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HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT ON ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH (No 2) Subject Code EN16 Full name Date of birth Group Requirement Write a sub.
HANOI OPEN SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT ON ENGLISH AND UNIVERSITY AMERICAN LITERATURE FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH (No 2) Subject Code: EN16 Full name: Date of birth: Group: Requirement: Write a subject report on English and American Literature I Answer the following questions on literature: (50 points ) What three languages were spoken in England in the 11th - 13th centuries, and whom were they spoken by? Mention some reasons What is a romance, a fabliaux, a bestiaria? In what language were they written? (The file sent will be named after each student’s name Plagiarism will lead to failure) There were three languages were spoken in England in the 11th-13th centuries They are: - French: The Norman French became the language of government in England as a result of the Conquest, when Anglo-Normans replaced the native English nobility, according to Algeo and Pyles As a result of the Conquest, the influence of French on the English language was clear with many French words replacing English vocabulary - Latin: Latin was still the preferred language for many purposes With its fixed grammar and spelling, it was easy to abbreviate without misunderstanding It remained the medium for the international scholarship until the seventeenth century The Catholic church used Latin in its services, so all liturgical books were written in this language until the Reformation in the sixteenth century The theologian John Wycliffe began to translate the Bible into English in the late fourteenth century Still, the Lollard movement with which he was associated was persecuted by the authorities, so late medieval Bibles in English are rare - Anglo-Saxon: Anglo Saxon is the earliest recorded form of English, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century After the Norman conquest of 1066, Anglo Saxon replaced English to be the language of the upper classes with Anglo-Norman, a relative of French This is considered as marking the end of the Old English era During this period, the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland - Romance: The Normans brought the romance to England Romance shows off love, adventures and express the ideas of the feudal society The term Romanticism does not stem directly from the concept of love, but rather from the French word romaunt (a romantic story told in verse) Romanticism focused on emotions and the inner life of the writer, and often used autobiographical material to inform the work or even provide a template for it, unlike traditional literature at the time.Romanticism celebrated the primitive and elevated "regular people" as being deserving of celebration, which was an innovation at the time Romanticism also fixated on nature as a primordial force and encouraged the concept of isolation as necessary for spiritual and artistic development Romance was written in English, French and Latin - Fabliaux : A humorous tale popular in Medieval French literature The fabliaux were stories of various types, but one point was uppermost – their clever, sly satire on human beings These stories, often bawdy, dealt commonly with the elegy, ridiculed womanhood and were pitched in a key that made them readily and boisterously understandable to the uneducated Fabliaux were written in French - A bestiary is a compendium of beasts Bestiaries were made famous in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks in the ancient world A moral lesson usually accompanied the natural history and illustration of each beast This reflected the belief that the world itself was the Word of God and that every living thing had its special meaning Bestiaries were written in Latin II Working on the given literary works A William Shakespeare and Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark William Shakespear – A literature genius William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. His works continue to be studied and reinterpreted Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime However, in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays.[13] Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".[13] On his father's death in 1601, William Shakespeare inherited the old family home in Henley Street part of which was then leased to tenants. Further property investments in Stratford followed, including the purchase of 107 acres of land in 1602 Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52. He is buried in the sanctuary of the parish church, Holy Trinity Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (/ˈhæmlɪt/), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601 It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother Shakespeare’s telling of the story of Prince Hamlet was derived from several sources, notably from Books III and IV of Saxo Grammaticus’s 12th-century Gesta Danorum and from volume (1570) of Histoires tragiques, a free translation of Saxo by Franỗois de Belleforest The play was evidently preceded by another play of Hamlet (now lost), usually referred to as the Ur-Hamlet, of which Thomas Kyd is a conjectured author Hamlet is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others".