Практическое занятии № 15 4 страница

The birthplace and the earliest home of William Caxton, the first English printer, must have been some lonely farm in the Weald (a heavily wooded area in south - east England) of Kent. In the 15th century it was a wild district with scanty population; its inhabitants had little intercourse with the towns, the affairs of the world went on without their knowledge and assistance.

Caxton's father, probably, a small Kent farmer, did his best to give the boy as good an education as could be given at those times. At the age of sixteen he became an apprentice (подмастерье) to Robert Large, a rich London mercer. At this period a law was enforced, whose object was to prevent the sons of labourers in farming, and endeed of the poorer classes of the yeomanry, from rising out of this condition in which they were born.

But William Caxton possessed opportunities for improvement which were denied to his fellow - apprentices. His master became Lord Mayor of London. By his last will he left to William a considerable sum in those times. In 1441, Caxton moved to Bruges, the centre of the European wool trade, becoming a travelling agent in the Low Countries. When he, the mercer's apprentice, stamped the merchant's mark upon his master's bales, he knew not, that this process of stamping would be carried forward by the ingenuity [indZi'nju:iti ] изобретение men into new art, which would change the face of the world.

A chronicle of that time says that even kings and nobles, possesing few books of their own, had sometimes to borrow of their of their subjects. King Henry V had borrowed from the Lady Westmoreland two books that had not been returned, and a petition still exists in which she begs his successors to let her have them back again.

If the nobles and the higher gentry were so poorly provided with books, we cannot expect that the yeomen had any books at all. The labourers, who were scarcely yet fully established in their freedom, as a class, wholly unable to use books at all.

Richard de Bury, bishop of Durham, wrote a treatise on the love of books. Reproaching those who misuse books, he disapproves severely the unwashed hands, the dirty nails, the greasy elbows leaning upon the volume, the munching of fruit and cheese over the open leaves, which were the marks of careless and idle readers. The statuses of St. Mary's College, Oxford, in the reign of Henry VI say, "Let no scholar occupy a book in the library above one hour, or two hours at most, so that others shall be hindered from the use of the same." It was a very common thing to write in the first leaf of a book, "Cursed be he who shall steal or tear out the leaves, or in any way injure this book."

While there were no books in common use, there could be no universaly in language. There was marked difference between the courtly dialect and that of the commonalty, and the common English which was spoken in onw shire varied from another.

The early printers had to do everything for themselves; to construct types, presses, and every other instrument and appliance. They manufactured their own ink, so that Caxton had to learn the art of ink - making.

But the ancient printer had something more to do before his manufacture was complete. He was a bookbinder as well as a printer. The ancient books, manuscript as well as printed, were wonderful specimens of patient labour. The wooden board between which the leaves were fastened, was as thick as the panel of a door. this was covered with leather. There were large brass nails, with ornamental heads, on the outside of this cover. In addition, there were clasps. The back was rendered solid with paste and glue, so as to last for centuries.

But the most difficult labour of the ancient printer was yet to come. He had to sell his books when he had manufactured them. For some years after the invention of printing, many of ingenious, learned, and interprising men who devoted themselves to the new art, were ruined, because they could not sell cheaply unless they printed a considerable number of a book; and there were not readers enough to purchase the stock.

The city of Cologne, where a press was set up about 1470, was very near at hand. Caxton went there, resolved (принять решение, решиться) to acquire the art of printing.

The first book printed in the English language does not bear upon the face of it when and where it was printed. That it was printed Caxton in Cologne, we can have no doubt, for it was there that he conducted his first printing operations.

In 1474, Caxton was allowed to set up his press in one of the chapels of the Westminster Abbey. Very few of Caxton's books were connected with the church. In his first book he made the English familiar with the romance of the Trojan war, which he had translated from French.

There is a book translated by Caxton from French, and printed by him in 1484, illustrating the female manners of that century, "The Knight of theTower". The Knight ckmplains of the ladies, of their extravagance in dress: "The wives say to their husbands every day, "Sir, such a wife an d such has such goodly array, and I pray you I may have of the same." And if her husband says, "Wife, such that are wiser than they have it not," she will say, "... they cannot wear it, and if I have it, you shall see how well it will become me, for I can wear it." And thus her husband must ordain her that which she desires, or he shall never have peace with her."

