Dramatists Flashcards
Sophocles
- one of the classic three great ancient Greek tragic playwrights
- known for Oedipus the King (use of tragic irony)
- wrote 123 dramas and won the Dionysian dramatic festival 24 times
- born into wealthy family and highly educated
- constant attachment to Athens, govt, religion and social forms.
- introduction of 3rd actor in performance
- credited for invention of “scene paintings” or backdrops to establish place
- increased size of chorus from 12 - 15
- abandoned Aschylean framework of the trilogy and has all the action in 1 play
7 works of his survived:
- Ajax
- Antigone
- Trachinian Women
- Oedipus
- Electra
- Philoctetes
- Oedipus at Colonus
- 400 lines of a satyr play survived, Trackers
Aeschylus (525 - 455 BC, Sicily)
- the first of classical Athens’ great dramatist
- father of tragedy
- fought against the Persians
- added the second actor. before that it was 1 actor and chorus
- noted for good use of stage settings and machinery
- participated in the festival of Dionysus: 3 tragedies (trilogy) and 1 satyr play (lighthearted)
- wrote 90 plays, 80 known, 7 survived
- more than half of his plays won
- divine justice uses human motives to carry out its decrees
plays:
- Persians
- Seven against Thebes
- Suppliants
- Oresteia (Agammenon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides)
- Prometheus Bound (debated if it’s his)
Euripides
484- 406 BC, Macedonia
- 92 plays
- won 4 times
- rejected the gods of homeric theology
- protagonists were common folk and different from Aeschylus and Sophocles
- known for use of prologues and providential appearance of a god (deus ex machina) at the plays’ end
- less use of the chorus
- characters express doubt, problems, and feelings of his own time
- His characters are different b/c their tragic fates stem from own flawed natures and uncontrolled passions.
- chance and disorder did not bring about reconciliation but meaningless suffering
- the gods are indifferent
- known for depiction of women (fierce, treacherous, adulterous) and psychological realism
- his ordinary style of dramatic speech was described as “lalia” (chatter)
- wrote tragicomedies in the last decade of his career
- more popular for revival in later antiquity bc of his more accessible realism, emotional and sensational effects.
18 plays survived
- Alcestis
- Medea
- Hecuba
- Hippolytus
- Electra
- Trojan women
Plautus
254 - 184 BCE, Italy
- 1 of the 2 great Roman comic dramatist
- loosely adapted from Greek plays
- established a truly Roman drama in Latin
- his name is even of questionable historical authenticity bc it could be a stage name
- before Plautus, Roman dramatists borrowed Greek plots and dramatic techniques, forms, settings and dress to perform stories from Roman life or legend.
- Plautus borrowed from the Greek theatrical tradition but incorporated “Roman concepts, terms, and usages…referred to towns in Italy, markets in Rome, Roman laws/courts/institutions, etc.
- he is criticized by Terence for his carelessness as a Greek translator
- approach to language is noteworthy = action was lively and slapstick, actions to words. “Latin became racy and colloquial”.
- plays provided a frame for farce, mistaken identity, coarse humor, action, turning power upside-down.
- Plautus adapted his material, “even combining scenes from two Greek originals into one Latin play”
= process known as contaminatio - his work was revived in the mid-14th C by humanist scholar and poet Petrarch.
- his influence is seen in Moliere’s comedies and the musical “A funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”
- his stock characters remained in various forms such as his braggart soldier Miles Gloriosus is exemplified in Capitano (commedia), Pistol and Falstaff (Shakespeare), and Sergius in Arms and the Man (Shaw).
