osn academy part... · 2017-09-12 · renaissance (1485-1660) the term ... spenser is rightly...

History of English Literature [1] I.A.S.

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Renaissance (1485-1660)

The term ‘Renaissance’ means rebirth in French and derives originally from the Latin

‘renascentia’. This label was first employed in the sixteenth century to describe a period in

which the recovery and/or renewal of interest in the texts from ancient Greek and Roman

culture became a significant focus of intellectual attention. More generally , ‘Renaissance’ is

now used by historians and literary critics to refer to a whole host of different cultural

movements (artistic, political, religious and literary)which began in the fourteenth-century

Italy and whose influence radiated out across Europe in the succeeding centuries.

This cultural wave in Europe, with its origins in Italy, did not reach the shores of

rather insular kingdom of England until the arrival of Tudors on the throne. The accession of

Henry VII marked an end to an extended period of civil unrest (the War of the Roses) and

thus facilitated greater cultural dialogue and intercourse. This exposure to new ideas and

insights profoundly impacted the cultural landscape of England. These times saw the decline

of feudalism and the guild system, the decline of ‘Christian Commonwealth’ and the

emergence of national cultures, the new explorations and discoveries, the new love for

knowledge, the reformation of the Church. All these movements liberated the human mind

and gave people the freedom to think and act. This age, not only in England but in Europe,

was “great in what it achieved, sublime in what it dreamed; abounding in ripe wisdom

and heroic deeds; full of light and of beauty and of life”. The Crusades or the Holy Wars, though ended in failure, proved beneficial

intellectually, socially and culturally. They ended the long period of stagnation and isolation

in Europe thereby leading to the destruction of old ideas and prepared men to receive the new

ideas of the Renaissance.

Another important event was the fall of Constantinople which brought about the

downfall of Christian Roman Empire of the Byzantine Greeks at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

The fall of Constantinople shook every throne in Europe. It was an event that changed the

course of history in two ways: it encouraged exploration and discovery and it led to the

revival of classical learning. The travels and discoveries were the result of increased

economic activity and the growth of trade and commerce which came from the Far East to

Europe following the siege of Constantinople. Also there was a general interest in trade and

travel as several books on travel were written. The classical writers of ancient Rome and

Greece came to be read widely after the mass exodus of scholars from Constantinople to

Italy. This is what is meant by the ’classical revival’.

There was a general emancipation of art and music during the Renaissance from the

clutches of Church, which patronized art if it was symbolic of sanctity and moral virtues. Art

became simpler and more realistic. Artistic marvels of the great painters namely

Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Titian stand unsurpassed in beauty and

grandeur. Music too underwent improvisation with better musical compositions. The

Renaissance architects rejected the Gothic style and revived the classical arch, dome and

column infused with a secular spirit. With the discovery of new sea-routes and distant

continents and revival of classics, great progress was made in the field of science which

encompassed astronomy, mathematics, physics, medicine, biology and social studies.

Renaissance in Literature Renaissance was in one sense an awakening from the long slumber of the Dark Ages.

The Renaissance writers engaged tightly with the radically changing cultural landscape which

their audiences were experiencing and explored the direction which a developing England

might take. Spanning the years 1500-1660, the English Renaissance produced some of the

greatest works of literature the world has known. The spirit of optimism, unlimited potential,


and the stoic English character all coalesced to generate literature of the first order. At the

same time, England graduated from an overlooked “barbarian” nation to a seat of commercial

power and influence. This power naturally translated into a literature that was bold, sweeping,

innovative, and trend-setting. Classicism, Humanism and Individualism became the new

buzzwords.

Classicism In literature, many changes were taking place during this time. In Italy, for example,

educated citizens rediscovered the grace and power of their classical, pagan traditions. Greek

and Roman mythologies and philosophies served as the inspirational material for a new wave

of artistic creation. Under the classical influences, scholars became interested in the scientific

study of languages and in the principles of composition. Poets experimented with form, and

dramatists revived and reinvented the classical traditions of the Greeks and Romans.

When the Renaissance came, drama had already come out of the hands of churchmen,

and was assumed by laymen. The popularity of mystery and miracle plays, which were more

religious than literary, soon waned. Attempts were made to introduce classicism into drama.

The comedies of Plautus and Terence and the tragedies were Seneca were studied and

imitated. To England goes the credit of making modern drama. In the sixteenth century, a

group known as the ‘University Wits’ which included Lyly, Greene, Kyd and Marlowe

made remarkable experiments, which paved the way for masterpieces of Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was an unmatched genius in terms of variety, profundity, and

exquisite use of language. His subject matter ran the gamut, from classical Greco-Roman

stories to contemporary tales of unrequited love. Shakespeare is known for his ability to shift

between comedy and tragedy, from complex character study to light-hearted farce.

Not only drama but poetry also was heavily influenced by the classical models. In

contrast to the poetry of the middle ages, which was mainly about religion, epic style and

sonnets grew during this time. The poetry incorporated topics ranging from Christianity to

classical antiquity, from heroic themes to an earnest expression of love. Edmund Spenser’s

The Fairie Queene, in which he glorified the reign of Queen Elizabeth, incorporates the

model of Ariosto, the theme of Tasso and the ideals of Aristotle.

Humanism The defining concept of the Renaissance was humanism, a literary movement that

began in Italy during the fourteenth century. Humanism was a distinct movement because it

broke from the medieval tradition of having pious religious motivation for creating art or

works of literature. It applies to the revival of classical literature and was so called by its

leaders, following the example of Petrarch, because they held that the study of the classics,

literae humaniores, that is “the more human writings” rather than the old theology, was the

best means of promoting the largest human interests. Humanist writers were concerned with

worldly or secular subjects rather than strictly religious themes. Such emphasis on secularism

was the result of a more materialistic view of the world. Unlike the Medieval Era,

Renaissance people were concerned with money and the enjoyment of life and all its worldly

pleasures. Humanist writers glorified the individual and believed that man was the measure of

all things and had unlimited potential.

Humanist writers sought to understand human nature through a study of classical

writers such as Plato and Aristotle. They believed that the classical writers of Ancient Greece

and Rome could teach important ideas about life, love, and beauty. The revival of interest in

the classical models of Greece and Rome was centered primarily among the educated people

of the Italian city-states and focused on literature and writing.


During the Middle Ages in Western Europe, Latin was the language of the Church

and the educated people. The Humanist writers began to use the vernacular, the national

languages of a country, in addition to Latin.

Individualism As an intellectual movement, Humanism emphasized on the secular ideas found in

Greek and Roman literature. Among these ancient ideas was a newfound faith in the

individual. The God-fearing Middle Ages viewed man as “unworthy by virtue” and “stained

by original sin”. Renaissance Humanism brought a newfound interest in education in art and

the humanities, people became less absorbed in religious hierarchy and more curious about

the capabilities of man. As the Renaissance developed, Individualism became a prominent

theme in Italy. Many philosophers wrote about the potential of man and developed their own

beliefs as to the kind of person an individual should aim to be. All the classes of people –

explorers and colonists, pirates and merchants, scholars and scientists – repudiated tradition

and authority. The new learning freed the minds of people from medieval conceptions and

preoccupations and launched modern Europe on a new path of progress in all the fields of

life. The human body, so long despised and ill-treated came to be glorified, which gave birth

to sensuousness in poetic parlance. Individualism celebrated the infinite capabilities of man,

his unbounded optimism, his yearning to attain the unattainable. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus

best exemplifies the Renaissance ideals of individualism.

The Renaissance had its full blossoming in the Elizabethan period (1551-1603). The

most interesting and significant product of early Renaissance was the translation of Greek

and Roman literature. The translators opened for their countrymen a window into the

enchanting world of antiquity with all its freshness, the worlds of Gods and Goddesses of

Greece and of the great soldiers of the Roman Empire.

A new life was kindled into poetry. Long poetry and allegory was done away with.

