Litearture: Chronology of Elizabethan Age
Compiled by: Niyati Pathak
INTRODUCTION:-
Historians have divided English literature into periods for convenience. The numbers, dates or the names of the periods sometimes vary. The following list follows the prevalent practice of listing: 450-1066 Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (From the invasion of the Celtic England by Germanic tribes to the conquest of England in 1066 by the Norman French)
Anglo Saxon Period- Chronology
Literature:
Poetry was written in the vernacular – Anglo Saxon – called Old English
Beowulf – the greatest of Germanic epics
Caedmon and Cynewulf wrote on religious and biblical themes
Alfred the Great translated several books of Latin prose into Old English, and also recorded the important events in England.
1066-1500 Middle English Period
About 1500 – the standard literary language took the form of “modern English”
1100-1350 – the non-Latin literature was produced in the French dialect (by the invades who were then the ruling class of England)
The important work of this period was Guillaume de Lorris’ and Jean de Meun’s Roman de la Rose
Later on, the narrative vernacular – middle English – became the literary language especially for religious writings
The secular literature became more popular in the second half of the 14th century. This was the age of Chaucer and John Gower. Remarkable works of this time were William Langland’s great religious and satirical poem Piers Plowmen, and Thomas Malory’s the famous prose romance called Morte d’ Arthur.
The 15th century poets: “Scottish Chaucerians”
King James I and Robert Henryson occupied chief position.
15th century was remarkable for popular literature addressed to the upper class. It was the age of excellent songs and of folk ballads, and was the time of the miracle and morality plays.
1500-1600 The Renaissance (Early Modern) Period
1558-1603 Elizabethan Age(it was the manhood of Renaissance)
1603-1625 Jacobean Age
1625-1649 Caroline Age
1649-1660 Commonwealth Period
1600-1785 The Neo-classical Period
1660-1700 Restoration Period
1700-1745 The Augustan Age
1745-1783 The Age Of Sensibility
1785-1830 The Romantic Period
1832-1901 The Victorian Period
1848-1860 The Pre-Raphaelites
1880-1901 Aestheticism and Decadence
1901-1910 The Edwardian Period
1910-1914 The Georgian Period
1914- The Modern Period
1945- Post Modernism
ELIZABETH AGE :-(1558-1603)
Time:-
The period of queen Elizabeth's rule (1558 to 1603) is Elizabethn age. It Is also known as SHAKESPEARERIAN Age because Shakespeare we the dominating figure of this tie,. In the period, ENGLAND ae a great development in trade marine power and nationalistic feeling.Drama witnessed highest growth of its own poetry too was not left behind. This period is a part of whole Renaissance movement. "We suddenly see ENGLAND a noble and punishment nation rousing herself, like a strong man after sleep , and shaping her invisible locks" writes W. J. LONG.
The great queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, and her reign lasting up to 1603, is golden age in the history of English literature. While the previous age was a Barren age as far as literature is concerned, the age Elizabeth is characterized by abundance of production in every Branch of literature. There was a renaissance of ancient Greek and Roman literature, mythology and culture, and this served as a source of inspiration to the countless writers of the period. There was also an awakening of the human mind to the vastness beauty and wonder of the world As a result of the discovery of America and the voyages of adventure undertaken by the Sailors of England and other countries of Europe. All of literature in the age. This period is generally regarded as the greatest in the history of our literature .It was marked by a strong national spirit, by patriotism, by religious tolerance, by intellectual progress and by unbounded enthusiasm. Such an age, of thought, feeling and vigorous action finds its best expression in the drama and wonderful development of the drama, culminating in shakes-pear, is the most significant characteristic of the Elizabeth an period .Though the age produced some excellent prose works it is essentially an age of poetry and the poetry is remarkable for its variety, its freshness, its youthful and romantic feeling. Both the poetry and the drama were permeated by Italian influence, which was dominant in English literature from Chancre to the Restoration. The literature of this age is often called the literature of Renaissance. Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist, Bacon the greatest prose-writer and essayist and Edmund Spenser is the greatest poet of the age.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I :-
★ BORN,SEPT.07,1533
GREEN WICH-LONDON, ENGLAND
CORONATION: JANUARY 15,1559
REIGN: MARCH 24,1603
★DIED:-MARCH 24,1603
RICHMOND:-LONDON, ENGLAND.
