The contribution of Marlowe on English Literature英語畢業(yè)論文

1、abstractmarlowe was regard as the most gifted of the “university wits”, who was first used the “blank verse” in the drama. and his masterpiece is “the tragical history of doctor faustus”. his works are all reflect his ambitious and voice of himself. his achievements is that he produced the blank ver

2、se and creates the renaissance hero for english drama and his works are highly praised the renaissance spirit.key words: marlowe, renaissance, significance, achievement摘要馬婁被認為是最出名的“大學(xué)才子”，他是第一個使用無韻體。他的經(jīng)典之作是浮士德博士。他所有的作品都反映了他的抱負和他自己本身。他貢獻在于他創(chuàng)造了無韻體，并應(yīng)用于創(chuàng)造文藝復(fù)興期的英雄主義，并且高度贊揚文藝復(fù)興精神。關(guān)鍵字：馬婁，文藝復(fù)興，重要性，貢獻content

3、sabstract.i摘要.iii. introduction.1ii. brief introduction on marlowes life and his works.22.1 marlowes life .22.2 marlowes works .3iii. social significance of marlowes plays and his literary achievement .73.1 social significance of marlowes play.73.2 his literary achievement .103.2.1 marlowes greatest

4、 achievement lies in that he prefaced the blank verse and made it the principal medium of english drama.103.2.2 his second achievement is his creation of the renaissance hero for english drama.113.2.3the themes of his works are the praise of the renaissance spirit. .12iv. conclusion.15 references .1

5、6acknowledgements.17i. introduction after the end the hundred years war with france (137-1453), england was again blown into the wars of the roses (1455-1485). after that henry vii founded the tudor dynasty, which met the needs of the rising bourgeoisie and so won its support.at the same time, the i

6、nternational regime of the roman catholic church had long been burdensome to the king of england in establishing and absolute monarchy. and henry viii supported to break with rome and confiscated the property of the church to enriching the new bourgeois nobility. so the england was convulsed with th

7、e reformation and the counter-reformation for half a century until the queen elizabeth.before the reformation, the latin bible was universally used by the catholic churches. the english translation of the bible emerged as a result of the struggle between protestantism and catholicism. the first comp

8、lete english bible was translated by john wycliffe and his follower william tyndal worked on another english version. he translated the new testament and portions of the old testament. the appeared the authorized version, which was made in 1611 under the auspices of james i and so was sometimes call

9、ed the king james bible. all earlier english versions were submitted to these new translators. these bibles are monuments of english language and english literature. during the middle ages, england was a rural country with a lot of wool for export. and the increase in the export of cloth stimulated

10、the greed of the moneyed classes to seize more and more land out of the hands of the peasants in order to turn the arable land into pasture. so the enclosure movement was carried on heartlessly in england. in the commercial expansion, spain was the rival with england over the sea. the struggle betwe

11、en england and spain occupied the last third of the 16th century. at last a war broke out in 1588 with the triumph of england. form then on, england became the giant of the sea.ii. brief introduction on marlowes life and his works.2.1 marlowes life marlowe (1564-1593), who was regard as the most gif

12、ted of the “university wits”, was the son of a canterbury shoemaker. he first entered the kings school in 1578, when he learned a favorite renaissance method of teaching boys to speak latin. this counted for something in marlowes development. and then, he studied at cambridge for 6 years and got his

13、 b.a. and m.a. degrees. he had lots of interests, but his chief interest was in classical poetry. he read the greek epics in latin translation. he ever practiced poetic art in latin. a cambridge contemporary said “marlowe has a rare scholar and made excellent courses in latin”, marlowes life was sho

14、rt, wretched and he was killed in a quarreled over a tavern bill at the age of 29. in his life time, he totally produced 6 plays and after his death, his friends got his poems and play printed and they won the praises of shakespeare and other writers of the time. 2.2 marlowes works form the first ha

15、lf of the 16th century, the english renaissance began to develop into a flowering of literature and then england became “a nest of singing birds”. translation occupied an important place in the english renaissance. another kind of literature prevailing at the time was the large amount of books descr

16、ibing discoveries and adventures. the vigor of the age, however, found better expression in the sphere of poetry. there were so many lyric voices in that period that one could hardly listen to them all. the highest glory of the english renaissance was unquestionably its drama. english drama had root

17、s reaching back to the miracle plays of the middle ages. the “miracles” were simple plays based on bible stories, such as the creation of the world, noah and the food, and the birth of christ. besides the miracle plays, and a little later, there were the morality plays. a morality presented the conf

18、lict good and evil with allegorical personages. the morality was therefore a somewhat dreary kind of performance with the endless speech-making of those abstract characters. interlude, a short performance slipped into a play to enliven the audience after a solemn scene. the classical drama came into