Sir Thomas Wyatt and Surrey introduced sonnet and blank verse respectively. Edmund

Spenser is rightly called the Child of Renaissance; his poem the Fairie Queene offers us a

rich feast for our senses. Marlowe’s Hero and Leander is the product of the Renaissance

influence.

As concerns drama, Renaissance exercised a great influence. Plautus and Terence

influenced comedy and Seneca influenced tragedy. Erasmus’s ‘Praise of Folly’ and Sir

Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’ are chief prose works imbued with the Renaissance spirit.


Reformation

The Church before the Reformation In the middle ages, the Church occupied the most important place in Christendom. Its

authority was final in religion. It was deemed necessary for ordered society. It was said to

have been founded by Jesus Christ himself, and the Pope was his apostle on earth. But even

in those days the Church had become prey to many abuses. Priests accumulated wealth and

worldly power and neglected their duties.

Pre-Reformation Attacks on the Church Long before Martin Luther’s Protestantism, intellectuals and reformers had begun to

attack the corrupt practices of the medieval Church. John Wycliff, “The Morning Star of

Reformation” in England rebelled against the arbitrary power of Pope and translated the

Bible into English. John Huss, a Bohemian, struggled for Church reform. Savonarola, in

Florence, advocated the liberty of thought and attacked the abuses of the Church government.

The humanist attack on the medieval church came from Reuchlin and Erasmus.

Reuchlin was a philologist, who pointed out the mistakes of scholastic theologians. Erasmus

was not a theologian and did not question the basic principles of the Roman Catholic Church.

But in his book ‘In Praise of Folly’ he condemned the worldliness, the greed and the

vulgarity of churchmen as well as laymen. The Reformation was hastened on account of

scandals within the Church. Pope Alexander VI was a moral degenerate. Pope Leo X

extracted money from the people to build a part of St. Peter’s Church in Rome. He sold

Church offices, pawned the sacred jewels and the statues of the apostles. The lower clergy

lived luxuriously like nobles. The middle class people, who had to pay these taxes, found the

burden unwelcome. National states were already asserting their power. The Church was ready

to disintegrate: it required a powerful man to advocate reform. Martin Luther fulfilled this

need.

The Reformation in Germany The Reformation was begun by Martin Luther in Germany. Pope Leo X, in 1517,

promulgated a Bill of Indulgence, which offered pardon to all contributed to the building of

St. Peter’s Church in Rome. Money began to be collected with unremitting zeal and

questionable means that caused much resentment. Martin Luther condemned the procedure

and questioned the whole system of indulgences. Those who shared his protest came to be

called Protestants. This was the modest beginning of the Reformation. Luther’s influence

soon crossed the bounds of Germany. He appealed to individualism in religion; he appealed

to nationalism by admitting the supremacy of the State over the Church and he gave the

doctrine of “justification by faith”. Lutheranism spread and became a precedent for revolt.

Along with Lutheranism, two more Protestant sects emerged that finally undermined

the authority of Pope. They were Calvinism and Anglicanism. The pioneer work of

Calvinism was done by Zwingli, who preached fasting, the celibacy of the clergy and the

veneration of the saints. His work was renewed by Calvin, with greater aggressiveness.

Calvin believed in a rigid discipline of life. He demanded that there be no more festivals, no

more jovial reunions, and no more theatres. He insisted that the Church should serve God’s

will rather than make its followers believe that it could assist them on their journey to

salvation. He believed that all the sacraments were commemorative in nature and that

Christian worship should be purified by putting aside distractions such as church music,

decoration, devotions to saints. Also Calvin believed that human beings were predestined to

be damned or saved when they entered the world. Calvinism or ism soon spread into


France, England, Scotland, Germany and other countries of Europe. Anglicanism was the

changed form adopted by a large group of English Protestants, and from it originated the

Methodist Church. It was the faith of the established Church of England. It was more

conservative and evolutionary than either Lutheranism or Calvinism. At first the Anglicans

recognized the supremacy of the bishop of Rome, but by the XVI century, they had

recognized the king as “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England. In the

“Thirty-nine Articles” the Parliament of England defined the Anglican doctrine. They

appealed to the Bible as the source of religious faith, repudiated the Mass, and insisted on

justification by faith alone. This was achieved through the anti-clerical revolution, which

was the most important event of the reign of King Henry VIII, and an achievement of the

Tudor monarchy in England.

The Reformation in England – The Anti-Clerical Revolution When Henry VII ascended to the throne in 1485, England was a part of Catholic

Europe. Pilgrims travelled to shrines in Britain and abroad, religious drama such as miracle,

mystery and saints’ plays were being energetically supported to religious, civic and parish

authorities as extensions of worship on particular saints’ days and festivals, such as that of the

Corpus Christi. Mass was celebrated up and down the land in churches and recalled the

Passion of Christ. The consecrated bread and wine used in the service was thought to undergo

miraculous transformation: when raised above the priest’s head, they became the flesh and

blood of the crucified Christ returned to earth to wash away the sins of the praying

congregation. Only rarely was this congregation or laity allowed to take communion of the

consecrated bread and they never tasted the wine. For the most part, these privileges were

reserved for the priest. This was a world in which requiem masses were said for the dead to

ensure that they should not lie trapped in Purgatory – a limbo state of torment for the dead

who still sought spiritual peace and required purification. Appeals to the saints and, most

particularly, to the Virgin Mary figured prominently in the worship of many and strongly

supported through church rituals, images, festivals, shrines and narratives of miracles.

Spiritual blessings were dispensed through sacraments such as baptism, marriage, ordination

and extreme unction. There were also practices like sale of indulgences or pardons which

were sanctioned by the Church and granted the remission of sins for the living and sometimes

for the dead.

The sale of indulgences, along with other issues such as the enormous wealth of the

Church, the sale of church offices, the poor education of many priests, the decline in

sermonizing and the violation of vows of celibacy by some clergy, for example, had been the

target of various criticism and satire during the medieval period by figures within the Church

as well as those without, as can be seen in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Nevertheless, it

would be quite wrong to think of Catholic culture as decaying during the reigns of Henry VII

and Henry VIII as for the vast majority of the population there could be no possibility of

spiritual redemption outside its bounds. The church penetrated all aspects of people’s lives,

sanctifying births, deaths and marriages, instructing the faithful and judging the sinning in its

own courts.

The beginning of the sixteenth century Reformation in Europe (led by ‘Reformist’ or

‘Protestant’ thinkers) is usually linked to the crises of faith and angry outbursts against such

practices as indulgence selling of an Augustinian monk called Martin Luther. In various tracts

he affirmed (in opposition to Catholic doctrine) that salvation could not be bought, that true

faith was the most important commitment of the Christian wishing to be saved, that the Bible

rather than the Pope was the source of religious authority and, for example, that only the

sacraments of baptism and communion were sanctioned in the Bible. Such revolutionary

ideas were going to lead to conflict with the Catholic Church and Martin Luther was


eventually condemned as a heretic and was excommunicated in 1521.Nonetheless, Luther’s

ideas were interpreted and published; and they inspired many other leading European

intellectuals who had similar misgivings about Catholic practices and ideology to voice their

own criticisms.

According to Prof. Trevelyan, the Reformation in England was at once a political, a

religious and a social event. It was Henry VIII who, with the help of his Parliament, effected

the anti-clerical revolution, which marked the end of the medieval society in England. The

recognition of the king as the head of the Church, the subjection of the clergy to the laity and

the division of the estates and social influence of the monasteries among laymen constitute a

great social revolution. Henry did not love the Protestants but the measure that he undertook

were revolutionary. In fact, the Pope gave him the title of “Defender of the Faith” for his

tract “In Defence of the Seven Sacraments” which attacked Lutheran heresy. But soon after

Henry quarreled with the Pope. He was a child of the New Learning. He approved the

diffusion of the English Bible among all classes. He destroyed the idolatry and relic-worship.

