La dinastia Tudor e la rinascita inglese, Appunti di Lingue e letterature classiche

Scarica La dinastia Tudor e la rinascita inglese e più Appunti in PDF di Lingue e letterature classiche solo su Docsity! The early tudors Henry VII: When the wars of roses ended in 1485, Henry VII became the first Tudor king of england; he created a new family emblem, the Tudor rose. During his reign he introduced high taxes and banned nobles from raising their own armies, he was the one who sponsored John Cabbot to explore estern America. During this time, Erasmus of Rotterdam brought humanism of the renaissance to the university of oxford. Thomas More wrote utopia. to Henry the foreign policy was very important, he married his son to the heir of the aragonese empire. When he died in 1509 he left England very stable economically. Henry VII: He succeeded his father at the age of 18. He got the name “defender of the faith” by the pope because in 1517 he wrote an attack on luter. He married his brother widow, catherine of aragone, but she could deliver a baby boy, so Henry asked to the pope to declare his first marriage invalid. The pope refused so the king broke with Rome's church, and created the church of England with the act of supremacy, he was the supreme head of it. This religious revolution was extended to Wales and Ireland. He had six wifes, and at the end he had 3 children: Edward VI, Mary I and Elisabeth I. Edward VI: During his reign, as a consequence of the protestant reformation, religious services were held in english instead of latin. Edward made ``the book of common prayer” written by the Archbishop of Canterbury , this book was used by churches of the anglican communion, it contains the written liturgies for almost every service that would be held by the anglican church. He named lady jane gray his successor, but after nine days and still uncrowded, she was taken prisoner to the tower of london thanks to a catholic plot. Mary I: Declared herself queen and wanted to restore catholicism in England, didn’t want any other religion than this. Mary’s counter-reformation brought the restoration of catholic rituals and heresy law. The queen earned the name “bloody mary” giving the protestant church about 300 martyrs by burning them. She married Philip II of Spain because she wanted to merge the emperor. In 1558 she fell ill and Elisabeth I took her place. Elisabeth I: She became the queen of a divided nation at the age of 25,also called the virgin queen because she never got married. Her reign is considered englend’s golden age; it was an age of stability, religion toleration and victory at the sea. She was anti-catholic and anti-spanish (reconized them as their anemy), very passionate, strong personality, amazing education thanks to the flourishing arts in taht period. She consolidated the reformation in 1559 by reintroducing the acts of supremacy and uniformity. The church was protestant, but elisabeth allowed tolerance to other religions. She managed to create a popular and majestic image, she had an image of a sovereign who had been the defender of her reign and the preserver of peace. Several official portraits were painted as part of royal propaganda. She had some problems with her cousin, Mary queen, because she claimed the throne of England, she was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. She got arrested and kept prisoner in Sheffield castle, where she became the center of conspiracies against queen elisabeth. She was executed for treason in 1587. Elisabeth encouraged her sea captains to look for new lands and treasures. In 1586 Spain was preparing an armada to invade Britain, Philip II wanted to bring England back under the church of rome. The english ships were faster and better than the spanish ones, in conclusion england supremacy was confirmed. Elisabeth died in 1603, saying that the son of bloody mary, James I, should succeed her; she managed to create a popular and majestic image of the royals and england. Renaissance and new learning The chain of being: the tudors (from Henry VII to Elisabeth I), inherited a general concept of order from the medieval view of the word, they represented the universal order as a chain of being. this chain has 2 characteristics : - there was no possibility to move from one ring to another - all forms of life had been created in the beginning and there was no room for new life to appear, anything that was outside was considered to be chaos, madness and evil. the chain: - macrocosm: god, spiritual beings - microcoms: human beings - animal and plant kingdom - the material world The whole universe was governed by divine will, nature was God's instrument, the social hierarchy a product of nature, therefore subordination and unity were all rules for the state. The English renaissance: between the 16th and 17th centuries, there’s a rediscovery of the classical learning, protestant basis, less committed to the visual arts, baroque exuberance, use of vivid and powerful imaginary, and language in