One of the more important works of Caxton, in which he sought to provide his countrymen with a knowledge of history, "The Chronicles of England," printed in 1480, begins at the fabulous period before the Romans, and ends at the beginning of the reign of Edward IV. From the chronicles of his own country Caxton sought to lead his readers forward to a knowledge of the history of other countries. He popularised old books making them intelligible. He praised History calling her "mother of all Philosophy."

The early printers, English and foreign, worked with scholars; they were scholars themselves. Caxton was especially the devoted printer of Chaucer.

In 1490 Caxton was approaching to the great age of eighty. He worked to the last day of his life.>> (From William Caxton, the First English Prine

LECTURE 11

1500 - 1660 RENAISSANCE PERIOD.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DRAMA TO 1561

SHAKESPEARE'S PREDECESSORS

Literature of the Early Renaissance in England

In prose we find little as yet that can be classed as literature.

William Tyndale's English New Testament (Yовый Завет) (1525), the complete English Bible of Miles Coverdale (1535), and Cromwell's 'Great Bible' (1539), reflect the steady growth of popular interest in the Sriptures (Писания).

The Utopia of Sir Thomas More (1478 - 1535) is one of the most typical works of this time. In his Utopia (1516) Thomas More gave a profound and truthful picture of the people's sufferings and put forward his idea of a future happy society. For its descriptions about ideal state of soceity T. More owes much, on the one hand, to Plato 's Republic, and, on the government, and on the other hand, to the general speculations about life, government, and religion, which the intellectual awakening had naturally brought in its train; but though written in Latin in 1516, it did not enter English literature till 1551, when it was translated by Ralhp Robinson.

In the revival of English poetry the most pronounced (резко выраженное) direct influence(непосредственное влияние) was that of Italy. The lyrical poetry of Renaissance is distinguished for its keen interest in the inner world of man, in his emotions, his aspirations for the ideal and beautiful, his strivings for happiness.

In the second half of the 16th century lyrical poetry became so widespread in England that the country was then called "a nest of singing birds". Among the outstanding lyrical and epic poets of the time were Philip Sidney (1554 - 1568), Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), and Edmund Spencer (1552 - 1599). The letter was the author of the greatest epic poem of the time The Fairy Queen (Королева фей), an allegorical description of the adventures of knights and ladies, who fight against the vicissitudes(превратность) of life and gain victory over the forces of evil. The poem is written in nine-line stanzas, so called "Spenserian stanza", noted for their harmony and expressivness.

Various types of the novel developed in the 16 th century. John Lyly (1553? - 1606) and Thomas Lodge (1558? - 1625) were authors of novels dealing with court life and gallantry. Lyly's novel Eupheus (Эвфуэс, или анатомия остроумия)which gave rise (давать начало) to the term "'euphumism" (эвфемизм) designating an affected (притворный, жеманный) style of court speech.

The development of the drama to 1561.

The history of the English drama takes us back to the century succeeding (следовать за...) the coming of the Normans, the earliest mention of any dramatic representation in this country referring to a performance of a Latin play in Honour of St. Katherine, at Dunstable about 1110. By the time of the Norman Conquest a form of religious drama, had already established itself in France, and as a matter of course (естественно) it soon found its way to England. Its purpose was directly didactic; that is, it was the work of ecclesiastical authors, who used it as a means for instructing the unlettered masses in the truths of their religion. To begin with, the Church had this drama under complete control; performances were given in the sacred buildings themselves; the priests were the actors; and the language employed was the Latin of the service. But as the miracle play, as it was called, increased in popularity, and on great occasions larger and larger crowds thronged (толпиться) about (вокруг) the church, it became necessary to remove the stage from the interior [ ] of the building to the porch. Later, it was taken from the porch into the churchyard, and finally from the precincts of the church altogether (всецело) to the village green (лужайка) or the city street. Laymen (миряне) at the same time began to take part in the performances, and presently they superseded [ ] заменили the clerical actors entirely, while the vernacular tongue - fisrst French, then English - was substituted for the original Latin.

