14 chapters | In 1532, Guillaume Bud emphasized the importance of learning itself in The Right and Proper Institution of the Study of Learning, while in the same year, Machiavelli wrote The Prince, his handbook for government leaders. 100. During the Renaissance, literature examples from poetry to plays showed a wide range of people who had more focus on themselves and less on how they were merely pawns of society. Humanism is an educational and cultural philosophy that began in the Renaissance when scholars rediscovered Greek and Roman classical philoso, RENAISSANCE Many testaments to the greatness of English prose date from the English Renaissance, not the least of which is the Authorized Edition, or King James Version, of the Holy Bible, the product of seven years of labor by a team of scholars and translators, which was first published in 1611. Iago calls Cassio, just appointed lieutenant, a mere classroom soldier, "a great arithmetician . What we normally refer to as the Renaissance in Western European history . Research the particulars behind each of these movements, and then compare the two views of religion. The history of Renaissance English poetry begins with Richard Tottel's 1557 publication of "Songes and Sonettes," which contained work by the early English sonneteers Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; it more or less ends in 1667, when John Milton published the first edition of his epic poem "Paradise Lost." The English Renaissance started either in 1485 or around the 1520s, depending on historians' views. FAIRLY ODD FACTS ABOUT THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE Most people were married in June b/c their yearly bath was in May Bacon was a sign of wealth Roofs were made of thatch and were the only place for animals to stay warm. Most strongly associated with the Italian city of Florence specifically, the Renaissance describes the period of time between the 14 th and 17 th centuries. She married Sir Henry Carey in 1602 when she was only seventeen years old, but her husband was soon gone to fight in the war with Spain. Artists were initially thought of as craftsmen. 5- Doctor Faustus (Christopher Marlowe) This important work of the Renaissance is based on stories about Faust, a popular figure in German culture. After reviewing Mephistopheles' spell book, he sees the error of his ways. Elizabeth Carey (sometimes spelled as Cary) was born in Oxford, England, in 1585. From one point of view, this sudden renaissance . He remembers how he "smote himthus," as he turns his dagger toward himself. 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. By referring to the process of duping the people into faith as milking a cow, Erasmus sets up a negative image in the readers' minds and causes them to think about his argument. Iago will remark a bit later to Cassio, "he to-night hath boarded a land carrack," implicitly comparing Othello's sexual conquest to the seizure of a Spanish or Portuguese treasure ship (a "car-rack") by an English privateerin other words, an act of social piracy. 469507. During the Renaissance, many developments took place in literature, art, architecture, science and technology. We can imagine how these suggestions affect Othello, most especially the reference to "complexion." He also claims the earned rights of seniority rather than preferment gained by letters of recommendation from influential somebodies. It is characterized by the adoption of a humanist philosophy and the recovery of the classical Antiquity. It ended during the 1500s, when the modern era began. Cross, Wilbur L., and Tucker Brooke, eds. But they also recall the May-December prototypes of farce; Othello feels his head for horns like the deluded old husband of a thousand comic tales. The play, published in 1600 or 1601, details the internal struggle that Prince Hamlet faces in deciding whether to avenge his father's murder. As Johnson notes, Erasmus came in 1498 to study at Oxford University in England because "it was no longer necessary to go as far as Italy. The author never resolves the issues, leaving the book open-ended instead of trying to provide a clear solution. There are no more romantic lovers in all of Shakespeare than the almost virginal warrior and the high-minded virgin Lady whose love he wins by recital of his heroic past. Iago's declared envy of Cassio's promotion is plausible, even though he expresses this resentment only in a single remark to Roderigo. The book has two parts. I feel like its a lifeline. It is characterized by the adoption of a Humanist philosophy and the recovery of the classical literature of Antiquity and benefited from . The Renaissance was a period in European history. What are some (unusual) comparisons the poet is making? Carey, Elizabeth, The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry, edited by Barry Weller and Margaret W. Ferguson, University of California Press, 1994. The newly married pair could not have enjoyed their nuptial rapture for long during their first night in Venice when a midnight summons from the Duke posts the bridegroom to the defense of Cyprus. Characters The first quatrain refers to the first four lines, the second to the next four, and the third to the next four. At around the same time, Petrarch not only helped to track down and reproduce many of the great classical works later writers would study, he also helped popularize the use of the sonnet, a type of lyrical poem that many European Renaissance writers used for centuries. Her source was Antiquities of the Jews, by Josephus, which recounts the story of King Herod's cruelty toward his wife Mariam. Perhaps he suspects a racial will to dominance in her sexual "appetite," which declares that she is not his but that he is hers as a slave belongs to his owner. Though he has told Desde-mona as well as her father "the story of [his] life/ From year to yearthe battles, sieges, fortunes/ That [he] passed . Renaissance literature places more emphasis on the individual. We explain what Renaissance literature is and its historical context. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you But not all have Iago's confidence. The history of Harlem is very multifaceted, and Harlem Renaissance is the most complex phenomenon of it all. As cities began to prosper, religious corruption increased and the influence of the Church waned; however, writers rediscovered the classics and began to incorporate them into their own works. This era bridged the time between the Middle Ages and modern times. Is not this borne out by a love that began with her vision of her lover's "visage in his mind"rather than in the black face gazing at her? Very Good +. This movement was called Humanism. Themes The rest of his attempts at magic are even worse, as they are squandered doing deeds for others, most of which do not fall in line with his original plan of playing a commanding role over all of creation. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Renaissance Literature explored religion in a different way. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, son of Pierre Eyquem, was born on February 28, 1533, in Perigueux, France. CHARACTERS Othello was played as a black man on the stage in Shakespeare's own day and for over a century and a half after. . From that time until late in the twentieth century, historians and critics alike envisioned the Renaissance as a transition period between the Dark Agesin which there was little or no technical innovation or cultivation of the arts and the modern age. The style of setting poetry to music was called the lyric. From fourteenth century to the beginning of the sixteenth century, Europe generated the Renaissance era. Although Cervantes himself thought the work nothing more than a parody, modern critics have noted the book's Renaissance view of favoring realism over idealism and have credited the book with influencing the development of the modern novel. Currently pursuing a B.A. The dominant forms of English literature during the Renaissance were the poem and the drama, drama subgenres are tragedy and comedy. Critical Overview . Renaissance literature tried to express itself as critical realism. If this is so, then why does Faustus ask about hell? Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990. While critics are in disagreement as to when this proto-renaissance began, the period lasted approximately from the twelfth century (when many universities were built) to the first half of the fifteenth century (up until the advent of the printing press). 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Renaissance means "rebirth" in French. 1) Earliest Renaissance literature appeared in Italy during the 14th century 2) Dante, Petrarch, Boccacio, and Aristo are some the Renaissance most famous writers 3) Many writings from the Renaissance were influenced by the study of humanism and classical ideas 4) Literature was connected with the religion Score: 4.8/5 (71 votes) . After seeking out some magician friends, Faustus acquires the skill to conjure. Despite the grimness of this tragic history, the comic foregrounding of sex, as in farce, is both invoked and obscured in a play in which so much of the time the marriage bed is at least present to mind even if offstage, just guessed at, though unseen, like the sexual union enacted there. When Othello lands in Cyprus to find her already there waiting for him he greets her, "O my fair warrior!" The poet is addressing his mistress. Rabelais embodied the spirit of the Renaissance, which encouraged the pursuit of multiple vocations and interests. Venice was famous for its glass work, while Milan was famous for its iron smiths. Encyclopedia.com. . This dramatic shift in thought, from relying totally on the wisdom of the Church to developing understanding through scholarship, led to the intense examination and appreciation for the human individual. Michel has taught college composition and literature for over16 years. 24. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 3. We must recall that Othello's anticipations of bliss had prompted thoughts of death: It is one of those flights of Othello's hyper-bole that suggests too much before the fact, and Desdemona herself reins him in with, "The heavens forbid/But that our loves and comforts should increase/Even as our days do grow." Some scholars also take Shakespeare's references to schools in his plays as proof of his own education. We can merely suspect its vast difference from his present condition. The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political, and economic rebirth. Like his friend Erasmus, More combined his religious and intellectual pursuits into one humanistic ideal that he pursued for the rest of his life. Viroli, Maurizio, Niccolo's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. Renaissance literaturedeveloped in Italy during theRenaissanceperiod, between the 15th and 16th centuries. This was true of many artists during the Renaissance, who were known as polymaths. From students, Renaissance writers turned to other specific sections of the public, toward whom they aimed a number of educational publications detailing the proper ways to do just about everything. His wish to be able to raise the dead is reminiscent of Jesus' raising of Lazarus, of which Faustus is aware. For Further Study Martin Has Something to Say. Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. For Brabantio, miscegenation is, classically, a threat of redefinition not to be made less threatening by proof of Othello's worthiness. The word "Renaissance" means "rebirth". When Desdemona is called a "whore" by an Othello reduced to the racial enemy's language by his jealousy, Emilia exclaims, "Hath she forsook so many noble matches,/Her father, and her country, and her friends,/To be called whore?" The "issue" raised is her rather lackluster beauty. One of the most characteristic elements of the literature of this current is the importance . As a result, many of the new rural poor crowded into the cities, which led to other social ills such as disease and crime. Honigmann, the editor of the latest Arden Edition of the play, who speaks of Othello's "exceptional sensuosness, though not necessarily 'racial"' to be found in some of Othello's tributes to Desdemona's effect upon him. Critics are mistaken who have spoken of Othello's "recovery" in the final scene when he seems to become, again, a fearless soldier and romantic lover who dies by his own hand. It is believed that the first edition of the book is around 1593. Fun Facts about the Renaissance One of the most popular Greek philosophers was Plato. Elizabethans might not have reacted as Coleridge would come to do. In his first tragedy, Hamlet, Shakespeare gives his title character an introspective intellect that is both humanist and modern. in Education Literacy and Learning for Grades 6-12. 4, Spring 2002, pp. The development of Renaissance art went parallel with the social changes that occurred all across Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries. At the end of his twenty-four years, Faustus has wasted all of his time and reflects on his plight, being once again of the medieval mind: "What art thou, Faustus, but a man condemned to die?" English literature of his reign as James I, from 1603 to 1625, is properly called Jacobean.) The devil can give him power, but it has its limits. In Florence, in the first half of the Fifteenth century . Millicent Bell argues that contemporary beliefs about race dictated that he be characterized as a man who was seriously flawed. A Renaissance idea of fame, or of "making a name" for oneself, is invoked in the play, as is Iago's Machiavellian idea of "thriving." 2 3. In the following essay, Poquette discusses Doctor Faustusas an example of two warring ideologies in Christopher Marlowe's play of the same name. beg it not/To please the palate of my appetite/Nor to comply with heat, the young affects/ In me defunct, and proper satisfaction,/But to be free and bounteous to her mind." Although the humanists did not intend this, their writings helped to spark the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. FURTHER READING The Renaissance is a period that generically encompassed all the arts: literature, music, painting, and so on. The word renaissance means 'rebirth.' At the direction of Montaigne's father, the entire Eyquem household spoke Latin in an effort to instill it into the young Montaigne. Because his father was a man of some civic importance, it is assumed that Shakespeare received a well-rounded, humanistic education. Author Biography This book examines the medieval view of the world, giving historical and cultural background that allows for a greater understanding of medieval and Renaissance literature. The curtain rises for good reason on a discussion about jobs and how one is qualified for them. RENAISSANCE The word "Renaissance" is a French word which means "rebirth". Scholasticism. There is no real reason why Othello should say goodbye at this point to his soldier's profession, which has given him an epic selfhood. Hall says about the Renaissance critics, "regardless of whether their influence was good or bad they succeeded admirably in doing one thing. 