literature. In this period there’s “the new learning”, more possibilities to study. Latin was replaced with english. The origins of the theater in Britain are linked to religious celebrations and christian events. These performances took place in the nave of churches first, but soon they moved outside. English was replaced with Latin and lay people took the place of monks and priests in these performances , which became known as mystery plays. Drama became the main form of Elizabethan art, because it was characterized by a wide range of interests and vitality of the language. Public performances were illegal in the city of london, so theaters were builts on the south bank area of london. The structure of the Elizabethan theaters: permanent theaters were circular or octagonal. Within the outer walls there were three tiers of roofed galleries , looking down on the stage , and the yard , or “pit” , where the poorer spectators , or groundlings, stood . The stage itself , technically known as an apron stage, projected into the yard, so that when the theater was full , the players were surrounded on three sides. No more than twelve actors could appear on stage at the same time due to the space restrictions. Over the stage the shadow or thatched roof protected the players from the rain. In the front of the stage there is a trap door used for devilish apparitions and disappearance , and also for burials. The actors’ tiring house is a place where the actors changed their costumes, presumably at the back of the stage. There were two doors for entrances and exits. Behind the stage there was an inner stage, concealed by a curtain when not in use , which was demanded for several plays: for Juliet's tomb in Romeo and Juliet. This inner stage was used not only for discoveries, but also for concealments. One major problem was the staging of the final scene of those tragedies which ended with several corpses on the stage. Only two methods were available: either the body was carried off or else it was hidden at the side of the stage, since the Elizabethan stage had no general stage curtain. There was also an upper stage hidden by a curtain and a balcony normally used by musicians. Elizabethan and modern theaters: In the modern theater actors are separated from the audience by a curtain. Moreover, they act in bright light before spectators hidden in a darkened auditorium. In Shakespeare's time the actor came forward on the apron stage into the midst of his audience. Communication was therefore intimate and direct. The device of the soliloquy was a natural way for a character to explain his thoughts and intentions. There was no scenery and plays took place in daylight, usually starting at 2 p.m. The stage relied on conventions using a limited number of props . For night scenes a simple candle or torch represented the night world . The action was continuous. A scene ended when all the actors left the stage and a new set of characters came on. The time and locality were usually mentioned in the dialogue. Women did not act in Shakespeare's time and the female parts were acted by boys. Sources:The characters and situations were often allegorical types and the plays contained scenes of vivid caricature and realistic comedy. The ideas of man's place inside an ordered universe and of the mutability of fortune and the stars were also typical. Thanks to the spread of translations, Italian plays became the sources of much Elizabethan theater. The English stage owed much also to the works of Niccolò Machiavelli in the display of horror, unnatural crimes, vice and corruption. The Elizabethan theater was also influenced by the Latin philosopher and tragedian Seneca in the division of the play into five acts, in the tragic and bloody incidents, in the taste for revenge, in making good rhetoric out of conflicting emotions and passions. Thomas Kyd's very popular The Spanish Tragedy,was the typical Senecan revenge play full of ghosts and horror , mixed with Machiavellian ingredients such as intrigues , lies and villains Kyd also added the ' play within the play. William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was born in Stanford on 23 april 1616, on st george day. His father was a successful tradesman. William was the eldest son, he attended a local school, where he acquired a good knowledge of english and classical authors. He married Anne Hathaway and they had three children. After he left stanford, probably for deer-hunting, he experienced the playhouse. In 1593 theaters were closed up due to plague, so he needed support from a private patron, in fact he received support from a young nobleman, to whom he dedicated all his poems. When the theaters reopened, he became a shareholder of the most successful actor company in london. In 1559 his company built the globe theater, where most of his plays were done. Between 1590 and 1596 he wrote romeo and juliet, at the same he wrote the great tragedies. He died when he was 52 years old. The shakespearean sonnet: were published