★SCIENCE: NAVIGATION
CARTOGRAPHY
EXPLORING
★COLONIZATION:FIRST ATTEMPTS
RONOKE ISLAND(1587)
★ECONOMY:NATION/INTERNATIONAL TRADE
NAVAL POWER
ROYAL EXCHANGE (1565)
TRADING COMPANY (1599)
★RELIGION:CHURCH OF ENGLAND
ACT OF SUPREMACY
RELIGIOUS
★POLITICS: ANGLO SPANISH WAR (1585-1604)
CORNFLICT WITH IRELAND (1594-1603)
★CULTURE: RENAISSANCE
THEATRE/ART
CHARACTERISTIC'S FEATURES OF THE AGE :-
Revival of Interest in Greek Literature( The New Classicism):-
The ardent revival in the study of Greek literature brought a dazzling light into many dark places of interest. The new classical influences were a great benefit. They tempered & polished the earlier rudeness of English Literature.
★Abundance of Output
The Elizabethan age was rich in literary productions of all kinds. Singing is impossible when one’s hearts undeclared & at any moment one may be laid prostrate. Not till the accession of Queen Elizabeth, did a better state of things began to be. In the Elizabethan age, pamphlets & treatises were freely written. Sometimes writers indulged in scurrilous abuses which were of personal character. But on the whole, the output of the literature was very wide, & after the lean years of the preceding epoch, the prodigal issue of the Elizabethan age is almost embarrassing.
★The New Romanticism
The romantic quest is, for the remote, the wonderful & the beautiful. All these desires were abundantly fed during the Elizabethan age, which are the first & the greatest romantic epoch (period). According to Albert, “there was a daring & resolute spirit of adventure in literary as well as the other regions, & most important of these was an un-mistakable buoyancy & freshness in the strong wind of the spirit. It was the ardent youth of English Literature & the achievement was worthy of it.”
★Translations in Elizabethan Age
The Elizabethan age witnessed translation into English of several important foreign books. Many translations were as popular as the original works. Sir Thomas North translated Plutarch’s Lives & John Florio translated Montaigne’s Essais. No less popular were the translations in poetry. E.g. Metamorphoses by Arthur Golding, Aristotle’s Orlando Furioso by Sir John Harrington, Tasso’s Terusalom Liberata by Richard Carew.
★Spirit of Independence
In spite of borrowings from abroad, the authors of this age showed a spirit of independence & creativeness. Shakespeare borrowed freely, but by the alembic of his creative imaginations, he transformed the dross into gold. Spenser introduced the ‘Spenserian Stanza’, & from his works, we got the impression of inventiveness & intrepidity. On the whole, the outlook of the writers during the age was broad & independent.
★Development of Drama
During the Elizabethan Age, drama made a swift & wonderful leap into maturity. The drama reached the splendid perfection in the hands of Shakespeare & Ben Jonson, though in the concluding part of the age, particularly in Jacobean Age, there was a decline of drama standards.
★Popularity of Poetry
Poetry enjoyed its hey-day during the Elizabethan age. The whole of the age lived in a state of poetic fervour. Songs, lyrics & sonnets were produced in plenty, & England became nest of the singing birds. In versification, there was a marked improvement. Melody & pictorialism were introduced in poetry by Spenser.
★Prose and Novel
For the first time, prose rose to the position of first rate importance. “Even the development of poetical drama between 1579 A.D. -1629 A.D., is hardly more extraordinary than the sudden expansion of English prose & its adaptation to every kind of literary requirement.” The dead weight of the Latin & English prose acquired a tradition & universal application. English Novel made its first proper appearance during this age.
★Elizabethan Prose :-
Elizabethan age was an age of Prose but the prose fiction works were not planned . They were not created but we're imitation or Translations.
The first major writer of Elizabethan Prose fiction was Lyly. His Euphues was published in 1570 and Euphues and his England in 1580. It was the first prose work .The plot is very thin and contains dialogues.and discourses. Every incidents proves to be opportunity for instruction. So his work can be called didactic.
