HISTORY
Elizabethan Drama:
* Queen Elizabeth – (1558 – 1603):
Her distant cousin - James 1 king of England (1603 – 1625) his period was known as The Jacobean Period – after his death Charles 1 became king (1625 – 1649)his period was known as The Carolean Period (drama was about court corrystion church with the court) society divided into two groups.
1. Cavaliers 'court, nobles, upper class, church' they enjoy the beauty of life.
2. Puritans 'middle class and poor' they wanted a reformation and they were against the church.
In 1642 there was a gap between Puritans and Cavaliers which leaded to a civil war. In 1649 Charles 1 was killed his son Charles 2 fled to France.Charles1 was a Catholic so he was killed by the Puritans.
England was declared by the commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell became the protector.
Oliver Cromwell in 1658 there was chaos. At 1660 Charles 2 came with a French army and defeated the Puritans and became king. This period was known as The Restoration Period (1660 – 1700).
At 1649 Cromwell closed the theaters, after 12 years in 1660 they were reopened and Charles 2 allowed women to play there rolls on stage so the corruption grew and because of that dramatists wrote comedies.
DRAMA:
Long history (13th 14th 15th century) miracle and mystery plays were written.
Miracle plays were about the stories of saints life 'important people’ how saints could solve problems and they were played in churches where they had good effects on human minds.
Mystery plays were about the stories of the bible e.g. Noah and how Lucifer and how Lucifer fell down from heaven and Christ how he used to cure people and about his wisdom, to create a sense of awe (power and wisdom) to inspire (faith and courage) , frighten (fear of the devil), improve (the quality of human personality).
In 16th century Elizabeth became ruler it was The Golden Era of drama Shakespeare, Kyd and others diversified the topic of drama and it became a big industry in Shakespeare Period because Shakespeare was more a business man than a dramatist. In that time there were only two theaters and they were owned by princess. Dramatists used to sell them their plays but when Shakespeare became famous he refuse to sell and became a partner with the owners of the theater. His aim was the enjoyment of people and he used to act in his plays.
Puritans didn't want plays to be acted in church but they weren't strong enough. After Elizabeth died they gained more power and killed Charles 1 and closed the theaters so dramatists stopped writing but when Charles 2 became king he reopened the theater and dramatists started writing again, but this time they were comedies because women were allowed to play.
Before dramas were written about morality & mystery plays in the 13th 14th 15th century. They were played in churches cause they had moral lessons.
A dramatist should make the beginning of the play interesting and introduce the theme and main characters.
The difference between restoration comedy and Elizabethan comedy
Restoration comedy:
Play writers created artful types of characters.
Clever and ingenious writers.
Sophistication of the fashionable world.
Polished and perfection seemed unreal.
Elizabethan comedy:
Play writers created powerful and original characters.
Imaginative writers.
Dramatist seeped in poetry.
Perfection in the art of writing a drama.
Characteristics of restoration comedy:
1. heroes: lively, gentlemen of the city, profligates (spend a lot of money), loose characters ( morally down).
2. husbands and fathers: dull and stupid characters.
3. heroines companions: jealous wives, amorous widows.
4. heroines: lovely, frail.
5. intrigues (plotting) complexity: sufficiently coarse.
6. the characters: show sympathy, faithfulness, kindness, honesty and loyalty.
7. plays were not often mere imitations majority have the original observation and independence of thoughts.
Comedy of manner: meant to reflect the weakness of society with aim to correct low manners.
What are the limitation of drama??
The dramatist cant say, put his own words so he says them through the characters.
1. deion: characters in different situation and describe with actions and word speeches.
2. narrative progression: the character does it but the writer himself can't.
3. comment.
4. direct penetration into the characters mind: dramatist should create a situation to match the speech said by the character.
• Essay's don't have these limitations because the writer can express his thoughts directly.
• Problems a dramatist faces when writing a drama? Ans.pg.1 in book.
1. build a character.
2. choosing a beginning point: important to create the interest of the viewer\reader.
3. movement: how drama should develop and various stages of drama are to be presented.
4. how to make the play express the theme that the dramatist want to present.
Theme of Spanish Tragedy not from Dr.sayed:
Justice and Revenge ( just understand )
The single theme of the play is revenge. The theme appears in many different aspects of the plot, with varying degrees of moral justification. It is introduced at the very beginning, when the ghost of Andrea wants revenge on Balthazar for having killed him in battle, although there is nothing the ghost can directly do to bring it about.
The next character who wants revenge is Bel-Imperia, whose desired victim is also Balthazar, since he killed her lover, Andrea. Initially, she plans to use Horatio as her means of vengeance, and when Horatio is murdered, she has a double motive for revenge.
The third example of the desire for revenge is Balthazar, who wants revenge on Horatio for taking him prisoner in battle and being an obstacle to Balthazar's attempt to win Bel-Imperia.
The last and most important example of the revenge theme is Hieronimo, who seeks revenge for the slaying of his son, Horatio. Hieronimo's wife, Isabella, shares his desire.
Even though Horatio's murder does not occur until late in the second act, Hieronimo's revenge is the main focus of the play, as it is he who has suffered the greatest wrong. It might be argued, for example, that Andrea has little cause to seek revenge on Balthazar, since they met on the battlefield in a fair fight. But Hieronimo has what anyone might regard as just cause. Also, the audience has witnessed the murder of Horatio directly — in contrast, the audience has only been told about the death of Andrea — which gives this aspect of the plot more emotional force.
Once the revenge plot is in place, the question becomes how it is to take place. Whose responsibility is it to exact revenge? Hieronimo's first thought is that he will do it himself. But Isabella introduces the idea that "the heavens are just" and that time will bring the villains to light, and, presumably, to punishment.
Not long after this, in act 3, scene 2, Hieronimo, frustrated at not knowing the identity of the murderer, severely questions the notion of cosmic justice. In lines 9 – 11, he appeals directly to the "sacred heavens," saying that if the murder
Shall unrevealed and unrevengéd pass,
How should we term your dealings to be just,
If you unjustly deal with those that in your justice trust?
Immediately after this appeal, Hieronimo finds the letter from Bel-Imperia, informing him that the murderers are Balthazar and Lorenzo — which suggests that the wheels of cosmic justice are in fact responsive to his plight. However, Hieronimo is beginning to believe that he must carry out the vengeance himself. But he is very concerned about the idea of justice. He does not want to strike until he is certain of the guilt of those whom he suspects. When Hieronimo finally comes upon incontrovertible proof of the identity of the murderers, he thanks heaven because he believes it is the gods who have refused to let the murder go unpunished.
Still concerned with justice and how to execute it, Hieronimo resolves to take his case to the king and seek secular justice. It is only the intervention of Lorenzo that stops him explaining the whole story to the king. With the failure of this strategy, and after briefly considering the Christian idea that revenge should be left to God, Hieronimo decides to take vengeance into his own hands. Even then, he believes that his solution to the problem is in fact "wrought by the heavens." Most modern readers feel that Hieronimo goes too far, since he also kills the duke of Castile. The duke is innocent of any wrongdoing; he is killed simply because he is Lorenzo's father.
This excess on the part of Hieronimo makes it difficult to argue that he is merely the agent of divine justice. It appears that he has stepped over the line that divides a just avenger from a murderer and a villain. His final actions also suggest that any human attempt to enact justice is fraught with danger and prone to error. An example of the fallibility of human justice occurs in the trial and execution of Pedringano. Pedringano may deserve his fate, but the legal process he goes through fails entirely to establish the fact that he was acting on the orders of Lorenzo, who, at least in this instance, escapes punishment.