Shakespeare

Lesson 1

Abstract : The Great Chain of Beings; Richard II

literary terms : remind

The Great Chain of Being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought in medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain starts with God and progresses downward to angels, humans, animals, plants, and minerals.

God is at the top, above angels, which like him are entirely in spirit form, without material bodies, and hence unchangeable. Beneath them are humans, consisting both of spirit and matter; they can change and die, and are thus essentially impermanent. Lower still are animals and plants. At the bottom are the mineral materials of the earth itself; they consist only of matter. Thus, the higher the being is in the chain, the more attributes it has, including all the attributes of the beings below it. The minerals are, in the medieval mind, a possible exception to the unchangeability of the material beings in the chain, as alchemy promised to turn lower elements like lead into those higher up the chain, like silver or gold

Each link in the chain might be divided further into its component parts. In medieval secular society, for example, the king is at the top, succeeded by the aristocratic lords and the clergy, and then the peasants below them. Solidifying the king's position at the top of humanity's social order is the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings. The hierarchy was visible in every structure of society: "In the family, the father is head of the household; below him, his wife; below her, their children."

The animal division is similarly subdivided, from strong, wild, and untameable lions at the top, to useful but still spirited domestic animals like dogs and horses, to merely docile farm stock like sheep. In the same way, birds could be ranked from lordly eagles high above common birds like pigeons. Below them were fish, those with bones being above the various soft sea creatures. Lower still were insects, with useful ones like bees high above nuisances like flies and beetles. The snake found itself at the bottom of the animal scale, cast down, the medievals supposed, for its wicked role in the Garden of Eden."

Below animals came plants, ranging from the useful and strong oak at the top to the supposedly demonic yew tree at the bottom. Crop plants too were ranked from highest to lowest.

The minerals too were graded, from useful metals (from gold down to lead), to rocks (again, from useful marble downwards), all the way down to soil.

Task and questions : To what extent could you say that permanence and spirituality were highly valued in those days?

Family tree Richard II (Richard II (6 January 1367 - c. 14 February 1400), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard's father, Edward, Prince of Wales, died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III. Upon the death of Edward III, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne.)

Task : Relate the document to the Great Chain of Beings.

The Wilton Diptych, 1395

Richard II, 1595, William Shakespeare (Look at the first Five minutes)

(texte en anglais, et en français pour vous aider. Tout à fait normal de ne pas -tout- comprendre en anglais!!).

Task and questions :

Could you find elements related to the Great chain of beings in this expository scene?

What kind of play (tragedy/history/comedy )is it? Justify.

Lesson 2

Abstract : Legitimacy; from Richard III to Elizabeth I

literary terms : response

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 - 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two-and-a-half years after Elizabeth's birth. Anne's marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her half-brother, Edward VI, ruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Roman Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statute law to the contrary. Edward's will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

In 1558 upon Mary's death, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. Declared illegitimate, she was first seen as the Bastard Queen.

As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her virginity, and became the Virgin Queen. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth's reign became known as the Elizabethan era.

Elizabeth 1, the phoenix portrait,1575-76, Nicholas Hilliard.

Task and question :

How did she represent herself as a good monarch?

Find examples of several geometrical forms (circles, triangles). To what extent could these geometrical forms be used as ways to present herself as legitimate?

Why such a title?