THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

Marriage as political weapon
(between his son and Catherine of Aragon)

Extends England's military power

'Golden Prince' for good looking

'Defender of the Faith'
for the Latin treatise about sacraments

Marries with Catherine of Aragon

Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

Rejected by her father and strict mother

Established a Catholic reign by being the agent
of a Counter-Reformation

Marriage to Philip of Spain

Burned Protestants (her nickname is 'Bloody Mary')

wanted to divorce and remarry with Anne Boleyn

Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

Queen of a divided nation (anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish)

Married to her people ('Virgin Queen')

Promoted exploration ( sea captain Sir Francis Drake)

Spanish invade England

English defeat the Spanish Armada

1603, Tudor line died out

'Supreme head on earth of Church of England'

First Stuart King of England

Theory of 'divine right of king'

Interested in supernatural Daemonologie

New traslation of the Bible

Puritans disapproved of both the rites and the bishops of the Church of England

Pilgrim Father applied for a government patent to colonise New England

Ptolemy's view of universe (2nd century AD)

The sun and the planets revolved around Earth

Theories of Copernicus (1473-1543)

The sun was at the centre, with the earth and the other planets moving aound it

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

proved that the earth turns around the sun

established the scientific method

Hierarchical system linked the different orders to life

Inanimate class (elements, liquids, metals

The angels, linked to man

Introduced by Tomas Wyatt

14 lines of iambic pentameter

Division in 4 sections

3 quatrains that present a problem or situation

A couplet that solves or summarised the problem

Rhyme scheme:
I Quatrain: ABAB
II Quatrain: CDCD
III Quatrain: EFEF
IV Quatrain: GG

At the end of the eighth line and the ninth (introduced by words like; and, if, so, but, then, when)

Love and faith, beauty and art, time

Unusal description of woman

Real woman, with defects (she is given dark hair and eyes and an unattractive face)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)

A clever and a successfull man of business

He came at king Edward school

He didn't go to university, in fact he left school at 15

He married Anne Hathaway when he was 18

They have a daughter

In 1559 his company built the Globe Theatre, where most of his plays were performed

They end in multiple marriages, and all seem to have in common the preoccupation with the journey of the young women

They were closely based on serious records like the Tudor's chronicles

The stories take place in Verona, where two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, are locked in a violent feud

It is composed of a series of dialogues about the courtly conception of love, which was linked to melancholy. It ends with the scene of the masque and the meeting of Romeo and Juliet

It concentrates on the development of the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. It ends with the secret wedding of the two lovers in the chapel by the friendly priest, Friar Laurence

It can be divided in two parts: that of public events, full of action and movement, and the part devoted to private events. It ends with Romeo and Juliet's wedding night at the Capulet's house

It is the preparatory act to the final tragedy. Juliet takes a drug given to her by Friar Laurance. This potion makes her seem dead. The friar sends a messager to Mantua, but before he arrives, Romeo is told that Juliet is dead and decides to come back to Verona

In the last scene Romeo poison himself after seeing Juliet apparently dead in the tomb, while Juliet, waking from her trance, sees Romeo dead and stabs herself with his dagger. Romeo and Juliet will never know the truth about their death

The lack of knowledge which necessarily derives from bad communication

The reflection upon language made by Juliet, who shows a trendency to realism in her use of language

Scotland is at war and Macbeth is the hero of the battle. A day he and his friend meet three witches. They tell him that he will be given more money, land and power and also that Macbeth will be the 'future king'. After that he receives a message from Duncan, king of Scotland, who wants to reward Macbeth for his victory and giving him more money, land and power

Duncan is murdered and the blame is put on the king's servants who were sleeping outside the room. The king's sons leave Macbeth's castle, fearing for their lives. Macbeth is now on the throne, but his friend suspect him

Macbeth does not feel safe, so he kills his friends, Banquo and his son, but Fleance escapes and Banquo's ghost begins to haunt Macbeth

The three witches also predict that Macbeth will be safe as long as Birnam Wood does not move towards him and that none of woman borne shall harm him

Lady Macbeth sees Duncan's blood on her hands, she finally goes mad and kills herself. Malcolm, Duncan's son, organised an army in England to kill Macbeth. Macbeth is terrified when he hears the english army is using branches from the trees to protect themselves. The forest really is coming to his castle. He is killed in the battle and Malcolm became the King of Scotland

Regicide, which is an act against nature

The reversal of values, introduced by three witches

STRUCTURE OF THEATRES

They were built during the 16th century

They were round or octagonal

The stage had no curtain

The gallery above the stage could be used by the audience or by the musicians

There was a trap door, used for disappearances and also for burials

THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

HISTORY

SCIENCE

LITERATURE