The British Empire: Criticism from Within

Ever since the first expansionist attempts in the 16th century, Britain enlarged its territory so that by the Victorian era, in the 19th century, it was called "the Empire where the sun never sets." By 1919, right after the end of the First World War, the British Empire reached its highest extent.

Then, the collapse of the Empire began. In the "white colonies", this was a peaceful, easy process. In the "non-white colonies", though, it took decades of both violence and peaceful protest to achieve independence.

One of the colonies where there was a strong anti-colonialist feeling was Burma, in Asia. George Orwell, who had been born in India, where his father was in the civil service, joined the Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927.

His own experience taught him to be an anticolonialist. One of those experiences, together with his view on colonialims and inhabitants of the colonies is clearly depicted in the narrative essay "Shooting an Elephant".

Victorian England

William Wordsworth and the "Preface" to the Lyrical Ballads

S.T.Coleridge. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

ASSIGNMENT # 3: Innocence and experience, Blake's view of Childhood

Susan Snyder. "Macbeth, a Modern Perspective"

Clicking on the link below, you may access the essay that accompanies the Folger Library Edition of Macbeth
http://blogs.ausd.net/users/theriver2011/uploads/theriver2011/SusanSnyder-AModernPerspective.pdf

The Renaissance: context, changes, and drama

The Sixteenth century marked a great change in Europe: the Reformation, the growth of nation-states aimed at expanding their colonies in previously unexplored territories, the rise of capitalism, the revival of classical learnign and the new value of literature in the different national languages, all showed that the world had left the Middle Ages behind. Modern times were ahead of Europeans at the time. it is in this context when William Shakespeare wrote his brilliant plays. he sets his tragedy of  Macbeth in medieval Scotland, but definitely, his protagonist is a Renaissance man,  moved by his incommensurate desire for wealth and power, his selfish individualism, and his concern for earthly success.
You may explore the issues presented in the play in Susan Snyder's essay "Macbeth, a modern perspective". On Monday, April 13th, the class assignment will be based on this essay by Snyder. Please bring it with you.
By clicking on the link below, you may access the PPT we used in class
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-lzyKVaKRF9voIdQtsRG8oQa05Tb5wwnH9i_seo1mtQ/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000