Renaissance

Renaissance

The English Renaissance, lasting from the late 1400s to around 1625 (sometimes later), was a period of huge change for English literature. While influenced by Italian ideas, it developed its own unique style. Several factors drove this cultural boom: a renewed interest in classical learning, called Humanism, which focused on human potential (think of Sir Thomas More); the Protestant Reformation, which caused big debates about religion and led to the influential King James Bible; the printing press, which made books more widely available; a spirit of exploration that broadened people’s horizons; and the support of the Tudor and early Stuart courts, particularly under Elizabeth I and James I, along with the growing city of London.

Poetry flourished during this time, with writers exploring different forms and themes. The sonnet, brought from Italy, was adapted into the English style by poets like Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare. They often wrote about love, beauty, and the passing of time. Spenser also wrote the long epic poem, The Faerie Queene, which celebrated virtue and England. Later, poets like John Donne and George Herbert, called Metaphysical poets, wrote complex poems with unusual metaphors, exploring love, death, and religion.

Drama was the most celebrated achievement of this period, often called the golden age of English theatre. London saw the rise of public playhouses like the Globe, and acting became a professional career. Christopher Marlowe wrote powerful tragedies in blank verse, like Doctor Faustus, about ambition and wrongdoing. William Shakespeare, the most important writer of the time, showed great skill in all kinds of plays: tragedies like Hamlet and King Lear, comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night, and historical plays like Henry V. Other important playwrights included Ben Jonson, who wrote satirical comedies like Volpone and The Alchemist, Thomas Kyd, who wrote The Spanish Tragedy, and John Webster, who wrote The Duchess of Malfi. These writers contributed to various dramatic styles, including revenge tragedy and city comedy.

While poetry and drama were dominant, prose also developed significantly. This included Francis Bacon's influential Essays, the widely read King James Bible, long romantic stories like Sidney's Arcadia, and early attempts at narrative fiction like Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller. Across these genres, writers explored important themes: the nature of love and power, the conflict between order and chaos, the difference between appearance and reality, religious faith and doubt, the development of English national identity, and universal human experiences like ambition and mortality. Ultimately, the English Renaissance had a profound impact on the English language, established lasting literary forms, and produced a body of work, especially Shakespeare's plays, that remains central to world literature and continues to be relevant today.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic play about two young lovers from feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Set in Verona, Italy, the story explores themes of love, hate, fate, and societal conflict. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, meet at a masked ball and instantly fall in love, unaware of their families' bitter rivalry.

Their passionate love leads to a secret marriage, arranged by Friar Laurence, hoping to end the feud. However, a street brawl results in Romeo killing Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, leading to his banishment from Verona. Juliet, forced to marry Paris, seeks Friar Laurence's help, who devises a plan: she will fake her death with a potion, and Romeo will be informed to retrieve her.

Tragedy strikes when the message fails to reach Romeo. Hearing of Juliet's supposed death, he returns to Verona and, believing her dead, drinks poison at her tomb. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead and, heartbroken, takes her own life with his dagger.

The deaths of the young lovers finally bring peace to the warring families, highlighting the destructive nature of their hatred. The play's enduring popularity stems from its powerful portrayal of youthful love, its exploration of universal themes, and Shakespeare's masterful use of language and dramatic tension. It remains a classic example of tragedy, exploring the consequences of impulsive actions and the tragic power of fate.

Activity: Rewrite a scene from Romeo and Juliet in modern English

Objective

Get to grips with Shakespeare's language and themes by rewriting a scene from Romeo and Juliet in modern English.

Instructions

1. Choose a Scene: Pick a short scene (or just a section) from Romeo and Juliet. The full text is here: https://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeo_juliet/full.html

2. Rewrite: Rewrite at least one paragraph of your chosen scene in modern English.

   • Replace old words and sentence structures with today's language.

   • Keep the characters' feelings and the scene's drama. How would they speak today?

   • (Optional) Think about how modern things like phones or social media might fit in.

