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Welcome to the English IV Website for
Trinity High School!
I hope to keep this site updated every other week. You’ll be able to find lesson plans and some
links for the stories we’ll read. I
hope you find it informative and helpful and that you refer to it
regularly. Let me know when you find
errors, please. I’ll try to fix them as
soon as I can. Welcome back to my classroom! I hope we have a great semester!
English IV is a required course. You will be introduced to a variety of British Literature, write essays about the works and your reactions to them, and be tested over the material from the text and notes.
Checking this site regularly will help you stay on
track of your responsibilities.
Click
here to retrieve the permission
form for watching movies in English class. Please have a parent or guardian sign the
document and then return it to me as soon as possible. Thanks!
Remember,
too, NO ONE IS EXEMPT FROM THE FINAL EXAM.
Click here for
Grammar Card Click here for
tentative course syllabus.
Click Here to go to
Lesson Plans Click here to return to Mrs. Rhodes’s home
page.
Unit One Notes
from Text…Highlight, copy, paste, and print them!
Unit Two Notes
from text…highlight, copy, paste, and print them!
Unit
Three Notes from Text…Highlight, copy, paste, and print them!
Unit Four Notes from
Text…MACBETH…Highlight, copy, paste, and print them!
Unit Four Notes from
text…HAMLET…Highlight, copy, paste, and print them!
Unit Five
Notes for Text…Highlight, copy, paste, and print them!
Unit Six Notes
from Text…Highlight, copy, paste, and print selection!
Don’t lose this paper…you’ll need it when you write papers
and take tests!
Check front & back of
papers and answer all the questions.
Use capital letters &
punctuation where needed in a complete sentence.
Don’t abbreviate b/c or w/
in a formal paper.
A lot = TWO WORDS!
they’re = they are
their = possessive pronoun There
= all other cases
good = an adjective that modifies a noun He’s
a good dancer.
well = an adverb that modifies a verb He dances well.
don’t = do not doesn’t
= does not
If you can’t figure out the difference…do not use the contractions!
too = an excessive amount two = 2 to
= all other cases
Christina Rule
= If you can’t figure out how to say or write something
correctly, please use another way/word/phrase.
Use a dictionary or ask the teacher if you don’t know how to spell
a word.
Know the difference between words that sound alike (ex. accept, except).
Balance all of your tenses within a sentence or story. Use all present or all past, etc.
She got out of bed
and then goes to the door.
(WRONG!) She got out of bed and
then went to the door.
Use nouns to
introduce/clarify pronouns:
He walked behind him and gave him a push. (WRONG!)
Sam walked behind Mark and pushed him.
Ain’t should
not be used in written work except when someone is being
quoted or when used to demonstrate local color.
Past tense of to be: I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were,
they were
In subjunctive case: I were
or he/she/it were (If I were you…)
NEVER USE: you was, we was or they was!!
NEVER USE: I seen, you seen, he/she/it seen, we seen or
they seen!!
Replace the word “got” with
a stronger verb, if possible. Always
try to use strong verbs!
Avoid beginning sentences
with: “so,” “well,” “then,” or “but,”
unless your speaker
is telling a story in a very
informal format.
Don’t begin a sentence with
the word “because” unless you’re introducing a phrase
and you have a second part
to your sentence that includes a subject and verb.
(Ex.: Because I don’t like Italian food, I don’t
eat in Italian restaurants.)
SUBJECT PRONOUNS: I, you, he,
she, it, we, & they
OBJECT PRONOUNS: me, you,
him, her, it, us, & them
Do not use object pronouns as subject pronouns! Me and him did not go to the store!
He and I went to the store. He went to the store with me. I went to the store with him.
NOTE THE DIFFERENCE! If the pronoun is used as a subject, use the subject pronoun.
He is taller than she (is). He is not taller than her.
CHECK ALL YOUR WORK!
Because of Diocesan policy, I am required to have your
permission to show your child
any movie that is not rated G; that’s why I wanted to provide
the list of movies we watch
in class and ask you to sign the attached permission form. I have chosen the films to
coincide with themes we’ll be discussing in the
classroom. I don’t expect to see all of
these films, but this is the list from which I am likely to
choose.
Thank you,
Christina Rhodes
English IV
Hamlet
Macbeth
A Knight’s Tale
Pride and
Prejudice
Sense and
Sensibility
Oliver Twist
Nicholas Nickleby
Frankenstein
My child _________________________________ has my
permission to watch films in
his/her English class. I have been provided with a list of the movies to be viewed, and
I
agree to allow my child to watch those
presented.
