Instead of the blind face ordered by the catholic then appeared a new outlook which was called humanism. The time demanded positive recional knowledge and this demand was supplied: in astronomy by Copernicus, in philosophy by Tomas More, in geography by Columbus, Vaska de Gama and others. Leonardo de Vinci was force a new feory of art: "It was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind have so far experience, a time, thich called for "Giants" and produced Giants in power and thought, passion and character in universality and language."
An example of a typical men of the Renaissance period was: the famous Englishmen sir Walter Raleigh, he was a soldier, sailor, explorer, pirate, coloniser, historian, thilosother and a poet. He was much interested in science and literature. He wrote works of geography and lead expedition to South America. He was an outstanding poet. His poems are full of profound wisdom, written with great elegance and salacity of style. He organised of "academy". Christother Marlowe the greatest dramatist (before Shakespear). But the most important of most this writer and one of the greatest men of this period was sir Thomas More.
Thomas More.
He came into great favour and made a repid carrier as a statesmen, at the same time writing works of a political, philosophical and historical character. His most famous book is "Utopie". "Utopie" - means "no place, no there". The work is writing in latin and devided into two books. Thomas More was the first writer in Europe to formulate communist principals as a bases of society.
The Renaisense in England.
The prideses of Shakespeare.
The most brilliant period of English literature was in the second half of the 16'th and begining of 17'th centure.Sometimes it's called "Elizabethen age" after quen Elizabeth 5. England had become a geat world power. It had established wide commercial contact with countries And rich trading company had been organaized. The english people were now a great nation and the english language inriched was now not unlike the language of Chaucer. Many famous poetical and prose works appeared. Among those who inriched the literary haritage of this period ere sir Philip Sydney, Adnond Spenser and Christother Marlowe. There were fine works of poetry and prose in the Elizabethen age but the greatest hight's of literature of this period were riached in drama.
2. Life of Shakespeare.
The great poet and dramatist William Shakespeare is often called by his people "Our National Bard", "The Immortal. Poet of nature" and "The Great Unknown". More than two hundred contemporary references to Shakespeare have been located amoung church records, legal records, documents in the Public Record Office, and miscellaneous repositories. When these owe assembled, we have at least the sceleton out line of his life, begining with his baptist on April 26, 1564, in Trinity Churche, Stratford-on-Avon, and ending with his burial there on April 25, 1616. Shakespeare native place was Sratford-on-Avon, a little town in Warwickshive, which is generally described as beign in the middle of England.
Shakespeare's father, John, was a prosperious glove maker of Stratford who, after holding minor municipal offices, was elected high bailiff of Stratford. Shakespeare's mother Mary Arden, came from an affluent family of landowners.
Shakespeare probably recieved his early education at the exellent Stratford Grammar School, supervised by an Oxford graduate, where he would have learned Latin smattering of Greek.
In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who lived in a neighboring hamlet. The first child born to Ann and William was their daughter Susanna. In about two years Ann bore him twins a boy and a girl, Hamlet and Jidith.
Then life in Stratford became intolerable for William Shakespeare and he dicided to go to London and began a theatrical career. Shakespeare major activity lay in the field of drama. He became a full shaveholder in his acting company, he was partowner of "the Globe" theatre and later of "the Blackfriars" theatre, and in 1597 he purchased property in Strarford. Including new place, one of the largest houses in the town. He probably refired there about 1610, travelling of London when necessary to take cave of his theatrical business. In all, 154 sonnets seguence. The sonnets were probably written in the 1590 but were first published in 1609.
3. Shakespeare's works.
Shakespeare's literary work is usually divided into three periods. The first period of his creative work falls between 1590 and 1600. Shakespeare's comedies belong to the first period of his creativ work. They all are written in his playfull manner and and in the brilliant poetry that conveys the spectator to Italy. Some of the first plays of the first period are: "Richard 3" (1592), "The comedy of errors" (1592), "Romeo and Juliet" (1594), "Julius Caesar" (1599), "As you like it" (1599), 1600 - "Twelth night". Shakespe-are's poems are also attributed to the first period, "Venus and Adonis" and "Lucrece", and 154 sonnets. "Venus and Adonis" was the first of Shakespeare's works that came off the press. The second period of Shakespeare's creative work during from 1600 to 1608. His famous tragedies appeared at this time. In the plays of this period the dramatist reaches his full maturity. He presents great humans problems. His tragedies and historical plays made Shakespeare the greatest humanist of the English Renaissanse. Some plays of the second period: 1601 - "Hamlet", 1604 - "Othello".
