Sixteenth-Century English Literature. Cultural Background

SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND
Renaissance emerged in England after the end of the War of the Roses
and the coming to the throne of Henry VII Tudor (1485)
England was a rather marginal European kingdom; under the Tudors
and the early Stuarts
Lectures will focus, nonetheless, on Renaissance culture in England in
the sixteenth century
The first half of the century revived lyrical poetry through the
introduction of the sonnet (Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard), the rise
of the secular drama (the early comedies and tragedies) and the
emergence of refined prose (Sir Thomas Morus)
Renaissance in England
Renaissance (re-birth in French, originally derived from the Latin renascentia)

Rebirth of classical literature and art forms
Occurred between 1400-1600 A.D.

During this time period, it was nearly impossible to rise above your
birth
Family name and nobility were very important
Began with Henry VIII (made himself the head of the Church of England,
bringing church and state together (1529-39) and ended with King James
High time in literature: Sidney, Spencer, Marlow, Shakespeare
In France, Francois Rabelais wrote a series of stories called Gargantua and Pantagruel
Humanism, characterised by interest in man. The study of man and
regarded as the way to elevate human culture
Humanists were interested in human values, and they revived the study of classical Greek
and Roman art, literature, history, and philosophy.
Desiderius Erasmus, lived in England for a number of years and wrote
his famous work Moriae Encomium (Praise of Folly) in 1510
Utopia (1515-1516), the first great humanistic work by an Englishman.
Written in Latin in dialogue form0, Moruss work focused on creating an ideal no
place
Medieval philosophers systems of thought was mainly centered around God and
questions of religions.
Renaissance in England happened much later than in Italy
Due to:
Hundred Years War
Ended 1453
England vs. France
War of the Roses (ended 1485)
Lancaster family vs. York family
Tudor family is accepted as ruler by both

King Henry VII
Built up trade
Brought peace
King Henry VIII
From the Tudor line
Encouraged art, literature, music, leisure
Broke away from Catholic Church, started Anglican Church
Had SIX wives: Catherine of Aragon(divorced), Anne
Boleyn(beheaded), Jane Seymore (died), Ann of Cleves(divorced),
Kathryn Howard (beheaded), Katherine Parr (survived)
Elizabeth
Well-traveled and well-educated

English Renaissance peaked during her reign
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH POETRY

Sixteenth-century English (lyrical and epic) poems revealed a growing
interest in court culture, in general, and in the relationship
between European cultural values and artistic models and the
products of the emergent national cultures, in particular.
The themes:
relationships between humanism, and court culture, with particular
stress on courtly and platonic love;
the relationships between humanism, chivalric values and court culture
the role of women in court culture, both women as ornaments of the
court and women as rulers. (Griffiths, 1998)
LYRICAL POETRY
John Skelton (c. 1460-1529). Highly regarded in his day as poet and a
laureate of both Oxford and Cambridge universities, he was praised by
Caxton and Erasmus as a leading luminary of the English literary
scene.
Translations and adaptations played a very important part in making
the humanistic literature of Italy widely known
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)
Life:
was a 16th-century English ambassador and lyrical poet.

He is credited with introducing the sonnet into English literature.
he was also held in high regard as a diplomat, both by his own King
and by Emperor Charles V
He lived a short, life among the aristocrats of Henry VIIIs court, getting often
involved in dangerous political relationships or love affairs.
he was imprisoned under the suspicion of being Anne Boleyns lover, after she became
queen
he became an ambassador to Spain (c. 1537-1540), but he was
imprisoned again under the charge of treason
Work:
None of Wyatts poems had been published in his lifetime, with the
exception of a few poems The Court of Venus.
His first published work was Certain Psalmsv
A significant amount of his literary consists of translations and imitations of sonnets by the
Italian poet Petrarch
He is the first English poet since Chaucer to make use of Italian

models, combining the humanist and the vernacular modes of
expression
Thomas Wyatts poems were the first to introduce into the language a new
style of verse in subjectmatter, imagery, and metrical form. They left
their mark on English poetry for the following century
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH POETRY
2.1. LYRICAL POETRY

