MAE603-eL1

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2 M.A English Course Code: MAE 603 Semester: First e-Lesson: 1 SLM Unit: 1 www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) https://www.google.com/search?q=Greek+theatre All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ENGLISH 33 OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION Student will be introduced to Drama as a Genre In this unit we shall learn Drama as a form of Student will be introduced to the history of Theatre literature Student will be introduced to Elizabethan Theatre We shall understand the history of theatre The student will come of a few Elizabethan dramatists We will understand here the importance of Elizabethan Theatre www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) INSTITUTE OF DAIlSlTAriNgChEt aArNeDreOsNeLrvINeEd LwEiAthRNCIUN-GIDOL

TOPICS TO BE COVERED 4 > Drama – Meaning and a Genre of Literature > Theatre-Meaning and History > Elizabethan Theatre > Major Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

DRAMA AS A GENRE 5 ➢It is a form of composition designed for performance in the theatre ➢ In this form the actors take the role of characters, perform the indicated action and speak the written dialogue ➢ Play is another name of Drama ➢ In Poetic Drama the dialogue is written in verse, which in English usually is Blank Verse www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) https://www.google.com/search?q All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

HISTORY OF THEATRE 6 ➢The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years ➢ It is customary to acknowledge a distinction between theatre as an art form and entertainment ➢The history of theatre is primarily concerned with the origin and subsequent development of the theatre as an autonomous activity. ➢Theatre arose as a performance of ritual activities that did not require initiation on the part of the spectator. ➢ This similarity of early theatre to ritual is negatively attested by Aristotle, who in his Poetics defined theatre in contrast to the performances of sacred mysteries. ➢ The first steps towards theatre as an autonomous activity were being www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

HISTORY OF THEATRE 7 ➢Greek theatre, most developed in Athens, is the root of the Western tradition. ➢theatre is in origin a Greek word. ➢ It was part of a broader culture of theatricality and performance in classical Greece that included festivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, weddings, funerals, and symposia. ➢The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

HISTORY OF THEATRE 8 ❖Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance-drama that formed an important part of the theatrical culture of the city-state. ❖ It flowered during the 5th century BC. ❖ No tragedies from the 6th century and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in during the 5th century have survived. ❖The origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century it was institutionalised in competitions (agon) celebrating Dionysos (the god of wine and fertility). www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

HISTORY OF THEATRE 9 ❖Most Athenian tragedies dramatise events from Greek mythology, though The Persians— which stages the Persian response to news of their military defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC—is the notable exception in the surviving drama. ❖Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, \"Old Comedy\", \"Middle Comedy\", and \"New Comedy\". ❖Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of laughable people that involves some kind of error or ugliness that does not cause pain or destruction. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

