Edmund Spenser   (1552 – 1599)

The greatest non dramatic poet of the English Renaissance, Edmund Spenser was born in London. All through his life he faced financial problems. He went to Cambridge as a sizar i.e. a poor student who receives meal in return for his work in a Puritan college. Finally, he received his BA and MA at Cambridge. He had no money and was in poor health so he tried to find an official job but did not succeed. He was introduced to Earl of Leicester, Sir Robert Dudley, the queen's favorite and in his household he came to know Sir Philip Sidney and since then he made a deep and lifelong friendship with him.

Spenser dedicated his first volume of poetry, in the form of pastoral, titled,           "The Shepheardes Calendar" to Sidney. After its publication, Spenser decided to leave Leicester's employment, for there was no sign of progress and promotion. Then he became a perpetual governmental official to Lord Deputy of Ireland. He settled in Ireland for the rest of his life. In Ireland he met a lot of people one of whom was       Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 – 1618), a poet. Raleigh listened to Spenser's poetry which seemed so real to whim and was greatly impressed.

During the time Raleigh was in Ireland, Spenser was working on his masterpiece: "The Faerie Queene". Raleigh suggested him to go to the court and read it to the queen. He completed and published 6 volumes of the book and dedicated it to Elizabeth.

"The Faerie Queen" was projected to have 12 volumes but only 6 of them were completed. It is an epic romance, a heroic poem full of adventures and marvels. It is an allegory i.e. a story which is true on different levels; each element on the surface is related to one in the deep story. Therefore, it is a complex story that can be enjoyed on different levels of interpretation. Although the book was a romance, it deals with Elizabethan life, politics, religion, etc. and in short it was the result of a growth in nationalism. In the book Spenser celebrates national and empirical England due to his patriotism and Protestantism. "The Faerie Queen" was written for the glorification and gratification of Queen Elizabeth.

Although his poetry was written to gratify the queen, she gave him a pension of 50 pounds a week which was a very small amount. Spenser needed a financial support to return to England and could not give up his job in Ireland; consequently, he remained in Ireland. Meanwhile he met Elizabeth Boyle and married her; the outcome of the marriage was four children. Spenser composed a lot of poetry for her, a collection of sonnets. At 47 he died in poverty and Earl of Essex paid for his funeral. He lies in the poets' cemetery in West Minister Abbey near Chaucer's tomb.

Spenser is called the poets' poet, for a lot of English poets imitated him after his death. He was a master of meter and rhyme and had his own form known as Spenserian Sonnets with the rhyme scheme:  a b a b   b c b c   c d c d   e e.

He was a master of versification and used archaic language and antiquated words. His tendency to use such language was because:

1. It was a kind of homage he paid to Chaucer, whom he believed to be a great poet.

2. He wanted to give his poetry a rustic effect.

The title of his sonnet sequence is "Amoretti" which means Little Love Songs and was written for the one he loved, his wife. Besides, he wrote marriage songs for her in celebration of their marriage: "Epithalamion" and "Prothalamion". Moreover, he wrote another poem titled, "Colin Clouts Come Home Again" which was a satirical eclogue in "The Shepeardes Calendar" and presented his own view of the English court during Renaissance. "The Shepeardes Calendar" consists of 12 pastoral eclogues.

Eclogue

It is a classical form practiced by Virgil, a short pastoral poem which is a dialog between shepherds. By talking about shepherds, Spenser commented an ordinary and realistic life. He talks about its simplicity, beauty and peacefulness.

Sir Walter Raleigh   (1552 – 1618)

Sir Walter Raleigh was a soldier, courtier, poet, philosopher, explorer and colonizer; a student of science and a historian. He is popularly known as the founder of Virginia and the introducer of tobacco in Europe. He attended Oxford, became a soldier and worked in France and Ireland. He was the queen's favorite and was made rich by her. Raleigh was an influential figure. After the queen's death, King James I accused him of treason and imprisoned him for 13 years in the Tower of London and eventually beheaded him.

He wrote a long poem of which one or two stanzas survived: "Cynthia" which was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. During his imprisonment, Raleigh worked on a scientific and historical book titled "History of the World" which is an unfinished narrative / descriptive prose.

