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fandomhigh2006-02-06 08:24 am
izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-02-06 08:24 am
Entry tags:
Western Literature, Lesson 5, Periods 5 & 6
Isabel stood in the front of the room, looking just a bit nervous. "Professor Chaucer isn't here today, so he asked me to cover things and help Professor Lyman. Please bear with me, I'm new at this."
QUIZ
1. Define "parodos".
2. What tactic do the women of Athens use in Lysistrata to convince the men to stop fighting?
3. What is the subject of Symposium?
4. What three plot patterns make up the structure of Symposium?
5. According to Dante's Inferno, what category of sinners are tormented in the First and Ninth circles of hell respectively?
[LECTURE] The classical tradition of Greek and Roman tragedy was largely forgotten in Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the beginning of 16th century, and public theater in this period was dominiated by mystery plays, morality plays, farces and miracle plays, etc. As early as 1503 however, original language versions of Sophocles, Seneca, Euripides, Aristophanes, Terence and Plautus were all available in Europe and the next forty years would see humanists and poets both translating these classics and adapting them. In the 1540s, the continental university setting (and especially – from 1553 on – the Jesuit colleges) became host to a Neo-Latin theater (in Latin) written by professors. The influence of Seneca was particularly strong in humanist tragedy. His plays – with their ghosts, lyrical passages and rhetorical oratory – brought to many humanist tragedies a concentration on rhetoric and language over dramatic action.
Along with their work as translators and adaptors of plays, the humanists also investigated classical theories of dramatic structure, plot, and characterization. Horace, Aristotle, Averroes, Julius Caesar Scaliger, Diomedes and Aelius Donatus were all sources of classical theory. The 16th century Italians played a central role in the publishing and interpretation of classical dramatic theory, and their works had a major effect on continental theater.
Humanist writers recommended that tragedy should be in five acts and have three main characters of noble rank; the play should begin in the middle of the action (in medias res), use noble language and not show scenes of horror on the stage. Some writers attempted to link the medieval tradition of morality plays and farces to classical theater, but others rejected this claim and elevated classical tragedy and comedy to a higher dignity. Of greater difficulty for the theorists was the incorporation of Aristotle's notion of "catharsis" or the purgation of emotions with Renaissance theater, which remained profoundly attached to both pleasing the audience and to the rhetorical aim of showing moral examples.
The precepts of the "three unities" and theatrical decorum would eventually come to dominate French and Italian tragedy in the 17th century, while English Renaissance tragedy would follow a path far less behoven to classical theory and more open to dramatic action and the portrayal of tragic events on stage.
In the English language, the most famous and most successful tragedies are those of William Shakespeare and his Elizabethan contemporaries, most notably Christopher Marlowe and John Webster.
Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1599. It portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator, Julius Caesar, his assassination and its aftermath. It is one of several Shakespeare plays that are based on true events from history.
Unlike the other titular characters in Shakespeare's plays (for example, King Lear or Henry V), Caesar is not the central character in the action of the play, appearing in only three scenes and dying at the beginning of the third Act. The central protagonist of the play is Brutus and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honour, patriotism, and friendship.
The play is notable for being the first of Shakespeare's five great tragedies.
Most Shakespeare critics and historians agree that the play reflected the general anxiety of England due to worries over succession of leadership. At the time of its creation and first performance, Elizabeth I, a strong ruler, was elderly and had refused to name a successor, leading to worries that a civil war similar to that of Rome's might break out after her death.
[IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT] Listen to Professor Lyman's lecture and participate in his discussion.
***Assignment for Next Week: Read Faust.***
QUIZ
1. Define "parodos".
2. What tactic do the women of Athens use in Lysistrata to convince the men to stop fighting?
3. What is the subject of Symposium?
4. What three plot patterns make up the structure of Symposium?
5. According to Dante's Inferno, what category of sinners are tormented in the First and Ninth circles of hell respectively?
[LECTURE] The classical tradition of Greek and Roman tragedy was largely forgotten in Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the beginning of 16th century, and public theater in this period was dominiated by mystery plays, morality plays, farces and miracle plays, etc. As early as 1503 however, original language versions of Sophocles, Seneca, Euripides, Aristophanes, Terence and Plautus were all available in Europe and the next forty years would see humanists and poets both translating these classics and adapting them. In the 1540s, the continental university setting (and especially – from 1553 on – the Jesuit colleges) became host to a Neo-Latin theater (in Latin) written by professors. The influence of Seneca was particularly strong in humanist tragedy. His plays – with their ghosts, lyrical passages and rhetorical oratory – brought to many humanist tragedies a concentration on rhetoric and language over dramatic action.
Along with their work as translators and adaptors of plays, the humanists also investigated classical theories of dramatic structure, plot, and characterization. Horace, Aristotle, Averroes, Julius Caesar Scaliger, Diomedes and Aelius Donatus were all sources of classical theory. The 16th century Italians played a central role in the publishing and interpretation of classical dramatic theory, and their works had a major effect on continental theater.
Humanist writers recommended that tragedy should be in five acts and have three main characters of noble rank; the play should begin in the middle of the action (in medias res), use noble language and not show scenes of horror on the stage. Some writers attempted to link the medieval tradition of morality plays and farces to classical theater, but others rejected this claim and elevated classical tragedy and comedy to a higher dignity. Of greater difficulty for the theorists was the incorporation of Aristotle's notion of "catharsis" or the purgation of emotions with Renaissance theater, which remained profoundly attached to both pleasing the audience and to the rhetorical aim of showing moral examples.
The precepts of the "three unities" and theatrical decorum would eventually come to dominate French and Italian tragedy in the 17th century, while English Renaissance tragedy would follow a path far less behoven to classical theory and more open to dramatic action and the portrayal of tragic events on stage.
In the English language, the most famous and most successful tragedies are those of William Shakespeare and his Elizabethan contemporaries, most notably Christopher Marlowe and John Webster.
Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1599. It portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator, Julius Caesar, his assassination and its aftermath. It is one of several Shakespeare plays that are based on true events from history.
Unlike the other titular characters in Shakespeare's plays (for example, King Lear or Henry V), Caesar is not the central character in the action of the play, appearing in only three scenes and dying at the beginning of the third Act. The central protagonist of the play is Brutus and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honour, patriotism, and friendship.
The play is notable for being the first of Shakespeare's five great tragedies.
Most Shakespeare critics and historians agree that the play reflected the general anxiety of England due to worries over succession of leadership. At the time of its creation and first performance, Elizabeth I, a strong ruler, was elderly and had refused to name a successor, leading to worries that a civil war similar to that of Rome's might break out after her death.
[IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT] Listen to Professor Lyman's lecture and participate in his discussion.
***Assignment for Next Week: Read Faust.***
Re: Professor Lyman's Lecture and Discussion
Perhaps I am the only one, but I must admit that I've never heard of this "Shakespeare" before. I do enjoy the theatre, and I consider myself rather well versed in it, but I seem to be the only person who has never heard of this man. Has he not been translated into Danish, or have I merely neglected my studies in Renaissance-era drama?