LITERARY HISTORY
The Renaissance
Renaissance literature
Renaissance 1485 – 1603:
Nowadays the Renaissance is seen
as a very complex period that
started long before the 16th century
(esp. in Italy, 1350). The transition
period mainly comprised the
change from faith to secularism and
from faith to reason.
Renaissance literature
Renaissance 1485 – 1603:
The Renaissance was caused by a
growing interest in religion,
economics and
greed/expansionism. In Italy the
Renaissance started in 1450, in
England only in 1500 (after the
Reformation).
Renaissance literature
Renaissance 1485 – 1603:
Renaissance = rebirth
1453 - Fall of
Constantinople
scientists and artists emigrated
to the West, mainly to Rome and
Italy. There is a transition from
Medieval thinking towards
modern thinking. Greek and
Roman thinkers became
examples for the arts and
therefore a new way of thinking
arose.
1453 - Fall of
Constantinople
Renaissance literature
Renaissance literature
The Renaissance was a
rebirth both of Man and of
Classical Learning and
Culture
Renaissance literature
The Rebirth of Man
in the Middle Ages, man was valued
for being like others, whereas in the
Renaissance man was valued for the
way in which he differed from others.
Therefore, the Renaissance
attempted to develop all man’s
potentialities.
Renaissance literature
The Rebirth of Classical learning and culture
is shown in Renaissance Humanism:
 A preference for original classical scholarship
 A critical mind
 Emphasis on life on earth
 A taste for the ethics of ancient
Greece and Rome mixed with
Christian principles
 Acceptance of Plato’s theories
 Science: change from deductive
methods to the inductive method
of Francis Bacon
Renaissance literature
William Caxton (ca. 1415~1422 –
ca. March 1492) was an English
merchant, diplomat, writer and
printer. He is thought to be the first
English person to work as a printer
and the first to introduce a printing
press into England. He was also the
first English retailer of printed books
(his London contemporaries in the
same trade were all Flemish,
German or French).
Ideas could now be
spread because of the art
of printing.
Renaissance literature
Caxton Showing the First Specimen of His
Printing to King Edward IV at the Almonry,
Westminster, Daniel Maclise, 1851
Renaissance literature
Renaissance Changes
Religion:
 memento mori became carpe
diem
 Decline of the influence of the
Catholic church
 Man’s broadened horizons
 Spread of learning
 bookprinting
Renaissance literature
Renaissance Changes
Politics: The break-up of the Feudal
system (based on a two-class society
and the RC Church) had 3 main
causes:
 men are not of equal talent, ambition
or imagination
 the Church lost its influence over
society
 economic changes (brought about by
the Crusades)
Renaissance literature
Renaissance Changes
Society:
 important to investigate life on earth
(reaction on medieval times)
 New attitude towards women (Middle
Ages: despised (Eve) or worshipped)
 society expanded rapidly
Renaissance literature
Renaissance Changes
Economics:
 Columbus & Vasco da Gama
discovered that the world was not flat
 Foreign trade – money – knowledge
 Spirit of adventure
Renaissance literature
Renaissance Changes
Art:
 Art for art’s sake
 Rise of individualism, men are not of
equal talent, ambition, imagination
 focus on feelings: e.g. love
 New interest in the Classics
 sonnet (classical form derived from
Italian Latin poetry)
 travel stories
The Vitruvian
Man
Renaissance
literature
Leonardo da Vinci
(1452-1519) was
one of the era’s
leading polymaths,
making important
contributions to the
arts, sciences and
humanities. We can
call him a Homo
Universalis, which is
typical for the
Renaissance.
Renaissance literature
The English Reformation (1509-1547)
 Henry VIII broke free from the Catholic church
and founded the Anglican church. The Monarch
became the head of the church.
 Main shift: viewpoint from other-worldly
to the here and now. England occupied
a position in between, with neither
Reformation (like in Germany), nor
Renaissance (like in Italy). Something
new was added in the Renaissance
(19th century view).
Renaissance literature
Henry VIII (1491-1547)
Henry VIII was King of England from 21
April 1509 until his death. He was Lord,
and later King, of Ireland, as well as
continuing the nominal claim by the
English monarchs to the Kingdom of
France. Henry was the second
monarch of the House of Tudor,
succeeding his father, Henry VII.
