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(1) From Anglo-Saxon to Renaissance: an Overview of English History and Literature.
Contexts for Medieval and Renaissance literature
A concise list of important dates:
 800-100 BC: Celts
 Romans: 55-54 BC: Caesar’s campaign; 43 AD: Roman conquest begins > province of
the Roman Empire; 410: end of Roman rule
 449: Anglo-Saxon invasion begins
 the end of the 8th century: Viking raids; 1016: Cnut: the first King of all England
 1066: Battle of Hastings, Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror; the beginning of
a new period
 1215: Magna Carta
 1295: First Complete Parliament
 1337-1453: The Hundred Years’ War
 1455-1485: Wars of the Roses
 1485: accession of Henry VII – Tudor Dynasty
 1558-1603: Elizabeth I – the Golden Age of England
 1603: James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England – the Stuarts
Overview of literary periods:
5th century–1066: Anglo-Saxon or Old English period. The beginnings of literacy in Latin
and in English; it is an oral tradition which is written down by servants of the Church
1066: beginning of Middle English period. The proper medieval tradition; 14th century: a
revival of interest in English > Middle English Literature
16th century: English Renaissance, belated but of great significance
Contexts for Medieval and Renaissance Literature
Middle Ages: 18th century term, often derogatory, implying transition between two great
periods – Classical and Modern. BUT: Christian Europe, gradual change, great achievements
(e.g. architecture) in spite of the generally held view of a ‘dark’ period
Renaissance: the beginning of the Modern or the culmination of the Middle Ages? The
present-day usage of the word dates only from the 19th century. Not so much opposition but
rather development and continuity with shifts in emphasis
(2) Anglo-Saxon Literature – Pagan and/or Christian
ca. 449-1066: Anglo-Saxon Period /Old English/. Invasion of Britain by related tribes of
Germanic people – Angles, Saxons, Jutes; pagan and illiterate people, oral culture.
Christianity from the 7th century on > literacy in Latin and in English only after this but
mainly for the clergy
Anglo-Saxon Literature: from about the 8th century onwards; perhaps the richest literary
heritage of early medieval Europe. Types: heroic and religious poetry; prose
Anglo-Saxon literature reflects a predominantly harsh world. Main themes: feasting in the
mead hall – thinking of wars, of possible triumph and of more possible failure; the motif of
romantic love is totally missing; praising the glory of God and His champions, lamenting the
pain and sorrow of this world
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Style: special vocabulary – synonyms, repetitions; alliterative verse (lines of four stresses and
varying number of unstressed syllables, divided into two half-lines of two stresses by a
marked caesura, linked by alliteration of stressed words.)
/
x
x
/ (x) || /
x
x
/
‘Bid man of battle build me a tomb
/
x x
/
|| x
x
/
x
x
x
/
fair after fire, on the foreland by the sea
Heroic poetry: this has the closest connection with the Germanic origin of the invaders.
Subject matter is drawn from earlier times, often from the common stock of Germanic heroes.
The Germanic heroic society shows resemblances to the Hellenic world of Homer – nations
are seen as groups of people related by kinship, the tribe is ruled by a chieftain called king,
the king leads his men in battle, rewarding them afterwards, in return the retainers fight for
him to the death, if the lord is slain, avenging him or dying in the attempt; blood vengeance,
everlasting shame for those neglecting it. This society was already distant from Christian
Anglo-Saxon England and difficult to reconcile with Christianity. Nevertheless, Christian
poets were fascinated with their pagan ancestors → accommodation – preserving aspects not
opposing the Christian ideal, omitting conflicting elements, inserting Christian items. The
most important poem: Beowulf (a/the Germanic epic).
Religious poetry: by the 8th century techniques of AS heroic poetry were applied to purely
Christian themes, consequently much of it is cast in the heroic mood – Anglo-Saxons adapting
themselves to the ideals of Christianity and adapting Christianity to their own heroic ideal.
(e.g. Christ as a ‘young hero’/The Dream of the Rood/, God as ‘mankind’s Guardian’
/Caedmon’s Hymn/, St Helena as ‘battle-queen’/Elene/.)
