Drama as a dominant form in the Elizabethan Age

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Name: Bhatti Nikunj R.

Subject: The Renaissance Literature (Paper-1)

Topic: Drama as a dominant form in the Elizabethan Age

Roll No:19

Study:MA Semester-1

Submitted To: Department of English

 v Introduction:

            Elizabethan Age or Age of Shakespeare was a unique period not only in the history of England but also the world. This period witnessed a greater advancement in science, arts, life, of people. According to William J. Long this period is from 1550 to 1620 was the duration of the Elizabethan Age. The period of Queen Elizabethan’s reign our England is rightly called ‘The Golden Period’ in the history of England as also in the history of English Literature.

            The Elizabethan Age witnessed a stable and encouraging governance of Queen Elizabeth. Politically the nation was stable, civil wars were over, and QueenElizabeth seemed one of the best rulers of English nation. People were living a better life. In literary terms this period is concerned as the period ‘Renaissances’. That means rebirth or Revival of Greek and Italian culture, learning, literature, art, painting etc. People had tremendous joy and thrilling. It was the period of awakening for knowledge and advancement.

            It was also an Age of new discovery and exploration of new lands through adventures voyages across uncharted seas and oceans. The Queen Elizabeth was encouraging adventures and honouring sailors in her court. It was also an Age of intense patriotism, when people took a keen interest in England’s past, pride in England’s greatness. People were Royal to their queen.

 v Development of the Drama:

The Elizabethan Age was one of the most productive Ages for literature.Great dramatists highly artistic poets, philosophers like Bacon made this Age extremely fruitful for literary creation.On the other hand welcomed and responded literary of art.

            Drama

            The platform prepared by University Wits who were beneficial to Shakespeare and his contemporise. Drama had become voice and choice of people.Threatres had become the voice and choice of attraction.It was the most popular form of literature in that Age. Genius Dramatists like Shakespeare,BenJonson,Marlowe;JohnWebster satisfied people’s interest for the drama.Great tragedies like ‘Othello’,‘Hamlet’, ’Macbeth’, ‘King Lear’ etc. classical comedies like ‘As You Like It’, ‘Volpole’ by Jonson etc.were leading dramas.

§       Miracle Play:

            A Miracle play is basically a religious play. It deals with the lives of saints and the miracles performed by them. The life and Martyrdom of a saint formed by the central theme of a miracle play. The Normans undoubtedly brought religious plays with them but it is probable that they began in England before the conquest.

§     Mystery Play:

            The Mystery plays basically deal with the themes taken from Bible.They present in a chronological order major event from the creation and fail of man through nativity, crucifixion, Resurrection of Christ to the last judgement.

§    Moral Play:

            Moral play of the drama is shows by the increasing prevalence of the Morality Play. In this the characters were allegorical personages, Life, Death, Repentance, Goodness, Love, Greed, and other virtues and vices. The Morality marks a distinct advance over the Miracle in that it gave free scope to the imagination for new plots and incidents.

§     Interludes Play:

            The Interludes were generally short entertainment inserted within a longer play or amidst some other festivities or festivals. Their primary function was to entertain the audience by humour or even by farce. The Interludes originated undoubtedly, in sense of humour, and to John Heywood, who raised the interlude to the distinct  dramatic form known as a comedy.

            Apart from that, the artistic period plays a vital to the English drama .it is a different from the eelier plays like miracles and Mysteries because if represent human life as it is .In EnglishLiterature,“Ralph Royster Doyster, and the first Englishcomedy, which was written by Nicholas Udall in 1550. The first wholly comedy is full of fun& course humour, and is wonderfully true to the life it represents. To raise the growth of Drama, first tragedy can also be found,” Gorduc“which was written in collaboration by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. It was written in 1561, but performed on the stage the year of 1562.Due to classical Influence, the growth of English Drama can be observed. This influence started to develop from the Mystery and Miracle play. Now let’s have discuss Elizabethan Tragedy and Comedy.

Elizabethan Tragedy:

          The development of Tragedy in the Elizabethan Age was one of the most preferable choices of the people. The form of Tragedy that Shakespeare developed from the experiments of men like Marlowe and Kyd was really a new and distinct type. Such classical restrictions as the unities of place and time, and the complete separation of comedy and tragedyThe greatest master of Tragedy was Shakespeare, and in Tragedy he reached his greatest height. “Hamlet,”  “King Lear,” and “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” was perhaps most popular at the time of its production, and also John Webster. “The Duchess of Malfi” is a favourable example of his ability to inspire terror and pity.so this Way tragedy play a great role in the Age of Elizabethan.

