Inglese

Geoffrey Chaucer
Biography - He was born about 1343 in the urban middle class - He followed Edward IIIs son to war in France - Grace to his close contact with the royal family he could travel freely from England to France and he did some commissions for the king - Between 1368 and 1378 he went to Italy, he knew Dante, Pertrarch, Boccaccio and Virgilio - In 1373 he became Controller of Customs on Wool and Hides in the Port of London - He was a Member of the Parliament - He became a prosperous bourgeois after his marriage with a rich lady - In 1386 he was dismissed from his offices and he began to work on Canterbury Tales - In 1389 he become Clerk of the Kings Works at Westminster - Henry IV doubled his pension - Later he could rent a house in Westminster, there he died - He was the first poet to be buried in the Poets Corner in Webminster Abbey The father of English literature - Chaucer is considered the father of English literature and the major secular poet - He wrote in London dialect, that became standard English - His works are very different, we know their order but not their dates - 3 periods French period Poems modeled on French romance styles The Romaunt of the Rose (medieval court behavior and courtly love) The Boke of Duchesse (elegy in which is told the grief of men for the death of young, good wives) Italian period Greater maturity of perception and skill in the manipulation of the metres The Parlement of Foules (the Bird and Best fable) The House of Fame (comic fantasy, the vanity of the human wishes) The Legend of Good Women (women who suffered because of love, couplet) Troylus and Criseyde (from Boccaccio, psychological insight) English period Greater realism The Canterbury Tales (the Chaucers masterpiece)

The Canterbury Tales

The plot - 30 pilgrims are going to Canterbury in Kent to the Shrine of Thomas Becket - They gather at the Tabard Inn in London - The host of the inn suggests everyone can tell some stories - All the pilgrims agree and set off The structure - Juxtaposition of stiles and subject matters in the frame of the pilgrimage - There arent logical order of events and hierarchy of values - There is a General Prologue and 24 tales each with a prologue and an epilogue - The point of departure is human and the destination is holy - The journey is the allegory of the course of life - The pilgrims dont arrive to Canterbury and Chaucer havent written the return to London The General Prologue: a double view - The story is set in spring, that is connoted like a rebirth - The pilgrimage is a surge of human energy and desire

- Human mobility is renewed after the confinement of winter - The focus is before on many distant shrines, than only on the Canterburys one - The seasonal restoration of nature parallels a supernatural restoration The characters - Chaucer gives a portrait of English society (members of feudal society, clergy and middle class but not the aristocracy and the peasants) - He didnt follow the social hierarchy of presentation and mixed male and female characters - There is a dynamic individualization of characters - Descriptions of pilgrims are different, the author describes tools, clothes and qualities - The names given to the characters, reported to their professions, suggest the work conditioned the personality and the view of the word Realism and allegory - Chaucer exploited the parable, the beast-fable, the fabiliau, the romance - The Canterbury Tales is various and realistic (also if with exaggeration, caricature and grotesque) - The pilgrimage is a metaphor for life from the religious sphere Chaucer as a narrator - The tales are told by the pilgrims but Chaucers figure reports us directly or ironically what he sees or thinks - The reader can decide if what hes reading is true or false - The tales have a subtle meaning: realistic elements with an ideal and moralizing base Chaucers verse - He uses couplets made up of iambic pentameters - He alternates unstressed and stressed syllables

The Tudors and the Stuarts

The Plantagenets dynasty was born on 1066 with the Hastings was (William the Conqueror became king); with magna charta (1215) give less power to the king and birth the parliament Fight of the two roses: between York and Lancaster, won the second one in 1484 The Tudors dynasty starts in 1500 with Henry VIII (he executed wives, hes the founder of the Anglican Church, he died without heirs) and then Elizabeth I The Stuarts dynasty begun with James I Humanist thought triumphed over medieval scholasticism The extent of the known word was expanded The Christian church broke into Protestant and Catholic, this changed lives In XVI cen. the population and the price of food increased The merchant fleet and navy expanded trade Began slave trade and North Americas colonization In XVII cen. Religion dominated society There is the problem of spirituality and worldliness The court of King Charles I was cultured and civilized Inflation damaged landed aristocracy s wealth, merchants became richer, society was mobile London became Europes largest city, England became the center of maritime trade The Commonwealth led many ideas on how to live and be governed Extreme religious and political beliefs circulated Henry Tudor in the Wars of the Roses in 1485 defeated Richard III, the last Yorkist, and became King Henry VII Saw that he wasnt a member of the royal family he had to giustify his dynasty with propaganda (Shakespeares Richard III) This dynasty lasted three generations destroying rivals to the trone

