The predecessors of Shakespeare. Edmund Spencer (1552-1599). One of the finest Elizabethan poets was E.Spencer, an ambitious and gifted man who wanted to write poems in English which could be compared with the classical epics by Homer and Virgil or with the newer Italian verse of Ariosto and Tasso. He wished to improve the English language and, at the same time, return to its roots in the popular stories and myths of an older tradition. The result was “The Fairy Queen”, an extraordinary combination of the Medieval and the Renaissance, of popular and aristocratic features. Spencer was born in London and educated at Merchant Taylor’s School, publishing translations of Petrarch while steel a pupil. He then proceeded to Cambridge and in 1579 entered the household of the Earl Leicester. There he became a friend of Sir Philip Sidney, (The Shepherd’s Calendar is dedicated to him) and that same year he began to work on his epic masterpiece, “The Fairy Queen”. The first three books of it came out in 1590 followed by books IV to VI in1596. Spencer married Elizabeth Boyle during this period and wrote the Amoretti sonnets to celebrate their courtship and Epithalamion for there wedding. Spencer’s strangest work is his rather brutal “View of the Present State of Ireland”, a prose treatise defending English massacres of the Irish and displaying a surprisingly virulent contempt for the Irish people. Not all Spencer’s works survived, bur he is regarded as one of the greatest English poets of his century. There are several analogies between the “Fairy Queen” and Queen Elizabeth I, to whom the poem is dedicated and whose reign it celebrates.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is widely regarded as one of the greatest dramatists in England and in the world but very little is known about his life; much must be inferred from indirect evidence, such as other people’s writings, legal documents and so on. He was presumably educated at the local grammar school. It is known that he left Stratford in his native place for London in1592 to establish himself on the literary scene and then a playwright. In these years he became a founder member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Company which became later the leading company in London and were often invited to perform in private before Elizabeth 1 and her court. The year 1599 saw the opening of the Globe Theatre. The period in which the Globe flourished, until it burned down in1613, coincides with Shakespeare’s greatest works. In 1603, on the accession of James 1 to the throne, the Company became “The King’s Men” because of their high prestige. In 1610 Shakespeare retired to Stratford where he died in 1616.
Classification renders the richness and variety of his output and his works are divided into several groups:
The Romantic Comedies of Shakespeare date from the early period of his life. They were light-hearted plays mostly on the themes relating to love. His later comedies after 1598(e.g. Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It) display a greater seriousness.
The Histories. Shakespeare began his career with a history play (Henry V1) and the last is also a history play (Henry 111), but most of these categories of plays belong to the middle part of his career between 1595-1600. In writing these he drew on earlier chronicles, often transforming historical events creatively to suit the political climate and tastes of the Elizabethan Age and to produce topical plays dealing with themes of rebellion and kingship.
The Tragedies. Shakespeare’s great tragedies (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth) were written between1601 and 1608. Here the world view has shifted to a rather bitter and disillusioned outlook, and the emphasis is on tragic heroes, defined by the celebrated critic A.C.Bradley as, “conspicuous persons of high degree” whose fall leads death and suffering.
The Late Romances. This category embraces the later plays written after Shakespeare retired to Stratford,1608,and includes “Pericles”, ”Cymbeline”, “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Tempest”. These works are more lyrical in comparison with the earlier plays and seem to represent a newly found peace of mind in Shakespeare’s art. All these plays deal with reconciliation and justice, moving from a starting point of loss or wrong, through a series of conflicts to a happy forgiving conclusion of civilization and reasserting the value of mercy and love.
The Poems. Shakespeare’s earliest works are the long poems “Venus and Adonis”, “The Rape of Lucrece”. The first work is fashionably erotic account of the love story of Venus and Adonis. The second is more rethorical poem, narrating the story of Tarquin and Lucrece, and examining the conflict between lust and conscience. The cycle of 154 sonnets (written in the 1590s) is the most enigmatic of all his works and continues to excite speculation to this day. Apparently addressed partly to a fair young man and partly to a mysterious dark lady, they deal with themes of love and passage of time and friendship.
Note about Early Modern English. Shakespeare’s English was very different from modern English. One of the most grammatical features that can be noticed is the use of the second person singular form: thou\thee\thy\thine (compeare with you\you\your\yours). The verb form is ended in -est or –st: thou didst = you did; thou seest = you see.
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Тема 6
English literature during the Bourgeois Revolution. (XVII century) John Milton. English literature during the Bourgeois Revolution.