He substituted Renaissance scholarship for scholastic philosophy at Oxford and Cambridge.

These measures strengthened Protestantism in England.

By the mid-1520’s Henry’s anxiety over his wife’s inability to produce a male heir led

him to convince himself that God disapproved of his marriage to his brother’s widow. As a

consequence, he began exploring the possibility of divorcing a wife who was nearing the end

of her child-bearing years in favor of Anne Boleyn, with whom he had become infatuated. By

the beginning of the 1530’s Henry had implemented a number of initiatives to pressurize

those in the church hierarchy to accept the idea of a royal divorce. In addition, he identified

and promoted politically a number of individuals who criticized church practices and sought

reform. Henry increasingly forged a league with figures who sought religious reform not

through any crises of faith on his own part, but because his own ambitions were being

repeatedly thwarted by the authority of Rome.

When the Pope agreed in 1529 to hear Catherine’s appeal in Rome against divorce

proceedings, Henry dismissed one of the judges of the proceedings. The pace of change now

gathered momentum. In 1530 Henry dispatched academics from Oxford and Cambridge to

European universities to plead his cause, but by 1531 he was demanding that the clergy in his

land should acknowledge him as the ‘sole protector’ and ‘the supreme head’ of the Church.

In 1532 Thomas Cranmer, a cleric with Reformist leanings but great devotion to the Crown,

was named Archbishop of Canterbury and at the beginning of 1533 Henry married secretly

the pregnant Anne Boleyn. In 1534, the Act of Supremacy endowed him with the power to

control and implement reform in the English Church and declared him to be the ”Supreme

Head on earth of the Church of England” called Anglicana Ecclesia and it was passed

that the Bishop of Rome had no authority or jurisdiction in England. And in 1536 the process

of dissolution of the monasteries began. The break with Rome was complete.

In the years which followed, there were Catholic uprisings and centres of resistance.

During Edward VI’s short reign (1547-63), a more radical programme of Protestant reform

was introduced with the publication of a New Book of Common Prayer for use in religious

services throughout the land and the passage of the Act of Uniformity to enforce its uniform

use. John Calvin simultaneously rose to prominence as a Reformist thinker and initiated a

fundamental rethinking of the role of the Church. When Catholic Mary Tudor ascended the

throne in 1553, many English Reformists went into exile and many became profoundly

influenced by Calvin’s doctrines. She was a Catholic and the work done by her father and

brother for Protestant faith had displeased her. She wanted to restore Catholicism in England.

To achieve this end, she married King Philip of Spain in 1554 amid great resentment, and

started the persecution of Protestant clergy.


When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, England had passed through three phases

of religious upheaval. First, there was Henry VIII’s political reform, a Catholic England

without the Pope. Then there was the rise of Protestantism under Edward VI. And thirdly,

there was the Catholic revival under Mary and Philip, and the burnings that gave vitality to

the Reformation. Elizabeth was clearly influenced by the nation’s complex religious

inheritance. On one hand she shared Reformist beliefs, on the other she upheld practices

associated with the ’old faith’. However despite the religious divisions of her subjects

Elizabeth was determined to assert her control as the ‘Supreme Head’ over the English

Church. As her reign progressed, there were uprisings and political plots forged by

discontented Catholics at home; and abroad Philip of Spain was gearing up to launch an

Armada against Elizabeth’s reign. There was also criticism from the more radical Protestants

who felt that Elizabeth’s religious settlement was too Catholic. These radical Protestants

came to be called as “Puritans” (originally a term of abuse). The Puritans wished to

eradicate any traces of Catholicism from the English patterns of worship, to abolish the rule

of bishops and to assert that the true Christian should pursue an individual path of faith

governed by scripture.

Counter-Reformation This is the movement posed by the Roman Catholic Church to counteract the

Reformation. It is also called Catholic Reformation. Although the Roman Catholic reformers

shared the Protestants' revulsion at the corrupt conditions in the church, there were no signs

of tradition breaking that characterized Protestantism. The Counter Reformation was led by

conservative forces whose aim was both to reform the church and to secure its traditions

against the innovations of Protestant theology and against the more liberalizing effects of the

Renaissance.

Effects of the Reformation Protestantism in England was closely linked with nationalism. The English squire,

lawyers, merchants and yeomen became Protestants. They evolved a religion which was

essentially practical and middle class. They exalted the married state and business life in

reaction to celibacy and monastic retirement from the world. The ‘home’ was the Protestant

ideal, with family prayer and private Bible reading. This new religion idealized work. It was a

good religion for a nation of shopkeepers and farmers. “The medieval restrictions on

business were removed. Usury was recognized as a legitimate business; and property, in

contrast to the Old Testament’s idea, was regarded as a sign of God’s blessings.“

(Swain).


The Tudor Royal Dynasty

(1485-1603)

After the defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in1485, the reign of Henry

VII (1485-1509) effectively brought an end to the bitter and bloody divisions between the

Houses of York and Lancaster. He was successful in restoring the power and stability of

English monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars known as the War of the

Roses. Henry VIII succeeded to the throne after his father’s (Henry VII) death. The reign of

the second Tudor monarch (1509-47) ushered in a quite different political experience

characterized by a much more hedonistic (pleasure loving) court culture, more belligerent

foreign policies and religious ferment, particularly in its later years. When the handsome

seventeen-year old Henry VIII acceded to the throne he was ambitious to make his mark on

the European stage as a chivalric prince and a formidable military commander. His sexual

career spanning six wives and several mistresses attracted and perplexed the minds of

European courts during his lifetime. His early devotion to hunting feasting and love-making

meant that he left much of the political work to his advisors, who wielded enormous political

power. He has been described as “one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on English

throne”. His struggle with Rome led to the separation of Church of England from papal

authority, the dissolution of the monasteries and his own establishment as the supreme head

of the Church of England. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, the third Tudor

monarch, who ruled from 1547 to 1553. His reign was dominated by much more vigorous

engagement with Protestant doctrine and was rife with economic problems and social unrest.

After Edward VI’s death, his half-sister Mary ascended the throne. The reign of Queen

Mary I from 1553-58 heralded a period of radical political and religious realignment for the

kingdom. Her mission was to bring back England to the Catholic fold. To achieve this end,

she married King Philip of Spain in 1554 amid great resentment and started the persecution

of Protestant clergy. Her opponents gave her the title “Bloody Mary”. Her distrust of the

previous political elite, her failure to produce an heir and the progressive onset of ill health

ultimately contributed to Mary’s inability to strengthen the power base of her support during

her short reign.

When Queen Mary died in 1558, her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth accepted the

crown of an exhausted and weakened nation. The reign of the last Tudor monarch (1558-

1603) offered at least the prospect of conciliation and stability. It was a period of religious

tolerance and social contentment. The mind of man, now freed from the shackles of religious

questions, turned to other forms of activity. Also, it is an age of dreams, of adventure, of

unbounded enthusiasm springing from the new lands of fabulous riches revealed by English

explorers. This together triggered the creative impulse of people and gave us the literature

(Elizabethan Literature) that stands unsurpassed today. Though guilty of short-term

thinking, excessive caution and parsimoniousness, she proved to be vigilant, intelligent and

effective political leader who could rally popular support when necessary in a more

successful manner than any of her Tudor predecessors. This achievement is all the more

remarkable in a world deeply unsympathetic to female rule of any kind.


Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

The age of Elizabethan is rightly hailed as the golden period of literature as the socio-

political religious climate was conducive to the growth of art and literature. The darkness of

the medieval times had vanished and the spiritual, intellectual and physical limitations paved

the way for the entry of Renaissance fervor, romance and imagination which spread its wings

and took a long flight into the realms of the unknown which human fancy had never known

earlier.

Like every other monarch, even Elizabeth’s rule was eclipsed by the shadows of the

past cast by the earlier monarchs – Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. the political reforms

under Henry VIII left a Catholic England without a pope, the rise of Protestantism under

Edward VI and the Catholic revival under Mary I were obstacles in her path. But these

ordeals were dealt with tactfully by the monarch whose actions ushered in a new order and

provided nourishment to expedite the growth of art and literature.