Elizabethan Drama

Toward the end of The Middle Ages a new kind of drama appeared: Interlude. It was a short play coming in the middle of a longer one as a humorous entertainment. Gradually, interlude became a separate entity. With its growth the subject matter grew unreligious with the purpose of entertainment and semi-professional actors. At the beginning, they had no certain place of performance. There were numerous performers traveling to different cities, wearing masks and performing on tours; at first there was no actress playing roles. But a group of men with no proper home gradually started to grow a kind of immoral reputation. People thought they had no values and considered them as men with no morality attached to them.

During Renaissance, interlude went into a new era. Renaissance was the age of new learning with more educated people. Since the educated audience were not satisfied with this kind of simple play, the subject matter of the interludes were improved. The source of New Learning in Renaissance was classical literature. Educated people started to know the ancient Roman dramatists and perceived drama as an art. Roman literature was actually a copy of that of Greece. Following these changes, English scholars became familiar with the ancient Greek dramas indirectly; tragedies, comedies or history plays in 5 acts.

50 0r 60 years later, a kind of drama appeared in England, flourishing into the highest degree of perfection and interludes grew more sophisticated. At first, there were no writers but little by little university educated started writing plays. Interludes were performed in the castles of the lords during festivals and parties to entertain the nobles; accordingly, they became more refined. University students started writing and acting plays for their own entertainment. Drama was appreciated and played at schools, too. The first dramatists were not significant; among them only one or two were popular and famous. All these events led to the beginning of a new era in the history of drama.

The plays were performed in special areas, the first of which was built in England called The Theater in 1576. It was a public place for watching the performances. But still the actors did not have a positive reputation and were categorized with thieves, criminals, etc. Accordingly, each group of actors attached themselves to a powerful man and called themselves his servants and wore the costume of his family.

During the Elizabethan period, two important groups came into existence:

1. The Lord Chamberlain's Men   (Shakespeare's actors)

2. The Admiral's Men

When King James I came to throne, the first group became his men and they were called King's men. The only thing the actors received was the name and attachment. Actors of those days were composed of:

1. A company of shareholders or the major actors like those of Shakespeare's

2. Hired men including the minor characters, musicians, gatherers, etc. who were paid

    for their jobs.

3. Apprentices; young boys of ten or twelve years of age acting women's parts.

The Theater was considered wild so it was built outside London.

In 1599 another kind of theater was built; The Globe. It was built in an oval shape and included the following sections:

1. Pit; an unroofed seat for the poor.

2. Platform

3. Alcove; a room at the back, divided from the whole scene by a curtain. For a               

    tragedy a black curtain and for a comedy a blue one was used.

4. A hole; used for either a grave in tragedies or as a passage to hell.

5. Roofed Seats; in three stories, for noblemen. The yard was surrounded by this  

    structure.

6. Entrance; a place for the gatherers.

7. Rooms, for the musicians.

8. Tiring Room

9. Backstage, for actors, waiting for their roles.

10. The Flag

Before a play started, someone introduced the play to the audience.

In Europe, drama was revived by the church, but gradually it grew wild and since the emergence of the Interludes it grew unreligious and actually, the born of the church turned into a rebel. In some plays especially Shakespeare's, the subject matter was bawdy. Consequently, a deep gap appeared between the church and drama and Puritans abandoned theater.

Christopher Marlowe   (1564 – 1595)

Christopher Marlowe was born two months before Shakespeare. He was the son of a shoemaker. He is called the father of the English dramatic poetry. Marlowe received a scholarship which was ordinarily awarded to the students preparing for ministry i.e. priesthood; he held the scholarship but did not become a priest. Instead, he began to write plays and received his MA. Marlowe was of a violent nature, having reputation for atheism and eventually, his wild nature led to his early death. When he was in an inn with his friends, they started to quarrel over the check and one of his friends stabbed him and killed him. At the university Marlowe started writing plays. His first play was a great one regarded as the first real Elizabethan play.                                                                                            

1. "Tamburlain"

This is the story of a shepherd who after becoming a king attacked and defeated almost all eastern powers violently; the story of ambition and thirst for power. This was actually the first time that the English drama had a great subject matter.

2. "Dr. Faustus"

Marlowe's masterpiece, is the story of a great man of learning and science; a scholar.

