Говорим о Великобритании

87and assumptions of the Middle Ages. Lite‑rature began to look back beyond the medie-val period to the classics for inspiration, and Neoplatonism, through Edmund Spenser and lyrical courtly poetry, became the dominant philosophical theme. Humanism emerged in Sir Philip Sidney’s Defence  of  Poesie (the beginnings of English literary criticism), in Francis Bacon’s prose essays, and particu-larly in the plays of William Shakespeare. As the central figure of the English Renais-sance, Shakespeare expresses both its conflicts and its glorious energy and provides the basis for its reputation as the golden age of English literature and of English drama in particular.(5) The political strife accompanying the ac-cession of James I in 1603 produced a strain of cynicism. There emerged at this time the in-tellectual passion of metaphysical poetry — with John Donne at its centre — containing the con-flicts between love, religion, and the individu‑al. Out of this grew a period of Puritanism, leading to the closure of all English theatres in 1642 and to Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan regime. The dominant literary figure was John Milton, and his influential religious epic Paradise Lost (1667) provided a link between the Puritan era and the restoration of the monarchy.questions, especially in an official; the raising of a doubt about or objec-tion to somethingassumption /əˈsʌm(p)ʃ(ə)n/ n —  a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proofneo /ˈniːəʊ/ pref. — new; new or revived form ofemerge /ɪˈməːdʒ/ v —  move out of or away from something and become visibleglorious /ˈɡlɔːrɪəs/ adj — having, worthy of, or bringing fame or admi-ration; having a striking beauty or splendourstrife /strʌɪf/ n — angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflictaccession /əkˈsɛʃ(ə)n/ n —  the attainment or acquisi-tion of a position of rank or powerstrain /streɪn/ n —  con-dition of being stretched; force exertedPuritanism /ˈpjʊərɪtənɪz(ə)m/ n — the beliefs ...