Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Doctor Faustus and Hamlet - Context
Renaissance Period
-Characterised by great achievements in the arts
-Originated in Italy in the 1300s, reaching England in the 1500s
-A period of enlightenment and change in the relationships with learning and
knowledge
-Humanism was a popularised within the era
-Scholars studied the humanities (poetry, grammar, history, moral philosophy and
rhetoric) and the sciences, the latter often being entangled with art
-Important discovery: Copernicus discovered that the Earth was not at the
centre of the solar system
-A focus on ancient Greek ideas, texts and art
-Nature was glamorised in art
-Paganism and christianity were common themes in art
-Humanism encouraged people to question the role of the Roman Catholic church
-Protestantism began
-Reformation caused a split in the Catholic church and was led by Martin
Luther, questioning the practices of the church and whether they aligned with
the teachings of the Bible
-Scholasticism challenged the domination of intellectual life and higher education
-The Tudors ruled during this period-most notably Elizabeth I and Henry VIII
-England faced the threat of Spanish invasion
-Sycophantic royal court
-Patriarchal society
-There was an increased interest in mental health and madness
-Divine Right of Kings was widely believed in
-Renaissance idea: the wellbeing of the larger state depended on the good order of
all the families it encompassed
Renaissance Theater
-Elizabeth I cracked down on religious and political plays in 1558
-Greek morality plays and tragedies had a huge influence on Renaissance theater
-No women were allowed on stage
-Typically considered ‘unfeminine’ for women to attend plays
-Plays were held in the afternoon
-The University of Wits set the stage for the theatrical Renaissance of Elizabethan
England
-Playwrights and pamphleteers who were educated at Oxbridge who became
prominent secular writers
-Christopher Marlowe was a prominent figure within the group
Christopher Marlowe
-Born in Canterbury in 1564
-Educated at King’s School and later Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
-Involved in espionage

-Accused of ‘diabolic atheism’
-Plays portray a fascination with individualism and the men whose aspirations and
desires refuse to be held back
-Explores the theme of homosexuality in Edward II
-Challenges the conventional connection between worthiness and social rank
-Largely responsible for establishing blank verse
-Consisting of lines of iambic pentameter
-Developed the line into a flexible verse form, with a regular underlying rhythm
which could be manipulated and varied to create particular effects
-Theorised that he wrote some of Shakespeare’s plays
-Died on the 30th May 1793 in strange and uncertain circumstances, possibly linking
to his career in espionage
-Very controversial both in and after life
Shakespeare
-Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564
-Married Anne Hathaway in November 1582
-Their first child was born shortly after their marriage
-They had twins two years later, with their son dying at age eleven
-One of the managing partners of the Lord Chamberlain’s Company
-First poems were published in 1593 and 1594
-Thought that he also wrote many of his sonnets at this time
-Early plays were mainly histories, including Henry VI and The Merchant of Venice
-Several of his plays were performed before the Queen at court
-Described by Francis Meres in 1598 as England’s greatest writer in comedy and
tragedy
-Wrote numerous tragedies, including Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear
-Died in April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford
-First collected edition of his works-’The First Folio’-was published in 1623
The Great Chain of Being
-A hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought to be determined by God
-Starts with God and progresses downward to angels, demons, stars, moon, kings,
princes, nobles, commoners, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants,
precious stones, precious metals and other minerals
The Faust Legend
-Marlowe based the story and character of Dr Faustus on this classical German
legend
-Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a
pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly
pleasures
-German plays and puppet theatre loosely based on this legend were popular in the
16th century, often reducing Faust and Mephistopheles to figures of vulgar fun
...

-The word comes from Niccolo Machiavelli
-Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, humanist, writer, playwright and
poet of the Renaissance period
...

-The living were encouraged to offer up prayers for the dead to lessen their time in
Purgatory
-Taught that Hell was the destiny for those guilty of mortal sins
-Purgatory was a place where the souls of moderately bad sinners would go for a
period of purification before being allowed into heaven
-It is believed that Old Hamlet is in purgatory when Hamlet sees him,
suggesting that he is possibly being punished for the people he killed during
his time as King

Everyman
-A late 15th Century morality play
-Marlowe makes allusions to this play in Faustus’ final soliliquy
-The play is allegorical and the title character, Everyman, is representative of all
mankind
-The premise is that the good and evil deeds of one's life will be tallied by God after
death, as in a ledger book
...
The influence of the humors changed with the
seasons and times of day and with the human lifespan
...

-Gertrude believes Hamlet suffers from the melancholic humor while Polonius
believes he suffers from a lack of the sanguine humour
Tragedy Plays
-Took influence from Greek tragedies
-Derives from the Aristotelian notion of tragic flaw (hamartia)
-Includes subplots and comedic reliefs
-Also took influence from Seneca

-Early Renaissance tragedy borrowed the "violent and bloody plots, resounding
rhetorical speeches, the frequent use of ghosts
...
It could also suggest that the plays reflected the public’s
desire for justice against oppressive governance of the public
Comedy in Renaissance Plays
-Comedy was included within these plays to engage with the lower class members of
the audience who may not have been able to engage with other aspects of the play
-Would use ‘bawdy humour’ mainly to engage with the lower classes
-For instance, the actions of Robin and Dick
-Would also use more intellectual humour such as puns and sarcasm in order to
engage with the educated classes
-For example, Hamlet makes use of sarcasm and intellectual humour
Morality Plays
-Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by
personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him or her to choose a
good life over one of evil
-Represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre
-Morality plays typically contain a protagonist who represents either humanity as a
whole or a smaller social structure
-Post reformation morality plays sought to destroy Catholic credibility and demonise
the Catholic Church
-Dictated that more attention should be given to warning people against the Catholic
Church than of their sinful nature
-The role of the Virtues in post-Reformation morality plays was to preach a message
of salvation based upon an individual’s faith and the grace of God

---