Renaissance: Elizabethan and Jacobean periods English drama

william shakespeare, chief figure of english renaissance, here seen in chandos portrait.

the period known english renaissance, approximately 1500—1660, saw flowering of drama , arts. 2 candidates earliest comedy in english nicholas udall s ralph roister doister (c. 1552) , anonymous gammer gurton s needle (c. 1566), belong 16th century.

during reign of elizabeth (1558–1603) , james (1603–25), in late 16th , 17th century, london-centred culture, both courtly , popular, produced great poetry , drama. english playwrights intrigued italian model: conspicuous community of italian actors had settled in london. linguist , lexicographer john florio (1553–1625), father italian, royal language tutor @ court of james i, , possible friend of , influence on william shakespeare, had brought of italian language , culture england. translator of montaigne english. earliest elizabethan plays includes gorboduc (1561) sackville , norton , thomas kyd s (1558–94) revenge tragedy spanish tragedy (1592), influenced shakespeare s hamlet.

william shakespeare stands out in period poet , playwright yet unsurpassed. shakespeare not man of letters profession, , had grammar school education. neither lawyer, nor aristocrat university wits had monopolised english stage when started writing. gifted , incredibly versatile, , surpassed professionals robert greene mocked shake-scene of low origins. himself actor , involved in running of theatre company performed plays. playwrights @ time tended specialise in, either histories, or comedies, or tragedies. shakespeare remarkable in produced 3 types. 38 plays include tragedies, comedies, , histories. in addition, wrote so-called problem plays , or bitter comedies , includes, amongst others, measure measure, troilus , cressida, winter s tale , s ends well.

his classical , italianate comedies, comedy of errors, containing tight double plots , precise comic sequences, give way in mid-1590s romantic atmosphere of greatest comedies, midsummer night s dream, ado nothing, it, , twelfth night. after lyrical richard ii, written entirely in verse, shakespeare introduced prose comedy histories of late 1590s, henry iv, parts 1 , 2, , henry v. period begins , ends 2 tragedies: romeo , juliet, , julius caesar, based on sir thomas north s 1579 translation of plutarch s parallel lives, introduced new kind of drama.

though of plays met success, in later years, shakespeare wrote have been considered greatest plays: hamlet, othello, king lear, macbeth, antony , cleopatra. in final period, shakespeare turned romance or tragicomedy , completed 3 more major plays: cymbeline, winter s tale , tempest, collaboration, pericles, prince of tyre. less bleak tragedies, these 4 plays graver in tone comedies of 1590s, end reconciliation , forgiveness of potentially tragic errors. shakespeare collaborated on 2 further surviving plays, henry viii , 2 noble kinsmen, john fletcher.

other important playwrights of period include christopher marlowe, thomas dekker, john fletcher francis beaumont, ben jonson, , john webster.

other important figures in elizabethan theatre include christopher marlowe (1564–1593), thomas dekker (c. 1572 – 1632), john fletcher (1579–1625) , francis beaumont (1584–1616). marlowe (1564–1593) born few weeks before shakespeare , must have known him. marlowe s subject matter different shakespeare s focuses more on moral drama of renaissance man other thing. marlowe fascinated , terrified new frontiers opened modern science. drawing on german lore, introduced story of faust england in play doctor faustus (c. 1592), scientist , magician obsessed thirst of knowledge , desire push man s technological power limits. @ end of twenty-four years covenant devil has surrender soul him. beaumont , fletcher less-known, may have helped shakespeare write of best dramas, , popular @ time. 1 of beaumont , fletcher s chief merits of realising how feudalism , chivalry had turned snobbery , make-believe , new social classes on rise. beaumont s comedy, knight of burning pestle (1607), satirises rising middle class , of nouveaux riches pretend dictate literary taste without knowing literature @ all.

ben jonson (1572/3-1637) best known satirical plays, particularly volpone, alchemist, , bartholomew fair. engaged write courtly masques, ornate plays actors wore masks. ben jonson s aesthetics have roots in middle ages characters based on theory of humours. however, stock types of latin literature equal influence. jonson therefore tends create types or caricatures. however, in best work, characters vitally rendered take on being transcends type . master of style, , brilliant satirist. jonson s famous comedy volpone (1605 or 1606) shows how group of scammers fooled top con-artist, vice being punished vice, virtue meting out reward. others followed jonson s style include beaumont , fletcher, comedy, knight of burning pestle (c. 1607–08), satirizes rising middle class , of nouveaux riches pretend dictate literary taste without knowing literature @ all. in story, grocer , wife wrangle professional actors have illiterate son play leading role in play.

a popular style of theatre during jacobean times revenge play, had been popularised earlier in elizabethan era thomas kyd (1558–94), , subsequently developed john webster (1578–1632) in 17th century. webster s major plays, white devil (c. 1609 – 1612) , duchess of malfi (c. 1612/13), macabre, disturbing works. webster has received reputation being elizabethan , jacobean dramatist unsparingly dark vision of human nature. webster s tragedies present horrific vision of mankind , in poem whispers of immortality, t. s. eliot memorably says, webster saw skull beneath skin . while webster s drama dismissed in eighteenth , nineteenth centuries, there has been strong revival of interest in 20th century.

other revenge tragedies include changeling written thomas middleton , william rowley, atheist s tragedy cyril tourneur, first published in 1611, christopher marlowe s jew of malta, revenge of bussy d ambois george chapman, malcontent (c. 1603) of john marston , john ford s tis pity s whore. besides hamlet, other plays of shakespeare s @ least revenge elements, titus andronicus, julius caesar , macbeth.

george chapman (?1559-?1634) successful playwright produced comedies (his collaboration on eastward hoe led brief imprisonment in 1605 offended king anti-scottish sentiment), tragedies (most notably bussy d ambois) , court masques (the memorable masque of middle temple , lincoln s inn), remembered chiefly translation in 1616 of homer s iliad , odyssey.

the tragedy of mariam, fair queen of jewry, closet drama written elizabeth tanfield cary (1585–1639) , first published in 1613, first original play in english known have been written woman.