Tema svolto gratis inglese Oscar Wilde

(Dublin 1854 - Paris 1900). The aesthetic movement reached its culmination with Oscar Wilde.
From his years at Magdalen College, Oxford, he had been influenced by the doctrines of Walter Pater. In 1881 he published his first volume of Poems at his own expense. To secure notoriety and thus increase the sale, he adopted an aesthetic prose, making public appearences in silk knee breeches and with a carnation in his hand. Soon, however, he gave up this form of self-advertisement, and tried to win the public by the brillance of his wit rather than by the extravagance of his attitudes. Having taken to journalistic work to make a living, he wrote, at the same time, delightful tales collected under the titles of "The Happy Prince and Other Stories" (1888) and "A House of Pomegranates" (1891), sophisticated novels such as "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891), essays on art, published in one volume as "Intentions" (1891), and an erotic drama in French, "Salomé" (1893). But he showed his sparkling wit principally in a series of comedies, dealing sarcastically with the London society, "Lady Windermere's Fan" (acted 1892), "A Woman of No Importance" (acted 1893), "The Importance of Being Earnest" (acted 1895) and "An Ideal Husband" (acted 1895). Then he instituted a legal action against the Marquis of Queensbury who had accused him of homosexuality. Wilde was at the heigh of his fame for his brillant plays. The accusation was well grounded and Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labour at Reading Gaol (1895-1897). His imprisonment was a disaster for the theatre in which he had made such a brillant start, but the sense of social disgrace, and the trying perioid he spent in jail, gave his emotional depth and allowed him to produce "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", a poem of poignant intensity, and "De Profundis" (1895), an apology of his life. His last years were cheerless and unproductive. He wandered in France and Italy, and died on 30 November, 1900.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Jonathan Swift and Gulliver's Travels

Swift's Life:
Swift is considered the greatest English writer

of his time and one of the largest satirist ever existed.
He was son of an English family settled in Ireland and during his childhood he studied in Kilkenny (Kilkenny School) and then in Dublin (Trinity College). After going to England on his mother's advice, he meets, in the house of Sir William Temple, Esther Johnson (Stella), to which he will be forever connected. After having taken religious orders he becomes parish priest of Kilroot, but living mostly in London where he participates to the most important political circles. He becomes councilman of the Tory government supporting it with pamphlets and articles.
With the fall of the government Swift returns in Ireland having obtained the role of dean of the Church of St. Patrick in Dublin. In this period of stay in the island exposes the oppressions to which the Irish people (even if he despises them) are subject by English and local government. After the death of beloved his mental disturb worsens more and more until his death.



Summary: Gulliver's Travel (1726)

It's his most famous book. Written as an adventure novel it is actually a cruel satire of human race, civilisation and Anglo-Irish (his fellow countrymen are the wild Yahoo). Lemuel Gulliver, doctor on a merchant ship, is shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput, where everything, beginning by the inhabitants, is large a fifteenth of persons and objects we know. In the second part instead Gulliver visits Brobdingnag, where the ratio is turned upside down and where the doctor becomes the of the King's daughter, who keeps him between her playthings. In the third part Gulliver visits Laputa and the continent that has Lagado as capital, where the satire is addressed against philosophers, historians and inventors. In the island of Glubdubdrib, then, Gulliver evokes the shadows of the great man of the antiquity and from their answers he discovers their bad habits and meanness; while among the immortal Struldbrug, he notices that the largest sadness for the man would be the perspective of not giving an end to the tedium vitae. In the fourth part then, the virtuous easiness of the Houyhnhnm horses contrasts with the nauseous brutality of the Yahoo, beasts with a human aspect.

· BOOK I: Gulliver sails from Bristol on May 4, 1699, after 6 months he is shipwrecked somewhere on the island of Lilliput where he falls asleep. The Lilliputians, the very small inhabitants of the island, take his body and put it In a temple. Gulliver learns many things about this people, their language and their customs. After many adventures he returns to England.

· BOOK II: Gulliver sails again for India but finds the land of Alaska. He meets the inhabitants, they are giants. Gulliver’s size causes him many problems.

· BOOK III: After many adventures Gulliver sails another time to return home but he is attacked by pirates who set him on a small boat. He arrives to Laputa’s island whose inhabitants are absent-minded astronomers and philosophers. Gulliver visits their capital, Lagado and its academy where absurd experiments are carried out.

· BOOK IV: Gulliver goes to an island inhabited by horses endowed with reason, the Houyhnhnms, who are served by a race of filthy creatures very similar to human beings, the Yahoos. Gulliver admires the superiority of the Huoyhnhnms. The horses banish him and he builds a canoe to go back home.

The travel is a positive experience that gives the traveller and the reader something important that can help them in their life. The message that Swift wants to communicate is that Europe is losing its civilization and falling into corruption and other bad things. In every book there is a hidden theme: in the first for example he speaks about man’s pettiness and greed, in the second about his pride, in the third about representation of pure reason and in the last book about the absurdities and evil of the various professions.
Gulliver tells his experiences in first person in a prose style, he is not Swift in person but he is an invented character, an instrument.

Tema svolto gratis inglese The Development of English language

English belongs to the Germanic languages and it was preceded by Celtic. Then it was influenced by Latin, Germanic and Scandinavian dialects and finally by French. There are three main periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English.

