GENERAL TENDENCIES

IN THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE RENAISSANCE
PERIOD IN ENGLISH
LITERATURE
The Renaissance as the age of transition
from the Middle Ages to Modern Times

• The Renaissance is a period from the 14th to the 17th

century, considered the bridge between the Middle Ages
and Modern history.

• It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Late

Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe.

• The word ‘renaissance’ is a French word which means

‘rebirth’
BACKGROUND OF THE RENAISSANCE
At that times people were trying to recreate
the classical models of Ancient Greek
and Rome.
The Renaissance period was a succeeding
epoch of the Middle Ages which was the gap
defining the classical and modern period.
Often branded as the Dark Ages, the
Medieval period was characterized by some
years with famine and pandemics such as
the Black Death.
The Renaissance in Europe was in one
sense an awakening from the long
slumber of the Dark Ages. What had
been a stagnant, even backsliding kind
of society re-invested in the promise of
material and spiritual gain.
 HUMANISM
Intellectuals adopted a line of thought known as
“humanism,” in which mankind was believed capable of
earthly perfection beyond what had ever been imagined
before. The overwhelming spirit of the times was
optimism, an unquestionable belief that life was
improving for the first time in anyone’s memory.
Indeed, the image of the Dark Ages and the Black Death
were still very fresh in people’s minds, and the promise of
moving forward and away from such horrors was
wholeheartedly welcome.
 The writings of
English humanists
helped bring the ideas and attitudes
associated with the new learning to an
English audience:
Sir Thomas More (1478 -1535) was an
English lawyer, social philosopher,
author, statesman, and noted Renaissance
humanist. He wrote Utopia, published in
1516, written in Latin, which describes
the political system of an imaginary
island state.
Sir Thomas Elyot (1490 –1546) was an
English diplomat and scholar. He is best
known as one of the first proponents of
the use of the English language for
literary purposes.
William Caxton 1422–
1491
• was an English merchant, diplomat,
and writer.
• He is thought to be the first person
to introduce a printing press into
England, in 1474
• his translation of the Recuyell of the
Historyes of Troye, is thought as the
first book printed in English
• Caxton printed the works of Chaucer
and Gower and these books helped
establish the idea of a native poetic
tradition
THE ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
• The greatest innovation of the Renaissance era was the
printing press, put into service around 1440 by Johannes
Gutenberg.
• Rudimentary presses had existed for a long time, but
Gutenberg’s design maximized printing efficiency in a way
that changed the world of arts, letters, and ideas forever.
His greatest innovation was a means to rapidly produce
movable typesets, meaning that new sheets of text could
be set in place and printed with far less effort than had
previously been the case.
 CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL ECONOMICS OF
READING AND LEARNING
• The revolutionized printing press allowed for the fast and
relatively cheap reproduction of work. Certainly it is no
coincidence that literacy rates saw a measurable uptick
in the decades following the press’s invention.
• The religious upheaval known as the Protestant
Reformation would not have been possible without the
capacity to make many copies of a document quickly and
with minimal effort. Martin Luther’s famous “95 Theses”
spread like wildfire through Continental Europe thanks to
the newfound ease of reproduction. Even more so than
easy reproduction, printing changed the whole social
economics of reading and learning.
 THE DOMINANT FORMS OF ENGLISH
LITERATURE
• The dominant forms of English literature during the
Renaissance were the poem and the drama. Among the
many varieties of poetry one might have found in
sixteenth century England were the lyric, the elegy, the
tragedy, and the pastoral.
 one of the earliest
English Renaissance
poets was Thomas
Wyatt (1503–1542)
Much of Wyatt’s literary works
consists of translations and
imitations of sonnets by the italian
poet Petrarch, but he also wrote
sonnets of his own. Wyatt took
subject matter from Petrarch's
sonnets, but his rhyme schemes
make a significant departure. Wyatt
employs the Petrarchan octave, but
his most common sestet scheme is
cddc ee. This marks the beginnings
of the English sonnet with 3
quatrains and a closing couplet.
 other early
Renaissance poets
- The Douglas Aeneid was
completed in 1513
- John Skelton wrote poems that
were transitional between the late
Medieval and Renaissance styles
- The king, Henry VIII, was
something of a poet himself
RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND
• Henry VIII (1509-1547)
• Made himself the head of the
Church of England, bringing
church and state together
• Protestantism became more and
more important
• The king or queen became the
human being on earth who was
closest to God
Elizabeth I
• the symbol of the Golden Age
• was a Protestant
• set about restoring the
moderate Anglicanism of her
father
• although Elizabeth cut the ties
with Rome, her tolerance and
her ability to compromise won
her the loyalty of both Catholic
and Puritans
 KEY FEATURES OF English Renaissance
POETRY
• Conventions played a large part in how particular poetic styles
were manifested. Expectations about style, subject matter, tone, and
even plot details were well-established for each poetic genre.
• Even the specific occasion demanded a particular form of poetry, and
these tried and true conventions were tacitly understood by all.
• Frequently, poetry of that time was intended to be accompanied by
music. In any case, the general consensus among critics is that the
chief aim of English Renaissance verse was to encapsulate beauty
and truth in words.
• English poetry of the period was ostentatious, repetitious, and often
betrayed a subtle wit. One attribute that tended to set English letters
apart from the Continent was the willingness to intermix different
genres into a sort of hodgepodge, experimental affair. This pastiche
style is exemplified in Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queen, a long poem
which mingled elements of romance, tragedy, epic and pastoral into an
entertaining and still cohesive whole.
English court life and English literature
• English court life and the opinions of noble patrons
had a profound influence on the direction of the arts.
Being close to the king or queen was desirable, but also
dangerous. The literature reveals that courtiers were
exceedingly clever with their use of language,
employing double meanings and sly wit to protect
their own interests. The verbal duels one might have
overheard in the court naturally found their way into the
poetry and drama of the time. The communication style of
Shakespeare’s characters had its genesis in the court of
the English royalty.
Periodization of the English Renaissance
literature
• The first period covers the end of the 15th and the first half
of the 16th centuries. In England the first scholars and
humanists appeared. In this period the English humanistic
literature was mainly of theoretical character (Thomas More)
• The second period, the so called Elizabethan one covers
the second half of the XVI century and the beginning of the
XYII. It is the time of flourishing the English Renaissance
literature, the time of creating of the new literary forms:
Shakespeare’s masterpieces are created in this period.
• The third period – the time after Shakespeare’s death and
up to 1640 (the forties of the 17th century), it was the time of
declining the English Renaissance literature.
Utopia by Thomas More
• Written in 1516.
• The work was written in Latin
and published in Louvain
(present-day Belgium).
• Utopia is a work of satire,
indirectly criticizing Europe's
political corruption and
religious hypocrisy
• The Greek word Utopia
translates as "no place" or
"nowhere," but in modern
parlance, a Utopia is a good
place, an ideal place (eu-
topia).
Utopia Genre
• Philosophical travel fiction married to autobiography and
satire.
• More's playful fusing of genres is characteristic of
European humanism, as is his self-deflating wit.
• This also is a clue to how the "novel" emerged in the next
two centuries as a genre of prose fiction pretending to
historical truth, even though its readers and author know it
is in some sense a "lie."
• The text contains many layers of protective narrative
insulation, especially More's decision to deliver the most
radical comments from the persona of the character,
Raphael Hythloday.
Impact of Utopia on political thought and literature