in 1609, but they were probably written in 1590; they were published after they circulated between his friends. The collections includes 154 sonnets in decasyllabic, he did not use the petrarchan form, he employed three quatrains and a final couplet. However, in many of his sonnets follows the tow-poem structures of the petrarchan’s form, since there is a turning point that appears at the beginning of the couplet. The sonnets were not chronological, they have no title and can be divided into two sections. The first sonnet is organized as it follows: - Sonnets I to XVIII : these are devoted to the theme of ' increase . The poet encourages the young man to marry and preserve his virtues and beauty through his children . - Sonnets XIX to CXXVI : these deal with different topics, among which the poet's warnings about the destructive power of time and moral weakness. It is quite interesting to notice that ' time ' is no longer a theme , but an active antagonist and that the celebration of the beloved conveys a meditation on art and immortality. Within this group of sonnets , LXXVIII to LXXXVI are concerned with a ' rival poet ' who has addressed poems to the young man . The second section , from sonnet CXXVII to the end, is addressed to a ' dark lady ' or ' black woman. She is physically unattractive , but the poet finds her irresistibly desirable. themes: reversal of the traditional themes of love sonnet. The traditional love poems praising women’s worth and beauty are addressed to a man, while those devoted to a woman are negative and non conventional. The situations suggested in sonnets are meant to explore universal themes such as time, death, beauty and art. All the experience he had, made him more conscious of the complexity of the range and human feelings. style: the sonnets are characterized by rich and vivid descriptive language, there’s no classic reference. dramatic quality. Shakespeare the dramatist: not all of Shakespeare's plays were printed during his lifetime, so we had to use every kind of evidence to really understand when the work was written. - external: clear mention or evidence of any kind - internal: the play itself includes a reference to an event happened - stylistic: the changes in Shakespeare's style are noticeable and can help as well. Evolving scenes: The progress of a Shakespearean play is usually linked to the gradual clarification of things which are left mysterious at the beginning. Opinions and assumptions are formed, and turn out to be decisive after several scenes. There is also a frequent contrast between scenes with many characters and scenes with few, scenes in public and in private, those full of action and those devoted to reflection. Major scenes, with crucial events, are preceded and followed by shorter scenes whose function is simply to provide information. Shakespeare sometimes leaves some questions open. Structure: the structure of the play was flexible. Shakespeare did not give great importance to the division between the acts; sometimes this division was imposed later. In the Elizabethan theater there was no curtain fall between the acts and the plays were performed without an interval As a rule, in a Shakespearean play a scene is over when all the characters have left the stage. Soliloquies aside, introductory passages spoken in a prologue or by chorus, funeral orations and death - bed speeches are only some of the conventions used by Shakespeare that were natural on a stage where the contact between actors and audience was very close. The text itself provides information about the atmospheres and the feeling of the scene, and also about the way the characters enter the stage and leave it. Setting: the actions take place in two main locations, the city of Venice and Portia’s home in Belmont, each setting represents different aspects of the play. 16th century Venice was an autonomous trading town, for the English people it was a symbol of wealth and also greed. Jews were forced to wear a red hat to identify themselves. The two views of Venice are expressed through Shylock, the Jew who symbolizes the greedy side, and Antonio, the rich, the rich but generous Christian merchant, who stands for the wealth of Venice. Belmont is Portia’s estate, it’s considered the world of ideal love where women seem to have more power than Venice. The house is the setting for the lovers to come together. The play’s happy ending conclusion is played out at Belmont, away from the heavier atmosphere in Venice; so Belmont is an idyllic place where love reigns, where a man and a woman, from two different religions are brought together. Characters: in England, Jews were often portrayed as villains or marginalized. Shylock Was drawn on anti-semantic prejudice, he’s a complex character. Shakespeare emphasizes his humanity by showing how Christians mistreated and abused Jews in a Christian society, which considers him an outsider. Shylock's lack of mercy for Antonio prevents us from seeing him in a positive light. The main