[1] It was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime[2] and still ranks among his most performed, topping the performance list of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its predecessors in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1879.[3] It has inspired many other writers— from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and Iris Murdoch—and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after Cinderella".[4] The story of Shakespeare's Hamlet was derived from the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticusin hisGesta Danorum, as subsequently retold by the 16th-century scholarFranỗois de Belleforest Shakespeare may also have drawn on an earlier Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet, though some scholars believe Shakespeare wrote the Ur-Hamlet, later revising it to create the version of Hamlet that exists today He almost certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor, Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by numerous highly acclaimed actors in each successive century Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623) Each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others The play's structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny One such example is the centuries-old debate about Hamlet's hesitation to kill his uncle, which some see as merely a plot device to prolong the action but which others argue is a dramatisation of the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder, calculated revenge, and thwarted desire More recently, psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires, while feminist critics have re-evaluated and attempted to rehabilitate the often-maligned characters of Ophelia and Gertrude B An analysis of William Shakespear’s Hamlet Shakespear’s writing art, ideas talent and historical background behind his life works The works of William Shakespeare reflected the cultural, social, and political circumstances of the Elizabeth I era At the end of the 16th century in England, most of the population still believed in ghosts, midwives, and ghosts Witches and magicians There is no evidence that Shakespeare had such beliefs Still, Shakespeare used superstition effectively in his works as ghosts play an essential role in Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Richard III, witches are the main characters in the play Macbeth, and Prospero is a magician in the play "The Tempest" In the 1580s, the city of London, with a population of about 150,000, became a bustling metropolis of Europe On the Thames, there were thousands of ships going up and down, and sometimes the brilliant Royal Barge also appeared on this river The London Bridge is also famous for its southern bridgehead, the Tower of London, where the skulls of those convicted of treason are displayed Of the violence of the Age of Queen Elizabeth I London has more than 100 churches, the most famous of which is St Ancient Paul Also to the west are the Inns of Court, a college of barristers, and the Whitehall Royal Palace and the Palace of Westminster It was destroyed in 1588 The prosperity and opulence of the British court were a sign of the power of the Elizabeth I Dynasty During the Elizabethan Era, Literature flourished The Anh Dinh court subsidized writers and poets when writing works Several aristocratic writers, such as Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Philip Sidney also composed poems reflecting the brilliance of the dynasty, and poets of popular origin were also patronized, such as Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spencer and Michael Drayton The Drama industry has developed and originated from two directions in this socio-economic situation The first dimension is purely secular, popular, a retelling of ancient legends, Biblical stories, old History stories, and the second is by students of the Inns of Court, who are alumni of the University of Oxford or Cambridge, have knowledge of the History and Drama of the Greco-Roman Ages Classical literature with modern famous theater gave birth in 1587 outstanding plays such as Christopher Marlowe's "Tamburlaine" or "The Spanish Tragedy" by Christopher Marlowe Thomas Kyd… In terms of habitat, the city of London in 1600 had about 200,000 inhabitants By today's standards, the city is crowded and unsanitary Still, as the capital of England, London attracts all kinds of people here looking for promotion opportunities: officials, teachers, artists, musicians, students… and writers William Shakespeare's deep involvement in the life of the city of London gave him a comprehensive understanding, which enabled him to create diverse characters in plays At the end of the 16th century, when Shakespeare began to write plays, the people of England were optimistic In 1588, England had just defeated the mighty Spanish Armada Fleet, the patriotism of the British people was high Through the early 17th century, when Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, there were many economic and social problems in England, small wars with several other countries, epidemics spread, killed hundreds of people Human life becomes threatened, short Political disturbances have caused many crime scenes with the beheading of traitors and the hanging of prisoners in public So William Shakespeare's scripts also reflect the shift from optimism to pessimism Comedies are no longer seen, but instead, tragedies such as "Measure for Measure" or "All's Well that