English Drama

The tragedy of Doctor Faustus is characteristic of a humanist in the age of Renaissance.
Blank verse (无韵诗）：consists of lines of iambic pentameter (5 stressed iambic verse) which are unrhymed—hence the term “blank”. Of all English metrical forms it is closest to the natural rhythms of English speech, and at the same time flexible and adaptive to diverse levels of discourse; as a result it has been more frequently and variously used than any other type of versification. It was introduced into Britain by the Earl of Surrey (萨里爵士）.

The Miracle Play: the „miracles” were simply plays based on Bible stories, such as the creation of the world, Noah and the flood, the birth of Christ. The Morality Play: a morality represented the conflict of good and evil with allegorical personages, such as Mercy, Peace, Hate and so on. The Interlude: a short performance slipped into a play to enliven the audience after a solemn scene. E.g.: “The Play of the Weather”
Hale Waihona Puke Drama in the Renaissance Period

The Classical Drama: contact with Greek and Latin drama. Comedy: “Gammer Gurton‟s Needle” (1562) ; tragedy: “Gorboduc” (1562) The above plays were the forms of drama prevailing until the reign of Elizabeth.
supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for
infinite power and authority. It is noted for Marlowe’s mighty lines.
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
亚里士多德对悲剧的定义
“悲剧是对一个严肃、 完整、有一定长度的 行动的摹仿；它的媒 介是语言，具有各种 悦耳之音，分别在剧 中的各部分使用；摹 仿方式是借人物的动 作来表达，而不是采 用叙述法；借引起怜 悯与恐惧来使这种情 感得到陶冶”。

Drama in the Renaissance Period
Aristotle on Tragedy

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.” ----The Poetics Part VI
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

Life --- the most gifted of the “university wits”; the son of a shoemaker in Canterbury, and went to London in 1584, and in 1587 he took the London theatre by storm with his first play Tamburlaine.
English Drama in the Renaissance Period
“University Wits” (Christopher Marlowe), William Shakespeare
What is Drama?

The word drama comes from the Greek verb dran, meaning “to perform.” When we speak drama, we mean a story in dialogue performed by actors, on a stage, before an audience--- in other words, a play. We also use the term drama in a more general sense to refer to the literary genre that encompasses all written plays and to the profession of writing, producing, and performing plays.
The Classifications of Drama



Tragedy: A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usu. for the worse. In tragedy catastrophe and suffering await many of the characters, esp. the hero. Comedy: A type of drama in which the characters experience reversals of fortune, usu. for the better. In comedy things work out happily in the end. Tragicomedy: a type of play that contains elements of both tragedy and comedy.
The Playwrights: University Wits

A group of men of letters who wrote for the stage of the 16th century, e.g., Lyly, Marlowe, Greene, etc, who were all of humble birth and struggled for a livelihood by writing . They entered the dramatic circle between the years 1587-93. They were hard workers, revising old plays and wrote new one; making rapid progress in dramatic technique, looked down upon by the gentlemen and suspected by the government. Among them, Christopher Marlowe was the most famous one.
TamburlaineThe great( first play)
A drama in a blank verse(无韵诗，素体诗)
Tamburlaine was a real person on the 14th century central Asia. He was a Mongol conqueror. A tragedy about a man who with high ambition and sheer brutal force thought he could but actually could not control his own fate. By depicting a great hero, the author voiced the
The definition further explained:

By „language embellished,‟ I mean language into which rhythm, „harmony‟ and song enter. By „the several kinds in separate parts,‟ I mean, that some parts are rendered through medium of verse alone, others again with the aid of song.”
Doctor Faustus (masterpiece)
It is based on the German legend and reshapes it freely.