________________________________ _____________________
Parent Signature Date
Course Description: The course begins with the study of early Anglo-Saxon literature and
concludes with works from the Romantic Age, unless we find a way to go further. Some of
the works studied are challenging to the students as they try to grasp the meanings while also
understanding the historical aspects of the nation, which frequently tie into the writer’s themes.
The students will be assigned various writing assignments and are also required to complete a
research paper. Students will also fulfill the KERA requirement of completing a senior portfolio.
Class Supplies: 2-pocket folder or a notebook with pockets, notebook paper, and ink pens.
Assignments should be completed in pen or typed, when required. Students must bring their
text books, notebooks and writing utensils to class.
Brief
Outline:
Anglo-Saxon
Unit: Beowulf and works of Bede
Medieval
Unit: folk
ballads, Canterbury Tales, Le Morte d’Arthur
Elizabethan
Unit: Spenser, Marlowe, Raleigh, Shakespeare’s
poetry, The King James Bible
Elizabethan
Drama Unit: Macbeth or Hamlet
17th Century Unit: Donne, Marvell, Herrick, Milton, Bunyan
Romantic Age Unit: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats
Romantic Age Novels: Jane Austin film and Frankenstein novel
Other: Research paper and portfolio
Portfolio days (tentative):
Early August: review of required pieces
1st work completed by end of August
2nd work completed by end of September
3rd work completed by end of October
4th work completed by mid-November
November: group peer editing
December exam day: Portfolios are due and will be graded as your midterm exam.
English - IV Lesson Plans (tentative)
English
- IV Lesson Plans Weeks
20, 21, & 22
January
4 - 21
Jan 4 attendance, lunch count, etc. Start with their taking the quiz from day
one; do they know more?
Start 17th Century British
Literature. A lot of turmoil and
violence as the people fought the monarchy for power.
It is also the time of the plague. Intro is on pages 239 – 245. Use my overhead notes, too!
We’ll review notes today over the beginning of the
period, and we may take notes over John Donne, if time.
Poems we’ll cover this unit include “A Valediction
Forbidding Mourning,” “The Flea,” and The Holy Sonnets
(Death Be Not Proud and Batter My Heart, Three
Person’d God). Expect to finish
“Valediction” today. Cover “The Flea,”
briefly, if time allows.
Jan 6 attendance, lunch count, etc. If time, cover “Flea,” which is not on the
test; then cover the sonnets.
Review the notes from the
introduction. Cover the plays on words
(Sun / Son, due / do), paradox and
apostrophe.
Give out the worksheet on Donne, have them work on it, but we’ll have a
few minutes at the start of the next class.
Jan 8 attendance, lunch count, etc. Finish a worksheet on Donne’s work and submit it today.
If we finished Donne’s work, we’ll move on to
Marvell and Herrick today. Remember the
notion of tracking
time had been invented and that these writers were using
this to their advantage. Start the
poetry assignment
as soon as we’re finished with the reading.
Jan
12 attendance, lunch count, etc.
Finish the poetry assignment, in groups. Start working on Milton’s work. Give notes from the overhead, and
begin
reading through “Paradise Lost.” If we
don’t finish it completely, we’ll at least come close.
Jan
14 attendance, lunch count, etc.
Complete discussion of “Paradise Lost.” Give out the worksheet and have them
complete it and turn it in.
Review notes from the intro and the works of the
other writers so far. Start notes on
Pilgrim’s Progress.
Read as much as we can and give notes.
Jan 19 attendance, lunch count, etc.
Return and review the answers to
the worksheets from before (“Paradise Lost”).
Finish reading Pilgrim’s Progress. This is the last title for this unit and we
should begin preparations for a test.
After finishing the story, play 17th
Century Jeopardy. The test will be
given in our next meeting.
Jan
21 attendance, lunch count, etc.
Test today! Start Romantic works soon after.
While we’re at it, we’ll begin our discussion of the
research paper for the class. What
topics might they be interested in studying?
Be prepared to give me a topic by February
5th. Make sure they’ve looked
around to find out what they can find and what they can’t.
The more info the better, usually, but they should
be able to narrow down any topic.
If
time: Have them choose a topic that
interests them and write as much as they can about the topic…freehanded.
Make
sure to go through and organize their ideas.
Research topics are needed!
English IV Unit I Notes from text (COPY AND PASTE BEFORE
PRINTING, OR HIGHLIGHT AND PRINT SELECTION ONLY)
Our text focuses on English literature including
English language literature from Ireland or other independent nations that were
once part of the British Empire.