1. Old English: it is the fusion of the languages spoken by the Saxons, Angles and Jutes. It had four different dialects: Northumbrian, Mercian, Kentish and West Saxon. There were cases for nouns and adjectives and a particular alphabet made up of runes.
2. Middle English: at the beginning it was confused. When it emerged it was different from Old English. The words were accented and stressed in a different way; there was one article; the infinitive of the verbs developed from "an" into the form "to"; many words changed after the Norman Conquest.
3. Modern English: Early English: the final vowels became silent and it was the introduction of new words from Greek and Latin; Modern English: Dictionaries began to appear and the language was enriched with new words.

The Anglo Saxon Period (650 - 1066)
Historical background
Celtic Britain

The Iberians were the Celtic people who lived in Britain. The climate was mild, land was fertile and it had fresh water and forests. It was famous for its pearls, gold and tin. The Iberians were merchants and introduced the agricolture. They built Stonehenge.

The Celts: Between the 7th and the 4th century B.C., Britain was invaded by the waves of Celtic tribes: the Gaels, who settled in the north; the Britons, who settled in the south: est and west.

Julio Caesar: In 55 B.C., the Romans tried to invaded the land but the Britons defeated them. They tried for a second time with Julio Caesar. He didn’t want to subdue the land but only slaves and tributes. Romans’ invasion influenced British culture.

The Anglo Saxon invasion: at the beginning of the fifth century the Germanic tribes invaded Britain and killed the inhabitants and wiped out the Roman civilisation except for the three elements: roads, the commercial centre of London and Welsh Christianity. Welsh civilisation remained prevalently Celtic, which had many legends like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Christianity returned with St. Augustine from Scotland and St. Patrick from Ireland. Now the country was divided into six Kingdoms: Northumbria, Essex, Wessex, Sussex, East Anglia and Mercia.

The Danes : Alfred the Great defeated the Danes and restored the Saxon dynasty.

The Saxons, Alfred the Great: he was the greatest king before Edward the Conqueror. He introduced latin and translated the Bible into Anglo Saxon.

Edward the Confessor: after his death the Danes regained the country until 1042; when Edward the Confessor restored the throne he was weak and he left no sons, so Harold, from the Wessex family, took the throne.
Anglo Saxon Literature
Anglo Saxon literature is divided into two groups: Pagan and Christian. The Pagan was influenced by Germanic history and legends; the Christian was based on the Bible and on the life of Saints. It continued after the Norman Conquest, while the Pagan disappeared.
Pagan Poetry
It was originally oral, then the monks wrote down these stories adding Christian elements. We can divide pagan poetry into two groups: epic and lyric. The oldest epic story is Beowulf. The poem is about 3.200 lines long.

Beowulf: it was written in the 8th century by an unknown author and it was oral. Then it was written down by a scholar. It was an episode of the Scandinavian saga. The story is divided into two parts:
the First part presents young Beowulf. He helps the king of the Danes, Rhotgar, to defeat a monster that attacked his kingdom. The name of the monster was Grendal. Beowulf finally killed him. But Grendal had a mother the tried to avenge her son, but she was killed by Beowulf.
the Second part presents Beowulf in his old age, when he was the king of the Geats. He fights another monster who tried to destroy the country. During this battle Beowulf dies...

Language: Beowulf is written in Wessex dialect which presents these characteristics: each line is divided by a marked pause and the two parties are held by allitterations; there are no rhymes.

The presence of the nature: the story has the typical background of the Scandinavian countries. The north is stormy and there are black forests, pools and caves.
Social and historical accuracy: the story also describes the way of living during the 6th century: drinking, sleeping, fighting etc. These legends were often narrated by the scops.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh. There he studied law, but since

he had little or no taste for the legal profession and was suffering from tubercolosis, he left the Bar and began to travel around the world in order to try to recover his health in warmer climates. He began his literary career with a number of essays and short stories which he contributed to various periodicals. Then he started to write his novels of travel and adventure, which provided a welcome escape from the seriousness of the age into the regions of romance and fantasy. In the "Island Voyage" (1878) he described a canoe tour through Belgium and France, and in "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" he gave an account of his wanderings in France. His first real success came with "Treasure Island" (1883), a stirring story about pirates and buried treasure which has become a boys' classic. Then followed "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886), an extremely original novel of mystery and terror with symbolic overtones (black novel), and a number of Scottish historical novels, "Kidnapped" (1886), "The Masterof Ballantrae" (1889) and "Catriona" (1893). The last two novels were written in Samoa, where he had settled in 1888 and temporarily recovered his health. However, he died in 1894 from a ruptured blood-vessel in the brain, and was buried on the island. Stevenson owed his sudden and lasting succes to the vividness of his descriptions, the brisk pace of his narratives and a skilful combination of romance and realism. Judged from a modern standpoint, he must also be credited with a conscious effort to develop his craftsmanship towards new technical ideals, as is shown in his letters on the subject to Henry James. Stevenson also wrote some charming poems collected in "A Child's Garden of Verses" (1885) and "Underwoods" (1887).

Tema svolto gratis inglese Walter Scott and the historical novel

In a period, called by historians "Age of Revolutions", in which the middle class was achieving more power and people had many rights,