Elizabeth’s accession was like a sunrise after a long, dark night. In Melton’s words,

we suddenly see England ‘a noble and puissant nation rousing herself, like a strong man

after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks’. Under her able administration England

progressed by leaps and bounds and literature reached its highest point of development. Both

in intellect and temperament, Elizabeth was well suited for the role of a monarch. She was

exceptionally well educated and her intellectual interests were broad ranging from history and

science to art, literature and philosophy. She was a remarkably astute political strategist.

In spite of ‘Bloody Mary’s’ reign of terror, Elizabeth could restore internal political

and religious stability. A Protestant, she had still many Catholics among her subjects.

Elizabeth favored both the religious parties and therefore during her rule we see the Catholics

and Protestants acting as trusted counselors of a great sovereign. By pursuing moderate

religious policies, she prevented an open conflict between the two sects. For the first time in

England the question of religious toleration seemed to be settled and the human mind, so long

obsessed with religious fears and persecutions, now was infused with a new creative impulse

which was directed to the growth of literature. She was in fact - this “thin red haired

woman” - by far the cleverest ruler of her age. Elizabeth brilliantly framed and followed the

policy of balance and moderation both inside and outside the country. A working

compromise was reached with Scotland. The rebellious northern barons were kept in check.

She, therefore, could successfully establish peace in traditionally disturbed border areas.

Under her able administration the English national life rapidly and steadily progressed.

Social contentment too became the order of the day. The growth of manufacturing

towns gave a boost to the economic activity. Incoming wealth solved the questions of

survival in terms of food, clothing and shelter. The divide between the rich and the poor did

exist but the poor and the under privileged were the responsibility of the state, they were not

discarded or left uncared for. This too triggered literary activity.

After a generation of half-piratical depredations (the act of attacking or plundering) by

the English seadogs against the Spanish treasure fleets and the Spanish settlements in

America, King Philip (husband of Queen Mary), exasperated beyond all patience and urged

on by a bigot's zeal for the Catholic Church, began deliberately to prepare the Great Armada,

which was to crush at one blow the insolence, the independence, and the religion of England.

There followed several long years of breathless suspense; then in 1588 the Armada sailed and

was utterly overwhelmed in one of the most complete disasters of the world's history.

England established its power at sea with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The

menacing shadow of Spain under which Elizabeth had lived ever since she took the crown

suddenly vanished. Thereupon the released energy of England broke out exultantly into still

more impetuous achievement in almost every line of activity.


Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe added to the nation’s prestige and

competitiveness in navigation and exploration. It was an age of dramas, of adventure, of

unbounded enthusiasm springing from the new pristine lands of fabulous riches revealed by

the English explorers. The explorers left a trail for the later colonizers to follow. While the

explorers were busy discovering new lands and virgin territories, the literatures were busy

carving out a world of words to match the same. The spirit of adventure and exploration fired

the imagination of writers and paved the way for the illustrious development of dramatic

literature. Drama progresses in an era of action and not of speculation. It has rightly been

called the age of the discovery of the new world and of man.

Elizabeth’s reign infused the spirit of nationalism in English hearts. The unbounded

patriotism inspired by Elizabeth was well reflected in various literary productions. English

life was generally characterized by an allegiance (loyalty) to the Queen. Queen Elizabeth

loved England ardently and she made her court one of the most brilliant courts in Europe.

The splendor of her court dazzled the eyes of the people. Her moderate policies did much to

increase her popularity and prestige. Worship of the Virgin Queen became the order of the

day. She was Spenser’s ‘Gloriana’, Raleigh’s ‘Cynthia’ and Shakespeare’s “fair Vestal

throned by the West”. Even the foreigners saw in her “a keen calculating intellect that

baffled the ablest statesmen in Europe”.

The queen’s taste in fashion set the standard for society and aristocracy, her love of

music, of drama and of poetry fostered an atmosphere in which many a great writer found

encouragement and financial patronage. At the court there were magnificent masques, lavish

and often spectacular entertainments which combined music, song, dance, and splendid

costuming. These entertainments were generally acted by amateurs but devised by

professional dramatists. She was a true connoisseur (an expert judge in matters of taste) of art

under whose vision and leadership England experienced true cultural reawakening or

renaissance of art which began in Italy a century earlier. The court took on her gaiety, her

freedom of manners, her luxury of dress and her ideal of the gentleman.

It was also an age of diversity and contradictions. It was an age of light and darkness,

of reason and unreason, of wisdom and foolishness, of hope and despair. The barbarity and

backwardness, the ignorance and superstition of the Middle Age still persisted. Disorder,

violence, bloodshed and tavern brawls still prevailed. Highway robberies, as mentioned in

Henry IV, Part I, were very common. The barbarity of the age is seen in such brutal sports as

bear baiting, cook and bull fighting, to which numerous references are found in the plays of

Shakespeare. Despite the advancement of science and learning people still believed

superstitions, ghosts, witches, fairies, charms and omens of all sorts.

In spite of great refinement and learning it was an age of easy morals. People did not

care for high principles of morality and justice. Bribery and international delays of justice

were common evils. Material advancement was by means or foul, the main aim of men in

high places. Hardly anyone of the public men of this age had a perfectly open heart and very

few had quite clean hands.

To sum up, the Elizabethan age was a time of intellectual liberty, quest for

knowledge, growing literary taste, stability and peace among all sections of society, extreme

patriotism and equanimity at home and abroad. Despite the ignorance and superstition,

violence and brutality, easy morals and lax values, Elizabethan Age was an age in which men

lived enterprisingly, thought intensely and wrote strongly. No wonder age saw tremendous

ambition, achievement, promise and gusto. Its accomplishment and spirit are best captured

and revealed in the literature of the time.


Elizabethan Literature All the chief literary glories of the Elizabethan Age - many of which appeared during

the reign of Elizabeth’s successor, James I (1603-25) - came after the defeat of the Spanish

Armada. It was as if the nation has suddenly found itself. It discovered new sources of

confidence, energy, delight, and expressed all these in literature. Up until the last twelve

years of the sixteenth century, England, though making rapid progress under the Tudors, had

been far behind Italy, France, and Spain in literature and the arts and the whole civilizing

process of the Renaissance.

Literary Tendencies of the Age Foreign Influences The effect of English Renaissance was not confined to the scholars alone at the

universities and to the privileged ones at the court. The numerous translations of celebrated

ancient classics were now available for the common people who had not read the original

classics. Then it came under the all pervading influence of humanism, openness of mind, love

of beauty and freedom.

The knowledge of the world of antiquity exercised a great influence on the literature

of this period. It was obtained through the recovery of the writing and works of art of the

classical period. The idea presented in the literature of Athens and Roma that life was to be

lived for its many sided development and fullest enjoyment, had a powerful influence on the

literature of the period. The writers and artists cultivated the artistic forms used by classical

poets, orators, sculptors and architects. In the year 1453, when the Turk Vandals invaded

Constantinople, many Greek scholars, took shelter along with their manuscripts and libraries

in Italy. Italy became the center of classical literature and culture. Italy, thus, became the

teacher of Europe in philosophy, art and literature.

Influence of Reformation Both the Renaissance and the Reformation greatly influenced the literature of this age.

Hudson says “While the Renaissance aroused the intellect and the aesthetic faculties, the

Reformation awakened the spiritual nature; the same printing press which diffused the

knowledge of the classic, put the English Bible into the hands of the people; and a spread in

the interest of religion was accompanied by a deepening of moral earnestness”. All the great

writers and dramatists of the Elizabethan Age were influenced by these two movements.

Ardent Spirit of Adventure An ardent spirit of adventure characterized this age. The new discoveries and

explorations beyond the seas by voyagers kindled human imagination and popular curiosity.