19、 contact with greek and latin drama. from it they learned all the important rules in structure and style, the more exact conceptions of comedy and tragedy. miracle plays, morality plays, interludes and classical plays such were the forms of drama prevailing until the reign of elizabeth. these early

20、plays did much in training actors and keeping alive the english dramatic tradition, and paved the way for the flourishing of drama. the audience also became the most important elements of the background. no matter gentlemen and the common people went to the theatres. the playwrights were hard worker

21、s. they revised old plays and wrote new ones. the rise of the bourgeoisies soon showed its influence in the sphere of cultural life. the result is an intellectual movement known as the renaissance, of, the rebirth of letters. it sprang first in italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over

22、 europe. two features are striking of this movement. the one is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. old manuscripts were dug out. there arose a current for the study of greek and latin authors. while people learned to admire the greek and latin works as models of literary form, they

23、caught something in spirit very different from the medieval catholic dogma. so the love of classics was but an expression of the general dissatisfaction at the catholic and feudal ideas. under this circumstance, marlowes wrote his the most famous plays.marlowes best includes three of his plays “tamb

24、urlaine” (1587), “doctor faustus” (1588) and “the jew of malta” (1592). in his first play, “tamburlaine” refers to the mongol conquer tamburlaine who was a shepherd and finally became a khan. tamburlaine is a play about an ambitions and pitiless. tamburlaine displayed a high-aspiring mind that was s

25、elf created and carried by love and dreams beyond the limits of moral existence. his victories were a triumph of immense natural energy and of ruthlessness over equally cruel but weak and decadent civilizations. by depicting a great hero with high ambition and sheer brutal force in conquering one en

26、emy after another, marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of renaissance of infinite power and authority. in fact, tamburlaine is a product of marlowes characteristically renaissance imagination, fascinated by the earthly magnificence available to men of imagination power who have the energy o

27、f their convictions. marlowes masterpiece is “the tragical history of doctor faustus”, in which the old german legend is freely reshaped. faustus is a great scholar who has a strong desire to acquire all kinds of knowledge. he is bored of his present study on the academic curriculum and turns to bla

28、ck magic. he calls up mephistopheles, the devils servant. faustus makes a bond so sell his soul to the devil in return for twenty-four years of life in which he may have the services of mephistopheles to give him everything he desires. with the help of the devil, faustus brings his magical art into

29、full plays and sees the pope; alexander the great and even the beautiful helen of greece. meanwhile faustus has experienced much internal conflict, symbolized in the appearances of both good angel and bad angel. in the final scene, there remains only the terrifying soliloquy in which the anguish of

30、the heros mind is poignantly expressed. the plays dominant moral is human rather than religious. it celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness. it also reveals mans frustration in realizing the high aspiration in a hostile moral order. and the confinement to time is crueiest fac

31、e of mans condition.“the jew of malta” was another success. the protagonist barabas-a rich merchant and a tamburlaine in the narrower sphere of finance is a machiavellian villain. an evil hero was new to british drama of marlowes time. in the opening scenes, barabas wins own sympathy as he recovers

32、his wealth from his christian persecutors, but then he plots revenge using his daughter. he brings about her loves death, at which she goes into a nunnery and barabas poisons her and the other nuns, struggling to avoid the consequences, he is installed as governor of malta by the jurks and perished

33、in a christian counterplot, we are in a world ruled by force and fraud; lip-service to religion is merely an instrument of policy jews christians and jurks art in the same ruthless way in the pursuit of policy wealth and power, what ever they avow, barabas never attains the stature of shakespeares s

34、hylock, though he may have been a model for him. rather, as t.s.eilot said it is a “savage farce”. barabas is the medieval devil personified, but in renaissance disguise. iii. social significance of marlowes plays and his literary achievement 3.1 social significance of marlowes plays tambulaine, fau

35、stus and barabas all speak the voice of marlowe himself. no matter invincible tamburlaine or learned faustus or greedy barabas, they are all the best representatives of marlowes humanism. tamburlaine deals with the world and the flesh, but not with the devil; that is to be the sphere of doctor faust

36、us. and somewhere between the microcosm of tamburlaine and the microcosm of doctor faustus stands the jew of malta barabas. tamburlaine is an amoral superman. in his world, there are no religions, no law and no society, there only exists the endless conquer; dr.faustus is superman who worships the p

37、ower of the devil. no matter who can content his aspiration for knowledge, he will follow and abide him; the jew barabas is an immoralist, which acknowledges values by wealth. contrasted with dr. faustus, he is more consistently and more superficially diabolical. but these three supermen have a comm

38、on ground that is the courage and aspiration to explore and surpass humans infinite capacity. they will never give up until fulfill their goals. this is just what marlowe himself pursues. despising humans limitation, never being contented, doing the matters that cannot be realized, defying the conve