The Tudor dynasty

Henry VII was a king who ruled (not only reigned) He encouraged trade and cloth industry and laid the foundation of English naval power He sponsored Cabots voyage in 1497 from Bristol to North America In 1509 became king Henry VIII, he passed Renaissance and Reformation The dissolution of monasteries brought wealth to the crown, but it was used for inflation and war Henry VIII had 3 wives to have a male heir, a 4th for religious politics, a 5th for aristocratic ambition and a 6th to brought domestic peace In 1547 became king Edward VI, but he was 9 years old His uncle Edward Seymour became Lord Protector His sister became queen as Mary I in 1553: she wanted restore relations with Rome and Spain, but she became unpopoular and was named Bloody Mary Then became queen her sister Elizabeth I who founded, but the Catholics considered her illegitimate preferring Mary Queen of Scots Elizabeth was cultured She balanced the rival powers of France and Spain Avoided war for expense and won a war with Spain England became a commercial and seafaring power Sea captains (Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins) were engaged in piracy encouraged by the queen who received a part of the profits Parliament had a more important role in government (low to create Reformation) There were many protestants among the MPs In 1590s Elizabeth called the Parliament (struggle between crown and parliament)

William Shakespeare
Life - He was born in 1564 at Stratford on Avon and he died in 1616 - He went from a noble family - He married Anne Hathaway - In 1584 he went to London and works in a playhouse, he became a good writer - In 1593 London Theatres are closed because of the plague - He got the support of the Earl of Southampton - Then he became the main playwright of the Lord Chamberlains Men - In 1599 his company built the Global Theatre - He wrote historical dramas, comedies, tragedies - After his death is published the First Folio Shakespeares sonnets: the form - In 1609 were published 154 sonnets - They are in decasyllables, the meter is a iambic pentameter - Are used three quatrains and a final couplet (not an octave and a sestet like the Italian form) - The rime is alternate in the quatrains and in pairs in the couplet The themes and the addressees - The sonnets from 1 to 126 are addressed to the fair youth, the Earl of Southampton, theyre about the increase, the destructive power of time and moral weakness, some of them are also concerned with a rival poet - The sonnets from 127 to 145 are addressed to the Dark Lady or Black Woman - The addressees and the themes are novelties Style - Its characterized by a rich and vivid descriptive language - In the sonnets there are classical references - In the couplet there are most important words

Romeo and Juliet

Plot - In Verona the Montagues and the Capulets are locked in a violent feud - Lord is the son of Lord Montague and Juliet is Capulets daughter - Are explored lovers emotions and their social context, the ideas of love, destiny and death - There are transitions from blank verse to rhyme First act - One whole day in a Verona street - Dialogues about courtly concept of love - Scene of the masque and meeting of Romeo and Juliet Second act - Development of the relationship between Romeo and Juliet - Their love dialog that departs from courtly convention - Secret wedding by Friar Laurence Third act - Mercutio (Romeos friend) is killed by Tybalt (Juliets cousin) during a street fight - Then Romeo kills Tybalt for revenge and is banished from Verona to Mantua - Romeo and Juliet wedding night at Capulets house Fourth act - Friar Laurence gives to Juliet a potion that make her seems dead to avoid tha marriage with Count Paris - The messenger sent by the friar dont reach Romeo in time and he listen Juliets dead, so he goes to Verona Fifth act - The setting moves to Mantua - Then Romeo poisons himself after seeing Juliet dead - When Juliet wakes from her trance sees Romeo and stabs herself - They wont never know the truth about their deaths A comedy or a tragedy? - It is a comedy because of the instant attraction of the young lovers, the masked balls, the comic servants - Its different from other comedies because at the end knowledge is only for who have suffered - Speed is the medium of fate - Its a tragedy for the role of chance and because heroes must fight against external forces, but they are devoid of inner struggle Themes - The lack of knowledge (tragedy of not knowing and unawareness - The reflection upon language made by Juliet - Juliet is set on courtly love convention, she stands for innocence, shes brave and bold, shes a real woman - The obstacle to their love is Romeos name Love as light - Romeo belongs to the courtly love convention - He says Juliet is like the light - She says hes like a lightning - Love is like light in the dark, but at the end darkness triumphs Style - Regular rhythms, common rhymes - There are sonnets in the dialogues

