Dramatist of Elizabethan Age

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Dramatist of Elizabethan Age

Name: Kishan Hariyani

Semester   : 01

Roll No      : 21

Paper No   : 1

Enrolment No: 15101021

Email ID    : kishanhariyani1992@gmail.com

Year            : 2015-17

Submitted To: Department Of English                     

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

v Introduction:

Elizabethan age (1550-1620) is one of the most remarkable age in development of English drama as well as theatre in this period is consider the golden period in the history of England as also in the history of English Literature .university wits of this age and some of them master of drama and made English literature more wealthy and provides source for inspiration and it is enough for our purpose, therefor to point out two facts

That Elizabeth with all her vanity and inconsistency, steadily loved England and England’s greatness and that inspired all her people unbounded patriotism and English literature reached highest point of its development.

v Elizabethan plays and plays and playwrights:

The Elizabethan plays and playwrights were extremely popular during the Elizabethan period and many of their plays are still performed today. the most Elizabethan play wrights was William Shakespeare who has been created many far Elizabethan plays .the other very famous Elizabethan play wrights were:

Ø Theatrical Beginnings of the Elizabethan Age

By 1592, there is evidence William Shakespeare earned a living as an actor and a playwright in London and possibly had several plays produced. The September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers' Register includes an article by London playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at William Shakespeare:

"...There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country,"

Greene wrote of Shakespeare. Scholars differ on the interpretation of this criticism, but most agree that it was Greene's way of saying Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe or Greene himself

.

Ø Characteristics of Elizabethan Dramatist:

1. Tragedy must end in some tremendous catastrophe involving in Elizabethan practice the death of the principal character.

2. The catastrophe must not be the result of mere accident, but must be brought about by some essential trait in the character of the hero acting either directly or through its effect on other persons.

3. The hero must nevertheless have in him something which outweighs his defects and interests us in him so that we care for his fate more than for anything else in the play.

In the drama of Marlowe the satisfaction appears to depend, not on the excitement of the catastrophe, but on the assertion of the greatness of man's spirit; and this seems to have been the theme also of tragedy It will be remembered that the first part of  Tamburlaine

Ø Major Elizabethan Drametist:

Ø William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

William Shakespeare was one of the greatest Dramatists of The English Literature and prominent figure in the Elizabethan Age.He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23th of April, 1564. The family was not rich yet. They rented a house and some land. There were eight children in the family: fourgirls ad four boys three of them diedyoung. In 1582, Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathway. After that he started to write Dramas, which can be categorized in four different periods. 

ü 1590 - King Henry VI

ü 1591 - Henry VI

ü 1592 - The Comedy of Errors

ü 1594 - The Two Gentlemen of Verona ,

ü 1595 - Romeo and Juliet

ü 1595 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

ü 1596 - Merchant of Venice

ü 1599 - Julius Caesar

ü 1599 - As You Like it

Shakespeare's tragedies belong to the Third period of his work. During that time the author reaches his full maturity. He becomes a great dramatist of the Renaissance, his main ideology is humanism, and he presents the great human problems in his plays. The writer always reveals human nature and psychology relations, shows his characters.

ü 1601 - Hamlet

ü 1602 - All`s Well That Ends Well

ü 1604 - Othello

ü 1605 - King Lear

ü 1606 - Macbeth

ü 1606 - Antony and Cleopatra

ü 1607 - Timor of Athens

         

 Among them Shakespeare popular for his four great tragedies are;

ü Hamlet

ü Othello

ü King Lear

ü Macbeth

Ø Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

Ben Jonson was an early playwright of Elizabethan Age, poet and actor whose popularity rivaled that of Shakespeare or Marlowe. His father died shortly before his birth, and his mother remarried a bricklayer. Luckily for the clever young boy, an unidentified friend paid for Jonson to attend Westminster School. For Twenty Five years, ha was the literary dictator. He was influenced more by French writers. His plays are,

ü The Alchemist

ü Sejanus His Fall

ü Every Man out of His Humour

ü Every Man in His Humour

ü Volpone

Ben Jonson’s Every Man in His Humour is a first comedy in his are stood for some characteristic whim or quality of society. The three best known of Jonson’s comedies are Volpone, the Alchemist, and The Silent Woman, Volpone is a keep and merciless analysis of a man governed by an overwhelming lone of money for its own sake.