39、ntions, surpassing humans infinite capacities, all these are the common qualities of marlowe and his supermen. and these are just the quintessence of marlowes humanism. in a way, tamburlaine, faustus and barabas are all the spokesmen of marlowe. what they do and what they desire for just reflect mar

40、lowes inside and outside. for having a humble origin, marlowe is eager for entering the upper class. he believes and also makes people believe that a man with humble origin can equally become a successful man. so he creates these common people who become great man through their untiring striving. al

41、though he is a humble shepherd, tamburlaine at last becomes the king. he is aloof from man as well as from god. his quest of power is only an entry into the affairs of the world; in its essence it is a lofty and remote aspiration that makes him the invincible conqueror. he does not consider himself

42、a member of human society but stands for the unique being of the god. the most obvious example is his ruthlessness to all who oppose his march towards the world dominion. in summary, tamburlaine reveals marlowe as primarily self-sufficient, change from a low birth to a high position. similarly, dr.f

43、austus is ever a poor and humble student. but he is at war with an inimical world order. in order to enjoy the endless knowledge he barters his soul to the devil. his deed is far from the ordinary pursuits of man. through his contract with the devil, he does everything that common people cannot reac

44、h it. so he also represents marlowes heartfelt wish. his aspiration for knowledge is just like marlowes eagerness for knowledge. some critics ever think that the story of dr.faustus in a way is an autobiography of marlowe himself; at last, for barabas, although marlowe is not a villain like barabas,

45、 he has the same aspiration for wealth. after graduation from cambridge, marlowe should have been a priest. but considering its low pay, he keeps on his writing. so barabas still stand for one side of marlowes thoughts. paul h.kocher in his “a study of marlowes thought, learning, and character” ever

46、 says: “marlowe is here not a creator of character but a recorder of his own inner experience, which he distributes among his dramatist should”. as a son of the renaissance, marlowes thoughts fully reflect and belong to that great age. his humanism breaks medieval peoples fears on life and death and

47、 shows the audience the elegant demeanor of peoples outstanding courage. all these reflect the renaissance peoples self-respects and self-confidence. this kind of self- respects and self-confidence is just the key point of the renaissance humanism. so marlowes humanism together with his humanistic s

48、upermen is an exotic flower that booms in the splendid literary garden of the renaissance. 3.2 his literary achievement 3.2.1 marlowes greatest achievement lies in that he prefaced the blank verse and made it the principal medium of english drama.marlowes greatest achievement lies in that he perfect

49、ed the blank verse and made it the principal medium of english drama. previous writers like sackville and norton had adopted the blank verse, which, under their pens, was rather inflexible and could produce merely exotic effects. it is marlowe who brought vitality and grandeur into the blank verse w

50、ith his mighty lines”, which carry strong emotions. to achieve this, marlowe employed hyperbole as his major figure of speech, which, instead of referring to the exaggeration of the language, indicated the poetic energy and intensity conveyed through the verse.3.2.2 his second achievement is his cre

51、ation of the renaissance hero for english drama.marlowes second achievement is his creation of the renaissance hero for english drama. such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. he embodies marlowes humanistic ideal of human digni

52、ty and capacity. different from the tragic hero in medieval plays, who seeks the way to heaven through salvation and gods will, he is against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts. with the endless aspiration for power, knowledge, and glory, the hero i

53、nterprets the true renaissance spirit. both tamburlaine and faustus are typical in possessing such a spirit. they seek power and knowledge respectively. tamburlaine, being a cruel conqueror, finds consummate happiness in subduing other kingdoms. no enemy, except death, can defeat him. his death ends

54、 in glory although he finally admits his limitations of achievements and even his limitations as a human being. in portraying faustus, a more introspective and philosophical figure, marlowe praises his soaring aspiration for knowledge while warning against the sin of pride since festuss downfall was

55、 caused by his despair in god and trust in devil.3.2.3the themes of his works are the praise of the renaissance spirit. renaissance is a great age in english literature. it is the age that creates numerous great people. these people write a splendid history. at the mean time, the writers of the ages

56、 belong to it. so their thoughts, their characters undoubtedly are influenced by the whole renaissance culture and traditions. christopher marlowe is not an exception. his thoughts especially his humanism also owe to the renaissance. the renaissance encourages ambition and achievement. it also advoc

57、ates people to pursue what they need including personal dignity, individual glory and self-interest. “in this age, these high expectations of personal glory, and violent reactions or perceived slights by others, might have been attributed to pride, the swelling of self-conceit. the humanists of the

58、renaissance insist on the dignity and potential of each individual. they encourage everyone to consider him some what special. the spread of literacy and learning gives more men than ever before a reason to a reason to regard themselves as accomplished persons whose achievement command respect. the renaissance is an age in which every apprentice may fight to defend his honor and benefit. this intense desire for respect an