Elizabethan Literature

Elizabethan Literature Main Focus: Imagery and Themes Structure

Structure of the Presentation • Imagery and Themes of literature common to the time of the Elizabethan period. • Structure of Literature such as • The Elizabethan 5 act Structure • Sonnets • Prose

Introduction The Elizabethan period saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama. Plays became more socially acceptable and respectable as Queen Elizabeth herself enjoyed them and was against the shutting down of theatres. It was often called the "young" age. It was full of boundless vigor, re-awakened intellectual earnestness, and unfettered, soaring imagination. The best fruits of the age are enshrined in poetry in which all these elements can be befittingly contained.

Complexity and depth of Elizabethan plays • Playwrights had to work with a unique audience with which to contend- they wrote for people with a continuous spectrum of backgrounds- 2 groups separated by a huge gulf, the lower class commons and the aristocracy. • The plots were able to be appreciated by relatively unschooled ‘groundlings’ but are also filled with allusions and literary references to delight the well educated aristocracy of the Elizabethan court. • The complexity of the audience is reflected in the depth and complexity of the Elizabethan plays.

Characteristics of Elizabethan Literature • Elizabethan works uphold a great variety in almost unlimited creative focus; They include works of many kinds in both verse and prose, and ranges in spirit- from the loftiest platonic idealism or the most delightful romance to the level of very repulsive realism. • Elizabethan drama broke away from the religious domination, which was the major focus of the medieval mystery and morality plays.

Elizabethan literature Is mainly dominated by the Spirit of Romance. • Spirit of Dramatic Action- as befitted an age whose restless enterprise was eagerly extending itself to every quarter of the globe. • It was the Period of Experimentation, when the proper material limits if literary forms were being determined, often by means of false starts and grandiose failures. • Influenced greatly by Italian Literature

Latin was the medium of expression all throughout the fifteenth century, and all the important prose was written in Latin. However, came about the English language particularly in the later half of the 16th century, English prose was indulged upon.

The age," says G. H. Mair, "was intoxicated with language. It went mad of a mere delight in words. Its writers were using a new tongue, for English was enriched beyond all recognition with borrowings from the ancient authors, and like all artists who become possessed of a new medium, they used it to excess. The early Elizabethans' use of the new prose was very like the use some educated Indians make of English. It was rich, gaudy and overflowing, though, in the main, correct."

I am not able to scrutinize all of the literature in the Elizabethan period and give analysis their use of imagery, but from the extract before, I am able to conclude that imagery must have been rich and romantic along with the use of language. Late 16th century poetry was characterized by elaboration of language of extensive allusion to classical myths. Shakespeare especially used countless language techniques ( such as metaphor, simile, personification) to re-inforce strong visual images of Romance and drama the main themes in his plays.

The Significance of the Queen • Works of Literature from the Elizabethan era often included references to the Queen, for example Playwrights like Christopher Marlowe and Edmund Spencer. She was THE symbol of those days. Elizabeth’s specific actions, her image and the court atmosphere she nurtured significantly influenced- even inspired great works of literature.

Examples of rich imagery in texts • Light imagery in Romeo and Juliet : "Juliet is the sun [and he calls her to] Arise . . . and kill the envious moon." The clever use of metaphor here is just a teaspoon if the imagery Shakespeare has used in Romeo and Juliet to illustrate the ying-yang / light-dark attraction between Romeo and Juliet. The 2 lovers are born to families that are enemies to each other, Romeo thus think of Juliet as the ‘sun’ and ‘light’ while he is the moon.

Shakespeare, through imagery, also illustrated darkness as a safe haven for the lovers. "More light and light it grows, more dark and dark our woes!" (3.5.35-36) He is saying here, that In the light of day the conflicting families could discover the secrets of the lovers much more easily than they could at night. So the lovers, these brilliant sparks of light, find life for their love in the darkness and semi-darkness which is all the better for their illumination.

Sonnets • Shakespeare popularized the English Sonnet, which was introduced into English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th Century • Structure* 14 lines* Iambic Pentameter* static rhyme scheme • Three quatrains and a couplet.

He wrote his plays largely in blank verse that is, in lines of iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is when there is 10 beats in each line. In such a pattern, each line is divided into five units called feet, with the accent falling on every second syllable. Of all English patterns, blank verse particularly when occasionally varied comes closest to the rhythms of everyday speech. In his earliest plays, much of Shakespeare's blank verse was stiff and fake. But it soon developed into a completely flexible dramatic instrument. Through his verse, Shakespeare could create a feeling of speed and excitement or a sense of calm dignity.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? • Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as man can breath, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

The scenes of the plays are carefully woven together in order to create tension and humor, also to foreshadow what is going to happen. Fragments of important information is woven in throughout the play so that when the complex plot unfolds the plot is able to be understood it by piecing together all the information given in previous scenes. The structure in which many subplots run through the play can be described as 'River Action'; actions not closely linked are moving in parallel to be intertwined at the end of the play for a tense or humorous effect.

Structure of Plays • Shakespeare used the Elizabethan five-act structure, which evolved from the Greek form and remains an often used starting point for contemporary films and plays. • Act I: Inciting Action • Act II: Turning Point(s) • Act III: Climax • Act IV: Falling Action • Act V: Resolution

Act I: Inciting Action • This is where the plot begins. The rest of the story unfolds from this incident. The first act also contains exposition that explains the setting, characters and background of the drama. • Act II: Turning Point(s) • A Shakespearean play may have several turning points. Act II generally has at least one turning point for the protagonist.

Act III: Climax • The climax is encountered within this act and a action must be taken relating to the climax. • Act IV: Falling Action • The falling action in a Shakespearean drama contains further turning points. As the consequences of the action in Act III begins to unfold, tension builds, and often further character development occurs. In a tragedy the reader or viewer is led to believe that there is still hope for the protagonist. In a comedy, things go from bad to worse for the hero or heroine.

Act V: Resolution • In the final act, the conflict is resolved, either through ruination or triumph. The resolution in a tragedy is the catastrophe resulting from the climactic actions, usually focusing on the downfall of the protagonist. In a comedy, the resolution usually involves the marriage of all principal characters in a happy ending. • Within acts there are multiple scenes which all have a different idea or sub plot

Elizabethan Literature