Renaissance literature
Henry VIII (1491-1547)
Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known
for his role in the separation of the Church of
England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Henry's struggles with Rome led to the
separation of the Church of England
from papal authority, the Dissolution of
the Monasteries, and establishing
himself as the Supreme Head of the
Church of England.
Yet he remained a believer in core
Catholic theological teachings, even
after his excommunication from the
Catholic Church.
Renaissance literature
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
HENRY VIII
divorced
beheaded
died
divorced
beheaded
survived!
Wives:
Catherine of
Aragon
Anne Boleyn
Jane
Seymour
Anne of
Cleves
Kathryn
Howard
Katherine
Parr
Married
1509-1533
1533-1536
1536-1537
1540
1540-1542
1543-1547
Children
(Bloody)
Mary
Elizabeth
Edward
Renaissance literature
The Elizabethan Worldpicture (1558-1603)
The Elizabethan age is of a piece with what went before and
what came after it. The Elizabethans could afford to indulge
in drama precisely because the moral standards were so
powerful. Order, sin and redemption were fused in practice.
At the same time the
Elizabethans could combine
extremes of optimism and
pessimism, there was no
tyranny of general opinion
one way or the other.
This one of the things that
seperates the Elizabethans
from the Victorian world
(doctrine of progress).
Renaissance literature
The Elizabethan Worldpicture (1558-1603)
The Elizabethans pictured the
universal order under 3 main
forms:
 a chain
 a series of correspondences
or planes
 a dance
Renaissance literature
The Elizabethan Worldpicture (1558-1603)
The Chain of Being:
The chain stretched from the
foot of God’s throne to the
meanest of inanimate objects.
The idea began with Plato’s
Timaeus, was developed by
Aristotle, was adopted by the
Alexandrian Jews, was spread
by the neo-Platonists and from
the Middle Ages till the 18th
century was a commonplace,
more taken for granted than
set forth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being
Renaissance literature
The Elizabethan Worldpicture (1558-1603)
existence/life/feeling
+ understanding = man      
existence+life+feeling: sensitive class    
existence+life: vegetative class      
mere existence: animate class      
Renaissance literature
The Elizabethan Worldpicture (1558-1603)
The Chain of Being: Shakespeare, though always
concerned with man’s position in the chain, only in The
Tempest considers the chain itself.
Renaissance literature
Petrarca
Francesco Petrarca (20 July
1304 – 19 July 1374), known in
English as Petrarch, was an
Italian scholar and poet, and
one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch is often called the
“Father of Humanism”.
Renaissance literature
The Petrarcan Sonnet
A Petrarcan sonnet is almost always
about an impossible, hopeless and
cleansing love for an unattainable
lover who has this almost heavenly
beauty.
Renaissance literature
The Petrarcan Sonnet
A Petrarcan sonnet contains 14 lines:
-1 octave (= 2 quatrains = 2 stanzas
of 4 lines
- 1 sextet (= 2 terzets = 2 stanzas of 3
lines
- a maximum of 5 rhymewords
- possible rhymeschemes:
abba abba cdd cdd
abba abba cdd cee
abba abba cde cde
Renaissance literature
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542)
was a 16th-century English
ambassador and lyrical poet,
who lived at Henry VIII’s court.
He is credited with introducing
the sonnet into English.
Renaissance literature
Whoso List to Hunt
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more The vain travail hath worried me so sore,
I am of them that farthest come behind.
Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore,
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written her fair neck round about:
“Noli me tangere”, for Caesar's I am,
And wild FOR to hold, though I seem tame.
Renaissance literature
Whoso List to Hunt - rhymescheme
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more The vain travail hath worried me so sore,
I am of them that farthest come behind.
Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore,
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written her fair neck round about:
“Noli me tangere”, for Caesar's I am,
And wild FOR to hold, though I seem tame.
Whoso List to Hunt
o
c
t
a
v
e
s
e
x
t
e
t
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more The vain travail hath worried me so sore,
I am of them that farthest come behind.
Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore,
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written her fair neck round about:
“Noli me tangere”, for Caesar's I am,
And wild FOR to hold, though I seem tame.
quatrain
quatrain
terzet
terzet
chute
Renaissance literature
The Shakespearean Sonnet
Later poets, like William Shakespeare,
were deeply inspired by Wyatt but
developed the much freer English or
Shakespearean sonnet.
