When talking about English literature and its importance, we take a step towards its history and its significance along with that we get to see a glimpse of different writers, and poets who influenced us through their writings and the way they made their fame in the history of English literature. Some of the famous writers we have William Shakespeare, Ben Johnson, Edmund Spencer, Milton, and Christopher Marlowe, etc. literature being a reflection of society depicts certain important historical eras, such as the medieval period, Anglo-Saxon period, Anglo-Norman period, the Renaissance period, puritan age, restoration period, etc. At the time of Anglo Saxon and Norman periods, religious obligations were most common in the society because the center was the church and the pope has all the rights to rule. So both Anglo-Saxon and Norman contributed their waters to the main flood and this period was marked by the beginning of the English prose.
That era created a remarkable achievements and he was the most notable of them, Geoffrey Chaucer. The writer of the world that is to say wrote about the things he saw and described people he met. He was the first who broke away from medieval forms and approach realism.
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After the old literature politics, England during that period was taking a flight of an eagle to the heights of national greatness, to the level of intelligence. This was a revival of learning or the enlightenment of human minds after the darkness of the middle ages. A sudden horizon of rapid enlightenment gave a new beginning in the era of the Renaissance not only that, tremendous new discoveries, geographical intellectual, sciences, and most importantly, the idea of humanism gave birth in the 15th century.
Humanism was an important factor that shaped the Renaissance. As we saw in the 11th century when the rule of the church was the only way to preach, there was no free will and people were isolated. When the concept of humanism came, it clearly signified the importance of “humans” and how humans think, written materials were published and the printing press was also invented.
Where Renaissance was building society with the foundation of humanism and the rebirth of learning, on the next phase Elizabethan era came into being, the rule of Elizabeth influenced people and she ruled many years of her life and many developments in writing and writers were seen. Moreover, the period of development of drama took a major turn when miracle and mystery plays began to perform.
One of the famous writers of this time was Christopher Marlowe, the father of English tragedy was a leader among English poets. The value of Marlowe in the Renaissance cannot be overstated, although his life span was short and violent in the end he left an impact on the world of English literature. He was born in Canterbury England and his life span was from 1564 to 1593. He was a poet and dramatist of the 16th century. Marlowe was the one who guided Shakespeare into the right path of work. He was the oldest son of a shoemaker in Canterbury England, he only lived for 29 years, and he completed his schooling at King’s School and was also awarded a scholarship. At the time when he was doing graduation, he studied the bible, the Reformation theologians, philosophy, and history. He also took M. A degree that the authorities of the university were not granting him because he was converted to Catholicism, after that he went to London to become a dramatist. Marlowe’s career in those years left behind four great plays; Tamburlaine the Great (1590), a heroic epic (1590), Dr. Faustus (1588), the famous tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta (1633), and Edward the Second (1594) not only this many of his work he didn’t publish and some of them were incomplete.
During the time of drama and stage plays, Marlowe influenced the audience with his writings including great intensity, and villain-heroes, which created a base and gave a story to the audience to perform on stage. Marlowe influenced the theatre of the Renaissance period with his blank verse and Shakespeare at that time favored also as they both use to work together and appreciated their fame.
The most important work of Marlowe is Dr. Faustus. Basically, Dr. Faustus is a play of deep questions concerning morality, religion, and man’s relationship to both. Dr. Faustus is considered Marlowe’s greatest work, in this play talented German scholar who studies as many things as he could means he was a very knowledgeable person but still wasn’t satisfied, we could say a thirst for something else was making him go mad. After glancing through various books like theology, metaphysics, and medicine he concludes that they can give knowledge but no power.
Similarly, if we compare this to the Renaissance period we could see that there was the curiosity of intellectuals because the new discoveries in sciences and technology were taking place so each one of them had an urge or were curious to study on different levels or different subjects to study. These opportunities were opened in the Renaissance period which created a new world of imagination. Moreover, at the time of the Renaissance men especially desired wealth and worldly pleasure, and as we know that Dr. Faustus wanted powers so that he could rule the world, control it or enjoy worldly pleasure and fulfill his desires. Not only that he desires the most beautiful maid in Germany and wanted to see the most adorable woman in the world.
In this play, the role of two angels is defined as one is the good angel and the other is the bad devil who has more control over Dr. Faustus. So there is a conflict which is created between the two angels which are basically the two aspects of human minds. The devil makes sure that the bond is not disrupted and Dr. Faustus gave his 24 years in exchange for powers so that he could enjoy worldly desires. As time approaches Faustus blames the devil for manipulating and the devil takes the whole credit for it and it seems like Faustus is regretting not listening to the good angel. Then the hell gates are opened and devil taunts the Faustus for getting tortured and seen there. At midnight Faustus begged to god for help and the devil for mercy but unfortunately, he was punished badly.
As the middle ages emerged, contact with Greek learning affected man’s conception while Christians keep man below god and ask to be obedient towards god but Greeks keep a man at the center of the universe. Similarly, Dr. Faustus thinks of himself as a god so he leaves behind all the Christian conceptions of human limitations.
Marlowe’s other important play was Tamburlaine the Great was published during his lifetime, at the beginning of his career, whereas part two was written a year later reason being there were many copyright laws, and publication was easier for other companies to steal. Tamburlaine is seen as a milestone in Elizabethan drama and the first public success in that era. Tamburlaine the Great is all about war, violence, and conquering. In part one, the Persian emperor Mycetes sent troops to destroy the Scythian shepherd Tamburlaine. Conroe and Mycetes’s relations as brothers were no good so Tamburlaine wins Cosroe’s trust, defeated Mycetes and then he betrays Cosroe wins the battle against him and soon dies. This play continues with Tamburlaine defeating and achieving many victories as he conquers the neighboring cities.
Being a play written in the Renaissance period it puts man in the spotlight instead of god even if the god is an important figure in the plays and literature in general writings. Similarly, Tamburlaine represents a maximum of human aspiration something which was unseen in drama. Moreover, poetry and the beauty of the character are also reflected in this play and the idea is drawn from the Greeks that was quite popular during the Renaissance period in which Marlowe’s suggestion, that poetry function as the mode of expression of human nature itself as a kind of unity of language. In this environment of relative tolerance and stability, the flourishing of the arts in continental Europe spread to England, and in the late sixteenth century became famous for an extraordinary flowering in literature known as the English ‘‘Renaissance.’’ Marlowe was perhaps the first major innovator in humanistic English drama, however, along with his friend Thomas Kyd. Marlowe was also very influential over Jonson and Shakespeare, whose writing came at what is generally considered the height of the English.
Christopher Marlowe is the only dramatist of the Elizabethan era who is compared with Shakespeare, he died at an early age and produced a single great play, his works are remarkable for a splendid imagination as he gave Renaissance and humanism a step ahead and influenced people of his time with poetic beauty and a platform he provided in the era of development of drama.
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