LBB AN129 G2 History of English Literature I. Seminars Block 3

Christopher Marlowe: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus

Influences: - morality play – ritualistic drama; essential pattern (movement from innocence to

experience, fall followed by redemption). The human condition is shown in the context of a unified cosmos; emphasis on the optimism of the Christian message of redemption

- newer tragic drama – mankind is seen not as part of a great cosmic process but as something which sets itself up in opposition to that process. The essential loneliness of the central character, death as something to be mourned (more sceptical, questioning and secular; more concerned with the ultimate disintegration and destruction of individual human aspirations)

Doctor Faustus: these two visions of the human condition are set against each other. ‘Inverted morality play’ – there is no redemption at the end. Faustus is shown in a double perspective: presented as a version of the morality-play protagonist /cosmic context, a traditional universe in which he is doomed to damnation unless he can find a way to repent/; tragic figure /challenging that very universe, calling its truths into doubt, asserting his own individual identity in opposition to traditional orthodoxy/ The ‘model’: the story of John Faustus – the Faust Book. Transformation of the obscure mediaeval figure into a Renaissance character – a scholar tempted by the unlimited possibilities of the Renaissance imagination, yet he faces a mediaeval world Faustus: lonely soul, having no confidants; parents of low origins. Rising by his own endeavours and brilliance. Signing the contract easily with Mephistophilis; the actual signing of the contract is delayed, the suspense is maintained by keeping alive the possibility of Faustus’s repentence – it is only before the final climax that the end becomes inevitable The knowledge Faustus gains – problem for Marlowe to illustrate it. Time moves on: 24 years are allowed to Faustus; periodic appearance of the Good and Bad Angels, urges to repentence – becoming more desperate. Terrible end – emphasis on Faustus’s state of mind rather than on the details of what is to become of him when he is damned Question of the comic (often farcical) scenes – an indication of the inability of the human being to cope with forbidden (divine) knowledge Language: still end-stopped but more flexibility than before Textual problems: A and B texts; A – 1604; B – 1616; additions by other playwrights

English Renaissance Prose Thomas More: Utopia

The only significant English Renaissance prose piece. Written in Latin (educated international audience). Frame: influenced by the new geographical discoveries (Amerigo Vespucci); two parts: Book One – conversation about contemporary isues (e.g capital punishment), Book Two – description of life in Utopia. In opposition to established ideas – against scholasticism, the spirit of chivalry (mainly war), discrediting gold Work: compulsory for all citizens. Ideal life – easy for the whole community, the happiness of the majority. Happiness is the end of existence; protesting against asceticism and contempt of well-being and honourable pleasure. Faith in the goodness of human nature. Religious tolerance, no capital punishment, no private property (> no envy); manual work but free time devoted to intellectual efforts (education)

LBB AN129 G2 History of English Literature I. Seminars Block 3 Some clues to ‘ideal’ state: working for 6 hours – controlling consumption; travelling virtually forbidden; situation before marriage – rather strange; barbaric laws concerning adultery Optimistic utopia – in the context of its own age (contrasts with 16th century England, esp. the reign of Henry VIII) Free play of ideas, often against his own convictions; yet deeply rooted in his experience

Shakespearean comedy

Shakespearean comedy: always involves groups of characters; starting point: some kind of challenge which presents itself like a blow of fate or sudden turn of fortune’s wheel; characters meet this challenge with energy and imagination. Conventional ending: double or triple wedding. Love as a central theme

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Everything is related to the theme of marriage. A world of magic and metamorphosis, brilliant spectacles, picturesque supernatural beings, music and dance. Challenging the very working of the imagination and of perception-mechanisms – the question of dream / illusion and reality Characters: stylised and unrealistic; four groups – the Athenian court, the lovers, the supernaurals and the mechanicals. Theseus and Hippolyta: remote ideals of classical calm, Puck: typical goblin, Titania and Oberon: immortals, elemental forces with the power to influence the climate and to bless marriages. Ordinary human beings: Bottom and his fellow artisans. Lovers: static; transformation is only temporary Intricate plotting: first the two men address one woman, the other is alone > circular chase > the two men face the other woman and the first woman is alone >finally the only stable arrangement is achieved; also: the line of action of the fairies and that of the mechanicals The world of dreamy confusion – central to the story. Much of the action takes place at night, in a forest; flowers and birds are frequently mentioned. Yet the dream world involves nightmare too – the fairy world never seems altogether sweet and light (Bottom is the only human being allowed to catch a glimpse of this world) The enchanted woods – dream or real? Title: suggesting the former /also: Theseus dismissing it as lunacy/; the whole play: making the unreal real – Hippolyta: recognising this reality of the poet’s creation. The mechanicals – play within the play, a parody of mediaeval drama and theatre; also a self-reflexive comment on the nature of drama itself (appearance vs. reality)