Hamlet
Sources - In Middle Age Saxo Germanicus in the Historiae Danicae wrote about Amlethus, the grim avenger of his fathers murder - Franois de Belleforest in 1576 includes another version in Histoires Tragiques - Thomas Kid created a play from the story of Hamlet Plot First act - The King of Denmark is dead and Queen Gertrude married Claudius - The ghost of the dead king appear and tells Hamlet (his son) hebeen killed by Claudius and he ask his son to avenge him Second act - Hamlet pretends hes mad - Polonius thinks his madness is caused by his love for Ophelia - Hamlet arranges for a troupe of actors who performs The Murder of Gonzago (a story similar to the ghosts one) Third act - When the play starts the King runs away - Hamlet sees him at Prayer - During an argument with his mother he kill Polonius who was listening their conversation in secret - The King sends Hamlet to England to get rid of him Fourth act - Hamlet is sent to London to be killed - Ophelia goes mad and kills herself - Her brother Laerts wants revenge - The King decides to let Hamlet duel with him Fifth act - The Queen drink some poisoned wine - Laerts and Hamlet are wounded with a poisoned sword - The Queen dies, Laerts denounces the King whos killed by Hamlet - The King and Laerts die - Hamlet ask Hotatio to tell his story and tells him Fortinbras must become King, he dies - Fortinbras gives military honours to Hamlet and takes possession of the kingdom Hamlet and the tragedy of revenge - Revenge was considered sinful but was accepted in plays - Revenge plays derived from the Greeks - There are sexual or violent crime against a heros relative that low cant punish - The hero after a period of doubt and the appearance of a ghost revenges his relative - The avenger has a close relationship with the audience - He become isolated and sometimes mad - There are many deaths - Shakespeare follows the conventions and analyses characters with their doubt and uncertainty Main themes - Theme of: vengeance, relationship between father-mother and son, friendship, love, madness, youth and age, action and inaction, existence of God, meaning of the theatre, life and death, melancholy and doubt, mans nature, the peace of the soul, relations between appearance and reality, honour and honourable actions, justice Hamlets ambiguity - Maybe the real psychological dimension of the play is in Hamlets ambiguous language

He talk with metaphors, similes, wordplays, hidden meanings, affinities with the lenguagge of subconscious - Hamlet knows his language is ambiguous The play within the play - The only true thing in the play is the play of The Murder of Gonzago - Hamlet uses it to expose the King - In that moment there are a real audience and an audience on the stage

Othello
The only tragedy that starts and finishes during the night Characters: Othello: the black general of the Venetian army; Desdemona: his wife; Iago; Cassio: the MoorLiutenant; Emilia: Iagos wife & Desdemonas attendand Plot: - Othello married Desdemona against her fathers wishes - Hes sent to defend Cyprus from the Turks - Iago plans to have Cassio dismissed - In Cyprus public figure of Othello is being questioned - Cassio is dismissed and Iago advises him to seek the help of Desdemona - Iago tells Othello about a probable love between Desdemona and Cassio - Emilia find a Desdemonas handkerchief, Iago put it in Cassios lodgings to show Othello Desdemona is disloyal - Othello doesnt believe Emilia who says Desdemonas innocent - He kills her wife, but then he stubs himself - Iago is imprisoned and Cassio becomes governor of Cyprus Date and sources - 1602-1604 - Based on a story by Giraldi Cinzio - The English Othello has qualities who Italian Othello doesnt have Themes - Othellos raging jealousy - Hes the center of power - Iago uses Othellos powerful insecurity and jealousy to change his perception of Desdemona - Othello is a tragedy of words - Division between appearance and reality will prove malignant in Othellos mind - Othello and Desdemonas love triumphs over cultural and racial differences - Othello and Iago are opposed, so starts the tragedy Iago and Othello - At the beginning Othello is a black who lives with honesty, Iago is a white villain - Othello feels true emotions, Iago invents false passions - In the end Iago is the true loser: he must see the reality - Othello things the world is made up of absolute values: when the order is destroyed by Desdemonas adultery he must re-establish it killink his wife - When he know he killed an innocent woman he eliminated the cause of the violated harmony killing himself Style - All kinds of dramatic speech (lyric poetry, rhyme, blank verse, prose) is used to create tone, mood, atmosphere - Othello uses the typical Renaissance language, a musical poetry - Iago uses an intellectual, controlled, cynical, brutal and full of litotes language; he creates miscommunication to triumphs over Othello

