Abstract In this article, the writer notes that in recent years, two related and overlapping schools of literary theory have emerged that have offered competing responses to the relationship between Renaissancedrama and the political power of Tudor and Stuart Britain. To determine the differences in these perspectives, this paper provides an analysis of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors," Ben Jonson's "The Alchemist," Thomas Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy" and Heywood's "A Woman Killed with Kindness". The writer looks at these works from the perspective of two modes of criticism or theory, with various criticisms from the new historicist camp and culturalmaterialist camp being reviewed. An assessment of the complexities of these modes is also provided, taking into account the social, theoretical, and critical movements that informed them. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.
Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors."
Ben Jonson's "The Alchemist."
Thomas Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy."
Thomas Heywood's "A Woman Killed with Kindness"
Analysis
Conclusion
From the Paper "This relationship between social contract and means of production becomes even clearer when its importance in the community was taken into account, with marriage representing both a socially acceptable framework in which people could live together and have children, it was inextricably related to how people earned their livings and what roles they played in this society. In this regard, Orlin emphasizes that although marriage ceremonies feature prominently in the opening and conclusion of the play, there is a difference between the celebratory nature of the occasion today and the implications the institution had during this period in history. There is no romantic comedy involved in the marriage of John and Anne Frankford, for example, and the opening scene ... "
Abstract The paper shows how King Henry VIII created the modern conceptual model for English governance. The paper details the events of Henry's reign including his divorce of Catherine of Aragon and his marriage and eventual beheading of Ann Boleyn, and highlights his changing relationship with both Parliament and the Pope. The paper also discusses Henry's institutional foundation of secularism and his support of high culture in the court.
From the Paper "King Henry VIII was one of the most formative influences upon England during the early Renaissance. He created the modern conceptual model for English governance, an England that depended upon human, monarchal authority, rather than Church influence. The relationship between Parliament and King developed under Henry was unique for its day, and later enabled England to engage in electoral reforms, rather than undergo violent rebellions to enfranchise the populace like the European Continent in the 19th century."
Abstract This paper examines the qualities deemed necessary for one to be considered a renaissance man or woman. These characteristics are taken from literary sources of the Renaissance. The features of the Renaissance man and woman suggest at once a superficial concern with appearances and at the same time an appreciation for the innate talents and abilities of every human being. The author takes issue with the lack of morality placed on the Renaissance man or women.
From the Paper "Physical prowess and mastery of weaponry are essential skills for Castiglione's Renaissance man. Both men and woman are victims of their physical endowments. According to Castiglione, being too tall or too short can hinder the development of a man's athletic skills (p. 34). The Renaissance man is also literally well-rounded: he should be agile and strong, with "shapely" limbs (Castiglione, p. 30, line 26). Renaissance women must also fulfill specific requirements. Though they should develop their bodies as well as their minds, Renaissance women should not undertake strenuous activities, as even dancing too energetically can impede her "womanly sweetness," (Castiglione, p. 35, line 192). Neither men nor women should take sport--or anything else--too seriously because being well-rounded is more important than being a specialist. At the same time, both Castiglione and Alberti infer an appreciation for the diligent development of specific talents and skills, whether tennis, dancing, or archery. Therefore, the ideal person is not a dilettante. When the Renaissance man or woman becomes proficient at something, he or she can show that skill off in polite company, though without conceit. Being what modern people would call "cool" is a key component of the Renaissance ideal. Castiglione calls that feature "nonchalance," and the Renaissance man and woman should be talented and modest at the same time."
This paper explores and details items that may be found in a time capsule that reflect world events and cultural patterns from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Abstract This paper examines the art and cultural developments during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The writer of this paper describes articles that could be found in a time capsule from the Renaissance era as a rebirth of culture and a renewed interest in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome while explaining that the Baroque era grew from the Renaissance to promote an individualistic connection with God and spirituality as well as more appeal to emotions and drama. The items from art, music, architecture, philosophy and literature found in the time capsules are indicative of the events taking place during these two time periods.
From the Paper "The Renaissance represents the time period between the Middle Ages and the Reformation - roughly the 14th century through the 15th century. Many historians view the Renaissance as a period of intellectual and artistic rebirth in which European culture thrived. The arts would likely be represented in the Renaissance time capsule by oil paintings on canvas or by sculpture. The work of artists such as Da Vinci who use shadow and light to portray three dimensions in their paintings are likely to be found in the time capsule. As such, we could expect to find Da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting. We may also find a sculpture by Michelango such as his famed David sculpture which represents beliefs during the Renaissance about beauty in the nude form being a reflection of God's power."
Abstract Within John Webster's works, "The Duchess of Malfi" and "The White Devil", there are many messages about the results and realities of chivalry. Within these two works there is constant interplay between courtly reward and courtly desertion, with issues of class extremely volatile subjects. This paper shows, using Webster's works as examples, that the issue of courtly love in Renaissancedrama is one utterly surrounded by high emotion, intrigue, and secrecy.
