2,2. Samenvatting door J woorden 28 augustus keer beoordeeld

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1 Samenvatting door J woorden 28 augustus ,2 17 keer beoordeeld Vak Engels The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period c Celtic tribes called Britons were the earliest inhabitants of England. Julius Caesar invaded England in 55 B.C. and turned it into a Roman Province where Romans could govern and trade. But then Roman legions were called back to defend the Roman Empire from the Goths. Roman elements that were left were big road, military settlements etc. Britons now had no defence and leader. So the Germanic tribes (the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes) invaded Britain ( ) First they raided the coasts and destroyed places of worship, then they settled and converted Christianity. Britons were drove back to mountainous districts. Anglo-saxon poetry is mostly in alliterative (2 or more words within the same line begin with the same letter) lines without rhyme. 3 kinds of poetry: - Pagan (heathen) poetry. Beowulf is one of the oldest pieces of English literature and show us the way of life of the Germanic tribes. Story s origin: Scandinavian but brought to England by the Angles and here it was made into a poem with Christian elements. The story is about a Swedish warrior who kills 2 monsters in Denmark. After he becomes king, a dragon comes to his country but he succeeds killing it (wounded himself to) - Christian (religious poetry). First came from the north of England of the poet Caedmon who wrote about the bible and sang to the glory of God. Monk Cynewulf devoted his poems to the lives of saints. - Lyric poetry. in which the poet expresses his personal feeling. The wanderer and The Seafarer. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was written by monk in order of king Alfred the Great. It is a record of historical events covering the years between King Alfred also promoted the translations of Latin works like that of Adam Bede (a Benedictine monk devoted his life to conversion of his people) At the end of the Old-English period, religion plays and important part. Four characteristics of liturgical plays: - Performed in church - Latin - Priests are actors - Biblical subjects The Middle English Period ( ) After William the Conqueror had defeated King Harold at hastings (1066), they both claimed the English throne. Pagina 1 van 7

2 Predecessor Edward the Confessor already named Duke William of Normandy as his successor. William took actions and restored peace to the country by organize the government of England on basis of the feudal system. Kings divided land in estates among Normand lords, who had to swear loyalty to the king and provide him with knights. These estates were divided in manors among knights, where farmers could work on. The king fixed an amount of tax for each country, that was divided among the manors, knights collected the money. If you would hunt or cut a tree on Kings own land you would be punished by the loss of an eye or hand. In Domesday book all land and property is recorded + rights and duties of every landowner and court. In the eye of the people their property was taken away and given to foreigners. Other historical record; King John was forced by his barons to sign the Magna Charta. This covererd feudal rights and law, such as no tax should be made without approval of the council 1349: the Black Death ; 1/3 of England s population died. - Romances. Affected by French spirit. More humour and increasing interest in love. Romance describes adventures of kings and knights, or heroes who conquer enemies to win the love of a beautiful princess etc. Romance was a rhymed poem and divide into four cycles: 1.of Charlemagne 2.of Troy 3.of King Alexander 4.of King Arthur!!! (Sir Gawain and the Green Knights) - Allegories. A story in which people, animals, things/happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning. They often take the form of a vision in a dream. Vision of Piers the Ploughman. Greatest poet Geoffrey Chaucer (Father of English poetry) most important work is the Canterbury tales this is a link and frame story, written in heroic couplets (ten syllable lines, rhyming in pairs, borrowed from the fence. It describes a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas a Becket, an archbishop who was killed in the Canterbury Cathedral. In this pilgrimage 30 people are travelling to Canterbury where the host proposes that each pilgrim shall tell two stories on the way to amuse each other and two on the way back. The story is so interesting to us because of the pilgrims representing 3 classes of medieval society: nobility (knights), clergy (priest, monk etc.) common people (carpenter, cook etc.) Only the translation of the Bible by Wycliffe. - Miracle plays, dealing with lives of saints - Mystery plays, dealing with scenes from the bible -> both cycle plays. 4 characteristics: 1. Performed in open air or on wagon 2. Latin was replaced by Middle English 3. Priests actors were replaced by members of the town guild (every guild, 1 play) 4. Subject covered human elements of the bible The Transition Period (Barren Age) To the end of the Middle ages; a lot of war but England also faced troubles internally. No successful time for literature. Gradual change from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Two wars going on in England: - Hundred Year s War. French tried to defeat the English. Joan of Arc is well know, she tried to drive out the English with an army but was captured and burned to death. Eventually the French won back their land, and the port of Pagina 2 van 7

