The Renaissance 1485

8/20/2019 The Renaissance 1485

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THE RENAISSANCE 1485 - 1625

Historical and social background

The kings and queens of England in the 16 th century all descended from a Welsh squire,

Owen Tudor. This dynasty produced three great leaders who left an incredible mark on the

country

Hnr! "II !1"#$ % 1$&'( % restored people)s faith in the monarchy

Hnr! "III !1$&' % 1$"*( % established the +hurch of England

Eli#abt$ I !1$$# % 16&( % encouraged e-ploration of and trade with other

continents which would lead later to the creation of the ritish Empire.

%o&rn'nt

O/er the pre/ious century the institution of the monarchy had been greatly weakened by

bitter feuds which meant that one king followed another in quick succession.

Rligion

The 16th century was the century of the re/olt against the 0oman +atholic +hurch in

Europe, which became known as the 0eformation and saw the foundation of the rotestant

+hurches.

T$ Tudor lgac!

When the last of the Tudor monarchs, Eli2abeth 3, died in 16&, she left behind a realm

that had changed greatly since her grandfather 4enry 533 had become king in 1"#$. 3t was

a prosperous and progressi/e country whose monarch commanded the respect of the peopleboth as head of the nglican +hurch and head of state. rosperity brought a renowned

interest in culture and learning. The arts, particularly in the form of theatre and poetry,

flourished. s 7ames 3)s reign drew to a close in 168$, the ri/alries between arliament and

monarchy and between the different religious denominations were about to e-plode into

open conflict.

T$ litrar! background

erhaps the most important de/elopment in the 16th century was the re/i/al of interest in

classical culture known as Hu'anis'( Hu'anis' was a radical departure from theprinciples that go/erned the medie/al art and literature. The focus of attention was no

longer 9od but :an. ;o/e of this world was underlined rather than preparation for the

ne-t. <or the first time man was e-plored as an indi/idual, and the idea that a man could

shape his own destiny was widely accepted.

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The re=awakening of interest in classical 9reece affected all aspects of culture, and took

place during the period called T$ Rnaissanc. 3ts first great e-ponent was T$o'as

)or. 4is greatest work, *to+ia, an attack on the e/ils of English society, was widely read

in England and in many other countries.

>nder the reign of Eli2abeth 3 the 0enaissance flourished. Eli2abeth)s reign was a periodof unprecedented prosperity, and both the court and the emerging middle classes

dedicated a lot of time to art and literature. The classics were widely studied, and

influential 9reek and ;atin writers such as lutarch and ?eneca were translated into

English.

The country which had the greatest influence on the de/elopment of the English literary

0enaissance was 3taly. <rom there the cultural re/i/al which signaled an end to the

medie/al period in Europe had sprung up, flourished and spread across the continent.

The etrarchan sonnet was introduced to England by Sir T$o'as ,!att and the Earl oSurr!. Wyatt changed the structure of the poetic form thus creating what became known

as the Eli#abt$an sonnt(

While much 0enaissance poetry is of a /ery high quality, the greatest literary works of the

period are plays. 4umanism re/i/ed interest in classical drama and the plays of lautus,

Terence and ?eneca, among others, were translated into English, published and widely read.

?eneca)s tragedies were particularly popular and created a taste for horror and bloodshed.

.or s&ral rasons Englis$ dra'a louris$d undr Eli#abt$ I and /a's I0

T$atr a++ald to all social classs ro' t$ so&rign to t$ lost class 3la!s could b undrstood b! t$ illitrat $o or'd t$ largst sction o

t$ +o+ulation

T$r $ad bn a strong t$atr-going tradition in ritain sinc t$ )iddl

Ags

T$ t$atr as +atroni#d b! t$ Court and t$ aristocrac!

T$ languag o dra'a as lss artiicial t$an t$at o +otr!

T$r as a grat nu'br o talntd +la!rig$ts $o +roducd orks o

traordinar! ualit!

T$ +ros+rit! o t$ Eli#abt$an and /acoban +riods 'ant t$at +o+l $ad

bot$ t$ ti' and 'on! to go to t$ t$atr(

7ra'a was strictly linked to the Eli2abethan world /iew which emphasised abo/e all else

t$ +rinci+l o ordr( Early Eli2abethans belie/ed that a hierarchy e-isted in the natural

world which ascended from inanimate ob@ects to animals, men, angels and e/entually 9od.

:an was the central link in this chain his body linked him to the animal world below him

while his soul linked him to the spiritual world abo/e him. :an was at the centre of the

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uni/erse because the moon, the sun, the planets and the stars all re/ol/ed in orbit around

the earth.

:uch Eli2abethan drama is concerned with t$ $irarc$ical ordr o t$ uni&rs and

$at 'a! occur i it is brokn( 3n )acbt$ when the king is killed the natural order of

the society is broken, and the result is chaos and tragedy. The loss of order is alsoreflected in the natural world !darkness in daytime, owls killing falcons, horses eating each

other( and in the inner world of the characters !;ady)s :acbeth insanity(. Only at the end

of the play, when the rightful king sits on the throne, is order restored. The breaking of

the laws of order may also result in comedy. 3n A )idsu''r Nig$ts 7ra' the

disciplined ordered world of thens is contrasted with the night=time wood, which is a

dark realm of disorder, chaos and confusion. Eli2abethan heroes are no longer the

allegorical paragons of /irtue of :edie/al drama. They are full of passion and doubts and

constantly question the world that surrounds them.

The two outstanding +la!rig$ts of the era were C$risto+$r )arlo and ,illia'S$aks+ar( One of their contemporaries, n /o$nson, also made a significant

contribution to the drama of the period.

3ros

rose writing in the 0enaissance period did not reach the same standards of e-cellence as

poetry or drama. The geographical e-peditions of the era ga/e rise to tra/el literature in

which writers ga/e accounts of the /oyages of e-plorers such as ,altr Ralig$ and

.rancis 7rak( One of t$ 'ost i'+ortant igurs in the de/elopment of English prose

style was .rancis acon. 4e re@ected the long=winded o/erly ornate Eli2abethan style andreplaced it with a plainer, more straightforward style, thus helping to pa/e the way for

modern English.

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The Renaissance 1485