HISTORY OF THEATRE 10 ❖ Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans. ❖ The Roman historian Livy wrote that the Romans first experienced theatre in the 4th century BC. ❖The theatre of ancient Rome was a thriving and diverse art form, ranging from festival performances of street theatre, nude dancing, and acrobatics, to the staging of Plautus's broadly appealing situation comedies. ❖ Roman theatre encouraged the development of Latin literature of the highest quality for the stage www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 11 ❖Elizabethan drama was the dominant art form that flourished during and a little after the reign of Elizabeth I, who was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. Before, drama consisted of simple morality plays and interludes, which were skits performed at the banquets of the Queen’s father Henry VIII or at public schools at Eton. The Elizabethan era saw the birth of plays that were far more morally complex, vital and diverse. ❖As with the interludes, the earliest Elizabethan plays were put on for university students. They were modelled after the comedies of the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence and the tragedies of Seneca. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 12 The First Playhouses and First Playwrights:- In 1576, James Burbage, an actor and theatre-builder, built the first successful English playhouse in London on land he had leased in Shoreditch. It was simply called The Theatre and was supported by young playwrights from Cambridge and Oxford Universities. These young men became known as the University Wits and included Thomas Kyd, Robert Green, John Lyly, Thomas Nash and George Peele. The play The Spanish Tragedy, written by Kyd, was the template for the gory “tragedy of blood,” plays that became wildly popular. Another theatre called The Curtain had to be built to accommodate the overflow audiences. The technical name for such as theatre was an easer. Burbage also had a house in Black friars which had a roof. Because of this, it was used for plays during the winter. Burbage’s son Richard was an even more famous actor and performed just about every major role in William Shakespeare’s plays. He was lauded for his roles in the tragedies. The only thing that stopped the plays was the plague, and the theatres were dark from June, 1592 to April, 1594 www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 13 The Audience and Actors:- Elizabethan theatre itself was notoriously raucous. People, most of whom stood throughout the play, talked back to the actors as if they were real people. Hints of this can be discerned even in Shakespeare’s plays. It is true that adolescent boy actors played female roles, and the performances were held in the afternoon because there was no artificial light. There was also no scenery to speak of, and the costumes let the audience know the social status of the characters. Because sumptuary laws restricted what a person could wear according to their class, actors were licensed to wear clothing above their station. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 14 Shakespeare:- More and more theatres grew up around London and eventually attracted Shakespeare, who wrote some of the greatest plays in world literature. His plays continue to cast a shadow over all other plays of the era and quite possibly all other plays that came after his. But Shakespeare was not the first great playwright of the Elizabethan age. That would be Christopher Marlowe. Many scholars believe that Marlowe might have rivalled Shakespeare had he not been murdered when he was 29 years old in a fight over a tavern bill in 1593. He was the first to change the conventions of the early Elizabethan plays with his tales of overreachers like the title character of Tamburlaine the Great, Dr. Faustus and Barabas in The Jew of Malta, men whose will to power provided the engines for the plays. Marlowe used blank, or unrhymed verse in a new, dynamic way that changed the very psychology of dramaturgy. In the meantime, Peele and Lyly were writing light comedies and fantasies such as Endymion. These plays were performed at court, which were not only patrons but protected the companies from the wrath of the Puritans, who found theatre sinful. One of the companies who performed at court, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, had Shakespeare as a member. This company became the King’s Men under the patronage of James I. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 15 The Globe Theatre:- The Puritan reaction against the stage was such that the players had to set up theatres outside the London city limits on the south side of the Thames, but attending plays remained popular among non- Puritans. The most famous of these theatres, which became the Lord Chamberlain’s Men home, was the Globe Theatre. It was established in 1599 and was actually a new iteration of The Theatre, which Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert had moved and reassembled. In between the closing of The Theatre and the opening of The Globe, the Chamberlain’s Men performed at The Curtain. The Globe premiered some of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear. It’s very design influenced the design of other theatres, but unfortunately The Globe was destroyed in a fire during a performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, which was his final play and of such inferior quality that some scholars don’t believe it was written by him at all. The Globe was rebuilt in 1614 and remained standing until 1644 when it was demolished to make room for housing. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 16 The Armada:- Historians believe that the flowering of Elizabethan drama was due in part to the burst of patriotic confidence and national identity that erupted after England’s victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588. This was a fleet of ships assembled by Philip II of Spain to conquer England. The conquest failed through a combination of hubris, bad weather, English ingenuity and some help from the Dutch. It might not be a coincidence that Shakespeare began to contribute in earnest to Elizabethan dramaturgy around 1588, when he was 24, though he’d arrived in London from his home in Stratford on Avon around 1585 to seek work as an actor. As a playwright, he gave Marlowe’s blank verse more range, flexibility and subtlety. He responded to the patriotic mood of the country with his History plays. Besides these plays, of course, were his magnificent comedies and tragedies. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE 17 Late Elizabethan Drama:- Ben Jonson was a friend of Shakespeare and considered his chief rival after the death of Marlowe. However, Jonson followed the strict classical form that was a hallmark of ancient Latin drama. His plays include Vulpine, or the Fox and The Alchemist. Other dramatists of the late Elizabethan period, which continued after her death, included John Webster, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. Richard Burbage also acted in the plays of Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher as well as Shakespeare. By 1600, three years before Elizabeth died, the robustness of Elizabethan drama began to fade. After Shakespeare’s retirement after 1612 and his death in 1616, Elizabethan drama was no more. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 18 ❖ Renaissance came to England much after its appearance in other European countries, particularly Italy and France. Therefore, it is a European phenomenon ❖ English Renaissance took its inspiration from Italy ❖ Renaissance people looked back to Greek and Roman ideals in Arts and Literature ❖ Renaissance was marked by the people’s belief in progress and personal achievement ❖ One of the forces behind the Renaissance was the maritime activities of the European navigators and discovery of new lands, which opened up new possibilities of of mercantile adventure and new vistas of separation ❖ The standard of wealth during the middle ages was land property while that of Renaissance was money www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 19 ➢ Renaissance man looked with a new wonder at the heaven and the earth as they were revealed by the discoveries of the navigators and astronomers ➢ It has been a unique source of inspiration in national adventure in every sphere such as navigation, politics, literature and poetry ➢ In Renaissance as well as in Reformation there was a strong element of individualism. The desire for liberty and beauty led to an Intensive cultivation of language i.e Blank verse ➢ It paved way to the development of every activity ➢ It was breathed quite freely in the puritan atmosphere ➢ Renaissance literature is imbued with French spirit or Italian spirit www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 20 ➢ The liberation of sensibilities, passions and emotions by the Renaissance humanism was never allowed to exceed the limits by the moralistic and the spiritual ideas of Reformation ➢ The result is a literature that feeds the appetite of the senses and curiosity of the mind and at the same time does not leave the soul starved ➢ In the poetry and drama of Spenser, Marlowe. Shakespeare—the sensuousness pleasures or intellectual curiosity are never indulged in for their own sake ➢ The discovery of America must have been a source of inspiration for national adventure in every sphere ➢ Before the discovery of America, England geographically seemed to be an insignificant island which God , while creating the world, flung on to the extreme fringe of the northern earth since in those days the concept of the universe was geocentric www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 21 ➢ War with Spain made the loaded treasure ships a legitimate target for English seamen and encouraged them to cross the Atlantic and get to know the geography of the American coastline ➢ The first English colonizing expedition to the new world was led by Humphery Gilbert in 1583 ➢ In Italy , there was a Renaissance without Reformation with the result that human sensibilities and passions had no moral check on them and very often went beyond conscionable limits, both in literature and life ➢ Reformation would have meant decentralization of authority in the church and consequently, Italy would have been deprived of huge revenues that it collected from other countries for investiture of bishops www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 22 ➢ Reformation never made its appearance in Italy ➢ It was one of the happiest coincidences of history that in England, the Renaissance and Reformation came simultaneously ➢ Translation work was done in Italy and France, but perhaps not with the same inspiration and motive as was in England ➢ England did not invent Printing Press. It came into England much after it was already active in many European countries ➢ William Caxton developed the Printing. He was not only a mechanic but also a man with some literacy. He was both an editor and a translator www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 23 ➢ In Italy the Renaissance found many channels of expression—poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, music and of course Machiavellian diplomacy while in France there were three— poetry, prose and literature. However, there appeared only one channel—poetry and literature ➢ English poetry of the period has the pictorial quality of painting, plastic modeling of sculpture in the form of its poems and the music which was poetry. That is why English poetry has an intensity not attained by Italian or French poetry ➢ This period saw the successful introduction of paper and gunpowder mills, cannon foundries and sugar refineries www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