Anglo-Saxon prose: Latin and English works; King Alfred: the ‘father of English prose’
(3) Middle English Literature
1066: Norman Conquest. Profound changes – the development of feudalism quickened, the
Anglo-Saxon nobility was replaced by a French-speaking Norman aristocracy. Three
languages were used in England: Latin – in the Church, French as the language of the ruling
class, English as the language of the lower classes – it was deprived of a written standard,
quickening the natural process of simplification (inflections, declensions lost), borrowing
words from French (and Latin).
It was the period of French cultural dominance in Europe – the Conquest brought a more
immediate and active relationship with it. The 14th century brought a major change: English
gainedg ground again (due to the Hundred’ War and the Black Death). From around 1350:
Middle English. (1362: English first used at Parliament)
The European context: the twelfth-century renaissance (1050 – 1300) – new ways of
experiencing the world (love superseding fear, emphasis on the humanity of Christ, the
imagery of human passion). Books had increasing significance, the study of Latin and rhetoric
became more important, contact was made with the Arab world (Greek philosophy). Chivalry
– the code of knight (partly a religious and partly a military institution). Courtly love (fine
amour): an important element of literature (a relationship outside marriage, the man is a social
equal of the woman but at her service; a well-bred man’s abasement before his lady; her
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attitude: cold indifference, at best conferring grace on her unworthy supplicant (i.e. a smile or
at most, a kiss), yet receiving pledges of his undying service.)
Literature: for over two centuries literature produced under courtly or aristocratic patronage
was French in tone and language. New developments: lyric (the expression of feelings,
emotions and states of mind), romance (narrative poem dealing with the adventures of the
knight), fabliau (comic narrative dealing with the lower classes), dream allegory (a story
with double levels of meaning, told in the frame of a dream)
There were two great developments in the second part of the 14th century: the Alliterative
Revival and the work of Geoffrey Chaucer.
Alliterative Revival: a revival of the old tradition of alliterative verse with some new
developments, in the western and northern parts of England. The Gawain-poet: Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight; William Langland: Piers Plowman.
(4) Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1342-1400)
Chaucer: ‘The father of English poetry’; the father of the English language (the London
dialect became the literary standard as a result of his work), the culmination of Middle
English literature. He was a universal genius – characterised by technical brilliance,
knowledge, a wide range of experience and largeness of sympathy. He is the first Humanist in
English literature – he brought Humanism to England two centuries earlier than the English
Renaissance
Life: he was born into an English-speaking merchant family and was trained in courtly life.
He had a diplomatic career, visited France and Italy on government service → direct contact
with French and Italian literature. Influences: French models at first (dream allegory tradition,
Roman de la Rose), later Italian literature had an influence on him – Humanism. He had a
very wide range of reading: the Bible, classical works (Antique world), medieval scientific,
religious and popular works
Early works: dream allegory tradition. Troilus and Criseyde: major work (based on
Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato – minor Homeric figures, medievalised Troy), almost like an early
novel. The Canterbury Tales: his major work, unfinished; it is a collection of 24 stories of
different kinds told by members of a company of pilgrims on their journey from the Tabard
Inn in Southwark to Canterbury.
