1.
The Elizabethan Era (1558-1603)
La época isabelina es la época de la historia inglesa que comprende principalmente el
reinado de Isabel I (1558-1603) pero se suele incluir también el reinado de Jacobo I hasta 1625
(James VI of Scotland and I of England). Es la última etapa del reinado de los Tudor.
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) but it also includes the reign of James VI of Scotland and I
of England (1625). It is also known as the Golden Age in English History.
Characteristics:
→ It was a peaceful period inside the country.
→ The fights between catholics and protestants stopped. There was religious tolerance.
→ England became an empowered country politically and economically.
→ During her reign, the English won many military battles.
→ There was a cultural development that give birth to many popular writers like Shakespeare,
Marlowe or Ben Johnson
2. Queen Elizabeth
• Isabel I de Inglaterra, also known as The Virgin Queen (porque no se casó),
Gloriana or Good Queen Bess.
• Was born in Greenwich.
• She was the daughter of King Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn who was accused of adultery,
incest and treason and therefore executed.
• Nowadays this accusations have been proved as lies. Many historians think that King
Henry wanted to kill her because she didn’t give birth to a boy.
• As I’ve said before she was the last of the Tudor’s reign,
• The first one we can see in the foto is Elizabeth’s grandfather
• Then his father who has married a total of 6 times during his live.
• His first marriage was with Catherine of Aragon with whom he had his first daughter,
Mary Tudor. After seeing that it was a girl, he wanted to nullify his marriage with
Catherine which is why he started a dispute with the Pope that ended with King
Henry proclaiming himself the Main Chief of the Anglican Church, creating a new
religion.
• After Anne Boleyn’s execution, Henry married again with Jane Seymur and
Elizabeth was proclaimed illegitimate. This was the only wife that could give the
King an heir for the throne. But, since the day he was born everyone notice that the
little prince was a weak baby, unhealthy, so take the advantage that the baby’s mum
have died during labor, Henry search for another wife. He married 3 times more but
no other woman could give him another heir. So, when the King died in 1547,
Edward took the throne. Anyways before he died he added Mary and Elizabeth to the
bloodline right after their brother.
• Thank God he did because six year after becoming King, Edward died from a cold.
Jane Grey, grandaugher of the first Mary Tudor was proclaimed Queen but only for
nine days until Mary I arrived.
• The main purpose of Mary was to restore catholism in England, because she was
catholic. She was known as Bloody Mary for killing almost 3 hundred protestants.
When she announced her marriage with King Philipp II of Spain there was quite a
stir because Spain was considered an enemy. Mary was afraid to be overthrown by a
rebellion, but this rebelion happened anyway, most exactly during her wedding day
led by Thomas Wyatt. After this uprising, Elizabeth was locked up in the tower of
London, accused to be related to the rebellion.
In november 1558 Mary dies and Elizabeth is proclaimed Queen of England.
3. Personas importantes en el reinado de Isabel:
• Sir Francis Drake was an English explorer involved in piracy and illicit slave trading who
became the second person ever to circumnavigate the globe and was considered the most
renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Age. . In 1577, Drake was chosen as the leader of an
expedition intended to pass around South America, through the Strait of Magellan, and
explore the coast that lay beyond. Drake successfully completed the journey and was
knighted by Queen Elizabeth I upon his triumphant return.
• Sir Walter Raleigh was an English explorer, soldier and writer. At age 17, he fought with the
French Huguenots and later studied at Oxford. He became a favorite of Queen Elizabeth
after serving in her army in Ireland. He was knighted in 1585, and within two years became
Captain of the Queen's Guard. Between 1584 and 1589, he helped establish a colony near
Roanoke Island (present-day North Carolina), which he named Virginia. Accused of treason
by King James I, Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned and eventually put to death.
• Sir Francis Walsingham was the principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20
December 1573 until his death. He is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".During the
reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I of England, he was a comitted Protestant so he took up
exile in Switzerland and northern Italy as many others until Mary's death and the accession
of her Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth. When that happen, he returned to England and was
elected as one of the members of Elizabeth’s parliament. He rose from that position until
becoming one of the small coterie who directed the Elizabethan state, overseeing foreign,
domestic and religious policy. As principal secretary, he supported exploration, colonization,
the use of England's maritime strength and the plantation of Ireland. He also worked to bring
Scotland and England together. He had the nickname of Elizabeth’s spymaster because he
directed a net of spies in order to discover any conspiracy against the Queen. He discovered
some of them, in particular one which included Mary Queen of Scots conspiring against her
cousin. After this discovery, he condemned her to death.
• Lord Robert Dudley: Queen Elizabeth never got married, that’s was she is known as The
Virgin Queen. She rejected any proposal she got and declared she was married to England.