The story is based upon an old belief in Christianity according to which there are 2 kinds of knowledge:

A. Lawful Knowledge or Knowledge of Science

B. Forbidden Knowledge i.e. Curiositas

Dr. Faustus, tired of the first kind of knowledge, longs for the second kind. Magic was regarded forbidden and that was why people accused of being magicians were burned. But Faustus wants Curiositas. He desires a new type of life; therefore, he makes a deal with the devil to sell his soul to him for 24 years of his life and to earn whatever he desires in return. From that time on he is attended by the devil and at the end he is destructed by his ambition for knowledge.

Marlow's next play is titled:

3. "The Jew of Malta"

This is the story of a Jew, Barabas, whose ambition is for money for which he is ready to destroy anyone even his own daughter. Finally, he is destroyed.

Marlow also wrote a chronicle i.e. history play: "Edward III" which inspired other writers, especially Shakespeare to write chronicles as "Richard II".

Marlow's mythological erotic was titled: "Hero and Leander", the story of two lovers which is unfinished and might have inspired Shakespeare's mythological erotics.

Marlow's Contribution to Literature

Marlow's fame, being the father of drama in England is because:

1. He introduced new subject matter and elevated it and made it heroic.                      

2. The second contribution was his characterization. He started a realistic                      characterization. His characters are not puppets but real human beings with desire,        passion, etc.

3. Elizabethan drama was poetic in blank verse, a classical form of verse in iambic                pentameter with no rhyme. Marlow changed and reformed Elizabethan drama and made it more flexible. He took it from Latin but made it appropriate for English language and drama. His new verse became a model for Shakespeare and other dramatists.

The English took comedies and tragedies from Latin dramatists. A tragedy is usually full of bloodshed. The hero is a man of high rank; a prince like Hamlet, a king like King Lear, a great man of rank and office like Othello, but suddenly he has to face a catastrophe and loses his life and happiness.

There was a belief in classical times according to which there was a goddess, Goddess of Fortune who had a wheel, The Wheel of Fortune. The noble hero is first placed on the top of the wheel, but the wanton goddess turns the wheel and he falls down. This is why no mortal creature is able to avoid the turning of the wheel; reminding us of not being attached to the present state of affairs.

William Shakespeare   (1564 – 1616)

Shakespeare was a genius whose works are symbols of English culture. He was pre-eminent in English art; and English literature has never enjoyed such a status. Although all his plays come from a source; that is the plot of his plays existed before him, in his works he proved to be quite outstanding. The reasons of his pre-eminence are:

1. Any of his works is a combination of the qualities that are scattered in the works of other writers.

2. He has a vast store of words. Regarding this, some scholars have compared him to Milton. Milton's vocabulary is estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 words while that of Shakespeare is about 50,000. Besides, Shakespeare is the father of metaphorical language i.e. symbol, metaphor, imagery, irony and so on.

3. Over 35 plays are attributed to Shakespeare in which he dealt with whatever subject one might imagine. He gives a universal impact to his subject matter; he deals with human being and his nature. Because of his profound awareness of human nature, his characters are characterized vividly and subtly. His characters are lifelike and believable. Shakespeare has a gallery of characters, yet they are quite different from one another.

Shakespeare was not highly educated. He lived in a small town and had just attended a grammar school. Some scholars believe that he was a genius; others declare that he had nothing internal but was a great observer of people and the world. He knew his audience and their demands very well and came up to their expectations although there were two different groups of them: 1. a majority of ordinary and mostly illiterate people who sought entertainment and 2. aristocrats and literate people , even poets. He was actually both a genius and a great observer of the world.

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in April, 1564 in a family with a Catholic background. He was the third child of eight children and the eldest son. His father was a prominent citizen and a well-to-do trade man; and his mother was from a Catholic family. Shakespeare attended Stratford grammar school, where he acquired a respectable knowledge of Latin, but he did not proceed to Oxford or Cambridge.

There are legends about Shakespeare's youth but no documental facts. The first record left of his life was that of his marriage at the age of 18 with Anne Hathaway who was 8 years older than him. After 5 months, a daughter was born and was named Susanna. Two years later a twin, a boy and a girl were born; Hamnet and Judith. At the age of 23 Shakespeare was in London, working as an actor and a playwright.

In 1592 a plague broke out in the country and led to the closing of the theaters for 2 years. During these years, Shakespeare wrote two lyric poems in form of mythological erotic, the first and the second of which were respectively titled  "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of the Lucrece". These two poems were written after the fashion of Marlowe's mythological erotic and were dedicated           to Earl of Southampton who was his patron and is said to have helped him financially during the pervasion of the plague.