difference between the Christian characters and Shylock is that these Christians consider human relationships more valuable than business ones, whereas Shylock is only interested in money. Very different from Shylock, Antonio risks wealth and reputation for who he loves. The Christians characters present an ambiguous picture; Bassanio wants to marry Portia because he’s in debt, Shylock argues that Jews are human beings just as Christians are. So while Christians characters may talk more about mercy, love and charity, they do not always show these qualities in their behavior. Themes: -love and hate: the play explores various types of love; the love of a friend is shown by Antonio and Bassanio, who would give their life to one another, Portia is strongly linked to his father’s will. Romantic love brings people together from different backgrounds and even for different motivations like Portia and bassanio. The play also deals with love for money and possession, as in Shylock’s case. Christians and Jews hated each other at all levels. -mercy, justice and revenge: mercy is presented as an ideal. The relationship between mercy and justice is seen from two different points of view: -Christians idea of mercy: from the New Testament to turn the other check, instead of look for revenge -Shylock's idea of justice is from the Old Testament, he thinks that Christians are hypocritical about mercy and they really want revenge as much as he does. -appearance and reality: some of the characters are involved in disguises and deception; Portia and Neruda disguise themselves at Balthazar’s lawyers. The plot revolves around debts and payments, Shylock treats the loss of Jessica as an equivalent loss of his money. Hamlet Plot: The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed. Setting: The story of Hamlet is set in the late Middle Ages,14th and 15th centuries,in and around the royal castle in Elsinore, a city in Denmark Like England, Denmark was a Protestant country, so Hamlet studies in Wittenberg, Germany,where Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation, and he is skeptical of the ghost,who claims to be his father's spirit wandering in purgatory. As a matter of fact, Protestants rejected the notion of purgatory as mere superstition.Shakespeare's choice of Denmark may be due also to the development of the plot. For example, the subplot deals with a possible war against Norway: when the ghost first appears,the guards are dressed for battle. This sense of menace from another country increases the tension of the first scenes and sets the mood of the play. Characters: Hamlet is the most talkative of all Shakespeare characters. A psychoanalyst said that the psychological dimension of the play lies in Hamlet's language is its ambiguity, everything he says is conveyed through metaphor and wordplay. His words have hidden meaning. Hamlet himself is aware of the ambiguous nature of his own speeches and also of his feelings. He spends much of the play complaining about the fact that he has to play roles that he does not believe in, in fact in the play he’s the non revenger in a revenge play. He receives on the death of his father and the re-marriage of his mother melancholy. The world changes color, life and its meaning; love is deprived of its spiritual side, woman of her prestige, the state of his stability, while the earth and the air lose their appeal. Hamlet sees a contagious disease which spreads from man to kingdom and from it, to the universe. Themes: Hamlet could be read simply as a revenge tragedy. However, through the theme of vengeance, Shakespeare develops a series of themes that are central to humanity: - the relationships between father and son, mother and son , and Hamlet and his friends. - love relationships - madness - youth and age - action and inaction - the corruption linked to power - the existence of God and a life after death - the meaning of the theater itself Hamlet is a play of life and death and of man's ambiguous relationship with both. It is also about melancholy and doubt. It is through Hamlet's struggle to act, and to act wisely, that the concept of ' man's complex nature ' is illustrated. Also very important is the honor and honorable actions. The theme of honor makes it clear that any action to correct a wrong should be resonated, not emotional. Justice is accomplished through the various deaths and the ascents of fortinbras to the throne. Hamlet’s death is ennobled by his final honorable actions tending to destroy the sources of corruptions within the state. Structure: In the third act there is a play within the play, since it was wanted by hamleto to expose his father’s murderer; it turned the actors into an audience: there is a real audience, then there is an audience on the stage composed of the play's actors, who watch a play, The Murder of Gonzago, dealing with the background to the tragedy. Where, it may suddenly occur to us to ask, does the acting end? Othello Plot: Othello is the only Shakespearean tragedy that starts and finishes during the night.Iago is furious about being overlooked for promotion and plots to take revenge against his General; Othello, the Moor of Venice. Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife Desdemona is unfaithful, stirring Othello's jealousy. Othello allows jealousy to consume him, murders Desdemona, and then kills himself. Date, source and setting: was written between 1602 and 1604, it was based on a story about jealousy by the italian writer girladi. Othello is a man without dignity and Shakespeare's tragic hero has great qualities as a human and leader. Venice is where the play is setted, is fullof passion, jealosy and sexual tension. The italians were considered to be wicked, murderous and immoral by elizabeth I. Playwrites setted the play in italy when they wanted to portray immorality. Venice was exciting for English people because women there were beautiful and men were easily jealous. In othello the west stands for rationality and east for irrationality. Othello is categorized as a moor, black man because of his origins outside the western world. characters: At the beginning of the play, the black Othello is the champion of honesty and he, a barbarian, behaves like a perfect Christian. On the contrary the white Iago has a black soul, he is a villain who plots a cruel mockery to express his power. Othello feels true emotions and absolute passions; Iago invents false passions for himself His plan to cause Othello's jealousy has no purpose and logic. At the end Iago is the real loser: he is obliged to face his reality and to drop the mask of honesty. Othello is a linear character, he considers the world made up of absolute values. When his harmony is destroyed by Desdemona's supposed adultery, he must re - death is connected with exceptional natural events. On the night of the murder the earth trembles. After the murder the macrocosm of nature mirrors the chaos of the social microcosm: the sky is troubled, darkness covers the earth during the day, Duncan's horses break their stalls and eat one another. Images connected with the animal world- macabre and disgusting insects and other animals- are used by Macbeth. He always expresses his thoughts and emotions in vivid physical terms, like a man who has reached the very edge of humanity. The tempest General intro:The tempest is a playwright by Shakespear probably written between 1610 and 1611. It’s a drama,romantic comedy and tragedy comedy. Is divided in 5 acts, with a total number of 9 scenes: 2 in the first two acts, 3 in the 3rd act and one in the last two acts. “I would not wish any companion in the world but you, nor can imagination form a shape, besides yourself, to like you.” -Mirada (act three,scene one) Plot: Prospero, an aspiring magician and the rightful Duke of Milan was unfairly exiled with his daughter Miranda by his brother Antonio and king of Naples Alonso. Prospero and Miranda reached an island where the sycorax lived with her son Caliban and her spirit Arial; they survived for 12 years thanks to the food, clothes and books of magic that a servant secretly put in the ship. In the island Prospero became a real magician and could overcome the witch. After 12 years Antonio, Alonso and Ferdinand, were going to Tunis to celebrate the marriage between ferdinand and the princess of tunis, their ship accidentally shipwrecked during a tempest and Prospero, that saw the scene, made the shipwreck on his island, but in different points of the island so they couldn't meet each other. At the end, Antonio and Alonso apologized to Prospero for their conspiracy against him and they returned all together to milan. Setting:The settings are a ship at sea and an island, and the actions takes place within three hours. The island maybe located somewhere in mediterranean since the king of Naples and his court were traveling. The New World, and Bermuda, might also have been in Shakespeare's mind. So the place is an island away from national claims and from any kind of civilisation. characters: - Prospero: was the rightful Duke of Milan, who was deposed 12 years with her daughter by his brother. He’s a magician: his magic powers come from his studies and he tries to use them to do good. The symbol of Prospero’s power are his books, which are his source of supernatural knowledge. He also had a wand. -Arial: He’s a spirit of the air, who’s very fast, can become invisible and can change his appearance . He used to be in the service of the Sycorax. The meaning of his name is “lion of the lord” and his voice, sometimes, sounds like a lion’s roar. -Caliban is the only native of the island, he is the son of the witch Sycorax and the devil. When Prospero came to the island, he showed him how to survive and Prospero taught him to speak. Later he tried to rape Miranda and Prospero enslaved and punished him. Although he is repulsive in appearance and behaves instinctively, he can be sensitive and has a sense of beauty. Some critics say that Caliban's name may derive from the word