William Shakespeare

In this week, we can learn a lot of knowledge about Shakespeare.Actually,I first heard Shakespeare with Romeo&Juliet,Macbeth and Hamlet.But I didn't know what they include.Now,I have knowledge about Shakespeare and his works.

William Shakespeare scarcely needs an introduction. Born in 1564, he was an English playwright, poet, actor, favorite dramatist of queens and kings, inventor of words, master of drama, and arguably the most famous writer of all time. In his 36 plays and 154 sonnets, he left behind the evidence of a brilliant mind, a wicked sense of humor, a deep sensitivity to human emotions, and a rich classical education. We know all about his work.

William Shakespeare scarcely needs an introduction. Born in 1564, he was an English playwright, poet, actor, favorite dramatist of queens and kings, inventor of words, master of drama, and arguably the most famous writer of all time. In his 36 plays and 154 sonnets, he left behind the evidence of a brilliant mind, a wicked sense of humor, a deep sensitivity to human emotions, and a rich classical education. Shakespeare changed the English language, inventing dozens of new words we still use today. His plays have been translated into more than 80 other tongues and performed in dozens of countries, where diverse audiences all still recognize the timeless elements of the human experience as depicted by a young Englishman 400 years ago.


Shakespeare's Complete Works form one of literature's greatest legacies. Shakespeare's plays are divided into comedies, histories and tragedies. From famous tragedies like Macbeth and King Lear to tragic love stories such as Romeo and Juliet to epic historic plays like Antony and Cleopatra, enlighten, sadden, teach and most important of all, entertain.

Doctor Faustus

  This week in the English Literature course our subject was about Doctor Faustus. We watched a movie which is relevant to it. It was written by Christopher Marlowe and published in 1604 after Marlowe’s death.
 I  made a research about this and I will mention about him and his work.
Dr. Faustus is a play written by Christhopher  Marlowe.This is a fantastic story  which is based on superiority. A doctor  who wants to be a perfect human and a devil power which can give the doctor whatever he wants. Of course, everything has an end and you have to pay a price. But,the most important thing is ,unfortunately,to become regretful as the doctor.

   

At the beginning of Doctor Faustus, Faustus takes a closer look at the collected wisdom of centuries of scholarship and has only this to say: codswallop! Instead, he turns to magic not only for the power and wealth it can bring him, but also because of the forbidden knowledge it promises to reveal to him. In the end, Faustus doesn't care about the knowledge itself—just what it can do for him, and that kind of thinking is exactly what winds him up in a pact with Lucifer. So while Faustus may be knowledgeable, the play suggests, he's certainly not wise.

The Renaissance

This week’s subject was the Renaissance.Renaissance was the period of enlightenment in the field of literature, art, science etc. This period is also described as rebirth. Starting of this period shows differences according to countries. The most important feature of this period was humanism. The idea of Christianity in Middle Age lost its value and humanism gained importance. Humanists dealt with this world, on the contrary Christianity dealt with the other world. According to humanism, this world is created in order to be made use of by humans. All caused self-discovery of humans. Therefore, this idea was reflected to literature and works. 

And we learned important figures of this period.We learned somethings about Shakespeare.We watched the scenes about Romeo and Juliet.

The Wife of Bath :)

I am going to mention about The Wife of Bath because this caracter attracted me last lesson.

The Wife of Bath is intriguing to almost anyone who has ever read her prologue, filled with magnificent, but for some, preposterous statements. First of all, the Wife is the forerunner of the modern liberated woman, and she is the prototype of a certain female figure that often appears in later literature. Above all, she is, for the unprejudiced reader, Chaucer's most delightful creature, even if some find her also his most outrageous. Her doctrine on marriage is shocking to her companions, evoking such responses that the single man never wants to marry. For the Clerk and the Parson, her views are not only scandalous but heretical; they contradict the teachings of the church. In fact, her views prompt the Clerk to tell a tale of a character completely opposite from the Wife of Bath's tale.

Her prologue presents a view of marriage that no pilgrim had ever conceived of and is followed by a tale that proves her to be correct. She expresses her views with infinite zest and conviction, with such determined assurance in the correctness that no pilgrim can argue with her logic; they can be shocked by it, but they cannot refute it. As she unfolds her life history in her prologue, she reveals that the head of the house should always be the woman, that a man is no match for a woman, and that as soon as they learn to yield to the sovereignty of women, men will find a happy marriage.

