English Renaissance

English Renaissance Renaissance means “to be born again” and it refers to the period of cultural changes of the 16th century. In particular, the interest for ancient classical cultures, such as the Latin and the Greek ones, was reborn and that is where the name comes from. The Italian renaissance was a time of political instability but great explosion of individual expression, especially in the Arts. In Europe, it was diluted by the Protestant reform, although in England, Elizabeth hosted intellectual figures at her court. English Renaissance saw an expansion of knowledge in many fields: philosophical, literary, social, scientific and religious, represented by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Italian and English Renaissance The most representative figure of Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci, a young artist who also had knowledge in all fields: he was also an architect and inventor and also reflected on botany, mechanics, physics, maths etc. Machiavelli’s “Il Principe” had an influence over the policies of Elizabethan statesmen; it also stated that sometimes, unethical methods may be necessary for a ruler to obtain his objective.

Renaissance is considered the beginning of modern Age, but it was directed towards the Past and the ideas of civilisations of Romans and Greeks and the freedom of mind which had been suppressed by the Catholic church. The spread of learning was helped by the invention of press by Gutenberg. This allowed to extend literacy not only to the clergy. To sum up, Renaissance contained some medieval elements (e.g. the idea of the influence of stars and planets) but promoted a new idea of MAN AT THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE.

Humanism The human being became the centre of artistic, cultural and moral enquiry and was considered at the centre of the universe. However it also meant that the Western man wanted to impose himself over Africa, Asia and America and destroyed entire populations.

English Renaissance literature The Renaissance writers and poets were the first to feel and explore the chaos and uncertainty of man that was in this period of transition. In the THEATRE there were the most stimulating responses. POETRY was influenced by the sonnets of Petrarch and inclined to a celebration of the Elizabethan order and thus tended to idealisation. In the PROSE, there was nothing like the novel, but it was expressed by literary critique and essay writing.