The fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries in Europe witnessed a deliberate break with feudal modes of living. Aristocratic landowners lost their hegemony over the lower classes, as opportunities for growth and enrichment beckoned from the swelling urban centers.
Several threads can be said to tie the entire European Renaissance together across the three centuries which it spanned. The steady rise of nationalism, coupled with the first flourishing of democracy, were traits common to the entire Continent. The first inklings of a middle class began to gain power in the cities, as trade and commerce became full enterprises in their own right. With the fear of contagion a distant bad memory, and people eager to get out of their homes and see more of the world, international and even global trade began to surge forward.
The dominant forms of English literature during the Renaissance were the poem and the drama. Among the many varieties of poetry one might have found in sixteenth century England were the lyric, the elegy, the tragedy, and the pastoral. Near the close of the English Renaissance, John Milton composed his epic Paradise Lost, widely considered the grandest poem in the language.
Expectations about style, subject matter, tone, and even plot details were well-established for each poetic genre. Even the specific occasion demanded a particular form of poetry, the general consensus among critics is that the chief aim of English Renaissance verse was to encapsulate beauty and truth in words. English poetry of the period was ostentatious, repetitious, and often betrayed a subtle wit.The pastiche style is exemplified in Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queen, a long poem which mingled elements of romance, tragedy, epic and pastoral into an entertaining and still cohesive whole.
English court life and the opinions of noble patrons had a profound influence on the direction of the arts. Being close to the king or queen was desirable, but also dangerous. The literature reveals that courtiers were exceedingly clever with their use of language, employing double meanings and sly wit to protect their own interests. The verbal duels one might have overheard in the court naturally found their way into the poetry and drama of the time. The nuanced communication style of Shakespeare’s vivid characters, for example, had its genesis in the court of the English royalty.
In the area of drama, no one matched William Shakespeare in terms of variety, profundity, and exquisite use of language. His subject matter ran the gamut, from classical Greco-Roman stories to contemporary tales of unrequited love. Shakespeare is known for his ability to shift between comedy and tragedy, from complex character study to light-hearted farce. He is likewise highly regarded for the exquisite formal structure which all of his plays demonstrate. This goes beyond just acts and scenes, but encompasses the emotional and psychological arc of the action in the drama.
Shakespeare’s sonnets display a verbal pyrotechnics seldom seen even today, with images layered one on top of another in a kind of sensory collage. Strangely enough, very few details of the playwright’s life are known today.
Major Writers of the Renaissance Period
- Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
- Campion, Thomas (1567-1620)
- Donne, John (1572-1631)
- Jonson, Ben (1572-1637)
- Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
- Marlowe, Christopher (1564-1593)
- Milton, John (1608-1674)
- Spenser, Edmund (1552-1599)
- Sir Philip Sydney (1554-1586)
- Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
- Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder (1503-1542)
- Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618)
- Calvin, John (1509-1564)
- Wroth, Mary (ca. 1587- ca. 1651)
