Cultural Background in the 16th Century

"English Renaissance":        WHEN? Tudors reign (Henry VII and Henry VIII)

WHAT? People which belonged to the court and middle class became highly culture.

WHY?   Scholars travelled to Italy to search new learning concerning writing and arts, because of "Italian Renaissance".

"Italian Renaissance":         New idea of humanism, which valued the human figure and the human reason without reference to religion and supernatural values.

                                               Revival of classical languages (Latin and Greek) and classical culture.

Oxford and Cambridge were the most important centres of the development of the English Renaissance: humanists started with their writings and lectures.

The education of influential families' children was founded on the study of Latin and Greek and on "Utopia", a political essay written in Latin by Thomas More, the most important of English humanists. The study of classical culture was not only for elite, but lot of schools for poor children were created.

Elizabeth's Court:                 WHEN? In the Elizabethan Period

WHAT? The court became an important centre of literary and artistic activity and it was inspired by the humanistic values of beauty, order and natural harmony. A new form of entertainment develops, it was called "masque" and consisted of a mixture of poetry, music, dancing, acting and scenic decorations.

The theatre was the most popular entertainment of the period for all social classes, from the lower to the highest. Permanent playhouses were built in London, for example "The Theatre", "The Globe", "The Swan" and "The Rose", but they had to be located outside the city walls because the Puritan authorities considered them centres of corruption and they didn't want them under their jurisdiction.

Music:                                     Church music, based on popular songs;

                                               Composition of anthems to be sung in Protestant churches;

                                               Typical Renaissance instruments: the virginal and the lute;

Musical texture changed: composers had the tendency to blend sounds together;

William Byrd

Art:                                         Paintings were centralized in London and in the court. Portraits became the representation of personality because of the new interest to the human being. New techniques that were imported from Italy, were used: perspective and psychological observation.

"Modern English":                 New name from about 1500. It was influenced by classics: scholars introduced new Latinate words.

The Development of Literature

During the Renaissance, poetry was the favourite genre at the Court and it generally deal with courtly love (John Donne, a "metaphysical" poet and John Milton, an epic poet). English drama was the most famous expression of English culture. It reached its peak with Shakespeare, but  in  the middle of the 17^th century disappeared because of the Puritan government.

Prose was not considered important. A variety of works were translated: religious works (the Bible) and classical books because humanists didn't want to consider their allegorical meanings but their ancient meaning. A new style, called "Euphuism", developed: books were written following the English prose and in an ornate language. Francis Bacon was the most important writer of prose (Essays)

Poetry                                     MODEL: Italian Literature.

                                                WHERE? Under the patronage of the Court, which was a cultural centre.

                                                TOPICS: Courtly love (the poets expressed their passion for an unattainable lady, an idealised woman and they explored aspects of their emotions), Lady's beauty and virtues, the transience of life and the power of poetry.       

METAPHORS: Love was used as a metaphor of poets' homage to a patroness or to the Queen herself.

                                                The most important poet was Spenser.        

Sonnet                                     favourite form of poetry in England

                                                ORIGIN: in Italy with Petrarch in the 14^th century, and spread to Europe in the 15^th and 16^th century.

                                                IN ENGLAND: Sir Thomas Wyatt adopted Petrarchan sonnet and changed it. He divided the last six lines into a quatrain and a couplet, creating the structure of the English sonnet.

                                                SONNETEERS: Wyatt and Earl of Surrey were the first poets to written and publish  sonnets. Sir Philip Sidney established the form (Astrophel and Stella). Shakespeare broke all the conventions established previously: his sonnets were addressed to a young man and to a "dark lady".

Drama was the finest expression of poetry because plays were mostly written in verse. The metre was especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter. The most important playwrights were Marlowe and Shakespeare.

Popular poetry was the expression of the lower and larger class of society and was mainly represented by ballads, which dealt with topical issues or political subjects.

Medieval religious drama ended with Henry VIII' schism from Rome and the Reformation, because of his hostility to Roman Catholics.

Drama began again to flourish when Elizabeth I ascended to the throne (1558), till 1642, when all theatres were closed because of the Puritans, who controlled London. Drama was the major genre in that period and was the expression of all English writers; it was the major literary contribution to the English Renaissance. Plays appealed to all social classes and it was considered important by all the people because it reflected the humanistic spirit of the period. Elizabethan drama expressed emotions and passions and gave voice to the humour of common people and it also dealt with themes taken from English history.

Drama spread thanks to travelling companies of actors, which were formed only by men because acting was considered immoral and therefore inappropriate for a woman. Plays took place on movable stages or in town squares, until playhouses were built.

Elizabethan Playhouse:          circular or polygonal shape

stage consisted of a rectangular platform

It had got no seats and the audience paid one penny to watch the performance.

There were three tiers of galleries with boxes for the higher social classes.

The performance took place during the day

The setting was described in characters' speech, thus the audience made up their own scenery, using imagination.

Elizabethan Playwrights wrote plays to provide entertainment and make money. Once written, plays were sold to a company. The group of playwrights who founded the English drama in the Renaissance, form the 1570s to the 1590s, were called the "University Wits", because they were all men of university education. The best-known of the University Wits are Lyly and Marlowe.

The Greek and Latin writers influenced the Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights because their books were source-books for them.