100. Here, Faustus has aligned himself with evil and tries to win over good but cannot. As the city-states began to prosper, religious corruption increased. Renaissance Literature. This led to a revolt on the continent against the corruption of the church and the moral laxity of the clergy which came to be known as the Reformation. It benefited from the spread of printing in the latter part of the 15th century. An error occurred trying to load this video. This was an ironic task, since Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel was condemned by the Sorbonnethe Catholic theological faculty at the University of Parisas sympathetic to the Lutheran cause, while the Calvinists (Protestants) thought Rabelais's books promoted atheism. It serves to relate the play to a new seventeenth-century social climate that gave rise to uncertainty about personal identityand gives a historical meaning to the way Iago comes before us as the man who believes that one is only what one appears to be, what role one is able to personate successfully. Proud of their city and defending its liberty. As his nobility is erased by rage and despair in the middle of the third act, he mourns. NiccolMachiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy, to a middle-class family of civic workers. Hall, Vernon, A Short History of Literary Criticism, New York University Press, 1963, pp. Writers also believed in the art of imitation, gravitating toward the Greek and Roman writers and writing styles. "I am content to do whatsoever your majesty shall command me," says Faustus to the emperor, who has Faustus bring forth the spirit of Alexander the Great and his paramour. Literary critics agree that the Renaissance constitutes one of the most important periods in literary history. Faustus forces Mephistopheles to come back in the shape of a "Franciscan friar," which is more pleasing to him. Poetry and drama were the most popular types of writing in English literature during the Renaissance. Erasmus died on July 12, 1536, in Basel, Switzerland. The scholars of the Renaissance began to travel to other countries, spreading their ideals andknowledge. knowledge he can, and in doing so "thou hast attained the end." It began focusing more on individualism, an important change of thought from the previous eras which saw the individual as entirely part of the whole. A new belief in reason as being capable of figuring out problems previously relegated to faith allowed writers to explore the world around them while placing emphasis on the individual and questioning society. The English Renaissance and the [[Renaissance in Scotland date from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. He is no Marc Antony. His magnificent self-making has been undone and he now kills, again, the irreversibly circumcised, unassimilable racial other that he is. But Othello knows he has used no witchcraft, and to him Iago suggests "a will most rank,/Foul disproportion; thoughts unnatural" in Desdemona. Shakespeare was the master of the dramatic genre during the Renaissance. During these two major movements, both Catholic and Protestant printers used their trade as a weapon, creating propaganda literature they distributed to people in hopes of keeping or gaining their faith. It is characterized by the adoption of a humanist philosophy and the recovery of the classical Antiquity. Ah Mephistopheles!" This shift in learning - from relying on all wisdom from the Church to developing understanding and reason - exacerbated an appreciation for the human individual. Johnson notes, "By 1500, after forty-five years of the printed book, the total has been calculated at nine million." . It refers particularly to a renewed interest in classical learning - the writings of ancient Greece and Rome. The play exhibits that mutability in the alteration of his very language from a majestic poetry that has been called the "Othello music" to a debased tone from which all music has gone. Othello, from Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, was unable to rise to this perfection. The movement had significant influence over the English Literature. The first quote of Renaissance in English: | {{course.flashcardSetCount}} But Mephistopheles cannot give him a human wife. In this play about love and jealousy, which shows how love is a moment's hazardous leap over vast distance, he has included the crippling prohibition of racial difference. This was also the time of the Protestant Reformation, and the invention of the printing press. Introduction to Renaissance Literature: Characterizing Authors and Works. With more writers, there was a greater demand for literature. The Renaissance began with resurgence in classical learning, including the study and proper use of Latin. The roles were rigidly typed and the plots were formulaic, usually revolving around young lovers who thwarted their elders and attained wealth and happiness. During the Renaissance, scholars rediscovered the works of Plato as they filtered into Europe through Muslim Spain and Byzantium. Renaissance (meaning 'rebirth' in French) or Rinascimento is conventionally regarded as the era in Europe following the Middle Ages that was characterized by the renewed interest in Classical art, philosophy, and values. Literary Movements for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Literary Movements. Situational irony occurs in the contrast between what a given set of circumstances appear to be and what in fact they are. whose love for a white woman he found "something monstrous to conceive." Questions: 8 | Attempts: 12249 | Last updated: Mar 22, 2022. The main genres were poetry and drama, though comedies and satires also existed. But not only circumstances or conditions keep this marriage from being consummated. Artists strived to depict people and objects in a true-to-life way. At the same time, many writers attempted to demonstrate that their native languages were just as good as Latin, as Rabelais did when he published his Gargantua and Pantagruel in his native French. No way but this:/ Killing myself to die upon a kiss," giving "die" its usual Elizabethan double sense as orgasm. "Ido suspect the lusty Moor/Hath leaped into my seat," he says, and though he may not really think this possible, he repeats his half-belief in this suggestion that Othello had "done [his] office 'twixt [his] sheets," while confessing that he is only looking for specious causes for his animosity: "I know not if't be true,/But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,/Will do as if for surety." The old man in the story is so blinded by the idealism he has read about in medieval romances that he can no longer see the truth, thinks he is a knight, and goes seeking adventures. The first Englishman who wrote under influence of Greek was Sir Thomas written Utopia in Latin. Interested in politics. By having Faustus refer to himself as both an insider ("I") and outsider ("thou" and "Doctor. When Henry declared himself head of the Church of England in 1531, however, More was forced to choose between his king and his Church. RENAISSANCE PERIOD LITERATURE 1 2. What types of literature were popular during the English Renaissance? du Bellay, Joachim, "From The Defence and Illustration of the French Language," in The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, edited by Vincent Leitch, Norton, 1996, p. 284. In Carey's version, the events take place in a single day. How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties!" This was possible due to the movement away from purely religious themes, which had been the norm for hundreds of years. But, in fact, Othello himself, as Shakespeare shows, is quite the reverse of the stereotypical "lusty Moor." What is the "resolution" presented in the couplet at the end? There are, however, a few writers from other time periods whom historians and critics commonly associate with the Renaissance. Othello (1604) has often bee, GEORGE BERNARD SHAW 1914 . The author of this book argues that this was merely a reflection of the kind of leader Machiavelli longed for as a solution to the violent time period in which he lived rather than a type of behavior that he preached as appropriate. Following these misfortunes, Cervantes wrote his masterpiece El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha (translated as The History of that Ingenious Gentleman: Don Quixote de La Mancha), commonly referred to simply as Don Quixote, which details the misadventures of a madman. The ultimate expression of this ideal came with the publication of Utopia (1516). In 1517, Martin Luther posted his famous ninety-five theses to the door of his church; these, with the aid of the printing press, were also widely distributed. . The great masterpiece of Italian Renaissance poetry is Ariosto 's Orlando furioso (1516, rev. Create your account. Middle English Period, Literature & Examples | What is Middle English? In addition, in many cases the writer and critic were the same, as in the aforementioned examples of works promoting the use of vernacular language. In contrast, Iago has served in battle, as he reminds Othello: "in the trade of war I have slain men." In Renaissance times, writers such as Erasmus and his friend More responded to the social injustices they saw with satirical attacks, as an example from Erasmus's The Praise of Folly demonstrates. Shakespeare does not remove all doubt, but he seems willing to let us visualize "a veritable negro," to use Coleridge's phrase for the Othello, AT THE LAST, OTHELLO SURRENDERS HIMSELF TO THE PRISON OF RACE HE THOUGHT HE HAD ESCAPED. Articles. Jordan, Constance, Renaissance Feminism: Literary Texts and Political Models, Cornell University Press, 1990. Two related examples from Utopia illustrate how More did this. The Europeans of the Renaissance took ideas from the ancient . Writers in this period tended to believe that humanity was capable of great deeds on Earth, rather than just working for a reward in the afterlife. It was a transitional period between theMiddle Ages, in which there were almost no innovations or cultivation of thearts, and theModern Age. Desiderius Erasmus was born October 27, 1466, most likely in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Although Machiavelli intended the work to be a handbook for political leaders, most readers in the sixteenth century were openly disgusted by the book's cold discussion and support of the unethical methods, such as murder, that successful leaders used to acquire and remain in power. One result of these factors was a shift from a human-centered intellectual focus to one that celebrated the things that held society together: shared religious and cultural beliefs. With the resurgence in classical learning and the focus on more secular, or nonreligious, human issues, scholars and writers embraced a spirit of skepticism and began to place a greater importance on reason. ", We may connect the jealousy aroused so readily in Othello with one of those postnuptial awakenings that come to men unprepared for the active sexuality of the women they marry. Shakespeare has been, without fail, the single most studied writer of the Renaissance, in part because his works synthesize many of the humanistic themes that Renaissance writers employed, which still ring true with many critics and audiences in the twenty-first century. The classical literature came to Europe. 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