=>The next was Sidney with his Arcadia,which was a romance in pastoral setting.Sidney indulged in fancy with sentiment 'S nd ideal scenes .The style of her book is very picturesque . It is exavagents on almost all occasions and is in fact a romance-epic written in prose.
=>The next notable figure is Robert Greene . His presentation to was quite picaresque . He was romantic and his main romances are pandosto , perimedes the Blacksmith and memohon. In his work attractive women characters are always presen. The passeges of prose are also charming.
Greene was a part of the realism tend too. He showed rogury ( શઠતા) and many forms of rascaldom.
=>Thomas Hashe stands out as a perfect literary show man who with his world can keep the audiance spell-bound.( મંત્ર મુગ્ધ ). Pierce penniless, is an appeal to devil, but in that grab it is as atirical survey of the vices that time . The unfortunate Traveller presents a thrilling record of travels and adventures . This does not necessiate an organised plot, and the material is held together by presences personality of the narrator . It moves at a very steady pace.
=>John Bunyan's THE PILGRIMS PROGRESS is an allegorical story which deals with the Christians pilgrimage from the dit of destruction to the celestial ( સ્વર્ગીય)city.
=>Thomas Delaney produced three works between 1596 and 1600. They are thomas of reading , jack of Newbury and the genetal craft. The first two follow lylys rules. The third one sticks to the fact and narrates the career of simon Eyre, who from a cobbler's apprentice becomes lord mylor.
◆GENERAL SURWAY :-
1:- THE POETIC TRANDS OF THE AGE :-
Although several kinds of verse form were attempted in this age the epic romance,the pastoral, the verse tale, the gelegd, the sonnet, the lyric, the satire,it is largely an age of the last three. Following close upon the heels of the RENAISSANCE , it availed itself of all that the Freeland Latin classics had to offer but the form of whatever it chose to write is largely it's own . This is important to hear in mind because in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the writers would be more attacked by its form than by its matter.
Ranking nest only to drama , poetry no less popular. For the first time it began to be published in anthropologies . The fashion was set by what has come to be called , after the name of its printer, tottelsmisacellancy . It was published in 1557 and contained the songs and sonnets of several authored , of whom Wyatt and Surrey are the chief . It was followed twenty years later by many other collections , of which only england helicon (1600) offered the richest fare:
Sidney,Spenser,Drayton,lodge,Greene,Peele, Shakespeare, the poems included in these collection were largely songs and sonnets . But between 1593 and 1596 collection of sonnets were published seprately by the authors themselves.
◆The sonnet of the age :-
It was introduced into England by sir thomas Wyatt and henry Howard , dari of Surrey , in the first half of the sixteenth century , but while Wyatt more or less followed the original Italian or petrarchan form, Surrey changed it to three quatrains in alternate tume and has since come to be fallowing petrarchan,all of whose sonnets celebrate his love for laura, the writers wrote THIER sonnets in similar sequences addressed to some lady, supposed or real .
Love therefore is thier subject but it is sometimes conventional., And sometimes real. Where it is the former , the writers follow certain set conversation the lady is always heartless, the lover ever pining for her sake. Where the sonnets are inspired by genuine love, 'with this key 'the poet 'unlocks his heart ' .
A few sonnets , however , were written on other subjects such as 'sweetest content ,scare chamber ,sleep' and religious matters . Though the sonnet was originally brought over Frome italy ,it was the French practitioner of the form that inspired the english writers more. Of these Ronsard and de sporters were the more largely copied. In general, the language of the sonnets is rich nd the verse musical .Thought word and metre never so happily blended together.
◆The lyrical of the age :-
Borrowed Frome continental sources Greek, Latin,Italian , French, it took roots in the english soil because it created to the people's growing interest in music. Among the people there were not only distinguished musicians but a regular class of professional singers who performed in streets , taverns , and other places. The lyric therefore soon found it's way into the drama to be similarly sung for the entertainment of the audiance. A sufficiently large number of lyrics written in this age, are of this nature. Sometimes even put in prose pamphlets.
Written and used for this purpose they are not heavy stuff:they express rather the holiday mood of the writer . Thier subjects are varied love , court life, nature, morality,dress,death the same subject may be treated differently by different poets.
