Please submit your work on the context of John Donne' poetry. Please ensure you give the area you researched a clear title and sign your name at the bottom so I know who's done what!
When this is all done, you should review all areas and take notes (I'll look for evidence next week) from each section ready to be quizzed next week.
Cheers,
Mr. D
9 comments:
Petrarchan Influence on content and form of love poetry
(Francesco Petrarca)
o A great Italian lyric poet and scholar
o Had an unparalleled influence on world literature
o Popes and Rulers sought his services
o Led in discovering the greatness of classical writers
o His writings were considered revivals of the Greek and Roman style of literature
o Wrote more than 400 poems in Italian
o Spent most of his productive years in France
o He influenced Shakespeare and Donne
Philosophical- Machiavelli
From the early 16th Century, politics became the dominant interest in society that was once religion. There was a new preoccupation with national unity, internal security etc which stimulated the growth of political philosophy in Italy, France, England and Holland. Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, and his main passion was politics. His best known book ‘The Prince’ concentrated on the possibility of a new prince rather than a traditional prince that may have to act immorally. Generations of politicians remain attracted and repelled by its acceptance, or even encouragement, of the immorality of powerful men. Nevertheless Machiavelli was motivated by patriotic hopes for the ultimate unification of Italy.
Reign of Elizabeth-Head of Church
Within Elizabeth’s reign there was much religious unrest. Several laws such as the Religious Settlement of 1559 and the Act of Supremacy re-established the Church of England as the country’s main church after Mary had reinstated the Roman Catholic Church. England avoided war with Europe’s leading Roman Catholic nations, but minor wars meant many were struggling with economic and social problems. Literature went from being optimistic to pessimistic. Many people were fascinated by death, yet at the same time sensitive of beauty and grace.
Hannah
Literary - morality plays
An allergy in which characters are abstractions. The plays actions centres on a hero, such as mankind, whose inherent weakness are assaulted by such personifies diabolic force as the seven deadly sins. These plays were a step in the transition from liturgical to professional secular drama. These plays were usually short and have very serious themes involved on them.
Scientific Astronomy - Copernican model Vs Church.
Coperruccus gave some basic mathematical rules which countered the old arguments in which the fixity of the Earth was layed out as the way in which the order of the planets went. He questioned the bibles idea of the planets going from Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The people ofd the church believed this as it was in the bible, but Coperruccus questioned it and said that stationary from the Sun, was Mercury,Venus, Earth with the moon around it, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The church disliked as Coperrucus went against the bible and he questioned God and they disliked this as people began to question god, this made them doubt their religion.
Puritanism and its Effect on Literature
The dominance of Puritan values within British society ensured that the best-sellers of the period were "godly manuals" - thinly veiled sermons written in the plain style, eschewing rhetoric in exchange for austere didactic diction. Nevertheless, some preachers took it upon themselves to "make the word of God eloquent", citing it as their "duty". Puritans (devout protestants) initiated strict laws designed to "curb people's wickedness", and contemporary literature was just one casualty of the stripped-back austery customary of the Commonwealth. Puritans were known for their almost fanatical zeal for religious and political reform, which culminated in the Witchfinder trials between 1644-46, during which over 200 'witches' were put to death. The Puritan stranglehold over the Arts did not go unchallenged, however, and reactionary essayists and character writers emerged to defy the overwhelming tide of sombre Elizabethan prose - movements like the Metaphysical poets, anti-Ciceronian and Senecan. The features of such works included a clipped prose style, curtness to the point of obscurity, a penchant for looseness, asymmetry and open-endedness.