3 Calais remained the last English stronghold. - The War of the Roses. Two parties in England, each supporting another royal house (York -> people wore a red rose/ Lancaster -> white rose), claimed the throne of England. Henry Tudor of Lancaster became king of England and Edward V from York had been murdered, the houses were united when Henry married Edwards sister. Only well known poetry is the popular or folk-ballad -> narrative song poem. - Originally sung or recited - Passed on from generation to generation without being written down - Popular ballads are anonymous - The language is simple; lines are repeated - Only main facts are given; reader can imagine the rest himself - Ballad-stanza (popular is Sir Patrick Spense) - Various subjects Only Sir Thomas Malory who collected and retold Arthurian legend in his Morte D arthur (2 main elements: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table/ Quest for the Holy Grail) is from importance, first to appear in print. Printed by William Caxton Moralities are allegorical plays which teach a moral lesson. Everyman (Main character is summoned by Death,all his friends desert him;only Good Deeds is willing to accompany him). Allegorical implies that the work contains a constant metaphor by personification. Interludes are short amusing plays in between other plays. The Renaissance Introduction After the fall of Constantinople many Greek fled to Italy. New impulse to the study of Greek and Roman classical works. In the next 2 centuries, the ideas of the Renaissance spread over Western Europe. It took longer to spread over England, because of its isolated position, but its rapid speeds was secured after the art of printing (1476) The Renaissance is the rebirth of human thinking in the field of art and culture, inspired by the classics (esp. The Greeks) Differences Middle ages and Renaissance: Middle Ages <-> Renaissance - Collectivism - Individualism - Theocentrism (god in centre of interest) - Anthropocentrism (man in centre op interest) - Memento mori (remember that you have to die) - Carpe diem (seize the day) - Literature for the sake of instruction - Literature for its own sake - Scholasticsm - Humanism (Erasmus/ Sir Thomas More) The Early Renaissance When Spain tried to attack Britain, Henry VII saw that they needed sea-power and his interest in ships and guns produced a navy that defeated Spain. Also Henry VII wanted a reformed national church within the catholic framework. The Pope would not accept his ideas and also not recognize Henry s divorce from Catharine of Aragon. Henry made himself Supreme Head of the Church of England (Anglican Church) in 1533, with Thomas More as chief Pagina 3 van 7

4 minister, but he was beheaded when he didn t look upon Henry as head of church. Daughter Mary Tudor succeeded her father, and wanted to destroy all her father s work. New form of poetry sonnet ->introduced by Sir Thomas Wyatt based on the Italian Petrarch. It s mostly about love and has 14 lines, each line being an iambic pentameter. 2 forms: - Italian sonnet, an octave (2 quatrains) and a sestet (2 tercets) - Shakespearean or English sonnet, 3 quatrains clear break 1 couplet Blank verse: unrhymed ten syllable iambic (verse foot consisting of 2 syllables, the first unaccented the second accented) lines Only important is that of Sir Thomas More with his book Utopia (description of ideal life in a non-existing country, divided into 2 parts. 1st part is a satire on the social and polical conditions in egland. 2nd part gives a description of the imaginary country Utopia where the inhabitants have established a state based on social justice) was based on Plato s Republic was originally written in Latin but later translated in English. The effect of the renewed interest in classics is very clear in drama. 3 main types: - Comedy, light and amusing play with a happy ending - Tragedies, play in which the hero s suffering and his eventual death are caused by a fault in the hero s character - Histories, theme is a historical event English dramatists began to give more attention to the form of their plays. 2 forms: - Classical play: rules are laid down by the Greek author Aristotle 1. The play must have 5 acts 2. The play must observe the rule of the unity of time (24 hours) 3. The play must observe the rule of the unity of place (one locations) 4. The play must observe the rule of the unity of action (one main plot) 5. The characters in the play should be unmixed (either comic or tragic) - Non-classical play: 1. Any number of acts 2. No unities 3. Mixed characters The Elizabethan Age (England s Golden age) England became powerful under the central government of Queen Elizabeth. - Political and religious order was finally established - The English made great discoveries and established colonies in many part of the world - Spain was defeated, beginning of England s rise as a great nation-> spirit of nationalism - Private enterprises gone great and the country achieved unknown prosperity - England changed from a rural oriented country to a city oriented nation - Queen Elizabeth I encouraged the growth of arts and sciences Pagina 4 van 7

