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1、 Lecture 3 An Age of Renaissance An Overview of Renaissance The aspects of the Renaissance Background and Writers of The English Renaissance How Renaissance occurred in Europe? In 1453, the Turks seized Constantinople which had been the center of Mediterranean civilization for a thousand years. When
2、 Constantinople fell to the hands of the Turks, many of its Greek teachers fled with their libraries to Italy and taught in Italian universities. The Renaissance (rebirth“ in French) was a cultural and intellectural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through the 17 century, beginning in Italy an
3、d later spreading to the rest of Europe. Thus, in the late 14th and 15th centuries, scholars in western European countries had a keen interest in the Greek and Latin culture. The art and science of ancient Greece and Rome were being born again after long years of neglect. This intellectual and liter
4、ary movement is called Renaissance, a French word which means “rebirth” in English. This movement began in Italy, and later spread to France, Spain, the Netherlands, and England. Renaissance is considered as the great flowering of art, architecture, politics, and the study of literature, and is also
5、 usually seen as the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern world. The emphasis of the Renaissance is humanism. Renaissance Humanism is the spirit of learning that developed at the end of the middle ages with the revival of classical letters and a renewed confidence in the ability of
6、 human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood. Humanism: The ideal of Renaissance is humanism, which emphasized the welfare of human beings. According to humanist scholars, it was against human nature to sacrifice the happiness of this life for an after life. They argued that man sho
7、uld be given full freedom to enrich their intellectual and emotional life. In religion they demanded the reformation of the church. In art and literature, instead of singing praise to God, they sang in praise of man and of the pursuit of happiness in this life. Humanism shattered the shackles of spi
8、ritual bondage of mans mind by the Roman Catholic Church and opened his eyes to “a brave new world” in front of him. To some English Renaissance, humanism did not mean that there was nothing to do with God. To Edmund Spenser, for instance, God is the first principle, and all human actions and behavi
9、ours should not be contradictory to the divine laws of God. That is, the natural grace should not contradict with the divine grace.The features of the Renaissance1 thirsty curiosity for the classical learning in Greek and Latin authors2 keen interest in the activities of humanityPainting Tribute Mon
10、ey Masaccio 1426-27 Fresco, 255 x 598 cm Sandro Botticelli 桑德罗波提且利 1478 La PrimaveraLeonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) The Last Supper 1483Virgin Mary with Christ-child on her knee. The child is dressed in gold, his right hand held out in blessing. In his left hand he holds a scroll. On the left and righ
11、t were Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene. .Raphael Sanzio 1506 Raphaels Madonna with Christ and St. John the BaptistSculpture and Architecture Filippo Brunelleschi 1419-1426 Foundling HospitalMichelangelo (1475-1564) David 1501-1504PoliticsNiccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)The Prince The exerc
12、ise of state power without the intervention of the church In 1534, English King Henry VIII declared the break with the PopEducation and EthicsThe nature of man is a divine capacity, but it needs nurture to develop its highest potentialities Erasmus: “ men are not born, they are made.”Italian Guazzo:
13、 “ nature always tendeth to the best, so that of good parents, ought naturally to come good children.”The model man: a man, by virture of his moral and intellectual excellencee, to be a good citizen or “governor” ReligionIn 1517, Martin Luther(1483-1546) tacked a parchment on the door of the collegi
14、ate church of Wittenberg, attacking Roman Catholic doctrine of indulgences, thus, pushing the waves of reformation As a result of the translation of the Bible into the vernacular language, the reading and study of Bible not only put emphasis on individuals and their religious rights, but also produc
15、ed inevitable concern for increased literacy.Science and technologyPrinting helped the circulation of classical and reading materials Geographical exploration Compass, astrolabe, together with the discovery of Latin translation of the astronomical and geographical works of Ptolemy helped better maps
16、 and other navigational aidsAstrological discoveries SummaryIn a age of the Renaissance, theology was losing its control over philosophy, the arts, and political and historical thinking Consciousness of individuality is most graphically displayed in literature and the fine arts.The Historical Backgr
17、ound of English RenaissanceGenerally speaking, the 16th century in England witnessed the establishment of an absolute monarchy, which inspired English peoples wishes for a peaceful and powerful country. The rising middle class supported the monarchy, which weakened feudal relations and paved the way
18、 for the development of capitalism. The national strengthening of England experienced the following stages: The civil wars, such as the War of the Roses (1455-1458), killed off large numbers of feudal noblemen in England, and weakened the feudal power. So it became easier for Henry VII (1485-1509) a
19、nd Henry VIII (1509-1547) to centralize political power and lay the foundations for a strong monarchy. The land-enclosure movement: the land of some feudal lords was confiscated, the land of peasants enclosed. Peasants lost their land and became factory labor. This movement urbanized, even began to
20、industrialize England, and also strengthened national power. Protestantism: Henry VIII broke off with the Roman Pope, dissolved all the monasteries and abbeys in the country, confiscated their lands and proclaimed himself head of the Church of England. The Writers of the English RenaissanceThe key l
21、iterary figures in the English Renaissance are now generally considered to be the poet Edmund Spenser; the philosopher Francis Bacon; the poets and playwrights Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson; and the poet John Milton. Sir Thomas More is often considered one of the earliest w
22、riters of the English Renaissance English literature of the Renaissance falls into three stages:1. The first stage stretched from the introduction of the first printing press in England by William Caxton in 1476 to Elizabeths coming to the crown. Distinguished writers are:1) Thomas More (1478-1535),
23、 whose masterpiece is Utopia (first in Latin, and then translated into English in 1551).2) Court Poetry:Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547) are often mentioned together as an outstanding landmark in the historical development of English poetry, and their antholo
24、gy of poetry Tottels Miscellany (1557) seemed to usher in a new period of great lyrical poetry in England in the second half of the 16th century. Thomas Wyatts two contributions to English literature consist in his brilliant lyrics on the theme of love and in his introduction of the Italian sonnet f
25、orm into English poetry. Surrey first employed the blank verse or the unrhymed iambic pentameter in his translation from Latin of the second and fourth books of Virgils Aeneid, and blank verse later became a very popular vehicle for poetry through the centuries. So, Surreys contributions to English
26、literature consist chiefly in writing some of the earliest love lyrics in Petrarchan fashion and in introducing two new verse forms into English poetry, the English sonnet form and the blank verse.The second stage refers to the “Elizabeth Age” (1558-1603):1) PoetryEdmund Spenser (1552-1599): The She
27、pherds Calendar (1578, consisting of 12 eclogues, one for each month of the year), Amoretti, Epithalamion, Four Hymns, The Faerie Queene (a romance epic).2) DramaUniversity Wits: group of Elizabethan playwrights and pamphleteers from the two universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The University Wits
28、include John Lyly (?1554-1606), George Peele (1558-1598), Thomas Lodge (1558-1625), Robert Greene (1558-1592), Thomas Nashe (1567-1601), Thomas Kid (1558-1594), and Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593). Among them Marlowe is no doubt the most established, and his major works include Hero and Leander (a l
29、ong but unfinished narrative poem), Tamburlaine the Great, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, and The Jew of Malta.The last stage Ben Jonson (1573-1673): the first poet-laureate in 1616, and his genius was at its best in the field of comedy. Volpone, or the Fox (1605) was his masterpiece, and he was also famous for his theory of “comedy of humour” embodied in Every Man in His Humour (1598) and Every Man Out of His Humour (1599).William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Metaphysical Poets