- At the end Othello speaks like Iago Dramatic tension - Always present - Iago directs the actions throughout - When Othello has killed Desdemona the tension continues with the discovery of Iagos part in crime - The public is a step ahead the main character and watch everything helplessly

Machbeth
Date and sources - Ralphs Holinsheds Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland - Machbeth was a Scottish king who had Duncan I killed to get to the throne and was killed by Duncans son, Malcom - In the Chronicles Duncan was a weak king and Macbeth a successful one, Shakespeare change the story for James I Plot First act - News that the invasion by the Norwegians is failed thanks to Macbeth - Returning Macbeth and Banquo meet 3 witches that say M. will became king of Scotland and a line of kings will come from B. - He invite Duncan to his castle and kills him with the wife Second act - Duncan is murdered - His sons leave Macbeths castle - Macbeth is on the throne Third act - M. decides to kill Banquo and his son who escapes - B.s ghost haunts M. Fourth act - 3 witches warn M. ti beware of Macduff - He kills Macduffs wife and children - The witches predict M. will be safe until the Birnam Wood moves towards him and none of woman borne shall harm him Fifth act - Lady Macbeth walks in sleep, tries to wash her hands with Duncans blood - Malcom is marching into Scotland with an army, his soldiers cut branches form Birnam Wood to advance hidden to the castle - M. is alone - Macduff, born with a cesarean before he had to born, kills Macbeth - Malcom carry M.s head and proclaims Malcom King of Scotland Themes - Shortest Shakespeares tragedy - Simple plot, complex psychological analysis of criminals minds - No villain against hero: Macbeth is a hero who chooses evil for ambition - Regicide is an act against nature - Blood is repeated more than 100 times - The reverse of values of 3 witches is the darkest and most dangerous aspect of equivocation - Theme of false appearances clothes, seem - Time progresses in a pre-ordained way Machbeth as a tragic hero - At the beginning of the play hes a highly esteemed member of a social group

- At the end hes alone for his ambition and decisions - Hes never forced or deceived - His death is consequence of his free choices - Hes aware of what is happening to him - Gradual de-humanization - He lost physical relationship and power to feel sensitively about life Imagery - Duncans murder brigs consequences that go beyond individual conscience - Duncan symbolizes order, harmony, justice, honesty - His death is prefigured and followed by exceptional natural events - Macrocosm of nature mirrors the chaos of social microcosm - Darkness characterize the whole play - Night is luck of sleep for Macbeth and madness for his lady

The Tempest
Date and sources - Performed in 1611 - Chosen in 1613 for the wedding celebration of Elizabeth and Prince Frederick - Types of sources: Pamphlets about voyages in America Fairy tales about monsters or magic The Italian commedia dellarte Characters Alonso: King of Naples; Ferdinand: his son; Antonio: Duke of Milan; Prospero: magician, brother of Antonio, lives on the island with his daughter, hes the rightful Duke of Milan; Miranda: daughter of Prospero; Sycorax: witch, lived on the island with Caliban (monster) and Ariel (spirit); Trinculo: Kings jester; Stephano: royal butler Plot First act - Alonso, Ferdinand, Antonio, and their court are washed up by a tempest on a magic island - Its the plan of Prosperous who tells Miranda hes the rightful Duke Of Milan - He had been set adrift by his brother since to the island Second act - Alonso thinks his son drowned - Ferdinand follows Ariels singing, meet Miranda and falls in love with her Third act - Prospero makes Ferdinand perform menial tasks to test him - Caliban plans to kill Prospero with Trinculo and Stephano - Ariel listen to them and reports the plan to Prospero Fourth act - Interlude while Prospero ends his plans of reward and punishment Fifth act - Reconciliation, Miranda and Ferdinand marry, Prospero forgives Antonio and returns to be the Duke of Milan, Caliban is left alone on the island, Ariel is free to wander Themes - Serenity in human relationship - Human destiny as a whole - Good that comes of evil - No tragic ending: criminals are forgiven - Miranda embodies female perfection