A later stage (стадия, период) in the evolution of the drama is marked by the morality play. This, like the miracle play, was didactic; but its characters were personified abstractions. All sorts of mental and moral qualities thus appeared embodied in types - Science, Perseverance, Free Will, Mundus, the Five Senses, the Seven Deadly Sins (separately or together), Good or Bad Angels, Now-a-Days, Young England, Everyman, Humanum Genus. As the morality play was not, like miracle play, obliged [ ai](обязан) to follow the prescribed lines of any given story, it had greater freedom in the handling (в трактовке) both of plot and characters. Little by little, as the personified abstractions came more and more to resemble individual persons, the morality passed insensibly (незаметно, постепенно) into comedy. The interlude (комическая сценка, фарс) was also a late product of the dramatic development of the morality play. This form grew up early in the sixteenth century, and is rather closely associated with the name of John Heywood (1497? - 1580), who for a time was court musician and general provider of intertainments to Henry III. His Four P's (Четыре П) is the most amusing specimen (образец) of its class.

These early experiments in play - writing are of great importance historically, because they provided a kind of "Dame School" (школа для маленьких детей) for English dramatic genius, and did much to prepare the way for the regular drama. At first, the comedies of Plautus (Плавт) and Terence, and the tragedies of Seneca were themselves acted at the universities before audiences of scholars. Then came Latin imitations. English writers learned many valuable lessons in the principles of dramatic construction and technique. The first real English comedy, Ralph Roister Doister (Ральф Ройстер Дойстер), was written about 1550 by Nicholas Udall (Николай Юдоль), head master of Eton, for performance by his schoolboys in place of the regular Latin play. It is composed in riming couplets, divided into acts and scenes in the Latin style, and deals in an entertaining way with the wooing of Dame Custance by the vainglorious hero, his various misadventures, and the pranks (проказы, шутки) of Matthew Marrygreek the jester (шут). Though greatly indebted to Plautus and Terence, it is everywhere reminiscent of (напоминающий) the older humours of the miracle plays and the moralities.

The first real English tragedy, on the other hand, is an almost pedantic effort to reproduce the forms and spirit of Senecan tragedy. It is entitled Gorboduc (Горбодук, или Феррекс и Поррекс) (or later, Ferrex and Porrex); is based upon an episode in Geoffrey of Monmouth's history; and was written by Thomas Sackville (Томас Секвиль) and Thomas Norton (Томас Нортон) for representation before the members of the Inner Temple at their Christmas festivities of 1561. It is interesting point (момент, вопрос) that this first English tragedy was also the first of English plays to use blanc verse, which had been introduced into English poetry only a few years before.

The first regular theatre in London was build in 1576 by James Burbage and was simply called the "Theater". The theatres in those times were wooden structures, the boxes and the stage being under thatched roof, and the middle part - the pit - roofless. The rich people occupied the boxes, or sat on stools upon the stage, while common people - artisans, yeomen, sailors and tradesmen - stood in the pit. There was no scenery but rude imitations of towers, woods etc.

All the actors were men, female parts were performed by boys.

Shakespeare's Predecessors.

Lyly is the most widely known as the author of a prose romance entitled "Euphues or the Anatomy of Wit" (Эвфуэс, или анатомия остроумия, 1579) of which we have spoken above. His dramatic work consists of eight comedies, of which the best are "Alexander and Campaspe" (Александр и Кампаспа, 1584), "Endymion, or the Man of the Moon" (Эндимион, или человек на луне, 1588), and

"Gallathea "(Галатея). These were written for perfomance at the court, and the interest in them depends not on plot, situation, or even characterisation, but on language - that is, on the wit, point, ingenuity(изобретательность), and grace of the dialogue. At that time when the humours of the public stage ran often into coarseness and horse-play (грубое развлечение), Lyly helped to give comedy an intellectual tone. In this, as well as in his skill in clever repartee (остроумный ответ), and in his continual use of puns, conceits, and all sorts of verbal fireworks, he anticipated Shakespeare, whose early comedies, such as Love's Labour Lost (Бесплодные усилия любви, 1594) and А Midsummer Night's Dream (Сон в летнюю ночь, 1595), obviously owe (быть обязанным)much to his example. From Lyly Shakespeare also learned how to combine (as in two plays just named) a courtly (изысканный) main plot with episodes of rustic blunders and clownish fooling. In these things Lyly set a fashion which others, including Shakespeare, followed, and in comedy he was undeniably Shakespeare's first master.

