Renaissance Literature Italian Renaissance Writers begin to use

Renaissance Literature

Italian Renaissance • Writers begin to use Vernacular (common language) as well as Latin • Self-expression • Portray individuality • Revival of the classics – Greece and Rome

Francesco Petrarch • Date: 1304 -1374 • Work: Poet • Description: Father of Renaissance Humanism – Wrote sonnets in Italian and Latin

Giovanni Boccaccio • Date: 1348 • Work: Decameron • Description: Realistic off-color stories about people avoiding the plague – Presents both tragic and comic views (drama)

Baldassare Castiglione • Date: 1528 • Work: The Courtier • Description: True Renaissance Man – Taught how a young man should behave – “How to book” for being a ladies man

Vittoria Colonna • Date: 1492 -1547 • Work: Poetry/ Helped write The Courtier • Description: Female poet married to a noble at war – Wrote poetry and sonnets – Expressed emotions

Northern Renaissance • Examined traditional teachings of the Church • Critical of the Christian Church • Wanted to reform society • Promoted education (including women)

Desiderius Erasmus • Date: 1509 • Work: The Praise and Folly • Description: Christian Humanist (Holland) – Poked fun at greedy merchants, heartsick lovers, etc. – Believed, to improve society people should read the Bible

Thomas More • Date: 1516 • Work: Utopia • Description: Book about an imaginary land where greed, corruption, and war have been eliminated – Wrote in Latin and translated into vernacular languages

Christine de Pizan • Date: 1364 -1430 • Work: The Book of the City of Ladies • Description: Female author, educated in French – Questioned different treatment of boys and girls – Goal to educate both sexes

William Shakespeare • Date: 1592 • Works: Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, and many more • Description: London, Globe Theatre – Revived the classics – Revealed souls of men and women through dramatic conflict – Examined human character flaws

Tragedies Comedies Antony and Cleopatra All's Well That Ends Well Hamlet Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Othello Romeo and Juliet As You Like It Merchant of Venice A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado about Nothing The Taming of the Shrew Histories Henry VIII The Tempest