Literature of the Renaissance

By: Brooklyn Wainscott

Background information

The Renaissance’s literal meaning is “rebirth”.

Its title can be explained by the way society began to restart its way of living.

Life began to focus on an era that had thrived before them of ancient Greece and Rome.

It began in Italy during the 14th century and continued to spread north and ended in the mid 17th century.

Background Info. Cont.

The Renaissance was a time of separation from the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages were looked down upon as a time of weakness, because it was between antiquity and their own time.

The Renaissance changed the way God was involved in their life. Pre-Renaissance the church acted as

enforcers of God’s power. After the Renaissance, people had a

relationship with God.

Renaissance Man

A Renaissance man was considered well rounded.

He would have been involved in many of the rejuvenated subjects pertaining to the Renaissance.

Leonardo da Vinci is a Renaissance man.

He was involved in painting, sculpting, archictecture, music, mathematics, engineering, inventing, anatomy, geology, cartography, botany, and writing.

Outline of the Renaissance

Elizabethan era- (1558-1603)

The start of a new beginning. Shakespeare, theatre, poetry, music, and literature.

Jacobean era-(1567-1625)

Known for architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, and literary excellence. Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Ben Jonson King James

Bible, George Chapman,

Jonson also developed the Masques (as seen in masquerade balls)

Outline of the Renaissance

Caroline era-(1603-1704)

Religious, political, and social conflict between the king and his supporters

Downfall of the popular theatre trends of previous eras. Going against the grain, Phillip Massinger, James

Shirley, Richard Brome and John Ford.

Religion Religion changed dramatically

Martin Luther began to change the way people thought.

He posted his thoughts on the church door for everyone to see. This document was called his 95 Thesis.

The changes he wanted the church to make were included.

The development of the printing press spread religion further.

The bible was more available to read and more cost efficient.

*Literature and education were also effected by the printing press, because books were available.

Science

There were many scientific discoveries following the questioning of the church Luther had started.

Copernicus proposed heliocentric against what the church had taught.

Galileo invented the telescope. Robert Hooke wrote a book called Micrographia

containing his findings under the microscope lens in 1665.

Leonardo da Vinci made his plans for the first submarine. They were not shown, because he did not want to make war any more terrifying.

economics

Being after the Bubonic Plague, The Renaissance reaped the benefits of recovery.

In a morbid way everyone was able to benefit from the drop in population.

A smaller population made food shortages and poverty lessen.

This gave people free time from work causing them to explore their own interests.

This began the start of Humanism.

Philosophy People often believed in “the Great Chain of Being”

This was the belief that everything had its place in life. Doctor Faustus, written by Christopher Marlowe expressed

social classes. Social class systems were also showcased in Machiavelli’s The

Prince. People also believed in universal interdependence.

Doctrine of Correspondences Stated that a human being was a microcosm that reflected the

world as a whole. The 4 elements that the Earth made up (earth, air, fire, water)

corresponded with the 4 humors in the human body (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm)

When the humors were unbalanced, illness happened.

Philosophy Cont.

Doctrine of Correspondences cont.

An example of this was Shakespeare’s King Lear King Lear says it was a “tempest in my mind” that

caused his loss of reason.

The Dignity of Man shows a disagreement of such beliefs . Written by Pico Della Mirandola as he tries to

refocus humanity on the the human perspective and human achievements.

art Painting, sculpture, and decorative arts

Many styles included religion, fresco, Mythological and historical paintings.

The use of perspective, foreshortening, sfumato, chiaroscuro, and balance and proportion.

Perspective-treating the painting as if it were a window into space

Foreshortening-shortening lines in a painting to create a feel of depth

Sfumato-started by Leonardo da Vinci, refers to the technique of blurring certain lines and sharpening edges to create more depth Stemming from the Latin word fumare, to smoke

Chiaroscuro-dark contrasting against light

Art Cont.

The first famous female artist was Artemisia Gentileschi.

Her work was accredited often by other artists. She used real life experiences to tell a story throughout

her work as well as the bible.

Other popular artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello

Art often contained religious, political, scientific, and social aspects of the era.

The art of the Renaissance tells the story of the era without words.

Art cont.

Here are a couple works of Artemisia Gentileschi.

Believed to be her first work, this is the Madonna and Child

This painting by Artemisia, Judith and her maidservant, demonstrates her use of biblical stories in her writing to tell a story.

Art Cont.

.Here are some of the Madonnas created by Raphael.

Art Cont.

Michelangelo is most popular for painting the Sistine Chapel. Here is what it looks like.

Religion and Literature…

With the help of Martin Luther, people began to second guess the church’s teachings.

The printing press helped mass produce the bible so people could find out for themselves

This caused people to think and write in order to share ideas and opinions through there beliefs.

It also caused people to write about their life other than religion and God, because they began to consider their personal beliefs and have a more personal outlook on life.

Science and Literature

Scientists wrote down a lot of their discoveries.

Second guessing the church caused them to explore more.

This sparked an interest in education.

Mathematician George Purbach taught a series of lectures on astronomy at the University of Vienna.

Regiomontanus published his notes on Purbach’s lectures creating Theoricae novae planetarum

Regiomontanus published Epitome of the Almagest with the help of Purbach and a Greek manuscript. This made astronomy widely accessible to many

European astronomers for the first time.

Science and Literature Cont.

Advances were also made in medicine.

Vesalius described the anatomy of the brain and other organs which started our modern neurology.

Economics and Literature

The economy was up and running compared to the Medieval Ages.

