appunti tratti da Amazing minds, Dispense di Inglese

Scarica appunti tratti da Amazing minds e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! 1di11 The Tudors The beginning of modern times: Renaissance starts when the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, and greek scholars left to important cities like Florence, Bologna, Paris and Oxford. So the study and the translation of greek were renewed. The development was in all field of learning. The invention of the compass favored exploration, and exploration proved that all idea about the world were wrong. The invention of the printing made the book cheaper and more plentiful. The new invention, the study of Greek and the Scriptures encouraged men to discuss, to doubt the doctrine of the church and began to think themselves. Henry VII Henry VII before became king was know as Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster. He became in 1485 because he defeated Richard III of the Hose of York in the battle of Bosworth Filed. Henry VII after the victory the two. During his reign unified the two feuding family with the marriage of Elizabeth of York, unified the Nation, limited the power nobles and strengthened the power of the throne. This so strong system of governament was called “The Tudor Despotism”. Henry VIII and the break with Rome When Henry VII died in 1509, succeeded by his son, who became Henry VIII. The King married Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish widow of his brother and have a daughter, Mary. Henry was athletic intelligent and cultured a true model of the new renaissance man, was also devoted catholic. In fact he written a book called “defense of the seven sacrament” which was strongly critical to Martin Luther's Protestant movement, cause of this the pope gave him the title of defender of the faith. After many years Henry worries that he has no male heir. If he died without a male heir the Tudor Despotism would brake down. So Henry ask to the pope (Clement VII) to annual his marriage, but to not offend the Charles V the emperor and the nephew of Catherine of Aragon, he rejected the request. So Henry commanded the Archbishop to declare the marriage void and in a secret ceremony he marries Anne Boleyn. This mean the major challenge to the pope’s authority that led to the break with Rome. In 1534 the Act of Supremacy confirmed Henry as a supreme head of the the Church of England separated by the Catholic Church of Rome.The break with Rome encourage to protestant but Henry was determined to uphold the catholic faith and never became protestant. Succession guaranteed Anne too failed to give Henry a male heir, so she was falsely accused of adultery, incest and treason, was tried, found guilty and executed in the tower of London in 15836. Eleven days after the execution Henry married Jane Seymour the gave him Edward to guaranteed the Tudor succession, but she died soon after giving birth. 2di11 Bloody Mary Henry died and Edward succeeded, but he was only 9 y.o. and the control of the reign was in the hands of a Council of Regency. After 6 years Edward died prematurely. Then the eldest daughter Mary was proclaimed Queen, the first woman to be crowned monarch. Mary was devoted catholic and wants return England to Roman Catholicism. In 1554 Mary married Philip Il of Spain and to be loyal to the roman church involved in a terrible persecution. Several protestant were sent to the Stake and burned. This persecution stained her reputation and gave her the name of Bloody Mary. The dissolution of the monasteries: Henry begins suppressing the religious order and confiscates and sells their properties upon the market there were so many properties that many tradesman brought that very cheaply, and set up as “country gentlemen”. These, the class of gentry had a personal interest in preventing the papal authority from being re- established. The Puritans Because of the persecution many protestant fled to Protestant cities like Basel and Geneva where they came in contact with the ideas of John Calving a leader of the Reformation who have established the first Presbyterian government in Geneva. When Bloody Mary died the Protestants return to England, formed a Calvinistic gruop knows as the puritans. This group was extreme protestant and they wanted to remove all traces of Roman Catholic practices to purify the church of England. One of them was John Knox, who returned to Scotland where he founded “The Presbyterian Church of Scotland” in 1560. 