Britain has had a monarchy system for over 1000
years. Today, there is a constitutional
monarchy, in which a sovereign serves as head of state but does not actually
rule. The ministers (government
officials) headed by a Prime Minister, rule the country. Parliament is the lawmaking body; it is made
up of a House of Lords and a House of Commons.
Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066
AD
English
literature began when the Germanic tribes, the Angles, the Saxons, and the
Jutes left northern Europe and began invading the island of Britain in 449 AD.
The word English comes from the origin
Angleish. Today, the language these tribes
developed is known as Old English, and it’s much different from the modern form
with which we’re familiar.
Romans had invaded Europe many years before 449 AD;
in fact, the Romans ruled most of the then-known world by 250 BC. The history of Britain is actually first
mentioned in Roman literature / historical documents.
Julius Caesar was the first Roman general to visit
Britain. He wrote a description of
early Britain and the two tribes who lived there at the time: 1) the Picts (a Roman word meaning painted
faces) and 2) the Britons or Celts of Britain.
A second group of Celts, the Gaels, lived on a
smaller island called Eire, which became known as Eireland or Ireland.
In 43 AD, the Romans returned to Britain and stayed
there for more than 300 years.
When the Roman Empire adopted Christianity in the 4th
century, so did the Britons.
The Britons relied heavily on Roman military
protection. When the Roman Empire began
to fall, the Roman legions left Britain to defend Rome, and the Britons became
easy prey to other invaders.
Soon, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began to
invade. King Arthur, of Britain, won a
few battles, but he and his men were eventually pushed from the central portion
of the island.
Many fleeing Britons settled in Wales, others in
Ireland; some traveled back to Northern Britain and brought a new name, Scotia,
now Scotland.
In Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, the Celtic language
flourished, as did Christianity.
In Ireland, Celtic monks created one of the most
beautiful early Bible manuscripts, the Book of Kells.
The Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes were seafaring
warriors, and they often fought among themselves. They had short life expectancies and a bleak, gloomy outlook on
life.
One’s fate was known as wyrd, and it
was considered unavoidable. All roads,
they felt, led to death. Eventually, a
less violent, agricultural life helped to settle things.
By the end of the 7th century,
Christianity was also a firm peacekeeping force.
The Anglo-Saxon civilization emerged. Christianity helped establish the beginning
of education and a more civilized culture.
The first English literature was oral, not
written.
Songs and poems were sung or recited by traveling
minstrels known as scops, who composed or memorized oral
literature and passed it down from generation to generation.
The scops provided entertainment when
people celebrated a battle or the return of a hero.
The earliest English story-poem to come down to us
is about a hero named Beowulf.
Beowulf is an example of an epic, a
long narrative (story-telling) poem that recounts the adventures of a
hero. The hero usually embodies his
civilization’s ideals.
Lyric poems are shorter verses that
express personal thoughts and feelings.
Often, these were religious in nature, revealing deep faith and devotion
to Christianity. Other lyric poems
described tribal wanderings on land or sea, or they lamented the tragedy of war
and emigration. Others were exotic
riddles, showing a fondness for a creative use of language.
Not until Bede’s day did Anglo-Saxon
monks, working as scribes, begin to record the scops’ oral
compositions.
Bede preserved the lines of a religious poet named Caedmon, the
first English poet we know by name.
Bede and other monks also composed their own literature,
the first written literature in England.
Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English
People offers a remarkably complete picture of early Anglo-Saxon life
and times.
Bede wrote in Latin, the language of Church
scholarship.
Alfred the Great, the era’s most important political
leader, first encouraged the wide-spread use of Old English in written
literature.
Alliteration: the repetition of identical consonant sounds
at the beginning of words in the same lines.
Caesura: a strong rhythm in
which a pronounced pause occurs in the middle of a line
Kenning:
imaginative metaphorical phrases used in place of a simple noun. Examples:
the sea may be called the “whale-road” or the sun may be called
“heaven’s candle.”
When the Germanic tribes invaded Britain, they not
only brought their way of speaking, but they brought legends of traditional
heroes who would become the subjects of their literature. Though their outlook on life dealt with the
inevitability of death, they believed, too, that one could attain a degree of
immortality by winning fame and being remembered for heroic deeds. Courage was the most important virtue for
one of these heroes. Loyalty to one’s tribal
lord was also important, as was wisdom in making decisions and in guiding
others. Boasting was a hero’s dare, and
physical strength was crucial.
The name Beowulf means “bear.”
The anonymous author of this epic was obviously
Christian, for his story contains references to the Bible and many expressions
of a deep religious faith.
Christian scribes translated the copy that has been
handed down to us in the late tenth century.