This allowed people to have free time and self exploration.

Influenced by Greek and Roman Literature, writers expressed themselves as individuals and reflected humanism.

Literature explored beyond the sole purpose of the bible into humans themselves.

A prime example of this is Shakespearian writing.

Ways of writing

The Literary Doctrine of “imitation”

This was a guideline for how an author should create literary works

It often taught about how a writer should use past works to imitate. Writers should capture the spirit of the original and

apply it to their own life.

The era saw an increase in pamphlets, tracts, satires, and memoirs, a popular fascination with tragedies, religious works, and moral and philosophical reflection.

Ways of writing cont.

The mood of poetry was changed.

Sonnets became largely popular.

The first poet to show obvious changes of the new era was Jacques Pelletier du Mans. Published a collection of poetry including

translations from the Odyssey.

Poetry was in the beginning rough and graphic and then became interlaced with humanism.

Ways of writing cont.

Poetical differences

The following is a poem from Medieval Times

The Last Journey

If a man thought deeply and often

How hard is the journey from sleep to

Active life, how sorrowful is the passage

From active life to the grave, from the

Grave to torment that shall never end, I

Think he should desire no sin

The following is a poem from the Renaissance.

On the Life of Man By: Sir Walter Raleigh

What is our life? A play of passion

Our mirth the music of divisions

Our mothers’ wombs the tiring houses be

Where we are dressed for this short comedy

Heaven is the judicious sharp specter is,

That sits and marks still who doth act amiss

Our graves that hide us from the searching sun,

Are like drawn curtains when the play is done,

Thus march we play to our latest rest,

Only we die in earnest, that’s no jest.

• Morbid • No hope for the

future• Negativity• The focus of life is

solely surviving• Syndical

• Happy• Hopeful• Excited about

life• Anticipation• Joyful

Highlighted Authors Thomas More-prose writer Utopia a novel about a

fictitious island that contrasts the contentious social life with the perfect political arrangement of Utopia

Utopia was More’s tool to discuss controversial subjects. Prose-laid back way of writing poetry, less formal, most

reflective of conversational speech, uses full sentences He was born in Milk street in London. Son of a successful

lawyer, More was educated at one of the finest schools of his time. He later married Jane Colt. He also tutored her in oder for her to get a better education than she had received at home. When she died he remarried to a woman named Alice. She was very outspoken, but More had a happy marriage with her. He raised her daughter from her previous marriage as his own and that daughter later married his son from his previous marriage. More wanted to help wemon gain an education and believed in hem just as much as men.

Highlighted Authors

Shakespeare-dramatist, poet, As You Like It, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, the Tempest, Sonnets etc.

He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. He married Anne Hathaway. William earned his living as an actor and a playwright in London. 15 of his 37 plays were published. He created a theatre called the Globe Theatre. It was accessible for all viewers and very acoustically sound.

Highlighted Authors

Giovanni Boccaccio-a Florentine who wrote about the tragedy of the Bubonic Plague in Decameron.

Giovanni grew up in Florence. He was apprenticed to the a bank, but hated it. He persuaded his faher to let him study law. From there he began to take an interest in science and literature. He wrote about the love of his life characterized as Fiammetta in his prose romances. He began work on Decameron around 1349 after dodging the Bubonic Plague.

Highlighted Authors

Francesco Petrarch-referred to as the founder of humanism, humanist writer that influenced the spirit of the Renaissance

Petrarch was born in Arezzo, Tuscany.He spent a lot of his life near Florence. He studied law, but only because his father wanted him to. He came to the realization that it was not what he wanted. He dispised the legal system and pursued his dreams of being a writer. He was bffs with Boccaccio as they wrote often. He became a huge European celebrity through the writing of his epic Africa. He traveled just for pleasyre and is known as the first tourist.

Highlighted Authors Cont.

Pico-philosopher and writer of the Renaissance, most famous for the collection of 900 philosophical treatises, he expressed his beliefs that man did not need a middle man or priest to have a relationship with God

He was born into the Pico della Mirandola dynasty. He was 1 of 3 boys in his family. He grew up very wealthy while his family had its had in the arts. He had an amazing memory as a child. Pico acquired a love for philosophy at a young age and became friends with 3 developed men.

Utopia

Overview

Utopia is a novel used to get people thinking about political issues. It compares a perfect world with the world the author actually lived in during the Renaissance in Europe. Some people think Utopia is a blueprint for an idealistic society while others view it as satre.

Excerpt from utopia

They sow no more corn than they want for their bread, for they drink wine , cider, or Perry, and often water, sometimes boiled with honey or liquorices, in which they abound. And though they know exactly how much more corn every city and the tract belonging to it require, they sow much more, and breed more cattle than are necessary for their consumption, giving the over plus to their neighbors. When they want anything in the country which it doth not produce, they fetch it from the city without carrying anything in exchange, and the city magistrates inform those in the city how many reapers they want, which number being supplied, they commonly dispatch the work in a day.

Romeo and Juliet

“Oh Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?”

This famous quote is from Shakespeare’s timeless play, Romeo and Juliet. It is a story about 2 star crossed lovers, whose passion is endless. This piece by Shakespeare is a clear way that humanism effected literature.

CitationsEnglish Department Brooklyn College, acedemic.brooklyn.cuny.eduLandmarks of Literature, 2009Document 2/26/13

talktalk.co.ukHelton Publishing 2013Web document, 2/26/13

stjohns-chs.orgSt. Johns, 2003Web,2/26/13

Ms. Forbes from the beginning of the year and previous knowledge.