Renaissance England

1. 15th C – 17th C
2. It is an era which re – establishing- the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome.
3. It was the beginning of theatre as a professional institution in England. Its building, structure and organization and the entire scene of theatrical activity in Renaissance London symbolized the fundamental tensions of English society as it moved from medieval to the modern world.
4. English drama in this period comprises plays on:
• English history (Shakespeare’s Hendry V; Marlowe’s Edward I);
• On Classical history (Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; Johnson’s Sejanus);
• Romantic Comedies (Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream);
• City Comedies (Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure)
• Heroic Tragedies (Shakespeare’s Hamlet, King Lear John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi)
• Plays of intrigue and satire (John Marston’s The Malcontent, Thomas Middleton’s The Challenging)
• Tragicomedies (John Fletcher’s The Faithful Shepherdess, Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and The Tempest)
5. English theatres were closed in 1642 (because of the Civil War), re-open in 1660 in a different form, indoor theatre performance with painted scenery, using light, stage machinery.
6. SHAKESPEARE was an English poet and playwright . Shakespeare is considered by many to be the greatest writer in the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, and the world's most excellent dramatist. Shakespeare is believed to have produced most of his work between1586 and 1616, although the exact dates and chronology of the plays attributed to him are often uncertain. He is counted among the very few playwrights who have excelled in both tragedy and comedy, and his plays combine popular appeal with complex characterization, poetic grandeur and philosophical depth.