Ends Well" The tragedy "King Lear" was a cry of despair The literature of the Elizabethan Era reflected scenes of violence or death At the same time, Shakespeare's tragedies also contained suicide or murder scenes of the main characters in the play But, despite its brutal nature, the people of this era were sensitive to beauty and poetry Literature has taken many forms, including poetic drama, fiction, and essays British people still love Music, with talented British musicians standing on a par with European musicians Instrumental Music, songs, and dances were three critical elements in the plays of the Elizabethan Era William Shakespeare's second stage of composition is known for plays such as "Romeo and Juliet", "The Merchant of Venice", and "King Henry IV", with his brilliant comedy called is "A Midsummer Night's Dream" William Shakespeare's style is mature robust and demonstrates the author's genius due to his playful plays satirical romances, with many poetic descriptions The play "Hamlet", written around 1601, opens the third stage For eight years, William Shakespeare explored evil, and the world of terror was presented with great tragedies because the author was pessimistic before the desperate thoughts of man, the painful circumstances of the world Society In the fourth and final stage, William Shakespeare used a new genre of writing, that is, the tragicomedy or tragic romance "The Tempest" is perhaps the best play of the period, combining strength and wisdom The details, plots, and psychology of the characters in the plays prove that William Shakespeare was an erudite man, well understood about people, knew how to combine dramatic technique with poetic ability, which made him become the greatest of playwrights William Shakespeare's art is realistic; it contains the truth of human life, and this is eternally true The characters in the plays are both alive and three-dimensional; they can be good, bad, significant, or insignificant and include all kinds of people: kings, high officials, clerical employees products, villains, dreamers, lunatics, activists… male and female, country and province… Shakespeare's depiction of heroes is genuinely excellent, and so are the supporting characters For example, the 20 young women in the plays are roughly the same age, almost the same social background, nearly the same external lifestyle, but these 20 women are very different in their lives Real life The plays of William Shakespeare have made the audience deeply moved and have had such a profound effect on the readers that they have to re-read the scripts many times; for example, the play "King Lear" is considered Shakespeare's greatest tragedy The Renaissance culture refers to a unique historical period, a significant turning point in the history of Europe and humanity, a giant era that produced giants with diverse cultural values In which the most outstanding cultural value is humanism, taking the promotion of people to affirm the human values in people, to verify the human qualities of earthly people Man is both the highest crystallization of the perfection of the biological body and the fullness of the spirit as Hamlet praises: "Wonderful is the man! How noble man is in terms of reason, how infinite in his gift! What a meaningful and respectable new image and pose! In real action like a fairy, in wisdom equal to God's talent! What the beauty of the world, the model of all things!" Shakespear’s message, influence and educational values through out his works The characters emphasized by Shakespeare through the title of each play or other characters placed concerning the main character have reached a typical level, crystallized into a supermodel - archetype - showing the laws of movement of the main character History Typicality is not just creating a character that has never existed but creating a character type with a wide range of real-life Every reader or audience watching a performance will recognize the silhouette when reading In his era, there is a psychological depth, a depth that creates a personal identity so that the character is not mixed with anyone or dissolved anywhere Therefore, the typical character has the appearance of sculpture and painting on the outside At the same time, the inside is a whole world of philosophical contemplation, with complicated inner happenings that often lead to literary variations Depends on how each writer handles it Shakespeare's influence Shakespeare's influence extends from theater and literature to present-day movies, Western philosophy, and the English language itself William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the most excellent writer in the history of the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist He transformed European theatre by expanding expectations about what could be accomplished through characterization, plot, language, and genre innovation Shakespeare's writings have also impacted many notable novelists and poets over the years, including Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, and Maya Angelou, and continue to influence new authors even today Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the history of the English-speaking world after the various writers of the Bible; many of his quotations and neologisms have passed into everyday usage in English and other languages According to Guinness Book of World Records, Shakespeare remains the world's best-selling playwright, with sales of his plays