The Golden Age of English Drama. Shakespeare and his creative activity (3 periods). Shakespeare’s comedies, the nature of the comic.
Shakespeare's literary work may be divided into several periods. The plays are dated according to the theatrical season in which they were first staged. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, and they fall into 4 periods:
The 1st period (the period of apprenticeship) includes the plays that were written under the influence of the University Wits:
1590-91 Henry VI, part II
Henry VI, part III
1591-92 Henry VI, part I
1592-93 Richard III
The Comedy of Errors
1593-94 Titus Andronicus
The Taming of the Shrew
During the 2nd period Shakespeare mainly wrote histories (historical plays, chronicles) and comedies:
1594-95 The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Love's Labour Lost
Romeo and Juliet
1595-96 Richard II
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1596-97 King John
The Merchant of Venice
1597-98 Henry IV, part I
Henry IV, part II
1598-99 Much Ado About Nothing
Henry V
1599-1600 Julius Caesar
As You Like It
Twelfth Night
The 3rd period is marked by Shakespeare's great tragedies that were the peak of his achievement and made him truly immortal:
1600-01 Hamlet
The Merry Wives of Windsor
1601-02 Troilus and Cressida
1603-04 All's Well That Ends Well
1604-05 Measure for Measure
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
1606-07 Antony and Cleopatra
1607-08 Corioianus
Timon of Athens
The 4th period of Shakespeare's creative activity is mainly constituted by the romantic dramas - plays written around a dramatic conflict, but the tension in them is not so great as in the tragedies, all of them have happy endings:
1608-09 Pericles
1609-10 Cymbeline
1610-11 The Winter's Tale
1611-12 The Tempest
1612-13 Henry VIII
Shakespeare's comedies
The comedies by Shakespeare did not establish a lasting literary tradition in the theatre, as did those of Ben Jonson or Moliere, in which the authors portrayed the everyday life of their time, and the characters were exaggerated almost into satirical grotesque. Shakespeare's comedies are based on different principles: the scene is usually in some imaginary country, but in this fairy-tale setting we find characters that are true to life, and they are depicted with deep insight into human psychology for which Shakespeare is distinguished. In each comedy there is the main plot and one or more subplots. The comic characters always have the English flavour, even if the scene is laid in some distant or imaginary place. All these plays are written in easy-flowing verse and light prose; the texts are full of jokes and puns. The comedies tell of love and harmony, at first distributed, finally restored.
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For example
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed.
Romanticism in English Literature, poetic schools and representatives.
The Romantic period in English literature began in the late 1700s and lasted through the mid-1800s. Romanticism focuses on the emotional side of human nature, individualism, the beauty of the natural world and the simplicity of common people. Romantic authors value sentimental, heartfelt feelings and emotional experiences over historical and scientific facts. Some of the main characteristics of Romantic literature include a focus on the writer or narrator’s emotions and inner world; celebration of nature, beauty, and imagination; rejection of industrialization, organized religion, rationalism, and social convention; idealization of women, children, and rural life; inclusion of supernatural or mythological elements; interest in the past; frequent use of personification; experimental use of language and verse forms, including blank verse; and emphasis on individual experience of the "sublime."
The following are the important Romantic poets:
[1Wordsworth: Lyrical Ballads, The Prelude and The Tintern Abbey are his important works. He was a worshiper of Nature. He moralized and spiritualized it. He was fond of humanism, childhood, lyricism and simple style.
[2] Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Christabel and Kubla Khan are his best works. In his works we find supernatural, wonder and horror. He loved the simplicity of poetic diction.
[3 Shelley: He is known for his Queen Mab, Prometheus Unbound, and his Odes. He is an incomparable lyricist, an ardent lover of liberty. He is a passionate believer in Nature and a devoted admirer of Greek Myth, Art and Culture. He dreams of a new world, which would be dominated by love and liberty.
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[4] Keats: Keats is popular for his Hyperion, Endymion, Isabella, Lamia, The Eve of St. Agnes and his Odes. His Romanticism lies in his cult of beauty and spontaneity. According to him Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty. He was fond of imagination, Hellenism and Medieval-ism.
[5] Byron: He is remembered for his Don Juan. He is called Romantic because of his lyricism. He is an ardent worshiper of liberty.
Thus Romantic School of Poetry is the most important school in the history of English poetry. It changed the current of poetry. The contribution of this school is memorable.
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