In her prologue, the Wife admirably supports her position by reference to all sort of scholarly learning, and when some source of authority disagrees with her point of view, she dismisses it and relies instead on her own experience. Because she has had the experience of having had five husbands — and is receptive to a sixth — there is no better proof of her views than her own experience, which is better than a scholarly diatribe.

Beowulf

   Last week's subject was Beowulf. I've watched the movie but, I had no idea about English Literature at that time. And here is the some information:

 Beawulf is the longest epic poem in old English,the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. More than 3,000 lines long,Beowulf relates the exploits of its eponymous hero , and his successive battles with a monster,named Grendel,with Grendel's revengful mother, and with a dragon which was guarding a hoard of treasure.






 Beowulf is a classic tale of the triumph of good over evil, and divides neatly into three acts. The poem opens in Denmark, where Grendel is terrorising the kingdom. The Geatish prince Beowulf hears of his neighbours’ plight, and sails to their aid with a band of warriors. Beowulf encounters Grendel in unarmed combat, and deals the monster its death-blow by ripping off its arm. 

There is much rejoicing among the Danes; but Grendel’s loathsome mother takes her revenge, and makes a brutal attack upon the king’s hall. Beowulf seeks out the hag in her underwater lair, and slays her after an almighty struggle. Once more there is much rejoicing, and Beowulf is rewarded with many gifts. The poem culminates 50 years later, in Beowulf’s old age. Now king of the Geats, his own realm is faced with a rampaging dragon, which had been guarding a treasure-hoard. Beowulf enters the dragon’s mound and kills his foe, but not before he himself has been fatally wounded.

Beowulf closes with the king’s funeral, and a lament for the dead hero.

Nobody knows for certain when the poem was first composed. Beowulf is set in the pagan world of sixth-century Scandinavia, but it also contains echoes of Christian tradition. The poem must have been passed down orally over many generations, and modified by each successive bard, until the existing copy was made at an unknown location in Anglo-Saxon England.

Early History of England

  This week the most effective thing I found is the history of England and I collected much more knowledge after the lesson.

Early History of England  

The island was originally inhabited by Celtic tribes from Central Asia prior to the invasion by the Romans c. 50-100CE.  Some of the Celts, a brave, fierce, and what we would call barbaric people, fled west over the mountains to what is now Wales and further over to Ireland.  The rest stayed and intermarried with the invading Romans.  The Romans brought architecture, art, "civilization," Christianity and most important, literacy. They stayed in the land, founding the cities that are today London (then Londinium) and Wincester, but during the fall of the Roman Empire c. 450-500 CE, the Roman soldiers left, leaving the now-softened Celtic people. 

This left the natives open to attacks from the neighboring Picts (from what is today Scotland) and Jutes (a Germanic tribe).  The Celts called for help from the Angles and Saxons, tribes from the area that is the modern Germany - Denmark area.  The Angles and Saxons saved the Celts, but then turned against them and settled in England, becoming the Anglo-Saxons who lived in Angle-Land (-- England). 

These Anglo-Saxons were brave, rude, reckless, adventurous and barbaric.  They did not have much of a written culture, but they brought with them a rich folk-lore tradition, with long epics recited by scops, the poets of the clan.  These recitations, the earliest English Literature, was finally written down by Christian monks in the 10th and 11th centuries. 

Religion: 
 

While the Romans brought Christianity to the land, it was not until around 650 CE that England was fully Christianized.  The native religions were dominated by the earth-based religion Druidism, but there were a number of smaller traditions being practiced.  These were not destroyed, but pushed underground in greatly diminished numbers, only to be resurfacing in the later part of this century.  Pieces of these older religions can be found thoughout English literature.  Right: Ardagh Chalice The acme of Irish Christian metallurgy, 7th-8th century,  (from How the Irish Save Civilization)

     Firstly, I didn't join first English Literature course, so I have no idea about what we're going to do. Actually, I have to say that I don't have much imformation about the course, and the only connection between me and literature is books. I always love reading books that is, my knowledge about English Literature is also very restrict, except for Shakespeare.
     I think English Literature will give us a lot of troubles because it requires much knowledge about literature and takes a lot of time. I hope English Literature will improve my general culture and benefit our acamedic career. Lastly, I hope we have so much fun and like English Literature.