- many of his manuscripts of plays that survived are corrupt and incomplete
Aristophanes
450 - 388 BCE
- greatest rep of Ancient Greek comedy (work most well preserved)
- only extant rep of Old Comedy 5th C (chorus, mime, burlesque, satire, humour, political criticism)
- known for the wittiness in his dialogue, brilliance in parody, creativity in comic scenes, choric songs, licentious frankness
- wrote 40 plays
- work largely concerned with social, literary, and philosophical life of Athens, and the Peloponnesian War
- Babylonians
- Acharnians (attack on the folly of the war)
- Knights
- Clouds (attack on ‘modern education and morals taught by sophists)
- Wasps
- Peace (post war play)
- Birds (comedy of fantasy or political satire)
- Lysistrata
- Women at the Thesmophoria (makes fun of Euripides)
- Frogs (Dionysus need to bring back one of the famous tragic dramatists and decides to bring Aeschylus back instead bc his work would help an Athens in trouble)
- Women at the Ecclesia (women take over the ecclesia)
- Wealth
Terence
- Publius Terentius Afer
195 BC (Carthage) - 159? (at sea?)
- 1 of 2 known greatest Roman comic dramatist
- 6 verse comedies
- his work formed the basis of the modern comedy of manners
- was taken to Rome by a Roman senator (Terentius Lucanus) as a slave bc he was impressed by his ability and supported him with education and eventually freedom
- Andria (166BC)
- Hecyra (The Mother in Law, 165 BC)
- Heauton Timorousmenos (The self-tormentor, 163 BC)
- Eunuchus (161 BC)
- Phormio (161 BC)
- Adelphi (The Brothers, 160 BC)
- Hecyra and The Eunuchus were were popular and have several remounts but not all productions were successful
- “faced hostility from jealous rivals”…Luscious Lanuvinus
- he was accused of ‘contamination’, using material from secondary Greek sources, but not done well.
- he was also accused of not writing his own works and was helped by unnamed nobles.
- recent research finds that his was greatly influenced by Menander.
- showed originality and skill in incorporating secondary materials
- cut out prologues from the Greek plays. Omission increased suspense.
- wanted realism and reduced actor’s direct address to audience, singing, and recitations.
- his influence on Roman education and European theatre was immense.
- “His language was accepted as a norm of pure Latin…” and avoided writing in slang or vulgarity.
Seneca
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca
4 BCE (Corduba, Spain) - 65 CE (Rome, Italy)
- philosopher, statesman, orator, tragedian
- only surviving Roman tragedies all but 1 are from Seneca
- The Trojan women, Medea, Oedipus, Phaedra, Thyestes, Hercules on Oeta, The Mad Hercules, The Phoenician Women, Agamemnon (all adapted from Greek plays)
- major influence in the Renaissance and helped shaped the tragedy in Shakespeare’s time but may not have been performed in Roman public theatres
1)
- plays divided into 5 episodes with choral interludes
- Renaissance - 5 act form with 1 character to comment on the action was popular
2)
- elaborate speeches (forensic addresses)
- emulated by later writers
3) interest in morality through sensational deeds to demonstrate the evils of unrestrained emotions was practiced by later writers
4) Scenes of horrific violence were emulated too
5) preoccupation with death, magic, interpenetration of human and superhuman worlds
6) characters who are dominated by singular obsessive passion that drives them to doom
7) technical devices like: soliloquies, asides, confidantes, were used during the Renaissance
- came from wealthy family
- almost got killed by emperor Caligula but was spared b/c “his life was sure to be short”
- banished to Corsica on charge of adultery w/ princess Julia Livilla, emperor’s niece in 41.
- went back to Rome in 49 b/c of the emperor’s wife Julia Agrippina and became a praetor (type of politician, govt staff) and became the tutor to Nero (he wrote Nero’s first speech).
- was ordered to commit suicide in 65 AD
Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593)
- plays focused on protagonists with complex motivations
- part of the group “The University Wits” in 1580s
- Edward II was important in the development of chronicle play
- killed in 1593
Plays
- Tamburlaine I and II
- Dr Faustus
- The Jew of Malta
- Edward II
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) Contribution to literature
- growth of English vocabulary and phrases
- Making English ‘global’
- popularized the form of sonnet.
