Page 41 - DENG402_HISTORY_OF_ENGLISH_LITERATURE

History of English Literature

Notes Primavera Productions in London are staging a reading of Gallathea, directed by Tom Littler,
consciously linking it to Shakespeare’s plays. They also claim an influence on Twelfth Night and
As You Like It.

In addition to the plays, Lyly also composed at least one “entertainment” for Queen Elizabeth; the
Entertainment at Chiswick was staged on July 28 and 29, 1602. Lyly has been suggested as the
author of several other royal entertainments of the 1590s, most notably “The Entertainment at
Mitcham” performed on September 13, 1598.

Task Write short note on “University Wits”?
Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
1. A warrant was issued for Marlower’s arrest on 18 may .................... .
(a) 1573 (b) 1583 (c) 1593 (d) 1598
2. .................... was born in Norwich and attended Cambridge university.
(a) Christopher Marlowe (b) Robert Greene
(c) Thomas Nashe (d) Thomas Lodge
3. .................... was the son of the minister William Nash-e and his wife Margaret
(a) Thomas Nashe (b) John Lyly
(c) George Peele (d) Thomas Lodge
4. .................... was born in London and baptized 25 July 1556-buried 9 November 1596.
(a) Robert Greene (b) Thomas Lodge
(c) John Lyly (d) George peele
5. .................... was an English writer, best known for his books Euphuest, The Anatomy of wit
and Euphues and his England.
(a) George Peele (b) John Lyly
(c) Thomas Nashe (d) Christopher Marlowe

5.7 The Renaissance-Contribution of Shakespeare to This Age
The renaissance movement is used to describe how Europeans moved away from the restrictive
ideas of the middle ages. The ideology that dominated the middle ages was heavily focused on the
absolute power of God and was enforced by the formidable Catholic Church.
From the Fourteenth Century onwards, people started to break away from this idea. The renaissance
movement did not necessarily reject the idea of God, but rather questioned humankind’s
relationship to God – an idea that caused an unprecedented upheaval in the accepted social hierarchy.
In fact, Shakespeare himself may have been Catholic.
This focus on humanity created a new-found freedom for artists, writers and philosophers to be
inquisitive about the world around them.

Shakespeare: the Renaissance man

Shakespeare was born towards the end of the renaissance period and was one of the first to bring
the renaissance’s core values to the theater.
Shakespeare Embraced the Renaissance in the Following Ways
Shakespeare updated the simplistic, two-dimensional writing style of pre-renaissance
drama. He focused on creating “human” characters with psychologically complexity. Ham-
let is perhaps the most famous example of this.
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