Elizabethan Comedy:

           In the field of comedy, Shakespeare’s“As You Like It” and “Twelfth Night,” not only display with great skill many sides of human nature, but with indescribable lightness and grace introduce us to charming creations, speaking lines rich in poetry and sparkling.“The Alchemist,” representing the work of Ben Jonson, belongs to a type which Shakespeare hardly touched the Realistic Comedy.Beaumont and Fletcher belongs to the same type of romantic drama as “The Tempest”—the type of play which belongs to Comedy by virtue of its happy ending, but contains incidents and passages in an all but tragic tone.so we may says that Comedy also play a batter role in this Age.

So, let’s discuss major Dramatists of this Age in detail.

 v University wits:

            University wits were the name given to a group of Elizabeth or Elizabethan playwrights. The university wits were a group of oxford and Cambridgeuniversity scholars. Who came to London to try their luck as the professional play Wrights.Immediately before Shakespeare it was the earliest stage of the development of Drama as a popular. The University wits were a group of seven people. The University wits called pre cursor whohave made the way for Shakespeare.

            The pre-Shakespearean University Dramatists are known as the university wits. These University men were usually actors as well as Dramatists. This group contributed to establish the Elizabethan theatre. They popularized the form of Drama. They are like a……..

            John Lyly was the leader of university wits but Christopher Marlowe was more famous because of his tragedies.

Their Plays had several features:

            There was a fondness or heroic themes, such as the lives of great persons like Mohammad and Tamburlaine.Heroic themes needed heroic treatment variety, splendid descriptions, long speeches; Violent, incidents and emotions.Their style was also heroic. The chief aim was to achieve stormy and high sounding lines and powerful speeches. This kind of example can be found in the play of Christopher Marlowe.

            The themes were usually tragic. They preferred tragedy a pure tragedy not mixture with humour. Some of themes also like Lyly wrote Romantic Comedies.

1] John Lily(1554-1606)

            He was the leader of university Wits and chosen themes from classical literature. He become famous for his comedy like,

  o   Sappho and Phao
o   Woman in the Moone
o   Alexander and Campaspe
o   Endimion

2] George Peele(1558-1597)

            He is noted for his poetic style and decorative phrase. He wrote many plays, but unfortunately only few of them are popular like,

  o   Edward 1

  o   The old wives

  o   The Love of King David

3] Robert Greene (1558-1592)

            He travelled widely over Europe and liked Italian authors. He was school of Bothoxfort and Cambridge University. He developed a regular plot expressing deep Human feeling. His plays are,

  o   The Scottish History of James 4

  o   The History of orlandoFurioso

  o   A looking Glass for London and England

  o   The Comicall History of Alphonus King of Aragon

4] Thomas Kyd (1558-1594)

            He was a Dramatis and educated at London. Who wrote a famous tragedy which was known as Spanish Tragedy. It is believed that he wrote a play Hamlet. By profession he was a scrivener.He was first English dramatist who wrote dramatically. His importance in the group of university wits is next only to Marlowe. His remarkable plays are such as

  o   Spenishtragedy

  o   Jeronimo

  o   Aplology for actor

  o   The tragedy of solyman and person

5] Thomas Nashe(1558-1625)

            Thomas Nashe was basically a story writer.Then after he used his hand of play or drama. He was the create of a new style of writing. 

  o   The Unfortunate traveller Jack woillson

  o   Dido Queen of cartage and summers

  o   Last will and testament

6] Thomas Lodge (1567-1601)

            He was not a important Dramatist .He was educated at Oxford .Who was a facile writer .He became famous for his two dramas as given below

  o   The Wounds of civil war

  o   A Looking glass for London & England

            The second one was written in collaboration with Robert Greene.

7] Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

            Christopher Marlowe was more famous as well as most outstanding figure among university wits. Marlowe was the model for Shakespeare. About Marlowe one critic said “Had there been no Marlowe there would have been no Shakespeare “.

            Shakespeare learnt from Marlowe for two majortechniques...

1)      Theory of Tragedy

2)      Blank Verse

His Plays are like a.....

  o   Dr. Faustus

  o   King Edward

  o   Tamerlane

  o   The Jew of Malta

  o   The Massacre at parish

  o   Dido Queen of cartage

            So, let’s discuss major Dramatists of this Age in detail.

 v William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

When Shakespeare charged with debts to his authors, Landor replies,

“Yet he was moreoriginal than his originals. He breathed upon dead bodies and brought them into Life.”