there was a writer who represented, and exprimed, thoughts of respectful people as the Scottish one: sir Walter Scott. He cames from Edinburgh, a town which was growing and falling under the new social class of merchants and businessmen. In his life he didn't follow his father's career, who wanted to introduce the son in legal fields, but he choise literary studies. After the first novel "Warvely", which gave him the succes, he wrote others famous novels as "Ivanhoe", "Rob Roy" and "The Antiquary". Fame conquered by his books, found his reason in themes and style characterising his works: historical context, in which Scott use setting stories.
He was often compared with the Italian Romantic writer more representative in european culture: Alessandro Manzoni. Even if they share lots of theories, they have also some differents points of views: the most important one they share is the definition of historical novel, an invented story sets in a real historical context. And the story obliged them to start their works. In 1707, Act of Union had been joined England and Scotland, even if Scottish had their autonomy only in political field, but in that new age, english middle class plucked out scottish traditions, in which there never was been a classes division; families was only divided in "clan" and they had social relationships. Now, the new ones couldn't interact, every class had to follow his laws; Scottish had to acquired English customs too, so Scott tried to recove his people's folk, celebrating Scotland past history. On the contrary, Manzoni's target was much more difficult to realize: Italy wasn't a nation such as Scotland, it was divided in lots of states.
The reason of Manzoni's history's use had been given by the people situation: he wanted to teach them to have a conscience and to join together becoming a nation. It seems impossible during a period in which political situation was at the opposite of his ideas. So we can see how history is the main theme in those authors works, and how it is also interpreted at the same way: they always thought history as a sequel of events based on a "middle hero", an ordinary person belonging to the people. The great and important hero is less considered, he can start a revolution, but he needs the ordinary people to balance his role, this is because this theory come from the idea supported by Scott and Manzoni, that is to say, history is the way of life of a nation, of a people.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

First Act - In Verona there are two houses in enmity with each other, Capuleti and Montecchi

Sansone and Gregorio, servants to Capuleti meet Abramo and Baldassare, servants of Montecchi, and start fighting. Benvoglio, Montecchi's nephew, arrives and try to calm the men, but Tibaldo, of the enemy house, enters and attacks Benvoglio. This fight involves many citizens and the heads of the two houses and their wives go down in the street to see. Prince Escalo stops the fight and strongly threatens them because it isn't the first time that it happens, so tells Montecchi and Capuleti to come to speak with him in judgment place. Lady Montecchi asks to Benvoglio about Romeo, her son that is sad and always stays alone, without giving the reason of his behavior. Benvoglio speaks with him and discovers that he suffers because of he loves a woman who doesn't love him. That woman, Rosalina, is invited to a party in Capuleti's house and Romeo decides to go there despite people of the house of Montecchi can't do it. During this party, Paride, a young nobleman, will try to conquer the heart of Juliet, the fourteen years old daughter of Capuleti. When Juliet knows that Paride sought her for his love, she's not very interested in him and less in marriage. Romeo goes to the party with a friend, Mercuzio, he meets Juliet, they kiss each other and fall in love. But Romeo discovered that she is a Capuleti and gets desperate, and so does Juliet.

Second Act - Romeo can't return to home at the end of the party and goes, without be seen, in the Capuleti's garden where hears Juliet speaking alone about her desperate love for him. They meet and confess their love each other. Juliet tells Romeo that the day after she will send someone to him to have a confirmation of Romeo's real intention to marry her. The morning after Romeo goes in friar Lorenzo's cell and asks him to celebrate his marriage that day. The friar is shocked by the speed mutation of Romeo's love but isn't completely contrary, because it could be a way of peace for the two enemy houses. Then Romeo meets his friends and they see him much more happy. While they're talking, Juliet's nurse arrives to have the confirmation; Romeo tells her to send Juliet in the church, pretending with his family that she's going to shrift, where they will meet with the friar. At the notice Juliet, happy, goes there and marry Romeo.

Third Act - Tibaldo, who hates Romeo because he has seen him at the party, attacks him at the presence of Romeo's friends. Mercuzio draws to defend Romeo but he is killed by Tibaldo. So Romeo, furious, kills Tibaldo with the sword. Now, He must escape from Verona or he would be doomed to death. Montecchi and Capuleti know the fact and the prince condemns Romeo with the exile. Juliet is waiting for Romeo for the first night together but the nurse narrates her the fact. She is desperate and so Romeo. With the help of the nurse and the friar, Romeo can go in her room and stay there for the night. After, he will leave to Mantova until the situation returns calm. But Capuleti decides that Juliet will marry Paride in some days. In the morning, Romeo is already escaped. Juliet violently quarrels with his father because she doesn't want Paride for husband. Her parents tell her that they don't want her like a daughter again. The nurse agrees with them and Juliet is indignant, so decides to go to friar Lorenzo to find a solution.

Fourth Act - The friar gives Juliet a vial that will make her like a dead woman for two days. So all the people in Verona will believe that she's dead. She will be able to escape in Mantova with Romeo who will be present to her awakening after the funeral. The friar suddenly writes some letters to Romeo to make him know the plan. In Capuleti's house, Juliet pretends to agree to the marriage; then, in the night, she drinks the vial. The morning after, all the house is desperate because of the false death and the funeral is ready.

Fifth Act - Baldassare arrives to Romeo before the friar's letters and the man believes Juliet is dead. He's out of himself because of the pain and leaves to Verona to see her the last time. He buys some strong poison to kill himself in Juliet's grave. Friar Lorenzo has the notice of the not arrive of his letter and, worried, wants to go to Juliet but he doesn't arrive before Romeo. On the grave, Romeo find Paride, they fight and Paride falls dead. Seeing Juliet motionless, he drinks the poison to die near his beloved. In that moment the friar arrives but Romeo is already dead; Juliet wakes up. Seeing her Romeo without life, she kills herself with his dagger. The prince, Capuleti and Montecchi are called to the bloody grove and shocked by the terrible and mysterious fact. Friar Lorenzo narrates to them all the tragic story and a letter that Romeo has written for his father confirms friar's words. The two houses understand the horror that has been given by their enmity and make peace at the presence of the prince.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Brief summary of Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) wrote "Robinson Crusoe", his best known

novel, in 1719. The story is based on a real event (the account of Selkierk's adventures) but Defoe drew inspiration also from the travel books of the time. "Robinson Crusoe" is made up of 3 sections:

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the first section: Robinson leaves his family, he's 19 years old, to go away to sea, hoping to make a fortune, in spite of his father's warnings. After many dangerous experiences he lands in Brazil and becomes a successful planter. During an expedition to Africa, where he was going to buy some slaves, he is shipwrecked on a remote island;
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the second section: Defoe describes Robinson's life on the island. This part is related in the form of a diary, an account of Robinson's experiences: he stays there for 28 years, 2 months and 19 days and keeps a journal in which he describes how he manages to re-create the world he has left. That's why Robinson Crusoe is the so called "homo oeconomicus". He saves a young savage (Friday, who becomes his servant) from the cannibals. He is rescued by an English ship;

Tema svolto gratis inglese George Orwell

George Orwell (1903-1950) was born in India and served in the Imperial

civil service in Burma for 5 years (1922-27). Then he became disgusted with the social class to which he belonged and sought contact with the poor and the destitute, among whom he found material for 3 novels documentating the great depression of the 30s, "Down and Out in Paris and London" (1933), "Keep the Aspidistra Flying" (1936) and "The Road to Wigan Pier" (1937). In 1936 he went to Spain to fight on the Republican side, but was soon disillusioned by the atrocities of the Communists, whom he attacked in "Animal Farm" (1945) an anti-Communist fable. His later work included the famous novel "Ninetten Eighty-four" (1948), a vision of life under a totalitarian regime, "Shooting the Elephant" (1950), a collection of essays, and his autobiography "Such, Such were the Joys" (published in 1953).

Tema svolto gratis inglese Macbeth by William Shakespeare

First Act - Macbeth is a great general that quells a dangerous revolt in the kingdom

of Scotland, making his king very proud of him. But three witches want to make a spell against him, so tell him that he will be lord of Cawdor and then, king of Scotland. Less after, he really becomes lord of Cawdor. From that moment the ambition starts to haunt his mind and, with the inducement of lady Macbeth, who is thirsty of power, he decides to kill the king Duncan. Duncan is celebrating the victory in Macbeth's castle, so it will be simple to kill him and turn the guilt to his servants, while all of them are asleep.

Second Act - Macbeth kills Duncan and is shocked by his own action. While he's making the murder, hears the servants to say frightful things and, afraid to be discovered, he kills them the day after, pretending that he has done it because of the hate for the murderers of his king. All the people are desperate and the atmosphere is dreadful. Malcolm and Donalbain, king's sons, have understood the danger for them and that the guilt isn't of the servants, so they decide to escape, one to England and one to Ireland. Because of their speed flight, many people think that king's sons are who have ordered the murder to the servants. Macbeth is already left to Scone to be invested king.

Third Act - Macbeth is worried about Banquo. Banquo is a general that was with him when they met the three witches. The witches predicted that Banquo's son would be king. Banquo is very wise and Macbeth doesn't feel sure in his throne. So decides to make him to killed by some hired assassins and so to his son Fleance. But they can only kill the general and Fleance escapes. There's a party in Macbeth's castle but Banquo's ghost arrives, only the new king can see him. He he's scared and seems mad to all the presents. But Lenox and Macduff, two lords that were in the castle when Duncan died, have understood what Macbeth did. Macduff has already escaped to England with Malcolm, under the protection of king Edoardo.

Fourth Act - Macbeth questions the witches again. They make to come three apparitions that speak to the king. The first tells him to pay attention to Macduff, the second that none who has kept birth by a woman could kill him, the third that he couldn't be won until Birnan wood gets up. Finally he sees a procession of kings where Banquo's sons are. The witches disappear. Macbeth knows by a messenger that Macduff is in England and decides to kill him. Macbeth's hires assassins can't find him but go into his castle and kill his wife and his sons. There will be a war between England, that has the prince Siward for captain, and Scotland. Macduff, furious for the murder of his family, Malcolm, Ross and others indignant, will fight against Macbeth.

Fifth Act - Lady Macbeth's mind is destroyed by the remorse, and she kills herself. Macduff, Siward, Ross and many English soldiers attack Scotland. Before to go to Dunsinane, where is Macbeth's castle, Malcolm make all the soldiers carry a branch at Birman wood over their heads, to hide their real number. So Birman wood gets up and moves to Dunsinane. Macbeth decides to fight, kills Siward's son and is attacked by Macduff. Macbeth tell him the second prediction but Macduff had been taken off his mother before the birth, so he can kill Macbeth, and does it. Dead Macbeth, Malcolm becomes the new king of Scotland.

Tema svolto gratis inglese John Donne

Donne's development as a poet is representative of the gradual change

in taste and ideals that took place in England during his lifetime. He was born in London of a family with strong Roman Catholic traditions, studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and had the main characteristics of the Elizabethan courtier. He started his literary activity by writing a number of satires, elegies, songs and sonnets which were published posthumously as "Poems" in 1633. These poems represented a reaction both in form and subject against the poetry of his contemporaries. In them, Donne broke away from the conventional themes of pastoral poetry and sang of love in a cynical and sensuous mood. He also appeared to dislike regular, harmonious cadences as well as classical smoothness and formal perfection. Instead of the usual similes or comparisons, he introduced fantastic metaphors and extravagant exaggerations called "conceits". In spite of these eccentricities, Donne's most successful poems are remarkable for their surprising blend of passion and thought , for psychological insight, and for subtlety of analysis. In his later life, he wrote poetry on the themes of repentance, death and judgement, distinguished by erudition and ingenuity. His religious poems often reach shocking heights of intensity and his sermons are among the best written in the 17th Century, and wonderfully reflect the spirit of the age. Donne himself and a number of poets of the 17th Century, who wrote according to the new standards set by him, are generally known as "metaphysical" poets, a term adopted by Samuel Johnson.

