UNIT 2. Renaissance - Lecture notes 1 PDF

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Resumen del tema 2 de la asignatura de Literatura hasta 1800.
Profesor: María Porras...

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UNIT 2: THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE (1485-1660) 1.

The Renaissance: general background

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2.

The Northern and English Renaissance

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3.

The English Language

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4.

The Elizabethan Era

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5.

Poetry: influences, genres, and main authors

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ANNEX 1: CHRONOLOGY

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1. The Renaissance: general background Renaissance is a period of enormous transition. It was a cultural movement that began in Italy in the 14

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century and spread to the rest of Europe through the 15 th and 16th centuries. There was an enormous interest in reviving the art and learning of the classical world. The main Key ideas in Renaissance thinking are the following ones: a) b) c)

Humanism: promoted human knowledge through the study of the texts from Classical antiquity. Secularism: placed greater emphasis on non-religious values and concerns Individualism: focused on the unique qualities and abilities of the individual person

In terms of culture, the period is marked by key developments: 1. THE NEW LEARNING Renaissance scholars of the classics (humanists ), revived the knowledge of the Greek language and studied the works of Roman authors that had been unknown during the Middle Ages. It sets up the ideal of the completely rounded or "universal" man, developed in all his faculties and skills, physical, intellectual, and artistic. The learning spread thanks to new advances in technology like the printing press (c.1440) in Germany. With it, a huge large of books were producted in a short time and more people could learn to read and write. 2. THE NEW RELIGION The Reformation led by Luther (1483-1546) was a successful heresy against the Roman Catholic Church. He wrote the first translation of the Bible into German. This early Protestantism was grounded on each individual's inner experience of spiritual struggle and salvation. 3. THE NEW WORLD Expeditions such as the “discovery” of America by Christopher Columbus (1492), the Western sea route to India by Vasco da Gama (1498), and Magellan’s travel around the world gave new materials to the literary imagination (e.g. The Tempest, by W. Shakespeare). The economic exploitation of the new world put England at the center of the main trade routes. 4. THE NEW COSMOS The cosmos of medieval astronomy and of medieval Christian theology was based on the works of Ptolemy. Heaven was thought to be situated above the spheres and Hell, either at the center of the earth (as in Dante's Inferno) or below the system of the spheres (as in John Milton's Paradise Lost). In 1543 Copernicus published his new hypothesis concerning the astronomic system; he proposed a system in which the center was the sunand the earth among other planets revolve around the sun. Galileo confirmed with his telescope the heliocentric theory of Copernicus.

2. The Northern and English Renaissance The development of the Italian Renaissance came late to England, in the 16th. Characteristics of Northern Renaissance: a) b) c)

The focus of the Renaissance in Northern Europe was more religious than in Italy. Many intellectuals sought religious reform (return the Church to its true mission) Many were highly critical of the worldliness and corruption in the Church and papacy.

d) e)

Renaissance figures believed that education were key to social and religious reform. Advocated the translation of the scriptures into the vernacular languages.

The traditional date of the beginning of English Renaissance is 1485. Renaissance style and ideas were slow to penetrate England, and the Elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance. Periods of English Renaissance (Abrams): 

Elizabethan Age. (1558-1603) this was a time of rapid development in English commerce, maritime power, and nationalist feeling. The age of Sir Philip Sidney, Christopher Marlowe, Edmund, Shakespeare, and many other extraordinary writers.

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Jacobean Age. period in prose writings of Donne's sermons and Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. It was also the time of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies and tragicomedies, and other poets and playwrights like Donne and Middleton

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Caroline Age. John Milton began his writing during this period. Associated with the court were the Cavalier poets, writers of witty and polished lyrics of courtship and gallantry. The group included Richard Lovelace, Sir John Suckling, and Thomas Carew.

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The Commonwealth Period, this period England was ruled by Parliament under the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell. It was the age of Milton's political pamphlets, of the prose writer Sir Thomas Browne and of the poet H. Vaughan.

THE MONARCHAS DURING THE RENAISSANCE: TUDORS AND STUARS The Tudor Dinasty of England Henry VII The Tudor dynasty begins when Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, ending the War of the Roses. Henry VII became a very rich man through heavy taxation and although not popular he was well respected for bringing peace to England. Henry VIII Son of Henry VIII, he was a popular ruler who increased the wealth of the country. Henry allow men of low birth to reach high positions and made education popular (Oxford was founded). After failing to produce a male heir by Catherine of Aragon, Henry asked Rome for a divorce; he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. Anne fell pregnant and Henry married her against the will of Rome, being immediately excommunicated. The religious orders were abolished. However, Henry held to Catholic doctrines: he wanted a non-Roman Catholicism. In 1533 Henry made himself supreme Head of the Church, now the Church of England.Under the short reign of his infant son, Edward VI (1547-1553) the reforms were more radical. Mary I She was a Protestant and ruled for only 9 days before Mary, Henry VIII's eldest daughter, had her arrested and executed. Mary became queen and brought back Catholicism during the six years of her reign, that is way he burned nearly three hundred Protestants at the stake. She passed to the history as “Bloody Mary”. Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (reinado 1558-1603) inaugurated an era of peace, economic prosperity, of stability that lasted until the death of James I in 1625. There was an unprecedented development of art, literature and drama. James I James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, ordered a new and fundamental translation of the Bible and imposed penalties on Roman Catholics after the failed Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow the Houses of Parliament. Under his reign, drama flourished.