We will read only parts of the 3200 line
poem, starting with a description of the deadly monster, Grendel. Hrothgar, king of the Danes, has built a
great hall called Herot, where he and his people celebrate. The Danes lead a happy and peaceful
existence until Grendel, who hates their noisy celebrations, invades Herot late
one night and murders the Danes in their sleep….
Vernacular – the language of the
people, in this case (Beowulf), Old English rather than Latin.
The Medieval Period 1066-1485 Unit II notes from text (COPY AND PASTE BEFORE PRINTING, OR HIGHLIGHT AND PRINT SELECTION ONLY)
The Medieval Period is often referred to as the Middle Ages. The Medieval Period began in 1066 when the Normans, led by William the Conqueror, defeated the Anglo-Saxons in the Battle of Hastings. William, the Norman King, introduced feudalism.
Land, which signified wealth, was divided among the noble overlords, known as barons.
Lesser lords pledged their wealth and service to the overlords who, in turn, provided use of the land.
Serfs, or peasants, were at the lowest end of the social scale.
After the Norman line ended its reign, other monarchs carried England through the rest of the Middle Ages. Most of these kings were strong, interesting, people living troubled, dangerous, complex lives in their search for power.
The first monarchs are known as the Plantagenet Kings. King Henry II, the first of these monarchs, fought to control the Catholic Church in England, leading to the murder of Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Henry’s son, Richard the
Lion-Hearted, is the model of a true knight.
During Richard’s reign, he traveled the world giving riches to the poor
and seeking holy relics.
Richard’s brother, John, who succeeded Richard, was a weak and villainous leader. John, in 1215, was forced to sign the Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter), in which he agreed not to raise taxes without the consent of the barons. Many see the Magna Carta as the beginning of a constitutional government in England.
During the reign of the Lancaster Kings, there were many battles: Battle of Agincourt, Hundred Years’ War, and War of the Roses.
Yorkist Kings came next. Edward IV encouraged William Caxton to set up a printing press with movable type, capable of printing in quantities large enough to bring printed word to the general public.
The rest of Yorkist history is dark. (An uncle (Richard III) took control over Edward V’s reign, and it was rumored that he had Edward V and Edward’s younger brother murdered.)
Tudor rule began in 1485, at which point the Middle Ages are said to have ended.
During the Middle Ages, knighthood flourished in England. Knights went on local quests, or went across the sea to fight the French, or on long journeys to the Holy Land. They jousted in tournaments while fair ladies watched and waited.
Chivalry was an ideal (not idea) that all knights must try to attain: to be honorable, courteous, generous, brave, skillful in battle, respectful to women, and helpful to the weak. The Romantic attitude of chivalry affected much of literature.
The Roman Catholic Church was very powerful in England during the Middle Ages. People from all walks of life practiced this faith and built their lives around church teachings.
Knights were willing to die and often jointed the crusades. Crusades were military expeditions undertaken to recapture the city of Jerusalem from the Moslems. They took place between 1096-1270. They weren’t successful, but they left a violent and bloody trail behind them on their way to the Holy Land.
In England, the Normans built monasteries and abbeys, which strengthened the church’s physical presence. Latin was the language of the church and was known to all the educated people of England. Thus, much lit of the period was written in Latin.
Life was normal and happy for Englanders of the time, rather idyllic for a while. In 1348 and 49, though, the dreadful Black Death (bubonic plague) killed 1/3 of the English population.
England still prospered. Guilds, like the trade unions of today, developed and established an elaborate hierarchy. Herding became more important than farming. The end of knighthood was mostly caused by the invention of gunpowder.
Drama as public entertainment began in England during the Medieval Period in the form of mystery plays or miracle plays, which were developed by the Church in an attempt to instruct the illiterate in the miraculous stories.
Later came the morality plays in which actors played the roles of virtues and vices (patience, greed, etc.). The conflict between good and evil ultimately took place within the heart of a single hero.
Folk ballads: anonymous, narrative verses intended to be sung and passed on by
oral tradition.
Folk ballads came from unlettered people instead of professional minstrels or scholarly poets. They used simple language and much dialogue to move quickly from scene to scene. Much of what happens in a ballad is revealed through dialogue (the speech of the characters involved. (Think about Lord Randal in your freshman book.)
The ballad stanza contains four lines (a quatrain) rhyming abcd, with four accented syllables within the first and third lines and three accented syllables in the second and fourth.
Some fold ballads used refrains, repetitions of a line or lines in every stanza without variation.
Verisimilitude: a sense that what’s being narrated is true
Direct characterization: takes place when the narrator tells us specifically about a character’s personality.