tema svolto gratis inglese Hamlet by William Shakespeare

First Act - In a castle of Denmark, some men are worried because

of the apparitions of a ghost like the king Hamlet, dead not much time before. The ghost arrives at 1 a.m. 'o clock, completely armed, and doesn't speak; then, it goes away before daybreak. They decides to tell Hamlet, the king's son, the fact because the ghost could speak to him. The mother of Hamlet, the queen, has recently married the brother of the dead man, who has became king. The new king is looking after Fortebraccio of Norwegian, that wants attack them. Hamlet suffers for the father's death and for the speed new marriage of his mother; he also doesn't like his uncle who wants him to forget the past pain. At the castle, Laerte, the son of Polonio, the chamberlain, is leaving to France; his sister Ofelia speaks to him and Polonio about Hamlet's proposal of love. The men tell her to not take in consideration Hamlet's letters, 'cause there's too much difference of rank between the prince and Ofelia and a serious relation couldn't be. Ofelia say that she will do so. Orazio, friend of Hamlet, tells him about the ghost and the prince decides to stay up that night to meet it. The ghost arrives at the usual time and takes Hamlet with itself to speak to him. It's the ghost of his father, that was killed by his brother with a poison while he was sleeping and now is sentenced because has died without confess his sins. Only in the night he can walk in the castle and ask revenge. Hamlet is deeply touched by ghost's words and promises to avenge the father.

Second Act - Polonio asks to Rinaldo to look for Laerte and he accepts. Ofelia tells her father that Hamlet has been in her room behaving like a mad and so Polonio decides to speak about it with the king. The king is already worried by Hamlet and asks to Rosenecrantz and Guildenstern, two courtiers, to try to understand the real reason of his sadness. The problem about Fortebraccio is solved by the old uncle of the Norwegian prince. Polonio reads Hamlet's letters to Ofelia with the king and the queen and says that the reason of his madness is the repulsion of the girl so they decide to spy the boy when he is alone with Ofelia. While, Hamlet's behavior gets more and more strange; he pretend to be mad to easily do his revenge. To have a confirmation that the ghost said the truth, invites some actors in the castle to act a story like the murder of his father. If the king is shocked by that vision, he is guilty.

Third Act - The two courtiers can't find the reason of the Hamlet's madness, 'cause he deceives them. The king and Polonio spy Hamlet alone with Ofelia, but he doesn't seem in love with her. The king and the queen are very shocked by the strange human condition and the fragility of people's soul. The king is afraid of Hamlet and orders to Rosenecrantz and Guildenstern to bring Hamlet with them to England. The king starts to feel very bad because of his guilt, and try to pray. Hamlet meets his mother and hurts her with cruel words and kills Polonio with a sword. The ghost appears only to Hamlet and they speak, while the queen is thinking that her son is delirious.

Fourth Act - The king pushes on the courtiers to take away Hamlet and they leave with him. Laerte returns from France and he is desperate because of his father's death and Ofelia's madness: the two strong pain has made her fool, so the girl, singing, drowns herself. Laerte wants revenge. Hamlet discovers that the two courtiers are bringing a king's letter to England, in which there's the order to kill him. He change the letter with another one where is written to execute the two traitors and can return to the castle. Laerte and the king made a conspiracy against Hamlet: there will be a sporty duel between Laerte and the prince, but Laerte will really kill him with a poisoned sword. If he miss the arm, there's also some poisoned wine to make drink to Hamlet.

Fifth Act - Hamlet sees with Orazio two gravediggers at work and reflects about death's cynicism. There is the funeral of Ofelia and Hamlet is very nasty with Laerte, that becomes angrier. Hamlet explains to Orazio how he could find the letter and he escapes. During the duel Hamlet and Laerte hurt each other, but they exchange their swords and Laerte dies poisoned. Hamlet discovers the plot and, furious, kills the king. Also the queen dies, because she has unintentionally drunk the wine. Hamlet's death is going to arrive and he says to Orazio to narrate this story in the future, then he falls dead. Fortebraccio arrives to the castle with some notices, but finds the king dead. He will take his place on Denmark kingdom.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Frankenstein di Mary Shelley

Walton's story (Letters 1 -4)
Young Captain Robert Walton is embarking upon a dangerous voyage to the North Pole,

when he finds his ship surrounded by ice. While he is stuck, he sees the strange sight of a gigantic man on a dog-drawn sedge travelling at great speed who disappears into the fog. He then discovers Victor Frankenstein on the brink of death. Walton looks after him and they become friends and Frankenstein tells him his story.

Victor's story (Chapters 1-10)
Victor, who came from a respectable family, grew up with an orphan named Elizabeth whom his mother had adopted. When he was seventeen, his mother died. At university he was inspired by a teacher called M. Waldman. Ambitious for glory, Victor learned everything he could about science in the hope that he could discover how to create life itself. In a turmoil of obsession, he digs up dead bodies and builds a gigantic man from them in the hope of giving him life. He succeeds, but is devastated to find it so horrible and runs away from it in horror. The monster disappears and Victor is nursed back to health by his friend Henry. However, he receives a letter from his father telling him that his youngest brother, William, has been killed. Victor quickly journeys home to Geneva. On the way, he sees the monster amidst the Alps and becomes convinced that the monster is William's murderer. When he meets is family, Victor learns that Justine Moritz, an honest servant of their family, has been accused of the murder. Victor is horrified but feels sure she will not be convicted. Justine's trial goes badly. She falsely confesses to the murder and is hanged. Unable to tell his family bout the monster, Victor spends his time alone. On a mule he travels into the Alps where he meets the monster. He wants to kill him The monster reproaches him and asks him to listen to his story.