From the Paper "Those men and women who overstep the boundaries of convention and disturb the honor code are friendless. There are many ways to overstep the role of the honorable, not the least of which is through flagrant acts of outranking love. The prince and the courtier, as well as the women who are often the objects of unquenchable desire are charged with the role of social police."
Abstract The theme of the supernatural in Renaissancedrama emerges more as a 'problem' than as a unified theology. This paper explains that the use of supernatural and characterization thereof, says more about the playwright's ability to use language to characterize, than about the ideology of the period. It explains that Shakespeare's stress on characterization results in more human fairies and spirits than in Marlowe's world.
From the Paper "These questions of truth and reality become even more sharply defined in "Hamlet." Ironically, Hamlet begins the play wanting to go back to Faustus' Wittenberg to study-but ends up meeting the supernatural on his own doorstep. Rather than the comic Faustus, stewing over his books, Hamlet's meeting with his father is frightening, and causes Hamlet to consecrate his life to revenge. (1.3) But Hamlet is never sure if the ghost is true or false, hence he uses a play as a truth-test of his uncle's guilt, noting that the devil has a power to assume a pleasing shape. By the end of the play, the supernatural has virtually retreated from the play entirely-the ghost disappears after preventing Hamlet from killing his mother in anger, and Hamlet does kill Claudius, but without the satisfaction of revealing to the court with his own words, or before his mother what really happened to his father."
Abstract This paper explains that the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Literary Renaissance and The New Negro Movement, began in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York City. The author points out that the Harlem Renaissance promoted changes in music, literature, poetry and architecture. The paper relates that these changes started in the black community following the abolition of slavery and were quickened as a consequence of World War I. The author underscores that the Harlem Renaissance can be seen as the African-American cultural response to the great social and cultural changes taking place in America in the early twentieth century under the influence of industrialization and the start of a new mass culture. The paper describes Georgia Douglas Johnson, who wrote poetry and plays as an important player in this literary and cultural movement.
Outline:
I. The History of the Harlem Renaissance A. The way the Harlem Renaissance started
B. How the Harlem Renaissance got its name
II. The changes that were made
A. The change in politics
B. The changes in the arts
III. Georgia Douglas Johnson
A. A brief biography
B. Her influence on the Harlem Renaissance
From the Paper "The Harlem Renaissance was a time of excitement and change for all of those who participated. It took many people to change the things that these people changed. Everything changed from music, art, movies, and politics. Many African- Americans from the southern states moved to Harlem during this time. The African- American community had established a middle class in many cities, with New York City being one. This time of movement can be referred to as the Great Migration. The Great Migration brought thousands of African- Americans to the northern cities like Cleveland, Chicago, and Philadelphia."
Tags: industrialization, mass culture, city arts abolition
Abstract Using two plays, Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" and John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi", the paper explores the theater genres of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Through Marlowe's play, the paper explores Elizabethan theater and through Webster's play it studies Jacobean theater. The genres are looked at in the context of being considered the beginnings of the Renaissance and a shift from the Medieval period to a more human-centered view of the universe.
From the Paper "The plays Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe and The Duchess of Malfi John Webster are both from one of the most productive eras in British drama, the period covering the Elizabethan theater and the Jacobean theater that followed. This period can also be considered the beginnings of the Renaissance and so a shift from the Medieval period to a more human-centered view of the universe."
Abstract The Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) was a period when cultural innovation was occurring at a very high rate in China(Lewis 34). One of the cultural areas that went through a particularly significant period of growth during this period was drama. The question that this essay attempts to answer is why did drama in the Yuan period flourish? It is argued that drama flourished in the Yuan period for four primary reasons. These reasons are; the commercialization of entertainment and the arts during this period, the use of vernacular language, the vulgarity and humor of many of these dramas and the fact that the dramas often used stock stories and characters that were known by a wide range of people.
Abstract This paper argues that the Harlem Renaissance, or "New Negro Renaissance," of the 1920's, was unarguably one of, if not the greatest flowering of African-American thought and culture in the United States. It suggests that through the arts, African-Americans were able to articulate their opinions on politics, race identity, alienation and the concept of a 'place in society.' The paper discusses various views on the importance of the Harlem Renaissance.
From the Paper "The Harlem Renaissance, despite the turmoil and conflicting strategies, did serve to accomplish a single goal - "the New Negro," a Black Identity that would continue to live on for decades to come. The NAACP still exists as a strong advocate for African-American equality, and Marcus Garvey's underlying message of an America that does not belong to the Negro, would be echoed in Malcolm X's and other black radicals of the 1960's and 70's thoughts. The underlying result of the Harlem Renaissance, though, is the identity of the American Negro, with roots in Africa and in the South, a proud race, that has seen dark days and worse still. Marcus Garvey once exalted, "Up You Mighty Race, Accomplish What You Will!" And the African-American did."