The character of the revolution. The English bourgeois revolution is divided into three periods: the eve of the revolution; the civil war; the formation of the commonwealth and protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. In 17th century England was yet an agricultural country. The east and south were industrially developed. The bourgeoisie was power to put up a struggle against the monarchy because it had the support of the farmers and new nobility.
During the last years of Elizabeth’s period reign Parliament began to be very powerful. All through James reign the Commons quarreled with the King for assuming monopolies and raising taxes without consent of Parliament. And the struggle between the two sides began again when in 1625 Charles 1 took his father’s place on the throne. He carried out a new policy where he restored an ancient tax called Ship money, which provoked a strong feeling of opposition. He asked Parliament for money but they refused. So the King got himself out of difficulty by dismissing Parliament.
For eleven years following 1628 the king ruled without a Parliament. Archbishop Laud and Thomas Wentworth helped him to carry out his autocratic policy in Scotland and Ireland.
Many Puritans during the year of Catholic reaction were exiled. And during the reign of Elizabeth they came back. They wanted to purify the English church from Catholic rights.
During the first years of Charles’ reign there were no political parties. Church formed their ideology. Those who opposed the King were not only bad subjected but bag Christians as well. The people, who hated the monarchy, left the church and Puritans became the leaders in resisting the King. In Parliament the Puritans formed two parties, the party of the Presbyterians and Independents.
The Civil War. The king went to the north of England where the old nobility had their lands. They helped him to muster troops. They were also many Royalists in the backward west. The industrially developed parts of England, the east and south, were on the side of Parliament. In the summer of 1642, the King raised his standard at Nottingham and the civil war began between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. The population was divided into two parts
Everywhere fought with each other. There were several generals on both sides, but the most famous was Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell won two great battles against Royalists. These two victories made Parliament supreme in the north and in the Midlands. The King’s army was shattered and destroyed. The High Court was assembled together to try the King and to put an end to the war. The trial took place in Westminster Hall. The King was found guilty and sentenced to death.
The Commonwealth. The development of journalism. The political struggles involving broad masses of the English population favoured to development of political literature and laid to foundation of journalism. The people took a tremendous interest in all kinds of information about the political events of the time. Leaflets with information began to appear. The periodicals sprang up well. At the beginning of long Parliament, daily records of events called “Diurnals” began to be issued, in which the proceedings of Parliament sessions were printed. The greatest of all publicists during the Puritan revolution was John Milton. His works and pamphlets gave theoretical foundation to the struggle of the bourgeoisie against the monarchy. He became the chief ideologist of the Independents. “Paradise Lost” was written at the time of bourgeois revolution had ended unsuccessfully, but powerful voice of the poet declared that the spirit of the revolution was not broken.
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Тема 7
The Enlightenment. Daniel Defoe (1661-1731) “Robinson Crusoe”. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
The history of England of the second half of the 17th century and during all of the 18th century was marked by British colonial expansion. England’s rivals were Holland, France and Spain. All the wars waged by England against those countries were wars for gaining a commanding position in the Channel and for the controlling commerce in India and America. The most active section of the population at the time was the commercial classes. They took the lead in Britain’s foreign policy. A number of members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons decided to force the king to rule through Parliament in order to carry out their foreign policy. Among them were the London merchants, business men and some nobles. They were supported by the Dissenters (the religious sects who had separated from the Anglican Church). In 1688, the bourgeoisie managed to bring the royal power, the armed forces and taxation under the control of Parliament. This called the Revolution of 1688 or the “Glorious Revolution”, but it was not the people’s revolution.
At the beginning of the 18th century, England was becoming the commercial centre of Europe. London was regarded as the great centre of wealth and civilization. Many foreign goods brought to England at that time. The ships came up the Themes to London. The introduction of coffee, chocolate and tea as common drinks led to the establishment of coffeehouses. People went there regularly to learn the latest news, and these houses became centres of political discussion. Each rank and profession, each shade of religious and political opinion had its own coffee-houses,The literary men and wits could be found there.
LITERATURE. It was a sound-thinking and rational age. Common sense ruled the day. This period saw a remarkable rise of literature. People wrote on many subjects and made great contributions in the fields of philosophy, history, natural sciences and the new study of political economy.