3. Prepare: Be ready to share your rewrite and explain why you made your choices.

Further reading

Bacon, Francis. The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral. 1625. Edited by Brian Vickers, Oxford World's Classics, 1999.

This collection of concise and insightful essays explores a wide range of topics, from private conduct to public affairs, including truth, death, love, ambition, and studies. Bacon's prose is notable for its aphoristic style and pragmatic wisdom, reflecting the humanist emphasis on worldly knowledge and practical application. The Essays offer a window into the intellectual concerns and moral philosophy of the later Renaissance, advocating for empirical observation and rational thought.

Donne, John. Selected Poems. Circa 1633. Edited by John Carey, Oxford World's Classics, 2008.

Donne, a leading figure among the Metaphysical poets, is celebrated for his intellectually complex and emotionally intense poetry. This selection would typically include examples from his Songs and Sonnets, elegies, and holy sonnets. His work is characterised by its dramatic immediacy, use of 'strong lines', elaborate conceits (extended metaphors), and colloquial language, exploring themes of profane and sacred love, mortality, and religious faith with profound psychological depth.

Greenblatt, Stephen. Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare. University of Chicago Press, 1980.

Greenblatt's influential scholarly work examines the ways in which identity was constructed and perceived during the English Renaissance. He analyses the lives and works of key figures such as Thomas More, Thomas Wyatt, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare, arguing that the period saw the emergence of a new sense of selfhood, consciously shaped and performed. This text is foundational for understanding the cultural and psychological dynamics that influenced Renaissance literature.

The Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version. 1611. Oxford University Press, 2011.

The King James Bible is a monumental achievement of English prose and a work of profound cultural and religious significance. A product of extensive committee translation, it aimed to provide an authoritative English text for the Anglican Church. Its majestic cadences, vivid imagery, and memorable phrasing have deeply influenced English literature, language, and Western culture for centuries, shaping discussions on morality, spirituality, and the human condition.

Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus. Circa 1592. Edited by David Scott Kastan, W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.

This powerful tragedy tells the story of a brilliant scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for limitless knowledge and power. Marlowe's play, written in compelling blank verse, explores themes of ambition, transgression, the nature of good and evil, and the consequences of Renaissance humanism's potentially unchecked pursuit of knowledge. Doctor Faustus remains a seminal work of early English drama, notable for its psychological complexity and dramatic force.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Circa 1600. Edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, The Arden Shakespeare, Third Series, Bloomsbury, 2016.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest tragedies in world literature, Hamlet explores profound questions of grief, revenge, madness, appearance versus reality, and moral corruption in the Danish court. Shakespeare's titular character is renowned for his intellectual depth and introspective soliloquies. The play showcases Shakespeare's mastery of dramatic structure, characterisation, and poetic language, embodying many of the era's anxieties about political order and human nature.

Sidney, Sir Philip. Astrophil and Stella. Circa 1582. Sir Philip Sidney: The Major Works, edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones, Oxford World's Classics, 2009.

This sonnet sequence is one of the earliest and most influential in the English language, charting the speaker Astrophil's unrequited love for Stella. Sidney masterfully adapts the Petrarchan sonnet form, infusing it with wit, emotional complexity, and a conversational tone. The sequence explores themes of desire, poetic ambition, virtue, and the tension between passion and reason, setting a standard for much of the love poetry that followed.

Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene. 1590-1596. Edited by A. C. Hamilton, text edited by Hiroshi Yamashita and Toshiyuki Suzuki, Routledge, 2001.

This vast allegorical epic poem celebrates Protestant virtue and glorifies Queen Elizabeth I through the adventures of various knights representing different virtues (Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, etc.). Spenser created a unique nine-line stanza (the Spenserian stanza) for this work, which is rich in chivalric romance, classical mythology, and political allegory. The Faerie Queene is a foundational text of English poetry, reflecting Renaissance humanism, Christian morality, and burgeoning national identity.