- brought theatre to the masses
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) Bio Overview
- father, John Shakespeare, was a burgess of the borough then a bailiff in 1568
- mother, Mary Arden, came from ancient family and heiress to some land
- went to the local school in Stratford but did not go to uni
- married at 18 to Anne Hathaway (8 years older than him)
- had a daughter named Susanna, and twins Hamnet (died at 11 yrs old) and Judith
- 1594, he became an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s company of players (owners of the globe theatre)
- 20 years of writing
- lived apart from his family in London
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) Genre features of his plays and roots
GENRES
- Revenge Tragedy
- Ovid, Seneca, and Thomas Kyd
FOR Hamlet and Titus A.
*Tragedy FOR Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello Julius Caesar
- Romantic Comedy
- modeled on Robert Greene, John Lyly (love’s labour lost), and Thomas Nashe AND for narrative source Spanish prose Romance from Jorge de Montemayor
FOR The Two Gentlemen of Verona Twelfth Night As You Like It The Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew (derived from Ludovico Ariosto's I suppositi) A midsummer night's dream
- History
- this genre did not exist
- told country’s history at a time when the nation was struggling with own sense of identity and new sense of power
- based on 1 model of a drama titled The Famous Victories of Henry the V
FOR
Henry IV part 1 and 2
Henry V
Richard III
- Problem plays (1599 - 1605)
- All’s Well that Ends Well
- Measure for Measure
- Troilus and Cressida
- Romances
- Pericles (based on Apollonius of Tyre)
- The Winter’s Tale
- Cymbeline
- The Tempest
- Poems
- wrote them when the plague closed down a lot of theatrical activity
ROOTS
- Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicle provided material for his plays like Macbeth and King Lear
- Plautus’ Menaechmi (Twins) for the structure of The Comedy of Errors
- Marlowe for sentiments and characterization in Richard III and The Merchant of Venice
- Commedia dell’arte for characterization and dramatic style in Taming of the Shrew
Lope de Vega
1562 - 1635 (Madrid)
WORKS
- greatest dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age
- authored 1,800 plays, hundreds of shorter dramatic pieces. was called a prodigy
- gave comedia its basic formula (blend of comedy and tragedy), national type of drama
- Got into playwriting seriously with poetic ballads in 1593. He was influenced by Valencian playwright Cristobal de Virues.
GENRES
- heroic historical play based on national story or legend (romancero)
- cloak and sword drama (gallants and ladies falling in and out of love) and the point of honour
Titles
*Heroic historical plays
El caballero de Olmedo (The Knight from Olmedo)
Peribáñez y el comendador de Ocaña (Peribáñez and the Commander of Ocaña)
El mejor alcalde, el rey (The King, the Greatest Alcalde),
Fuente Ovejuna (All Citizens Are Soldiers)
*Cloak and Sword Drama
El perro del hortelano (The Gardener’s Dog)
Por la puente Juana (Across the Bridge, Joan)
La dama boba (The Lady Nit-Wit)
La moza de cántaro (The Girl with the Jug)
El villano en su rincón (The Peasant’s House Is His Castle)
- haste from composition was an issue
Lope de Vega
1562 - 1635 (Madrid)
BIO
- son of an embroiderer
- learned basics of humanities at the Jesuit Imperial College and was taught by the poet Vicente Espinel
- Was taken to study for priesthood but left because of a married woman.
- 1583, established as a playwright in Madrid with his comedias (tragicomic social dramas)
- wrote “fierce libels” against his lover (famous actress) that he was sent into jail then exiled from Castile for 8 years. He abducted Isabel de Urbina, 16 yr sister of Philipp II’s earl marshal and married her before he left with the Spanish Armada.
- After he returned, he was exiled to Valencia and wrote plays seriously in 1593. He wrote ballad poetry (romanceros)
- He lived on to have many wives and lovers. Some of children died and he had 2 wives die from childbirth.
Moliere
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin
1622 - 1673
BIO
- French actor, playwright, and manager
- greatest writer of French comedy
- father was the appointed furnishers of the royal household and wanted him to take over his position after, he refused.
- went to school at the College de
Clermont (where many brilliant French thinkers went, like Voltaire) - joined 9 others to produce and play comedy as a company named Illustre-Theatre in 1673.
- his stage name Moliere was first found on a document in 1644.
