Romantic Plays in the Age of Queen Elizabeth

The Renaissance drama is English literature is called Elizabethan period. Sometimes it is called Jacobean Age and sometimes it is called the Age of Shakespeare; because the whole Elizabethan Age was dominated by William Shakespeare in the field of drama. It is a fact that romantic drama matured in the hands of Shakespeare.

Renaissance means the revival of learning in Europe, especially, in the art of painting, sculpture, architecture and literature. All the Renaissance writers were humanists, because they followed skillfully Latin and Greek pattern in their writings.

Actually drama started with the church in England before Shakespeare but in which the actors became priests and the drama was performed in the churches just to prove the truthfulness of Christianity. Such pays were called miracle plays. And the theme of the play was taken from the Holy Bible. After this miracle plays developed and were caller morality plays.

But in such plays characters were taken from practical field with allegorical forms. They represented all types of vices and virtues, good and bad. At last morality plays developed and were called Interludes. Such plays were composed in the 16th century with specific moral purpose.

Historically, the early development of drama deserves a greater attention, because in the Renaissance period the writers wrote tragedies and comedies on the pure classical patterns. First of all Plutarch and Seneca wrote their respective comedies on Latin pattern, but Seneca wrote tragedies.

In such circumstances the English dramatists borrowed the technique of writing plays from the classics, as the history shows that the English comedies written by Nicholas Udou. His famous comedy is Ralph Roister and Doister and the first tragedy was Ferrox and Parres both were written by co-authors; Thomas Sacville and Thomas Norton. But it is known in the history under the name of Garbaduce. In the Renaissance period Seneca’s style was followed by most of the English dramatist.

The second period of the Elizabethan drama was dominated by the group of young playwrights, who had been trained in the school of classics. They learnt their dramatic technique from the ancient but wrote in the modern language, and the group was called The University Wits. Among whom they are prominent; Kid Lyly, Peele Lodge, Greene, Marlowe, Nash, Shakespeare and Benjohnson. They were known professional writers in the age of Queen Elizabeth.

John Lyly (1547-1606)

Lyly is widely known as the best writer of eight comedies but his three comedies, Compospe, Endymion and Gallatha are most famous in the history than his other five comedies. They are all written for the court performance, but in all of them the interest lies not in plot construction, situation or the art of characterization, but on the language, wit, ingenuity and the grace of the dialogue.

Lyly helped to give comedy an intellectual tone. He uses continual puns, conceits and verbal fire-words. On the other hand, Shakespeare also learned from Lyly how to combine courtly main plot with episodes of rustic subplot and clownish feelings. He also used it in his plays beautifully.

Lyly’s Writings:

Compospe, Endymion, Gallatha, Sophoo and Phoo, Midas, Mother’s Bombie, Lover’s Metaphorporsis, The Woman in the Moon,

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

Marlowe’s historical importance in the history of English literature is more than any other poet due to his fiery imagination and power of expression. He was by nature a lyric poet than a dramatist. He wrote several plays in his life that got international fame in his life. He was more talented than Shakespeare was. He wrote Tamburlaine the Great, Dr. Faustus, The Jew of Malta, and Edward Second.

In these plays he introduced blank verse in his plays in a romantic way for stage drama for public enjoyment. Using blank verse in plays became popular among the public. Latter, Shakespeare followed Marlowe’s blank verse in most his plays and got popularity the world over. Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is the same replica Marlowe’s blank verse.

Christopher Marlowe’s Writings:

Tamburlaine, Dr. Faustus, The Jew of Malta, Edward Second, The Massacre of Paris,

Deedo Queen of Carthage.

William Shakespeare (156401616)

Shakespeare was the greatest dramatis of the Renaissance period and the whole period was dominated by Shakespeare in the field of drama. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. His sonnets show that he had a wide practical experience of life. He took the old themes and put them in a new style with a fascinating plot

construction and universal art of characterization. Shakespeare’s non-dramatic poetry consists of two narrative poem; Venus and Adonais and Lucreece.

His dramatic period may be divided into four groups:

1. (1588-1593)

It was the period of his early experimental works of Shakespeare revised his old plays such as the third part of Henry Sixth, Titus Andronicus, Lovers’ Labor Lost, The Gentleman of Verna, The Comedy of Errors, The Midsummer Nights’ Dream, in which plays the influence of Lyly is prominent. But Romeo and Juliet as a whole, is light in texture in which the treatment of life is shown superficial. There is a little depth of thought and or the art of characterizations and the dramatic art are immature. But clever dialogues, conceit, puns and other affectations are special features of Shakespeare.

2. (1593-1600)

It was the period of great comedies and chronically written plays. The works of this period are; The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado about Nothing, AS You Like It and Twelfth Night.

His later works reveal his immense development in dramatic power and technique. That show more power of knowledge of the world, dramatic technique, passions of men and their motives. The art of characterization and humor both are deep and thoughts are grave, and blank verses are witty with a powerful unsurpassable style.

3. (1601- 1608)

It was the period of great tragedies and bitter comedies…in this period his dramatic power, his power of expression and his dramatic techniques were at peak. He paid more attention to men’s life problems, their sins and their weaknesses are shown in the plot construction in Shakespeare’s plays. The plays of this period are; Julius Caesar, Hamlet, All’s Well that’s End Well, Measure to Measure, Troilus and Cressida, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens.

4. (1608-1612)

It was the period of later comedies and dramatic romances.  In this period thaws a sudden change in Shakespeare’s temperament that is prominent in his works. It was as if a heavy black cloud spreads over his imaginations to make it darker, but soon becomes clear with the dawn of experiments of practical field.

In the last plays he furnishes his works by tragic passions and evil is controlled by virtues and a tender tone is prevailing in the plays. It was the period of the balance of Shakespeare’s inborn mental powers. The plays of this period were: Cymbeline, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and Pericles, and Henry Third.

As a whole, he was unsurpassed in dramatic field up till now; in plot construction, in the art of characterization, in universality, in style and in writing witty blank verse. He was expert in writing comedies and tragedies with witty dialogues. His characters are universal. He knew how to peep into human minds, and how to read men’s hidden swimming emotions and motives.

Ben Johnson (1513-1637)

Among Shakespeare’s friends, Ben Johnson was most important due to his limitless genius and power of understanding and on the other hand, the principles of his works were different from Shakespeare. Johnson did a good deal of work outside the drama. He made a lot of translations of miscellaneous poems. His plays fall into three groups; his courtly mosques, his historical tragedies, Sajamus and Catiline, both were the most significant parts of his literary production.

Among his comedies, The Alchemist, The fox, The Silent Woman are considered the best comedies up till now. He was a realist and the world of his comedies is not romance, the life of London with real manners, foibles and affectation. He repudiated the lawlessness of romantic drama and took Latin comedy as his model comedy in all his works.

Finally, his art of characterization based on the idea that each human being is guided by his particular quality that is called the backbone of his personality. Johnson‘s comedies are the product of practical life, not the creation of creative power. He was expert in delineating the exact life of the people of his time.

Other dramatists of Shakespearean age were these who got fame in his life; John Webster, John Ford, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger and James Shirley.

In Shakespeare’s time the regular drama was played in the yards or in any other open place. In 1916 two permanent play houses were built; the theater and the curtain but both were seat-less, but the stage arrangements presented a greater interest for the play-watchers.