The greatest of the pioneers of English drama was Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593) (Кристофер Марло) who reformed that genre in England and perfected the language and verse of dramatic works. It was Marlowe who made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in drama. A man of fiery [ai] пламенный imagination and immense though ill -regulated powers, who lived in wild Bohemian life, and while still was killed in a drunken brawl, he was by nature far more of a lyric poet than a dramatist; yet his Tamburlaine the Great(Тамерлан Великий 1587-1588), The tragical History of Doctor Faustus (Трагическая история доктора Фауста, 1588 - 1589), The Jew of Malta (Мальтийский еврей, 1592) and the Edward II give him the place of pre - eminence among pre - Shakespearean playwriters. That Shakespeare, who must have known him well, and probably collaborated with him, was at first profoundly inluenced by him, is evident. His early blank verse is fashioned (смоделировать) on Marlower's. His Richard III and Richard II are clearly based on the model of chronicle play provided in Edward II. Even in The Merchant of Venice (Веницианский купец, 1956)there are many details to show that Shakespeare wrote with The Jew of Malta in mind.

Thus we now enter what we broadly call the Shakespearian Age.

The list of literature used:

A Handbook to Literature by C. Hugh Holman, William Harmon. 1992, New-York, London, 6th edition;

An Outline on History of English Literature by Hudson H.W. Bombay.: BI Publication, 1964;

LECTURE 12

THE 16TH CENTURY

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(1564 - 1616)

The greatest of all English authors, William Shakespeare belongs to those rare geniuses of mankind who have become landmarks in the history of world culture. The works of William Shakespeare are a great landmark (веха, поворотный пункт) in the history of world literature for he was one of the first founders of realism.

No wonder that Shakespeare's works were high esteemed by giants of world literature as Milton, Goethe, Stendhal, and Pushkin. Speaking of dramatic art, Pushkin stressed that it should adhere to (твердо держаться)the laws of Shakespeare's popular drama.

Shakespeare's life. By an odd chance, England's greatest writer, William Shakespeare, was born on St. George's Day, 1564, and also died on the saint's day in 1616, at Stratfort - on- Avon, right in the heart of England and in the midst of the country. He was born in the house in Henly Street preserved as his birthplace. There is the very room where Shakespeare was born. Lots of people who had visited the house had written their names on the walls. It seems a wrong thing to do - although among the names are Walter Scott, Dickens and Thakeray. In one room is a little wooden desk, the very desk that Shakespeare sat in when he went to the grammar school in Stratford. In Stratford is the beautiful Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. There's a bust of Shakespeare that was carved by a Dutch sculptor who lived near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and must have seen Shakespeare many a time.

He was the son of prosperous tradesman of the town. His father, John Shakespeare, the son of a small farmer, settled in Stratford and entered into trade, a little later he became its High Bailiff or Mayor. Though there is no actual record of the fact, it is practically certain that, like other Stratford boys of his class, he went to the local Grammar School, where he was taught Latin and arithmetic. While (несмотря на то, что...) he never became a learned man, his few years at school gave him a sound education. Financial misfortunes presently overtook his father, and when he was about fourteen, he was taken from school that he might help the family by earning money on his own account (самостоятельно). Of the nature of his employment, however, we know nothing.

