Procedura

Objective: Analyze the writing style of literary compositions from the following periods: middle Ages, Renaissance and Spanish Golden Age.

Procedure:

Results:

Part 1

Middle ages

During the middle Ages, a great emphasis was placed on the blend of fantasy and reality. Though characters were given human characteristics, their personalities transcended to those of fictitious figures. Additionally, these stories incorporated the codes of romance and honor, reliving the ideals of chivalry in writing. Furthermore, there was a religious overtone hidden in these works. Because only monks could hand- copy these manuscripts in monasteries, only a few were made available to the rich and noble. As for the peasants, the only way to pass down these stories from generation to generation was by words of mouth.

Renaissance

The word 'Renaissance' means rebirth. The movement actually began in Italy and spread to England, and the English Renaissance occurred from 1500-1688.

One key characteristic of the Renaissance was the idea of the 'Divine Right' of kings to rule. Another was the development of humanistic ideas, such as the 'dignity of man.' It was a time of scientific inquiry and exploration. This was also the time of the Protestant Reformation, and the invention of the printing press.

The writers of the Renaissance not only wanted to imitate art, they hoped to change reality through art. Also, the writers reflected a spirit of exploration that was going on throughout the world. Renaissance writers like Shakespeare brought settings to life beyond the English borders.

Spanish Golden Age

The Golden Age led to a development in all the theatrical fields, in terms of both structure and language. Theatre became the people´s favorite entertainment place and open air auditoriums were built in the most important cities. These were ancient theatres which had produced a stage-hand revolution. Basic questions about the three classical unities reemerged.

The predominant form was verse. Normally the plays used polymeter. They used different meters depending on what the verse was about. In this way they achieved both enjoyment and beautiful poetic unit.

Part 2

O that this too solid flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!

Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d

His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God!

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Fie on’t! O fie! ’tis an unweeded garden

That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature

Possess it merely. That it should come to this!

But two months dead!—nay, not so much, not two:

So excellent a king; that was, to this,

Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother,

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!

Must I remember?

O that this too solid flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!

Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d

His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! Hear me! O God!

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

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