The English Renaissance

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The English Renaissance

• 1485-1625

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What is the Renaissance?

• French word rebirth or renewal
• Began in Italy
• Return to studying ancient texts
• Greece
• Rome

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What made the Renaissance?

• Interest in humans
• Introduction of universities
• Gutenberg and moveable print
• Use of vernacular
• Age of Exploration
• Reformation

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How do the ideas of the Reformation arrive in
England?
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Arrival of Reformation in England

• Henry VIII
• Originally, Catholic
• Wanted divorce
• Refused!
• Remarries
• King becomes religious leader of England
• Break with Rome

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The Tudors

• Edward VI
• Only surviving son of Henry VIII
• Becomes king
• Then dies

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The Tudors

• Mary I (Bloody Mary)
• Roman Catholic
• What are the implications for her rule?
• Restore authority of Roman church
• Return England to Catholic country
• Oppression of Protestants

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The Tudors

• Elizabeth I
• Educated during Renaissance
• Unity under Protestant Religion
• Friend of the Arts

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Lets Review

• What connections are there between the three
  rulers
• Henry VIII
• Mary I
• Elizabeth I
• What would be the difficulties each ruler faced
  when ascending the throne?
• What would this mean for the society?

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What does this have to do with literature?
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Renaissance in Literature

• New developments in three areas
• Poetry
• Prose
• Drama

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Renaissance Poetry

• Lyric poetry
• Not a full story
• Single speaker
• Sonnets and sonnet cycles
• Sonnets 14-lined lyric poem
• Sonnet cycle Group of sonnets on single theme

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Renaissance Poets

• Philip Sydney
• Sonnet cycles (?????)
• Key to shaping sonnet form
• Edmund Spenser
• Epic poem (???)The Faerie Queen (??)
• Spenserian stanzas nine-line units

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Renaissance Poets

• Christopher Marlowe
• Playwright
• Lyric poet
• Pastoral verse looking at the country life
• William Shakespeare
• Playwright
• English sonnet/Shakespeare sonnet

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Elizabethan Drama and Prose

• No longer religious
• References to ancient texts
• Drama written in verse
• King James Bible