and poetry believed to have achieved over four billion copies in the almost 400 years since his death He is also the third most translated author in history Influence on theatre Shakespeare's works have been a significant influence on the subsequent theatre He developed theatre to a great extent and changed today's theatre Shakespeare created some of the most admired plays in Western literature (with Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear being ranked among the world's most excellent sports) and transformed English theatre by expanding expectations about what could be accomplished through plot and language Specifically, in plays like Hamlet, Shakespeare "integrated characterization with the plot," such that if the main character was different in any way, the plot would be totally changed In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare mixed tragedy and comedy to create a new romantic tragedy genre (previous to Shakespeare, romance had not been considered a worthy topic for catastrophe) Through his soliloquies, Shakespeare showed how plays could explore a character's inner motivations and conflict (up until Shakespeare, monologues were often used by playwrights to "introduce [characters], convey information, provide an exposition or reveal plans") Influence on European and American literature Shakespeare influenced many writers in the following centuries, including significant novelists Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and William Faulkner Examples of this influence include many Shakespearean quotations throughout Dickens' writings and that at least 25 of Dickens' titles are drawn from Shakespeare At the same time, Melville frequently used Shakespearean devices, including formal stage directions and extended soliloquies, in Moby-Dick.[ In fact, Shakespeare so influenced Melville that the novel's main antagonist, Captain Ahab, is a classic Shakespearean tragic figure, "a great man brought down by his faults."[ Shakespeare has also influenced several English poets, especially Romantic poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who were obsessed with self-consciousness, a modern theme Shakespeare anticipated in plays such as Hamlet Shakespeare's writings were so influential to English poetry of the 1800s that critic George Steiner has called all English poetic dramas from Coleridge to Tennyson "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes." Influence on the English language Shakespeare's writings greatly influenced the entire English language Before and during Shakespeare's time, the grammar and rules of English were not standardized But once Shakespeare's plays became popular in the late seventeenth and eighteenth century, they helped contribute to the standardization of the English language, with many Shakespearean words and phrases becoming embedded in the English language, mainly through projects such as Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language which quoted Shakespeare more than any other writer He expanded the scope of English literature by introducing new words and phrases, experimenting with blank verse, and introducing new poetic and grammatical structures The famous Russian poet Lermontov of the 19th century once passionately praised: "If Shakespeare is a great poet, it is Hamlet If Shakespeare really is Shakespeare, an incredibly vast genius that goes deep into the human heart and the laws of destiny, a unique genius that no one can imitate, then it is Hamlet There are no words to praise this masterpiece tragedy For hundreds of years, the play is still alive and well on the stage worldwide From plays turned into movies big and small Critics and art theorists constantly research and discover values that are always hidden in works That proves the richness of the play is endless However, the conclusions are rarely unified or even contradictory due to different viewpoints and times Some narrow-minded views see the play as just a bloody revenge story Or, Shakespeare wanted to build a weak character who is always cynical, pessimistic, and tired of life due to unsatisfactory circumstances Or when compared with the nature Don Quijote, they think that Don Quijote acts without thinking and Hamlet only thinks without affecting In general, people not intentionally see the deep socio-political meaning of the work The plot is inherent in the Nordic Danish folktale treasure At the end of the 16th century, the English writer Thomas Keat made a play Hamlet that resonated on the English stage (today there is no script) Shakespeare inherited quite a lot when he started to build this play But he has put in a lot of effort and creativity that is enough to transcend space and time to become the pinnacle of humanity's tragic work Shakespeare's outstanding contribution is that he turned an old revenge story into a tragedy that profoundly reflects the nature of his time, expressing the anxiety and concern about the life and aspirations of people of the time in a very systematic way 10 Hamlet is a beautiful combination of poetry and philosophy, art and thought, theater and life C Some comments on the Hamlet Tragedy Prince Hamlet is perhaps the most complex character to be brought to the stage in this tragedy, and many scholars have debated Hamlet's actions and ideology At the beginning of the play, the Prince is just a nobleman, powerless to avenge his father and a victim of circumstances Hamlet's way of thinking is