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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)

HISTORY:

  • The Tudor Years: stabile monarchy (Henry VII);
  • The establishment of the Church of England (Henry VIII);
  • The first steps into creating the British Empire (Elizabeth I).

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY:

  • The British economy is rural and self-sufficient.  Towns are populated by merchants and craftsmen
  • Colonial expansion under Elizabeth I is facilitated by building a fleet for transportation and military purposes
  • The East India Company starts doing business with Asia
  • Due to economic progress and prosperity, interest in culture and learning grows.

IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE:

  • English Renaissance follows Italian Renaissance
  • Dominant cultural ideology: Humanism

LITERATURE:

POETRY

Elizabethan sonnet, inspired by Petrarchan sonnet, was introduced by Sir Thomas Wyatt.

DRAMA

Elizabethan Drama

  • Theatre appeals to all social classes. Theatre language is less artificial than the language of poetry;
  • Dominated by the principle of order (if the natural order is disturbed, the result is chaos);
  • Acting is considered an immoral profession (women’s roles are played by men);
  • There is no scenery in the plays;
  • The message of the play is transmitted mainly through language;
  • Globe Theatre is built in 1599.

THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORK

  • Considered to be the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist;
  • England’s national poet;
  • Born in Stratford-upon-Avon;
  • Worked as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company in London.
  • Plays
    • “Richard III”
    • “The Taming of the Shrew”
    • The Two Gentlemen of Verona”
    • “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
    • “Hamlet”
    • “Macbeth”
    • “Romeo and Juliet”
  • Sonnets
    • 154 sonnets, published in 1609
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