·
Drama was the main feature of the Elizabethan age.
The second period of the Elizabethan drama was dominated by the “University of
Wit’s”, a professional set of literary men. The style was heroic. The chief aim
was to achieve strong and sounding lines. Of this little constellation, Marlowe
was the central sun, and round him revolved as minor stars, Lyly, Green, Peele,
lodge and Nash.
·
Christopher Marlowe (1564- 1593)
In 1587 his first play “Tamburlaine” was
published. In this play Marlowe dramatized the exploits of the Scythian shepherd who rose to
be “the terror of the world”, and “the scourge of god”. Tamburlaine was
succeeded by the tragic history of doctor Faustus, in which Marlowe gave an old
medieval legend a romantic setting. The story of the scholar who sells his soul
to the devil for worldly enjoyment and unlimited power, is presented in a most
fascinating manner. In “the Jew of Malta”, he raised the subject- matter of the
drama to a higher level. He introduced heroes who were men of great strength
and vitality, possessing the renaissance characteristic of insatiable spirit of
adventure. He gave coherence, unity, beauty and dignity and poetic glow to the
drama. In fact, he did the pioneering work on which Shakespeare built the grand
edifice. Thus he has been rightly called “the father of English poetry”.
·
Another important feature of the age were Elizabethan
sonnets. They were broadly divided into three categories: Petrarchan sonnets, Shakespearean
sonnets and Spenserian sonnets.
No comments:
Post a Comment