Shakespeare's comedies in the context of the late Reniassance (the Elizabethan period) and from the point of view of modern sensibility

 5. SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LATE RENAISSANCE AND OF MODERN SENSIBILITY 

The Elizabethan Age
1558 – 1603, brought stability. Elizabeth's grand father was King Henry VII. Her father Henry VIII reigned till 1547. Elizabeth was a Puritan. Puritans were very critical of the theatre. Elizabeth held a belief in universal order and harmony. Shakespeare (1564-1616) and his contemporaries were aware of man’s paradoxical position in nature (mainly influenced by stars and made in the image of God). Storms and bad weather in Othello and King Lear symbolise the turmoil and confusion of the characters. During reign of Elizabeth and James I. there was increasing discussion of religion. Audiences were intended to be awed by the power of God. Dramatist often criticised Puritanism, as Shakespeare did in his Twelfth Night.

William Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis, 1593, long narrative poem, his first publication
 * born 1564, babtized 26th April, died 1616, we don’t know the exact date
 * born in Stratford upon Avon . A prosperous market town. He was the 3rd child of his parents.
 * When he was 18 he married Anne H., she was 26. Six months after the wedding they had a daughter. Later they had twins who both died young (Judith, Hamnet). By the age of 28, 1592 Shakespear was already among the known actors in London.
 * He didn’t have a university education which many contemporary playwrights did. He might have been a schoolmaster.

 The Rape of Lucrece,  another long poem

The Sonnets - published throughout the 1590s, collection of 154 sonnets (in the form abab,cdcd,efef,gg), most of them show author’s affection for a young patron and for a “dark beauty”
 * He joined the Lord Chamberlain company in London in 1599. The Globe theater . Shakespeare's plays were played there. Later King James I was patron of the company.
 * 1609 published collection of sonnets
 * 1616 again in Stradford, quite wealthy, had a house. He died after a merry drinking party with his friends.
 * 1) *1623 his colleagues assembled a collection of his works.  First Folio , a poem by Ben Johnson: ode to Shakespeare, he called him the swan of Avon
 * 2) *There are several theories who wrote these plays: Baconian theory. Bacon – the philosopher was too busy to write so many plays, by analists dissagree.

 Comedies:

The Comedy of Errors
 * 1) *almost all were written before 1600, they make no great attempt at moralizing or satirizing, their main basis is a delightful story coming to an unfortunate problem. They are light-hearted plays. Mostly on themes relating to love. They feature theatrical devices such as mistaken identity and disguise.
 * 2) *<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The comedy was accentuated by the fact that female parts were still acted by men. They use situational comedy and farcical effects as well as wordplay and wit.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Two Gentlemen of Verona

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Love’s Labour’s Lost – early comedy, plays with words, with language, it foreruns the brilliance of his further comedies

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Best comedies –  As You Like It, 

<p style="text-indent:1.25cm;margin-bottom:0cm"> A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 

<p style="text-indent:1.25cm;margin-bottom:0cm">Much Ado about Nothing – foreruns restoration comedy of manners

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Taming of a Shrew

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Merchant of Venice

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Merry Wives of Windsor

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Twelfth Night – the most elaborate. Combines different tones of comedy and farce. At the beginning a girl masks herself as a boy. Girls were played by boys, so it is a boy – girl – boy. Source of comic efect. It opened opportunity for farce.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm"> All’s Well That Ends Well, 

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Measure for Measure

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Symbolic romances at the end of his career:

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Pericles, 

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Cymbeline, 

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm"> The Winter’s Tale, 

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Tempest =A Midsummer Night’s Dream= <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Is one of the earlier comedies, cannot be dated precisely, was written 1598. Main purpose entertainment rather than edification. Might have been written for a weeding. Like other comedies, was inspired by the romantic stories. Tales about love etc. One of those rare examples when Shakespeare invented his own plot. main source might be in folk-tales and superstitions which were kept alive by oral tradition. Here love is presented comically. The audience are invited to laugh. Female roles were played by males.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The action moves from Athens in the first act to wood near Athens and back. Four plots are woven together: 1. wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, 2. love adventures of Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena, 3. quarrel between Oberon and Titania a 4. comic business of Bottom and the Athenian workmen. Young lovers - Theseus is Duke of Athens. Egeus demands his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius. Unfortunately, Lysander has won Hermia’s affection. Theseus explains to Hermia that she should obey her father if not she must die or become a nun. Lysander and Hermia plan to escape. Let their friend Helena know. Helena is in love with Demetrius. Tells him. They follow Lysander and Hermia to the wood. Oberon wants to help Helena to win the love Demetrius. Orders his lieutenant to apply juice of magic flower to Demetrius eyes to fall in love with Helena. But he makes a mistake – applies it to Lysander instead.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Bottom plot joins – newly wed form the audience for the workmen’s presentation of Pyramus and Thisby. Connection to plot of the fairies – through magic juice. Oberon, King of the Fairies, jealous that Titania will not allow him to have her cherished Indian boy to serve as his page. He uses magic to cause her love to some ugly monster. The monster is Bottom – transformed by Puck into a creature with the head of an ass and body of man. For Titania it is an angel.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The link between the fairies and Theseus and Hippolyta – suggestion in cat II that Oberon has love relationship with Hippolyta and Theseus with Titania. Of course are the lovers reunited.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">At the end of the play, Oberon dances with Titania in Theseus’ palace. Blesses the offspring who are to be born from triple marriages.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Love as theme in Shakespearean Comedy

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">There are conflicting attitudes and assumptions balanced one against another. A fairy example of division between Love and Age. Age is represented by Egeus. Theseus – not as old as Egeus supports the view of Age, although he has some sympathy with youth. Lysander and Hermia agree that it is hell ‘to choose love by another’s eyes.’ Love cannot be prevented. It will find a way. The theme of a play is love’s folly as much as love’s freedom. The romantic in the play is balanced by the anti-romantic. Structure of the play moves from light to darkness and back to light again, the play ends with the re-appearance of the fairies.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Characters: Bottom – he is not fascinating by virtue of the complexity or richness of his personality, he is slightly dull, honest. He is a character ill-equipped to understand the nature of the dramatic illusion by which he hopes to please a sophisticated audience. He is always ready with solutions to problems. From the moment Bottom appears he establishes himself as the strongest personality among the workmen. <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Puck – plays the boyish pranks described by himself and one of the fairies, he adds confusion to the lovers and the workmen alike. He joins in to stir up more material for mocking laughter.