Conception of Blank Verse
Blank verse is a style that centers around the use of unrhymed iambic pentameter, and is the preeminent dramatic and narrative verse form found within English literature. Originally adapted from unrhymed Green and Latin heroic verse, it was conceived in early 16th century Italy along with other classical metres. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, then introduced the measure (alongside the sonnet and other Italian Humanist verse forms) to England in the 16th century. Here, it was adapted and expounded upon by various playwrights. Christopher Marlowe developed its musical qualities and emotional power in plays in the vein of Doctor Faustus. William Shakespeare instead focused on transforming the line and instrument of Blank Verse into the vehicle for the greatest Englidh dramatic poetry, combining it with prose and 10-syllabled rhyming couplets within his early work. He later employed Blank Verse dependent on stress rather than syllabic length.
Political – Spanish Armada:
The Spanish Government became convinced that the rebellion and heresy in the Netherlands could not be crushed while supported by England and France. Therefore, Philip decided to prepare the armada for the invasion of England in 1588. The armada was defeated inevitably not dishonourably.
Scientific – Alchemy:
A pseudoscience whose aims were to make gold from base metals, cure disease and discover how to prolong life. It involved chemical procedures but alchemy and the development of chemistry are not conclusively linked. It is part of Occultism, various theories, practices and rituals based on an alleged or esoteric knowledge of the world of spirits and unknown forces, alongside divination, magic and witchcraft.
Philosophical – Copernican concentrism:
“The Sun lies at the centre of the universe, each planet moves in a circle superimposed on its large circular orbit round the Sun.” This is the theory of Copernicus known as Copernican Concentrism; Galileo was a supporter of this theory despite being compelled by the Church to denounce it.
Death of Mary Stuart-
-Executed in 1587 in the great hall.
- aged 44.
- papers on a plan to kill queen Elizabeth was found.
- Mary was seen as a threat to Elizabeth and was killed.
Discovery of the new world-
-Columbus made three voyages across the atlantic from 1493 to 1504 to america.
-Spain explored south america and unintentionaly brought small poxs and other deseases.
-in 1600 the spanish tryed to claim all of north america but france and england wouldnt allow it and set up their own collines.
Daisy :)
Humanism:
- Renaissance Humanism is traceable to the 14th Century Italian Poet, Petrach.
- An attitude of mind attaching prime importance to human beings and human values, often regarded as the central theme of Renaissance civilization.
- Humanism gradually became identified with classroom studies of the classics; it more properly embraced an attitude that exalted mans relationship to God, his free will and his superiority over nature.
- Philosophically; humanism made man the most important of all things.
- Humanism is used to refer to value systems that emphasize the personal worth of each individual.
That's all I had.
Microcosm vs Macrocosm
The term microcosm dates from socratic times and refers to the meaning of the 'little world'. It is the idea of a world soul animating the universe- or in a smaller context the human body being a miniature universe animated by its own soul. It is the analogy between the whole and its parts and is a reflection of macrocosm - macrocosm meaning the 'bigger picture' thus a microcosm rests within a macrocosm
Anti-Catholicism.
*Began under Henry VII.
* Anti-Catholicism among many of the English was grounded in the fear that the pope sought to reimpose not just religio-spiritual authority over England but also secular power of the country.
*Guy Fawkes as well as many other Catholics was accused of intending to blow up the English Parliament while in session.
*Great Fire of London was blamed on the Catholics.
Anti-Catholic stereotypes are a long-standing feature of English literature, popular fiction, and even pornography. Gothic fiction is particularly rich in this regard. E.g."The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
****John Donne and Anti-Catholicism******
Donne walked the line between cynical rebellion and honest truthseeker, listing the pitfalls of various denominations and sects in his first book of poetry, Satires. At the same time, he lived a brazenly sexual life, writing some of the most erotic English poetry ever written.
One of two anti-Catholic works he published, Pseudo-Martyr, earned him the favor of King James I because it argued Catholics could pledge allegiance to the king without renouncing their faith.
The object of his poetry now became God, and he employed the same degree of ardor and amorousness as ever. He reasoned, "God is love." He took a page from Solomon, whom he observed "was amorous, and excessive in the love of women: when he turned to God, he departed not utterly from his old phrase and language, but ... conveys all his loving approaches and applications to God."
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