• The utilitarian philosophy expounded in the late 1700s

and early 1800s developed the idea of the ideal and
perfect balance of happiness.
• In the 1800s, the rise of urban industrialization triggered
the proliferation of Utopian projects (agricultural
communes), all of which failed.
• As a literary work, Utopia has retained its power to impact
British and American writers. From the Greek prefix dys-
(i.e. bad, ill) comes the word "Dystopia," reflecting
Utopia's negative qualities.
 The Elizabethan period 1558 – 1603
is called Golden Age in English history
in poetry is characterized by a number of frequently
overlapping developments like:
• the introduction and adaptation of themes, models
and verse forms from other European traditions and
classical literature
• the Elizabethan song tradition
• the emergence of a courtly poetry often centred
around the figure of the monarch
• the growth of a verse-based drama
 Thomas Campion
(sometimes Campian
1567 –1620)
was an English composer, poet, and
physician. He wrote over a hundred
lute songs, masques for dancing, and
an authoritative technical treatise on
music
Campion is also notable because of
his experiments with metres based on
counting syllables rather than
stresses. These quantitative metres
were based on classical models and
should be viewed as part of the wider
Renaissance revival of Greek and
Roman artistic methods
 By the end of the 16th
century, a new generation of
composers were helping to
bring the art of Elizabethan
song to an extremely high
musical level.
John Dowland,
William Byrd,
Orlando Gibbons,
Thomas Weelkes
Thomas Morley
Edmund Spenser
(1552/1553 –
1599)
• was an English poet, is
recognized as one of the
premier craftsmen of
nascent Modern English
verse is often considered
one of the greatest poets
in the English language
• He is best known for The
Faerie Queene, an epic
poem and fantastical
allegory celebrating the
Tudor dynasty and
Elizabeth I
• The poem Shepheardes
Calender marks the
introduction into an
English context of the
classical pastoral, a mode
of poetry that assumes an
aristocratic audience with
a certain kind of attitude
to the land and peasants
Sir Philip Sidney
(1554 –1586)
was an English poet, courtier,
scholar and soldier who is
remembered as one of the most
prominent figures of the
Elizabethan age.
His works include:
• Astrophel and Stella,
• The Defence of Poesy (also
known as The Defence of Poetry
or An Apology for Poetry)
• The Countess of Pembroke's
Arcadia.