The Battle of Maldon: History and Analysis
The Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon recounts the victory of the Danes, possibly under the famous Olaf Tryggvason (956–1000), an illustrious leader of the Vikings and later king of Norway. The events of the poem took place in 991, and the author of the poem apparently did not know the identity of the enemy leader. Moreover, it is thought that the leader of the East Saxon levy was Byrhtnoth, the veteran Ealdorman of Essex, and that the Viking host had sailed up from Ipswich and beached their
Read MoreNeoclassicism in English Literature
Neoclassicism in English Literature (1660-1798)
In England, Neoclassicism flourished roughly between 1660, when the Stuarts returned to the throne, and 1798, the year of the publication of Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads. This collection of poems, along with its theoretical preface, is considered to herald the beginning of the Romantic Age. Regarding English literature, the Neoclassical Age is typically divided into three periods:
- The Restoration Age (1660-1700)
- The Augustan Age (1700-1750)
- The Age of
Literary Movements: 18th Century to Romanticism
18th Century Poetry Characteristics
- Imitation of the classics
- Hierarchy of genres
- Rationalism
- Skepticism
- Urbanity, sophistication, and cosmopolitanism
- Preoccupation with the here and now
- Aristocratic taste
- Use of personification and mythological references and figures of Rome and Greece
- Critical and analytical spirit
- The purpose of literature was to instruct through pleasure, thereby uniting aesthetic and didactic purposes
- Greatest virtue in art was a universal significance
- Conversational ease, restraint, and
Humanism in 14th Century Europe
Segle XV l’Humanisme: Female Anthropocentric Vision
It is based in 14th-century Europe. When finding a slow evolution in the arts and ideology, this aesthetic model brought about medieval humanism.
Characteristics:
- Change in the design world.
- We pass from a theocentric universe to an anthropocentric world.
- The universe is at the service of man.
- Reason wins.
- The artist will have Greco-Latin tradition as a model to follow.
Nicolas Lluis Dolwer:
He gives a definition of humanism: “It is nothing but a projection
Read MoreSpanish Literature: Baroque, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism
Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo was born in Madrid in 1580. He participated in various political intrigues and had a mastery of language. His poetic works include metaphysical poems, moral poems, religious poems, poems of circumstance, love poems, and satirical poems. Dreams (1627) is his most celebrated work. Around 1605, he wrote The Swindler.
Conceptismo
Conceptismo is characterized by a compromise between the desire to express ideas and concepts and verbal ingenuity. It emphasizes not just ideas but
Read MoreShakespeare’s Plays: Structure, Style, and Evolution
General Structure of Shakespearean Plays
The following five-act structure was imposed by Nicholas Rowe, one century after Shakespeare’s time:
- Act One (Exposition): The conflict and characters are established, and the audience takes sides. It provides the rationale and emotional background of the coming action.
- Act Two (Rising Action): Suspense builds as the “good guys” and the “bad guys” make preliminary moves against one another.
- Act Three (Climax): Things begin to look as if the bad guys are going