Charles I Tensions between the King and Parliament centred around finances, made worse by the costs of war abroad, and by religious suspicions at home. The second Civil War ended with Cromwell’s victory and the execution of the king. This period between the execution of Charles I on 1649 and the arrival of his son Charles II in London 1660 (which marked the start of the Restoration) is known as the Commonwealth or the Interregnum.

3. The English Language The type of English written and spoken in the Renaissance is known as Early Modern English. The fact that early modern English was not standardised was that it was regarded as inferior to Latin. This status was reinforce in the fifhteen century. It was considered too ‘symple and rude’ to be used for sophisticated artistic or intellectual expression. By the end of the sixteenth century English had been transformed. Most striking of all was the massive expansion in its vocabulary, a process which peaked around 1600. As N. F. Blake notes, the ‘effect of this expansion was to produce a language with a very rich vocabulary and provide writters with a host of ways of expressing their ideas.

4. The Elizabethan Era Characteristics of the Elizabethan Period 1.Political peace and stability: Elizabeth followed a policy of balance and moderation both inside (Scotland) and outside the country. Under her administration the English national life rapidly and steadily progressed. 2.Social development: the rapid rise of industrial towns gave employment to thousands and increasing trade and commerce enriched England. This created the atmosphere for literary activities 3.Religious tolerance: North was largely Catholic, and the South was strongly Protestant. It was Elizabeth who made the Anglican Church a reality. Anglicanism was a kind of compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism which develop an atmosphere of religious peace and gave stimulus to literary activity. 4.Sense of patriotism: Queen Elizabeth loved England ardently and she made her court one of the most brilliant courts in Europe by moderating policies. She was worshiped by her courtisans. 5.Discovery, exploration and expansión: the spirit of adventure and exploration fired the imagination of writers thanks to great voyagers like Drake 6.Influence of foreign fashions: Italy fascinated the Elizabethans; people were fond of Italian literature and morals. Consequently the literature of England was immensely enriched by Italian classics. 7.Contradictions: despite the advances of science and learning, people were superstitious and believed in ghosts, charms and witches. People had gained access to education, the large majority was still ignorant.

5. Poetry: influences, genres, and main authors Among the most influential writers in Renaissance England were Homer, Virgil, Horace and Ovid whose Metamorphoses was to prove especially influential: “its mythological tales a model of stylistic elegance and variety of a kind especially prized in the Renaissance

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No doubt, one of the major influences on 16 century English poetry was the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch, (1304–74). He was the author of the Canzoniere a sequence of poems about the poet’s unfulfilled love for a beautiful woman called Laura. He was also influential in terms of content: he established a set of recurrent features which became conventional motifs in European love poetry, what we now call the “Petrarchan” mode. The Petrarchan lover suffers from unrequited love. He also idealizes the beloved. 

Genres in Renaissance poetry: Elegy, eclogue, e pillion (short erotic poem), ode, sonnet

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Thematically, poets explored different subjects: love, patritic, philosophical, satirical poetry

The Courtier poets (Tudor) Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) and the Earl of Surrey (1517-1547) -

They brought to England the Italian and classical influence They modeled their poetry on Italian pattern They represent the gentleman-poet Their work was printed in 1557 for the first time (Tottel’s Miscellany of Songs and Sonnets), so it became accessible to the general public only under the reign of Mary I.

Elizabethan poets Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586): his innovations were incorporated to his three books: Arcadia, Defence for Poetry, Astrophil and Stella Edmund Spenser (1552- 1599): he wrote The Shepheardes Calendar, The Faerie Queen (1596):dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. Sir Walter Ralegh (1552-1618): he was a poet of great talent but only some of his poems survive. He also wrote prose (History of the World, 1614). Other prose writers of this period were John Lyly, Thomas Nashe and Richard Hooker.Poets: John Lyly, G. Clapman Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616) also wrote poetry, even though their fame as playwrights precedes them. As a poet, Shakespeare wrote a total of 154 of sonnets and 126 sonnets are written to a Young Man; the first group (about 20) urge him to marry, while the later ones deal with beauty, love... The Young Man is a beloved friend and should preserve that beauty by having children.

Poetry in the Jacobean and the Caroline period: metaphysical and cavalier poets John Donne (1573 –1631) was the most famous of the ‘metaphysical’ poets. The term “metaphysical poets” was coined in the 18th to describe a group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits (puns, analogies) and wit (humor). They were also famous for their “analogies between seemingly unlike objects or subjects”. On the other hand, the ‘cavalier’ poets (like Richard Lovelace) was a school of English poets of the 17th century, that came from the classes that supported King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642– 1651). As this connection suggests, “they share a belief in loyalty to one’s monarch and are generally royalist in sympathy. Other shared values include a prizing of friendship, hospitality and a commitment to the classical concept of the ‘Good Life’. Many of these values, and the neo-classical...