Skip to main content

Elizabethan Drama: Features

 Elizabethan Drama: Features

Elizabethan drama is a term used to describe the plays written and performed in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). It is considered to be one of the golden ages of Eng lish literature, and produced some of the greatest playwrights in the English language, including William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson.

Elizabethan drama is characterized by a number of features like:

  • Wide variety of genres: Elizabethan playwrights wrote in a wide variety of genres, including comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances. This allowed them to explore a wide range of themes and stories.
  • Poetic language: Elizabethan drama is known for its use of poetic language. Playwrights used elaborate metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech to create a sense of beauty and grandeur in their plays.
  • Strong characters: Elizabethan plays often feature complex and well-developed characters. Playwrights were interested in exploring the human condition, and their characters often grapple with difficult issues such as love, loss, betrayal, and revenge.
  • Dramatic themes: Elizabethan plays often explore universal themes such as love, death, power, and justice. Playwrights were also interested in contemporary issues such as politics, religion, and social class.
  • Spectacle: Elizabethan plays were often visually stunning. Playwrights used elaborate costumes, props, and special effects to create a sense of excitement and wonder for their audiences.
  • Use of blank verse: Blank verse is a type of unrhymed poetry that uses a regular meter. It was the most common form of verse used in Elizabethan drama.
  • Use of soliloquies and asides: Soliloquies are speeches that a character gives to themselves, while asides are spoken directly to the audience. Playwrights used these devices to reveal a character's inner thoughts and feelings.
  • Use of subplots: Elizabethan plays often have multiple subplots, which run alongside the main plot. This allowed playwrights to explore different themes and characters in more depth.
  • Use of music and dance: Music and dance were often incorporated into Elizabethan plays. This helped to create a sense of spectacle and excitement for the audience.
  • All-male casts: Women were not allowed to perform on the Elizabethan stage, so all female roles were played by boys.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indian Writing in English B A II Sem IV (Notes)

  Syllabus Semester IV I) General/Survey Topics:    (Credit: 01)                (Lectures-15) 1. Salient Features of Post-Independence Indian English Novel. (With special reference to prescribed text)   II) Poems Prescribed: ( Credit:01) (Lectures:15) 1. Dilip Chitre: Father Returning Home 2. O. P. Bhatnagar: On Beautiful Things 3. Keki N Daruwalla: Tiger 4. Eunice De Souza: Forgive Me, Mother 5. Gauri Deshpande: The Female of the Species III) Novel: (Credit: 02) (Lectures-30) R. K. Narayan: The Vendor of Sweets   Pattern of Question Paper                                                   Total Marks: 40 Q. 1 Rewrite the follo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Silence! The Court is in Session (Study Material)

Silence! The Court is in Session About the Dramatist: Vijay Tendulkar Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar was born on 6th January, 1928 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra which was then colonial India. He died on 19th May 2008 in Pune, Maharashtra, India. He was one of the renowned Marathi playwrights of the country. Most of his plays are based on real incidents which throw light upon various aspects of the society. His plays are translated and performed into many Indian and non-Indian languages. Personally, he has also translated many literary works from Marathi to other Indian languages. Thus, one cannot confine him to Marathi language and literature alone. Tendulakr’s father Dhondopant worked as a clerk at a British publishing house and later started a small publishing house of his own too. Their house used to be full of books and many writers frequently used to visit them. On Sundays his father used to take him to his friend’s book shops and his father always encouraged him to read more. Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dream on Monkey Mountain by Derek Walcott (B. A. III Sem. VI.)

Prologue Dream on Monkey Mountain  opens in a small jail on an unnamed West Indian island. Corporal Lestrade, a mulatto official, brings in Makak, an older black man. Makak has just been arrested for being drunk and smashing a local café while claiming he was the King of Africa. Two other black prisoners already in cells, Tigre and Souris, try to undermine the corporal as he does his duty. The corporal grows frustrated and compares them to animals. The corporal asks Makak for basic information, but the prisoner only wants to go home. Makak does reveal that he lives on Monkey Mountain and that he is ‘‘Catholique,’’ though he does not remember his real name. Next is a trial, where Tigre and Souris don judge's robes and the corporal defends Makak. The corporal presents the facts of the case to the judges. He reveals that Makak claims to have had a dream in which he was told he was a descendant of African kings. Makak was inciting people when he was arrested. Makak asks to be rel...
Post a Comment
Read more