expressed in the Prince's monologues, in his brutal acts when tormenting Orphelia, in dealing with the body of Count Polonius, in refusing to kill Claudius when he This king was praying and thinking of a way to kill his two courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Did the failure of revenge bring the Prince to a state of melancholy, becoming a victim of the philosophy of "the melancholy humor", and according to Dr Ernest Jones, a disciple of Sigmund Freud, Prince Hamlet suffered from "the Oedipus complex", a person who wanted to replace his father in his mother's love when his father died unexpectedly? Hamlet is a peculiar, unstable human being, subject to many impulses and in many states of mental turmoil Prince is an intelligent, sensitive person, in a high position but facing a difficult situation; he has extreme attitudes, hesitates, looks for evidence to take revenge Revenge is not acceptable to Christianity, while Hamlet is a hero of the Elizabethan era, a variety of "tragic heroes" guided by a ghost, tormented by conscience Trifles are limited by reason to some instinctive actions Another character in the tragedy is Queen Gertrude There were not enough factors to conclude how this Queen grieved over the death of old King Hamlet, how much she loved the new King Claudius The Queen's feelings towards the morality of marrying her brother-in-law are unknown, and at that time, such an act was considered illegal and unethical Queen Gertrude, who loved Hamlet, also cared for Orphelia, had felt vaguely guilty and then took a drink during the most awkward situation Does the Queen know that this glass of wine has poison or not? Claudius was King of Denmark, uncle of Hamlet, and later stepfather of the Prince This is also a complex character with the ability to drink and political talent for dealing with Norway and Poland, talent for controlling the people, and two courtiers Audiences may not like Claudius's often hypocritical laugh, but they feel for the king in the prayer scene, and it's at this point that Hamlet doesn't have the heart to kill the tyrannical king Another image is the ghost of old King Hamlet In Shakespeare's plays, there are often ghosts because people were still 11 superstitious at the time of Elizabeth I in England, believing in omens and ghosts Some scholars believe that the role of spirits in plays is played by Dai Van Hao Shakespeare himself Polonius was a wise old man, the father of Laertes and Orphelia, a court figure, but the play does not specify Polonius' office and that it was given to him by the old King Hamlet from King Claudius Queen Gertrude was interested in the marriage between Hamlet and Orphelia, calling Polonius "a good old man," but Polonius's prowling nature amused the audience and in his actions Mr Polonius has mixed good and evil Laertes is a young man in contrast to Hamlet He was trained to be a courtier Laertes was an honest, proud, honorable man, acting hastily, quarreled with the priest at his sister's funeral, violated his conscience by using a poisoned sword while avenging his death Dad After all, Laertes was an innocent victim, like his sister Orphelia Orphelia got her name from the Greek word "Apheleia," meaning "innocent" This is a description of her outlook on life Orphelia was confused when she saw Hamlet's change of attitude In the scene of the dispute between the Prince's love and the duty to obey her father, Orphelia did as her father told her while Hamlet did not wholly follow his father's words is the ghost's advice In addition to the main characters mentioned above, there are also Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Fortinbras, soldiers, clowns Horatio is a friend of Prince Hamlet This was not an aristocrat, but a gentleman, with mild qualities, that Prince Hamlet himself lacked Horatio lived a life free of excessive joys and sorrows The tragedy of Hamlet contains within it many themes, such as justice and vengeance, human destiny and purpose in life, sanity and madness, appearance and reality, woman and love, love, rights, and duties as king, poison and corruption, First of all, all of Hamlet's actions are ordered by the ghost to the Prince, which is revenge for his father who was brutally murdered Underhand By this time, the Prince's soul was tormented by questions William Shakespear – A literature genius Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark B An analysis of William Shakespear’s Hamlet Shakespear’s writing art, ideas talent and historical background behind his life works Shakespear’s message, influence and educational values through out his works Shakespeare's influence 12 Shakespeare's influence extends from theater and literature to present-day movies, Western philosophy, and the English language itself Influence on theatre Shakespeare's works have been a significant influence on the subsequent theatre He developed theatre to a great extent and changed today's theatre Shakespeare created some of the most admired plays in Western literature Influence on European and American literature Shakespeare influenced many writers in the following centuries, including significant novelists Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and William Faulkner Examples of this influence include many Shakespearean quotations throughout Dickens' writings and that at least 25 of Dickens' titles are drawn from Shakespeare Hamlet Summary The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed. 13