Letteratura inglese

Elementi fondamentali del rinascimento

- Affiancamento di religione e politica

- Diffusione delle idee attraverso i testi (non più solo la bibbia)

- Recupero classicità

- Idea del viaggio

- Dare una forma alla nazione

- Dare una propria dignità e fisionomia

- Adattamento (per non copiare il passato ma renderlo un modello)

THE ORIGINS OF THE DRAMA - 14/15 centuries

The origins of the theater were religious. During the medieval drama it was used by the church to educate people from an ethical and moral point of view. Then explain the difference between good and evil and then educate on behavior. If there is a need to moralize it means that the people are still lacking inadequate behavior and education. Parts of the liturgy turned into dramatic dialogues performed by the clergy in Latin. These dramatic scenes developed into the earliest comedies known as mysterious or miraculous comedies, a genre that evolved in the 14th and 15th centuries.

To allow the

citizens of the growing cities to enjoy these spectacles, the representation of these scenes moved from inside the church to the streets. A short play was presented a moving chariot called a spectacle, which then moved to leave the stage for another chariot, where another short film was staged. Latin was gradually replaced by English and the roles were played by laymen [lay men] rather than by the clergy. Cycle plays were founded by "guilds", associations of men who had their own pageants. These guilds were also known as masteries or mysteries, which is why they came to be called mystery plays. From the point of view of the content, plays can be divided into scriptural, morality and hagiographical plays. Scriptural plays are short plays based on the old and new testaments, whose aim was to illustrate how men could reach salvation. Morality plays focused on the battle between good and evil for the possession of a man's soul. Their protagonists are often symbols for the human.

Vices and virtues. An example can be the play Everyman (15th century). It tells the story of everyman, the symbol of any human being who, unexpectedly called by death and informed that he has to die, needs to give account of all his actions (Bergman's Seventh Seal). During his journey towards death everyman learns the true value of life, and he is helped only by Good Deeds (symbol of the good things he did in life). Its moral is as explicit as possible.

Hagiographical plays tell the lives of saints and their miracles, with the purpose of teaching Christian values. They create a series of values to whom men have to inspire. Just a few of them survived.

ELIZABETH THEATRE-1558

Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the theater begins to evolve. It does not belong only to the religious sphere, but secular themes are also beginning to be represented. During the Renaissance, religious representations began to decline in popularity. In particular, after the reform, control over such performance passed

From the church to the crown, which they used the theater to pursue a political purpose (they understood that the strongest power is the one that affects a person's mind). The content of the comedies also changes, men are faced with themselves and their flaws. Even although religion is not yet abandoned, the themes gradually detach from it. The king's control over religious dramas often meant censorship, so writers began to watch elsewhere for inspiration for their books, especially Italian or classical theater. Other great change during the renaissance was the introduction of theaters built specifically for the purpose of staging plays. No more floats or churches, theatrical performances were staged indoors: university classrooms, private homes, schools and court inns (where lawyers were trained). Acting companies, who traditionally traveled across the country, began to want theirs own permanent theaters, and some began forming companies that worked under the patronage of wealthy men.

To avoid problems of censorship, companies sought the approval of the crown; They had to be allowed to perform, so they could often be threatened, for example, by the closure of theaters, due to censorship, which prevented the performance of some theatrical works, from the moralistic attacks of the Puritans, who considered the theater as an occasion for sin. So the companies could only offer the actors some security, the companies offer professionalization to the actors. In public theaters there were no lights, no curtains and no set design. There were a few furniture and decorations (props), which could also be given different symbolics meanings and dialogues provided the description of the setting. The Elizabethan age is often regarded as the golden age of theater; Queen Elizabeth was a great supporter arts, and this has stimulated activity in the theater. Much of the credit for the growth of this form of entertainment is traditionally attributed to a group of young graduates from Oxford or.Cambridge between 1575 and 1588 who created the forms of the Elizabethan drama, abandoning the techniques and practices of the previous one generations. Due to their upbringing, these authors are now known as the university wits. The content changes radically: the plays are no longer about religion, but education, that it can be achieved without any kind of religious means. Secular themes grow in importance, and thanks to university ingenuity there is a will to theater in transformation. They want to create a new kind of theater that looks like society, equally in a state of transition. The representation is important because: there is the direct message, the expression, the gestures and it can have a large audience. Theater becomes more effective than reading. The theater uses many elements to convey emotions to the reader. The theater lacks: the speaker and the choir. Among these educated young playwrights was Christopher Marlowe, whose works made him famous in life. He is considered the

