The English Renaissance

1
The English Renaissance
1485-1660
2
Renaissance

• rebirth return to the focus of classical
  Greece and Rome on the value of man as the
  measure of all things, as opposed to the medieval
  view of man as the root of all evil.

3
Key changes from Medieval Period

• Focus on Human Potential less about the
  religious afterlife and more about mans life on
  earth

Focus on becoming a Renaissance Man arts,
literature, nature, athleticism (todays
well-rounded individual)
4
Humanism

• Renaissance period challenge of the medieval
  world view

What a piece of work is man! how noble in
reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and
moving how express and admirable! In action how
like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!
the beauty of the world! the paragon of
animals! (Hamlet II.ii.312-316)
5
A Brief History

• Begins with the end of the War of the Roses
  Henry VII (Tudor) becomes King
• Important event Protestant Reformation
  (discontent with church abuses, growing
  nationalism that wants to separate from Rome,
  head of Roman Catholic Church) Martin Luthers 95
  Theses
• Henry VIII founds Church of England (Anglican
  Church) Divine Right of King

6
Elizabethan Era

• Queen Elizabeth I highly successful, never
  married (to her advantage)
• Writers of the time William Shakespeare,
  Christopher Marlowe, John Donne, QEI wrote poetry
• Theater hugely popular and successful
• Poetry very competitive

7
The End of an Era

• 1611 King James Bible (translated and published
  under auspices of King James) Biblical
  references vie with Shakespearean lines as
  quotable quotes
• General Oliver Cromwell defeats King Charles is
  named lord protector for life
• Renaissance ends in Restoration when Charles II
  is re-instated as King.

8
Literary Terms

• Pastorals - rural, poetry about shepherds
  lives in idealized country settings
• Rhyme scheme pattern of rhyming sounds at the
  ends of lines of poetry
• Meter - measured rhythm of a verse
• Lyric poetry rhymed poetry intended to be sung

9
More Literary Terms

• Sonnets 14 lines, set meter and rhyme scheme
• Petrarchan - Italian sonnet (named after the poet
  himself), octave (8 lines) abbaabba, sestet (6
  lines) cdcdcd or cdecde
• Shakespearean - English sonnet (named after
  you-know-who), 3 quatrains (4 lines each) abab,
  rhymed couplet

10
The history of the English Language

• http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_age
  s_english.shtml
• Tonight for homework explore this website,
  including Acts 5, 6, and 7. Then complete the
  questions on the notes packet.