The Monster's story (Chapters 11-16)
The monster tells him about the confusion of his early life. He could not distinguish anything but felt only pain, hunger and cold. Gradually, he learns about the world. On wandering into a village he is attacked by the villagers and flees into a hovel. In hiding he observes the daily life of a poor family called the De Laceys. He is moved by the kindness the son and daughter show towards their old, blind father. When a young arabian girl arrives, the son teaches her his language and the monster decides to learn it by listening. Desperately needing friendship, the monster pins his hope on meeting the family. When the blind man is alone, he introduces himself. His conversation is interrupted by the return of the family. Seeing the monster clinging to his father, the son batters him. The family leave the house out of fear. In complete anguish, the monster decides to seek out his creator. On the way he saves a young girl from drowning but is shot by a peasant. Later, he sees young boy, William, whom he wishes to befriend. William rejects him but also fatally reveals that he is a Frankenstein. In revenge for his miseries, the monster strangles him. He takes a portrait from his neck and places it within the dress of a girl who is sleeping - Justine. Finally, the monster explains that his misery and loneliness has made him act badly. He asks Victor to create a female monster for him.

Victor's story continues (Chapters 17-24)
Victor has many doubts but finally agrees to do so. When he returns home, his father proposes that Victor marry Elizabeth. Victor agrees to do so after he has taken a tour of England, on which he is accompanied by Clerval. Victor finally parts with his friend and hires a hut in the Orkney islands, so that he can make the female monster. But when he sees the monster at the window, in a fury, he tears the half-finished female creature to pieces. The monster, in despair, leaves him with the words, 'I will be with you on your wedding night!' The monster murders Clerval out of revenge and makes it look as though Victor was the murderer. Victor spends time in prison in a state of madness. Eventually he is proved innocent and is taken home by his father. He is married to Elizabeth, but; misinterpreting the monster's words, believes that the monster will kill him and decides to prepare for his own death. On their honeymoon, while Victor is out looking for the monster; he kills Elizabeth. Victor's father dies when he hears the news. Utterly alone, Victor decides to seek out the monster and kill him. He chases him across the globe and almost manages to kill him near the North Pole. Victor finds himself sinking when Walton's ship passes by and rescues him.

Walton's story continues (The final letters)
Still stuck in ice, Walton's crew threaten to mutiny if he refuses to return. Victor gives them a rousing speech, urging them on. He finally dies from exhaustion. When Walton is writing his letters, he hears a noise and discovers the monster mourning the death of his creator. Walton calls him a hypocrite. Finally, the monster makes a long speech explaining how he his been mistreated and misunderstood by humanity. He declares that justice has never been given to him and the only solution is to commit suicide now his creator has gone. He jumps from the cabin window and "is lost in darkness and distance".

Tema svolto gratis inglese Elizabeth I

When Henry VIII died in 1547, after marrying three more times, his nine years old son became King Edward VI.

Since Edward was too young and sick to rule, a council of Protestant lords governed England for him.
When Edward died in 1553, Henry’s first daughter Mary became queen. She was Catholic and accepted the Pope as head of the English Church. She persecuted the Protestants and the people began to call her “Bloody Mary”.
Mary died in 1558 without a child to succeed her. Her half sister Elizabeth, who was 25, became queen.
Elizabeth and Parliament decided that the English Church should be Protestant, but with some Catholic features. The monarch would be head of the Church, but, at the same time, bishops would handle daily affairs as they did in the Catholic Church.
Most English people were pleased with the blend of Protestant belief and Catholic practice. The few groups of Catholics who were not pleased remained outside the English Church. Some groups of Protestants also opposed Elizabeth’s Church. As they wanted to purify the Church of Catholic ways, they became known as Puritans.
Under Elizabeth I, England became the leading Protestant power in Europe. Spain, under Philip II, remained the leading Catholic power. In order to defeat England, Philip ordered the building of the Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships. In the spring of 1588, the Armada sailed towards England.
Elizabeth had the English fleet reorganized. A new navy of 134 fighting ships and merchant vessels was formed. Expert sailors handled the English ships with a great deal of skill. One sailor, Sir Francis Drake, was famous for his overseas voyages and his capture of Spanish ships. The English were able to fight the Spanish ships successfully one by one. Only half of the Armada survived.

The Stuarts and the Civil War

In 1603 Queen Elizabeth I died. The Crown passed to a distant relative, James VI of Scotland, a member of the Stuart family. He became James I of England. James I believed in rule by divine right. When Parliament objected to some of his actions, he dismissed it and ruled without legislature for ten years.
When James I died in 1625, his son Charles I became king. Charles I held the same beliefs about the monarchy as his father. In 1628, he was forced to call a meeting of Parliament to approve new taxes to pay for the wars with France and Spain.
In 1629 Charles I dismissed the Parliament. In 1642 civil war broke out between the Crown and the Parliament.
Those who backed the Crown were called Cavaliers. They were mostly wealthy Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Those who backed Parliament were called Roundheads because they wore their hair short. They were mostly middle and lower-class Puritans and other Calvinist.
Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan leader who backed Parliament, set up a New Model Army. In 1649, the New Model Army defeated the King’s army and ended the war. Cromwell and his supporters put Charles I on a trial and, in 1649, beheaded him. Cromwell took over the rule of England, now called the Commonwealth.
He finally did away with Parliament and governed as a military dictator for the Puritan minority.
Many Puritans were very strict. They disapproved of dancing, theatre-going, sports, and other popular amusements. They believed that people should spend all their free time praying and reading the Bible. Despite this, Puritan rule was not completely gloomy. Cromwell himself was fond of music and horses and allowed women to act on stage for the first time.
After Cromwell died, his son Richard took over. But by 1660, Parliament decided that England needed a monarch again. The choice was Charles II, Charles I’s son, who was living in France.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Charles Dickens