Christopher Marlowe was a leading playwright of that period, and some scholars also believe that he profoundly influenced William Shakespeare. Marlowe was the first to achieve critical notoriety for his use of blank verse, which became the standard for the Was. Marlowe is now considered a typical "Renaissance man" who insisted on freedom and intellectual abilities of the individual, but at that time his reputation as a free thinker often got him in trouble with the authorities. Critics have often described him as a disreputable character (he was in the slums, he was a drunk, etc.), but considering the intellectual impact he has had, all of this is tolerable. By placing the emphasis on a direct relationship between man and god, without the mediation of the clergy, the reform had made it more difficult for the individual to find traditional support of an external moral system. Faith and a sense of "self" had to be built from within, leaving much room for uncertainty and conflict within the individual.

himself.*COMMENTI PROFESSERESSA*

• Si creano delle compagnie -> si ha la professionalizzazione del teatro.
• Diventa importante rappresentare l'uomo -> diventa lo strumento per avvicinare l'idea all'uomo.il teatro
• Il teatro era solo recitato e non letto es. Shakespeare e Marlow -> il teatro nasce per la rappresentazione e il rapporto tra attore e spettatore. La rappresentazione è importante perché:
  • il messaggio è diretto (non ha bisogno di intermediazione):
    • parole
    • gestualità
    • espressioni
  • può avere un ampio pubblico
• Il teatro diventa più efficace della lettura.
• Il teatro si avvale di tanti elementi per trasmettere al lettore emozioni.

Nel teatro manca:

• il narratore
• il coro

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE-1564

Christopher Marlowe is an example of the creative importance of this whole generation of University Wits in the history of Elizabeth drama. Many of his contemporaries considered Marlowe primarily as a

Poet, and his use of powerful and elegant verse in the mouth of the protagonist, the conquering hero Tamburlaine, captivated audiences as they had never been captivated before. Marlowe is now considered as a typically 'Renaissance man', who insisted on the freedom and intellectual capacities of the individual, but at that time his reputation as a free-thinker often got him into trouble with the authorities.

*COMMENTI PROFESSORESSA* Marlowe con l'uso delle parole ci rimanda a qualcosa, al di là della religione; cerca di educare. È più filosofico rispetto a Shakespeare, il quale tendeva a caratterizzare l'uomo e i suoi elementi, come in Doctor Faustus viene ribadita l'arroganza del personaggio.

DOCTOR FAUSTUS - CHRISTOPER MARLOWE - 1590

TECNICHE: uso del coro della tragedia greca, che anticipa le caratteristiche del personaggio protagonista, il dottor Faust, uno studioso di teologia (cioè crede nell'aldilà e in una vita dopo la morte)

La rappresentazione teatrale, in questo caso la tragedia, serve all'autore a mettere in scena e in evidenza ciò che veniva tramandato, in modo che, con le scene, le parole e i gesti, la tragedia venisse compresa anche dal popolo analfabeta dell'età elisabettiana. Perciò, vi è una sorta di democratizzazione culturale attuata dal tragediografo inglese. Viene lanciato un avvertimento al pubblico su ciò che non bisognava fare per non commettere peccati, un modo per incutere timore nel pubblico elisabettiano. TEMI: Nella tragedia di Marlowe, non è solo l'ambizione di potere, ma anche quella per la conoscenza assoluta. Infatti, Faust non è soddisfatto di quello che già sa, ma vuole andare oltre i limiti della conoscenza. E per farlo, chiama in aiuto Mefistofele (metafora del peccato umano), il messaggero di Satana, con cui stipulerà un patto, di cui, però, sarà prigioniero. Il periodo in cui la tragedia si svolge è caratterizzato da un forte senso di inquietudine e ricerca di nuove conoscenze, che spinge Faust a compiere scelte estreme.

tragedia è scritta, è un periodo di forte destabilizzazione dal punto di vista religioso-scientifico. La negromanzia, altro tema fulcro di questa tragedia, è presente con allusioni alla magia nera, che Faust riesce a praticare dopo aver fatto il patto col diavolo. Essa serve da giustificazione della condanna di Faust. Ma sarà proprio la negromanzia a portare alla caduta del sapere dell'uomo. Faust vuole diventare un semidio (recupero del paganesimo=figura di Giove), vuole raggiungere il livello di onnipotenza del Signore, vuole diventare più forte e più potente di lui. Vuole sapere tutto e di più. Egli vorrebbe porsi al centro del mondo con i suoi desideri, aspirazioni e volontà. Ma essendo questa una tragedia cristiana, Marlowe afferma che l'uomo non riuscirà mai ad arrivare a quel livello di onnipotenza tanto bramato dal dottor Faust, che purtroppo non può più infrangere il patto con Satana, ma comunque