The English Renaissance

The English Renaissance

1、Introduction

About 1450, European scholars became more interested in studying the world around them. Their art became more true to life. They began to explore new lands. The new age in Europe was eventually called \Renaissance.\Renaissance is a French word that means \Historians consider the Renaissance to be the beginning of modern history.

The Renaissance began in northern Italy and then spread through Europe. Italian cities such as Naples, Genoa, and Venice became centers of trade between Europe and the Middle East. Arab scholars preserved the writings of the ancient Greeks in their libraries. When the Italian cities traded with the Arabs, ideas were exchanged along with goods. These ideas, preserved from the ancient past, served as the basis of the Renaissance. When the Byzantine Empire fell to Muslim Turks in 1453, many Christian scholars left Greece for Italy.

Briefly speaking,the renaissance is a rebirth, revival of classical (Greek and Roman )arts, literature and sciences between 14th and mid 17th centuries in Europe, the greatest age of human accomplishments.

2、The division of the English renaissance

? a. Beginning: the last years of the 15th century---first half of the 16th century ? b. Flourishing: the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

? c. Declining: the period of James I (1603-1625) early 17th century 3、Another division

English Renaissance is usually divided into three periods:

? 1) The first period called the beginning of the Renaissance started in 1511 and came to an end in 1578.

? 2) The second period known as the flowering time of the Renaissance was from 1578 to 1625. ? 3) The third period between 1625 and 1660 is the epilogue of the Renaissance. 4、English Literature in the Renaissance Period

English literature in the Renaissance Period is usually regarded as the highlight in the history of English literature. In the second period of English Renaissance, that is, in Elizabethan Period, English literature developed with a great speed and made a magnificent achievement. The greatest and most distinctive achievement of Elizabethan literature is the drama. Thus appeared a group of excellent dramatists. Next to the drama is the Lyrical Poetry. Elizabethan Poetry is remarkable for its variety, its freshness, its youthfulness and its romantic feeling. A group of great poets appeared, and a large number of poetry was produced. Since English Renaissance was an age of poetry and drama, and was not an age of prose, there were not so many prose writers. In the beginning period, the great humanist, Thomas More, wrote his famous prose work “Utopia” which may be thought of as the first literary masterpiece of English Renaissance. 5、Major Figures

i. The Beginning of the English Renaissance .

Thomas More: Utopia. ii. The Elizabethan Period. Poetry:

John Lyly, Sir Philip Sidney

Edmund Spenser: Faerie Queene. The Shepherd’s Calendar. Drama:

Christopher Marlowe: Dr. Faustus; The Jew of Malta. William Shakespeare: literary creation literary terms: comedy, tragedy, textual study: a. Hamlet (excerpt)

b. The Merchant of Venice (excerpt) Ben Johnson: Volphone.

Prose: Francis Bacon: Novum Organicum Eassays . 6、Humanism

Humanism was a literary and philosophic system of thought which attempted to place the affairs of mankind at the centre of its concerns. Originating in Italy during the Renaissance, it soon spread throughout most of western Europe. Humanist thought was based on a new reading of Greek and Roman literature, an affirmation of the importance of Platonic philosophy, and a reinterpretation of the writings of Aristotle. It took as a major interest the life of man in the present and, unlike medieval philosophy, which postulated a City of God in the hereafter, it attempted to lay the foundations for a life of justice, nobility, and goodness on earth. Humanism was an attitude rather than a philosophy, non-dogmatic and, in the mare, non-scientific taking as its main concern the explorations of human potential for a full and rewarding life. Humanism was one of the most important factors giving rise to the Renaissance. 7、The Characteristics of the Renaissance Literature

All in all, the chief characteristic of the Renaissance literature is the expression of secular values with man instead of God as the center of the universe.

1)It emphasizes the dignity of man, affirms and praise the value of man, which often implies a lessening in the power of God. It describes the intellectual and physical \being, and of its place in the creation.

2) It advocates the full expression of individualism and the fulfillment of one’s abilities, against the despotic专制的rule of feudalism. It declares that the purpose of life is the unrestrained and self-sufficient practice of one’s \ 3) It affirms the delight of earthly achievement, as well as man’s desire for happiness and pleasure. Its preoccupation is with this life and it exposes the hypocrisy and debauchery (放荡) of the clergy (圣职者). 8、Influence

（1）The effect of Italian literature to England

The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimilation.Petrarch was regarded as the fountainhead of literature by the English writers. For it was Petrarch and his successors who established the language of love and sharply distinguished the love poetry of the Renaissance from its counterparts in the ancient world.Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey began engraving the forms and graces of Italian poetry upon the native stock. While the former introduced the Petrarchan sonnet into England, the latter brought in bland verse, i.e. the unrhymed iambic pentameter line. Sidney followed with the sestina and terza rima and with various experiments in classic meters. And Marlowe gave new vigor to the blank verse with his “mighty lines.”

（2）Renaissance did not begin to show its effect in England until the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) owing to England’s separation from the Continent and its domestic unrest. Encouraged by Henry VIII, the Oxford reformers, scholars and humanists introduced classical literature to England. Education was revitalized and literature became more popular. From the beginning of the 16th c, the English Renaissance witnessed the brisk development of literature: the translation of ancient English, Italian and French works, as well as classical works of Greece and Rome; books of discoveries and adventures; the flowering of sonnets; the highest glory of the English renaissance is its drama ( the Elizabethan drama). This was England’s golden age in literature. There appeared many literary giants such as Shakespeare, Spenser, Jonson, Sidney, Marlowe, Bacon and Donne.

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