Passage 2 Questions are based on the following passage The Renaissance is a period in Europe from the 14th to the 17th century, which is considered as the bridge between the Middle Age and modern history. The word Renaissance literally means “Rebirth” in French. As a cultural movement, it started in Italy in the late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. And it had a great influence on literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Drama is a performing art and primarily written for theater. Actors and the Directors not only use words but also depend on the power of spectacle to bring out the desired effect of the play and to realize the intended goal of the dramatist. English Renaissance drama, or English Renaissance theater, means the stage plays written and acted during the Renaissance period in England. This period in English history saw a great growth in drama as an art form and public entertainment. Renaissance playwrights Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare are considered by scholars to be among the greatest writers in English history. Christopher Marlowe was the earliest of the popular playwrights of the time. His work mainly dealt with tragic subjects, which were characterized by heroes who were always brought down by their ego. He used his plays as a means of political activism, for which many protesters were frequently killed by monarchs. Experts believe that his plays contain magnificent passages of prose and poetry, among which Tamburlaine , The Jew of Malta, and The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus are his main plays. The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus is the most famous play of Christopher Marlowe. It is based on the German story Faust, in which a man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of immense power, experience, pleasure and knowledge. However, his desire to repent begins to plague him. he meets his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the devil. It is this play that makes clear the impact of Marlowe’s writing on the British stage, because Marlowe created and mastered a new kind of theatrical language—a superb blank verse without any rhyme, a language capable of remarkable intensity, intellectual rigor, and emotional complexity. The best known comedian durin g English Renaissance was Ben Jonson, who had made great success in London theater scene in 1598 with the comical Every Man In His Humor . Jons on had an unstable youth, branded on the thumb as punishment after killing a man in a fight. Because he frequently satirizing political officials, Jonson often found himself arrested or threatened by the officials throughout his career. With the succession of James I to the throne of England in 1603, Jonson began writing masques for the royal court, he often worked on these elaborate and expensive productions with Inigo Jones, who was a stage designer and considered as the father of modern stagecraft. Jonson’s plays show the touch of a conscientious artist with great intellectual ability. His artistry exerts a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. Besides, Jonson’s satirical comedies and his theory and practice of “humor characters” are extremely influential, providing the model for many other comedies. But the most famous playwright during English Renaissance was William Shakespeare, who wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets (a sonnet is a kind of poem). Unlike Jonson and Marlowe, Shakespeare wrote extensively in all styles, from funny comedies like Love’s Labors Lost to epic tragedies such as Hamlet and Macbeth, from tragicomedy or romance to historical figures such as Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar. Some experts believe that Shakespeare began his career by competing with Marlowe, but soon he developed his own achievements. Shakespeare’s work focus on common human themes, such as betrayal, murder, lust, power, ambition and love. These themes are as much a part of human nature today as they were all those years ago. Even though his theatre, The Globe, burned down in 1613 it was rebuilt in London in 1997 and you can still see his plays performed there today. The influence of his work extends to modern day, and his stories are often reworked into modern plots.