The cultural Background (1485 - 1688)

The 16^th century

The English renaissance

Tudors period labelled ----> the "English Renaissance". Court and classes became highly cultured. English scholars travelled to Italy in search of the new learning. The English returned home filled with the new ideas of humanism - valued the human figure and human reason without reference to religious or supernatural values. The classical cultures were reborn---> RENAISSANCE!

Development of poetry and music at his court.

Education and the classics

humanism started the English renaissance with their writings and lectures, particularly at Oxford and Cambridge. Europe's greatest humanist, Erasmus of Rotterdam. Greatest English humanist, Thomas More ---> written in Latin. The study of the classics, however, was not restricted to an elite.

The court at the height of the renaissance

the renaissance reached its peak, in the Elizabethan period. Elizabeth's court became a center of literary and artistic activity. Ability for noblemen are to write poetry, to play an instrument and to sing. Poems were often set to music. A new form of entertainment called "Masque", developed combination: of poetry, vocal and instrumental music, dancing, acting and scenic decoration ---> representation ---> allegorical and mythological subjects.

London Theaters

the most popular entertainment of the period for all social classes was the theater ---> permanent playhouses were built in London. They or these playhouses were considered centres of corruption.

Renaissance Music

music in the ren developed with great freedom and was also very popular among the common people. Church music ---> sung in latin.

Elizabethan composers wrote in English to be sung in protestant churches. Instruments acquired greater importance.

Ren Art

Religious art disappeared. Portraits became very fashionable.

Modern English

The English language became known as "modern English" from about 1500. A major influence was that of the classics. University scholars prefered to use Latin → when they wrote in English they embellished their prose with Latinate words. They borrowed many words from French - Italian - Spanish. The language was very flexible and had practically no rules.

The development of literature (1485 - 1688)

Fiction, Poetry and Drama

During the ren, poetry was a favourite genre at the court and among the educated upper class.

English Prose

It became the basis for Shakespeare's historical plays. A variety of works were helping English to become the standard medium of literature instead of Latin.

Poetry

Courtly poetry in the renaissance

English renaissance is associated with drama, models of poetic forms were derived from literature of Italy. Poetry was mainly concerned with "courtly" love. Poets expressed their passion for an unattainable lady, a distant idealised woman, and explored various aspects of their own emotions. Poetic effects → ornate words.

The Sonnet and Sonneteers

A favourite form in courtly poetry was the Sonnet, which had originated in Italy. Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced it into England with his translations of several sonnets by Petrarch. Petrarchan model: two quatrains and two tercets. Wyattan model. A quatrain and a couplet ---> structure of the English sonnet. Shakespeare broke the conventions of "courtly" love form in his 154 sonnets; some are addressed to a young man and some to a "Dark Lady"

Poetry and Drama

Elizabethan poetry found some of its finest expression in Drama. Plays were mostly written in verse. The predominant metre was the unrhymed iambic pentameter or "Blank Verse"

Spenser

Spenser was one of the foremost renaissance poets and his works well reflected the spirit of the age.

Popular Poetry

Courtly verse was only one strain in Elizabethan poetry. The other strain appealed to a lower and larger class of society and was mainly represented by broadside ballade, that is, ballads which were printed only on one side of a sheet of paper and sold in the streets and at fairs. They often dealt with topical issues or political subjects.

Drama

The End of Medieval Drama

Henry VIII's schism from Rome, hastened the end of medieval religious drama.

Drama of the English Renaissance

1558 ---> Elizabeth I ascended the throne

1642 ---> all theatres were closed down by the Puritans. During those years, drama became a major genre for English writers to express themselves. Aspect of English drama:

It broke away from the religious roots of the middle ages to reflect the humanistic spirit of the new age. Its language expressed strong emotions and passions ---> also sometimes vulgar, humour of common people.

Travelling Companies of Actors

The popularity of drama spread thanks to travelling companies of actors, who held the status of servants of a lord and called their companies after him. There were no women in these companies, because acting was considered immoral and, therefore, inappropriate for a woman. Young boys played women's roles in the plays.

The Elizabethan playhouse

The Elizabethan playhouse was circular or polygonal. The stage had no roof and no seats and was occupied by spectators who could only pay the basic admission fee of one penny and stood throughout the performance. Around the theatre walls were more expensive seats and boxes for the higher social classes. The performance took place in daylight. No painted scenery.

Renaissance Playwrights

Elizabethan playwrights wrote plays to provide entertainment and make money. The group of playwrights who founded the English drama of the renaissance, were called the "university wits" ---> all men of university education ---> Cambridge or Oxford. Lyly and Marlowe.

Shakespeare's Greatness

He was the most creative Elizabethan writer. In his plays, he used a vocabulary of some 30000 words. He coined a great amount of new words and phrases which have entered the language and are still in use today.

Influence of the Classics on Drama

the Greek and Latin writers who were most influential on Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights were Plutarch and Seneca.