Renaissance Period

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Renaissance Period

• Literatuur klas 5

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Renaissance (16th century)

• Remember
• To fully appreciate works of literature, you
  need to have an understanding of
• The world of that time
• The writer

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Renaissance (16th century)

• Around 1600, people began to look differently at
  life, at their own place in the world.
• The period in which these new ideas gained
  strength is called the Renaissance Period.
• Its characteristics are

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1. From collective to individual attitude

• Middle Ages
• I belong to a group, and I serve that group.
• (family, guild, religious community)

Renaissance Im an individual whose feelings
and actions have a value of their own.
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More individual attitude

• Renaissance
• Im an individual whose feelings and actions
  have a value of their own.
• Beginning of capitalism (private enterprise)
• Artists developed their talent (anonimity
  discarded)
• Individual relation with God
• Uomo Universale

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Uomo Universale

• Renaissance ideal
• Soldier, musician, poet, politician, scholar,
  scientist

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2. From theocentric to anthropocentric attitude

• Middle Ages
• Memento mori ? My life is but a preparation
  for my death.

Renaissance Carpe diem. ? Im going to die,
so lets do something with my life! Seize the
day (still very religious)
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3. From dogmatic belief to critical investigation

• Middle Ages
• I believe what the Church and authorities say is
  the Truth, and live by it.
• (official doctrines)

Renaissance I want intellectual independence,
to look for my own Truth. (beginning of science)
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Examples

• Galilei The earth revolves around the sun.
• Humanism Erasmus, Thomas More. (people can
  decide whats right and wrong because of
  universal morality)
• Luther Reformation, Protestantism (Church lost
  sight of central truths of Christianity)

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Greek and Roman classics

• During the Middle Ages, the Greek and Roman
  cultures were not so popular, because they were
  believed to be pagan.
• A key element of Renaissance is the rebirth of
  the Greek and Roman culture and writings.

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Renaissance how?

• 1450 many Greek teachers fled Istanbul
• Went to Italy
• Englishmen studying in Italy brought new learning
  to Oxbridge

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Literature

• Witchcraft, meetings with Devil (DIY!)
• English more powerful than Latin
• English language, education, culture,
  exploration, orderly government encouraged by
  Henry VIII

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New genres in literature

• Sonnet
• (Poem in one stanza of 14 lines with a fixed
  rhyme scheme)
• Essay
• (Discussion of a topic with authors personal
  opinion ? inherited from Greek/Roman times)
• Elegy
• (also from Classics solemn poem of meditation)
• Pastoral
• (longing for peaceful and simple countrylife)

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Sonnet Edmund Spenser
hand-out

• One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
• but came the waves and washèd it away
• again I wrote it with a second hand,
• but came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
• Vain man, said she, that dost in vain assay,
• a mortal thing so to immortalize,
• for I my self shall like to this decay,
• and eek my name be wipèd out likewise.
• Not so, (quoth I) let baser things devise,
• to die in dust, but you shall live by fame
• my verse your virtues rare shall eternise,
• and in the heavens write your glorious name.
• Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,
• our love shall live, and later life renew.

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One day I wrote her name

• Typical sonnet (1595), typical Renaissance
• 14 lines
• Strict Classic iambic pentameter (suitable for
  English)
• Fixed rhyme scheme
• - The man seeks individual achievement
• Transience of life
• Art is eternal

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King Henry VIII

• Famous chiefly because of his 6 wives.
• ..and because of his conflict with the Pope.
• Henry was a ruthless tyrant, who cost England
  dearly.
• But encouraged stability, education, culture

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King Henry VIII

• Wife Number 1
• Catherine of Aragon
• All their sons died, but Pope wouldnt allow for
  divorce.
• Split with Church.

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King Henry VIII

• Wife Number 2
• Anne Boleyn
• Unpopular, no heir, too flirty.
• Cut off her head and all of her supposed
  lovers.
• Daughter Elizabeth (1533)

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King Henry VIII

• Wife Number 3
• Jane Seymour
• Gave him a son, but died after giving birth.
• This was such a blow that Henry didnt get
  married for a long, long time (two years).

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King Henry VIII

• Wife Number 4
• Anne of Cleves
• Political marriage, for intl. stability.
• Too ugly, so divorced when diplomatic balance
  redressed.
• (Recently, it is thought that Henry was by now
  the ugly one)

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King Henry VIII

• Wife Number 5
• Catherine Howard
• Henry now 49, she wasnt yet 20. Henry
  rejuvenated.
• Adulterous beheaded.

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King Henry VIII

• Wife Number 6
• Catherine Parr
• Outlived Henry, while the vultures were gathering
  around his ageing body.

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In sum King Henry VIII

• Ruthless tyrant, desperate to continue the Tudor
  monarchy
• (6 wives killing or imprisoning of rivals)
• Turned his back upon Rome and Catholicism
• Burned monasteries and seized all the Churchs
  assets. Whos laughing now?
• Stability, education, culture

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What now?

• With Henry dead (1547), two pressing issues
• Who would become King?
• What would be Englands religion Catholic or
  Protestant?

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What now? (1550s)

• Mary (daughter from Henrys first marriage)
  married King Philip II of Spain, and became Queen
  of England. Making England a province of Spain.
  Olé!
• Brought back Catholicism and burned many
  prominent Protestants. Olé!

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Queen Elizabeth I

• Daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII
• Hardly saw her parents, was declared bastard
  after Boleyns execution.
• Great way to start your life, eh?

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Queen Elizabeth I

• Queen in 1559. Popular with the people.
  Protestant. Rather harsh on Catholics
• Who would she marry?
• Nobody! Married to the English people The
  Virgin Queen
• Intelligent and charming, she survived political
  scheming against her, e.g. by Mary, Queen of
  Scots, whose head she chopped off (Bloody Mary).
• Country thrived under her rule.

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Was she hot?

• Hell no!
• Lead-based make-up ate away her face.
• Also, people didnt use to wash their undies, so
  the pong was terrible!
• Compensated with 1,000 extravagant dresses.

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Elizabeths inheritance

• The English were starting to explore, setting up
  trade links all over the world.
• This brought prosperity and foreign cultural
  influences to England.
• Elizabeth did away with the Spanish armada. She
  died in 1603, leaving a prosperous, united
  country.

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Development of drama

• Lizzie O, I love the theatre!
• She set up companies, and pretty soon playhouses
  were built in London.
• Golden age of Marlowe and Shakespeare arrived!
• Medieval, moral plays were given the boot.
  ?Dramatization of personal dilemmas, in the
  Renaissance spirit.

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Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne

• brilliant!
• massive!
• groovy!
• senbleedingsational!
• da bomb!
• legend!

..but not the only ones.