The entire literature of this period, especially the plays of the university Wits and

Shakespeare, are imbued with the spirit adventure and imagination.

Abundance of Output It was an age rich in literary productions of all kinds. In Elizabethan Age treatises,

pamphlets, essay, prose romance, sonnets, both Petrarchan and Shakespearean, Lyric plays

etc. were abundantly written. The output of literary productions was very wide. Several

important foreign books were translated into English by the end of Elizabethan’s reign. These

translations were as popular as the original. Many celebrated writers, including Shakespeare,

derived the plots of their works from translations. Sir Thomas North translated ‘Plutarch’s

Lives’ and John Florio translated ‘Montaigne’s Essays’.

Indeed, before the last dozen years of the century, the English language as an

instrument was not really ready for great literature: there it was, like a vast organ, with


nobody knowing yet how to handle the keyboard and work the stops. It was as if the queen’s

taught anxiety, her unsleeping watchfulness during these first thirty years of her reign, had

influenced the whole mood of the nation, which wanted to sing but could only keep clearing

its throat. Once the Spanish menace was removed, however, the tremendous release that

followed changed everything. The ageing queen was by this time a fabulous figure. The

whole nation suddenly followed. It is from this time on that we find the Elizabethan’s of

legend, with all their extraordinary energy and self-confidence, beginning to flourish. And

this transformation is perfectly reflected in the literature of the time. The English language,

that great instrument that nobody had known how to play, suddenly came right. If this may

seem an exaggeration, then we must remember that within ten years after the defeat of

Armada, Shakespeare was not only writing greatest poetry the world has ever known but was

also using a vocabulary unequalled in its size, variety and richness. These later

Elizabethans, of all classes, had a passion for magnificent language: they got drunk on

words, and some of us, reading now what they wrote during that distant years, can still

feel something of their intoxication. The Elizabethans had a general passion for poetry,

both lyrical and dramatic; and out of it they created one marvel after another.

Elizabethan Poetry One of the literary historians called the Elizabethan Age as “a nest of singing birds”

about the composition of poetry in this period. There were many poets who contributed to

develop this form of literature and it reached the peak of its development. The poets not only

adopted and innovated the forms of poetry but also wrote on the varied themes. The poetry of

Elizabethan era mirrors the spirit of the Age. It reflects the spirit of conquest and self –

glorification, humanism and vigorous imagination, emotional depth and passionate

intensity. Sublimity was considered to be the essential quality of poetry. Spenser,

Shakespeare and Marlowe had the immense power to exalt and sublimate the lovers of

poetry.

The poetry of this period is remarkable for the spirit of independence. The poets

refused to follow set rules of poetic composition. Consequently, new poetic devices and new

linguistic modes developed. All varieties of poetic forms like lyric, elegy, eclogue, ode,

sonnet, etc. were successfully attempted. The poems of this period revolved around the

themes of love, patriotism and philosophy. The notable names in the realm of poetry include

those of Sir Thomas Wyatt, Earl of Surrey, Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser,

Christopher, William Shakespeare, and Ben Jonson.

Songs and Lyric in Elizabethan Poetry Various factors contributed to the unique development of lyricism during this period.

The feeling of stability, peace and contentment enabled poets to compose songs and lyrics

full of zest for life. Everybody, down from the flowery courtier to the man in the street, wrote

lyrics. Translations from other languages inspired the people to write. The Elizabethans loved

music. Music and lyric are closely related. It was an age of romance which also contributed to

the development of lyricism. The Elizabethan lyrical poetry seeks expressions in a great

variety of poetic forms. The lyric itself appears, now under the pastoral convention, now as

sonnet and sonnet sequence, now in various composite literary forms.

The Elizabethan songs were of various kinds. They were love songs, religious songs,

patriotic songs, fantastic songs, war songs, philosophical songs and religious songs. They

were composed in every mood, grave, romantic, fantastic, sentimental, mocking and critical.

Even the plays and prose romances are full of songs and lyrics. Form and expression were

joined together and the lyrics became an expression of the soul. Love is the main theme of


Elizabethan songs and lyrics. It is fanciful love, love that laughs and entreats and sighs. The

pastoral of countryside characterized most of the songs and lyrics of this period.

Sir Philip Sidney wrote many songs which are characterized by depth of passion,

exquisite beauty, romance and fancifulness. He inserted songs in the Astrophel and Stella.

His songs are characterized by loftiness, sensuousness, picturesqueness and superb musical

quality.

Marlowe’s genius was lyrical. He sang songs in the pastoral strain. “Come with me

and be my love”. Shakespeare’s comedies and romances are littered with songs. His songs

have rare originality and spontaneity. Fancy and rusticity runs in many of his songs. Some of

his songs express the poignant feelings of love. His songs have a magic of their own and are

noticeable for spontaneity and sweetness.

Shakespeare’s contemporary dramatists also incorporated songs in their plays.

Thomas Dekker composed two beautiful songs. Beaumont and Fletcher contributed “Lay

a garland on my horse” and “Hence all our vain delights”. Ben Johnson’s masques and

comedies have many lovely songs. The Elizabethan lyric is light and airy. It is an expression

of the holiday mood of its author. What distinguishes the lyric of this period is its musical

quality, the flight of fancy and the note of gay and joyous abandonment.

Elizabethan Sonnets and Sonneteers The sonnet originated in Italy in the fourteenth century. The sonnet is derived from

the Italian word “sonnetto”, meaning a little sound or strain. In course of time it became a

short poem of fourteen lines with a set rhyme scheme.

In England, Wyatt and Surrey began sonnet writing in imitation of the Italian sonnet.

Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan model. Surrey gave a new turn to sonnet writing by

introducing a new pattern which Shakespeare used later. The publication of Sidney’s

‘Astrophel and Stella’ marks the real beginning of Elizabethan sonnet. Spenser’s

‘Amoretti’, a collection of 88 sonnets is memorable contribution to the art of sonnet writing.

They are addressed to Elizabeth Boyle, whom he married. So an intimate, personal or

autobiographical note runs in all of them. Spenser’s sonnets are unique for their purity. They

tell a story of love without sin or remorse. Shakespeare is the greatest writer of the sonnet

form. His sonnets are the most precious pearls of Elizabethan lyricism. Each poet contributed

something new to the art of sonnet writing. The average Elizabethan sonnet illustrates the

temper of the age. It bears graphic witness to the Elizabethan tendency to borrow from

foreign literary sources.

Elizabethan Prose The age of Elizabethan was also conspicuous for the remarkable development of

prose, which was variously written with great stylistic and linguistic excellence. The

following genres developed during this period – translations, essays, character writing,

religious prose and prose romance. The prose of early Renaissance consists largely of

translation. The writers of this period were educationists and reformers rather than creative

writers like Sir Thomas More and Roger Ascham. The Essay, which Montaigne began in

France, was introduced in England by Sir Francis Bacon. His essays contain utilitarian

wisdom and are written in lucid, clear and aphoristic style. Ben Jonson and John Selden are

others who wrote aphoristic essays. William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible and Richard

Hooker’s Laws of Ecclesisastical Polity are examples of religious prose. The prose

romances of varied forms and shapes were written by many writers and include ’Euphues’

by John Lyly, ‘Arcadia’ by Sir Philip Sidney, ‘The Unfortunate Traveler’ by Thomas

Nashe and ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’ by Robert Burton. Also there were the stately

narratives of Sir Walter Raleigh.


Elizabethan Drama Great poetic drama is far rarer, far harder to achieve, than great lyrical or narrative

poetry or prose fiction, just because so many things have to be right for it all at the same time.

There must be not only exceptional dramatic poets but also exceptional players, theatres, and

audiences. And here the Elizabethan dramatists were fortunate. When the great European

movement known as the Renaissance reached England, it found its fullest and most lasting

expression in the drama. By a fortunate group of coincidences this intellectual and artistic

impulse affected the people of England at a moment when the country was undergoing a

rapid and, on the whole, a peaceful expansion—when the national spirit soared high, and

when the development of the language and the forms of versification had reached a point

which made possible the most triumphant literary achievement which that country has seen.