After the plague, the acting groups of London started to sort into 2 major groups and Shakespeare belonged to Lord Chamberlain's Men. In 1603 by the time              King James I took over the country, Lord Chamberlain's Men were promoted to the king's servants; i.e. King James' Men.

During this period Marlow was already dead and Shakespeare had no rivals; as a result, these years were a period of his success and popularity. About 1610, Shakespeare apparently retired himself and returned to Stratford where he bought a large house and lived peacefully with his family till the end of his life. His works are listed as following:

Nondramatic Works

1. "Venus and Adonis"

2. "The Rape of the Lucrece"

3.  Sonnets

4. "The Turtle and the Phoenix"

Shakespeare's sonnets surpassed all his proceedings. 154 sonnets are attributed to him. Unlike Sidney and Spenser, Shakespeare's sonnets are not autobiographical; i.e. there is no certain real person to whom these sonnets can be devoted. They are completely imaginary. Shakespeare's sonnets are divided into 3 groups; the first is addressed to a young handsome, aristocrat man, the second, to a dark lady and the third, to a fellow poet. All these figures are admirable but not trustworthy. The language of the sonnets is simple but metaphorically complex.

Shakespeare's dramatic works are as follows:

Early Comedies and Tragedies

1. "The Comedy of Errors"

2. "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"

3. "Love's Labour's Lost"

4. "Titus Andronicus"

Early Chronicle Plays

1. "Henry VI"

2. "Richard III"

Great Chronicle Plays

1. "King John"

2. "King Richard II"

3. "King Henry IV"

4. "King Henry V"

Fantasy and Serious Comedy

1. "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

2. "The Merchant of Venice"

Romantic and Historical Tragedy

1. "Romeo and Juliet"

2. "Julius Caesar"

Farce Comedy

1. "The Taming of the Shrew"

2. "The Merry Wives of Windsor"

Great Comedies

1. "Much Ado about Nothing"

2. "As You Like It"

3. "Twelfth Night"

Problem Comedies

1."All's Well That Ends Well"

2."Measure for Measure"

3."Troilus and Cressida"

Great Tragedies

1."Hamlet, Prince of Denmark"

2. "Othello, the Moor of Venice"

3. "Macbeth"

4. "King Lear"

Late Romances

1."Pericles, Prince of Tyre"

2. "Cymbeline, King of Britain"

3."The Winter's Tale"

4. "The Tempest

Late Tragedies

1. "Anthony and Cleopatra"

2. "Timon of Athens"

3. "Coriolanus"

"Henry VIII" and "The Two Noble Kinsmen" were written in collaboration i.e. other writers helped him with writing them.

The 17^th Century

The Armada year (1588) was a crucial time for England during which the country was pervaded by a sense of nationalism. Before the Armada, people had to be united due to the menace of the foreign enemies. England was a weak country in comparison with Spain and France, but the Armada grew England into a superpower.

After 1588 certain internal conflicts appeared which included a great deal of disagreements between Elizabeth and her parliament due to the

following reasons:

1. The members of the parliament were mostly Puritans and demanded that the churches of England had to become purified.

2. There were disagreements concerning the foreign policy.

3. The parliament demanded certain rights especially immunity right.

After Elizabeth's death, her Scottish cousin James I, the first Stuart king, came to the throne; (at that time Scotland was still an uncivilized country). Despite his Presbyterian tendencies, James I supported the Anglican Church. (Presbyterians believed in the ecclesiastical government by a presbyter i.e. an elder in a protestant church; hence, they had no belief in hierarchy). At the beginning of his reign, Puritans were content and expected the purification of the church; but little by little they fell into disillusionment; therefore, the problems and disagreements became intensified.

Charles I, a man of weak character and instable personality, came to the throne after his father's death as the second Stuart King. The new king further intensified the problems between the parliament and the court and during the first 4 years of his reign. He called for 3 parliaments, dismissing one after another. Eventually, he dismissed the third parliament and ruled the country with no parliament for 11 years; but since he was of a weak ruler, two ministers ruled over the country especially during these 11 years.

