letteratura e cultura inglese 1, Appunti di Letteratura Inglese

Scarica letteratura e cultura inglese 1 e più Appunti in PDF di Letteratura Inglese solo su Docsity! ALESSIA SCAGLIONE The 16 th century was the beginning of everything for England: its national and linguistic identity, its literature and its political and economic power, the beginning of its expansion into the world. In the 16 th century England went through five reigns of the Tudors dynasty: - The first Tudor king was Henry VII (1485 – 1509). Henry was successful in restoring power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. He introduced several new taxes, which stabilised the government's finances. During his reign England is one among the most advanced nations speaking of classic and humanistic studies, thanks to the existence of brilliant intellectuals, like Thomas More. The humanistic culture is deeply rooted in England already since the end of the fifteenth century. Thanks to king Henry VII. Humanism is the study of classical literature, science and philosophy with the intent of improving the quality of life of the country. In addiction humanism was founded on the belief that all virtues peculiar to human beings should be studied and developed to their greatest extent. After his death, he was succeeded by his son, Henry VIII. - During King Henry VIII’s reign (1509 – 1547) the new Anglicanism and other Protestant movements of the time all had a few important rules in common: -The Bible became the real word of authority. -People could obtain salvation only through the will of God -Priests simply had to spread God’s word. The religious revolution in England started with Henry VIII’s quarrel against the Pope. Henry VIII was firstly married to Catherine of Aragon, but she didn’t give him a son, for this reason he wanted to divorce and married Anne Boleyn in church. But, the Pope didn’t accept his choice because for Christianism divorce was a guilt and so it was impossible to remarried someone in church for the second time. Henry broke this relation with the Pope and did the Act of Supremacy in which he affirmed the Anglican Church and he said that he's the only one who can decide over his decision. -Edward VI (1547 – 1553), who succeeded him, made Protestantism more accepted in England and took also some confiscated wealth of convents to build school. - Mary I (1553 – 1558), also known as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation to restoring Catholicism in England. - Queen Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603), Henry VIII’s daughter by his second wife Anne Boleyn, became one of the most famous queen in English history. She had a great success as she restored the country’s religious and political power and stability. Loved by her people, she was called The Virgin Queen because she never married (although some people believed that she had affairs). She established a secure Church of England by following a wise policy of compromise between Catholics and Anglicans. During her reign England emerged as a world power: this period is known as The Golden Age. During her reign there was an incrementation of voyages and discoveries such as Raleigh who founded the first English colony in America and called it Virginia in honour to the Queen. These voyages brought to a period of colonisation and overseas trade. During her reign a lot of new literary genres were born from epic to pastoral poem and from essay to prose. But the most important characteristic was the theatre. This reign was also fertile in the translation filed, and a lot of translations came from the Italian, such as Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, and others.. MORALITY THEATRE: mystery plays linked to religion are still pretty famous when, in the theatre, a new genre of play is born: it’s the MORALITY THEATRE, and it is about “psychomachia” or the conflict between the seven deadly sins and the seven virtues for the control of human soul. The first morality play that got to us is The Castle of Perseverance. RENAISSANCE The term Renaissance is commonly used to indicate the historical period which follows the middle age but some scholars interrogate themselves about this term: - A first group said that we couldn’t talk about English Renaissance because women didn’t take part of the advancements of English culture during this period - A second group said that this period saw an explosion of culture. A sort of rebirth of civilization. The term renaissance means rebirth and it’s applied to this period of English history characterised by a rapid development of art, literature, science and politics. The modern scholars said that the term Renaissance has to be replaced by the term ‘‘Early modern’’ but now people use the two terms without any differences. THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH CULTURE: The evolution of English culture starts with the introduction, by William Caxton, of the first typographic press, linked to the publication of religious texts, such as The Great English Bible, The Book of Common Prayer, and, in the Philosophical and political fields, Thomas More’s Utopia. 16 century Authors: John Skelton (1460-1529): Skeleton was the oldest poet at the court of Henry and a believed that the English language was not as Noble as Greek or Latin and He was a conservative poet who started Latin and received from Oxford and Cambridge the title of “poet laureate”. In one of his most famous poems, Philip Sparrow, the protagonist Dame Margery, says that she can't write a proper inscription for his sparrow because “the natural tongue was rude”. He became famous for his simple style and his satirical poems, characterized by the rhythm and vitality which was perfectly suitable for the satire of the life at the court. The Bodge of Courte is considered his masterpiece. The most aggressive notes were written for the cardinal Thomas Wolsey who was so rich that was called “alter rex” (the other king). Skelton attack him in Speaks Parrot and Why come ye not to court? For this reason, Skelton was imprisoned by Wolsey himself, and was later released. His “open satires” are written in an irregular verse, short and rhymed, which sound was similar to the verse of the mediaeval satire. Thanks to these strange, rude and old verse it was able to attack the abuses and hypocrisy of the clergy. advance by episodes arousing wonder and pleasure to the reader. A characteristic element of Spencer's work is magic as events take place in magical places or fairy-tale scenarios: haunted forest and fairy castles. Knights meet fairies, witches, dragons, lions, wizards, monsters... Each of these characters could be the enemy and the Knights are looking for their virtue. Amoretti e Epithalamion: Amoretti is the collection of 89 sonnets Spencer dedicates to his second wife Elizabeth Boyle. It is a true love story, and it contains a great variety of moments or aspects of loving desire. Epithalamion (which means "song sung on the threshold of a bridal chamber") is a poem made up of 24 rooms of 18 lines each that celebrates marriage and conjugal happiness. It is a hymn of joy. The Amoretti and epithalamion mainly follow the religious philosophical model which has its roots in the Cantico dei cantici attributed to Solomon. Even in the rigid formal structure of the sonnet, Spencer maintains the fluid and melodious verse that made his poem famous. Walter Raleigh (1552-54/1618): This author is placed in the period of the discovery of the new world by England. Travel reports contribute to the birth of a new literary genre. They presented a truthful or at least impartial version of the new world. Walter Raleigh distinguished himself at court for his intelligence and he became the most proud and brilliant favorite of Queen Elizabeth. In honour of the virgin queen, he baptized the first English colony in 1584:Virginia. in his "Discovery of the rich and Beautiful Empire of Guyana" he tells the discovery of Guiana, the current Venezuela, describing the wonders of nature, the economic advantages of the conquest of a country, according to him, rich in gold and the “civilizing mission liberator of the English nation” towards indigenous peoples. When Queen Elizabeth died and James I ascended the throne, he was locked up in the Tower of London with the accuse of treason. There he wrote his monumental "history of the world" in which he reflects on the rise and fall of the Empires of the Ancient World and alludes to the human mutability verified in his experience. He died executed. Thomas Kyd (1558-1594): Thomas Kyd is conventionally attributed the authorship of the Elizabethan theatre. One of his best- known works is "the Spanish tragedy", a revenge tragedy in which the main character Hieronimo decides to revenge the death of his son Horatio. The tragedy is aimed at a spectacular effect .There is the representation of the ghost of Andrea who appears at the beginning of the drama asking for revenge, which he will witness from the afterlife together with Revenge (personification of revenge) as a real spectator. In the last act Hieronimo pretends to be mad by staging a "dumb show" that ends in a bloody and impressive carnage. The theme of revenge will influence the theatre in subsequent plays, for example Shakespeare's Hamlet which takes up the theme of fake madness and the "dumb show" Kyd was the first popular theatre playwright to write in Blank Verse (iambic pentameter). The blank verse: it is a new type of verse that replaces the old rhyming verse, created by abandon of the rhyming verse previously used. Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) Thomas Middleton is one of the top professionals of Jacobean theatre. Middleton had begun as a poet, but in 1602 he is already mentioned in Henslowe’s diary; He was also “city chronologer”, or official chronicler of the Commune. His dramatic production can be divided into two phases: The first marked mostly by city comedies, a genre that in his hands is enriched with a satirical vein in which the influence of Ben Jonson is perceptible; the second with prevalence of tragedies and romantic comedies;  Among the city comedies written with Dekker is pretty famous “A Chaste Maid in Cheapside”; The marriage between merchants and landowners, i.e. between money and prestige, was a theme that particularly interested Middleton. This was a pretext to talk about the vices of both social groups. This seems to be the content of the work mentioned earlier. There is also a moralistic streak in him. In “A Mad World, My Masters”, an adventurer should settle down to a rich wedding and marries a courtesan instead.  In a completely different vein is the political drama “A Game at Chess”: skilful anti-Spanish allegory, whose characters are chess, the whites being for the Court of England and the blacks for the Iberian.  Among the tragedies one of the most important is “Women beware women”: the main plot is loosely based on the life of the historical Bianca Cappello, who became the mistress, and then the consort, of Francesco de' Medici. In Middleton's version, she is innocently but secretly married to Leantio, a merchant's clerk. The duke sees her at a window, falls in love with her and seduces her. Bianca becomes the duke's mistress: the duke, reproved by the cardinal, his brother, for his sin, contrives the death of Leantio. The last act sees the massacre of the characters, through a poisoned incense: Bianca destroys herself by drinking from a poisoned cup. The sub‐plot is concerned with the guilty love of Hippolito for his niece Isabella. Ben Jonson (1572-1637): is one of the last great Elizabethan who, together with the Cavalier Poets, established new standards in poetry which laid the basis for the Neo-Classicism of Restoration and eighteenth-century writing. Learning from Latin writers such as Catullus, Martial and Horace, Jonson wrote lyrical poems. Most writers of the period combine elements from both schools (Metaphysical poets and the Cavalier poets). He attended classical studies and wrote elegies, epitaphs, epigrams etc..: “The Ode on Cary and Morison” is the first great English ode based on the Greek poet Pindaro. He published his entire poetic production in 1616; “Epigrams” was the title. Jonson also wrote tragedies and comedies for public theatres. He was an important playwright and produced the most important satirical comedies in English, establishing a fashion continued by later writers such as Dryden. In his plays, time and place units are observed with meticulous attention. One of his theatrical plays is “Every Man in His Humour”. The work belongs to the sub-genre of 'comedy', in which each main character is dominated by a preponderant humour or obsession. Theory of humorous According to Jonson’s “theory of humours”, every person has inside a balanced combination of four humours (Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric, Phlegmatic), that correspond to the four natural elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water. Jonson attributed to the meaning of the word 'humour' all the eccentricities and vices that were the subject of his satire. Johnson’s characters are completely dominated by one and one only of these humours; they seem to become slaves to it. The “theory of humours” figures also in his masterpieces:  The Alchemist  The main theme is deception. Here, the doctrine of alchemy, from a sacred philosophical and medical science, becomes a dull science of miracles.  “Volpone, or the Fox” The theme is also deception and cheating people. He pretends to be ill. He ends up in prison with a real illness as punishment for his past actions.  "Epicoene, or the silent woman" tells the story of a man who hates noise. He decides to live alone with his only mute servant. He takes Epicoene as his wife, who turns out to be a man. Two types of character  Scammers actors  Fools  public That’s because the tricksters stage their comedies for the gulls (creduloni), which are the viewers of the show. Jonson asks his public to identify with the scammers in order to share a laugh together against the gulls. The “theatre of crafty” (teatro dei furbi) creates an alliance between the public and the actors, or those who know the deception. Jonson’s characters represent the uncivil part of the urban society. They’re the opposite of those humanistic models proposed by humanists. Jonson’s classical and harmonious ideal doesn’t figure in his plays, but in his poems.  “To Penshurst” is a poem dedicated to the Sydney family in Kent. This is the first poem ever in English literature to be addressed to a place. Against glitz, excess and ambition, Johnson proposes the ideals of discretion and concealment of the self-embodied by the Sidney’s that can provide a peaceful life between people and between art and power. Jonson’s classicism is linked to a precise social class that neither is the one of the common London citizens, nor the one of the proud and arrogant aristocracy. Francis Beaumont (1579-1616) e John Fletcher (1579-1625) Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher are the protagonists of the most famous artistic association of the English theatre. They had a deep friendship. They lived together for a while, but Beaumont was very rich – and ended up leaving the friend and the scenes when get married. Son of a Judge of Peace, Beaumont had studied at Oxford. John Fletcher was also a gentleman, son of a Bishop of London, he had studied, perhaps, in Cambridge. After the withdrawal of his friend, he collaborated with Shakespeare and others, encountering great success but no longer achieving the artistic excellence of the era of partnership with Beaumont. According to tradition, Beaumont, endowed with greater critical and moral rigour, would have tempered the ease of his friend. Both authors’ characteristics were:  Eloquence;  Romantic temperament; moon, ancients people or also a singular God called Mithras. Raphael explained them what’s Christianism and they accepted it because their values were similar. Book II, Chapter VI: Of the travelling of the Utopians Consequently the three ambassadors made a great entry with a suite of a hundred attendants, all in clothings of many colours and most in silk:. Being noblemen at home, the ambassadors were arrayed in cloth of gold, with great heavy chains on their necks, gold earrings, gold rings on their fingers and sparkling strings of pearls and gems on their caps which glistered full of pearls and precious stones: to be short, trimmed and adorned with all those things, which among the Utopians were either the punishment of bondmen, or the reproach of infamed persons, or else trifles for young children to play withal. Therefore it would have done a man good at his heart to have seen how proudly they displayed their peacock’s feathers, how much they made of their painted sheaths and how loftily they set forth into and advanced themselves, when they compared their gallant apparel with the poor raiment of the Utopians. For all the people were swarmed forth into the streets. And on the other side it was no less pleasure to consider how much they were deceived, and how far they missed of their purpose, being contrariwise taken than they thought they should have been. For to the eyes of all Utopians, except very few, which had been in other countries for some reasonable cause all that gorgeousness of apparel seemed shameful and reproachful. Insomuch that they most reverently saluted the vilest and most abject of them for lords: passing over the ambassadors themselves without any honour: judging them by their wearing of golden chains to be bondmen. Di conseguenza i tre ambasciatori fecero un grande ingresso con una suite di cento assistenti, tutti in abiti di molti colori e più in seta. Essendo nobili a casa, gli ambasciatori erano allineati in stoffa d'oro, con grandi catene pesanti sul collo, orecchini d'oro, anelli d'oro sulle dita e fili scintillanti di perle e gemme sui loro berretti che brillavano pieni di perle e pietre preziose: per essere breve, tagliato e decorato con tutte quelle cose, che fra i utopisti erano o la punizione dei schiavi, o il rimprovero delle persone infami, oppure le sciocchezze affinchè i bambini piccoli giochino con. Perciò avrebbe fatto bene a un uomo vedere quanto orgogliosamente mostrassero le piume del loro pavone, quanto facessero delle loro guaine dipinte e quanto si mettessero in cammino e avanzassero, quando hanno paragonato il loro abbigliamento galante con la povera veste degli utopisti. Tutto il popolo infatti si riversava nelle strade. E dall'altra parte non era meno piacevole considerare quanto fossero stati ingannati, e quanto lontano avessero mancato il loro scopo, essendo stati presi al contrario di quanto avrebbero dovuto essere. Agli occhi di tutti gli utopisti, tranne pochissimi, che erano stati in altri paesi per qualche ragionevole causa, tutta quella magnificenza di abbigliamento sembrava vergognosa e riprovevole. Tanto che essi più riverenti salutavano il più vile e il più abietto di loro per i signori: passando sopra gli ambasciatori stessi senza alcun onore: giudicandoli dal loro indossare catene d'oro per essere schiavi. Yes, you should have seen children also, that had cast away their pearls and precious stones, when they saw the like sticking upon the ambassadors’ caps, dig and push their mothers under the sides, saying thus to them: ‘Look, mother, how great a lubber doth yet wear pearls and precious stones, as though he were a little child still’. ‘But the mother, yea, and that also in good earnest: ‘Peace, son’, saith she: ‘I think he be some of the ambassadors’ fools’ Some found fault at their golden chains, as to no use nor purpose, being so small and weak, that a bondman might easily break them, and again so wide and large, that when it pleased him, he might cast them off, and run away at liberty wither he would. But when the ambassadors had been there a day or two and saw so great abundance of gold, so lightly esteemed, yea in no less reproach, than it was with them in honour: and besides that more gold in the chains and gyves of one fugitive bondman, than all the costly ornaments of them three as worth: they began to abate their courage, and for very shame laid away all that gorgeous array, whereof they were so proud. And especially when they had talked familiarly with the Utopians, and had learned all their fashions and opinions. Sì, avreste dovuto vedere anche i bambini, che avevano gettato via le loro perle e pietre preziose, quando hanno visto come attaccarsi ai cappelli degli ambasciatori, scavare e spingere le loro madri sotto i lati, dicendo così a loro: 'Guarda, madre, quanto è grande un lubber indossa ancora perle e pietre preziose, come se fosse ancora un bambino. 'Ma la madre, sì, e che anche in buona sul serio: 'Pace, figlio', dice: 'Penso che sia alcuni degli ambasciatori' sciocchi' Alcuni hanno trovato colpa alle loro catene d'oro, come a nessun uso e scopo, essendo così piccolo e debole, che un servitore potrebbe facilmente romperli, e ancora così largo e grande, che quando gli fosse piaciuto, li avrebbe scacciati e sarebbe fuggito in libertà. Ma quando gli ambasciatori erano stati lì un giorno o due e avevano visto così grande abbondanza d'oro, così poco stimato, non meno rimprovero di quello che era con loro in onore: e inoltre più oro nelle catene e Yves di un schiavo fuggitivo, che tutti gli ornamenti costosi di loro tre come valore: hanno cominciato ad attenuare il loro coraggio e per vergogna molto ha deposto tutta quella schiera splendida, di cui erano così fieri. E soprattutto quando avevano parlato familiarmente con gli utopisti, e avevano imparato tutte le loro mode e opinioni. Book II, Chapter VII: Of their slaves, and of their marriages FIRST PART: ‘Their women are not married before eighteen nor their men before two-and-twenty, and if any of them run into forbidden embraces before marriage they are severely punished, and the privilege of marriage is denied them unless they can obtain a special warrant from the Prince. Such disorders cast a great Le loro donne non sono sposate prima dei diciotto anni né i loro uomini prima dei ventidue, e se qualcuno di loro si imbatte in abbracci proibiti prima del matrimonio sono severamente puniti, e il privilegio del matrimonio è loro negato a meno che non possano ottenere un mandato speciale dal Principe. reproach upon the master and mistress of the family in which they happen, for it is supposed that they have failed in their duty. The reason of punishing this so severely is, because they think that if they were not strictly restrained from all vagrant appetites, very few would engage in a state in which they venture the quiet of their whole lives, by being confined to one person, and are obliged to endure all the inconveniences with which it is accompanied. SECOND PART: In choosing their wives they use a method that would appear to us very absurd and ridiculous, but it is constantly observed among them, and is accounted perfectly consistent with wisdom. Before marriage some grave matron presents the bride, naked, whether she is a virgin or a widow, to the bridegroom, and after that some grave man presents the bridegroom, naked, to the bride. We, indeed, both laughed at this, and condemned it as very indecent. But they, on the other hand, wondered at the folly of the men of all other nations, who, if they are but to buy a horse of a small value, are so cautious that they will see every part of him, and take off both his saddle and all his other tackle, that there may be no secret ulcer hid under any of them, and that yet in the choice of a wife, on which depends the happiness or unhappiness of the rest of his life, a man should venture upon trust, and only see about a handsbreadth of the face, all the rest of the body being covered, under which may lie hid what may be contagious as well as loathsome. THIRD PART: Tali disordini gettano un grande rimprovero sul padrone e amante della famiglia in cui accadono, perché si suppone che abbiano fallito nel loro dovere. Il motivo di punire questo così severamente è, perché pensano che se non fossero strettamente trattenuti da tutti gli appetiti vaganti, pochissimi si impegnerebbero in uno stato in cui si avventurano la quiete di tutta la loro vita, limitandosi a una sola persona, e sono obbligati a sopportare tutti