Indirect characterization: takes place when the narrator provides details that force us to draw our own conclusions about a character (what they say, how they dress, what others say about them, etc.)
Imagery: language that appeals to the senses (most commonly, sight)
Couplet: two lines of a poem (almost always rhymed) that usually draw a conclusion or present a solution to problems in the work.
Irony is the awareness of a contrast between appearance and reality.
Situational irony occurs when what appears likely to happen is not what happens.
Verbal irony occurs when words in a work appear to mean one thing but really mean the opposite.
Dramatic irony occurs when what appears to be true in a work is not what the audience knows to be true.
The Elizabethan Age 1485-1625 note from text
(COPY AND PASTE BEFORE PRINTING, OR HIGHLIGHT
AND PRINT SELECTION ONLY)
Finally, we’re at the age of modern English!
Henry VII, Tudor king, helped end the War of the
Roses and began a new royal line.
England experienced peace and progress through 1509.
Henry VIII, his son, married six wives and broke
with the Roman Catholic Church over questions of divorce and succession.
Elizabeth, Henry VII’s granddaughter, reigned from
1558-1603, and the period is named for her.
Feudalism collapsed and a new economy took shape,
which brought great prosperity to England.
Money, as well as land, was a source of power.
Banking became a business in this time period.
It was during this time, by the way, that Columbus
landed in the New World and English explorers were establishing British claims in
New England.
During the early 1500s, a protest against the Roman
Catholic Church was spreading; it was called the Protestant Reformation.
Before this, the Roman Catholic Church was the only
form of Christianity in western Europe.
Martin Luther and John Calvin criticized the
established Church.
By the 1530s, Henry VIII aligned himself and England
with the Protestants. He wanted his
marriage annulled because he wife produced no male heirs.
The pope refused and Henry broke with the Church and
established the Church of England (Anglican Church) and made himself its
powerful head.
In 1588, during the reign of Elizabeth I, England
became a great sea power.
When Elizabeth I died in 1603, her cousin James (of
Scotland) became the ruler of Britain; England, Scotland, and Wales were at
last ruled by ONE monarch.
During the Elizabethan Age, the people of Britain
were made up of farmers, shepherds, merchants, scholars, clerics, nobles,
robbers (highwaymen) and beggars.
People were also paid to write.
Renaissance means rebirth. In this time, known as England’s Renaissance, there was a great
rebirth and revived interest in science and art, and all learning flourished,
echoing and earlier renaissance in Italy.
The people painted, sculpted, and composed music
like never before and created new forms of literature, leading to great
achievements.
Elizabeth I helped the furthering of arts; she
enjoyed theatre and literature. Works
were written about her and were dedicated to her; the artists were often seeking
her sponsorship.
Elizabeth I also reorganized Oxford and Cambridge
universities. There was much prosperity
and more luxury during her reign.
Shakespeare greatly influenced literature of the
Renaissance Age, especially in poetic drama and the sonnet (a form of lyric
poetry).
Late in the era, during the time of James I, the
translation of the Bible did much to raise prose writing (writing done in
paragraph form), but poets were the most prolific.
Writers viewed writing as a profession and expected
to be paid for their work. Playwrights
made little money for their work, so often they worked as actors in their
plays, as did Shakespeare.
The period ended when James I died in 1625.
Terms for study
Lyric poetry: poetry
dealing with the emotions of the poet
Sonnet: a
fourteen-line lyric poem with a fixed rhyme scheme and meter, usually iambic
pentameter
Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet: a fourteen-line lyric poem divided into an octave (usually rhymed
abbaabba) and a sestet (usually rhymed cdecde, cdccdc, or cdedce)
English (Shakespearian) sonnet: a fourteen-line lyric poem divided into three quatrains (usually
rhymed abab cdcd efef) and a rhymed couplet (usually rhymed gg)
Spenserian sonnet: a
variation of the English sonnet (usually rhymed abab bcbc cdcd ee)
Spenserian stanza: new
stanza from invented by Spenser, a nine-line stanza rhyming ababbcbcc; the last line has six iambic feet
(hexameter) instead of five and is called an alexandrine
Meter: in poetry,
a regular, predictable pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
Foot: the basic
unit of meter
Iamb: type of
foot, in poetic meter, in which the unstressed syllable is followed by a
stressed syllable
Iambic pentameter: a
meter in which the predominant foot is the iamb, and there are five feet in a
line (one of the most popular meters in English poetry)
Alexandrine: a line of
poetry in iambic hexameter (six iambs), used by Spenser in “The Faerie Queen”
Quatrain: a four
line poem or stanza
Couplet: a two-line
stanza, poem, or poetic saying; the two lines almost always rhyme
Heroic couplet: two
rhymed lines in iambic pentameter
Sestet: a six-line poem or stanza
Octave: an
eight-line poem or stanza
Poetic drama: drama written in poetic verse, unlike today’s drama
often written in vernacular form
Vernacular: the
language of the people
Interludes: brief comedies and dialogues developed by
students and teachers for campus entertainment
Masque: very stylized form of drama involving
dancing
Elegy: poem of lament
Pastoral verse:
poetry that portrays the simple beauty of rural life, work that depicts
the simple pleasures of rural life, an idealized portrayal of rustic life, not
grounded in realtiy, but exaggerated rural innocence
Hyperbole: a figure
of speech that uses exaggeration not intended to be taken literally, usually
for emphasis or to create humor
Figurative language: language that is not meant to be interpreted literally
Turn: a change
of direction in a work, seen often between the octave and sestet of a
Petrarchan sonnet
Epic: a long
narrative poem that recounts, in grave and stately language, the exploits of a
larger-than-life hero who usually embodies that ideals of the culture that
produced him
Simile: a figure of speech comparing one thing to
another in a direct way, using the word like or as.