Different taxes and money were taken from people by force and the non conformists, those opposing the Anglican Church, were oppressed and were put under a great deal of pressure. Due to his tactlessness and foolishness, Charles I developed the problems with Scotland and Scots decided to attack England. Consequently, he felt the need for a support from the nation and thus decided to summon a parliament. But, instead of supporting the king, the members of the parliament asked for a trial and the execution of the 2 ministers, in addition to a reformation in the Anglican Church. The king, as a result, raged and attacked the parliament with armed forces but failed to arrest the leaders; for they had already been informed and had escaped. This was the starting point of a civil war between the king and the parliament. Those who were on the side of the parliament were Puritan clergies, businessmen and laymen and those under Puritan propaganda. The supporters of the king were composed of courtiers, high clergies, land owners and those close to the royal family.

The war lasted for 4 years. At the beginning, the king's forces were more powerful and trained; but gradually, the forces of the parliament became trained as well; some of them were pious Puritans and considered the war as a religious duty upon them; but the majority of people remained indifferent.

After 2 years, the parliament forces defeated the king and rearrested him after his escape; brought him to trial and executed him. Despite his weakness, Charles I died heroically. His death appalled many people, for the killing of the king was regarded a sin. Following these events, England had a government of the parliament

Oliver Cromwell

He was the leader of the parliament forces and a pious Puritan and the one who beheaded Charles I. He dismissed the parliament and ruled over the country for several years with his government named Common Wealth. Although he was not popular, he ruled successfully by using military forces. Cromwell was religiously strict but never persecuted people for their religious beliefs. As long as he lived, he ruled ably and achieved success in foreign trade.

After Cromwell's death, England came to a state of chaos. He had no systematic government to replace the king; thus, people were happy to have another king who would bring peace and order. The son of Charles I crowned himself as Charles II in Scotland and attacked England. He was defeated, as a result, he went to French court, accompanied by all the royalties; and settled there for 9 years. Finally, in 1660 he was recalled from exile and came to the throne. 1660 is thus the significant date of the Restoration of the Stuart Reign.

Sir Francis Bacon   (1561 – 1626)

Bacon was an essayist, born to an aristocratic family. His father was a lord keeper and his mother a learned woman; deeply religious with a strong character. Bacon studied at Cambridge for two years, but left it for studying law in London. At the age of 23 he was allowed to practice law and after 2 years he became a member of the parliament.

Bacon had good connections; his father was a lord keeper and Lord Burgley was one of his kinsmen and he himself became a close friend of Earl of Essex who was the queen's favorite and was given privileges. However, his connections would not do for him and he could not achieve high positions. He had a thirst for status and was ready to sacrifice everything and everybody to gain one. Once he aroused his friend, Earl of Essex to make the queen invade Ireland and they were defeated; consequently, Earl of Essex was tried for treason and was beheaded.

During Jacobean period i.e. James I's reign, Bacon flattered the king in order to achieve a position and eventually he was knighted by the king and became Lord Chancellor. But his joy was quite short, for King James I and the parliament came to disagreements and the parliament accused Bacon of receiving bribes. He was tried and confessed guilty; admitting that the bribes never affected his judgments. He was fined 40,000 pounds, was deprived of his governmental status and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Tower of London; but the next day King James I exempted him from all his punishments and released and retired him due to his disagreement with the parliament and the fact that he was his close friend.

During the last years of his life, Bacon worked on literature and science. He was an essayist, influenced by Montaigne, a French essayist whose style was plain. Bacon wrote about practical matters. His first contribution was his introducing                 The Inductive Method of Reasoning. In The Deductive Method which was an old Aristotelian one, reasoning is from general principles to a particular case. For instance: "All men die" is a major premise or hypothesis and "He is a man" is a minor premise; therefore, the conclusion out of these two premises is "He dies."

The Inductive Method is a scientific method of logical reasoning that obtains or discovers general laws from particular facts or examples. Bacon advocated experiments. He had a book in which he discusses the inductive method of logic titled, "Novum Organum" i.e. The New Instrument of Knowledge. Bacon had a number of essays all published under the title of "Essays" concerning the rules which governs every day life, especially the practical ones. In "An Advancement in Learning" Bacon attempts at classifying all fields of knowledge. He discusses a systematic categorization of all sorts of knowledge. He also had a history book titled, "History of Henry VII". Bacon's "New Atlantis" resembles Sir Thomas More's "Utopia" in which Bacon talks about his ideals; a perfect society where knowledge and intellect rule.