5 di11 The Stuart Dynasty James | of England Queen Elizabeth died childless and was succeeded by her cousin James VI of Scotland, who became James | of England, the first king of Stuart's dynasty, who unified the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. James | believed in the Divine Right of Kings and considered himself above the law and parliament, only God was above him. Catholic and Puritans hoped that their position were improved by King James | but he reinforced the Anglican Church and disappointed both. His attitude led to the Gunpowder Plot and the departure of pilgrim Father. The Gunpowder Plot In 1605 a group of Catholics angered by the attitude of James | toward them, plotted to murder him. Led by Guy Fawkes they placed barrels of Gunpowder in the cellar below the House of Parliament to detonate when the King was present. However the plot was detected, the leader and his men were arrested, hung and tortured. This fact increased the hate and fear of Catholicism. The New World In 1620 a group of puritans escaped from religious persecution in a ship named “Mayflower” and landed in Massachusetts, in America. They founded a sort of Bible Commonwealth rigidly and intolerantly Puritans. During this period it was also important the permanent settlement of merchants in Virginia founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. Here was discovered an important resource, tobacco. Ireland and the plantation of Ulster To bring the rebellious Ireland back under English control, James encouraged English and Scottish “planters” to move to Ulster (Northern Ireland) to cultivate land and establish towns there. These lands were confiscated from Irish Catholic Gaelic owners, this brought to a conflict for centuries. The Struggle with Parliament begins James l’s claim to “Divine Right” implied that parliament had no power. The Tudor believed the same but they didn’t make any formal claim. James denied Parliament’s right to interfere in foreign affair and tried to raise taxes without its consent, this led to a Civil War. 6di11 Romeo and Juliet (1594-1955) Sources The main source Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was a poem written In 1562 by Arthur Brooke named “The Tracigal History of Romeus and Juliet”. Brooke also took inspiration from an Italian version written by Luigi da Porto in 1530s and by Matteo Bandello in 1550s. Plot *. Romeoand duliet are from two rival families of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets. e. PARTY: The plot stars one night when Romeo Montague and his friends go to a party organized by the Capulet and where Romeo meets Juliet Capulet. They fall in love but they know their families are enemies and that their love will be hindered, Juliet was also promised to Paris. *. BALCONY SCENE AND WEDDING: After the party Romeo returns to Juliet (balcony scene) to meet her and they decides to marry in secret. Friar Laurence marries Romeo and Juliet hoping that the wedding will bring peace to the two families. *. STREET FIGHT: Immediately after the wedding Romeo is involved in a fight between members of the two families, his friend Mercutio is killed by Juliet's cousin Tybalt and Romeo kills him. *. BAN: Becauseof this crime, Romeo is banished from Verona, but he spends a secret night with Juliet before living for Mantua. Juliet's father, decides she should marry Paris but Juliet refuses and goes to Friar Laurence who suggests a plan for Romeo and Juliet to be together. e THEPLAN: The plan is that Juliet fakes her death drinking a sleeping potion and lies in a tomb waiting for Romeo to come and run away together and Friar Laurence will send a message to Romeo to inform him about the plan. Unfortunately by a terrible twist of fate Romeo doesn't receive the message about the plan, so he thinks Juliet has died. So Romeo buys some poison and goes to Verona to kill himself beside Juliet. * ATTHETOMB: At Juliet's tomb Romeo Kkills Paris who doesn't want him to see Juliet and drinks the poison so he can be with Juliet in death. As soon as he drinks the poison Juliet wakes up and knowing Romeo is dead, she kills herself with his dagger. * RECONCILIATION: The Friar explains what has happened to the two families and the Montagues and Capulets decide to reconcile. The main themes LOVE: The most important theme of the play is love, in fact Romeo and duliet is the most famous love story of English literature In this play the passionate love overbear all other value but their passion unfortunately lead. The two character to violence and kill so it bends with and this two emotions bring the lovers to a tragical ending. 7 di11 THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY: throughout the play Romeo and Juliet fight public and social institutions. The story shows us a fight between the individual desires and the responsibilities imposed by social institutions. In fact The Prince, as the supreme representative of public, banish Romeo from Main Character As the title of the play suggests, the action develops around the two protagonists: Romeo and Juliet: the two lovers first of all represented as a young couple facing the difficulties related to an impossible relationship. Despite their being part of a couple, the two lovers have two very distinct personalities which make them two individuals. Romeo was an handsome young man who has a passionate and impulsive character. At the beginning of the play he loves Rosalinde, but when he meets Juliet he instantly