4.THE RENAISSANCE.

ELIZABETHAN AGE
(1558-1603)
The Plan:
1.The Renaissance; Definition and Historical
Background:
a)Rebirth or Revival;
b)Humanism;
c)Thomas More(1478-1535);
d) Edmund Spenser(1552-1599);
e)Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593);
2. William Shakespeare(1564-1616).
1.
 The dark Middle Ages were followed by a time
known in art and literature as the Renaissance. The
word Renaissance means rebirth or revival. It
marked a new step in the cultural development in
Europe in the 15th 17th centuries. First it started in
Italy. People got interested in the ancient culture of
Greece and Rome. They began to study the works of
the philosophers, artists and writers of the ancient
times.
The Renaissance produced great artists such as
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Helped by the
invention of printing , the Renaissance gradually
spread from the Italy to the rest of Europe.
Art masterpieces
Michelangelo Leonardo da Vinci
 The epoch of Humanism came. Humanism
was a new way of thinking , when scholars and
thinkers such as Erasmus began to challenge
the authority of the Church. That ideology was
progressive , because the main subject of
Humanism was a great interest to human
feelings, thoughts, human happiness and
human life.
The time of English Renaissance was called
Elizabethan Age in honour of Elizabeth I, the
daughter of Henry VIII. She became the Queen
of England at the age 25. Elizabethan Age is
often called the Golden Age of England,
because different arts, such as music , painting,
literature began to flourish.
 Elizabeth's court became a center
of culture for English musicians, poets,
scholars and artists. The best
representatives of the English
Renaissance are Thomas More,
Edmund Spenser and Christopher
Marlowe. But the most famous of them
is William Shakespeare.
 The ideas of Humanism were best
expressed by English humanist Thomas
More. He wrote a book in which he described
an ideal nation. The book was called
Utopia. Thomas More was against of Kings
absolute power and against the Popes
power in England. Both were the reasons
why Thomas More was
arrested and thrown into
prison , where he was
beheaded in 1535.
 The other representatives of the
Renaissance were Edmund Spenser and
Christopher Marlowe. Spenser praised
Queen Elizabeth in his great poem The
Shepherd s Calendar. This poem was
written in 12 books, one for each month of
the year. They are arranged in the form of
a discussion. The English accepted the
book as the beginning of a great literary
age.
In those times comedies and tragedies
began to appear. Drama was born. Drama
was the main literary glory of the great
Elizabethan Age .
 The name of Christopher Marlowe is
worth mentioning while speaking about
Elizabethan Drama.
His principal works are: Doctor
Faustus, where he described the power
of Knowledge, The Jew of Malta about
the loss of Power.
But the greatest representative of the
Renaissance was William Shakespeare.
 2. William Shakespeare(1564-1616).
Williams father , John Shakespeare, moved to
Stratford -on-Avon, a small English town, about
1550 and become a tradesman. He was a wool
merchant for local farmers. His wife, the writers
mother , Mary Arden, was the daughter of a rich
farmer. John Shakespeare and his wife lived in a
two - storey house in Henley Street. Simple and
ordinary -looking , this house is still one of the
most famous places in the world. For here , in a
small room on the second floor William
Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April,1564.
There were 8 children in the family : 4 girls and 4
boys. Three of them died young. William was the
third child, and was christened in Holy Trinity Church.
W. Shakespeares
birthplace

Holy Trinity Church

 The future poet attended a free grammar school in
Stratford where he studied Latin. By nature William
was a boy of remarkable powers of observation.
When Shakespeare was only 18, he married Anna
Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer from a village
not far from Stratford. Within 3 years three children
were born to them. William had to work as an
assistant at Stratford Grammar School. Soon life in
Stratford became intolerable for him, and he decided
to try his luck in London. At that time actors visited
Stratford - on-Avon. William was fond of their
profession. Being determined to become an actor W.
Shakespeare made his way to one of the biggest
playhouses in London. He was only 21 (Later he
became an actor of one of the biggest theatres in
London. It was called The Globe).


The Globe
But for the first time he found that it was much
easier to want to became an actor than to have
this wish fulfilled. Something had to be done to
earn a living. He noticed that the Londoners who
came to see the play, rode up to the theatre on
horse- back. Here was his chance! He held their
horses for them while they watched the
performance. And he did his job so well that the
riders would have nobody but him to look after
their horses.
In time the actors of the theatre found that
there was something out of the ordinary in young
Shakespeare.
 Shakespeare became famous after 1594 but not so
much as an actor as for his plays. His knowledge of the
stage and his poetical genius made his plays the most
wonderful plays ever written.
Unlike many writers who never live to enjoy their fame,
Shakespeare achieved great recognition during his
lifetime.
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays of 3 types: comedies,
tragedies and dramas. Besides, he composed 154 sonnets.
Shakespeare showed the real life and attitude between
people. Love and death , friendship and treason, devotion
and lie are the main subjects(themes) of his plays.
His sonnets like his plays , reveal the entire gamut of
human emotions.
 As the time passed, he became
rather rich, wrote less and in 1613 after
the Globe had been destroyed by fire,
Shakespeare retired to Stratford where
he died on April, 23, 1616.
He was buried in the same Holy
Trinity Church, where he was
christened.
Comedies:
- Two Gentlemen of Verona -15901591-
;
- The Comedy of Errors -1592 -
;
- Love's Labours Lost-1594-1595 -
;
- A Midsummer Night's Dream-1595 -
;
- The Merchant of Venice-1596
;
- The Merry Wives of Windsor-1597
1598-
- Much Ado About Nothing-1598
;
- As You Like It-15991600 -
;
- Twelfth Night-1601 -
;
- Measure for Measure- 1603
;
- All's Well That Ends Well-1304-1605
- ;
- Cymbeline-1610 - ;
- The Tempest-1611 ;
- Winter's Tale-1609 ;
- Pericles, Prince of Tyre-1607- .
Tragedies:
- Titus Andronicus-1592 ;
- Romeo and Juliet-1595 -
;
- Julius Caesar-1599 ;
- Hamlet- 1600-1601 ;
- Troilus and Cressida-1602 -
;
- Othello1603-1604 ;
- King Lear-1605-1606 ;
- Macbeth-1606 ;
- Anthony and Cleopatra-1606
;
- Coriolanus-1608 .
Historical Dramas:
- Henry VI, part 1-1592;
- Henry VI, part 2 - 1592;
- Henry VI, part 3- 1592;
- Richard III- 15921593;
- Richard II-1595;
- King John-1596;
- Henry IV, part 1- 15961597 ;
- Henry IV, part 2- 15971598;
- Henry V -1598-1599;
- Henry VIII -1516.
- Timon of Athens-1605 - .
 W. Shakespeare is the greatest
and most famous of English writers,
and probably the greatest playwright
who has ever lived. His plays were
staged in many theatres , translated
into many languages and they are still
popular. Millions of people admire
them.