Ø Francis Beaumont(1584-1616)

Beaumont was the brother of Sir John Beaumont, who came to London from oxford to study law, but soon gave it up to write for the stage. The work of Beaumont is do closely associated or interwoven that , thoughFletcher outlived Beaumont by nine years ,but later on Fletcher wrote alone .Still many person class them together . And only scholars attempt to separate their works so both come from noble and cultured families and were university trained. His plays are:

ü The Woman Hater (1606)

ü The Coxcomb (1608–10)

ü The Captain (1609–12)

ü Cupids Revenge (1611)

ü The Scornful Ladie (1613–17)

ü Loves Pilgrimage (1616)

Ø Contribution of university wits:

            University wits were the name given to a group of Elizabeth or Elizabethan playwrights. The university wits were a group of oxford and Cambridge university scholar Shakespearean University Dramatists are known as the university wits before Shakespeare it was the earliest stage of the development of Drama as a popular. The University wits were a group of seven people.

These University men were usually actors as well as Dramatists. This group contributed to establish the Elizabethan theatre. They popularized the form of Drama. They are like a.

Ø Christopher Marlow

Ø George Peele

Ø Robert Greene

Ø John Lyly

Ø Robert Greene

Ø Thomas Kyd

Ø Thomas Lodge

Ø Thomas Nashe

Let’s discuss in detail their work and literature;

Ø Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

            Christopher Marlowe was more famous as well as most outstanding figure among university wits. Marlowe was popular for his two major techniques; Blank Verse and Tragic theory

His Plays are like a.....

ü Dr. Faustus

ü King Edward

ü Tamerlane

ü The Jew of Malta

ü The Massacre at parish

ü Dido Queen of cartage

Ø George Peele(1558-1597)

       He is noted for his poetic style and decorative phrase. He wrote many plays, but unfortunately only few of them are popular like,

ü Edward 1

ü The old wives

ü The Love of King David

Ø Robert Greene (1558-1592)

            He travelled widely over Europe and liked Italian authors. He developed a regular plot expressing deep Human feeling. His plays are,

ü The Scottish History of James 4

ü The History of orlando  Furioso

ü A looking Glass for London and England

ü The Comicall History of Alphonus King of Aragon

Ø John Lily (1554-1606)

            He was the leader of university Wits and chosen themes from classical literature. He became famous for his comedy like,

ü Alexander and Campaspe

ü Endimion

Ø Thomas Kyd (1558-1594)

        He was a Dramatis and educated at London. Who wrote a famous tragedy which was known as Spanish Tragedy. By profession he was a scrivener. His remarkable plays are such as

Ø Spenishtragedy

Ø Jeronimo

Ø Aplology for actor

Ø The tragedy of solyman and person

Ø Thomas Lodge (1567-1601)

            He was not popular Dramatist .He was educated from Oxford  ,he was a writer .He became famous for his two dramas these are;

ü The Wounds of civil war

ü A Looking glass for London & England

Ø Thomas Nashe(1558-1625)

            Thomas Nashe was known as story writer Then after he written some play or drama. He was the creator of a new style of writing different way;

His works are;

ü The Unfortunate traveller Jack woillson

ü Dido Queen of cartage and summers

ü Last will and testament

Ø Conclusion:

In short Elizabethan Dramatist is most popular and his notable contribution remain memorable in construction of English literature specially in England  Development of drama, and beginning of theatre, and also various types of litery  genre begins in this age such as; comedy, tragedy ,history etc., it bring some changes in society and literature.

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