(5) The Development of Drama in the Mediaeval Period
Medieval English drama originates from Christian liturgy and it has no connection with the
drama of Antiquity (the influence of the classical tradition appears only in the Renaissance). It
started with the dramatisation of Christ’s life – first as a simple dialogue between the priest
and the choir, and later groups of characters acted out the story (as part of the mass). In
England it started in the 10th century, with the Easter morning mass. At first these were
performed in Latin, with vernacular (English) elements appearing in it. Development: spoken
in the choir at first; later the performance was extended down the nave, finally it moved out of
the church, first to the churchyard, then to the marketplace or the meadow. Outside the church
English replaced Latin, and the story element moved away from the liturgy to use the whole
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range of sacred history from the Creation to the Last Judgement. Secularisation – paralleled
by the physical movement (from sacred to profane), transition from the liturgical drama to
mystery and miracle plays (= medieval drama)
Types: Mystery plays: dramatized biblical stories. Miracle plays: later development from
mystery plays; dramatising saints’ lives and divine miracles, legends of miraculous
interventions by the Virgin. Cycles – the story of the Bible from the Creation to the Last
Judgement. Performance: guilds, wagons; festivals
Morality plays: they do not deal with biblical stories but with personified abstractions of
virtues and vices struggling for man’s soul (allegory in drama). Stock elements: the Seven
Deadly Sins (Pride, Covetousness / Avarice, Wrath / Anger, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Lechery);
‘Dance of Death’ (Death, God’s messenger, comes to summon all). The most well-known
play: Everyman (the end of the 15th century)
(6) The University Wits: Classical and Native Traditions
The most salient aspect of drama in the second part of the 16th century: a shift of interest and
emphasis from religious to secular. New themes appeared such as Classical mythology,
English and foreign history, presented in new ‘kinds’ (genres) – comedy, history/chronicle
play and tragedy. These were plays less about virtues than about people. Much of this was due
to the influence of Humanism – the discovery and study of the classics brought the genres of
comedy and tragedy. Tragedy was a major development as medieval drama was seen as
essentially ‘comic’ (happy ending). The main influence for tragedy was Seneca (playwright
and Stoic philosopher, he wrote plays that were intended for reading and not for performance)
Professionalisation – actors, authors. Actors were independent groups or servants of wealthy
nobleman who dealt exclusively with performances. The first permanent playhouses were
opened at the time (1576: the Theatre; others: Curtain, Rose, Swan, Globe). The structure of
playhouses derived from innyards – the stage was a large platform, composed of an outer
stage and inner stage with an upper stage above the latter; it could symbolically represent any
place. There were no actresses; only men were allowed to act, women were played by boys.
There were public and private theatres – the former were open-air amphitheatres whereas the
latter were indoor halls; there were elements of class distinction as well. There was a great
demand for plays – staging 30-40 plays a year, altogether about 250 performances. The
audience was standing, a large number of people were crammed together into a small place;
there was little or no scenery, there were no scene divisions, the action was performed at a
tremendous speed. The audience was mainly illiterate but had remarkable listening capacity.
This was an altogether hostile environment – yet there is the supreme sophistication of
Elizabethan drama; this is due mainly to the possibility of direct contact with the audience,
manipulating the response of the audience by the combinations of the qualities of lyric poetry
with narrative form
A new literary phenomenon appeared: the secular professional playwright. University
Wits: they were writers graduating at Oxford or Cambridge who had no patrons for their
literary activities, but they did not want to enter the Church → they turned to playwriting as
making a living. They made Elizabethan popular drama more literary and more dramatic; they
were the first people to associate English drama permanently with literature. They fused the
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popular (morality plays) and the learned (the classics) traditions – they used the form of the
classicists, and the interest and movement of the popular tradition
The most significant representatives: Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe
Thomas Kyd (1558-1594): the inventor of ‘romantic tragedy’ – love, conspiracy, murder,
revenge; heavy influence of Senecan tragedy. The Spanish Tragedy
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593): the most impressive playwright before Shakespeare; he
made great advancements in blank verse and used the most exciting themes of the Elizabethan
imagination. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
(8) The Shakespearean Comedy
William Shakespeare (1564-1616): a man of the theatre, a poet, an expert of human passions –
characterised by a brilliant handling of stagecraft and the perfect control of his medium; all in
all a universal genius of the highest order, with an intuitive understanding of human
psychology. He remained perfectly hidden behind his creation
Comedy: drama provoking laughter at human behaviour, usually involving romantic love,
with a happy ending for the main characters. Shakespeare’s influences: University Wits
(mixing folk rituals and courtly elements) and Italian influences (mixing of genres, exotic
places and people). Comedy is everywhere in Shakespeare; he never devoted himself
exclusively to the writing of comedy; comedies appeared during the whole course of his
career.
Shakespearean comedy is distinguished by its structure. The starting point is some kind of
challenge which presents itself like a blow of fate or sudden turn of fortune’s wheel. Whereas
tragedies are centred on an isolated individual, comedies always concern groups of people.
