very gifted in a poetic way and had rich imagination; he could poeticise his experience. Shs play, however, has more details and depicts a more monolithic character - complex but not so contradictory as Mars. In Mars plays things happen abruptly, and we are puzzled by the character. In Sh we always have the same person, who is marked by depth of psychology; everything makes sense within the character. Sh creates the illusion that these are not just theatre figures, but real people that exist.However, Sh didnt deliberately aim at such illusion. It should be remembered that his plays were overtly theatrical. Sh wrote his history plays in the period mid 14th - mid 15th c. 3. Other history plays - Edward III - G. Peele; James IV - R. Greene An ambiguous orientation in the chronicles of that time. They mainly supported the Tudor orthodoxy. They had a second layer however, interrogating some of its points. So the chronicles presented countercurrents of ideas and attitudes, making the ideological construct unstable. Dialogical approach to the problems of drama. Drama - the best medium for different views about the same idea; a scheme of opp. Drama exposes but doesnt resolve problematic issues. It doesnt have to give answeres, it only pinpoints. Structure - less compact; episodic stream of different political events. Drama doesnt have enough focus, lacks tragic confict, or rather the conflict is not developed. Interest is on action rather than character. The tradition of the medieval Mystery Play - now secular, mundane history, not that of the Bible. Sh - the most consistent effort to create a whole cycle. The emergence of the new national state and its struggle for survival (feudal anarchy is done away with). A cross section of society in parallel plots. The Falstaff plot - Henry IV. In this play feudal anarchy is as usual opposed to the political organisation. Falstaff is a destructive, but amusing power. Problematization of the political question. However, people were amused by the anarchical power because it was lively, energetic and ingenious. This was an inexplicable kind of attraction; it was real life. Man that shunned political life was unpolluted by it, but that was subversive.Inner contradiction and lack of ideological phanaticism in Shs case. He viewed himself not as a propagandist but as an artist. COMEDY 1. Courtly Comedy J Lyly - the pioneer: Galatheo, Endymion, Midas, Sapho, Loves Metamorphosis, Alexandre and Compaspe - plays meant for court entertainment; elegant and stylized; mythological in plot, idylic in atmosphere, aesthetic and manneristic. Euphoism. Consituents are not important, what matters is the overall pattern. Love is the cental topic, and the attitude to love is ironic. Excesses of those in love, they are made fun of. The courtly comedy is a type of high sophisticated and polished comedy; no crude elements. Sh later imitated and parodied Lylys style (Love Labors Lost). Characteristic features: patterning, witty elegant repartee, aphoristic clues.

2. Courtly Masque An aristocratic theatrical play ordered on special occasions, and performed by amateur players - the aristocratic hausehold. They are full of music, dances, rich costumes and grand scenery. B Jonson and Th. Chapman wrote masques. J Milton - two masques; 1632 Comus - unexpectedly serious moral and philosophic theme - virtue victorious in a world of vice and temptation. 3. Farcical Comedy - Low Comedy Based on popular traditions; influence of classical and Italian Ren examples - the Tudors school drama. Nicholas Udall - Ralph Roister Doister /1553/. Anonymous - Gammer Gurtons Needle /1556/ (plot: loss of a needle). Middleton - A Trick to Catch the Old One, A Mad World, My Master, A Chaste Maid in Chipside.

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Sh - Taming of the Shrew /1589/ + Italian comedia del arte sub-plot. Humor: from situation, physical action. Thus they are also called Hosplay or Slapstick Comedies. (Bakhtin: the carnivalesque). The plays partake of the festive humor of the masses. Meant to entertain the less educated audiences. 4. Highest + Lowest Kind of Drama Farcical episodes introduced into tragedy. Grotesque parallelism of the main plot (Medieval Religious Drama Secunda Pastorum - combines solemn plots with grotesque comic subplot). Genre combination. Marlowe, Middleton -The Changeling Sh - Hamlet ( the grave-diggers - the two bafoons); Macbeth (the porter scene); King Lear (the fool) 5. Romantic Comedy R Greene - Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. Peele - The Old Wives Tale. Sh - The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Nights Dream These are comedies of loves adventures. They are idylic. The Characters are strongly poeticised, almost real human beings. Multiplicity of plots - connected to a different literary tradition: the medieval chivalric romance and the pastoral. The chivalric romance was processed through the Ren prose romances (Sidney, Greene, Lodge) - Sh was influenced by them. 6. City Comedy Th Middleton - Michealmas Term Sh - The Merry Wives of Windsor The city comedy was a relatively realistic representation of contemporary London. They were a cross-section of a society marked by transition and change of status. The socioogical point of view; interaction b/n country gentry and the citizens. Wealth was changing hands: from the country gentry to the townsmen. Outwitting people in Londons streets, cheating people, dupery. The country bumpkins - victom of Londons streets (dice thrown, cards played). But the country gentry sinned with the wives of the townsmen, so there was a kind of exchange. A characteristic feature is that crooks and fools change places; everybody is in danger of becoming a fool; only at the end of the play it becomes clear who is superior. Sourses for the city comedy: tracts, pamphlets, city life itself. A sub-genre of the city play: city heroic drama. It is basically comic, glorifying in a good humor spirit the citizens; expresses the nationalistic spirit and class pride of the bourgeoisie, as well as the middle class that pretend to be aristocratic. Th Dekker - The Shoemakers Holiday /1660/ Th Heywood - The Four Prentices of London /1595/ Beaumont and Fletcher - The Knight of the Burning Pestle - a burlesque mocking the pretences of the middle classes but in a mild way. They were to succeed Sh. 7. Satirical Comedy B Jonson - the theorist of this type of play G Chapman - originator of the Comedy of Humors These comedies presented a gallery of caricatures - psychological types of conteporary London, single feature personages, exaggerated and isolated, that turned into caricatures. These comedies have no real center. The mature satirical comedies - B Jonson Volpone /1606/ and The Alchemist /1610/ Characteristics: centered on the major vice of the age - greed. Scheme: dupery, two groups of characters in a struggle for supremacy. Crooks and fools are equally depraved, they change camps - uncvertain membership. The problem is solved by a deux ex machina intrusion at the end. Sometimes - a real character. 8. Tragicomedy It was gradually to supersede the other genres in the Baroque theatre. Sh is again a master in this genre. Two groups of plays: (i) Problem plays /1601-1605/ - dark comedies: Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure, Alls well that ends well (ii) Late romances /1608-1612/ - Pericles, Cymberline, The Tempest, A Winters Tale John Marston - The Malcontent

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Fr. Beaumont - Philaster 1. Comedies but with a sombre tone - the general slant is satirical 2. Philaster - tragedy + comedy - a complex unity; no tragic development, everything is solved in reconciliation but the tone and the attitude are mixture. A stricking synthesis. Atendency towards manneriastic combination and genre hybridization. The early Baroque drama had a synthetic quality. The logic of a character withdraws - the subjective arbitrariness of the author becomes prominent. The shift is from a realistic to a strongly subjective view. The patterning of action is important and conspicuous. The style is brilliant and carefully polished. A sheer theatrical entertainment lacking the seriousness of the previous plays. Now what mattered was the form of art and the exquisiteness of the object. Art was drifting away from life, it was no longer study of man but entertainment.