They are generally impersonal,saying not what the writer thinks or feels but what is common experience . Even when the lyrics is written in the first person, it is everyman speaking and not the poet, this sometimes makes his treatment of the day than the communication of a genuinely felt experience.
In language and verification no better lyrics have since been written in english literature . As Arnold said of wordsworths nature poems , it seems as through they took writer s pen out of his hand and wrote themselves down on his behalf. They are spontaneous, they are light , they are sweet , and they are much else. While the passion for sonnet writing lasted but a few years, the lyric never went out of favor and was passed on to the next generation.
◆The satire of the age :-
The satire began in middle english poetry and Skelton gave it some form in the fifteenth century . But since it is a roman form which came to england only after the RENAISSANCE , it was in this age that age it began to be written systematically.it is not, however, characteristic of the age as the sonnet and the lyric are.
The satire thrives upon abuses,social or individual as this glorious period left little to desire, the very raw material of purpose also. When, it is modelled upon Juvenal, it is coarse and even abusive; when modelled upon Horace, it shows better taste. It's subject are: the courtier and life,the puritan, the women, the corrupt priests, the Englishman who aped French priya lian fashions. The heroic couplet was preferred to other stanza forms but it lacks the force that it was to acquire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
ELIZABETHAN DRAM:-
This was a golden period of drama . It ends in Jacobean age. The drama had fine beginning , glorious Climax an sudden end. No literary can grow and tack shape without peoples interest and encouragement. The english responded well. They saw drama's listened poetry. On the other ide the poets and Dramatists also reflected thier feelings. This prove helpful to each other .
"Whether an author found his pocket empty he knew that his best chance of filling it promptly was on the stage. Therefore all the authors wrote or tide to write for theatre. There is hardly a poet or novelist of this period to write for theatre. There is hardly a poet or novelist of this period who did not at some time turn his attention to drama.
EDWARD ALBERT
The Artistic Period of the Drama.
The artistic is the final stage in the development of the English drama. It represent human life as it is.
◆The First Comedy
The first true play in English, with a regular plot, divided into acts and scenes, is probably the comedy, “Ralph Royster Doyster.” It was written by Nicholas Udall, master of Eton, and later of Westminster school,The story is that of a conceited fop in love with a widow, who is already engaged to another man. The play is an adaptation of the Miles Gloriosus, a classic comedy by Plautus.
◆The First Tragedy
Our first tragedy, “Gorboduc,” was written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton, and was acted in 1562, only two years before the birth of Shakespeare. It is the first play to be written in blank verse,:-)The story of “Gorboduc” is taken from the early annals of Britain and recalls the story used by Shakespeare in King Lear. Gorboduc, king of Britain, divides his kingdom between his sons Ferrex and Porrex. The sons quarrel, and Porrex, the younger, slays his brother, who is the queen’s favorite. Videna, the queen, slays Porrex in revenge; the people rebel and slay Videna and Gorboduc; then the nobles kill the rebels, and in turn fall to fighting each other. The line of Brutus being extinct with the death of Gorboduc, the country falls into anarchy, with rebels, nobles, and a Scottish invader all fighting for the right of succession. The curtain falls upon a scene of bloodshed and utter confusion.
~>Christopher Marlowe:-
The first great dramatist of the time was Christopher Marlowe. Though he lived a short life, he wrote some powerful tragedies, which are counted among the great works of English stage. He showed originality both in choice of subject matter and the use of blank verse. His powerful blank verse strengthens the drama and the development of character heightens the sense of tragedy. His first tragedy Tamburlaine the Great is written in blank verse with colorful images of power and violence.
◆WORKS :-
★TAMBURLAINE -THE GREAT
★A JEW OF MALTA
★DR. FAUSTUS
★EDWARD II
Doctore Faustus :-
=>Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus is based on the well-known story of a man (Faustus) who sold his soul to the devil in order to power and riches in the life. Faustus is mad for intellectual power. He agrees to give his soul to the devil, Mephistopheles in return for twenty-four years of splendid life. During these years the devil must serve him and give him what he wants. Finally, when Faustus has to face death, he is filled with fear and the end of the play is very tragic.
~>William Shakespeare:-
William Shakespeare is taken as the finest dramatist of all times. He began his career as a play actor and then moved to play writing. He had great dramatic as well as poetic gift. His plays look like a living world of people. His characters have both individual and universal qualities.At the beginning Shakespeare wrote historical plays by improving the works of other writings.