Renaissance literature
The Shakespearean Sonnet
A Shakespearean sonnet also
contains 14 lines but uses a different
format:
- 3 quatrains = 3 stanzas
of 4 lines
- 1 couplet/duplet = 1 stanza of 2 lines
- a maximum of 7 rhymewords
- rhymescheme:
abab cdcd efef gg
Renaissance literature
WS: Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground’.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Sting: Sister Moon
Sister moon will be my guide
In your blue blue shadows I would hide
All good people asleep tonight
I'm all by myself in your silver light
I would gaze at your face the whole night through
I'd go out of my mind, but for you
Lying in a mother's arms
The primal root of a woman's charms
I'm a stranger to the sun
My eyes are too weak
How cold is a heart
When it's warmth that he seeks?
You watch every night, you don't care what I do
I'd go out of my mind, but for you
I'd go out of my mind, but for you
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
My hunger for her explains everything I've done
To howl at the moon the whole night through
And they really don't care if I do
I'd go out of my mind, but for you
Renaissance literature
The development of the English Language
Short history:
Ca.400 – 1066 AD:
Old English
(1066: Battle of Hastings)
1066 – ca.1500 AD:
Ca.1500 AD – NOW:
Middle English
Modern English
 1450 – 1700: Great Vowel Shift
Renaissance literature
The development of the English Language
Ca.400 – 1066 AD: Old English
Hwæt! We Gardena
in
geardagum,
þeodcyninga,
þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas
ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing
sceaþena
þreatum,
Renaissance literature
The development of the English Language
1066 – ca.1500 AD: Middle English
Middle English does not
really exist. The period
can be marked as a
transition period between
old and modern English.
Renaissance literature
The development of the English Language
Renaissance literature
The development of the English Language
 1450 – 1700: Great Vowel Shift
Vowels tended to become closer or
become diphthongs. This took place
between 1400 and 1600. The Early
Middle English Vowel Shortening
resulted in the difference in
pronunciation between for example
sane and sanity. Generally speaking
long vowels were raised, becoming
closer vowels.
 1450 – 1700: Great Vowel Shift
 In earlier days the pronunciation corresponded to the
spelling (like in modern Italian).
 William Caxton (bookprinting!) decided to use the
written language of the area with the greatest
influence.
 A lot of words though had already undergone a
change in pronunciation and that is one of the reasons
that there are so many differences in English between
writing and speaking.
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare (lower middle class)
(26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)
English poet and playwright, widely
regarded as the greatest writer in the
English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called
England's national poet and the "Bard
of Avon". His surviving works, including
some collaborations, consist of about
38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long
narrative poems, and several other
poems. His plays have been translated
into every major living language and are
performed more often than those of any
other playwright.
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare: A Language Magician
Examples of insults used in Shakespeare’s plays:
 Thou surly open-arsed infection!
 Thou lumpish shag-haired gudgeon!
 Thou arrogant prick-eared whore-master!
 Thou tongueless toad-spotted hag-seed!
 Thou mangled flap-mouthed joithead!
 Thou abominable decayed plebian!
 Thou pestilent plume-plucked
hugger-mugger!
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare’s Plays
Shakespeare wrote:
 Histories, e.g. Richard III, Henry VI
 Comedies, e.g. Midsummer Night’s
Dream
 Tragedies, e.g. Macbeth, Hamlet,
The Tempest
 Romances, e.g. Cymbeline
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare’s Plays
Shakespeare’s work can be divided
into 4 periods:
First period (1590-1596)
 Comedy, only entertainment, no
instructions, influenced by Plautus
(classical tradition)
 Recurring theme: mistaken identity
 only 1 tragedy: Titus Andronicus
Lavinia (from Titus Andronicus)
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare’s Works
In his second period Shakespeare
experimented and there were lots of
technical innovations. He also
became more philosophical.
Second period (1596-1600)
 Great comedies (MSND, The
Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
 The Great History plays: Richard II,
Henry IV (parts I + II)
 Tragedies: Romeo & Juliet
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare’s Works
In 1596 his son Hamnet died. In the
1600s he gave up acting.
Third period (1600-1608)
 Bitter Comedies: the comedies are
no longer funny and don’t end
harmoniously (Measure for Measure,
All’s Well that Ends Well)
Renaissance literature
William Shakespeare’s Works
Fourth period (1608-1616)
 Famous Tragedies: Hamlet,
Macbeth, King Lear
 Romances: The Tempest, Pericles,
The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline
Renaissance literature
Richard III
(2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485)
King of England for two years, from
1483 until his death in 1485 during the
Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the
last king of the House of York and the
last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His
defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field
was the decisive battle of the Wars of
the Roses and is sometimes regarded
as the end of the Middle Ages in
England. He is the subject of an
eponymous play by Shakespeare.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9zIw84dD_Y
Renaissance literature
Christopher Marlowe (upper class)
(baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593)
English dramatist, poet and translator of
the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the
foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day.
