Lecture english literature in the 16th century

Thomas More (1478-1535)
Sir Thomas More was born in London and educated at Oxford. He began life as a lawyer. He was an active-minded man and kept a keen eye on the events of his time. The English writings of Thomas More include discussions on political subjects, biographies, poetry.
Thomas More was a Catholic, but fought against the Pope and the king's absolute power. The priests hated him because of his poetry and discussions on political subjects. Thomas More refused to obey the king as the head of the English Church, therefore he was thrown into the Tower of London and beheaded there as a traitor.
The work by which Thomas More is best remembered today is Utopia which was written in Latin in the year 1516. It has been translated into all European languages.
Utopia (which in Greek means "nowhere") is the name of a non-existent island. This work is divided into two books. In the first, the author gives a profound and truthful picture of the people's sufferings and points out the social evils existing in England at that time. In the second book Thomas More presents his ideal of what future society should be like. It is an ideal republic. Its government is elected. Everybody works. All schooling is free. Man must be healthy and wise, but not rich. Utopia describes a perfect social system built on communist principles.
The word ‘utopia’ has become a byword and is used in modern English to denote an unattainable ideal, usually in social and political matters.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMA IN ENGLAND
During the Renaissance art and literature developed. People liked to sing and act. Drama became a very popular genre of literature. The Renaissance dramas differed greatly from the first plays written in the Middle Ages. As in Greece drama in England was in its beginning a religious thing. The clergymen began playing some parts of Christ's life in the church. The oldest plays in England were the ‘Mysteries’ and ‘Miracles’ which were performed on religious holidays. These were stories about saints and had many choral elements in them.
Gradually ceremonies developed into performances. They passed from the stage in the church to the stage in the street. At the end of the 14^th century the "Mysteries" gave way to the ‘Morality plays’. The plays were meant to teach people a moral lesson. The characters in them were abstract vices and virtues.
Between the acts of the ‘Morality’ and ‘Miracle plays’ there were introduced short plays called ‘interludes’ — light compositions intended to make people laugh. They were performed in the houses of the more intelligent people.
Longer plays in which shepherds and shepherdesses took part were called ‘Masques’. These dramatic performances with music were very pleasing and were played till the end of the
17^th century.
Soon the plays became complicated. Professional actors travelled from town to town performing in inn yards. The first playhouse in London was built in 1576. It was called "The Theatre". A more famous theatre was ‘The Globe’, built in 1599. It was like the old inn yard open to the sky. Galleries and boxes were placed round the yard. The stage was in the middle of it. There was no scenery. The place of action was written on a placard, e. g., a palace, London, etc. There was no curtain, either. The actors stood in the middle of the audience on the stage. Women's parts were acted by boys or men.
Actors showing a performance outside a country inn
Drama from its very beginning was divided into comedy and tragedy. The first English tragedies and comedies were performed in London in about 1550.
In the 16^th century a number of plays were written in imitation of Ancient Roman tragedies and comedies. There was little action on the stage. The chorus summed up the situation and also gave moral observations at the end of each act. Such plays were called classical dramas. The greatest playwrights of the time were men of academic learning, the so-called "University Wits".
Among the "University Wits" were John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe and others. Each of them contributed something to the development of the drama into the forms in which Shakespeare was to take it up.