LITERARY HISTORY The Renaissance Renaissance literature Renaissance 1485 – 1603: Nowadays the Renaissance is seen as a very complex period that started

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 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).


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.

Renaissance 1485 – 1603:Renaissance = rebirth


1453 - Fall of Constantinople


The Renaissance was a rebirth both of Man and of Classical Learning and Culture


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.


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


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.


Caxton Showing the First Specimen of His Printing to King Edward IV at the Almonry, Westminster, Daniel Maclise, 1851


Renaissance Changes

Religion:memento mori became carpe diem

Decline of the influence of the Catholic church

Man’s broadened horizonsSpread of learningbookprinting


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 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 Changes

Economics:

Columbus & Vasco da Gama discovered that the world was not flat

Foreign trade – money – knowledge Spirit of adventure


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

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.


The English Reformation (1509-1547)

Henry VIII broke free from the Catholic churchand founded the Anglican church. The Monarch became the head of the church.

Main shift: viewpoint from other-worldly to the here and now. England occupieda position in between, with neither Reformation (like in Germany), nor Renaissance (like in Italy). Something new was added in the Renaissance (19th century view).


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.


Henry VIII (1491-1547) Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is knownfor 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.


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


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 sopowerful. Order, sin and redemption were fused in

practice. At the same time the Elizabethans could combine extremes of optimism andpessimism, 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).

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



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 spreadby the neo-Platonists and fromthe 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


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being


mere existence: animate class


existence+life: vegetative class

existence+life+feeling: sensitive class

existence/life/feeling+ understanding = man


The Chain of Being: Shakespeare, though always concerned with man’s position in the chain, only in The Tempest considers the chain itself.



Petrarca

Francesco Petrarca (20 July1304 – 19 July 1374), known inEnglish as Petrarch, was anItalian scholar and poet, andone of the earliest humanists.Petrarch is often called the“Father of Humanism”.


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.


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 cddabba abba cdd ceeabba abba cde cde


Sir Thomas Wyatt

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542)was a 16th-century Englishambassador and lyrical poet,who lived at Henry VIII’s court.He is credited with introducingthe sonnet into English.


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 plainThere 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 - 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 plainThere 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

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 plainThere 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

octave

sextet

chute


The Shakespearean SonnetLater poets, like William Shakespeare, were deeply inspired by Wyatt but developed the much freer English or Shakespearean sonnet.


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


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 MoonSister moon will be my guideIn your blue blue shadows I would hideAll good people asleep tonightI'm all by myself in your silver lightI would gaze at your face the whole night throughI'd go out of my mind, but for you

Lying in a mother's armsThe primal root of a woman's charmsI'm a stranger to the sunMy eyes are too weakHow cold is a heartWhen it's warmth that he seeks?You watch every night, you don't care what I doI'd go out of my mind, but for youI'd go out of my mind, but for you

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sunMy hunger for her explains everything I've doneTo howl at the moon the whole night throughAnd they really don't care if I doI'd go out of my mind, but for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbk1nXmT9Uc


The development of the English Language

Short history:Ca.400 – 1066 AD: Old English(1066: Battle of Hastings)

1066 – ca.1500 AD: Middle EnglishCa.1500 AD – NOW: Modern English

1450 – 1700: Great Vowel Shift



Ca.400 – 1066 AD: Old English

Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena

þreatum,



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.






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.


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.


William Shakespeare (lower middle class) (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)

English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in theEnglish language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often calledEngland's national poet and the "Bardof Avon". His surviving works, includingsome collaborations, consist of about38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 longnarrative poems, and several otherpoems. His plays have been translatedinto every major living language and areperformed more often than those of anyother playwright.


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!


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


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)


William Shakespeare’s Works

In his second period Shakespeareexperimented and there were lots oftechnical innovations. He alsobecame 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



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)



Fourth period (1608-1616) Famous Tragedies: Hamlet,

Macbeth, King Lear Romances: The Tempest, Pericles,

The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline


Richard III(2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) King of England for two years, from1483 until his death in 1485 during theBattle of Bosworth Field. He was thelast king of the House of York and thelast of the Plantagenet dynasty. Hisdefeat at the Battle of Bosworth Fieldwas the decisive battle of the Wars ofthe Roses and is sometimes regardedas the end of the Middle Ages inEngland. He is the subject of aneponymous play by Shakespeare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9zIw84dD_Y




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, whowas born in the same year asMarlowe and who rose to become thepre-eminent Elizabethan playwrightafter Marlowe's mysterious earlydeath. Marlowe's plays are known forthe use of blank verse, and theiroverreaching protagonists.


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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamburlaine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jew_of_Malta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tragical_History_of_Doctor_Faustus



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 earlierTudor 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.



THE JEW OF MALTAwas 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 theOttoman Empire in the Mediterraneanthat takes place on the island ofMalta. The Jew of Malta is consideredto have been a major influence onShakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.



THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND DEATH OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS is a play based on the Faust story, in which aman sells his soul to the devil for power andknowledge. Doctor Faustus was first publishedin 1604, 11 years after Marlowe's death and atleast 12 years after the first performance of theplay.

“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...”


Christopher Marlowe’s PlaysIn 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…?


GODMONARCHNOBILITYMERCHANTSLOWER WORKING CLASSSLAVES

DR FAUSTUS(overreacher)


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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_(1986_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_(1986_film)


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.

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.

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 35-45: The clock strikes 23.30Faustus says in line 41 that he wants to make a deal with God. His deals become more and more desperate.

Lines 1-25: The clock strikes 23:00Faustus talks to himself; he wonders if he can repent and ask God for forgiveness and maybe not go to hell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUGq5yMUKMI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUGq5yMUKMI


The English Middle Ageshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkLPxrteX3g&feature=relmfu

The English Renaissancehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SL50pc7C3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkLPxrteX3g&feature=relmfu



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SL50pc7C3o



Documents

LITERARY HISTORY The Renaissance Renaissance literature Renaissance 1485 – 1603: Nowadays the Renaissance is seen as a very complex period that started