5 Edmund Spenser Masterpiece: The faerie Queene narrative poem in six books. It stand for Queen Elizabeth; he also used other contemporaries as characters. In the Fairie Queene he praises his country and his queen and his Protestant religion. The poem is used as a guide towards noble living, also it shows the Renaissance interest in education as a possibility to raise man to a higher level. Translation New Testament by Tyndale Translation Old Testament by Coverdale 3 prose writers; Sir Philip Sydney, John Lyly, Thomas Nashe. Their work is characterized by idealized views of society, meant to umprove the manners and morals of the court circles. is the most important form of literature in Renaissanc England. Christopher Marlowe: Scholar-dramatist. The Tragical of Doctor Faustus n-classical Ben Jonson: dramatist, poet and critic. He rebelled against the romantic drama and followed the classical model. His characeters were ordinary people whose features were humorous. Volpone of the Fox William Shakespeare ( ) Life He didn t have university education, and married Ann Hathaway when we was 18. They got 3 children. In 1592 he joined a company of actors, The Lords Chamberlain s Men, and later was part-owner of the Globe Theatre. Shakespeare s play s are non-classical but do have 5 acts. Literary career - 1st period: period of apprenticeship. The comedies are much influenced by Lyly s artificiality and to show off his knowledge by French and Latin Tags. Examples: Love s Labour s Lost, Richard II, Richard III. - 2nd period: period of the great romantic comedies and historical plays. His characterization and construction has developed. Examples: Romea and Juliet, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Henry IV, Henry V. - 3rd period: Period of the great tragedies. Here he confronts us with man complete nature; his greatness and weakness. The theme of order vs. chaos reoccurs. Examples: Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello the Moor of Venice. - 4th period: period of maturity. Charaxterized by reconciliation (verzoening) and forgiveness. Examples: The Tempest, A Winter s Tale, Cymbeline. Sonnets The first sonnets centre upon a young man, the poet s friend and patron. The last deal with The Dark Lady shakespeare s mistress Next to his plays and sonnets he also wrote some narrative poems: Venus and Adonis Notes Pagina 5 van 7

6 Sources: old chronicles, legendary tales, translations from Latin works. To make it impossible for another company to copy the play, the actors had to learn their part by heart and then tore apart the plays. It is unknown is Shakespeare wrote all the plays himself; may be the actors helped. In praise of Shakespeare: - His universality; he has written tragedies, comedies, historical plays, narrative verse and sonnets - Profound insight into the psychology of man; his characters are real men and women in whose natures good or evil are blended. - His characters are so well thought about, that the very language is typical of the character. - Enormous dramatic tension The Elizabethan Playhouse Puritans Till 1576 plays had been performed in: the great halls of universities, noblemens t houses, at Queen s court and in the yards of inns. But in 1576 the first playhouse was built in London. Puritans considered those actors as Sabbath- Breakers and saw the theatres as centers of immorality. Not until the Restoration did any actress appear on the stage, because acting was seen as an improper occupation. Design Was inspired by the great halls and the 16th century inns, they were built around a yard so that the guest rooms opening on the balconies looked upon the yard. The better seats were in these galleries around the yard, and the most distinguished visitors sat on the stage itself. The common people stood in the yard, making fun of the players who played the fool. Stage properties There was no curtain to conceal the stage nor a painted scenery. On a board the audience found the necessary information. A throne meant a room in a palace. An altar indicated a church. Artificial trees meant a wood. A king in a full armour a battle field. Performances were only given in summer by daylight, announced by a flag on the roof of the playhouse. Three flourishes of a trumpet indicated the start of a performance. The Late Renaissance Political, religious and intellectual struggle in Britain. Puritans opposed King Charles -> who believed in The Divine Right of Kings Tudor idea of absolute government: Kings were responsible only to God and not to any parliament. Puritans demanded Parliamentary Government, and so a clash between the King and Parliament followed -> Civil war. The Armies of the Puritan General Oliver Cromwell- defeated the royalists and the Cavalier at the Battle of Naseby. The King was beheaded. England became a Commonwealth. The Restoration of 1660 brought King Charles II to the throne. Puritans believed that real happiness only existed in heaven-> theatres and drinking-houses were closed by the Puritans. Pagina 6 van 7

7 Rational thinking began to make its influence in literature. John Donne s poetry mixed emotion and logical reasoning. A hymn to God the Father John Milton: - 1st period: L allegro and Il Pensonro; 2 parallel poems, in which he contrasted a day spent in social pleasure with one spent in study and meditation. - 2nd period: mainly prose-pamphlets on political and religious matters, and a number of sonnets. - 3rd period: he composed his greatest poetry Paradise Lost the famous blank verse epic about the fall of Man. English translation of the Bible King James Bible still used in Anglican churches. The Restoration Period It starts in 1660 because then Charles II returned from his exile in France as a king, restoring the reign of the Stuarts over England. He introduced the French spirit of frivolity and pleasure. The theatres were reopened. In the 17th century we notice the rise of the Dutch power and the decline of the English, both wanting the command of the sea and total control of the trade-market. The English navy was destroyed during the Second Dutch war. Pagina 7 van 7