In his 19th year he married Anne Hathaway, a woman eight years his sinior, the daughter of well - to-do yoemen of the neighbouring village of Shottery. This marriage was hasty and ill-advised (неблагорозумный), and appears to have been unhappy. Three children were born to him: Susannah, and the twins, Judith and Hamnet, obviously after Hamlet, the hero of the tragedy written by Thomas Kid (1558? - 1594), a gifted playwright and predecessor of Shakespeare. T. Kyd's play was very popular in England long before Shakespeare wrote his tragedy. About a mile out of Stratford is Anne Hathaway's Cottage. This cottage is just as it was in Shakespeare's time. In that little house one feels as if Shakespeare has come walking down the narrow stairs.

A Few years after his marriage- roughly about 1587 - Shakespeare left his native town to seek his fortunes in London. Tradition says that Shakespeare had poached upon the lands of a certain Sir Thomas Lucy, a rich landlord and county magistrate. Once Shakespeare was caught by Lucy's keepers and severely punished. Shakespeare avenged (отомстил) himself by composing a satirical ballad; very soon it became so popular throughout the countryside that wherever Sir Thomas Lucy appeared he was met the strains (стихи) of the ballad. Sir Thomas was enraged (беситься) and redoubled(усугублять) his persecution to such a degree that Shakespeare was compelled (вынуждать) to leave Stratford and seek refuge in London. The proof of the authenticity of the above (упомянутый выше) tradition (легенда) may be found in Shakespeare's works. In his plays King Henry IV, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Виндзорские кумушки) Shakespeare created a caricature of Sir Thomas Lucy in the character of Justice Shallow.

Shakespeare arrived in London and soon turned to the stage, and became first an actor, and then (though without ceasing to be an actor) a playwright. There is a story that when Shakespeare reached London he went straight to the theatre, determined to get work of some sort there; and that finding nothing better to do, he began by holding the horses of fine gentlemen who came to see the plays. It is said that a little later he was employed to call out the names of the actors and the pieces, and after a time was given a small part to act. But he soon showed that he could make himself most useful in changing old plays which the actors themselves could not do. Every old play that Shakespeare took in hand, he made into something different and far better. Then he began to write plays himself.

At this time the drama was gaining rapidly in popularity through the work of University Wits. When still at Stratford, Shakespeare became well acquainted with theatrical performances. Stratford was often visited by travelling companies of players. Shakespeare may have also seen miracle plays in the neighbouring town of Coventy, where these plays were still performed by guilds. It is quite probable that he visited the splendid pageants and other performances given in 1575 in honour of Queen Elisabeth at Kenilworth, a castle near Stratford.

As a poet and dramatist he won fame almost instantaneously. There is a great deal of evidence testifying to his great success. As early as in 1590 the poet Spenser who was considered to be the best judge on matters of art, praised Shakespeare in one of his poems. Several years later in the year 1598 Francis Meres, a writer and publisher, asserted: "As Plautus and Seneca are accounted the best for comedy and tragedy among the Latins, so Shakespeare, among the English is the most excellent in both kinds for stage".

Later on he became a shareholder in the two of the leading theatres of the time, the Globe and the Blackfriars, and purchased property in Stratford and London. The famous "Globe" theatre received the name from its sign, an effigy of Hercules who supported a globe bearing the motto of "Totus Mundus agit Histrionem" (All the world acts on the stage).

Shakespeare's activities as a dramatist, poet, actor and proprietor, lasted till the year 1612 when he retired from the stage and returned Stratford, where he had bought a house - the largest in the town - known as New Place. Now there is nothing left of it but a few bricks and the garden. The man who owned it, Mr. Gatrell, was bad - temtered, because so many people came to see the house, that he pulled it down (in 1758). While in London, Shakespeare often visited his native town, and took a great interest in its affairs. Thus in 1598 his townsmen approached him (обратились к нему) with a request to exercise (вoспользоваться правом) his influence in London and to soliscit for the exemption (освобождать) of Stratford from taxes and subsides. Many years afterwards, in 1614, accompanied by Dr. Hall, his son -in-law, he went to London to fight down the proposed enclosure of common lands at Stratford.