The conventional ending is the death of the hero in the tragedy, but there is a double or triple
wedding in a comedy. Tragic heroes die without children, but comic figures bind their lives
together in marriage, suggesting the possibility of children. The initial calamity arrives
without explanation or motive (e.g. a storm). Characters meet this challenge with energy and
imagination; they turn fate into providence and fall in love. Groups of contrasting characters
are brought through adverse circumstances to a closer and more lasting relationship with one
another. There is dramatic irony, word-play and exuberant language, and Shakespeare creates
characters of convincing depth and detail
Early comedies: The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of
Verona. Transitional: Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of
Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Romantic/mature comedies: Much Ado About Nothing,
As You Like It, Twelfth Night. Problem plays: Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure,
All’s Well That Ends Well. Romances: Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest,
(The Two Noble Kinsmen – with Fletcher). Problem plays and romances somewhat different –
combining elements of comedy and tragedy
(9) The Chronicle Plays: Shakespearean History
History play: a genre not altogether self-defining or self-explanatory, it emerged in the earlier
16th century from the morality form. History plays were motivated by various factors: Tudor
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Englishmen had an interest in historical matters, there was commercial pressure (demand for
plays with the opening of the permanent theatres; history offered itself as a ready source of
plots), the late 16th century was characterised by fear of civil war and anarchy (especially
pressing as Elizabeth I did not have an heir) and England was the leading Protestant state in
conflict with the great Catholic powers of Counter-Reformation Europe (France, Spain); all
these led to tremendous patriotism among all classes (reaching its peak with the defeat of the
Spanish Armada in 1588)
Shakespeare wrote history plays because of his fascination with politics. History is an
exploration of human political behaviour, of desire for power, of man’s response to gaining it
and then to being deprived of it. Power in English history meant kingship, so the plays
essentially focus on kings as central characters. Shakespeare was preoccupied with the value
of order in society – this is already present in his earliest works as well but it becomes the
most apparent in the history plays. Shakespeare’s use of history: he selected, shaped,
amplified and frequently added to chronicle material in order to intensify the concentration on
political issues and on their human consequences (= writing plays and not history)
The plays have a political central theme – they are concerned with the gain and loss of power
but they move beyond that to attempt a definition of the perfect king. They offer a
consideration of kingly virtues and present the psychology of political leaders. The political
problem of power is also shown from a moral angle through the influence on society of the
moral quality of its leaders. Perhaps the main consideration is the question of legitimacy, that
is, the lawfulness of the king, as it is the basis of order in a society
English histories and Roman histories. English plays: minor tetralogy – 1, 2 and 3 Henry VI
and Richard III; King John; major tetralogy – Richard II, 1 and 2 Henry IV, Henry V; Henry
VIII – perhaps in collaboration with Fletcher
(10) The Shakespearean Tragedy
Tragedy: noble action of noble characters; a noble protagonist in a highly stressful situation
leading to a disastrous, usually fatal conclusion. The Shakespearean tragedy: it is the story of
one person, encompassing the troubled part of the hero’s life and his death. These plays are
stories of exceptional suffering and calamity, which lead to the death of a dominant figure of
high social standing – the fate of such a character affects the welfare of a whole nation, his
fall produces a sense of contrast between the powerlessness of man and the omnipotence of
Fortune or Fate. The characters of the Shakespearean tragedy are exceptional beings, raised
much above the average level of humanity but are still human: they have a marked onesidedness, a fatal tendency to identify their whole being with one interest. They demonstrate
the nobility of the human spirit – though catastrophic errors are made, these are not motivated
by evil – evil actions derive from human weakness as the human being is essentially flawed
(in a tragic universe we are all flawed because we are human)
Ten plays: Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth,
King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens. The Great Tragedies:
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth – variations on the theme that humanity’s weaknesses
must be recognised as our inevitable fate
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(11) The Shakespearean Romance
Last plays: Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest – problematic status
concerning the genre. They are tragicomedies – in the broadest sense of the term as they
contain elements of tragedy but have the resolution of comedy; they mix tragic and comic
elements in a framework of magic and exoticism – romances
These plays share a number of themes such as the separation and reunion of family members
and the related idea of exile, the banished characters are restored to their rightful homes at the
play’s end and jealousy is involved. The plays stress the need for patience in adversity and the
importance of providence in human affairs. Realistic characterisation is relatively weak; the
symbolic meaning of characters is more pronounced. There are episodic plots, improbable
events and exotic locales, characters are frequently subjected to long journeys and shipwrecks
are often involved. There are seemingly magical developments, sometimes real sorcery is
present, and various supernatural beings also appear.