But, that doesn’t mean she didn’t have any lovers. Lord Robert Dudley was an English
nobelman and the closest friend to the Queen since her first year in the throne. They two
first meet being held as prisoners in the Tower of London during the reign of Mary I. They
were closed in age and shared the same tutor, Roger Ascham, who had been greatly
impressed by his precocious young pupils. So, when Elizabeth rose into the throne he was
inmediatly loyal to her and she named him her Master of Horse, a prestigious position that
involved regular attendance upon his royal mistress. They were so closed that in other to
spend more time together Elizabeth ordered to move Dudley’s bedchamber into her private
rooms. I asumme that they didn’t commit any mistakes in public to make people think that
they were lovers but their closeness make the English people and even from other European
countries thought it anyway.
• Mary, Queen of Scots: Mary was born in 1542 and proclaimed Queen of Scotland six days
after by James Hamilton, who took the regency until 1554 when her mother Mary of Guise
decided to take over the throne. Henry VIII, the King of England wanted to marry Mary to
his son although the little princess was only a baby yet and also wanted to take her to his
court many years before the wedding. Mary of Guise refused that proposal and after several
attemps from England trying to kidnap princess, she sent her to France which was an allied
country of Scotland at the time. At the age of 16, Mary married the Dauphin Francis of
France. He became the King of France and her, who was already queen of Scotland, became
also Queen of France. In 1560 both her mother and her husband died. She had to return to
Scotland to rule her country and so she did in 1561, but when she arrived the situation was
complicated. Mary was catholic. The religion has divided the country and because her
illigitimate brother James Stuart was the leader of the protestant party she didn’t impose the
catholism. She maintened the protestant system as it was and kept her brother by her side as
her adviser. During this time, Mary wanted to eliminate any rivalry between her and her
cousin Elizabeth (she was thought to be her enemy because the English catholics saw her as
their queen and Elizabeth wanted to reign Scotland too) so she invited her to visit Scotland
but the Queen refused. Also a series of accords were made to make the two queens reunite.
In 1653, Elizabeth tried to make a deal with Mary: if she married a person choosed by
Elizabeth, she would put her and her husband next on the bloodline. She did not accept the
deal. But eventually she married again with Lord Darsley and in 1566, Mary gave birth to a
boy from her second husband. A few days later her husband died, she was kidnaped and
locked up in Loch Leven’s castle. On the 24 July of 1567, they forced her to abdicate and
gave the throne to her son James. In 1568 she managed to scape from her prison and ran
away to England where a few days later Elizabethan officers captured her because she was
accused of murdering her second husband. Queen Elizabeth emprisoned her in the Sheffield
castle thinking that in that way she could keep her under her control but she was wrong.
Several time after, a series of letters were discovered in Mary’s room in whose she wrote to
the Pope and to the King of Spain planing an attempt against the Queen. For this conspiracy,
she was condemned to death. In 1587 she was beheaded in the Fotheringhay castle.
• John Dee: He was an English mathematician, natural philosopher, and student of the occult.
Dee was involved in laying the groundwork for several English travels of exploration,
instructing captains and pilots in the principles of mathematical navigation, preparing maps
for their use, and furnishing them with various navigational instruments which as we had
said before, was very important in this epoque. But he wasn’t only interested in this kind of
this: he also wrote documents about philosophy, astrology...He is thought to had intercept
with Queen Elizabeth and also it is thought that she appointed him warden of Manchester
College in 1596.
3. The Elizabethan Theatre.
England experienced an important cultural development during the Elizabethan era which
lead to the appereance of many playwrights, musicians, poets and thinkers. The most important of
them is William Shakespeare. But Lyly, Christopher Marlowe y Ben Johnson are also destacable.
But before explaining a little bit about this people lifes, we’re going to analyse the situation of the
Theatre during this epoque.
During the first half of the 16 century, there were two kinds of theatre in England. One of
them was religious and it was performed in the royal palaces and sometimes in the courtyard of
inns. But, the other was a popular theatre, based on society, and usually performed in universities.
The last type became more popular than the first one and that’s when the first theatres appeared in
other to have an specific building were the citizens could enjoy this new kind of enterteiment.
Everyone could access to this spectacles but, of course, the tickets were more expensive depending
on the place were you were going to see the theatre. That’s why normally the nobles were sat and
the peasants were standing in a central courtyard.
Elizabethan theatres were built in an octogonal or circled shape, made of wood, with a
central courtyard without cealings. The most important ones were built at the other side of the river
Thames, as near from London as they could be (because at the time they were forbidden inside the
city). The first one built was called simply The Theatre. But the most important ones were The
Swan and The Globe, this last one was very famous because Shakespeare’s plays were performed
there.