Shakespeare's biography proves conclusively (убедительно) that, like Chaucer, he was no dreamer, but a practical man of affairs. He reached London poor and friendless; he left it rich and respected; and his fortunes were the work of his own hand. Much light is thus thrown not only upon his personal character, but also upon his writings, in which great powers of creative imagination are combined with a wonderful feeling reality, sound commonsense, and alarge and varied familiarity with the world. Of the learning which is shown in his plays it is enough to say that it is not the learning of the trained and accurate scholar - of a Bacon or a Ben Jonson; but rather the wide miscelaneous knowledge of many things, which was naturally accumulated by an extraordinarily assimilative mind during years of contact with men and books. Translations gave him easy access to the treasures of ancient literature; the intellectual atmosphere of the environment in which he lived and worked was charged (наполнять) with new ideas, and was immensely stimulating; and Shakespeare was endowed with the happy faculty of turning everything that came to him to the best possible acсount (извлекать выгоду, пользу).

LECTURE 13. Shakespeare's Works.

During the twenty -two years of his literary work he produced 37 plays, two narrative poems and 154 sonnets.

It is difficult to ascertain the exact dates of the composition of his plays. Various allusions, however, political, cultural and such like which his play abound in (изобиловать), help to fix the date with greater or lesser exactitude. It should be born in mind that Shakespeare usually alluded (ссылаться, намекать) to contemporary events and that such hints found a ready response in the audience. Whatever foreign country or whatever historic era the dramatist depicted in their plays everybody understood that England was meant. Thus when Marcellus in Hamlet exclaimed " something is rotten in the state of Denmark" the public knew that players referred to England. In his works Shakespeare was always keenly alive to the events of contemporary life; this, together with his consummate (совершенный) craftsmanship made his plays extremely popular.

Shakespeare critics have agreed to subdivide his literary work into four periods, and by arranging the plays within these periods as nearly as possile in their oder of production, we are able to follow the evolution of his genius and art, and the remarkable changes which came over his thought and style.

(i) 1588 - 93. Period of early and, to a large extent, experimental work. Shakespeare's apprenticeship begins with the revision of old plays, such as the three parts of Henry VI and Titus Andronicus. To this period belong his first comedies, in which the influence of Lyly is pronounced (резко выражено) - Love's Labour's, The two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors, Midsummer constant - Night's Dream; his first effort in chronicle drama, distinctly reminiscent of (вызывать в памяти) Marlowe, Richard III; and a single very youthful tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. The work of this period as a whole is extremely slight in texture; the treatment of life in it is superficial; and the art is markedly[maktli - явно] immature (незрелый). The prominence (неровность) of rime in the dialogue, the stiffness(натянутость) of the blank verse, and the use of puns, conceits, and other affectations, are among its outstanding technical features.

(ii) 1594 - 1600. Period of the great comedies and chronicle plays. The works of this period are: Richard II, King John, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Parts I and II, Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Winsor, Much ado about Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night.

Shakespeare now leaves behind him the influence of his early masters, his work becomes independent, and reveals (показывать, обнаруживать) immense development in power and technique. It is far more massive(солидный) in quality, the knowlege of the world and of the motives and passions of men which it everywhere exhibits is infinitely more profound. The characterisation and the humour have become deep and penetrative, and there is great growth in the weight of thought. Shakespeare has also outgrown the immaturities (незрелость) of his former style. The youthful crudeness грубость, незрелость), extravagance, and strain (натянутость) are disappearing; the blank verse itself has lost its stifness, and is free and flexible.

(iii) 1608 -08. Period of the great tragedies, and of the sombre or bitter comedies. In this period all Shakespeare's powers - his dramatic power, his intellectual power and his power of expression - are at their highest. This is the time of supreme masterpieces. But what perhaps is most striking is the extraodinary change which has now occured in the entire spirit of his work. His attention is pre-occupied with the darker side of human experience, and his plays are made out (составлять) of those destructive passions which shake the foundations of the moral order. The sins and weaknesses of men form the staple (главный элемент) of his plots, and even when he writes what are theoretically distinguished as comedies, the emphasis is still thrown on evil and the tone is either grave or fierce. The plays of this period are: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, All's Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure(Мера за меру), Troilus and Cressida, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Timon of Athens.