- he toured with his troupe for about 13 years bc it was hard to keep up a a young company with small # of theatregoers and 2 established theatres in Paris.
- Performed before King Louis XIV and his brother Philippe , duc d’Orleans fancied his work, specifically “Le Docteur Amoureux”. He became a patron for 7 years and then the king took over the company “Troupe du roi”.
Moliere
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin
1622 - 1673
WORKS
- ” inventing a new [comic drama] that was based on a double vision of normal and abnormal seen in relation to each other—the comedy of the true opposed to the specious, the intelligent seen alongside the pedantic”
- the church banned his work
- 40% of his plays included comedy, music, and dance
- the publication of his complete works did not appear until 10 years after his death
- L’Étourdi; ou, les contretemps (The Blunderer; or, The Mishaps), performed at Lyon in 1655
- Le Dépit amoureux (The Amorous Quarrel), performed at Béziers in 1656.
- First Paris play, Les Précieuses ridicules (The Affected Young Ladies)
L’École des femmes (The School for Wives) - 1662
- Les Fâcheux (The Impertinents) at Vaux in August 1661
- the first version of Tartuffe at Versailles in 1664
- Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman) at Chambord in 1670
- Psyché in the Tuileries Palace in 1671.
- Don Juan, 1665
- Le Medecin malgre lui (The Doctor in Spite of Himself), 1666
- Le Misanthrope, 1666
- George Dandin (one of his greatest)
Ben Jonson
1572 - 1637
English dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic
- 2nd most impt English dramatist after Shakespeare
- was part of Lord Camberlain’s theatrical company
Major Works
- Every Man in His Humour (1598)
- Volpone (1605)
- Epicoene; or, The Silent Woman (1609)
- The Alchemist (1610)
- Bartholomew Fair (1614)
“It appears that Jonson won royal attention by his Entertainment at Althorpe, given before James I’s queen as she journeyed down from Scotland in 1603, and in 1605 The Masque of Blackness was presented at court. The “masque” was a quasi-dramatic entertainment, primarily providing a pretense for a group of strangers to dance and sing before an audience of guests and attendants in a royal court or nobleman’s house.” JACOBEAN MASQUE (drama, dance, music, poetry)
- audience, the royals, would participate at the end
Jean Racine
(1639-99)
BIO
- French playwright and poet
- a great tragic dramatist
- orphaned at the age of 4 and brought up by grandparents, aunt Agnes, and Abbess of Port-Royal
- admired ancient Greek dramatists
- good poet at 19 years old
- friends with Moliere but betrayed him when he took away Moliere’s good tragic actress to play the lead in his own play (Andromaque, 1667). She was Racine’s mistress already.
- not a likeable man and had many enemies
- voluntarily withdrew from being tragic dramatist
Jean Racine
(1639-99)
WORKS
- achieved recognition with the production of Andromaque
- Les Plaideurs (The Litigiants, 1668) is his own comedy and its based on Aristophanes’ Wasps.
- Britannicus (1669) was not a success
- Berenice (1670) was produced 1 week before Moliere’s production of Corneille’s Tite et Berenice. Racine’s was more admired than Moliere’s.
- Bajazet (1672)
- Mithridate (1673)
- Iphigenie (1674)
- Phedre (1667), his greatest play
William Congreve
(1670 - 1729)
BIO
- English playwright
- greatest writer of restoration comedy
- educated in Ireland
- laziness and bad health made him stop play writing
William Congreve
(1670 - 1729)
WORKS
- Old Bachelor (first play)
- The Double Dealer
- Love for Love
- The Mourning Bride (one tragedy)
- The way of the world (best play)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749-1832
- German poet of the Romantic movt, dramatist, novelist, statesman
- studied law
- appreciated Shakespeare’s work
- Faust (1808, 1832) was his most famous work published in 2 parts. Dramatic poem.
- Gotz von Berlichingen (1773) was his first play
- Egmont (1788) was a historical drama he wrote inspired by his visits to Italy
- his novel Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1796) was the model for the German bildungsroman.