Metaphor: an implied
comparison between two dissimilar things in order for us to see something in a
vivid, unusual way. It’s intended to
help us understand a thing better.
Allegory: a work in
which characters, events, and settings all represent abstract moral qualities
Canto: a section
or a division of a long poem
Personification: a
figure of speech in which human qualities are given to objects, animals, or
ideas
Verse: poetry
Idyllic: excellent
and delightful in all respects, charmingly simple and serene (peaceful)
Enjambment: The continuation of a complete idea (a sentence or
clause) from one line or couplet of a poem to the next line or couplet without
a pause. An example of enjambment can be found in the first line of Joyce
Kilmer's poem Trees: “I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as
a tree.” Enjambment comes from the French word for “to straddle.”
Shakespeare’s plays are divided into three categories: histories, comedies, and tragedies. Macbeth is an example of a tragedy.
Most of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed in the Globe Theatre. Those who could afford it watched the plays from the seats in the gallery. Less wealthy people paid a penny to sit on the ground; they were known as groundlings. Plays were held in mid-afternoon, as there was no artificial light. The plays were fast-paced. No women appeared on stage; women’s and children’s roles were played by boys.
Macbeth was most likely written in 1606, early in the reign of James I, who had earlier been James VI of Scotland before coming to the English throne in 1603. With Macbeth, a figure from Scottish history, Shakespeare paid homage to King James’s heritage.
Shakespeare based his play on a distorted version of actual historical events, which he’d read about in Raphael Holinshed’s “Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland.”
The 1606 Gunpowder Plot, a plan engineered by the Jesuits, which was designed to overthrow James and replace him with a Catholic king, also influenced the play.
Macbeth, while loosely based on history, is a tragedy that deals with death, morality, and destruction. It shows how the breaking of a moral law inevitably leads to disaster.
In real life, Banquo was a traitor and an accomplice in the murder of the real Duncan, but in the play, he is honorable and loyal. The real Duncan was a young, feeble and faint-hearted king, but in the play he is an older and benevolent (kind) ruler.
The play is very dark and the mood is set early in the play with the witches. Though Macbeth at first seems to “have it all,” the witches foreshadow the “foul” things to come.
The play contains tragic irony. Duncan doesn’t realize that Macbeth is bad when he comes to stay in Macbeth’s home. He says the home is comforting, but it is there that Macbeth kills him. Also, Macbeth doesn’t realize that the prophesy of his being king will result in his undoing and ultimate death.
There is a constant opposition of binary opposites in the play: fair / foul, good / bad, right / wrong. It is hard to find the truth. Macbeth is blinded by ambition and can’t see what is real.
Setting: Scotland, 11th Century
Theme: Evil begets evil, but evil will not prevail. Also: When ambition is unchecked by moral constraints, destruction is wrought.
It is considered bad luck to mention the play in a theatre; it is known as the Scottish play.
The play is in poetic verse, except for the porter scene.
Irony: the awareness of a contrast between appearance and reality
Soliloquy: a speech made by the actor when he is alone on stage and speaking to himself; it reveals the character’s inner thoughts and feelings for the audience
Aside: words spoken by the character that other characters on the stage are not supposed to hear
Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter
Imagery: language that appeals to the senses
Tragic hero: a high-ranking person of integrity, bravery, and strength, but whose personality also includes a fatal weakness (tragic flaw) that causes the hero’s eventual decline and destruction
Tragic flaw: a fatal weakness in a tragic hero
Hubris: overbearing pride or presumption (often the tragic flaw in a tragic hero)
17th Century British Literature Notes from text
England in the 17th century was at time of political and religious turmoil, complete with shocking violence.