i disagi con cui è accompagnato. SECONDA PARTE: Nella scelta delle loro mogli usano un metodo che ci sembrerebbe molto assurdo e ridicolo, ma è costantemente osservato tra di loro, ed è considerato perfettamente coerente con la saggezza. Prima del matrimonio qualche matrona grave presenta la sposa, nuda, sia essa una vergine o una vedova, allo sposo, e dopo che un uomo grave presenta lo sposo, nudo, alla sposa. Noi, infatti, entrambi abbiamo riso di questo, e lo ha condannato come molto indecente. Ma, d'altra parte, si sono meravigliati della follia degli uomini di tutte le altre nazioni, che, se non sono per comprare un cavallo di un piccolo valore, sono così cauti che vedranno ogni parte di lui, e togliere sia la sella e tutto il suo altro affrontare, che non ci possa essere un'ulcera segreta nascosta sotto nessuno di loro, e che tuttavia nella scelta di una moglie, dalla quale dipende la felicità o l'infelicità del resto della sua vita, un uomo dovrebbe avventurarsi nella fiducia, e vedere solo una manciata di volto, tutto il resto del corpo coperto, sotto il quale può mentire nascosto ciò che può essere contagioso e ripugnante. TERZA PARTE: defrauded before marriage. Not all men are not so wise to choose a woman only for her good qualities, and even wise men consider the body of a woman something very important. This passage it can be divided into three paragraphs: - The age to marry: women can marry at the age of eighteen, while men at the age of twenty-two - No sexual intercourse out of marriage: is forbidden to have premarital intercourse, and the guilty people are forbidden to marry during their whole lives. - Reasons of punishment: it is supposed that “… few people would join in married love unless they were strictly restrained from a life of promiscuity” This passage suggests what the author thinks about marriage. As we know, More opposed to king Henry VIII decision’s to divorce Catherine of Aragon. This would makes us think that he was against the affairs of the king and the many wives he has had. Analysis “Agriculture, habits and trade” In Utopia, agriculture is a necessary part of life. Everyone is working on the land, “either man or woman”; they even begin to learn when in childhood. They learn it in school and in first person; they see adults doing it and they do it themselves. Besides agriculture, each one has a specific trade, a role in the society. People who work wool or flax, carpenter’s, etc. For what concerns fashion, they all wear the same clothes, which are suitable for each season. The only exception is between genders (female and male’s clothes differs). People make their own clothes and also shares methods, learning from one another new techniques. Women works wool and flax, because they are weak, while hard work is left to men. For what concerns work, it passes from father to son. Although the Utopians value uniformity, they are also accommodating of individual aptitude and preference. People are not treated like ants in Utopia, but are free to work at the craft they prefer. These changes happen through a magistrate. Also if a person wants to learn more than one trade, he is allowed. When he has learned both, he will follow the trade which he likes best, unless there are more requests for a specific trade, meaning work. Through this passage of Utopia, More critique the present society of his time. For example, in England and Europe agricultural work was an occupation of the poor, disdained by those with any wealth or station. In Utopia, those class distinctions are broken down; working on the land is made a necessary part of life. Analysis “Of Their Traffic” - Family in Utopia In this passage Hythloday turns to how family works in Utopia. Families in Utopia are patriarchal. The oldest capable man rules the family, while wives care for their husbands, and children for their parents. Also wives leave their own families to live with their husbands, but men stay in the families they’re born into, governed by the oldest capable man. Utopian state can for all intents and purposes regulate people’s procreation: family may have less than ten members or more than sixteen (not counting their children), and no city may have more than 6,000 families in it. If a family becomes too large, the Utopian state is willing to separate beloved relatives from one another. As a literary genre Utopia is non-fiction dystopian text, which means that it is presented as if the imagination of Thomas More it really happened. By the term non-fiction we can refer to some genres and some kind of writings which are literary works because of their documentary importance and stylistic originality: - Essay, which aim is to convince the reader about something. - Diary, which should be a faithful account of what happens but it also can contain some fictional - Letter, that possibly is a more faithful genre - Biography and autobiography CONCEPT OF DYSTOPIA: the term Dystopia was coined in the late 19 th century in contraposition with Utopia and it indicates an indefinite world with a pessimistic vision of the future. The characteristics of this literature are: - One cast system which is definitive - The cancellation of individuality - The constant surveillance by state police agencies - A protagonist that doubts the society - More advanced technologies MARLOWE He was born in 1564, the same year as Shakespeare, in Canterbury. He was the son of a shoemaker. His family was a turbulent one, having had quarrels with the law and financial difficulties. He went to King’s School, Canterbury and from there to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He had also had problems in college as he would not regularly attend. As a reason to this, Marlowe claimed that he had been serving the King abroad. This was why it was claimed he was a spy. He left Cambridge in 1587 to go to London as a playwright. He was accused of atheism, of having ‘monstrous opinions’ ,as the playwright Thomas Kyd said. Marlowe did not necessarily deny the existence of God but certainly rejected the churches and orthodox beliefs. He was stabbed to death at the age of 29. (in a brawl settled up probably by the secret service since he was no longer reliable) CRISTOPHER MARLOWE’S WORK His career as a dramatist was successful, for all his plays (Tamburlaine, Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta and Edward II) were exceptionally popular. The recurrent central theme of his tragedies is the lust for power and revenge: Tamburlaine’ lusts for military power and glory Dr Faustus’ lusts for knowledge the Jew Barabas’ lusts for wealth. Marlowe’s greatness is to be found in his monolithic characters, great in their wealth and power but even in their weakness. It reflects the humanistic concern with man as an individual and with his potentialities in this world as opposed to his destiny in another world. Their qualities (ambition, knowledge) , through excess, become perversions and monstrosities. While the other plays deal with the detachment of the hero from the restraints of the society, Edward the II explores the moral conflict within an established society (how a lame and weak king is turned around by his “servants”) • Marlowe’s treatment of his characters reflects the gradual development towards psychological characterisation in drama which is brought to its highest level by Shakespeare. Other than that, another step taken from Marlowe is the poliphony of themes: in just one verse there will be references to the Bible, to contemporary history and to Latin and Greek traditions. Shakespeare owes a lot to Marlowe, some of his characters are inspired by his plays: The Jew of Malta will become the Merchant of Venice The weak Edward the II, Richard the II DOCTOR FAUSTUS • The play was written sometime between 1588 and 1592. • It is written in blank verse and in prose. Verse is used for the main story; prose is used for the comic scenes. • It is the dramatization of the medieval legend of a man who sold his soul to the devil. • Doctor Faustus is a German scholar and magician who has become dissatisfied with his studies of philosophy, medicine, law and theology. He believes he has learned everything. • Turning to black magic he manages to evoke the devil’s intermediary (Mephistopheles) and make a pact with him. He decides to sell his soul in exchange for 24 years of knowledge and pleasure. • Mephistopheles would become his servant during this period which will then end in Faustus being eternally damned as the devils come and carry him away to hell. • Despite the dark mood, the play is interspersed with comic scenes which have little or nothing to do with the main plot. Marlowe probably wrote these in order to lighten the mood for his audience. • The protagonist was inspired by the legendary magician Johann Fausten about whom a German work, the Faustbuch, had been published in 1587 and translated into English some years later. • Through Faustus Marlowe focuses on one man’s determination to push the boundaries established by religion and tradition to satisfy his own ambition. • He indeed was a overreacher and his ambition brings about his downfall as there will no salvation and no redemption. IN THE PLAY THERE ARE ELEMENTS WHICH ARE TYPICAL OF THE MIDDLE AGES • We can indeed find elements of medieval morality plays such as the presence of the good and bad angels. • The notion of forbidden knowledge which is the cause of original sin is also dealt with. • The pact with the devil which recalls popular beliefs in black magic and witchcraft. ASPECTS WHICH WERE TYPICAL OF THE RENAISSANCE DOCTOR FAUSTUS • Faustus’ thirst for knowledge results from the aspirations of the new age, the Renaissance. • Faustus has a great curiosity about the mysteries of the universe but does believe in predestination and in life after death. Act 4: Isabella was in France with Mortimer. The king who’s talking with his brother showed that he’s a weak even if he was for Gaveston’s death. Act 5, scene 1: Edward II was imprisoned and lived in a bad condition, with animals and he gave his crown to his son, who became the new king. Act 5, scene 2: The relationship between Mortimer and Isabella was real and they are the evil of the story. Edward II was killed and his son will revenge him killing Mortimer, his head will be placed inside Edward II’s coffin, and imprisoning Isabella. OTHERNESS: -Homosexuality -Women (Isabella) - Foreigners (Isabella and Gaveston are French) -Different Social status SHAKESPEARE William Shakespeare was born in Stratford Upon Avon in 1564, the same year as Marlowe. He married Anne Hathaway and they had 3 children. Then he went to London, and During his time in London, Shakespeare's first printed works were published. They were two long poems, 'Venus and Adonis' (1593) and 'The Rape of Lucrece' (1594). Then he started his career as an actor, writer and part-owner of a playing company called Lord Chamberlin’s men. Shakespeare was the company's regular dramatist, producing on average two plays a year, for almost twenty years. He remained with the company for the rest of his career, during which time it evolved into The King's Men under the patronage of King James I (from 1603) and started to play in a private theatre. (more refined, particular taste for tragi-comedies). During his time in the company Shakespeare wrote many of his most famous tragedies, SHAKESPEARE such as King Lear and Macbeth, as well as great romances, like The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Shakespeare's success in the London theatres made him considerably wealthy, and by 1597 he was able to purchase New Place, the largest house in the borough of Stratford-upon-Avon. Although his professional career was spent in London, he maintained close links with his native town. Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52. He is buried in the sanctuary of the parish church, Holy Trinity. Shakespeare theatre's properties: Referring to Shakespeare's theatre, we can talk about some innovative properties: its openness, multidimensionality, and fluidity. • Openness is about the natural position of the Theatre, that projected itself without any obstacles, except the background and the roof, on the public. This gave the actor the responsibility to capture the complete attention of the audience, and to be the source of its emotions. • Multidimensionality is about the structure of the stage and its place in space because its wideness represents not only the world that was being framed in that moment, but it also offers the possibility of multiplying the action horizontally, creating effects of simultaneity and contrast. To multiply actions the "vertical dimension" was as important as the horizontal one, because scenes could take place in three areas: under, on and over the stage simultaneously. • Fluidity is instead about the private relationship that the actor creates with the viewer during the scenes, thing that greatly influenced the development of Shakespeare's dramaturgy He wrote: - History plays that’s not only plays about the history of the nation but also about the human being, so how a man could be villain or hero. - Comedies written during the first part of his career (1588 – 1590) - Problem plays are darker plays characterised by an analyse of human interior being - Tragedies such as Othello, Hamlet - Late plays: The Tempest that is characterized by magical elements, the themes are innocence, evil, guilt and redemption. The late plays are more like the court masques that are representations characterized by dancing, acting, and performed by masked actors. Moreover some Shakespeare’s friends published a definitive text, called First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works. is works are divided into three moments: - 1588- mid 1590: comedies - 1599: some tragedies such Romeo and Juliet - 1599-1608: all the tragedies What makes him a good story teller is the way he uses the language and how each is speech perfectly suits its characters. He uses everyday speech but sometimes uses unexpected locutions and metaphors. In fact his language is exuberant, not something which pre-exists but is his creative process itself. He introduced in English language: - False friends that are equals words that have different meaning in two language (or the same language: Old English and Modern English) = awful = (ME) bad and (SH) awe- inspiring - Grammatical conversions that’s the use of a word with a different grammatical class with the function of another - Idioms that are expression which have a figurative meaning: my teeth on edge = to make someone feels annoyed. - • To be in a pickle: to be in a difficult situation (The Tempest) - • To have someone in stitches: to make someone laugh uncontrollably (Twelfth night) - To vanish into thin air: to disappear (Othello - • To wear your heart on your sleeve: to show your emotions (Othello) - invented words ‘sblood, which is a word used in Henry IV and is an euphemistic oath, a short form for God’s blood. It really cannot be defined as an invention because it was a word used in everyday life during his time, but we see it for the 1st time in a written form. Other words that were used for the first time by Shakespeare are unsex, unshout and uncurse (the prefix “un” convey a negative meaning). - Diverse hyphenations such as baby -eyes: he unified two words with a trait. Other exaples: faire-play, basilisco-like- giant-word. OTHELLO The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, often shortened to Othello, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman-Venetian War (1570 - 1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyprus, since 1489 a possession of the Venetian Republic. It is the story of the story of Othello, a Moor commander in the Venetian army fighting against the Ottoman Turks. He has recently married Desdemona, a beautiful and wealthy Venetian lady much younger than himself, against the wishes of her father. Iago, is Othello’s malevolent character, he made a plan that will be the ruin of Othello. Shakespeare took inspiration from the Italian writer Giraldi Cinthio's tale “Un Capitano Moro” (1565), a collection of one hundred tales in the style of Boccaccio's Decameron. While the Italian Othello is a man without dignity, Shakespeare’s tragic hero has magnificent qualities as a man and as a leader. Act 1, scene 1 The play begins with lago and another soldier, Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona, conspiring against Othello. Iago hates Othello for promoting a younger man named Michael Cassio above him, whom Iago considers a less capable soldier than himself, and tells Roderigo that he plans to exploit Othello for his own advantage. He also tells him that Othello and Desdemona married and advises him to tell Desdemona’s father. Act 1, scene 2 and 3 Roderigo tells her father, Brabantio, who calls the Duke to press charges against Othello, accusing him of seducing Desdemona with drugs and witchcraft. According to Brabantio's racist views, the marriage of Desdemona to a black man is a crime against nature. But Othello tells the court how he won Desdemona's heart fairly with stories of his exploits as a warrior. The case is settled, but Brabantio warns Othello that just as Desdemona deceived her father she may deceive him too. Then, by order of the Duke, Othello leaves Venice to command the Venetian armies against invading Turks on the island of Cyprus, accompanied by his new wife, his new lieutenant Cassio, his ensign Iago, and Iago's wife, Emilia, as Desdemona's attendant. Act 2, scene 1 The war against the Turks is won but there isn’t any trace of Othello. Desdemona is very worried about his lover and for this reason, Cassio is searching to calm her by shaking her hands. -Racism: Othello is often called the moor. It is even reported the fact that Othello used to be a slave who gained freedom. - Pride: Othello is proud of himself and his achievements, and especially proud of the honourable appearance he presents. - Self-knowledge: Othello's lack of self-knowledge makes him easy prey for Iago, the villain of the story. In fact, once Iago inflames Othello's jealousy and sets the darker aspects of Othello's nature in motion, there is nothing Othello can do to stop it, since he cannot even admit that he has these darker traits. Even after he has murdered his wife, and has learned that Iago set a trap for him, Othello is unable to acknowledge his flaws. He asserts he is “honourable” even in murder. This theme is related to pride, as Othello's pride blinds him to his weaknesses. - Deception is a theme related to Iago, because he deceives everyone. - Revenge is a constant theme throughout Othello’s play. It is related to Iago. He will manipulate many characters in order to obtain is revenge against Othello. - Jealousy motivates the central conflicts of Othello: Iago’s resentment of Othello, and Othello’s suspicion of Desdemona. Iago is immediately revealed as a jealous character: in the first scene, he complains that Cassio has been promoted instead of him. He also later implies that his hatred of Othello is rooted in jealousy, since there are rumours of Othello having slept with Emilia. Appropriately, Iago decides to seek revenge by using jealousy as a weapon against Othello. Iago knows, perhaps from his own experience, that jealousy is a form of psychological torture which will constantly torment Othello. Iago causes Othello to suffer as much as he does. - Justice: In Othello, characters justify their actions on the basis of deserving justice. The first character we see seeking justice is Brabantio, who is outraged that his daughter has married a man of a different race, and decides that Othello must have bewitched her. However, Brabantio’s apparent demand for justice is rooted in his racial prejudice against Othello. As Othello thought that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, he also feels entitled to seek a form of justice. Othello is not interested in seeking official forms of justice, he wants to punish his wife himself. - misogyny: Iago’ s attitude towards women is clearly disparaging. (He said that a white and blonde woman is always intelligent and could have every men she wanted while a black but intelligent woman has to married a white man to elevate her social class. This was the contemporary though about women in general. Iago saw that Cassio was searching to calm Desdemona by shaking her hands and started to plan his revenge. In the meanwhile, Othello came back and said that they won. ) (Notes about women): -were supposed to devote their life to childcare, housekeeping and being faithful wives. -chastity and virginity were required -can be described as weak -were perceived as the cause of hoax and perdition towards men. THE TEMPEST The tempest is Shakespeare’s last tragedy. It was written in 1610, during the plague in London, in this period the trade became very important in a society characterized by poverty and absence of sanitation. In fact, the centre became rich and important, instead the rural life was forgotten, because of this, some authors wanted to describe this rural reality in theirs works. It’s a tragicomedy, there are some tragic and comic elements. The Tempest is characterized by the use of Aristotle’s three unities: - The unity of time: all actions must be represented in 24 hours - The unity of place: all actions must be represented in a one place - The unity of action: the representation must have only one primary action. Shakespeare rarely used this unities but in The Tempest he did it because of the use of magic in order to add coherence to the work. The play is set in an island and lasts for 3 hours. Although it is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays, still maintains the integrity of the 5 act structure, which corresponds to divisions in the action. This work has been subjected to various interpretations: the first one considers it as an allegory of Europeans colonizing foreign lands, because of Caliban image in this play. He is victim of colonialism because he is defined as a monster and savage while Prospero and Miranda who are Europeans are described as civilized people. There is another interpretation that considers it as a fable of art, with Prospero representing Shakespeare, and Prospero's renunciation of magic symbolizes Shakespeare's farewell to the stage. Moreover the tempest it’s the most important element in this play, in fact it doesn’t represent only a natural element but there are also different kinds of tempests such as: - Tempest caused by familial conflict: Alonso and Sebastian, Prospero and Antonio - Tempest caused by disaccord: Caliban who wanted to revenge - Tempest caused by forbidden love: Ferdinand and Miranda - Tempest caused by different generations The storm is also a metaphor of the rebellion of English society because in this period individuals were defined by divinity. The play is written both in blank verse and prose. The verse are used by the noble characters and the prose by the poor ones. Caliban represents an important and interesting exception. Although he is considered a “monster,” Caliban received an education from Prospero and Miranda. So most of his speech is verse, excepting the scenes where he gets drunk with Trinculo and Stephano. Themes - Theatre: In The Tempest everything is a play: the shipwreck was a spectacle that Ariel performed. Ariel plays different masques such as a nymph, a harpy, and Ceres. - Magic: Everything revolves around magic. The play begins with Prospero's magic (the tempest), and ends with Prospero's magic (his command that Ariel send the ship safely back to Italy). Many critics see Prospero's magical powers as a metaphor for a playwright's literary techniques. Just as Prospero uses magic to create illusions, control situations, and resolve conflicts, the playwright does the same using words - Musical element: The play contains music and sound effects, in particular in the act IV in which there is a representation of a masque and also in those moments in Ariel appears. - Revenge: Prospero wants to revenge against his enemies. Prospero’s use of magic for revenge reminds us of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, but in The Tempest, towards the end, Prospero changes his mind and forgives them . - Forgiveness - Discovery/self-discovery: those who come to Prospero’s