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English
Literature I: the Sixteenth Century;English
Literature and Culture
From Medieval Period to the Eighteenth Century
The Sixteenth Century: Major Concepts and Styles
Provider: Marguerite Connor / ±dĽ}´@
Concepts
Styles
Humanism - intellectually liberating movement which focused on the development of human potential. Freed people from the intellectual tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church. Came from Italy with the Renaissance ideals. There was a rebirth of letters and arts, a recovery of classical texts.
Names:
Petrarch
Mirandola
Leonardo da Vinci
Lorenzo di Medici[top]
Reformation - officially "started" in 1517 by Martin Luther. In England, the split with the Roman Catholic Church occurred during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Edward VI came the influence of strict Lutheran and Calvinist reformers. Mary I reversed this under her rule and tried to bring England back to the Roman Catholic Church. Mary died as Protestant martyrs during this time, and Mary earned the title "Bloody Mary." Her sister, Elizabeth I, Probably England's finest ruler, balanced the warring religious factions and brought an incredible measure of religious stability to England. Roman Catholics in Ireland were still persecuted, though.
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Nationalism - Especially under Elizabeth I England created a very strong image of itself as strong, united nation. This was aided greatly by the British Navy's unlikely defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Spain had ruled the seas, thus the world. By defeating Spain, England became the strongest power in Europe.
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Patronage system for writers - this is how writers made their money. There were no professional writers as we know the trade. Writers wrote, dedicating their works to rich nobles in hopes of gaining a financial reward in return. This caused a certain level of censorship to happen in the writing. See, for example, Spenser's The Fairie Queene in which he panders to Elizabeth's ego (and in the process adds to the sense of English nationalism) in hopes of reward.
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Censorship - Being a writer was a difficult task, thanks to the strict censorship laws. Tudor monarchs controlled press and publication very tightly. Writers who offended were subject to prison, fines and punishment, including having their right hands chopped off for offending the queen. Because of this, we see signs of internal censorship wherever material might be considered the least bit controversial.
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During this period, artificial was a positive term.
-- improve something naturally beautiful with art
-- intricacy of design and elaborateness of pattern valued.
-- complexity coupled with rigid orderThere was also a concern with models. Writers looked to classical and Continental models to learn from them, emulate them, transforms them, and hopefully surpass them.
Homer & Virgil -- epic Ovid -- love poetry/erotic narratives Cicero -- rhetoric & prose Theocritus & Virgil -- pastoral Seneca -- tragedy Petrarch -- sonnets Ariosto & Tasso -- romantic epic [top]
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