There was a struggle for power between Parliament and the throne (monarchy).
The ruler of England was also the ruler of the Church of England (Anglican Church).
Charles I alienated Parliament (which was made up mostly of Puritans who disliked the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church).
In 1642, civil war broke out between the Royalists (supporters of the monarchy) and the supporters of Parliament.
Most land aristocrats supported the Royalists. They were known for their long hair and their gallant and witty attitudes and were called cavaliers. The plainly dressed Parliamentary forces had closely cropped hair and were known as the Roundheads.
Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan member of Parliament, brought a victory to the Parliamentary forces and temporarily ended the monarchy in 1649. Charles I was beheaded.
The Puritans, now in charge of England, frowned upon all forms of frivolity, including the theater, which was shut down. (Oddly enough, the Puritans had been so persecuted in England 29 years earlier that they’d left the island in search of the New World and religious freedom.)
Cromwell was a dictator and enacted laws that restricted personal liberties. Catholics and Anglicans were denied freedom of worship. Massacres were carried out against the Irish forces that challenged Puritan rule.
Cromwell ruled the violent period until his death in 1658. His son, Richard, tried to fill his shoes, but by 1660, the people tired of Puritanism and restored the monarchy to a Stuart king. His return, in 1660, began the period now referred to as The Restoration.
During this time, Sir Isaac Newton formulated the Law of Gravity.
James II came into power in 1685, but the Roman Catholic ruler was unpopular. He was sent into exile and replaced by his daughter, Mary, who was a Protestant.
In 1689, the Bill of Rights that limited a monarch’s power was enacted. An absolute monarch would no longer reign above the law.
In 1665, the Great Plague swept through London killing 68,000 people. In 1666, a great fire devastated the city.
The rule of James I is known as the Jacobean Age.
The time of rule by Charles I is referred to as the Caroline Age.
The Jacobean Age produced works by John Donne, who specialized in metaphysical poetry, which was filled with unusual, intellectually demanding metaphors. Ben Johnson also introduced neo-classicism, a revival of the formal, polished forms of Ancient Greek and Rome.
During the Caroline Age, George Herbert was known for his religious verse and was greatly influenced by Donne’s metaphysical work. Robert Herrick, also writing in the Caroline Age, was famous for his short musical lyric verse, which showed the influence of Ben Johnson. He is one of the most famous of the “Sons of Ben,” which was how the Caroline poets who had been influenced by Johnson were known. Herrick was a Cavalier poet who took the side of the Royalists during the war.
Andrew Marvel, a Caroline poet, showed characteristics of both Donne and Johnson.
Marvel and John Milton were on the Parliamentary (Puritan) side of the war.
Milton is the greatest poet of the century; he developed his own remarkable writing style.
After The Restoration, in theatre, the comedy of manners became most popular. The upper class became the source of humor in these satirical works. For the first time, now that theatre had been restored, women acted on stage.
Prose works of the century were mostly non-fiction: essays, histories, criticisms, etc. The one exception is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory about a hero named Christian working his way toward heaven.
The term "Metaphysical Poet" was first coined by the critic Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and he used it as a disparaging term.
The
Romantic Age saw a lot of creative energy.
The writers of this period knew that something dramatic and unique was
being produced.
In
the late 1700s, the French Revolution greatly influenced Britain. Many Britons sympathized with the
revolutionaries. Once the revolutionists
were in power, though, they became violent.
The period was known as the Reign of Terror, and the terrible behavior
made it difficult for the Brits to continue their support.
From
1793 – 1815 Britain warred with France in the Napoleonic Wars. Bonaparte became emperor of France in
1804. The Battle of Waterloo ended
Bonaparte’s power in 1815. France
returned to an absolute monarchy and democratic idealists were crushed.
George
III ruled England from 1760 – 1820, but was declared insane in 1811. His son (George, the Prince of Wales), was
named stand in ruler until his father’s death.
Then George became King George IV and began his own 10-year reign.
Britons
underwent a lot of the same problems with King George and his followers as
Americans did. (This was the time of
the American Revolution.) Not until
1832 could more than 5% of adult males have the right to vote for parliamentary
members.
The
Industrial Revolution, which started in the 1760s, produced drastic social and
economic changes. The agricultural
nation transformed into an urbanized, industrialized one. Agricultural workers were paid less and land
fell into the hands of few, more powerful people.
The
new working class was made up of poor factory workers facing long hours, harsh
treatment, and bad health. Children
were exploited, as they were a cheap source of labor.