island make discoveries about each other and about themselves which change their lives. Prospero himself makes discoveries. It is a play about change, about how lives can be dramatically transformed, for example when we fall in love or a truth is suddenly revealed to our understanding. - Colonization: The Tempest explores the complex and problematic relationship between the European colonizer and the native colonized peoples through the relationship between Prospero and Caliban. Prospero views Caliban as a lesser being than himself. As such, Prospero believes that Caliban should be grateful to him for educating Caliban and lifting him out of “savagery”. In contrast, Caliban soon realizes that Prospero views him as a second-class citizen fit only to serve, so he turns bitter and violent, which only reinforces Prospero's view of him as a “savage”. Shakespeare uses Prospero and Caliban's relationship to show how the misunderstandings between the colonizer and the colonized lead to hatred and conflict, with each side thinking that the other is at fault. - a desire to find or create a utopian society. Utopia is perceived as a state of perfection- that can be physical or ideological. Physical: a perfect country Ideological: such as people’s behaviour patterns. The plot: this play is about the story of Prospero (Duke of Milan)and his daughter Miranda who live in a desert island with only two inhabitants: Ariel a magic spirit and Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax. Prospero was cheated by his brother Antonio and the King of Naples Alonso. After 12 years, thanks to Ariel, Prospero knows that the ship of Antonio, Alonso and others cheaters is near the island so he asks Ariel to make a tempest in order to bring them to the island. Representation of the act: - Act 1: act of exposition. It is the act in which there is the exposition of the problems in order that the spectators could understand the play. - Act 2: act of complication. It is the act there is the development of the conflict and sometimes the plotting of revenge. - Act 3: act of climax. It’s the most important act of the play in which there is an high level of tragedy. - Act 4: act of falling action. From this act starts the resolution of the problem. - Act 5: act of catastrophe. In this act there is the final resolution of the problem. Act 1, scene 1: The play opens with the tempest that is created by Ariel, who follows the Prospero’s orders. Cause Prospero wants to revenge from his enemies, because he wants regain his office that was usurped and taken by his brother Antonio. They are shipwrecked to the island far from Prospero’s cave. (domanda d’esame talk about the friendship in Hamlet) (non era tra I temi) FRIENDSHIP: Shakespeare uses the friendship between Hamlet and Horatio as a vehicle to tell the readers Hamlet’s true thoughts, plans and feelings. Horatio is the only true friend Hamlet has in the play. Throughout the play, Horatio demonstrates his friendship and loyalty to Hamlet. He helps Hamlet with his plans and keeps his secrets. Horatio would have reported Hamlet for his accusations against Claudius if they were not friends. Moreover, Hamlet loves Horatio deeply and trusts him personally. When Hamlet is dying, Horatio is the one who comforts him at his death. Horatio is the only person who understands for certain that Hamlet madness is an act. The reader learns Hamlet’s true character from the Horatio’s thoughts and words in the play. Act 1, scene 1: The play is about the story of Hamlet son of the dead King. A night his father’s ghost appears to two sentinels, who inform Hamlet about this fact. Act 1, scene 2: He’s upset not only for his father’s death but also be for his mother’s marriage with his uncle Claudius, who becomes the new King and his stepfather. Meanwhile Claudius is trying to stop a possibly war against Norway. Act 1, scene 3: Meanwhile Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes’ father, gives to them some advices. He tells Laertes some advices for his statement in France, and he says Ophelia to not trust Hamlet and to stay away from him. Act 1, scene 4: The next night Hamlet sees the ghost. Act 1, scene 5: In this scene the ghost tells him the truth about his father’s death, who has been poisoned by Claudius while he was sleeping. The ghost asks Hamlet for revenge. After this conversation, Hamlet talks to Horatio and the two sentinels, he tells them the truth about his father’s murder said to them to don’t tell it to nobody. He will make a plan to revenge his father, during which he pretends to be mad, in order to have the prove that his father's murderer was Claudius. Act 2, scene 1: Meanwhile Hamlet has a relationship with Ophelia, but in order for the plan to succeed, he treats her badly and pretends to be mad with her too. Than Polonius learns about Hamlet’ behaviour towards his daughter and believes that Hamlet is mad, so informs the king Claudius. Act 2, scene 2: Claudius invites two Hamlet’s friend Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to the castle in order to investigate about Hamlet’s behaviour change. Hamlet says to his friends that he’s depressed and not mad, so they tell him that some actors are going to perform to rise him up. Than Hamlet asks to the actors to perform ‘‘the murder of Gonzago’’ a similar story of a dead king, in this way he can see Claudius’ reaction. Act 3, scene 1: Meanwhile Hamlet’s two friends report to Claudius that they don’t know the reason of Hamlet’s behaviour . So Claudius decides to send him in England. Before this scene, Hamlet does a soliloquy in which he says his most famous speech ‘‘to be or not to be. This is the question’’. Act 3, scene 2: The performance begins and at a certain point, when an actor enter with the poison, Claudius becomes mad and goes away. This is the prove that Hamlet was searching for. Act 3, scene 3: Claudius alone praises God by confessing his guilt, Hamlet is listening but he decides to not kill him while he’s praying. Act 3, scene 4: Hamlet has a conversation with his mother about is behaviour. In this moment, the ghost appears to him and tells him that he should respects her mother, who isn’t able to see the ghost. Meanwhile Polonius is hiding and listening to them and unfortunately Hamlet kills him, thinking that was Claudius. Act 4, scene 1-2: Hamlet his the body of Polonius. Act 4, scene 3: Claudius knows that he couldn’t punish Hamlet because he’s loved by people. So he sends Hamlet to England and asks to the English authorities to kill Hamlet. Act 4, scene 4: Scene of Hamlet’s soliloquy in which the main theme is the procrastination. He asks himself if has to kill or not his uncle. Act 4, scene 5: Ophelia has a mental breakdown, her brother comes back and when sees her like this, decides to plots with Claudius a revenge against Hamlet. Act 4, scene 6: Hamlet sends to Horatio a letter in which he says that has been kidnapped by some pirates. Act 4, scene 7: Laertes and Claudius are talking about Hamlet and when both know that Hamlet is coming back to England, they plot their revenge. Meanwhile the queen informs them about Ophelia’s suicide. Act 5, scene 1: While Two gravediggers are burying Ophelia they start singing. Hamlet goes to Ophelia’s funeral and he understands that everybody after life will be a skull including important men such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caeser. Act 5, scene 2: Hamlet reveals that he knows Claudius’ plan. So there is the duel between Hamlet and Laertes. But Claudius has poisoned Laertes’ sword and a cup of wine for Hamlet. By the twist of fate, the queen drinks the cup of wine and dies. Before dying, Hamlet understands all the plan and kills Claudius, Laertes dies too. Then the prince Fortinbras comes in Denmark with his army in order to reconquer his lands and becomes the new king. SONNETS Shakespeare’s sonnets were first published all together in a quarto in 1609, they are 154. But sonnets 138 and 144 had previously been published in the poetry collection The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599. They have a dedication to ‘‘W.H’’, but we don’t know the identity of this man such as the dark lady. He was inspired by Surrey, so his sonnets are composed by 3 quatrains and a final couplet. The sonnets are composed in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. In his sonnets Shakespeare explores themes such as lust, passage of time, homoeroticism, misogyny, love, infidelity, and jealousy. The subjects of the sonnets are usually referred to: - The first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man, this sonnets are called ‘‘the fair youth’s sonnets’’ It’s the longer section, the main themes are love, nature, passing of the time and youth. The character is a young man who is handsome and in the first 17 sonnets the poet wants to push him to marry, to have children because the youth and the beauty will die with him. It continues with the friendship developing with the poet’s loving admiration, which at times is homoerotic in nature. - From the 78 th to 86 th sonnets we have “ the rival poet” sequence. A sort of competition for fame and patronage against his rival. His identity remains a mystery. - The second section is from 127 th to 152 th dedicated to “the dark lady”. This sequence is characterised by the opposition between the fair and the dark but we don’t know the reference of the dark, if it is the colour of the skin and hair of this woman or it is her interior aspect. In this sonnets Shakespeare explained that he shamed to be with her. Her identity is unknown. - The last two sonnets (sonnets 153 - 154) focus on the god “Cupid”. The main themes are love, art, death and time. We have a vivid and descriptive language and some cultural references. - Use of assonance such as ‘‘e’’. For example ‘‘when sessions’’ ‘‘remembrance’’. In fact, the sound ‘‘e’’ is also used to open and close the sonnet ‘‘When-End’’ - Variation of accents in the iambic pentameter verses such as in line 7: ‘‘weep afresh love’s song’’ Sonnet 73: That time of the year The main theme of this sonnet is the memory of the past and the theme of love in the final couplet. The poet wrote it when he’s near to die. In fact there are some images that recalls this atmosphere of death such as ‘‘twilight’’ ‘‘deathbed’’. Death is inevitable and it will separate him from his addressee; love, instead, is what keeps them close throughout years and time. - In the first quatrain the poet compares himself to autumn leaves, but he is unable to count them, just as he doesn’t know how close he is to death. - In the second quatrain he talks about twilight that’s a traditional metaphor of death. In this quatrain he evokes death images twice: black night and death’s second self. - In the third quatrain the poet evokes his love for the young man even if this fire is fuelled by his love for youth. - In the final couplet, he believes that he will die soon and never see the young man again, the poet’s love for youth intensifies. It’s important to say that in this sonnet there are some pauses that indicate how slowly the reader have to read because of the tension and importance of that line. For example ‘‘in me thou seest’’ the author is comparing this external reality to his internal reality so we have to put on some reflections. That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire Consumed with that which it was nourish’d by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long. In me tu puoi vedere quella stagione dell’anno In cui le foglie ingiallite, o poche o nessuna, pendono da quei rami che lottano tremando contro il freddo, cori vuoti e in rovina, là dove pur dianzi cantavano dolcemente gli uccelli. In me tu vedi il crepuscolo del giorno quando la luce, dopo il tramonto, muore in Occidente, a poco a poco la inghiottisce la negra notte, questo ‘alter ego’ della morte che immobilizza ogni cosa nel riposo. In me tu vedi l’ardore di quel fuoco che agonizza sulle ceneri della propria giovinezza come sul letto di morte su cui dovrà spirare, consunto da ciò che lo nutriva. Di ciò ben t’accorgi e n’è il tuo affetto reso più intenso, si dà farti amare intensamente colui che dovrai tra non molto lasciare. Sonnet 130: My mistress’ eyes It belongs to the Dark Lady section. It is the Shakesperean’s sonnet composed by 3 quatrains and a final couplet. The rhymes scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The poet used the blank verse. The poet is talking about the external aspect of his lover, but he makes 4it in a different way respect the other poets. He compares the body of his lover to the nature, but the nature is more beautiful than the women. - In the first quatrain there is the physical description of the dark lady, that is in opposition to the nature’s beauty. For example he said that her eyes are less shiny than the sun and that her lips are less red than the coral. Moreover there is an anaphora ‘‘if’’ in the last two lines because the poet wants to underline the unusual body of his lover. - In the second quatrain the comparison continues and the dark lady is describe as a woman who doesn’t have red/white cheeks as it’s usual in woman to have cheeks coloured as roses. He criticizes her breath that is unpleasant. The idea behind the tradition of love poetry was to raise one’s love to an unachievable level, near to a goddess status. The poetic speaker, rather than elevating her, brings her further down to earth. Here we find the hyperbole And in some perfumes is there more delight, than in the breath that from my mistress reeks, which exaggerates his beloved’s features. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare. Gli occhi della mia donna non sono come il sole; il corallo e' assai piu' rosso del rosso delle sue labbra; se la neve e' bianca, allora i suoi seni sono grigi; se i capelli sono crini, neri crini crescono sul suo capo. Ho visto rose variegate, rosse e bianche, ma tali rose non le vedo sulle sue guance; e in certi profumi c'e' maggiore delizia che nel fiato che la mia donna esala. Amo sentirla parlare, eppure so che la musica ha un suono molto piu' gradito. Ammetto di non aver mai visto camminare una dea, ma la mia donna camminando calca la terra. Eppure, per il cielo, ritengo che la mia amata sia straordinaria come ogni altra donna falsamente cantata con immagini esagerate - In the third quatrain the poet admits that he loves to listen to her voice and he also knows that the sound of music is more soothing than her voice, but still adores her voice as it is. Then he creates this sort of link between his mistress and the earth by saying ‘‘when she walks, treads on the ground’’ - In the final couplet, the poet makes a declaration of love by saying that even if she’s not perfect such as Petrarch description of woman, he couldn’t want more. So, despite her defects, the poet loves her, not because she is beautiful, but because she is his, and because she is real. It is full of irony because Shakespeare ironically comments on the adjectives used by contemporary poets. Shakespeare’s assumption in the poem is that love and beauty are not necessarily related. After all, love is love beyond the aesthetic aspect. It is true that at first glance one tends to look at the physical qualities of a person; but basically what strikes someone's heart is a person's character and soul. If Shakespeare had praised the woman’s expectation, he would have been identical to the other authors of his time. Instead, the Dark Lady embodies the aesthetics of ugliness, which can be liked despite its flaws. The writer is aware that his woman is not as beautiful as nature, but he likes her as she is. Even today, we focus more on the aesthetic side of a person. Cinema or music give us a stereotypical image of women who must be perfect. We have beauty standard that are often unreachable and could be dangerous especially for young and unsecure people. However, we have to keep in mind that beauty will disappear with the passing of time, while the world we have inside will last forever, so we should worry more about inner aspects than how we look. Getting close to perfection is impossible, and imperfections are equally a symbol of love. FRANCIS BACON (1561- 1626) During the Elizabethan and Jacobean age, the most successful prose were little books of tales about thieves. The authors wanted to warn honest folk, especially visitors of the dangers of life in the metropolis and also they wanted entertain the readers, aroused curiosity about the exciting world of low life. The finest prose writing of the period, however, was produced by someone who wasn’t born as a man of letters but as a politician, Francis Bacon, and author of texts of a philosophical and scientific character. He studied law and then became member of the Parliament but his most important role was as Lord Chancellor under James I. Than he was accused of corruption and for this reason he was imprisoned and banished from the Parliament and the court. He wrote a lot of essays characterised by a direct and essential style. His masterpiece is The New Atlantis, published posthumously in 1627. THE NEW ATLANTIS The New Atlantis is the story of the discovery of a remote island called Bensalem, an ideal state such as the utopian island of More. The representation of an ideal world isn’t a novelty in literature because there are some examples: biblical precedents such as Moses who promised a new land to his people and Plato’s republic. An important feature of this work is that Bacon focused on science and not on politics. In fact, in Bensalem the most important place is the college of sciences. The people of Bensalem are interested in studies such as chemistry, physics, medicine and astronomy because their thought is that the study could improve their lives. Bacon hoped that James I could take example from his work in order to make England great and this will happen in 1660 with the born of the Commonwealth. The New Atlantis contributed to give a scientific and intellectual programme that Bacon called ‘‘Instauratio Magna’’. The first step was the Advancement of Learning, in which he criticized various methods of education based on Aristotelian structures of knowledge. In the subsequent works, his principles came out: 1) The first thing is that study shouldn’t be just theory but in particular practise: experiment and observation 2) The second thing is that the King had to improve scientific research, but it was unsuccessful. Bacon’s language was clear of expression and flowing argument because of his scientific attitude. His works are characterized by similes and aphorisms. His style was simple in fact it was very appreciated. Some scholars thought that there was a great similarity with Shakespeare and others thought to a bizarre theory that Bacon had written Shakespeare’s works. The plot: - The narrator of the book belonged to a Spanish merchant ship that was going from Peru to China through the Pacific Ocean. - After 5 months of navigation, the narrator saw an island, a port city and in the meanwhile the inhabitants of the city saw them and they sent eight delegators in order to understand who they were. - The island’s delegator talked many languages such as Latin, Greek, Spanish and Hebrew and they gave to the narrator a scroll explaining that they could remain just for 16 days, during which time the inhabitants of the island will help them. Seeing that the scroll is stamped with an image of a cherubin and a cross, he understood that they were Christians. - 3 hours later, a reverend came and said that they could remain for 40 days by staying in the ‘‘Stranger’s House’’ - The Next day, the European leader said to his fellows to have a great behaviour. - After 3 days, the man received the visit of a priest who explained the history of Bensalem. - They asked him how Christianity reached the island, the priest explained that 20 years after Christ’s ascension, a pillar of light was seen near the coast. The boatmen tried to reach it but they couldn’t because of an invisible barrier. The only man who reached the column was the representative of the Salomon’s House, an institution that is devoted to the accumulation of knowledge and the research of the mysteries of the natural world. When the man reached the light, the column broke and left the New and Old Testament and a letter from Bartholomew the Apostle. - Then they asked him why they kept their existence a secret. The priest explained that before they were in a good relationship with Plato’s mythical Atlantis, but one day they invaded Bensalem so God destroyed them with a flood. Here, the narrator said that they were rude, savage. - After losing their friends, they choose to keep their existence a secret. The only bensalemities permitted to leave were Salamon’s house representative, who conducted missions to monitor the rest of the world’s progress. Going forward, the narrator and his crew could remain on the island indefinitely, but they couldn’t travel more than a mile half outside city’s walls - One day, the narrator saw the Feast of the Family, a ritual that honour any man with 30 livings son, daughters and grandchildren. The island’s focused on patriarch and familial orders. At the end the narrator talked with the father of Salomon’s house who talked about their scientific advancements in fields such as optics, agriculture, medicine and energy that the rest of the world didn’t know. That he told the narrator to spread their advancements in order to help other countries. JOHN MILTON (1608 – 1674) He was born in London in 1608 in a Puritan family. He had a good education and while he was studying he wrote some poems in Latin, Italian and English. He was involved in social and political events of his period, in fact he wrote numerous pamphlets against the bishops that were used to interpretate the bible in their way. Then he was also active in social themes such as the second possibility to have marriage. He’s known for ‘‘Eikonoklastes’’, published after the execution of Charles I, in which he found a justification for the rebellion against the king, and for this reason he became a champion at the Parliament. PARADISE LOST His masterpiece is consider ‘‘Paradise Lost’’ an epic poem written in blank verse, published in a first edition 1667 composed by ten books, but then followed a second edition in 1674 arranged into twelve books. Milton wrote the epic poem entirely through dictation with the help of friends, because he has gone blind and was often ill. The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and also the story of Lucifer and his angels’ rebellion against God and their subsequent fallen from heaven. There are some classical and biblical references, he took inspiration from The bible, Dante’s Divine comedy and also from Virgil. The poem follows the epic tradition of starting in medias res (in the midst of things), the background story will be recount later. The main theme of Paradise Lost are: justice, free will, knowledge and ignorance, obedience and the human condition: - Hierarchy: The layout of the universe, with Heaven above, Hell below, and Earth in the middle, presents the universe as a hierarchy based on proximity to God and his grace. This spatial hierarchy leads to a social hierarchy of angels, humans, animals, and devils. - Obedience: Milton narrates the story of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, Satan’s rebellion and Jesus’ resurrection. While Adam and Eve are the first humans to disobey God, Satan is the first of all God’s creation to disobey. However, Satan’s disobedience comes only from himself, as he continues to disobey God after his fall into Hell. Unlike him, Adam and Eve understand that their disobedience to God and they ask to be forgive. - Love: is one of the Christian God’s most important attributes, in the poem as the angels worship God and, and the Son offers himself as a sacrifice for humankind out of love for them. Also there is a proper order for love itself: love of God should come before romantic love (or self-love, in Satan’s case), so when Adam chooses to disobey God’s commandment for the sake of Eve’s love, this is as much his “original sin” as the actual eating of the forbidden fruit. Plot Milton's story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan (Lucifer) and the other, Adam and Eve. Milton’s speaker begins by