All the evidence we posses suggests that English acting in Shakespeare’s time was very good

indeed, so that companies of English players were in demand abroad. Women’s parts were

played by boys highly trained in movement, gestures, and the speaking of verse.

The rapid development of Elizabethan drama, from primitive comedy and tragedy to

great masterpieces within twenty-five years, is astounding. It produced not only the

incomparable Shakespeare but with him a large group of other dramatists, all with talent and

some touched with genius. In this group were Ben Johnson , Christopher Marlow, George

Chapman, John Marston , Thomas Dekker and later - actually Jacobean not Elizabethan

dramatists - there were Thomas Middleton ,Thomas Heywood , John Webster, Francis

Beaumont, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, and John Ford . Some of the dramatists

could also write exquisite lyrical verse. Indeed, outside the drama, this age is notable chiefly

for its effortless, enchanting lyrics, the songs it tossed into the air. No age that came

afterwards ever quite captured this golden singing, ever returned to this May morning of

English poetry.

The Drama before Shakespeare First the deed, then the story, and then the play - that seems to be the natural

development of the drama in its simplest form. The great deeds of a people are treasured in its

literature, and later generations represent in play or pantomime certain parts of the story

which appeal most powerfully to the imagination. Among primitive races the deeds of their

gods and heroes are often represented at the yearly festivals; and among children, whose

instincts are not yet blunted by artificial habits, one sees the story that was heard at bedtime

repeated next day in vigorous action, when our boys turn scouts and our girls princesses,

precisely as our first dramatists turned to the old legends and heroes of Britain for their first

stage productions. To act a part seems as natural to humanity as to tell a story; and originally

the drama is but an old story retold to the eye, a story put into action by living performers,

who for the moment "make believe" or imagine themselves to be the old heroes.

To illustrate the matter simply, there was a great life lived by him who was called the

Christ. Inevitably the life found its way into literature, and we have the Gospels. Around the

life and literature sprang up a great religion. Its worship was at first simple,--the common

prayer, the evening meal together, the remembered words of the Master, and the closing

hymn. Gradually a ritual was established, which grew more elaborate and impressive as the

centuries went by. Scenes from the Master's life began to be represented in the churches,

especially at Christmas time, when the story of Christ's birth was made more effective, to the

eyes of a people who could not read, by a babe in a manger surrounded by magi and

shepherds, with a choir of angel. Other impressive scenes from the Gospel followed; then the

Old Testament was called upon, until a complete cycle of plays from the Creation to the Final

Judgment was established, and we have the Mysteries and Miracle plays of the Middle Ages.

Out of these came directly the drama of the Elizabethan Age.


In Europe, as in Greece, the drama had a distinctly religious origin and was didactic at

the same time. The first characters were drawn from the New Testament, and the object of the

first plays was to make the church service more impressive, or to emphasize moral lessons by

showing the reward of the good and the punishment of the evil doer. Its chief forms were the

Mystery Plays, and the Miracle Plays. In France the name ‘miracle’ was given to any play

representing the lives of the saints, while ‘mystere‘ represented scenes from the life of Christ

or stories from the Old Testament associated with the coming of Messiah. In England this

distinction was almost unknown; the name Miracle was used indiscriminately for all plays

having their origin in the Bible or in the lives of the saints; and the name Mystery, to

distinguish a certain class of plays, was not used until long after the religious drama had

passed away. Both forms were severely limited in their opportunities for picturing human

nature and human life with breadth and variety.

The second or moral period of the drama is shown by the increasing prevalence of the

Morality Plays, which taught lessons for the guidance of life through the means of

allegorical action and the personification of abstract qualities. In these the characters

were allegorical personages,--Life, Death, Repentance, Goodness, Love, Greed, and other

virtues and vices. The Moralities may be regarded, therefore, as the dramatic counterpart of

the once popular allegorical poetry exemplified by the Romance of the Rose. The Moralities

mark a distinct advance over the Miracle in that it gave free scope to the imagination for new

plots and incidents. To enliven the audience the devil of the Miracle plays was introduced;

and another lively personage called the Vice was the predecessor of our modern clown and

jester. His business was to torment the "virtues" by mischievous pranks, and especially to

make the devil's life a burden by beating him with a bladder or a wooden sword at every

opportunity. The Morality generally ended in the triumph of virtue, the devil leaping into

hell-mouth with Vice on his back. The best known of the Moralities is ‘Everyman’ and other

such plays include Pride of Life and The Castle of Perseverance. Like the Miracle plays,

most of the old Moralities are of unknown date and origin. Of the known authors of

Moralities, two of the best are John Skelton, who wrote ‘Magnificence’ and probably also

‘The Necromancer’ and Sir David Lindsay "the poet of the Scotch Reformation," whose

religious business it was to make rulers uncomfortable by telling them unpleasant truths in

the form of poetry. With these men a new element enters into the Moralities. They satirize or

denounce abuses of Church and State, and introduce living personages thinly disguised as

allegories; so that the stage first becomes a power in shaping events and correcting abuses.

Next in line we have the Interludes. It is impossible to draw any accurate line of

distinction between the Moralities and Interludes. In general we may think of the latter as

dramatic scenes, sometimes given by themselves (usually with music and singing) at

banquets and entertainments where a little fun was wanted; and again slipped into a Miracle

play to enliven the audience after a solemn scene. The Interludes originated, undoubtedly, in

a sense of humor; and to John Heywood, a favorite retainer and jester at the court of Mary, is

due the credit for raising the Interlude to the distinct dramatic form known as comedy.

Heywood's Interludes were written between 1520 and 1540. His most famous is "The Four

P's," a contest of wit between a Pardoner, a Palmer, a Pedlar and a Pothecary. The characters

here strongly suggest those of Chaucer. Another interesting Interlude is called "The Play of

the Weather." In this Jupiter and the gods assemble to listen to complaints about the weather

and to reform abuses. All these early plays were written, for the most part, in a mingling of

prose and wretched doggerel, and add nothing to our literature. Their great work was to train

actors, to keep alive the dramatic spirit, and to prepare the way for true drama.

The artistic period is the final stage in the development of the English drama. It differs

radically from the other two in that its chief purpose is not to point a moral but to represent

human life as it is. The artistic drama may have purpose, no less than the Miracle play, but


the motive is always subordinate to the chief end of representing life itself. Comedies and

Tragedies were forms of drama in vogue at this time. The first true play in English, with a

regular plot, divided into acts and scenes, is probably the comedy Ralph Roister Doister by

Nicholas Udall. It is the first English comedy of the classical school. The story is that of a

conceited fop in love with a widow, who is already engaged to another man. The play is an

adaptation of the Miles Glorious, a classic comedy by Plautus. Grammar Gurton’s

Needle, from the pen of an unknown writer, is another comedy of the classical style. It marks

a further development. Its characters are all real English Rustics and its aim is purely

recreational.

It was in the realm of tragedy that the classical influence had the most fruitful results.

The influence of Seneca predominated. The first tragedy of the Senecan School to be written

in England is Gorboduc written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. It was acted in

1562, only two years before the birth of Shakespeare. It is remarkable not only as our first

tragedy, but as the first play to be written in blank verse, the latter being most significant,

since it started the drama into the style of verse best suited to the genius of English

playwrights. In it appear the main features of the Senecan tragedy. It is the also the first

unrelieved English tragedy and the direct forerunner of Kyd’s ‘Spannish Tragedy’. The

story of "Gorboduc" is taken from the early annals of Britain and recalls the story used by

Shakespeare in King Lear. Gorboduc, the king of Britain, divides his kingdom between his

sons Ferrex and Porrex. The sons quarrel, and Porrex, the younger, slays his brother, who is

the queen's favorite. Videna, the queen, slays Porrex in revenge; the people rebel and slay

Videna and Gorboduc; then the nobles kill the rebels, and in turn fall to fighting each other.

