Unit 2 English Renaissance

1. Unit 2English Renaissance British Literature Ms. Carroll 2008

2. Elizabethan Period • English Renaissance also called Elizabethan Era • Named for Queen Elizabeth I, ruled for 45 years • Time of English Renaissance -expansion of British domination overseas -rising Nationalism and imperialism (until 20th c) -growth in arts and sciences -civil order enforced

3. Elizabethan Period cont’d • London grew 5x its medieval size • Trade with Asia • Increase in middle class -schools/education available for all

4. Poetry • Less narrative and more personal • Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard • Brought influence of Petrarchan sonnet • 14 lines • Octet and sestet • Difficult to translate • Sir Phillip Sydney introduced variation of sonnet • Perfected by Shakespeare, called Shakespearean

5. Metaphysical Poets • Comes later • Appeals to mind not emotion • Speculates about philosophy • The poems are tightly woven with dense meaning • Use of conceit, an extended metaphor • John Donne, most prominent • Often religious themes • Language often colloquial

6. Cavalier Poets • Under the leadership of Stuarts, after Elizabeth • Ben Jonson, literary leader of the time • Robert Herrick, adopted the Roman carpe diem • Hesperides poems

7. Prose • Development of the essay • Dominant figures • Bacon • More

8. Drama • Flowered during the Elizabethan period • Began as mini-plays in Latin • Pope Urban 4th established Corpus Christi festivals • Similar to Greek and Roman theatre although the Elizabethans knew little about them • Shakespeare and Marlow dominant figures of time

9. Drama cont’d • Acting guilds developed 14th-16th centuries • Morality plays progressed into ‘drama’ • Professional acting troupes develop and theatres are built

10. Tragedy • Tragedy is literary term for drama with serious and important actions and often disastrous results for protagonist • Aristotle defines as “serious actions complete in self” • Catharsis: sympathetic reaction in audience has a purifying result • Tragic flaw– what causes protagonist’s downfall, often hubris • In Macbeth, we see influence of Senecan drama • Involves revenge, murder, mutilation, and ghosts

11. Elizabethan tragedy and tragic heroes • Member of power class by birth, conquest, or usurpation • More fully realized human, heightened powers and destiny • Fate in combination of what others do and what he does • Individualist • Represents universal human kind • Intelligent and sensitive • Learns through suffering • Isolated • Shows personal courage in accepting death/defeat

12. “Freytag Pyramid” for tragic structure • Act 1– exposition • Act 2– rising action • Act 3– turning point • Act 4– falling action • Act 5– catastrophe

13. The true story… • Differences between play and history • Knew little of 1044 Scotland in England 1606 • Duncan I, king in 1034 after killing grandfather • Macbeth kills Duncan and rules for 17 years • 1057, Malcolm raised army with help of English and defeated Macbeth • Shakespeare got his story from Holinshed Chronicles • In the history books, Macbeth’s wife is hardly mentioned

14. Macbeth, the play • Written in 1606 • Written for James I of England (who was James VI of Scotland) • Scottish ancestry, descendent of Banquo-Fleance line • Some question on the legitimacy of this claim • Shakespeare polished the history for a more positive view • Fascinated by witches/supernatural, after three women confessed to witchcraft to try to sink his ship– the women were bruned • Just after a plot to murder king, relevant theme • Supports divine authority of king

15. Macbeth, the play (cont’d) • One of the last tragedies Shakespeare wrote • An action-packed, psychological thriller • Simple in plot structure: rise and fall of man • Most complex and probing study of hero • Weaves symbolism, imagery, and irony • Written primarily in blank verse • Addresses the self-defeating character of evil • Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling characters; this is one of his greatest tragedies. The question for you is WHY???????

16. Themes • Things are not what they seem • Blind ambition • Power corrupts • The power of superstition on human behavior • What other themes do you see?

17. Literary Devices • Allusion– mythological and Biblical • Figurative language– imagery, similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration • Symbolism • Foreshadowing • Dramatic irony • Ambiguity

18. Lady Gruoch Macbeth • What motivates her? • Wants to deny her femininity • Abuses husband • What does her character reveal about Shakespeare’s belief of women? • Historically she was married to Gillacomgain; Macbeth killed him, married her, and raised son Lulach

19. The Witches • Appropriate given interest in topic by James I • In Shakespeare’s time many believed in witches • Called “Weird Sisters” a reference to Holinshed’s Chronicles, but referred to as goddesses of fate • Shakespeare presents them as typical witches • Reminiscent of the three Fates of Greek myth and three Norns of Norse myth • Instruments of darkness • Manifestations of evil in the world • Tempters… they appeal to what Macbeth wants to believe • Symbols of the potential for evil in the human imagination • A permanent feature of landscape; they are not defeated

20. To think about as you read • What makes this a tragedy? What makes Macbeth a tragic character/hero? • Why does Macbeth do what he does? What role does Lady Macbeth (Gruoch) play? • What psychological things are happening in play? • What is the relationship between Macbeth and his wife? How are they alike? How are they different? • Is humanity fundamentally amoral?