Check yourself

1. When and where was Seof f rey Chaucer born?

2. Did he get his education in Oxford or Cambridge?

3. Where did he serve at 17-20?

4. What is to be ransomed?

5. When did Chaucer write his first poem?

6. What are the three periods in Chaucer's writing?

7. What are the "Canterbury Tales"?

8. What is Canterbury famous for?

9. Why were pilgrimages of every kind extremely common in Chaucer's time?

10. What did the 'Canterbury Tales" sum up? [13]

Lecture 4

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

1564-1616

The greatest of all English authors, William Shakespeare belongs to those rare genii of mankind who have become landmarks in the history of culture. Thus, it was Shakespeare who embodied in the immortal images of his plays all the greatest ideas of the Renaissance and in the first place the ideas of humanism, which means love for mankind blent with active struggle for its happiness and with passionate intolerance towards injustice, human falsehood and perversity.

William Shakespear was born on the 23^nd of April, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. His father, John Shakespeare, was a well to-do merchant.

Very few authentic facts of Shakespeare's life have been preserved; nevertheless there are many records left in the works of his contempo­raries that help us to restore his image. Of great value are the traditions that were current among the old residents of Stratford and London who knew William Shakespeare personally.

Although there is no record of Shakespeare's education, Stratford is known to have possessed an excellent grammar school, taught by university graduates, and there is no reason to doubt that Shakespeare attended it.

For more than 25 years Shakespeare had been associated with the best theatres of England. In 1599 the famous "Globe" theatre was established in which Shakespeare was one of the principal shareholders. The theatre received the name from its sign - an effigy of Hercules who supported a globe bearing ihe motto of "All the world acts on a stage". [14]

During the twenty two years of his literary work Shakespeare produced 37 plays, two narrative and 154 sonnets. His earliest work was in the plays of English history. He wrote, possibly with collaboration three plays on the reign of Henry VI. They were the beginning of his epical treatment of English history. In the earliest historical plays Shakespeare shows dependence on contemporary models: they have much of the older chronicle plays, though with an added firmness in characterisation. Later on he has liberated himself from any contemporary example, and evolved a drama, which while presenting history, allows for comic scenes.

In "Much Ado About Nothing", "As You Like It" and "Twelfth Night" he brought to the romantic stories not only a settle stage-craft, but excellent and well-advised characters. All that the romantic comedy could yield is gathered into the beauty of "Twelfth Night".

The great period of Shakespeare's tragedy is to be found in the plays which begins with "Hamlet" and include "Othello", "Mackbeth", "King Lear", "Antony and Kleopatra" and "Coriolanus". These were all composed in the first six years of the seventeenth century. It would, however, be false to consider Shakespeare's achievement in tragedy as far as these two great plays are concerned. Already in the English history plays he found a form of tragedy in “Richard II” and "Richard III". Tragedy, then, belongs to all periods of his work but the last one. At the same time, in the period of the great tragedies, his vision seems deeper, and his power in verse, and in dramatic genius. The great tragedies share some characteristics. Each portrays some noble figure, caught in a difficult situation when some weakness, or bias of his nature is exposed. Upon his action depends not only his own fate, but that of the entire nation. While attention is concentrated on this central action, Shakespeare portrays the whole world in which his hero moves. Each of the plays is made so that it can appeal to different audiences at different levels of intelligence. "Hamlet" is the story of murder, suicide, madness to those who call for melodrama, but for the others it is a more subtle analysis of character and a play in which verse is used with great subtlety. Like a character in life itself, Hamlet may not be capable of full interpretation, though it is clear through him Shakespeare investigated the whole problem of action and reflective mind. [15] "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are of miraculous quality, for they seem to be compact of originality. The characters are half-allegorical, the theme is full of suggestions, the action is a unity and all made beautiful.

In his works Shakespeare was always keenly alive to the events of contemporary life; this together with his consummate craftsmanship made his plays extremely popular.

Shakespeare's activities as a dramatist, poet, actor lasted till the year 1612 when he retired from the stage and returned to Stratford. Two of Shakespeare's fellow-actors made him immortal by gathering his plays together and publishing them in 1623, seven years after his death.