6.Francis Bacon(early 17th)
Founder of materialism in philosophy & science.
had active political career
a scientific thinker, undertook scientific experiments
The first great book in prose in English:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle(recorded the national 1154)
the“national epic of the Anglo-Saxons”:Beowulf
3. Anglo-Norman Period
native Eng–lower class;
French–official lang’of the state, used by the nobility. } Eng officially introduced at
school and courts of law
fr. the migration of Teutonic tribes(the Angles, Saxons and Jutes) to Norman Conquest
Beowulf:the“national epic of the Anglo-Saxons”
alliteration, distinctive feature of Old Eng poetry.
Agrarian revolution–enclosure (turn pasture to breed sheep, farmers- cities)
Wool industry, trade expansion
Printing press introduced to Eng–circulated in manuscript.
A Comedy of Errors; Titus Andronicus and Henry VI.–1589-1592
Sonnets;Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece–1592-1593
move into a rich period of comedies & tragedies
The Fairie Queene
5. Renaissance prose:
Forms: religious writings, translation, prose fiction, short essays
Thomas More:early humanist in Eng Renai
Utopia
MidsummerNight’s Dream(1594); Romeo&Juliet(1595); Much Ado About Nothing(1599)
Halmet(1602); Othello(4); King Lear(5); Macbeth(6)
return to romances
The Tempest (1611,last complete play)
Henry VIII (1613, with John Fletcher)
the Lord Chamberlain’s Men/ the King’s Men; Globe Theater
4. Renaissance poetry
Early period: lyrical poetry
Two common themes: relationship ~m~w
theme: his love about a woman
Shakespeare–sth. new (affection for his young friend)
Edmund Spenser:thought to be the greatest Eng poet since Chaucer (in his day)
Latin- used in Churches and other religious institutions
Literature was strongly influenced by French culture.–Metrical romance
(romance written in metrical verses)
Golden Age: Elizabethanperiod
Appealed to all classes in society.–D was the best expression of the Eng Re.
Dramatists–“University Wits”
Christopher Marlowe:greatest dramatist before S
Authorized Version of the Bible:
Bible–the Old Testament(Jews & Christians) + the New Testament (only Christians)
King James I
the greatest of English translation
The Canterbury Tales:24 stories
Stories told by some of the thirty pilgrims
characterization: all walks of life; realistic picture;
the Dark Age(blind to truth);corrupting church life
poem:Song: To Celia
contemporaries with S
3.William Shakespeare:greatest dramatist of the Eng Renai;
the mst imp writer in the history of Eng literature.
morality plays: characters representing abstract qualities (Beauty/King)
Interlude: a short entertainment put on ~ the courses of a feast o the acts of a play. (P17)
M.r. dealt with love/knightly adventures.
Most popular theme:’the legend of King Arthur and the round table knights.
4. Preparation of Renaissance
Hundred Years’War, The Wars of the Roses–peasants’rising, social unrest–express in lit–works of social protest:Piers Plowman(William Langland)
Renai reached Eng in about the 16th.
2. Renaissance Drama
Modern Eng drama began in the Church.
Early form: miracle plays: materials from the Bible/lives of the saints
Folk literature–ballad (esp. popular in the 15thC)
Geoffrey Chaucer:Father of Eng.poetry;
Founder of Eng. lit. lang. ;
The earliest of the great modern poets and his works have the promise of the Eng. Renai. in them.
Unit2-3The Eng. Renai.
1. Intro.
Renaissance–the intellectual and literary movement over Europe fr 14thto the early 17th
essence: humanism
humanists seek intellectual independence; to ennoble and dignify man
A collection of the legends of King Arthur translated from French by Sir Thomas Malory
(written in prose)
The translation of the Bible, reputedly by John Wyclif. from Latin to Eng.
Historical bg: Centralization of power- the Tudors, supported by bourgeoisie
Religious reformation–Henry VIII.
Geographical discoveries,–widen men’s mental horizons
(Tamburlaine:establishblank verse as the standard for Eng drama)Founded the Elizabethan tragedy, and made blank verse the medium of tragedy.
Everyman; Pilgrim’s Progress
John Lyly:Euphues(prose fiction);“Euphuism”- style: florid,elaboratefigures of speech