The Renaissance 1500 1660 Renaissance Mindset THE RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance 1500 -1660

Renaissance Mindset � THE RENAISSANCE WAS AN AGE OF INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITIES, LIBERATED FROM THE POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS OF HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR AND POPE, FREE TO UNDERSTAND EXPRESS THEMSELVES FOR GOOD OR EVIL. � MOTTO: “MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS. ” � Renaissance - rebirth (L. root “nas / nat” – birth; prefix “re” – again)

Human Horizons Widened �Revival of scholarship based on works of Aristotle and Plato �Queen Elizabeth established some free schools �Belief that 400 A. D. – 1500 A. D. had been a “dark night” of ignorance

Humanism �VIEW OF WORLD WITH HUMAN KIND AT CENTER ; CONCERNED WITH HUMAN INTERESTS / VALUES �GOALS: PERFECTION OF INDIVIDUAL HUMAN CHARACTER AND REFORM OF PUBLIC EVILS IN CHURCH AND STATE

Advances in Science & Geography � SCIENCE *COPERNICUS (POLAND) -heliocentric � *GALILEO (ITALY) � GEOGRAPHY � SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (ENGLAND) � HERNANDO CORTES (SPAIN) � BALBOA (SPAIN) � FOUNDING OF NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES �

Protestant Reformation �RELIGIOUS REFORM � *MARTIN LUTHER’S NINETY-FIVE THESES � *HENRY VIII’S BREAK WITH CHURCH � *THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER WIDELY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH � *THE KING JAMES BIBLE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH (IAMBIC PENTAMETER)

CULTURAL CHANGES �CULTURE *END OF FEUDALISM � *EMERGENCE OF URBAN CULTURE � AND CAPITALIST ECONOMY � *EMERGENCE OF PROSPEROUS MIDDLE CLASS � * GROWTH OF LAY, NOT CLERICAL, CULTURE �

SOCIAL CHANGES �PRIZED MORAL / INTELLECTUAL NOBILITY OVER BIRTHRIGHT �SOCIAL CLASSES LESS RIGID; A MAN OF NATURAL TALENT COULD RISE TO THE TOP OF SOCIAL LADDER

Changes in Attitude �LIFE NO LONGER SEEN AS A “JOURNEY THROUGH A VALE OF TEARS, ” BUT AS A BEAUTIFUL, EXCITING END-INITSELF RENAISSANCE ART REFLECTS THIS NEW OPTIMISM ABOUT HUMAN LIFE

ELIZABETHAN AGE � TUDORS AND STUARTS RULED � ELIZABETH, A TUDOR, RULED 45 YEARS. SINCE SHE NEVER MARRIED, ELIZABETH WAS SOMETIMES CALLED “THE VIRGIN QUEEN. ” SHE CAME TO THE THRONE AT AGE 18. � THE RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND IS KNOWN AS THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.

RENAISSANCE LITERATURE � LITERATURE SHOULD BE STUDIED FOR ITS OWN SAKE AS WELL AS IN INTEREST OF � HUMAN VIRTUE � *THE SONNET - a fourteen line poem with a fixed pattern of rhyme and meter (Shakespearean, Petrarchan, and Spenserian) � * THE ESSAY, LOVE POETRY, DRAMA � *ONE FORM: BLANK VERSE (UNRHYMED � IAMBIC PENTAMETER)

Poetry and Drama �CAVALIER POETS--LOYAL TO CHARLES I; wrote about love and patriotism �*METAPHYSICAL POETS (JOHN DONNE) � POETRY CHARACTERIZED BY HIGH INTELLECTUALISM, EVEN IN LOVE POETRY; AND CONCEITS �*REDISCOVERY OF ARISTOTLE’S POETICS INFLUENCED DRAMA.

The Renaissance Man COURTIER PATRIOT, SOLDIER, SCHOLAR, POET � EDUCATED IN CLASSICAL / MODERN LANG. � SIGNS OF “MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL NOBILITY: ” RHETORICAL ELOQUENCE, REFINED DICTION, URBANE WIT, RECTITUDE OF CONDUCT STILL DEVOUTLY RELIGIOUS BUT ENGAGED IN WORLDLY PURSUITS IN LOVE WITH LIFE -- CARPE DIEM MOTIF

Themes for Hamlet � HUMANS FIND EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS NECESSARY. � A HIGHER BEING OFTEN AIDS MAN IN HIS RIGHTEOUS BATTLES. � NOTHING IS AS PAINFUL TO THE HUMAN HEART AS INSENSITIVITY OR BETRAYAL ON THE PART OF A LOVED AND TRUSTED PERSON. � LIFE IS FULL OF OBLIGATIONS AND TRIALS. � HONOR CAN HELP ONE TO DO GOOD.

THEMES FOR POETRY � PAIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH UNREQUITED LOVE. � LIFE AND BEAUTY ARE TRANSITORY. � TIME INEXORABLY ERODES ALL THINGS MORTAL AND MATERIAL, BUT ART AND LOVE ARE ETERNAL. � IN PERIODS OF DESPAIR AND SORROW, THE THOUGHTS OF THOSE ONE LOVES ARE A SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND SUSTENANCE. � HONOR CAN HELP ONE TO DO GOOD

THEMES FOR POETRY � RECOGNITION OF A LOVED ONE’S MORTALITY STRENGTHENS LOVE FOR THAT PERSON. � LOVE CAN BE STRONG, STEADFAST, AND CONSTANT. � MANKIND NEEDS A HUMAN LISTENER. DEATH IS OFTEN SEEN AS GIVING REST. � LIFE IS FULL OF OBLIGATIONS AND TRIALS.