The Renaissance (1485-1625)

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The Renaissance(1485-1625)

• A Celebration of the Human Spirit in Literature,
  Art, Science, and Music

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The Elizabethan Era

• Sought to revive the learning of Ancient Greece
  and Rome
• Mans efforts were encouraged
• Shakespearean drama thrived
• England became a Protestant nation under Queen
  Elizabeth (not Catholic)
• Poets writers traveled to London due to
  popularity of drama/literature

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Renaissance Drama and Literature

• Shakespeares famous Globe Theater opened in 1599
• Plots of plays emphasized what it meant to be
  human this is called HUMANISM
• English Drama/Plays explored raw human emotions
  conflict vices, sin, corruption, love, power,
  greed lust
• Classical plays focused on virtues and lessons
  learned in the Bible
• Poetry sometimes dealt with PASTORAL themes-
  shepherds, farms, poor workers, etc.

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Globe Theater Today!
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Sonnets

• A Sonnet is a 14 line poem
• Shakespeares sonnets were written in Iambic
  Pentameter (bold are the stressed syllables-
  there are 5)

To be, / or not / to be / that is / the ques- /
-tion
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Iambic Pentameter5 stressed syllables,
followed by 5 unstressed syllables in a measure
EX If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play
on
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Petrarchan Sonnet

• Uses an 8-line octave with an abba/abba rhyme
  scheme
• Followed by a 6-line sestet with cde/cde rhyme
  scheme
• The first 8 lines (octave)typically states a
  problem or conflict
• The last six lines (sestet) usually resolves the
  problem

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Spenserian Sonnet

• Uses a rhyme scheme of
• ab/ab/bc/bc/cd/cd/ee
• Edmund Spenser wrote a sonnet series called
  Amoretti- Italian for little love poems
• He wrote poems for his wife, Elizabeth Boyle
• He wrote a sonnet sequence- so there is a
  common theme, like a story told throughout sonnets