Life:
C. Dickens (1812-1870) came from a lower middle-class family. He began his

career as a journalist but, after the success of his first novel he devoted himself to writing fiction. He published a succession of highly successful novels, usually in monthly instalments, which made him very popular. He was admired at all levels of Victorian society from Queen Victoria herself down. He lived a very intense life. He also worked as an editor, supported important social causes, travelled widely in Europe and in the United States, was an amateur and gave public readings of his works.
Personality

He is the foremost representative of the Victorian novel. One side of his genius was his natural sense of humour, a quality which has kept alive the characters of his novels up to the present time, when his attacks on the systems of Victorian life have lost their topicality. His humour can be found in character drawing, in dialogue and in whole episodes. The sequence of events that we find in his novels, was partly due to their serial form, and it is to be found particularly in his first great comic novel, The Pickwick Papers. Here each episode is pure humour, and Dickens rejoices in his ability to create character after character to put them in funny situations. Dickens is a subtle observer of London life, which to know during his wanderings in the town; in his boyhood he long observed streets and squares, particularly in those parts of the town where the poor lived. He knew from personal experience the life led in factories, the routine in the offices, the sordid life in a debtors prison. He gives us a minute description of British homelife, of school systems, of the procedure followed in the Law Courts, of the domestic life.
Dickens' world is inhabited and enlivened by hundreds of characters drawn from the observation of real people. His characters may be roughly divided into good and evil, but he doesn't create types. Each character is unlike the others, each one is an individual. They may sometimes be exaggerated and grotesque. Dickens is not concerned with the spiritual side of his characters; he is an untiring observer of the external qualities of people.
Some of Dickens' novels are defined as social or humanitarian. He wrote fiction as he was a novelist by vocation, but he used fiction to denounce the vices and evils of his age. Some have called him a social reformer, though he did not advocate any fundamental change in the overall systems of Victorian society, or a revolutionary struggle between social classes; nor did he suggest any specific means of reform. Yet he exerted a considerable influence on the reform movement of the age by shedding light on the brutality of some schools, on the vices of the criminal world, on the dirt and squalor of London slums and on the conditions of their inhabitants in a period of industrial expansion.

Tema svolto gratis inglese William Blake

A poet, painter and engraver of great originality, William Blake's work has been variously classified

as a product of a mystic, or a naïve uneducated fellow, or a holy fool, or a raving lunatic, or a revolutionary, or a wise artist-poet of genius. He received no formal education but was educated at home - mainly by his mother. She must have been fairly a good teacher, for besides reading much in Shakespeare, Milton and the Bible, he knew French, Italian, Hebrew, Latin and Greek. He worked as an illustrator of Dante's works, Virgil, the Book of Job, Gray's "Poems", Young's "Night Thoughts", Chaucer. He also illustrated his own work, being convinced that image and word were united. Blake earned his living by engraving and illustration; the poetry he wrote, he claimed, was gleaned by listening to his own ghosts and spirits, and he only sparingly allowed his poetic work to be published. As a poet, he might be termed a symbolist. Blake saw not an outer reality, as you or I might see things, but symbols in nature and man; the poet glimpsed what was hidden, seing a higher reality, one more grand than what met the eye. Blake created his own legends, peopling his poems with mythic figures whom he invented. His initial poems, entitled "Poetical Sketches", came out in 1783; their tone was simple, much akin to folk songs. "Songs of Innocence" appeared in 1789; in 1794 "Songs of Experience" was published, whereby both books for the poet were antithetically conceived. For Blake "Innocence" meant inner harmony; thus bliss was best expressed in and only granted to an unselfconsciously living human child; as soon as "Experience" or the knowledge of good and evil enters, fateful mistakes occur, destroying inner harmony. Therefore each human being must struggle to regain his original inner harmony. In 1793 he came out with "Visions of the Daughters of Albion", introducing many figures from his own personal mythology: for instance, Orc, the archetypal rebel; Urizen, a dark symbol of constrictive morality. Urizen makes another appearence in "America: a Prophecy" (1793). Blake was not much appreciated in his time, though it would be exaggerated to claim that he was completely isolated, as many have suggested; yet it was mainly left to later generations, particularly of the twentieth century, to see his importance. His practice of remarking myths and legends in terms of what best suited the poet did point the way to the aesthetic work of later writers.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Beowulf

The story opens in the kingdom of Denmark, during the reign of the Danish

King Hrothgar. The king has built a splendid building called Heorot. Life is peaceful until a monster called Grendel, who lives in a watery cave not far from Heorot, attacks it, killing many of Hrothgar’s noble warriors. The king and his noblemen try to kill the monster without success. Some years later Beowulf, who lives in Geatland, hears of the monster’s ravages and decides to travel to Denmark with fourteen followers, offering King Hrothgar his services. He fights Grendel and mortally wounds the monster. To avenge her son, Grendel’s ogress mother attacks Heorot, kills Hrothgar’s chief counsellor and escapes to her underwater cave carrying the lifeless body of the counsellor. She is killed by Beowulf who follows her into the cave. One day a dragon starts devastating the country and Beowulf sets out to face it. He kills the dragon but is mortally wounded and dies.