falls in love with her. Initially this love seems a little suspect, but then his brave actions prove /confirm his loyalty to Juliet. Despite his impulsive and passionate character he is also able to use the best language of love and poetry. Juliet is more than a simple prototype of young girl in love. Despite at the beginning she appears shy and obedient, when she falls in love with Romeo she immediately grows and becomes independent, mature and able to defend her love against any obstacles. Dramatic Technique Romeo and Juliet is classified as a Tragedy, in fact the love in Romeo and Juliet was typical of a tragedy because was a dark love and hunted by the death of two lovers.Romeo and Juliet was a lyrical play. Shakespeare use many based on the main contrast of the play (love/death-love/ hate-pure love/erotic passion) Prologue The prologue is the opening lines of the play in which the Chorus introduces the main themes (love/death/faith) of the play and interacts with the audience. In the prologue the love between Romeo and Juliet is defined as “star-crossed”, an expression meaning “impossible”. In the prologue the Chorus tells to the audience where the plot is set (in Verona) The balcony Scene This part is taken from ACT II, Scene 2, set in the Capulets garden. Juliet, initially doesn’t know of Romeo's presence, speaks of her love and of the obstacle that Romeo is a Montague. This scene is important because Romeo and Juliet declare their feelings for each other. Initially Romeo is hiding in the garden while Juliet thinks to be alone and reflects on the possibility of loving a Montague, the son of her family's enemy. Juliet compares Romeo to a rose, actually she expresses the idea that a name (Romeo) doesn't defined the essence of things or people and that Romeo would be the same person even if he had another name, just like a rose would be a rose even if it had another name. 10 di 11 William Shakespeare Shakespeare's Life William was apparently born in Statford-upon-Avon probably on April 23rd in 1564 and he was baptized on April 26th. He was a son of a rich merchant, thanks to this (So) he could attend the local grammar school and he could receive a good education. Shakespeare married Anne Hathway who was eight years older than him. They had 3 children. From 1584 to 1592 (the Lost Years) we know only that he left Statford and made fortune in London. In 1592 Shakespeare was active in London as an actor and a playwright. But the theaters were shut down (closed) because of the plague and they were re-opened only in 1594. William started working for the Chamberlains’s Men, a company of actors protected and founded by Lord Chamberlain. Shakespeare was the main playwright and shareholder of the Chamberlains’s company which became the best in London. In 1599 the company founded their own playhouse, called The Globe, where many of Shakespeare's plays were staged. In 1603 when James | suceeded Elizabeth to the throne, the company went under the protection of the king and became “King's Men”. Shakespeare worked with they until 1611 when he retired from the stage. He died in 1616 on the day of his birth, on April 28th. The First Folio of 1623 At that time it was better not to print the plays to avoid plagiarism and to limit their circulation to avoid to be stolen by rival companies. But Shakespeare's Plays are an exception. Thank to Condell and Heminges who collected and printed as a single volume 1623. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 36 of them were contained in First Folio edition and 18 were printed for the first time. In the First Folio the plays are dived in to 3 categories comedies, histories and tragedies. Shakespeare's Canon Today scholars subdued Shakespeare canon into more than 3 sub-group, according to a their themes or their style and the date of the composition. -English History Plays: Shakespeare wrote many plays about English history covering the period from the 12th to the 16th century, so from the Hundred Years” War to the War of the Roses. These plays were a portrait of medieval and early modern England. (Richard III, Richard Il and Henry V) -Roman Plays: In three historical plays there were characters taken from roman history, such as Julius Cesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus. These plays are set in Ancient Rome. The main themes are the power and how to gain it, how to change those who exercise it and how dangerous it is. -Comedies: Comedies have own features and characteristic and they are inspired from Italian short stories (novelle) which involved marriages, mistaken identities and happy ending. 11di11 -Dark Comedies: Comedies with a dark, pessimistic side. -Tragedies: between 1604 and 1606 William wrote his great tragedies (Othello, King Lear, Macbeth) -Romances: they are plays which contain elements of tragedy and comedy with fictional, almost improbable or supernatural plots. -Romeo and Juliet (1594-5): A tragedy based on the exploration of the theme of love