The central problem of vital importance to the writers of the 18th century was the study of man and the origin of his good and evil qualities. Human nature, they said, was virtuous, yet man diverged from virtue under the influence of vicious society. Thus formulated, the problem became a social problem. At every turn the writers met with the survivals of feudalism in the country and with evils of the newly established system of production. They were as yet unable to understand the laws of its development. Eventually the writers of the 18th c-ry started a public movement for enlightening the people. They thought to improve the world by teaching, they said they would bring light to people. The writers of that age considered Church dogmas and cast distinctions as useless lumber and rejected them. The movement of the Enlightenment, though led by the middle class, was intended for the good of all and spread later to the Continent (Europe). France produced eminent writers who fought for the enlightenment of their people. They were Voltaire, ROUSSEAU AND OTHERS. The movement of the Enlightenment all over Europe had much in common.
This period saw the transition from poetry and the heroic age of Shakespeare to the prosaic age of the essayists. The style of prose became clear, graceful and polished. Satire became popular. This period also saw the rise of political pamphlet. Periodical newspapers had been published since the civil war, and in 1702 the first daily newspaper was established. Much of the drama was written in prose, and the leading form of literature became the novel. The hero of the novel was not longer a prince but a representative of the middle class. The writers of that time formed two groups. Those who hoped to better the world simply by teaching: J.Addison, R.Steele, Daniel Defoe, A.Pope, S.Richardson, L.Stern
The others who openly protested against the vicious social order weJ.Swift, H.Fielding, O.Goldsmith, R.Sheridan, R Burns.
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Тема 8
The Age of Romantics.(1798-1837)Romantic and Romanticism.W.Wordsworth,S.T.Coleridge. Second generations of English Romantics: By The beginning of the Romantic Age in English Literature is 1797, the year when William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge published their poems called “Lyrical Ballads” and ends ands in1832, with the death of Sir Walter Scott and the passage of the First Reform Bill in the Parliament. Romanticism is a European development not just English. The word romance originally referred to highly imaginative medieval tales of knightly adventure written in the French derivative of the original Roman (or romance) language, Latin.(That these tales often involved amorous encounters between a Knight and his lady is partly responsible for the modern meaning of romance and romantic). When we speak of the Romantic Age, we are using the word romantic in this older sense. To avoid confusion, we should remember that “romance” as “freely imaginative idealizing fiction”, and not “romance” as “love between men and women”, is the true basis for the terms “Romantic Age” and “Romanticism”. Romantic writers emphasized imagination and emotion and they championed the value of the individual human being. Eighteen century writers were concerned with the general or universal in experience, they took primary inspiration from classical Greek and Roman authors; Romantic writers took a revitalized interest as in medieval subjects and settings. Romantic writers called “The spirit of the Age”- a shared sense of liberated energy and fresh departure similar in some respects to what we find in the Renaissance. This Age began in England with greatest collaboration in all of English literature.
The second generation of English Romantics: Byron, Shelly and Keats. The poetic ideals of Wordsworth and Coleridge provided a major inspiration for the brilliant young writers. These poets were all precocious and intense, and fad tragically short lived. George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) and Percy Shelly (1792-1822) have several similarities. They were both from aristocratic families graduated from prestigious schools and left England because of pressure against their unconventional lives and died prematurely in distant Mediterranean countries. Their poetic careers were quite different. Before living England Byron had become the most celebrated poet not only in England but in all Europe. His romantic travel poem “Child Harold’s Pilgrimage” captured an enormous audience, and satirical epic poem “Don Juan” written after his leave from England was a popular success. On the other hand Shelly’s poetry was not popular. Shelly himself understood the philosophical difficulty and stylistic experimentation of his the most ambitious work is outside the interest of many readers. His attempt to make a direct impact on English opinion with his revolutionary and utopian political ideas, his intellectualism got the way of successful communication. The most widely appreciated of his poems were the shorter, intensely subjective lyrics.
ron, Shelley.
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Тема 9
The Victorian Age. O.Wilde. M.Arnold. A.Tennyson. W.Thackeray. Ch. Dickens
England began to give way to modern influences. In 1911 national insurance was introduced: all working people contributed o funds which would protect the sick and unemployed. Important Parliamentary reform also occurred. Changes in social and political lives. The WW 1. The influence of war poetry to a new literary movement – called Modernist. There points of view joined in there rejection of prewar literary tradition. Modernist trends were influenced by Impressionist and Symbolist ideas, by the poems of Gerard Hopkins, and by the ideas of the British Idealists, who were opposed to the materialism that had dominated the 19th century. Bloomsbury group of writers: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), E.M.Forster (1879-1970), disseminated Modernist ideas. The Transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth. Contemporary British Writing.
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Тема 10
English Literature of the XXth century. The main directions. B.Shaw. S. Maugham. R.Aldington. J.Pristley. G.Green.