Wild, exotic setting, relationship between natives and invaders, forced work, traffic in liquor Element of Sycoraxs dark magic (thats for evil and comes from a patch with Davil) and Prosperos magic (thats good and comes from study) - Prospero gives magic from his books, wears his robe as a magician and takes it off as ordinary man, his instrument oh magic is his wand An exploration of the nature of the theatre - The Tempest is one of the most difficult of all Shakespeares plays - Prosperos magic can only become effective in a special place: the theatre - Prosperos power depends on Ariels service, so Ariel is an imaginative power which makes the effects of the theatre become possible - It could be the masterpiece of Shakespeares farewell play - Opposition between good and evil - Reconciliation of all levels of society - Theatre reminds us things we forget like Prospero can transform human perception, real life must be lived in the real world, so he lefts his powers A warning against the dangers of colonialism - Warning against the dangers of English expansion abroad - Prospero is a symbol for European power

La bisbetica domata (The Taming of the Shrew):

una commedia di William Shakespeare. divisa in cinque atti scritti sia in versi che in prosa. Particolarmente incerta la sua data di composizione, generalmente ritenuta antecedente al 1594, ma non escluso che sia successiva a quella data. La vicenda narra di Petruccio, avventuriero veronese, che sposa e soggioga l'intrattabile Caterina di Padova, attirato soprattutto dalla sua dote. Nel prologo dell'opera, Sly, un popolano, viene trovato addormentato dopo una sbornia da un Signore e dalla sua corte. Al suo risveglio, costoro gli fanno credere di essere lui stesso un aristocratico e loro i suoi servi. Quale parte degli intrattenimenti a lui dedicati, per Sly viene rappresentata una commedia da parte di un gruppo di attori girovaghi. In questa commedia, Lucenzio - giovane pisano - e Tranio - suo servo - discutono su quanto sia bella e dolce la figlia del mercante Battista Minola, Bianca, e di quanto sia invece rude, sgarbata e volgare sua sorella maggiore, Caterina (la bisbetica del titolo). Mentre Bianca contesa tra i molti pretendenti che le fanno corte, la sorella Caterina non vanta nessun pretendente. In seguito, Battista Minola decide quindi di allontanare la figlia Bianca dalla societ, fintanto che Caterina non si sar sposata. Tuttavia Lucenzio, perdutamente innamorato di Bianca, cerca di escogitare qualche sotterfugio per poter avvicinare la sua amata. Pertanto si scambia d'abiti con Tranio, il suo servo, cos da poter diventare tutore in letteratura di Bianca. Frattanto invece Gremio ed Ortensio, altri due pretendenti padovani, uniscono le loro forze per trovare un marito a Caterina. Quando giunge a Padova Petruccio, caro amico di Ortensio, in seguito alla morte del padre, in cerca di moglie, essi gli parlano riguardo Caterina, del suo brutto carattere, ma anche della sua ricca dote. D'altronde, poi, Caterina non era nemmeno cos brutta come voleva invece lei figurare. Tuttavia Petruccio non esita un attimo, e decide immediatamente di volerla sposare, facendosi introdurre nella villa di Battista, tramite Ortensio. Bench apparentemente Caterina risulti sdegnata da questa sua volont di sposarla, i due decidono di concordare la data del matrimonio. Quel giorno, per Petruccio arriva alla cerimonia vestito squallidamente, e in ritardo. Peraltro al conseguente banchetto se ne va, con grande rammarico di Caterina. Giunti a Verona, citt di Petruccio, Caterina costretta a condurre una vita molto modesta, piena di privazioni ed umiliazioni che poco a poco affievoliscono il suo carattere ostinato, che diviene sempre pi accondiscendente. Frattanto Lucenzio centra il suo obiettivo, mentre Ortensio sposa una ricca vedova. L'opera si conclude con uno smascheramento generale. Riunitisi Ortensio, Petruccio e Lucenzio, decidono di sottoporre le mogli ad una prova d'obbedienza. Chiamandole, si presenta solo Caterina,

alla quale verr poi detto di recarsi da Bianca e dalla vedova cos da rammentare i doveri coniugali...

