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The Seventeenth Century

The Seventeenth Century. Shakespeare, Milton, Metaphysical Poetry , and the Restoration Comedy. William Shakespeare “for all time” (1564-1616). An actor, a poet, and a playwright. Just a few biographical details but a huge corpus of works.

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The Seventeenth Century

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  1. The Seventeenth Century Shakespeare, Milton, MetaphysicalPoetry, and the RestorationComedy

  2. William Shakespeare “for all time” (1564-1616) • An actor, a poet, and a playwright. • Just a few biographical details but a huge corpus of works. • From “the Lord Chamberlain's Men” to “the King’s Men”. • A most successful collection of Sonnets and at least 37 plays. • comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. • The influence of mystery and morality plays. • A special concern for the human condition. • The staging of inner struggles inside his characters. • Plays both for the educated elite and for ordinary people.

  3. “Metaphysical Poetry” • The “conceit” at the heart of this new poetry. • The ‘concorsdiscordia’ and the intervention of destalibilizing metaphors and images. • The stress on wit and far-fetched images. • The presence of wild comparisons and audacious puns. • The rise of the baroque. • Profusion and extravagance. • John Donne (1572-1631).

  4. John Milton (1608-1674) • His early ambition to write a great epic poem. • His involvement in the affairs of church and state. • Far for a poem for the glory of the nation, an epic with a deeply religious background. • Paradise Lost (1667). • “the Divine Comedy of Puritanism”, according to Max Weber.

  5. The Restoration and itscomedies • Two civil wars and the beheading of King Charles I. • The end of monarchy and the establishment of a republic. • Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658). • All theatres closed between 1642 to 1660. • The restoration of monarchy ant he reopening of theatres. • A profusion of comedies openly attacking the follies and hypocrisies of society. The comedy of manners. • The example of William Congreve (1670-1729), The Way of the World. • The political therapy of laughter.

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