stating that his subject will be Adam and Eve’s disobedience and fall from grace. The action begins with Satan and his fellow rebel angels chained to a lake of fire in Hell. Here, Beezelbub suggests that they should attempt to corrupt God’s beloved new creation, humankind. Satan agrees, and volunteers to go himself. In Heaven, God tells the angels of Satan’s intentions. Meanwhile, Satan disguises himself as a cherub to get past the Archangel Uriel, who stands guard at the sun. Satan then lands on Earth. Meanwhile, Adam and Eve are in the Garden, carefully obeying God’s supreme order not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. When they return to their bower and rest, Satan sets his trap and whispers into Eve’s ear. When Eve awakes tells Adam about a dream she had, in which an angel tempted her to eat from the forbidden tree. Worried about his creation, God sends Raphael down to Earth to teach Adam and Eve of the dangers they face with Satan. He narrates Satan’s rebellion against God and his falls from Heaven and this is the reason God created man: to replace the empty space that the fallen angels have left in heaven. The next morning, Eve insists on working separately from Adam. Satan, in the form of serpent, finds her working alone and fools her to eat a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam, clearly, is upset that Eve disobeyed God, but he cannot imagine a life without her so he eats the apple as well. They both wake up ashamed, knowing now the difference from good and evil (and, therefore, being able to choose evil). Then God condemns Eve, and all of womankind, to painful childbirths and submission to her husband; then, he condemns Adam to a life of a painful battle with nature and hard work at getting food from the ground; and lastly he condemns the serpent to always crawl on the ground always at the heel of Eve's sons. Meanwhile, Satan returns to Hell and he believes that he has beaten God. Adam and Eve, decide to turn to God and ask for forgiveness. Than he will send his son as a man to earth to sacrifice himself to save humankind from his original sin. Michael is sent by God to escort Adam and Eve out of the Garden. But before they leave, Michael puts Eve to sleep and shows Adam a vision of humankind’s future. The history of mankind (actually the history of done by the wife and children of the original protagonist. There are allegorical characters; attention to details and realistic features. He shares the same idea of Milton’s hell (represented vices and sins associated with the aristocracy). These works are characterized by a simple prose. John Locke (1632 - 1704) John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, considered the father of liberalism, modern empiricism and one of the most influential forerunners of the Enlightenment. His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy and his writings influenced Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In order to solve the most serious problems of his time, such as those of a political and religious nature that led to the English revolutions, Locke considered it necessary to analyse the intellect in order to establish which arguments it could resolve, and which could not. Both Bacon, through empirical means, and Descartes, through pure reason and the adoption of a method whose rules, if observed, could lead to absolute knowledge, found the solution. Locke is convinced that this absolute power of reason does not exist. So we must try to understand the limits of our knowledge. William Congreve -playwright Congreve (1670-1729) was the playwright who dominated the English scene in the late 17th century.  His first play was “The Old Bachelor”. He had the ability to characterize characters through language: their way of expressing themselves was also their way of being. Congreve said he had learned this way of expressing himself so full of grace and sophistication from aristocrats and gentlemen. The types are however the canonical ones of the comedy of Manners (the libertine, the rich girl etc.). “Love for Love” is considered by many to be his masterpiece. The protagonists are Valentine, a libertine full of debts and illegitimate children and Angelica, beautiful, intelligent, and rich.  “The Way of the World” by Congreve is certainly one of the most beautiful texts of the Restoration. The play tells the story of the wit Mirabell and the charming Millamant and a problem that arises how to find a way to marry Millamant with Mirabell keeping her heritage. The obstacles are represented by her aunt, son-in-law and her lover who nurtures passion for her. Legal problems are therefore opposed to the happy end of the story and the plot suggests more a story of financial intrigue rather than a love story. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THE HANOVERIAN KING After William of Orange’s death, Anne, Mary II’s sister, became the new Queen (1702-1714) during her reign there was two-party system the Whigs represented the Parliamentary party and the Tories represented the royalist and more conservative party. Dying without an heir, Anne left the throne in a delicate situation, with several close relatives, all Catholics, ready to make demands on the crown, it was clear that the new monarch must be Protestant in the interests of the peace. The next Protestant relative, was the House of Hanover and the new king was George I (1714- 1727) but the idea of a foreign ruler was deeply offensive to the nationalist spirit of the British, who nicknamed the new monarch "The king of the turnips", or simply "The German". Than he was succeeded by his son, George II (1727-1760), during his reign England took part in two wars, the Austrian War of Succession (1742-48) and the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) that helped England extend control over North America and a large part of India . THE SLAVE TRADE began in the second half of the 18th century. When the first settlement was founded in Virginia, it soon became the main area for importing slaves from Africa. Here, they were forced to work on American plantations. Meanwhile, the number of English colonies increased and England also gained control of the slave trade from Africa to the Americas, which they considered a great source of wealth. THE SOCIAL SITUATION These years were marked by an improvement in the living conditions: Hospitals were built and new taxes were introduced. The farmers after the agricultural revolution, built better houses and enjoyed a higher standard of living. During this time was approved the Enclosure Acts, (1750) through which open farmland that was previously used freely by common people, was enclosed with fences. It would belong to one or more private owners. Cause of this many people were forced to move to the cities to find work. In particular, they moved to London. THE AUGUSTAN AGE - THE NAME The term was inspired by the period, in which the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar was in power. It was an important age for the literary production of the great poets Ovid, Virgil and Horace. There are other terms used for this period: ‘Age of Reason’ and the ‘Enlightenment’. It was an European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries. It developed first in France, Britain and Germany and then spread throughout Europe. The period is marked by a general stability in government, more rights for the common man and a decline in the influence of institutions and authorities such as the Aristocracy and the Church. The movement emphasized a need for progress after centuries of accepting traditional notions based on irrationality and superstitions dating back to the Middle Ages. THE CULTURAL MOOD IN ENGLAND: REASON AND FEELING John Locke (1632-1704) was philosopher and physician, considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. His Essay Concerning Human Understanding was published in 1690, talking about the theory of knowledge starting from the rejection of every innate theory and the vision of the human mind's original condition as “tabula rasa”, that will be filled by every sensorial experience. Locke started from self-analysis, then he used the observation of specific data, passing from the examination of the ideas produced by minds to the formulation of general laws about how human thinking works. Based on his new discoveries, Locke puts forward a new linguistic theory where words are ideas where their meaning (as the link between the word and the idea that conveys) is conventional, deriving from the agreement of people who live in the same society. THE AUGUSTAN AGE - POETRY – Alexander Pope (1688-1744) together with John Dryden (1631-1700) were the most important poets of the Augustan Age. They created an harmonious and refined style, imitating classical models such as Cicero and Virgil. The lyrical genre they used were epic, the pastoral and the satire. - Alexander Pope continued the Restoration: His masterpiece is “The Rape of the Lock” (1712), a mock-heroic poem, a form of satirical writing in which common subjects are ridiculed.  Once he had acquired a secure position on the English cultural scene, he was free to launch into a “corrosive” satire of the literary world. This satire is contained in the three volumes of “The Dunciad” (1728), a poem whose “Heroes” are fools, and its target is the mediocrity of artists who enjoyed an undeserved reputation in important circles. Pope looks with optimism at the whole of humanity, while he detests “individuals”. Unlike Jonathan Swift, who detests all humanity and loves individuals. Therefore, Pope’s satire is not marked by indifference and malice. JOURNALISM - The first newspapers were a bit different from today’s ones: they dealted with politics morals, religion and trade. The Times, founded by John Walter, became a model for high- quality newspapers. It is now famous for its comments on both British and international issues, business and current affairs. During the Augustan Age there was an increase in prose writing of every genre and some factors contributed to this. A new reading public: wealthy merchants and professionals, belonged to the middle class, most of whom could read and write. They also felt a need to improve their education, for professional reasons and also to have a better understanding of the world. In addition, printing technology was more refined which meant that books and reading material could be reproduced quicker and better. -> This allowed the creation of circulating libraries, where people could borrow books, newspapers and magazines freely. During this period, London was the economic and cultural life centre, where artists and writers met in coffee-houses. There was another important literary genre: the novel, which was a long narrative prose, in which the characters were common people belonging to the middle class, cause the readers wanted to read about themselves. The language became simple. The most important novelists of the time were Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, and Sterne, they created a different type of novel . SWIFT (1667-1745) The satire of Jonathan Swift is heavily marked by bitterness and disgust He is one of the most important novelist of the period, he was involved in social issues of Ireland, in fact in the A modest proposal, he promoted the rights of people of Ireland and talked about the poverty in which Ireland had been reduced as a result of the English’s politics. His masterpiece is Gulliver’s Travels (1736) a prose satire, satirising both human nature and the “travellers' tales” literary subgenre. It is a classic of English literature. The work was divided into four books. It seems to be a play for children but it isn’t because he criticized the contemporary society, and some important values as religion, progress, science. He took inspiration from many popular books of traveller’s tales, and surely knew Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The story involves several voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon, who, because of a series of mishaps en route to recognized ports, ends up, instead, on several unknown islands living with people and