1. The Renaissance in English Literature (1485-1625)

2. The Renaissance (“rebirth” in French) A Time of Action, Invention, and Discovery Views and values: humanism, individualism, energy, optimism, self- awareness, pride in nation Renaissance hero: multi-talented, self- developing, dignified, honourable, well- educated, good in fighting and politics Themes: human pride, ambition, time, death, religious subjects

3. The Elizabethan Age (1558-1603) Named after Queen Elizabeth I who reigned from 1558 to 1603. Her rule was so long and illustrious that the whole period of history and the magnificent literature it produced came to be termed after her.

4. Major literary forms: poetic drama (comedy, tragedy) historical play sonnet essay

5. BASIC TERMINOLOGY comedy - a form of literature that deals with life in a humorous or satiric manner tragedy - a literary work in which the character is destroyed by forces beyond his or her control historical play - a sub-genre of drama that uses historical figures, groups of people or events as a subject matter

6. sonnet - a poem consisting of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter (Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet) essay - a piece of prose that expresses an individual’s point of view; usually it is a series of closely related paragraphs that combine to make a complete piece of writing

7. Notable Authors: Sir Philip Sidney Edmund Spenser Sir Walter Raleigh Christopher Marlowe Sir Francis Bacon William Shakespeare

8. Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1558) Notable for his poetry and literary criticism Arcadia Defense of Poesie Astrophel and Stella

9. Edmund Spenser (1552-1599 ) Known as the “prince of poets” who invented nine-line stanza. The Faerie Queene Shepherd’s Calendar * stanza - a division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains

10. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) Poetry: The Lie The Soul’s Errand Prose: The Discovery of the Empire of Guiana

11. Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) Named by critics the father of English tragedy. Tragedies: Tamburlaine The Jew of Malta The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus Poem : The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

12. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Essays: Essays and Counsels The Advancement of Learning Famous quotation: “Knowledge and human power are synonymous” (“Knowledge is power”)

13. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Playwright (36 plays): tragedies comedies historical plays Poet : 154 sonnets 2 long narrative poems: Venus and Adonis The Rape of Lucrece

14. Shakespeare's tragedies: Romeo and Juliet Hamlet King Lear Macbeth Othello Julius Caesar Anthony and Cleopatra

15. Shakespeare's comedies: All’s Well That Ends Well As You Like It The Comedy of Errors The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado about Nothing

16. Shakespeare's comedies (cont’d): The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsmen Love’s Labour’s Lost Winter’s Tale

17. Shakespears’s historical plays: King John Richard II Richard III Henry IV Henry VI Henry VIII