Oposiciones

Introduction

First of all an introduction must be done, because Shakespeare is usually associated to the “Elizabethan Age”, but he cannot be studied without referring to the “Tudor Age”.

The“Tudor Age” lasted from 1458-1603 and in the early period, mainly in the reign of Henry VIII, things changed a lot. He provoked the “Reformation” with his break with the Catholic Church. This break gavemore power to monarchs and weakened the feudal ties.

The “Reformation” opened Europe to Great Britain and the “Renaissance” and its main movement the “Humanism” entered in British culture.Humanism represented a return to the Latin classics and drama started to replace the mystery and miracle plays which were performed in Catholic churches. There was also a big difference authors didn’t useLatin, but vernacular English.

It was a time of great authors such as Thomas Wyatt, Thomas Moore and the Earl of Surrey.

Elizabethan Age

All these facts influenced Shakespeare’s literature butnow let’s center in the time he lived.

Shakespeare belongs to the “Elizabethan Age”. Queen Elizabeth was considered “Patron of the Art” because of her love to religion, literature and art. Shepromoted all types of culture and new genres appeared. The last two decades of her life are considered the “Golden Age” of English literature. Important authors such as Walter Ralegh, Cristopher Marlowe,Edmund Spencer or William Shakespeare belong to it.

Without any doubt literature suffered the most fruitful years. At that time many new genres, themes and ideas were born. The most important oneswere that of drama and the Italian poems, as the sonnet as is mainly expression.

Elizabethan drama

As we have stated before drama was the main genre of the period, Drama was represented inthree ways: chronicles, tragedies and comedies. This way of representing drama is a strong change respect to Middle Ages drama, because in Middle Ages was restricted to didactic and religious topics,...