There is an insistence on the patient acceptance of fate as a necessary element for survival.
Shipwrecks reflect the impersonal violence of the sea which is beyond human influence.
Characters are passive and helpless, they cannot improve their situations; their strength in
adversity is supported by their faith – only providence can bring about the destined resolution
through strange turns of fate; the improbability of fate stresses the irrelevance of human
desires. Acting with mercy is necessary – revenge for earlier actions is replaced by
forgiveness (acknowledging human limitations)
(12) The Drama Besides / After Shakespeare: Ben Jonson (and others)
Shakespeare and Jonson are the two giants of English Renaissance drama; there are many
other playwrights with great works but they remain minor figures compared to Shakespeare
and Jonson. Writing for the theatre was a means of gaining popular acclaim and economic
satisfaction. Acted plays were really influential; the audience was not large enough to make
long runs possible – creating a continuous demand for new plays. Sources of various kinds –
anything allowing the presentation of emotional and physical violence, the absurdities and
wonders of which a passionate man is capable were good for plays. The period ended in 1642
with the closing of the theatres by the Puritan government – but by that time the form of
poetic drama developed by the Elizabethans had completely run its course, there was no
further road that way
Ben Jonson (1573-1637): he had a claim on the literary men of his time that Shakespeare did
not have – Jonson’s plays were more amenable for criticism. Compared to Shakespeare
Jonson was more learned, he was deeply concerned with the classical precedent. He used
classical models for his plays; he knew in advance of the function of comedy, suiting the
humour to it. He is the great example of the Renaissance Humanist turned dramatist and poet.
At the same time he was also a rugged Englishman, with a boisterous and even cruel sense of
humour. He showed originality even when following classical models. His sardonic view of
human nature owed nothing to classical sources; his lyrical gift reflected an important facet of
his personality. His most well-known work is Volpone, or the Fox (a satirical comedy)
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(13) Poetry in the 16th Century
The basic assumption of Elizabethan poetry: poetry teaches by delight. It is a poetry which is
neither ‘classical’ nor ‘romantic’. A major feature is decorum, that is, a correspondence
between the style and the subject matter. Nature is the basis of art – but there is no conflict
between them – ‘artificial’ can mean human ingenuity used to enhance nature, improving on
something naturally beautiful. Models and conventions have a special importance –
originality is not seen as an opposition to tradition, classical models are there to learn from, to
transform and to surpass
Italian poetry provided examples for English poets – Italian models were used for the
reformation of English poetry. Poets translated, borrowed from and imitated Italian poems to
restore the combination of flexibility and regularity lost from English during the shift in the
stage of the language from Middle English to Modern English in the course of the 15th
century.
Modes of literature: pastoral, satirical, lyrical, tragic, mythological-erotic, heroic and lyrical.
Lyrical: probably the most important mode of literature – because of the sonnet. The sonnet
had its main conventions established by Petrarch; several Petrarchan sonnets were translated
and used as starting points for English poems. The sonnet sequence also quickly became
popular: the sonnet sequence explores contrary states of feeling, a love relationship between
poet/lover and an unattainable lady, modelled on medieval courtly love.
Sequences: Sir Philip Sidney: Astrophel and Stella; Edmund Spenser: Amoretti.
Shakespeare’s sonnets: a belated sequence of 154 poems, changing many elements of the
convention (the poems are not ‘wooing’ sonnets, love returned and love unreturned; a triangle
of love)