Wykład 4 – 06.12.11
Renaissance
New hero: a courtier
Sir Philip Sidney in icon of an ideal renaissance courtier. He died during one of the wars. When he was dying his page (paź) gave him some water and Sidney said 'My friend you need it more than I'
Courtier
educated
well-mannered
able to speak 2/3 languages
lead an interesting conversation with lady
could dance
good soldier
good brother in arm
Able to compose poetry
Shakespeare – Elizabethan courtier
Early Tudors (Henry VIII) – 1500 – 1550, first half of the 16th century
Elizabethan 1550 – 1600, second half
Jacobean – 1600 - 1642 (James the VI of Scotland
1642 – puritans close all the theatres
William Shakespeare – 1564 – 1616,
born in Stratford upon Avon
Had a wife and 3 children
He never wanted to become a playwright
He wanted to buy or build his on theatre, to be an actor
He went to London, left his wife and children
Some speculate that Shakespeare was Marlowe, he didn't write anything before 1593. Marlowe was King's spy against Spain. In 1529 Marlowe was 29 and was killed in pub by Spaniards
Christopher Marlowe born in 1564 – 1593
Of course there was Shakespeare and there was Marlowe.
Theme of Shakespeare - Nature & Culture
ego (culture)
id (nature)
There's a constant fight between ego and id. Culture is the limiting influence of the outside world. Conflict between the hart and head. Id (nature) hides a shadow (part of our personality (that is hidden) we may no realize we have and we don't want others to see it, but occasionally they project).
Shakespeare's work stages:
Young Shakespeare; 1594 – 1599 – NATURE never lies
Venus & Adonis – Venus falls in love with Adonis and wants to make live, Adonis likes her but he's got hunting this afternoon 'What will the other god say'. Venus is broken, she disappears. There comes a bour (odyniec) and he kills Adonis. Venus comes back. Shakespeare says you have to listen to the voice of nature.
Lucrece (Lukrecja, uwiedzienie Lukrecji) – the same conclusion
'Richard III' – Richard III is Shakespeare's blackest villain(łajdak). He kills his opponents to the throne, even those of the same one. He's presented hunchback (garbaty), he's very ugly. Shakespeare says 'he acts against nature and nature punishes him by hunch'
1599-1601
– He questions nature
Shakespeare disappears, nothing
written. He's son died, When he overcame it he wrote one of his
gratest tragedies.
Macbeth first is handsome, looks well. Then he meets 3 witches (shadows, noone else sees them). The witches said he will be king of Scotland. He listened to the voice of nature. ^. He will not be killed by a man birth from a woman. The witches cheated him.
Your nature will cheat you, don't listen to it.
King Lear – Best tragedy of Shakespeare but most depressing. It starts as fairytale. There's old father who has 3 daughters. The name of the youngest (usually the most hones) is Cordelia. King wants to abdicate and divide kingdom. He wants to hear how his daughter love him. 2 oldest praise how much they love him. Cornelia says she loves him as much as they should, but she was going to have a husband. Father goes mad. Nature = sense. King Lear believed his eyes. It turned out that older sisters were cruel, and cut out his eyes.
3. 1606-1616 marry nature with culture
Shakespeare build his theatre but it burned down he had no place to perform his plays. Blackflyers (benedicts) gave him basement but this wasn't it. He thinks whether you can satisfy both nature and culture
Last plays, romances
Cymbeline
Winter's Tale
Tempest
Tempest – one of the best plays. It's believed to be his last will (testament). It's about Prospero, Duke of Milan. By evil ppl he's deprived of his Dukedom. He has to run from his land to safe life. He's got a daughter Miranda. They went to a desert island. There are no human beings there. Prospero decides to teach a lesson to those who hear them. He wants to change them, improve them. Prospero is a magician. He creates a storm and all ppl who hate him are on one ship. They are shipwrecked on Prospero's island. This is what he wants, to educate them. Unfortuantelly they will not be changed. They're evil. Miranda falls in love with Ferdinand, the sun of the king. Miranda and Ferdinand are children of mortal enemies.
All the last plays enumerated above has the same structure: conflict in 3rd generation which is resolved by a marriage of the 2nd generation. Just like Romeo and Juliet but with happy ending.
Woman always represents nature, Man is nature.
Miranda is in love and he wants to make love and offers herself to Ferdinand but he says her to wait until they're in Milan. Just like Adonis and Venus are wooden (niedobrane) pairs.
It's not possible to marry nature with culture
Prospero's epilogue: 'My art is useless, I will drown my books' My art is useless (magic) I cannot change ppl. Criminals still are criminals. Art cannot change ppl to be better.
Prospero is Shakespeare
Shakespeare's works
protagonists always struggle
1. as a young man 'if you don't listen to the voice of nature you'll be brutally punished'
2. Bitter man, experienced by life 'don't try nature, nature is a cheat'
3. Looking for compromise but it is not possible. Even that couples were to be married they were 'wooden'
Shakespeare & history
Sir Edmund Spenser – Elizabeth favourite poet.
Sir Philip Sidney
Spenser – 'Faerie Queene' – królowa wróżek, written for Queen ← set of interesting things bout it for extra points
Spenser didn't like that Elisabeth was too tolerant. She promoted him, he become Governor of Ireland. So the place of royal poet was free ← here comes Shakespeare
Elisabeth gave a comission (zamówienie) to Shakespeare to write a series of plays about history of England 14-15th century concluded with 1489. She wanted him to show that Tudors were a blessing. History there is presented as Elizabeth wanted it.
Tetralogy – series of four
Two tetralogies (Elisebeth's comission)
'Richard II', Henry IV, Henry IV, Henry V
Henry VI, Henry VI, Henry VI, Richard III ← if fact it's all about Richard's successive crimes
She wanted him to present the king that came before Tudors as incompetent and cruel. Tudors were to be happy conculsion.
1649 – The most embarassing day in history of England. Charls I was executed on the orders of paraliment. During a civil war. 1660 the same parliament which executed her father went to France on their knees (literaly) to beg his son to become their king. Charls II was a refugee. - Restoration of the Stuarts. England again become a monarchy.
Shakespeare
died in 1616. Charles I was executed 43 year later. Many ppl blamed
Shakespeare for the execution of Charles I. Shakespeare presented
kings as:
humans
incompetent
evil
criminal sometimes
14th century – phesant revolves.
Richard II – not a good king, not a good diplomat. There a legend. Phesants attacked London, killed archbishop of York. They wanted to attack palace, kill the king. He disguissed as woman. He went among them, took of his woman's clothes and they all kneeled down. Richard II was to honest to be a king
Henry IV made Richard abdicate, put in prison.
Play says Henry IV was a good king but he's treated as a usurpator to the throne.
Shakespeare & psychology
Shakespeare's views on art
Shakespeare & the stage