Shakespeare's plays of the third period are called the "Romantic dramas". There is no tragic tension in these plays. This period lasted from 1609 till 1612.
1609 - "Cymbeline", 1610 - "The Winters Tale", 1612 - "Henry 8".
Hamlet's soliloguy.
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether tis nobler in the mind to sufler.
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing and then. To die, to sleep -
No more, and by a sleep to say we end
The heart - ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is hear to; 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep -
To sleep! Perchance to dream! Ay, there's the rub
For in that sleep of death what dreams may comes,
When we have shuflled off this mortal coil
Must give pause - there's the respect
That makes calimity of so long life.
4. The Enlightment.
The history of England and second part of the 17'th centure, and during the 18'th centure was marked by British colonial, expression and struggle for the leading role in cowers. The writters and philosofists of this age protested against the sovivals of feodalizm in thich they saw the main evil of this time. Man they thought was vertains by nature and wise was duty ignorence to they started a pubic movement for enlighting the people. This movement was called "the enlightment". The enlighters belived in the power of reason and the period was also called "the age of reason". This period saw a remarkable rise in literature. English literature of this period may be characterise by the following features: 1.The rise of the political pamphlets and issue. The novell became the leading genre. 2. The prose style became clever gracefull and polished. 3. The hero of the novell was no longer a prince but a representative of the middle class. 4. Literature became very instructive.
The literature of this age may be divided into 3 periods:
The 1'st period is caracterised by classisizm in poetry. The greatest follower of the classical style was Alexander Pope. There appeared the first realistic novels written by Defoe and Swift.
The 2'nd peiod saw the development of the realistic social novel, represen-tive by Richardson, Fielding and others.
The 3'rd period is marked by the appiriense of a new trends: sentimenta-lizm. Typefed by the works of Goldsmith and Stern. This period also saw the rise of the realistic drama (R. Sheridan).
5. Daniel Defoe.
DD was the founder of the realistic novel. He was also a brilliant journa-list and in many ways the father of modern English periodicals. He founded and paved the way for many magazines ( "The Revue", "The Spectator").
DD was born in London, his father a butcher, was wealthy enough to give his sone a good education. D was to become a prist, but it was his cheariched desire to become wealthy. His wished was never fullfield. D was banckrote several times. He was always in deep debt. The inly branch of business in which he proved succesful was journalism and literature. When D was about 23 he started writting pamphlets on question of the hour. He started writting pamphlets prassing King William 3, who was supported by the whig party. D wrote a setire in woth. No matter in whose defends his brilliant pamphlets were written they are irony was so subtle, that the enemy didn't understand it at first. But as soon as his enemy realised the real character of the pamphlets D was sentensed to 7 years inprisonment. It was a cruel punishment, and when the came for him to be set free people carried him on their shoulders.. This was the climax of his political career and the end of it. In 1719, he tried his hand at another kind of literature - fiction, and wrote the novel he is now best known: "Robison Crusoe". After the book was published, D became famous and rich and was able to pay his creditors in full. Other novels which D were also very much talked about during his lifetime, but we do not hear much about them now. For example "Captain Singleton"(1720), "Moll Flanders"(1722).
6. Robinson Crusoe.
Books about voyages and new discoveries were very popular in the first quater of the 18'th centure and many stories of this then had been written but while Defoe was busy with politics he didn't think of also trying his hand at it. However one story in in Steel magasine attracted his attention.
It was about Scotish sailor, who lived quite alone 4 years and 4 month on a desert island. Defoe's hero, R.C., however spend 26 years on a desert island. The novel was a prase tohuman labour and the triumph the men over the nature. Labour and fortitude help Robinson to endure hardships. They save him from dispair. The very process of hardwork gives his satisfaction. R's most characteristic tract is his optimism. His guiding prencipal in life was: "never said die" and "in trouble to be troubles is to have your trouble double."
7. Jonathan Swift.
(1667-1745)
JS was the greatest of English satiriste. His better satire at the contempro-rary social order in jeneral and an the policy of English government towards in particular. That's why the Irish people considered Swift the champion in the struggle for the wealthy and freedom of their country.
JS was born in Dublin, but he came from English family. His father died at the age of 25, liaving his wife and daughter penuiless. His son was born seven month later after his death. The boy knew little of his mother chearch. He hardly ever saw her, during his childhood. J was supported by his uncle Godwin. At the age of 6 he was send to school, which he left at 14. When he entered a college in Dublin and got his bacheloris degree in 1686.