Abstract This paper provides a brief insight into the renaissance period which began as a cultural movement in fifteenth-century Italy and was known as an age of expansion, of the development of broad humanistic and philosophical thought. It also examines the period of the reformation, which in contrast was a collapse of many religious, political and philosophical schools of thought where nations desperate to break away from the shackles of Rome through the introduction of Protestantism and other changes. It analyzes how the renaissance was an age of change, of humanism that fairly broke the back of Christianity through corruption and dilution and how the reformation was a snap back against those changes and a return to biblical literalism.
From the Paper "The Renaissance was a period of enormous change and refinement in the human condition in Europe. It is the period that marks the shift from Medieval to modern times. First, the Renaissance was marked by a period of interest in humanism. The humanists believed that each individual person had a unique significance to society. This belief structure led to fundamental changes in art, literature, philosophy, the greatest of these changes occurring initially in Italy. It was during the Renaissance that the humanism that extended individuality to people also spread to nations and the collapse of the Emperor systems."
Tags: rome, protestantism, culture, christianity, pope
Abstract This paper discusses the similarities and differences between Greek tragedy and Japanese Noh Drama. It examines how although they are separated by nearly two millennia, by thousands of miles and by cultural differences, both were theatrical traditions involving masked performers, frequent use of music and dancing, on-stage choruses and historic-mythological themes and stories drawn from traditions. It looks at how later centuries' understanding of them, depends heavily on Aristotle's "Poetics" and Zeami's essays on Noh drama and how the two writers' approaches indicate the principal difference in the two traditions.
From the Paper "Greek drama originated in the choral hymns sung to the god Dionysus. Mimed episodes were enacted to accompany the dithyrambs of the seventh century and, as Aristotle has it, a "long series of changes" ended only on Tragedy's "attaining to its natural form" (Aristotle 670). The alternation of choral song and dance with enacted scenes predominated until Aeschylus introduced the second actor and "made the dialogue, or spoken portion, take the leading part in the play" (Aristotle 670). Sophocles introduced the third actor and scenery. And tragedy acquired its magnitude by expanding its scope and increasing the dignity of its presentation. The playwrights proceeded by discarding the trochaic meter, more appropriate to dancing, for the iambic which was more like natural speech."
Abstract This paper discusses the Harlem Renaissance and how it transformed African-American identity and history, as well as American culture in general. It describes some of the prominent writers who were discovered during the Harlem Renaissance, such as Claude McKay, Alain Locke, James Weldon Johnson, W.E.B. Dubois and Marcus Garvey. It also describes some of the artists and musicians who became famous at that time.
From the Paper "Musicians were also a tremendous source of enlightenment during this period. Specifically, during the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, "somewhere around the year 1918, this melting pot of southern blacks deeply rooted in the traditions of spirituals and blues mixed with the more educated northern blacks to create an atmosphere of artistic and intellectual growth never before seen or heard in America." In the case of music which may be the expressive form most frequently associated with experiences of spirit possession, contemplative revere, and wistful or violent nostalgia--our most striking experiences often takes place at moments of half-understood haunted-ness. Therefore, the intersection of, music and social memory constitutes and especially propitious site for cultural analysis, not least in the study of the Harlem Renaissance intellectual life" (Anderson 16). Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker are some of the musicians during the Harlem Renaissance that moved the spirit in most of the African-Americans. "Ragtime was the one artistic production of American music" (Huggins 282). It was originated by colored piano player in the questionable resorts of St. Louis, Memphis and other Mississippi River Town. Ragtime got it first hearing in Chicago and made its way to New York during 1918."
Abstract This paper examines why the cultural, social and artistic elements of the Renaissance spread across Europe. It explores the emergence of the Renaissance as a rediscovery of the learning and art of the classical world. The author expands on the humanism of the Renaissance.
From the Paper "The Renaissance was a period of rapid artistic and cultural development that celebrated the capacity and worth of each individual and returned the learning and beliefs of the classical world to a central position in European life. Given that much of the ..."
Abstract The paper contends that the Renaissance was one of the most prolific and influential times in all of human history. The paper discusses how Renaissance literature is still being read and acted out today as it was thousands of years ago. The paper explains that the most important aspect of the Renaissance was the invention of the printing press that ensured the survival of much of the work that was produced during those years. The paper looks at many of the works of literature and poetry of that time period.
From the Paper "In the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries' of the Renaissance, a wealth of literature, art and culture filled European streets, theaters and castles. It was as if all the artists knew that they could now come out of hiding from the Middle Ages and explode with creative new works that fantasized about other worlds or dealt with norms and activities of the times. The change began in Italy with a renewed interest in classical literature and values. Throughout the years, the movement spread to England, Germany, Poland and France and the Netherlands, with Humanism offering intellectual study and scholarship as well as culture."