RENAISSANCE AGE 24 ➢ The Renaissance/Elizabethan England was faced with a timber shortage as the forest was axed for firewood and ship building ➢ The spice island of the East and the fabulous wealth of China were the great attraction. However, the Mediterranean route to these riches was blocked by the turked. www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

MAJOR DRAMATISTS OF ELIZABETHAN AGE 25 ➢Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) ➢William Shakespeare (1564-1616) ➢George Chapman (1559-1634) ➢Thomas Deckker (c. 1572-1632) ➢Thomas Heywood (c. 1573-1641) ➢Ben Johnson (1572-1637) ➢Thomas Kyd (1558-1594) www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS 26 1. Q—What is a Drama? C—A form of art meant for morals A—It is a form of literature designed for performance in the theatre D—A form of art meant for reading B—A form of composition meant for teaching 2. Q—What is a theatre? C—A form of art meant for actions A—It is a form of literature designed for performance D—A form of art meant for entertainment B—A form of composition meant for purgation 3. Q—What is the chief characteristic of the Elizabethan Theatre? A—A form of morality play C—Flourished during the rule of Elizabethan III B—Flourished during the rule of James I D—Flourished During the Reign of Elizabethan I 4.Q—What is the meaning of Renaissance Age? A—It took its inspiration from Germany C—It came from non-literary background B—It took its inspiration from Italy D—Greek and Roman ideals in Arts and Literature www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