-         Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims

William Shakespeare was one of the greatestDramatists of The English Literature and prominent figure in the Elizabethan Age.He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23th of April, 1564. The family was not rich yet. They rented a house and some land. There were eight children in the family: fourgirls ad four boys three of them diedyoung. In 1582, Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathway. After that he started to write Dramas, which can be categorized in four different periods.  Ø  The First Period

            In first period, His comedies belong to the first period of his creative work. The plays are full of light, wit and optimism. Even in "Romeo and Juliet”, the tragedy that was written during this period, the author didn’t stress the note of grief. All the plays are written in the bright manner of the Renaissance.His plays are,

      o    1590 - King Henry VI

      o   1591 - Henry VI

      o   1592 - The Comedy of Errors

      o   1594 - The Two Gentlemen of Verona 

 Ø  The Second Period

The secondperiod, which isa period of rapid growth and development. It this period we may observe artistic work. In this period, we can see the better plots and a marked increase in knowledge of human nature in a play. His plays are,

o   1595 - Romeo and Juliet

o   1595 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

o   1596 - Merchant of Venice

o   1599 - Julius Caesar

o   1599 - As You Like it

 Ø  The Third Period

Shakespeare's tragedies belong to the Third period of his work. Duringthat time the author reaches his full maturity. He becomes a great dramatist of the Renaissance, his main ideology is humanism, and he presents the great human problems inhis plays. The writer vividly reveals human relations, shows his characters.

The   plays   of   the   third   period   are:

o   1601 - Hamlet

o   1602 - All`s Well That Ends Well

o   1604 - Othello

o   1605 - King Lear

o   1606 - Macbeth

o   1606 - Antony and Cleopatra

o   1607 - Timor of Athens

 Ø  The Fourth Period

            Shakespeare's allegorical plays belong to the fourth period at hisliterary work. Aperiod of restored Serenity, of calm after storm, which marked the last year of the poet’s literary work.like,

      o   1609 - Cymbeline

      o   1610 - The   Winter's Таle

      o   1611 - The Tempest

      o   1612 - King Henry VIII

      o   Henry VIII (unfinished)

  

 v Ben Jonson(1572-1637)

Ben Jonson was an early playwright of Elizabethan Age, poet and actor whose popularity rivalled that of Shakespeare or Marlowe.Hisfather died shortly before his birth, and his mother remarried a bricklayer. Luckily for the clever youngboy,an unidentified friend paidfor Jonson to attend Westminster School. For Twenty Five years, ha was the literary dictator. He was influenced more by French writers. His plays are,

o   The Alchemist

o   Sejanus His Fall

o   Every Man out of His Humour

o   Every Man in His Humour

o   The Poetaster

o   Volpone

o   Bartholomew Fair

o   The Staple of News

o   The Silent Woman

Ben Jonson’s ‘Every Man in His Humour’ is a first comedy is a key to allhis drams. The words “Humour” in his are stood forsome characteristic whim or quality of society. Every Man in His Humour, its special aim was to ridicule the humour of the city.

The three best known of Jonson’s comedies are Volpone, the Alchemist and The Silent Woman.Volponeis a keep and merciless analysis of a man governed by an overwhelming lone of money for its own sake.

 v John Webster

      He belonged to among major dramatists of the Elizabethan Age. Hisextraordinory powers of expression rank him with Shakespeare.

            Some famous dramas of Webster are

o   The Duches of Malfi

o   The White Devil

o   The Devil’s Law case

            His talent seems to have been largely devoted to the bloodand thunder play .therefore, the ranks among the greatest master of English Tragedy.

 v Francis Beaumont(1584-1616)

Beaumont was the brother of Sir John Beaumont, who came to London from oxford to study law, but soon gave it up to write for the stage. The work of Beaumont is do closely associated or interwoven that , thoughFletcher outlived Beaumont by nine years ,but later on Fletcher wrote alone .Still many person class them together . And only scholars attempt to separate their works so both come from noble and cultured families and were university trained. His plays are:

o   The Woman Hater (1606)

o   The Coxcomb (1608–10)

o   The Maides Tragedy (1608–11)

o   The Captain (1609–12)

o   A King and No King (1611)

o   Cupids Revenge (1611)

o   The Scornful Ladie (1613–17)

o   Loves Pilgrimage (1616)

 v Role of Elizabethan Theatre in Development of Drama

The Elizabethan Theatre was a booming business. People loved the Theatre. The Elizabethan plays and theatres were as popular as the movies and cinemas of the early 20th century.In the Elizabethan the theatre was the focal point of the age. The Elizabethan theatre was the voice and choice of the people. Plays were being performed as earlier it was no anything to get entertainment. In the days of Elizabeth there were two theatres such as The Red Lion and The Theatre in which most of the plays were performed.so it was it can be said that theatre has played an instrumental role to raise the position of Elizabethan drama.

To Sum Up:

            A few words more on the base of my reading, I must unfold that The Elizabethan Drama was popular due to some giant as well as moverick dramatists like Shakespeare, Jonson, Lily, Marlowe and Webster etc. And also Elizabethan theatre has played very significant role in developing the drama. Therefore, Elizabethan Age can be considered as a golden period because of such height of drama as it was on the pick.