◆HIS TRAGEDIES :- 1- HAMLET ,
2-MACBETH
3 -OTHELLO
4-KING LEAR
◆COMEDIES :-
1 -MUCH DO ABOUT NOTHING
2-MID SUMMERS NIGHT DREAM
3- AS YOU LIKE IT
4- TWELFTH NIGHT
In this plays we see universality because he presented unknown dark parts of the nature .Fate also plays it's role in his plays.
UNIVERSITY WITS:-
The term university wits was not used in thier lifetime ,but was coined by george saints bury, a 19th century journalist and author .Saints bury argues the' risingsap'. Of in two separate "branches of the national tree." The university wits is a phrase used to trace of late 18th ce.English playwrights and pamphleteers who were educated at the universities Oxford for Cambridge and who became popular secular writers. It was the earliest stage of the development of drama as a popular means of entertainment in public theaters and playhouses.
◆CHARACTERISTICS:-
Elizabethan group
Historian invent
Attending Oxford or Cambridge
Pioneer of english drama
Rival of Shakespeare
Educated RENAISSANCE writer.
◆MEMBERS OF UNIVERSITY WITS:-
1 JOHN LYLY
2 THOMAS KYD
3 GEORGE PEELE
4 ROBERT GREENE
5 CHRISTOPHER MARLOW
6. THOMAS NASH
7 THOMAS LODGE
In the 1580s, the writings of the University Wits (Marlowe, Greene, Lyly, Kyd, and Peele) defined the London theatre. Though grounded in medieval and Jacobean roots, these men produced new dramas and comedies using Marlowe's styling of blank verse. Shakespeare outdid them all; he combined the best traits of Elizabethan drama with classical sources, enriching the admixture with his imagination and wit.
★CHRISTOPHER MARLOW
Renaissance for developing black verse as avehical for dramatic development.
Johnson characterised Marlow's usage of blank verse "mighty light"
Cambridge graduate
Short career aa allah weight
★DOCTOR FAUSTUS
★A JEW OF MALTA
★TAMBURLAINE
★ROBERT GREENE
First negative critic of Shakespeare
Wrote prose romances and pamphlets
Friar bacon and friar binigay
A grats -worth of write, bought with a million of repentance (Attack on Shakespeare)
Plays
★THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF ALPHONSUS AND ENGLAND
★FRIAR BACON AND FRIAR BUNGAY
★THE HISTORY OF ORLANDO FURIOSO
★ THE SCOTTISH FOR A ROMANTIC SETTING
★THOMAS NASH
★UNFORTUNATE TRAVELLER
★THE TERRORS OF THE NIGHT
★SUMMERS LAST, WILL AND TESTAMENT
★THE ISLE OF DOGS
★THE ANATOMY OF ABSURDITY
★HAVE WITH YOU TO SAFFRON WLDEN
Political last will and Testament (written for child actores)
★THE ISLE O DEGS
(the unfortunate Traveller)
(Prose narrative)
★JOHN LYLY
Lylys greatest service to drama consists in his writing plays in prose.
Lylys sparkling dialogues gave Shakespeare an excellent modl to follow. Sought to raise the bar on sophisticated prose .The result of over elaboration was a comically elegant style open to parody
=>BEST PLAYS
★ALEXANDER AND CAMPASE
★MIDAS
★ENIMION
★SAPHO AND PHAO
●ENDIMINATIO (debates the nature of love)
●EUPHUS,OR THE ANATOMY OF WIT (Popular prose romance )
★THOMAS LODGE
Not much of a dramatist more of a collaborator
★SPANIAH TRAGEDY
★HOUSEHOLDERS PHILOSOPHY
A looking glance for london and england .
(Collaborated with robert Greene )
★ROSALYNDE (Source or Shakespeare 'S AS YOU LIKE IT)
★GEORGE PEELE
Commercial dell'Arte influenced his comedies utilized several sub plots in parady of original plot. The arraignment of paris (court drama,flattery of the queen), Old wives 'tale (room -com-pay-withi-a-play)
◆PLAYS
★THE ARAYGEMENT OF PARIS
★THE FAMOUS CHROICLE OF KING EDWARD
★THE OLD WIVES TALE
★THE LOVE OF KING DACID AND BATHSHEBA
★THOMAS KYD
Pretty obscureguy but we think we at least know about the Spanish tragedy usage of semacam devices -irony ,heroic violence, rhetorical soliloquies, etc.