The line of Brutus being extinct with the death of Gorboduc, the country falls into anarchy,

with rebels, nobles, and a Scottish invader all fighting for the right of succession. The curtain

falls upon a scene of bloodshed and utter confusion. However, the aim of the dramatist is

didactic, that is, to warn Elizabeth of the dangers of a war of succession. The play also shows

the patriotism of the dramatists, for its theme is taken from English history.

Classical influence upon Drama The revival of Latin literature had a decided influence upon the English drama as it

developed from the Miracle plays. In the fifteenth century English teachers, in order to

increase the interest in Latin, began to let their boys act the plays which they had read as

literature, precisely as our colleges now present Greek or German plays at the yearly

festivals. Seneca was the favorite Latin author, and all his tragedies were translated into

English between 1559 and 1581. This was the exact period in which the first English

playwrights were shaping their own ideas; but the severe simplicity of the classical drama

seemed at first only to hamper the exuberant English spirit. To understand this, one has only

to compare a tragedy of Seneca or of Euripides with one of Shakespeare, and see how widely

the two masters differ in methods.

In the classic plays, the so-called dramatic unities of time, place, and action were

strictly observed. Time and place must remain the same; the play could represent a period of

only a few hours, and whatever action was introduced must take place at the spot where the

play began. The characters, therefore, must remain unchanged throughout; there was no

possibility of the child becoming a man, or of the man's growth with changing circumstances.

As the play was within doors, all vigorous action was deemed out of place on the stage, and

battles and important events were simply announced by a messenger. The classic drama also

drew a sharp line between tragedy and comedy, all fun being rigorously excluded from

serious representations.

The English drama, on the other hand, strove to represent the whole sweep of life in a

single play. The scene changed rapidly; the same actors appeared now at home, now at court,


now on the battlefield; and vigorous action filled the stage before the eyes of the spectators.

The child of one act appeared as the man of the next, and the imagination of the spectator was

called upon to bridge the gaps from place to place and from year to year. So the dramatist had

free scope to present all life in a single place and a single hour. Moreover, since the world is

always laughing and always crying at the same moment, tragedy and comedy were presented

side by side, as they are in life itself.

Naturally, with these two ideals struggling to master the English drama, two schools

of writers arose. The first upheld the classical ideal, and ridiculed the crudeness of the new

English plays. Sackville and Norton were of this class, and "Gorboduc" was classic in its

construction. In the ‘Defense of Poesie’ Sidney upholds the classics and ridicules the too

ambitious scope of the English drama. Against these were the popular playwrights, Lyly,

Peele, Greene, Marlowe, and many others, who recognized the English love of action and

disregarded the dramatic unities in their endeavor to present life as it is. In the end the native

drama prevailed, aided by the popular taste which had been trained by four centuries of

Miracles. Our first plays, especially of the romantic type, were extremely crude and often led

to ridiculously extravagant scenes; and here is where the classic drama exercised an immense

influence for good, by insisting upon beauty of form and definiteness of structure at a time

when the tendency was to satisfy a taste for stage spectacles without regard to either.

The English Theatre was directly under the control of the government. The acting

companies had to have a license, requiring the patronage of a noble. Provincial troupes were

deprived of legal status, so theatre was concentrated around London. The merchant class

disliked theatre (most were part of growing Puritan population), while the aristocracy liked it.

Till 1608, theatre buildings were illegal in the city limits of London, the center of theatre, so

theatres were built outside of the city limits. In the year 1574 a royal permit to Lord

Leicester's actors allowed them "to give plays anywhere throughout our realm of England,"

and this must be regarded as the beginning of the regular drama. Two years later the first

playhouse, known as ‘The Theater’, was built for these actors by James Burbage.

The University Wits The University Wits were a group of late 16th century English playwrights who were

educated at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge and who became playwrights and

popular writers. Prominent members of this group were Christopher Marlowe, Robert

Greene, and Thomas Nashe from Cambridge, and John Lyly, Thomas Lodge, George

Peele from Oxford. This diverse and talented loose association of London writers and

dramatists set the stage for the theatrical Renaissance of Elizabethan England. They were

looked upon as the literary elite of the day and often ridiculed other playwright such as

Shakespeare who did not have a university education or a degree either from Oxford or

Cambridge Universities. Greene calls Shakespeare an "upstart crow" in his one of his

pamphlets. They were romantic by rapture and they represented the spirit of Renaissance.

The great merit of the University wits was that they came with their passion and poetry, and

their academic training through which they dominated the realm of early Elizabethan drama.

Each of these playwrights added or emphasized some essential element in the drama,

which appeared later in the work of Shakespeare. Thus John Lyly, who is now known

chiefly as having developed the literary style called euphuism, is one of the most influential

of the early dramatists. His court comedies are remarkable for their witty dialogue and for

being our first plays to aim definitely at unity and artistic finish. Thomas Kyd's ‘Spanish

Tragedy’ first gives us the drama, or rather the melodrama, of passion, copied by Marlowe

and Shakespeare. With the publication of Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, Elizabethan

drama came into being. And Robert Greene plays the chief part in the early development of

romantic comedy, and gives us some excellent scenes of English country life in plays like


Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. Christopher Marlowe’s famous plays like Tamburlaine,

Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta gave him a place of prominence among the University

Wits. Swinburne calls him “the first great poet, the father of English tragedy and the

creator of blank verse”. Even a brief glance at the life and work of these first playwrights shows three

noteworthy things which have a bearing on Shakespeare's career:

1. These men were usually actors as well as dramatists. They knew the stage and the

audience, and in writing their plays they remembered not only the actor's part but also the

audience's love for stories and brave spectacles. "Will it act well, and will it please our

audience," were the questions of chief concern to our early dramatists.

2. Their training began as actors; then they revised old plays, and finally became

independent writers. In this their work shows an exact parallel with that of Shakespeare.

3. They often worked together, probably as Shakespeare worked with Marlowe and

Fletcher, either in revising old plays or in creating new ones. They had a common store of

material from which they derived their stories and characters, hence their frequent

repetition of names; and they often produced two or more plays on the same subject.

Much of Shakespeare's work depends, as we shall see, on previous plays; and even his

Hamlet uses the material of an earlier play of the same name, probably by Kyd, which

was well known to the London stage in 1589, some twelve years before Shakespeare's

great work was written.

All these things are significant, if we are to understand the Elizabethan drama and the

man who brought it to perfection. Shakespeare was not simply a great genius; he was also a

great worker, and he developed in exactly the same way as did all his fellow craftsmen. And,

contrary to the prevalent opinion, the Elizabethan drama is not a Minerva-like creation,

springing full grown from the head of one man; it is rather an orderly though rapid

development, in which many men bore a part.

Dramatic Activity of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is one of the most renowned dramatists of the Elizabethan Age.

In fact this age is recognized more by his name. His dramatic genius is reflected in the vast

variety of plays written by him. He is most definitely the world's most performed and

admired playwright. Shakespeare is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of

Avon". He is known for his 38 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long narrative poems – 'Rape of

Lucrece' and 'Venus and Adonis' etc.

Birth and Early years He is most definitely the world's most performed and admired playwright. Born in

April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, about 100 miles northwest of London, he

was baptized on April 26 at Stanford's Holy Trinity Church. As such the actual birth date of

Shakespeare is not known but since it was customary to baptize infants within days of birth,

and also Shakespeare died on April 23 and most importantly April 23 being St. George's day,

it is believed to be on April 23, 1564.

For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare has always been a mysterious

figure as far as his personal history is concerned. There are just two primary sources for

information on William Shakespeare – his works and various legal and church documents

that have survived from Elizabethan times. Naturally, these sources are not perfect as they

have many gaps and missing links.


