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British literature

•    during Middle age, Roman Catholic Church was criticised by John Wyclef a professor of Oxford University, he translated the whole Bible into English and inspired our John Hus
Renaissance
•    very important in this period is person and they wrote about him
•    there was early printed book
William Shakespeare
•    he was born on 23rd April in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and he died on 23rd April in 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon
-    I can’t remember date when he was born, because it’s the same date when I was born
•    English play writer and poet, very important for European drama and he was actor too
life:
•    we don’t know exactly when he was born and sometimes it's said: He was born on 23rd April and he was baptized on 26th April
•    his father was glovemaker (= rukavičkář) and he had 7 brothers and sisters
•    he studied on secondary school in his native town
•    when he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway (she was 26 in this time)
•    Shakespeare has 3 children (Susann and twins Judith and Hamnet – Hamnet dead when he was 11.)
•    in 1592 Shakespeare joined the nomad actors and he moved to London, but in 1593 and 1594 London theatres were closed because of plague (Black Death) and he started to write poems
•    after that he was member of theatre company Lord Chamberlain’s Men and he was actor and play writer
•    in 1599 this company removed to theatre Globe and Shakespeare became owner one tenth but it burnt out
•    he came back to his wife and children where he died

•    in history his existence was impugned (=zpochybňována), maybe Shakespeare was nick for Francis Bacon
•    now we know, he really existed
style:
•    he live in Renaissance time
•    women are honourable and proud
•    he write by blankvers …
writing:
•    he wrote 39 plays
•    we can divided his writing into 2 parts:
-    until 16th century:
comedies:
The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew
histories:
Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Richard II, Richard III
tragedies:
Romeo and Juliet
-    after 16th century: he wrote only tragedies
Hamlet, Othello, Julius Caesar

The Merchant of Venice
characters:    
Bassanio – young man, who wants women (Porcie) but he needs money, he asks good friend for money
Gratiano – Bassanio’s servant and good friend
Merchant Antonio – good friend of Bassanio, he lent money him
usurer (=lichvář) Shylock – Judaical money-lender
Porcie – lady from Belmond, she is rich and beautiful
Nerissa – Porcie’s servant and good friend

plot:
Bassanio wants women Porcie but he needs money, because all of princes and rich men want her. He asked good friend for money and he told him: „I will lend you money, but my ships are at the sea. Many people here know me. They lend me and I will give it to you, I will pay it back when my ships return.”
But he lent it of usurer Shylock. He doesn’t like him. He told: „If you don’t pay me back it at the end of 3 months, you must give me a pound of your flesh.“ Antonio agreed.
Bassanio went with Gratiano to Porcie and he won her heart in her game: 3 box – gold, silver and lead. Lead was right and Bassanio have chosen it. Porcie loves Bassanio and her servant Nerissa loves Gratiano.
But Antonio wrote letter to Bassanio: „My ships are all lost. I cannot pay Shylock…“ Bassanio and Gratiano came back and Porcie and Nerissa, they put on the clothes and pretended to be a judge and judge’s servant. Bassanio and Gratiano didn’t know them. Porcie has saved Antonio’s life and Shylock had to give away money (to his daughter and her lover).
Pocie told them true about judge and gave Antonio letter: Ships weren’t lost at sea, they were safe in Venice…

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
characters:    
Egeus – father of Hermie
Lysander – loves Hermie
Hermia – loves Lysandr but she musts get married Demetrius.
Demetrius – loves Hermie, first he loved Helena, now only she loves him
Helena – friend of Hermie
Titania – fairy queen in wood
Oberon – fairy king in wood
Puck – servant of Oberon
Bottom – stupid man, actor

plot:
Egeus wants her daughter get married Demetrius but she loves Lysander. They escaped to wood. They wanted to go long away from Athens where Lysander’s aunt lives.
But Hermia told about their plan to Helena. Helena was so desperate and told it to Demetrius. Demetrius went to wood and wanted to kill Lysander. Helena went there too.
Dramatic actors prepared drama in the wood and in this time Titanie falls out with her husband Oberon. Oberon: „Go Puck and find flower Lazy love, it has a very spacial kind of juice inside. When woman or man is asleep, you put magic juice on their eyes, they wake up and fall in love with the first person or animal that they see.“
Oberon put juice on eyes of Titania and Puck put on eyes of Lysander, who sleep with Hermia in meadlow. Lysander wakes up and saw Helena and fallen in love with her.
Puck changed Bottom’s head into the head of a donkey. Titania wakes up and saw Bottom, she loves him too.
Oberon went mad (= naštvat se) for Puck: „You have put the juice on the eyes of wrong man, it wasn’t Demetrius but Lysander, who fell in love with Helena.“ Puck put juice on eyes of Demetrius and he fell in love with Helena too. But Lysander doesn’t like Hermia…
Oberon put in order everything. He reconciled with Titania, Bottom had his head, Lysander loves Hermia and Hermia loves Lysander, Helena loves Demetrius and Demetrius loves Helena.