Slave
trade was made illegal in British colonies in 1807, and slavery was abolished
in 1833. Most rich people were
indifferent to the plight of the poor, but there were some sympathizers.
Writings of
the Romantic Era emphasized human adventure, passion, delight, and love of
splendor, extravagance, and the supernatural.
The works emphasized human emotions, much as the works of American
Romantic (transcendental) writers. The
writers realized that there was more to life than reason alone.
They
focused on experiment, the individual, rural life, nature-loving, imagination,
emotion, the mysterious, the supernatural, common life, the primitive,
independence, spontaneity, and, above all, nature.
The
Romantic Age in English literature began in 1798 with the publication of Lyrical
Ballads, a collaboration between William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge.
The
work was revolutionary and reflected spontaneity, emotion, and the
supernatural. It was a reaction to the
dehumanizing Industrial Age.
The
five greatest poets of the age were:
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron & Keats.
Not
much drama was produced during this period.
There was some closet drama, which was made up of poetic dramatic
works that were meant to be read rather than acted out.
The
gothic novel was popular at the time. A
gothic novel is one that has a gloomy, foreboding setting and that
contains strong elements of horror, mystery and the supernatural. Frankenstein is probably the most
famous.
Jane
Austin was another famous novelist of the era.
Her works were less romantic; instead, she focused on domestic
situations and the plight of females in the age. Her novels are more like our novels today and were conversation
driven. Pride and Prejudice is
her most famous work.
full title · The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Shakespeare’s plays are divided into
three categories: histories, comedies,
and tragedies. Hamlet is an example of a tragedy.
Most of Shakespeare’s plays were first
performed in the Globe Theatre. Those
who could afford it watched the plays from the seats in the gallery. Less wealthy people paid a penny to sit on
the ground; they were known as groundlings.
Plays were held in mid-afternoon, as there was no artificial light. The plays were fast-paced. No women appeared on stage; women’s and
children’s roles were played by boys.
Hamlet was written around the year 1600 in the
final years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who had been the monarch of
England for more than forty years and was then in her late sixties. The
prospect of Elizabeth’s death and the question of who would succeed her was a
subject of grave anxiety at the time, since Elizabeth had no children, and the
only person with a legitimate royal claim, James of Scotland, was the son of
Mary, Queen of Scots, and therefore represented a political faction to which
Elizabeth was opposed. (When Elizabeth died in 1603, James
did inherit the throne, becoming King James I.) It is no surprise, then, that many of Shakespeare’s plays from
this period, including Hamlet, concern transfers of power from one monarch to
the next.
Hamlet is a tragedy that deals with death and the impossibility of
uncertainty. It shows how the breaking
of a moral law inevitably leads to disaster.
The play is very dark and the mood is set
early in the play with the appearance of the ghost. As Hamlet becomes crazier, and people continue to die, the work
grows darker.
The play is in poetic verse.
author · William
Shakespeare
type of work · Play
date of first
publication · 1603, in a pirated quarto
edition titled The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet;
1604
in a superior quarto edition
protagonist · Hamlet
major conflict · Hamlet
feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his uncle Claudius, but
Claudius is now the king and thus well protected. Moreover, Hamlet struggles
with his doubts about whether he can trust the ghost and whether killing
Claudius is the appropriate thing to do.
setting
(time) · The late medieval period, though the play’s
chronological setting is notoriously imprecise
settings
(place) · Denmark
foreshadowing
· The
ghost, which is taken to foreshadow an ominous future for Denmark
tone · Dark,
ironic, melancholy, passionate, contemplative, desperate, violent
themes · The
impossibility of certainty; the complexity of action; the mystery of death; the
nation as a diseased body
motifs · Incest
and incestuous desire; ears and hearing; death and suicide; darkness and the
supernatural; misogyny
symbols · The ghost (the
spiritual consequences of death); Yorick’s skull (the physical consequences of
death)
Irony: the awareness of a
contrast between appearance and reality
Soliloquy:
a speech made by the actor when he is alone on stage and speaking to
himself; it reveals the character’s inner thoughts and feelings for the
audience
Aside: words spoken by the
character that other characters on the stage are not supposed to hear
Blank verse:
unrhymed iambic pentameter
Imagery: language that
appeals to the senses
Tragic hero:
a high-ranking person of integrity, bravery, and strength, but whose
personality also includes a fatal weakness (tragic flaw) that causes the hero’s
eventual decline and destruction
Tragic flaw:
a fatal weakness in a tragic hero
Try to figure out Hamlet’s tragic flaw.