Tema svolto gratis inglese Samuel Beckett: "Waiting for Godot"

Vladimir and Estragon, two vagabonds, are straned on a dark,

dreary, empty plateau and wait for somebody called Godot, about whom little is known, either who he is, or whether he actually exists at all. At the end of each of the two acts a small boy shows up who assures the hoboes that Godot will definetly show up tomorrow. Two more people suddenly show up on the scene: Pozzo, a very brutal fellow, leading his victim Lucky on a leash as they amble onto the stage to join the waiting hoboes. On Pozzo's orders, Lucky must "think" - and he utters a slew of words without meaningful context. Vladimir and Estragon don't join in this strange game the pair practise, but remain passively waiting, innocently inactive. Beckett lived in France from 1937 until his death. This most "apolitical" of writers joined the French Resistance during the period of German occupation of France; from 1942-1945 Beckett worked as a labourer in the countryside. "Waiting for Gogot", originally written in French, appeared in printed form in 1952; it was first performed on 1 May 1953 in Paris.

Tema gratis Inglese : “A MODEST PROPOSAL” BY JONATHAN SWIFT

Swift was a brilliant polemist and his satirical vein and interest in the Irish problem is evident in his text of 1729 “a modest proposal”.

In this book swift tells the solution to the problem of starvation to death like a professional economist, though he is talking about using children as food.
In fact with astonishing irony he is proposing to solve the problem of famine and hunger killing the 80% of all one-old-babies, and using them as food.
Of course this is a subtle provocation: if we can allow people to starve to death, why not be less hypocritical and eat their children?!
Swift intention is to shock the reader who is forced to either amused disbelief or unconscious acceptance.
Swift shows us with simplicity the tragic facts: thousands of people, especially children, are starving to death, partly because of the reader’s indifference.
In fact the situation in Ireland was very bad: in the 18th century extreme poverty, unemployment, lack of morality, high birth rate and criminality rate were destroying the population.
The main oppressors of the poor were the landlords, who can be compared to cannibals: they have allowed the English control on the island and have devoured their own wealth.
In the most important passage of the book, the narrator uses a technical and professional tone: he quotes numbers, figures, weights and prices to show the advantages of hi proposal.
Then ha draws the picture of the country squire entertaining his guests with banquets, and he describes to us the image of a happy mother counting the money she has made selling her children; at last swift suggests us how to prepare good child meat

Tema gratis Inglese : The Augustan Age

The Historical context: The first two-third of the eighteenth century was a period of a relative stability and prosperity. In this period the monarchy lost the power in favour of Parliament.

In 1688 James II was removed from the throne of England in a Glorious revolt. William Orange had married one of James’s daughters, Mary, was invited by the Parliament to succed to the throne, but before that he accepted the crown he had to sign the The Bill of Rights which limited the power of monarchy. In 1707 with the Act of Union the power of Parliament were extended because the Scottish Parliament was united to the English one. In 1714 Anne, Mary’s sister, was dead and so the crown passed from the Stuarts to the House of Hannover. The new King was George I°, but he didn’t speak English. In this period the great important figure was the Prime minister; there was two importants political parts: the Whigs and the Tories that consolidated their position and alternated in government. The first Prime minister was Robert Walpole that based his policy on mercantile expansion.
The social context: Now England was a commercial country because there was a progress of industry, of agricolture and there was also the internal political stability, the towns increased in size. This commercial expansion was good for the merchant class infact this class in this period had the power, but the noble class remained esclused by the power. The merchant class was culturless so the man of marchant class was married with the daughters noble.

Tema gratis Inglese : Augustan Age

EXPLAIN THE REASON WHY THE LAST PERIOD STUDIED IS CALLED THE AUGUSTAN AGE, THE AGE OF REASON, THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND SPEAK ABOUT ITS MAIN FEATURES.


The first half of the 18th century is called “Augustan age” because of the attention paid to the characteristics of the ancient Rome under the Emperor Augustus.


The Augustans turned to classical Rome and Greece, and the ruling class thought to be the true heir of the Roman Empire. The real English gentleman had the old Roman fortitude, perseverance, and forbearance together with Stoic pride. The great Augustan writers share a belief in reason as capable of imposing some order on an otherwise chaotic world.
In this period rules were important: hey were laid down for every aspect of life, from religion and philosophy to art and sports; from this derives the didactic tone of much Augustan literature.
The Augustans were convinced that their aesthetic and moral canons were perfect because they conformed to nature, which they saw as the principle of universe, and to classical rules.
Neo-classicism became a style of life, that influenced poetry, sculpture, painting and even gardening and town planning.
As regarding architecture, in the 1730s there was a revolution that broke with the baroque followers of Christopher Wren; many British cities were adorned with classical terraces, squares and crescents, and the gothic style was popular too.
This period is also referred as “the age of reason” or “the Enlightenment”: it had particular characteristics that distinguished England from the other European countries.
Many travellers were surprised by what they saw as the comparative freedom enjoyed by the British people in contrast with the more absolutist regimes of their own countries.
The difference were evident with France and its exasperated rationalism and anticlericalism and this took to the conflict between Britain and France, which can be summarised in three points:
• Protestantism vs. Catholicism
• Parliamentary monarchy vs. absolute monarchy
• Religious tolerance vs. religious intolerance.
Anyway, the respect for man’s freedom did not prevent Britain from having the monopoly of the African slave trade. Despite these contradictions, Newton’s scientific method, Locke’s rational philosophy and Toland’s scepticism stimulate a spirit of rational inquiry into the nature of man and society.