Hamlet
characters:    
Hamlet – prince of Denmark
Hamlet’s father – king of Denmark, he is dead
(Hamlet’s uncle) Claudius – bad man, new king
(Hamlet’s mother) Gertrude – new wife of Claudius, queen of Denmark
Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern – friends of Hamlet
Ophelia – girlfriend of Hamlet
Polonius – Ophelia’s father
Laertes – Ophelia’s brother

plot:
Hamlet’s father died from suspicious circumstances. Claudius married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and he became king of Denmark. It looks like it was Claudius, who killed Hamlet’s father.
One night Hamlet’s father manifested him and he told him: „Your uncle killed me, he poured poison into my ears.“ Hamlet decided avenge oneself on Claudius for father’s death. Everybody thing: „Hamlet is mad.“
He wants to be sure and he pripared drama with actors, who Caludius invided. Drama is about real death of his father. Claudius is horrified. Queen called his son and he told her true about father‘s ghost and she doesn’t belive him.
Polonius wants to know what happen and he hided behind a cutain in the queen’s room. Hamlet heard him and think: „It’s Claudius“ and he killed Polonius.
King sent hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they were his friend but Claudius had plan and his friends knew about it: In England king must to kill Hamlet. Hamlet discovered it and came back to Denmark.
Ophelia went mad and drown in river. Laertes came back from France and he hated Hamlet. They had to fight. Laertes and Claudius had plane: Claudius will give Hamlet wine with poison and Laertes will have poison on his sword.
But Gertrude drank wine and dead, Hamlet pinked Laertes with his sword and Laertes dead, Hamlet know everything and killed Claudius and because Laertes’s sword hit him too, he asked Horatio: „Tell everybody my story“ and he dead too.

Julius Caesar
characters:    
Julius Caesar – he was the ruler of Rome
Brutus – Caesar’s good friend, but he was worried him.
Cassius – he never liked Caesar
Mark Antony – Caesar’s best friend
Lucius – servant of Brutus
Calpurnia – wife of Caesar
Decius – friend of Cassius
Octavius – nephew of Caesar

plot:
Julius Caesar had great power, but after some time he wanted more… Brutus and Cassius think: Caesar has a lot of power, it’s not good.
In the night, there was a great storm in the city and it was foreboding. Brutus, Cassius and their „group“ decided that they will kill Caesar. Wife of Caesar had dream about his death and she prayed him: „Don’t go out today.“
But he goes and they killed him. Mark Antony showed Caesar’s dead body to crowd and Brutus had „wonderful“ speech about Caesar: „I do everything for Rome, I will kill myself, when Rome will want it. It was good for Rome, killed Caesar.“
But Mark Antony had sincere and real speech. It began battle between Cassius – Brutus and Mark Antony –  Octavius, who went to Rome, visited uncle.  Mark Antony – Octavius won.

My opinion:
I like this book very much. It was great! I like stories from Shakespeare because he is excellent writer. I like The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream because I love „happy-end“.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a little bit complicated story, there are a lot of names, but I understand it good after read.
I like Hamlet, but he should not dead, he was good man, good son, but a little bit bizzare, because he think only about vengeance.
I don’t like Julius Caesar’s end, because I don’t understand description of battle in Czech language and in English it’s not better… But in the beginning was good I like history and Julius Caesar is one of most famous men of world’s history.

Romanticism
•    in 19th century
•    typical places are castle, dark woods, lakes, burial-place, autobiography
•    they want love and when they fallen in love they are unhappy
George Gordon Byron
•    he was born in 1788
•    he left family and wife and travelled around world
•    he dead because of plaque
writing:
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Percy Bysshe Shelley
•    he was born in 1792
•    he must left university because of atheism
writing:
Prometheus Unbound

Walter Scott
•    he was born in 1771
•    he wrote historical novels and stories and he was very famous
writing:
Waverley, Ivanhoe

Realism
•    in 19th century
•    typical is true and present not past
Charles Dickens
•    his father was in prison and he worked when he was child
•    he married but he left family because of actress
•    when he wrote The Pickwick Papers he became famous
writing:
The Pickwick Papers
Oliver Twist
Davis Copperfield

Decadence
•    between 19th  and 20th century
•    vagrancy, alcohol, Satanism
Oscar Wild
•    he was clever, famous, elegant and people liked him
•    he was from good and rich family
•    but after that he was homosexual and society hated him
writing:
Picture of Dorian Gray

Only to say:
J. R. R. Tolkien
J. K. Rowling

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