English Renaissance theatre—also known as early modern English theatre and
Elizabethan theatre—refers to the theatre of England between 1562 and 1642. The main reason of
the appereance of this theatre was the inability of to read classic drama plays in latin or greek. In
order to give them this posibility many plays were translated from their italian versions, mainly
from Seneca. This situation made English playwrights want to make theatre available for
everybody, with no distintion of social classes.
Other influences that led to its appereance were:
The Renaissance: It was a period of the European history covering the span between the 15 and
16 century. His intellectual basis were basically the Humanism, derived from the concept of
Roman Humanitas and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras.
This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science and literature.
Humanism: A Renaissance cultural movement which turned away from medieval scholasticism
and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought. They give prime importance to human
rather than divine or supernatural matters.
The Prince of Machiavelli: Playwrighter like Christopher Marlowe o Ben Jonson create
characters inspired by Machiavelli. But specially Shakespeare, was who adapted his ideas of
pragmatism, power and political hability into his characters.
Lost Paradise y otras obras de John Milton
CHARACTERISTICS
As I said before, the Elizabethan theatre was a new kind of this genre that emerged, therefore, it was
unique in its own way and it had certain characteristics that made the difference with the other kinds
before them:
A. During the first half of the century, there was a static law that controlled the action, time and
place of the play. Only a conflict could take place in a day at the same place. The Elizabethan
theatre, broke this law.
B. Sometimes the writer mixed genres, for example a tragic situation could have a little of comedy
adding a funny character like The Clown.
C. Nobles and peasants were mixed in the play.
D. The dialogues between the characters could be in verse, prose or mixed.
4.1 IMPORTANT AUTHORS OF THE ERA.
Christopher Marlow:
• Christopher Marlowe was a poet and playwright at the forefront of the 16th-century
dramatic renaissance.
• His works influenced William Shakespeare and generations of writers to follow.
• Marlowe earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1584, but in 1587 Cambridge University
hesitated in granting him his master's degree because, due to his frequent absences there
were speculations that he had converted to Roman Catholicism.
• But the Privy Council sent a letter to the university declaring that Marlowe was now
working "on matters touching the benefit of his country," and he was awarded his master's
degree on schedule.
• Marlowe's service to England was not specified by the council, but the letter sent to
Cambridge provoked abundant speculation. The most popular theory was that Marlowe had
become a secret agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence service.
• Anyway what’s really important about him are his plays. They were characterised by not
having many dialogue and to be entered in music and dancing.
• Marlowe wrote many plays but Tamburlaine the Great was the first to be performed on the
regular stage in London and is among the first English plays in blank verse.
• It is considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theater and was the last
of Marlowe's plays to be published before his untimely death.
• After the performance of this two-part play he has written Doctor Faustus and The Jew of
Malta among others but he died before publishing them.
Benjamin Johnson:
• Ben Jonson was an English playwright and poet best known for his satiric comedies (types
of comedies that poke fun at human weaknesses).
• Jonson's first major play was Every Man in His Humour.
• It was performed by a theater group called the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
• William Shakespeare performed the lead role.
• The play is a model of what is called the "comedy of humors," in which each character's
action is ruled by an impulse or affectation.
• After this play Jonson wrote Every Man out of His Humour, Cynthia's Revels and Poetaster.
William Shakespeare:
• He was an English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of
all dramatists.
• Hundreds of editions of his plays have been published, including translations in all major
languages.
• He is the most widely quoted author in history, and his plays have probably been performed
more times than those of any other dramatist
• He had a remarkable knowledge of human behavior, which he was able to communicate
through his portrayal of a wide variety of characters.
• Shakespeare’s plays were performed at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I
more frequently than those of any other dramatist of that time.
• The First Folio: was a book published by two actors of his theatre company John Heminges
and Henry Condell eight years later of the author’s death. It is composed by his plays
divided into 11 tragedies, 15 comedies and 10 historical stories)
◦ Tragedies:
▪ He was able to enter fully into the point of view of each of his characters and to
create vivid dramatic situations.
▪ This type of stories describe a problem that need to be solve (usually the main
character has provoked it) and, in order to fix the situation, dies at the end due to his
own mistake.
▪ Examples: Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, MacBeth, Othello, Hamlet, The Tempest
among others.
◦ Comedies:
▪ They’re full of word game.
▪ Usually they confront two very different characters with a different social class each.
It also appears the desire of power, lust…
▪ With his comedies, Shakespeare tries to show the wickedness of the human being but
with no need of finishing the story in a dramatic way.
▪ Some of his comedies are: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives of
Windsor, among others.
▪ Also The Winter’s tale but it is also clasiffied as fantasy novel because magic
appears in them.
◦ Historical Plays:
▪ They’re related to history, most commonly with the recent English History of the
time.
▪ Some specialists think that this plays were in fact a critique to the monarchy.
▪ Examples: Richard III, Henry V, King John…
◦ Tragicomedy:
▪ The Tempest.