He greatly influenced Shakespeare, who
was born in the same year as
Marlowe and who rose to become the
pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright
after Marlowe's mysterious early
death. Marlowe's plays are known for
the use of blank verse, and their
overreaching protagonists.
Renaissance literature
Christopher Marlowe’s Plays
Marlowe’s main themes are the
search/struggle for power and good
versus evil.
 Tamburlaine (1587): gaining power
through sheer force
 Jew of Malta (1588): gaining power
through money/wealth
 Dr Faustus (1588): gaining power
through knowledge
Renaissance literature
Christopher Marlowe’s Plays
TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
is a play in two parts, loosely based on the life
of the Central Asian emperor Timur “the lame“
and was written in 1587/1588. The play is a
milestone in Elizabethan public drama;
it marks a turning away from the clumsy
language and loose plotting of the earlier
Tudor dramatists, and a new interest in
fresh and vivid language, memorable
action, and intellectual complexity.
Along with Thomas Kyd's The Spanish
Tragedy, it may be considered the first
popular success of London's public stage.
Renaissance literature
Christopher Marlowe’s Plays
THE JEW OF MALTA
was probably written in 1589 or 1590.
Its plot is an original story of religious
conflict, intrigue, and revenge, set
against a backdrop of the struggle for
supremacy between Spain and the
Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean
that takes place on the island of
Malta. The Jew of Malta is considered
to have been a major influence on
Shakespeare's The Merchant of
Venice.
Renaissance literature
Christopher Marlowe’s Plays
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND
DEATH OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
is a play based on the Faust story, in which a
man sells his soul to the devil for power and
knowledge. Doctor Faustus was first published
in 1604, 11 years after Marlowe's death and at
least 12 years after the first performance of the
play.
“No Elizabethan play outside the Shakespeare
canon has raised more controversy than Doctor
Faustus. There is no agreement concerning the
nature of the text and the date of composition...
and the centrality of the Faust legend in the history
of the Western world precludes any definitive
agreement on the interpretation of the play...”
Renaissance literature
Christopher Marlowe’s Plays
In these three plays, the main
characters (Tamburlaine, the Jew of
Malta, Dr Faustus) are all so-called
“overreachers” or “Marlovian
Heroes”. They are all destroyed by
their own passion and ambition.
Other examples of overreachers:
Macbeth, Icarus, and…?
Renaissance literature
DR FAUSTUS
(overreacher)
GOD
MONARCH
NOBILITY
MERCHANTS
LOWER WORKING CLASS
SLAVES
Renaissance literature
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND
DEATH OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
This play is about a lower class man who has studied
everything he is legally allowed to, yet still wants to know
more.
Initially, he wants to know as much as God
does so that he can help mankind, but his
human weakness causes him to use all his
knowledge for his own benefit.
He “buys” this knowledge from the devil,
Mephistophilis, in exchange for his soul (cf.
Everyman or the movie Crossroads).
The devil tells him he will come for him
in 24 years’ time.
Renaissance literature
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND
DEATH OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
In a medieval play the writer would allow
God to have mercy and save Faustus’
soul. The fact that Marlowe makes
Faustus suffer the consequences of his
own actions and decisions is a very
Renaissance thing: in the new,
individualist way of thinking you can
make your own choices, but the
consequences are also for you.
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND
DEATH OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
The fragment in the book on pages 38-40 deals with Faustus’
last hour on earth, right before the devil comes to take him
away to hell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUGq5yMUKMI)
 Lines 1-25: The clock strikes 23:00
Faustus talks to himself; he wonders if he can repent and
ask God for forgiveness and maybe not go to hell.
 Lines 35-45: The clock strikes 23.30
Faustus says in line 41 that he wants to make a deal with
God. His deals become more and more desperate.
 Lines 55-66: The clock strikes 24:00 Faustus’ time is up. The
devil comes into his house and takes him away. His
screams are heard around town.
Renaissance literature
The English Middle Ages
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=MkLPxrteX3g&feature=relm
fu
The English Renaissance
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=4SL50pc7C3o