Coriolano (Coriolanus):
una tragedia in cinque atti databile al 1607-1608 del drammaturgo britannico William Shakespeare. La trama dell'opera ispirata alla vita del leggendario condottiero romano Caio Marzio Coriolano, cos come descritta nelle Vite parallele di Plutarco e nell' Ab Urbe condita di Tito Livio. La tragedia ambientata a Roma, poco dopo la cacciata dei re etruschi della dinastia dei Tarquini. La citt in preda ad una sommossa dopo che le scorte di grano sono state negate al popolo. I rivoltosi sono particolarmente arrabbiati con Caio Marzio, un valoroso generale che incolpano della sparizione delle scorte alimentari. Incontrano dapprima un patrizio di nome Menenio Agrippa, quindi Caio Marzio stesso. Menenio tenta di placare i rivoltosi, mentre Coriolano si mostra sprezzante e dice che i plebei non meritano il grano perch non hanno servito l'esercito. Due tribuni della plebe, Bruto e Sicinio, denunciano personalmente Caio Marzio che lascia Roma quando giunge la notizia che l'esercito dei Volsci pronto a dare battaglia. Il capo dell'esercito dei Volsci, Tullo Aufidio, si varie volte scontrato con Caio Marzio e lo considera un nemico giurato. L'esercito romano guidato da Cominio, mentre Caio Marzio il suo secondo. Mentre Cominio conduce i suoi soldati contro l'esercito di Aufidio, Caio Marzio guida una sortita contro la citt volscia di Corioli. L'assedio di Corioli inizialmente infruttuoso, ma Marzio riesce poi ad aprire con la forza le porte della citt e a conquistarla per Roma. Anche se esausto per la battaglia, Marzio raggiunge velocemente Cominio e si batte contro le rimanenti forze dei Volsci. Lui e Aufidio si sfidano ad un duello che termina solo quando i soldati di Aufidio lo trascinano via dalla battaglia. In segno di riconoscimento per il suo incredibile valore Comino concede a Marzio il soprannome onorifico di "Coriolano". Quando tornano a Roma Volumnia, la madre di Coriolano, incoraggia il figlio a candidarsi alla carica di console. Coriolano esita ma alla fine cede ai desideri della madre. Grazie al sostegno del Senato vince senza difficolt e sulle prime sembra avere la meglio anche sugli oppositori della fazione popolare. Tuttavia Bruto e Sicinio tramano per distruggerlo e aizzano un'altra rivolta contro la sua elezione a console. Di fronte di tutto ci Coriolano si infuria e critica duramente il concetto di governo del popolo. Paragona il permettere ai plebei di esercitare il potere sui patrizi al concedere "ai corvi di prendere a beccate le aquile". Per queste parole i due tribuni lo condannano come traditore e ordinano che sia mandato in esilio. Dopo essere stato esiliato da Roma Coriolano si reca da Aufidio nella capitale dei Volsci e gli propone di guidare il suo esercito alla vittoria contro Roma. Aufidio e i nobili volsci abbracciano Coriolano e gli concedono di condurre un nuovo assalto contro la citt. Roma, in preda al panico, cerca disperatamente di convincere Coriolano di abbandonare i suoi propositi di vendetta, ma n Cominio n Menenio riescono nell'intento. A questo punto viene mandata ad incontrare il figlio Volumnia, insieme alla moglie e al figlio di Coriolano: la donna riesce a dissuadere il figlio dal distruggere Roma. Invece di muovere battaglia conclude un trattato di pace tra i Volsci e i Romani. Quando per Coriolano torna nella capitale dei Volsci, dei congiurati guidati da Aufidio lo uccidono per il suo tradimento.