He married Anne Hathaway and had three children Sussana and twins Hamnet and

Jewdith. He was a part owner of a play company called Chamberlain's Men later known as

the King's Men. He produced most of his well known works between 1589 to 1613. In the

initial stage he used to write comedies and histories and later on wrote mainly tragedies

including Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear and Othello which are considered as some of the

finest works in the English language.

It is believed that the great tragedies by Shakespeare points to some personal

misfortunes in his life but what these misfortunes were, it is difficult to guess. It was probably

this unknown sorrow which turned his thoughts back to his native village and caused

dissatisfaction with his work and profession. In 1597 he bought the finest house in Stratford

and soon added a tract of farming land to complete his estate.

Shakespeare’s Dramatic Career Shakespeare's career may be divided into four periods which are as follows –

1. The First Period (1588 - 1593) may be called as a period of early experimentation in

which, he wrote Titus Andronicus, Henry VI (3 parts), Love Labour's Lost, The

Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Richard III, Richard II and Romeo

and Juliet along with his two poems 'Venus and Adonis' and 'Rape of Lucrece'. These

works as a whole had no depth of thought and the art is immature with a lot of

imagination, puns, conceits and extravagance of language.

2. The Second Period (1594 - 1600) is considered to be a period of Shakespeare's great

comedies which shows the dramatist rapid growth and development in his art and

characterization along with humor. The works written in this period are - 'King John',

'The Merchant of Venice', 'Henry IV', 'Henry V', 'The Taming of the Shrew', 'The

Merry Wives of Windsor', 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'As You Like It' and 'Twelfth

Night'. In this period, rhyme has largely been abandoned for prose and blank verse.

3. The Third Period (1601 - 1607) consists of his great tragedies and some bitter comedies.

This period is considered to be his most mature, where we get to see his dramatic power

at its highest. This period gave us Shakespeare's supreme masterpieces, where the main

intention is to come up with the darker side of human experiences. Plays of this period

are – ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’, ‘Measure for Measure’,

‘Troilus and Cressida’, ‘Othello’, ‘King Lear’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Antony and Cleopatra’,

‘Coriolanus’ and ‘Timon of Athens’. 4. The Fourth Period (1608 - 12) is a period of the later comedies or dramatic romances.

The plays are – ‘Pericles’, ‘Cymbeline’, ‘The Winter's Tale’, ‘The Tempest’ and the

unfinished, ‘Henry VIII’, which shows the decline of Shakespeare's dramatic power and

a decline in style and versification too.

Categorization of Shakespeare’s Plays The plays of Shakespeare can broadly be put under seven groups:

1. The Early Comedies – The early comedies of Shakespeare, ‘The Comedy of Errors’,

‘Love’s Labor’s Lost’, ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ are immature plays of the

dramatist, and exhibit the early efforts of a writer who scaled high heights of success in

his later dramatic career. The plots of these tales lack originality, and leaving aside

Love’s Labor’s Lost, have been borrowed from foreign sources. The characters of these

plays are less finished and marked with artistic lapses in character portrayal. The style


lacks the graces of the mature works of the dramatist. These plays are ‘full of wit and

wordplay, usually put into the mouth of young gallants, but often the humor is

puerile and the wit degenerates into mere verbal quibbling’

2. The English Histories – The plays belonging to this group are ‘Richard II’ ‘Henry IV

Part I and II’, ‘Henry V’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Henry VIII’ ’ King John’,

‘Henry VI’. In these historical plays Shakespeare presents British history of three

hundred years and provides nice portraits of English kings. In the characters of King

John, Richard II and Henry VI, Shakespeare presents the weaknesses of English kings.

Henry IV, Henry V, and Richard III are studies of kingly strength. These historical plays

served as a guide to kings of England and acquainted them with the pitfalls that beset the

life of the high and the mighty. In these plays we witness a rapid maturing of

Shakespeare’s skill in plot construction and characterization. They are marked with a

fervent note of patriotism and are rich in poetic utterances. The interest of the dramatist in

the comic side of life is increasingly felt and is reflected in the figure of Sir John Falstaff.

3. The Mature Comedies - The mature comedies of Shakespeare are ‘Much Ado About

Nothing’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘As You Like It’. In these

comedies is to be found the flower of Shakespeare’s comic genius. These plays are full of

vitality and vivacity and are marked with enlivening wit and pleasant humor. They are

romantic in character and saturated with the spirit of love and life. The spirit of satire

which Ben Jonson introduced later on in his realistic comedies is conspicuous by its

absence in these Shakespearean comedies. “They are rich in comic spirit which

manifests itself at many levels – the sophisticated wit of Beatrice and Benedick or the

clowning of Dogberry and Verges in Much Ado About Nothing; the jovial good

humor of Sir Tolby Belch in Twelfth Night; the lighter clowning Launcelot Gobbo in

The Merchant of Venice, the humane worldly wise humor of Touchstone in As You

Like It”. The sparkling and vivacious heroes and heroines of these plays such as

Rosalind and Orlando in As You Like It, Viola and Orsino in Twelfth Night, Benedick

and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Portia and Bassanio in The Merchant of

Venice have been the object of love and admiration among the readers of these sunny

comedies.

4. The Sombre Plays – In this group are ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’, ‘Measure for

Measure’ and ‘Troilus and Cressida’. They have been considered as comedies; for all

of them end ‘happily’ but their general tone is marked with a note of tragedy and

somberness. Often these plays are labeled as Problem Plays because their classification

as exclusively tragic or comic becomes difficult. “They reflect a cynical, disillusioned

attitude to life, and a fondness for objectionable characters and situations. In them

Shakespeare displays a savage desire to explore the falsity of romance and to show

the sordid reality of life.”

5. The Great Tragedies – The great tragedies of Shakespeare are ‘Hamlet’, ‘Othello’,

‘Macbeth’ and ‘King Lear’. Hamlet is a tragedy of inaction brought about by the pale

cast of thought. Othello represents the tragedy of the Moor who believed too readily in

the insinuation of the villain Iago and brought about the murder of his wife Desdemona

and ultimately his own self in the rashness of repentance. Macbeth is the tragedy of

ambition, and marks the death of Macbeth, King Duncan and Lady Macbeth, the

ambitious queen. It is the tragedy of darkness and blood and the entire atmosphere of the

play is enveloped in a pall of gloom. It is rich in characterization and perfect in action and


the few philosophical passages about life and its futility- ‘Life is a tale told by an idiot,

full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” – give it a place among the greater plays of

the dramatist. King Lear is the tragedy of the old king who out of rashness and hastiness

misjudged the love of his daughter Cordelia and was ultimately deceived by Goneril and

Regan in whose love he had reposed implicit faith. King Lear in his madness presents a

scene of tragic pathos, and his death in the end brings tears to our eyes. The character of

his youngest daughter Cordelia wins our sympathy and applause. It is the most intense of

Shakespeare’s tragedies. In intensity of emotion, depth of psychological insight and

power of style these tragedies stand supreme and achieve the high water mark of

Shakespearean excellence.

6. The Roman Plays – These are based on North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives, and

though written at fairly wide intervals, are usually considered as a group. Julius Caesar,

contemporary with the English histories, shows the same concern with political security,

and in its depth of character study is approaching the great tragedies. Antony and

Cleopatra and Coriolanus follow the great period, and while the former in soaring

imagination and tragic power is truly great, both of them show some relaxation of tragic

intensity.

7. The Last Plays – Romances – The last plays of Shakespeare are ‘Cymbeline’, ‘The

Winter’s Tale’ and ‘The Tempest’. “A mellowed maturity is the chief feature of this

group.” They are based on the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation. “The style is

notable and serenely adequate; and with the ease of the master the author

thoroughly subdues the metre to his will. No more fitting conclusion – rich, ample

and graciously dignified – could be found to round off the work of our greatest

literary genius than these plays of reconciliation and forgiveness.”

osn academy part... · 2017-09-12 · renaissance (1485-1660) the term ... spenser is rightly...

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