Concetti Chiave
- Drama in England evolved from Morality Plays to more sophisticated performances accessible to all social classes, with simple stages and male-only casts.
- Shakespeare's works, such as "Hamlet" and "Macbeth," explore themes of love, identity, and existential dilemmas, influenced by his life and education.
- The English Civil War was fueled by Charles I's conflicts with Parliament and religious tensions, leading to Cromwell's rule and the eventual Restoration of the monarchy.
- During the Restoration, cultural shifts emphasized reason over imagination and adopted a clear, concise literary style influenced by French authors.
- The Restoration theater introduced more complex staging, allowed female actors, and aimed to impart moral lessons rather than mere entertainment.
Drama in england
Drama in England and William Shakespeare.
Everyone could see the plays performed.
From Morality Plays to University Wits.
The poors stood up and the nobles in surrounding galleries.
Lots of things were peculiar (simple stages, no women allowed…).
Shakespeare is surely the most famous English play-writer ever lived.
His family, his life experiences and his career.
His education (love for nature, morality plays, his friendship with the Earl of Southampton).
The sources and the plots of his most important works.
Shakespeare's works and themes
His most important plays: Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet –comment to “To be or not to be (man or nobody, living or dying, fighting or giving up, life and death compared to sleep)”, his ideas against love and women (that he hates because of his mother’s behavior) and why he plays the fool-, Macbeth, The merchant of Venice and some of his sonnets.
His sisters, his love for culture, his teacher and his character.
His journey to Italy and what he saw there.
His work as a teacher
His work for Cromwell
His blindness
What he has in common with Samson
Political turmoil and civil war
Charles I is not a good king.
He has problems with Parliament.
When he makes William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury, who persecutes Puritans, a civil war breaks out.
The long Parliament and the “Roundheads”.
The Commonwealth.
Cromwell Lord Protector.
The act of Navigation.
The Restoration of Monarchy, after Cromwell’s death, with Charles II.
Charles imposes a strict Anglicanism.
He feels Catholic however.
The secret deal with the king of France.
Parliament, then, wants William of Orange to be king, the husband of Mary (Charles’s daughter)
William of Orange is crowned after his death.
In that period there’s also the war of Spanish Succession.
Queen Anne.
Why this period is called “The restoration”.
Vices and immorality, and the “merry monarch”.
What noblemen do and think.
The positive aspects of this period (development of science, Sunday schools, London the business city).
Cultural shifts during the restoration
Imagination replaced by reason and the imitation of French authors.
The new clear and concise style.
Philosophers and diarists.
Republican during the Commonwealth, Royalist after the Restoration, Catholics during the reign of Charles II’s brother – James II.
Dryden was a professional poet but his career depended on the king (the reading public was small).
The couplet: a sort of prosody.
Theater evolution in the restoration
During the Restoration tragedies, crimes and immorality are performed.
The stage becomes more complex and a gap between actors and audience is put.
Women are allowed and every character has a name that describes his or her soul.
The main purpose is to teach how to behave and not to give a form of entertainment.
It’s not important what actors do, but how they do it.
Domande da interrogazione
- What were the key characteristics of theater during the Restoration period in England?
- What political events characterized the period of the English Civil War and the Restoration?
During the Restoration, theater evolved to include more complex stages and allowed women to perform. The focus shifted to teaching proper behavior rather than mere entertainment, with characters often having names that described their souls.
The period was marked by Charles I's conflicts with Parliament, leading to civil war and the rise of Cromwell as Lord Protector. After Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored with Charles II, who imposed strict Anglicanism despite his Catholic leanings. The era also saw the War of Spanish Succession and the eventual crowning of William of Orange.
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