2.1.2. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547)
Life:
was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of EnglishRenaissance poetry. He was a
first cousin of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of King
Henry VIII
Born in a family of the highest aristocracy, he spent his childhood and early
youth in close connection with the royal families of England and France
he remained essentially a reckless young man, often embarking, together
with his friends (here including Thomas Wyatts son)
he was beheaded, at the age of 30, just one week before the monarchs
death.
Work:
was encouraged to study and to translate from the classics and the
French poets
he showed technical skill and produced fluent, musical, attractive verse
of genuine lyric quality
Surrey was at his best when exalting male friendship and masculine
virtues rather than the love of women.
was the first English poet to publish blank verse (unrhymediambic pentameter)
Lyrical Poetry from the 1550s to the 1590s

the literary interest in Italy and its court poetry went in hibernation
english poets remained mainly imitators of the Petrarchan sonnet.
George Gascoigne was the most important man of letters in England.
His contribution to the development of Renaissance literature might

be:
remarkable translations from Italian drama (Ariosto);

- the first English novel, The Adventures of Master F. J. (1573);
- the first English satire in blank verse, The Steele Glass (1576), exposing the
moral
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
was an English poet, scholar, and soldier, who is remembered as one of the most prominent
figures of the Elizabethan age.
His works include Astrophel and Stella, The Defence of Poesy (also known as The Defence
of Poetry or An Apology for Poetry), and The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.
Devoted himself to the Queens service
he experienced disappointment in love when Penelope Devereux chose

to marry Lord Rich
The young poet Edmund Spenser, dedicated The Shepheardes
Calender to him
The manner of his death made him a figure of myth
His fame rests upon three major works:
- the first English romance tale (novel, pastoral romance) Arcadia;
-the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella;
- the essay An Apology for Poetry.
During a 1577 diplomatic visit to Prague, Sidney secretly visited the exiled priest Edmund
Campion.
Arcadia:
Made of five books
The omance focuses on the love and fortune in which the main characters
Duke Basilius, ruler of Arcadia and his wife Gynecia, their daughters
Pamela and Philoclea, and two royal suitors, Pyrocles and Musidorus get
entangled
The royal couples attempt to prevent a gloomy prophecy from becoming true by
retiring in a remote village, triggers a series of that several major themes of
classical novels.
Sidney originally wrote Arcadia for the amusement of his sister, the
Countess of Pembroke
Astrophel and Stella
The first of the famous English sonnet sequences
reveals to be one of the greatest sonneteers in England, development of a
love affair
Astrophel ends the sonnet alone and isolated, empty without Stella's presence
An Apology for Poetry
this essay defends imaginative literature in all its forms including drama
Sidney integrates a number of classical and Italian precepts on fiction
The work also offers important comments on Edmund Spenser and the Elizabethan stage.
LECTURE 3
DEVELOPMENTS IN LATE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY LYRICAL
AND
EPIC POETRY: EDMUND SPENSER AND WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE
Has been
introduced as novelties on the English scene

Th veneration for continental literature was at the same time a source
of chagrin
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

Life:
is usually associated with Wyatt, Surrey and Sidney

Heenjoyed the first rank education in the greatest Renaissance
tradition at Merchant Taylors School and at Cambridge where he
received his BA and MA
Work:
he composed the Shepheards Calender and dedicated the poem to Sir
Philip Sidney
he had been accepted into the employment of Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester, and was living in Leicester House in the Strand
he married Elizabeth Boyle, an event which he celebrated in the sonnet sequence
Amoretti and Epithalamium which detailed the course of love during his courtship, and
celebrated its consummation in his marriage.
The Faerie Queene consists of 6 books
is a highly artificial creation too long to be read for entertainment
The Faerie Queene purely as a poetic romance
His name
William Shakespeare (1564-1616):

The Narrative Poems and the Sonnets
The Narrative Poems:

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SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE.

Renaissance (re-birth in French, originally derived from the Latin renascentia)

Occurred between 1400-1600 A.D.

Tudor family is accepted as ruler by both

Well-traveled and well-educated

SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH POETRY

was a 16th-century English ambassador and lyrical poet.

He is the first English poet since Chaucer to make use of Italian

SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH POETRY

2.1. LYRICAL POETRY

Lyrical Poetry from the 1550s to the 1590s

english poets remained mainly imitators of the Petrarchan sonnet.

George Gascoigne was the most important man of letters in England.

His contribution to the development of Renaissance literature might

remarkable translations from Italian drama (Ariosto);

Devoted himself to the Queens service

he experienced disappointment in love when Penelope Devereux chose

An Apology for Poetry

introduced as novelties on the English scene

Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

is usually associated with Wyatt, Surrey and Sidney

William Shakespeare (1564-1616):

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