★THE SPANISH TRAGEDY (most popular paly of 16th century )
★THE WITTY WAY
★THE HEROIC THEME
Great figures in fiction and history
Ornate description s
Long rhetorical speeches
★BLANCK VERSE
-Medium for heroic style
-Allowed for the implementation of strong text.
-IMAGES OF VIOLANCE AND EMOTION
-Lack of humour
->LYLY being the only exception
●THUS WE SEE THE TRANSFOMARION OF POPULAR DRAMA
★ This are some of the activities during Elizabethan era
★SPANISH ARMADA :-
● In 1588, Philip II of Spain sent this fleet to fetch his soldiers in the Netherlands and then invade England. Although it was supposed invincible, the Armada was defeated by the English navy.
●Spain (ruled by Philip ii)and England (ruled by Elizabeth I ) initially got on well. Philip ii was keen to mary Elizabeth. There was friendship between the two countries . However this friendship very quickly turned to tension and rivalry. Eventually war broke out. In July 1588, Philip ii sent a huge Armada of 130 ship's and 30,000 men. Philip had been married to Mary Tudor (Elizabeth's sister ). In 1559. He wanted all countries to be Catholic.
●Thus, the 1559 Elizabethan religious settlement angered him greatly . Spain had colonies in the new world . Some english sailors such as sir Francis Drake had been robbing spanish treasure ship's from the new world (1570-80s). Elizabeth encouraged this ! Spain was willing stir up trouble for Elizabeth whether possible . Offering money and and troop to help. Elizabeth s decision to sign the death warrant of the Catholic mary queen of Scots in 1587. Enormously angered Philip. He clearly saw this as terrible. France was a traditional enemy of both England and spain -both countries had united against france in the past.In 1562 civil war broke out in France ,meaning she was no longer a threat to either country for over 30 years. In 1572 Elizabeth secretly help the duch rebel against Philip ii she knew a rebellion in the Netherlands would keep spanish for the first time England and spanish was actually fighting fighting each other . In many 1588 a massive invasion fleet or or 'armada'sailed from the port of Lisbon. It was made up of 130 ship's fitted with 2,500guns. They carried 30,000 soldiers and sailors. This great war fleet was bound for England.
●The Armada is famous because at that time England was a small nation with a little navy and they were facing the greatest power in the world (spain).They defeated spain. It marked the beginning of England's mastery of the seas. The great history of the english navy began, as did serious English exploration and colonization . The Spanish monarch, Philip ii, was angry that queen Elizabeth had not punished sir Francis Drake and other english seadogs for plundering spanish ship's. Philip was a devout Catholic. He felt it was his duty to invade and conquer England in order to convert the country back to the church of rome. The two fleets met in the english channel . There were many more spanish ship's than the english ship's but the english ship's were smaller and easy to manoeuvre. This would turn out to be a great advantage for the english . On 6 august 1588. The spanish Armada ancoured at Calais. The english filled eight ship's with flammable material and set fire to them. They sent in fire ship's to panic the Spaniards and scatter the armadas formation . The armadas formation,the famous crescent,had proved extremely successful in previous campaign as it allowed all ship's to fire their heavy guns simultaneously. The spanish panicked and fled to the poem sea, straight into the gunfire of the waiting english. In the open sea, the Armada wasn't in formation , so the spanish ship's were easy targets fir the english artillery .
●An important reason why the english were able to defeat the armadas was that the wind blew the spanish ship's northwards. Strong winds and terrible rain forced many ship's onto rocks near Ireland . The english celebrated their victory with medal saying 'GOD BLEW AND THEY WERE SCATTERED'.
◆Work sited :-
http://thinking-literature.blogspot.in/2017/10/important-mcqs-on-elizabethan-literature.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/elizabeth/section9.rhtml
http://epicworldhistory.blogspot.in/2012/05/spanish-armada.html
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