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| Melissa Rowles | |||||||
| Shakespeares Time Period | |||||||
| The age of Shakespeare was a great time in English history. London during the 16th century changed tremendously, its population grew 400% from 1500 to 1600, the merchant class was very productive and the economy was booming. The reign of Elizabeth from 1558-1603 saw England as the leading naval and commercial power of the Western world. Elizabeth Is England had the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and also established the Church of England (which was begun by her father). London became the leading center of culture along with trade. The literacy artists the leading at the time and this is the environment, in which Shakespeare lived and wrote. (http://www.bardweb.net/england.html) | |||||||
| The Renaissance time frame from (1485-1660) was a huge growth in individual expression and meaning. Renaissance meaning rebirth of learning and culture originated in Italy and where it had its peak in the 16th century. During this time Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, Copernicus and Galilei discovered that the earth is not the center of the universe, and the birth of modern science, mathematics and astronomy. Another important influence was the Reformation, which gave rise to political and religious identity and led to another look at the relationship between man and God. Literature before this was dominated by the ethos of the church. Reason rather than religion was the driving force behind this writing that explores the soul and redefines the different relationships in life involving authority, history and science. The most important subject matter was Man and the use of his powers, capabilities and free will. (http://www4.gu.edu.au/ext/1bk/sonnet/bg2.htm) | |||||||
| According to Carol Neely, England in the period from 1580 to 1640 was fascinated by madness so it is not a huge surprise to the common people who attended his plays. During Shakespeares time the two forms of madness that was popular was hysteria and melancholy. Hysteria usually is a female subject and melancholy the male. (http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/346/proj2/team6/girl1.htm) In his time, Shakespeare was the most popular playwright of London. He took the art of dramatic verse honed it to perfection. His use of language is remarkable and his themes are universal that they transcend generations to have audiences to this day still wondering. His writing has four periods of time also. The first has roots in Roman and medieval drama, the second showed more growth in style (with Shakespeare?s best, portraying the lives of kings and royalty), the third is marked with great tragedies and the fourth period has romantic tragicomedy and had themes of redemption. (http://www.bardweb.net/plays.html) | |||||||
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