animals of unusual sizes, behaviours, and philosophies, but who, after each adventure, is somehow able to return to his home in England where he recovers from these unusual experiences and then prepars to a new voyage. In Book I Gulliver is shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput, where he is a giant among beings only six inches tall. In Book II his travels took him to Brobdingnag, where the inhabitants are twelve times taller than him In Book III Gulliver first ended up in the flying island of Laputa, a country whose inhabitants were devoted to absolute speculation and are incapable of performing the simplest practical activities; then he met the learned man of another country, called Balnibarbi, whose aim was to discover things of great utility to practical life but whose time was taken up with bizarre and useless DR JOHNSON (1709-1784) Sir Johnson was so important that the period called the “Age of Sensibility” could with equal justice be referred to as the “Age of Johnson”. He worked in The Gentleman's Magazine. In 1747 his masterpiece was the "Plan" of his Dictionary of the English Language. His aim was to create a dictionary by could be fixed the English pronunciation. He gave a definition for some 40.000 words, illustrating them with quotations drawn from Sidney, Milton, Dryden, Swift and Pope. While he was working on the Dictionary, Johnson started a periodical, The Rambler. His articles expressed a moral vision of severity and rigour, in which humility and faith were the only antidote against illusions which were bound to be disappointed. Johnson dedicated himself to the "Preface" to his edition of the Works of Shakespeare (1768), in which he said that it was wrong to criticize Shakespeare for mixing comedy with tragedy, because this was what happened in "nature" and in real life. That’s why Shakespeare is considered the poet of Nature. DANIEL DEFOE (1660- 1731) He was born in a Protestant and dissenter family. He was educated to become a minster but he started a trading career and was imprisoned twice. The first time for a satirical pamphlet, the second one for some political writings. In 1719 he published his masterpiece ‘‘Robinson Crusoe’’ which is consider as the first English novel and in 1722 he published ‘‘A journal of the plague year’’. ROBINSON CRUSOE Robinson Crusoe is consider as the first English novel and it will gave birth to a new genre that’s Robinsonade (a group of people reach an island and meet some native people and wanted to recreated their initial social state in the new island). His novel had a great success because it talks about the middle class and its values such as the self-made man and capitalism. In fact, Karl Marx for his Capital he would take inspiration from Defoe. Plot: Robinson Crusoe begins with Robinson’s explanation of his origins: he’s the son of a German merchant who moved to York to marry an English woman. His father wanted him to be a merchant too but he refused because he wanted to be a sailor. Moreover Robinson has two brothers: one was killed during a battle because he was a soldier and the second one doesn’t have any relation with the family. He started travel all around the world, after a tumultuous journey where his ship is wrecked in a storm, his desire for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey, too, ends in disaster, as the ship is taken over by pirates) and Crusoe is enslaved by them. Two years later, he escapes in a boat with a boy named Xury, who he sells to a captain of a Portuguese that rescues him. The ship is en route to Brazil. With the captain's help, Crusoe procures a plantation. Years later, he joins an expedition to enslave people from Africa, but he is shipwrecked in a desert island near the Venezuelan coast 1659. Initially is shocked at finding himself shipwrecked on a desert island and also to be the only survivor. Than he gets used to living on the island Robinson never gets desperate, and finally reproduces on the island a small kingdom of which he becomes 'absolute ruler'. - After twenty-four years 2 ⃣4 of solitary life on the island, he finds traces left by cannibals that live in the region. He then saves one of them from death, calls him Friday (he knows it because he writes a diary to not be mad) and starts to teach him European behaviour. -> Friday gradually learns English and adopts English habits and the Christian religion. - In his 27th year on the island Robinson founds a colony but, after saving an English ship, he takes his chance to go back home and take Friday with him. Upon his return to civilisation, he realises his twenty-eight years 2 ⃣8 of absence, he has become rich thanks to his early investments, he then married and had three children. However, after his wife's death , he embarks again on a final journey that gives him the chance to visit his colony, which is flourishing. Themes - Religion: The book tells the story of how Robinson becomes closer to God, not through listening to sermons in a church but through spending time alone amongst nature with only a Bible to read. In the novel, Crusoe sheds light on different aspects of Christianity and his beliefs. The book can be considered a spiritual autobiography as Crusoe's views on religion change dramatically from the start of his story to the end. In the beginning, Robinson ignores it and leads a life that he later looks back on as wicked; but through the story Christianity becomes important to his life. - Individuality: At the centre of the novel is a tension between society and individuality. As the novel begins, Robinson prioritizes his sense of individuality over his family and society at large. He becomes self-sufficient and learns how to make and do things himself. At the end, Robinson realizes that his experience brings him closer to God and that living alone on the island allows for a life largely without sin (like lust or pride). - Unknown: Throughout his wandering journeys, Robinson encounters the unknown in a variety of forms. He visits unknown lands, sees strange plants and animals, and encounters foreign peoples. Robinson continually shows a prejudice against non-European peoples, whom he automatically refers to as “savages”. Over time, Robinson at least becomes fond of Friday, but his relationship with Friday is still unequal because he is his servant. Nonetheless, Defoe used Friday to criticize the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Critics describes Robinson not as a hero but as an everyman: he begins as a wanderer, aimless on a sea he does not understand, and ends as a pilgrim, crossing a final mountain to enter the promised land. The work has been variously read as an allegory for the development of civilization; as a manifesto of economic individualism; and as an expression of European colonial desires. It also shows the importance of repentance and illustrates the strength of Defoe's religious convictions. Chapter 1: the chapter started with Robinson Crusoe who explains his family situation. Chapter 9: He teaches Friday English language and Christianism. Than they also share their past histories. Crusoe tells the story of how he arrived on the island and Friday explains how he was captured by a rival tribe and brought here to be killed. - When Friday expresses a desire to visit his homeland again, Crusoe is angry , thinking Friday will revert to a wild . But Friday explains him that he wanted to come back home to teach this things to the others. They begin planning how to get to the mainland. THE JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR Written by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722, but relates the events of nearly 57 years before. It is an account of one man's experiences of the year 1665, in which the bubonic plague struck the city of London in what became known as the Great Plague of London, the last epidemic of plague in that city. Defoe was only five years old when the event took place, and the book itself was published under the initials H. F. and is probably based on the journals of Defoe's uncle, Henry Foe, who, like “H. F.”, was a saddler who lived in East London (the presumed witnesser of those years). The book is written as a journal in first person and has nonlinear structure. Defoe relied on historical records and on the bills of mortality, in order to convey an idea of authenticity to the text, in fact there are statistics, graphs, dates, which can’t be defined neither as a novel or a proper historical account, it is something in between. Defoe wasn’t the first one to write about an historical event such as Plague, or pandemic in general. Overtime, many authors dedicated themselves to such topics: for example, Boccaccio’s Decameron (written between 1350 - 1353), or the diary of Samuel Pepys (1660 - 1669). Defoe chose to write about an historical event because at the time he wanted to make money and : he knew that more significant (or meaningful) the novel was, the more chances it would appeal to the audience and the more commercial possibilities there would be. He also wanted to raise people’s consciousness and to alert and inform Londoners to the necessary precautions in the event that the plague of 1720 should spread to England from Marseilles. A Journal of the Plague Year is a book filled with emotions as fear, scepticism, or pain (that people feel), horror (for the many horrifying that they are witnessing: dead people, etc.); but also hope (that they will return to their normal lives), expectations (of finding successful cures), superstition (Defoe describes what are the general believes of people: they had no faith in medicine, but in something that wasn’t founded on scientific basis). In the book we also find themes as compassion, especially for the poor because they could not control themselves in the face of chaos; also religion, because in time of tragedy people have to lean on something like hope, so many chose to have faith in God and soon everything will end. The pandemics change people’s life completely. This is true, because we experienced it first-hand because of covid-19. It was a very difficult period, we were forced to live locked in our homes, not to be able to get out, for fear of contracting the virus and dying. We have lost relatives, parents, friends, grandparents but also the best experiences of our lives. For example, I was not able to make the journey of maturity, attend my first day of university in presence and many other things. The virus has changed us inside and out, it has also had an impact on our mind and unfortunately it is not an event that can be easily forgotten indeed we will remember it forever. This crisis prompted us to reflect on all the things we thought were normal or simple, like going out for groceries, going out for pizza with friends, and made us realize we don’t have to take anything for granted. I am not the same person I was at the beginning of Covid-19, it changed me, I feel different, now I would stay very often at home, instead before I loved to go out every day . Plot summary The story begins with H.F., an unmarried saddler (whose name is revealed by his signature at the end), relating rumours that the plague had come to Holland, and closely follows the bills of mortality (a document circulating during the Plague: a record of all the people infected or who had died; and it also showed the problems and symptoms that people had). However, in May and June the numbers of dead begin to swing upwards and H.F. starts to wonder whether or not he should leave the city. After some debate back and forth, he decides that God wants him to remain. H.F. observes that the rich are leaving the city, while the poor are being strongly affected by the distemper. He believes he made a mistake remaining in the city, and confesses his sins to God, begging for forgiveness. He spends his time shut up in his house for days on end, and when he can bear it no longer, he walks about the city. He muses on the causes of the plague and how it is spread, rejecting outlandish explanations but concluding that, while it must have some human causes, it is from God. At the end of the book, H.F. observes that while many people are truly