The love and resentment in “romeo and juliet” PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT In the 15th -16th centuries capitalist relation began to develop in europe. The former towspeople became the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie fought against feudalism because held back the development of capitalism. The decay of feudalism and the development of capitalist relation was followed by and great rise in the cultural life of europe. There was an attempt at creating a new culture which would be free from the limitation of the feuclal ideology of the middle ages. The epooh was characterized by the thirst for knowledge and discoveries, by a powerful development of individuality In the 16th century capitalism began to develop in England as well as in other European countries. However, it had some peculiarities. English humamism was both anti-feudal and anti-bourgeois. It was directed against the ignorance and oppression of feudal, against the grabbing and self-interest character of the bourgeoisie. It was the ideology of the most 2. SOCIAL CONTEXT At the beginning of the tudor period England was still largely rural, consisting of small villages scattered across the country although the largest city, Lodon, had 60000 inhabitants by 1500. during the sixteenth century the population more than doubled (to over 4 million), and charging agricultural habits (grouth of sheep, farming, deforestationp) led to social and economic problems. Wool production became the leacling manufacture in England. Landowners drove thousands of peasants off their lards, turning thse lands into pastures or “enclosures” for sheep. There was no work for the peasants and many of them became homeless, beggars rust for riches was typical of the new class of the bourgeoisie. The most progressive people of the county could not help seeing the growing power of money, and the injustice caused by it. The government’s solutionto the problem only made things worse. By the middle of the century there were probably more than 10000 homeless people in the roods. In 1601 the firsr poor lan was passed, and this meant that local people became responsible for the poor in their area. The local authorites could raise money to provide food, accommodation and work for the poor from their parish. The rise of capitalism was also an important factor, in particular in the cloth tiade which reach its apex in the 16th century. There were also a series of important techological advance, such as impoorovements in the manufacture af steel, and the increasing use of coal. The condition of woman in England was one of the best in Europe, although of the course the strain of bearing enormous families and the high proportion of death in childbirth The invention of printing at the beginning of the period to ever- increasing standerdization of the english language. There was a boom in literacy by the end of the period, it is estimated that half the population could read and write 3. LITERARY CONTEXT Renaissance literature in England is in fact full of influences from classical models. Even so quintessentially of english an author as shakespear based the structure of his plays on the five ats preralend in anciend ROME, the very terms”comedy” and “tragedy” reflect an influence from the past. One may even cite ROMEO and JULIET’s suicicle as an example of classical values rather than those of ELIZABETHAN church. The use of ghosts in renaissance dramma evolved from rather solid figures in early to the sophisticated psychological devices populating shakespoear’s tragedies. Tragedy as the fall of a single great person due to fatal flaw developed into webster’s tatolly corrupt and brutal world. The major influence on the english listerature of the renaissance was surprisingly not dante but petrarch, who established the language in europe. It is difficult for moders perhaps to realise fust what a revolutionary step this wa: romantic love has become part of life in the wertern tradition and it is hard to imagine a time when this language was not yet conceived or formulated. In fact, in renaissance comedy to make people laugh, another characteristic of renaissance literature, which may elude the modern reader, it decorum and elegance. Since the romantic period more emphasis has been placed on sincerity and naturalress, but this was alen to renaissance literature which thus may sometime seem artificial to modern eyes. The progressive ideology of the renaissance was humanism. Human life, the hapiness of poeople and the belief in man’s abilities became the main bubjects in file arts and literature. The works of humanists proclaimed equality of people regardless of their social origin, race and religion. Humanism did way with the dark scholastic traching of the middle ages. The development of a new social order presented great possibilities for man’s creative power. That is why the humanist outlook was with bright optimism, with belief in man’s great abiliteis and his high mission