SUMMARY • Drama is a form of composition designed for performance in the theatre. In this form the actors take the role 27 of characters, perform the indicated action and speak the written dialogue. Play is another name of Drama • The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years • It is customary to acknowledge a distinction between theatre as an art form and entertainment • The history of theatre is primarily concerned with the origin and subsequent development of the theatre as an autonomous activity. • Elizabethan Theatre arose as a performance of ritual activities that did not require initiation on the part of the spectator. • During Elizabethan period Drama was the dominant art form that flourished during and a little after the reign of Elizabeth I, who was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. • Before Elizabethan Age drama consisted of simple morality plays and interludes, which were skits performed at the banquets of the Queen’s father Henry VIII or at public schools at Eton. • The Elizabethan era saw the birth of plays that were far more morally complex, vital and diverse. • Renaissance came to England much after its appearance in other European countries, particularly Italy and France. Therefore, it is a European phenomenon • English Renaissance took its inspiration from Italy • Renaissance people looked back to Greek and Roman ideals in Arts and Literature • Renaissance was marked by the people’s belief in progress and personal achievement www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q 1. Do we know what Drama is? 28 Ans—It is a Genre of Literature which is basically designed for performance in the theatre. In this form the actors take the role of characters, perform the indicated action and speak the written dialogue. Play is another name of drama Q 2. Do we know the history of theatre for the performance of drama art? •Ans— Theatre is in origin a Greek word. The history of theatre spans over the past 2,500 or more years. The history of theatre is primarily concerned with the origin and subsequent development of the theatre as an autonomous activity. Greek theatre, most developed in Athens, is the root of the Western tradition. The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satirical play which includes festivals, religious rituals, politics, music, poetry, weddings, funerals, etc. Q 3. Do we know the significance of Elizabethan theatre? •Ans—Elizabethan drama was the dominant art form that flourished during and a little after the reign of Elizabeth I, who was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. Before, drama consisted of simple morality plays and interludes, which were skits performed at the banquets of the Queen’s father Henry VIII or at public schools at Eton. The Elizabethan era saw the birth of plays that were far more morally complex, vital and diverse. Q 4. Do we the relevance of The Renaissance Age? Ans—English Renaissance took its inspiration from Italy. Renaissance people looked back to Greek and Roman ideals in Arts and Literature. Renaissance was marked by the people’s belief in progress and personal achievement. Renaissance man looked with a new wonder at the heaven and the earth as they were revealed by the discoveries of the navigators and astronomers www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

REFERENCES 1. Leech, C. (1978). Marlowe: A Collection of Critical Essays (Twentieth Century Views Series). New Delhi: 2 9 Prentice Hall India 2. O’Neill, J. (1969). Critics on Marlowe. London: Allen & Unwin 3. Sharma, G. ed. (1984). Reinterpretations of Marlowe’s Faustus: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Delhi: Doaba House 4. Bradley, A.C. (2009). Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. New Delhi: Dodo Press 5. Kaufmann, R.J. (1970). Elizabethan Drama: Modern Essays in Criticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press 6. Harbage, A. (2005). Shakespeare: The Tragedies: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Delhi: Pearson 7. Adelman, .t ed. (1980). Twentieth Century Interpretations of King Lear. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall India 8. Morwood, J. & Crane, D. , Ed. (1996). Sheridan Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 9. Chaudhary, A.D. (2010). Contemporary British Drama. India : Penguin Books. 10. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Drama 11. study.com › academy › lesson › history-of-drama-dramatic-movements 12. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › History_of_theatre 13. englishhistory.net › shakespeare › elizabethan-theatre www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

30 THANK YOU For queries Email: [email protected] www.cuidol.in Unit-1 (MAE603) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL