16th Century Renaissance Poetry occurred between these years
1485-1603
Sonnets written in the Sixteenth Century often reflected this aspect
Courtly Love
Courtly love allowed members to do what?
Show admiration for each other, dispute marriage status as marriage was for money and power, not love
Many illicit court romances were fuelled by this practice
Courtly love
When showing admiration for their love, men had to be what?
Discrete to maintain his lady honour. Also, you didn’t want her husband to find out.
Was the notion of the unattainable considered highly valuable?
Yes, it was believed that it built character.
What was one downside to the practice of Courtly Love?
It could lead to a love triangle between the lover, the lady and his jealous husband.
What were the men’s experiences with courtly love?
Generally, the man would fall in love as first sight, would admire her at a distance, be completely devoted to her, be sick with love and was careless about himself.
How were the ladies attitude to their admires?
They were often cruel, cold, distance and hard to please.
What notion does Courtly Love relate to?
Platonic Love
Who put forth the notion of platonic love?
Plato in his Symposium
Platonic Love
Describes love in a purely spiritual sense, free from sensual desire. Idealizing perfect love in Symposium, Plato also, defines what is “good” and that man should strive for that “good” daily.
Who describes the perfect courtier (the ideal Renaissance man) and the perfect lady?
Baldassare Castiglione, in his book, The Book of the Courtier (1528) where he expanded Plato’s ideas further.
Who created the Ladder of Love?
Baldassare Castiglione
Ladder is divided into how many stages?
9 Stages
What are the 9 Stages of The Ladder of Love?
1) Nurturing the proper response to beauty
2) Instruction for purposes of purification
3) The Kiss, the sharing and bonding of souls
4) Sustaining nourishment of beauty
5) Universal qualities of love
6) Heavenly contemplation
7) Universal Understanding
8) Purification
9) Transcendance
2) Instruction for purposes of purification
3) The Kiss, the sharing and bonding of souls
4) Sustaining nourishment of beauty
5) Universal qualities of love
6) Heavenly contemplation
7) Universal Understanding
8) Purification
9) Transcendance
Stage 1:
Nurturing the proper response to beauty
Nurturing the proper response to beauty
Love begins on a sensual level, an appreciation for physical beauty from the man, which the lady responses with her own appreciation of him. This can lead to sex just for the sake of sex, which is hollow and leads down a road of bitterness, distress, and rejection. Love is a holy and provides spiritual nourishment for those governed by reason.
Stage 2: Instruction for purposes of purification
The woman’s responsibility is to remain chaste and avoid impure thoughts. The man’s responsibility is to guide the learning and control the sensual desire so that the two can seek a higher level of communication other than sex.
Stage 3: The Kiss, the sharing and bonding is souls
The kiss is seen as the way of bonding to soul, which is view as a spiritual connection. However, it does not worked reason hasn’t conquer sexual gratification.
Stage 4:
Sustaining nourishment of beauty in the absence of the beloved
Sustaining nourishment of beauty in the absence of the beloved
Love grows stronger while apart and their union of their souls nurtures and sustains the lover
Stage 5:
Universal qualities of love or the spiritual leap
Universal qualities of love or the spiritual leap
As long as he remains faithful, he will gather spiritual happiness by the thought of his beloved.
Stage 6:
Heavenly contemplation
Heavenly contemplation
He begin to see that aspects of her beauty are heavenly and that she seeks a closer spiritual connection with God.
Stages 7:
Universal understanding
Universal understanding
Lover develop a deep understanding with all things without the sensual haze, thus mocking dark and earthly matters.
Stage 8:
Purification
Purification
They see the beauty in all things
Stage 9:
Transcendence
Transcendence
By bending all thoughts to God, true happiness is found as well as shelter from the tempest world. It leads to a state of heavenly grace.
What are the traits of Castiglione’s prefect courtier?
1) Classical education in Greek and Latin
2)Respected friend of all his peers and king/queen
3)Accomplished in sports, telling jokes, fighting, poetry, music, drawing and dancing
4) Reflects traits of personal goodness
5) Familiar with good literature
6) Excels in everything with ease and graces
7) Usually born into a noble family
8) Converses easily with everyone, no matter their status
9) Young, but mentally in his late 20s and portrays a seriousness and thoughtfulness beyond his years
2)Respected friend of all his peers and king/queen
3)Accomplished in sports, telling jokes, fighting, poetry, music, drawing and dancing
4) Reflects traits of personal goodness
5) Familiar with good literature
6) Excels in everything with ease and graces
7) Usually born into a noble family
8) Converses easily with everyone, no matter their status
9) Young, but mentally in his late 20s and portrays a seriousness and thoughtfulness beyond his years
How respected was the English language during the 16th Century
Not very; no one really travelled to England for its language, it was the English that travelled to cities like Venice, Madrid and Paris.
What is one of the most important work of 16th Century literature that was writing in Latin?
Utopia (1515)
Who is the author of Utopia?
Thomas More
When did the English language begin to gain prestige?
At the end of the 16th Century
Who was Henry the 8th spiritual guilder that was beheaded for refusing to convert to the Church of England?
Thomas Moore
What were the influences of the 16th Century language and writing?
1) Consolidation & strength of England with the Tudor dynasty (1485-1603)
2) The Tudor Court
3) No freedom of speech
4) The economy of England
5) In 1476, Willian Caxton ‘a printing press
6) Tudor era saw an interest in an idealized past
7) Renaissance movement originating in Italy spread to England
8) Humanism in England focused on reform & influenced by Moore’s Utopia
9) Humanists struggled with whether they should write their own works in Latin or English
10) Reformation
11) Bloody Mary
12) Elizabeth 1st
13) Mary, Queen of Scots
14) Elizabeth 1st vs. Catholic Spain
15) 16th century London had a diverse population
2) The Tudor Court
3) No freedom of speech
4) The economy of England
5) In 1476, Willian Caxton ‘a printing press
6) Tudor era saw an interest in an idealized past
7) Renaissance movement originating in Italy spread to England
8) Humanism in England focused on reform & influenced by Moore’s Utopia
9) Humanists struggled with whether they should write their own works in Latin or English
10) Reformation
11) Bloody Mary
12) Elizabeth 1st
13) Mary, Queen of Scots
14) Elizabeth 1st vs. Catholic Spain
15) 16th century London had a diverse population
Describe London
Diverse population, wages were 50% higher than anywhere else and at 1/8 of the English population lived in London at some point
Was poetry published once the printing press came about?
No, the tradition of reading poetry out loud was preferable to silent reading
Why was it hard to be a professional writer during the 16th Century?
Being a ‘writer’ was not seen as a professional career and there was copy rights, so work could be easily stolen
What was plays and poetry printed in?
Quartos or Octavos
What are Folios?
Published work that held longer works of poetry or work that had great merit
Who was known as a “Good Queen Bess”
Queen Elizabeth 1st
Was it possible for writers to live a good life?
Yes, a selective few that lived at court.
Was there any freedom for writers and their works?
No, books were censored.
How did writers earn their money?
Through wearily patrons (members at court and wealthy families)
What do Oxford, Cambridge and the city of London have in common?
They affected the literature of that time
Poetry was seen as what?
Musical; explaining why it was often sung.
What was the most important literary criticism of this time?
Defense of Poesy by Sir Philip Sidney. He said that poetry was not only contained magical power but also moral power
Who are five important poets of the 16th Century?
1) Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder (1503-1542)
2) Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547)
3) Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
4) Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
5) Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
2) Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547)
3) Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
4) Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
5) Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
Which poet was alive during 1503-1542?
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder
Sir Thomas Wyatt was the father of what?
The English Sonnet
Who influenced Sir Thomas Wyatt?
Petrarch- Wyatt was a English courier and diplomat in Italy where was exposed to Italian poets
Which poet was imprisoned I. The Tower of London twice and escaped both times?
Thomas Wyatt.
1) Accused of adulatory with Anne Boleyn
2) Accused of treason by his enemies at court
1) Accused of adulatory with Anne Boleyn
2) Accused of treason by his enemies at court
What are common themes in Wyatt’s work?
1) Longing to escape corruption, stress and duplicity at court.
2) Saw man’s love for a woman as bitter, obsessive and disillusioned.
2) Saw man’s love for a woman as bitter, obsessive and disillusioned.
Which poet is considered the master of “poetic self-display” because of his representation of himself as plain-speaking and steadfast?
Wyatt
English sonnet is a variation of what?
The Petrarch sonnet
Wyatt’s book, Songs and Sonnets was published when?
1557, 15 years after his death
Which poet was believed to have been in love with Anne Boleyn?
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Which poems of Wyatt’s did we study in class?
1) “The long love that in my thought doth harbour”
2) “Whose list to hunt”
2) “Whose list to hunt”
What is the sonnet
“The long love that in my heart doth harbour” about?
“The long love that in my heart doth harbour” about?
He is taken over by love, he has become bold and his love is saying ‘get it together man, stop showing everybody that we’re a thing, my husband it starting to notice’ and now he has to hide his love
What is the conceit in “The long love that in my heart doth harbour”?
It is the comparing of love to a warrior
What is “Whoso list to hunt” about?
This man is chasing after this woman and he can’t get her, and he warns that it will be a waste of time for another man to try because she is the property of the king.
What is the conceit of “Whose list to hunt”?
Comparing the woman to a deer that is owned by another.
When did Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, live?
Between the years 1517-1547
Who was Surrey’s close friend?
Wyatt
Who was descended from royalty on both side of his family?
Surrey
Who was the first poet to publish in blank verse?
Surrey
Who took Wyatt’s English sonnet and introduced a new version that Shakespeare would later use?
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
What sonnets of Howard’s did we study?
“Love, that doth reign and live in my thought”
Edmund Spenser birth and death date?
1552-1599
He was best known for his…?
Spenserian Stanza
What is a Spenserian stanza?
8 iambic pentameter lines followed by a ninth of 6 iambic feet
6 iambic feet
6 iambic feet
Characteristics of Edmund Spenser’s writing
Renaissance Neoplatonism, earthy, practical, lover of physical beauty, analyst of good and evil, Puritanism, sensuous images, iconoclastic, idealist, celebrant if English nationalism and empire
Which poet became a English civil servant in Ireland in 1580 and why?
Spenser, he was part of England’s attempt to dominate Ireland
Who was often addressed in the Amoretti sonnet sequence?
Spenser’s wife, Elisabeth Boyle. He depicted the success rather than the failure of love
What’s sonnets of Spenser’s did we study?
Sonnet 34 and Sonnet 54
Sir Philip Sidney: 1554 to ?
1586
Which poet embodied all the traits of a Renaissance man?
Sidney: he was a knight, solider, poet, friend and patron
What was Sir Philip Sidney’s ambition?
He wanted to have influence in court and policy, however he remained a man of letter rather than politics
Who wrote Astrophil and Stella (Starlover and Star)?
Sir Philip Sidney; it was his finest achievement and the first great Elizabethan sonnet cycles
Who are believed to be the inspirations for astrophil and Stella?
Penelope Devereux is believed to be the source of Stella and Philip to be Astrophil. The two were to marry but ended up marrying someone else
Astrophil and Stella represent what?
The trails, setbacks, and suffering of the lover to a typically unresponsive lady
What are Christopher Marlowe’s dates?
1564 -1593
Who was born two month before Shakespeare and he 1st to introduce blank verse to drama?
Marlowe: it is also believed that if he had love long enough, he plays would have rivalled Shakespeare’s
What is considered the turning point of Elizabethan drama?
Marlowe’s ‘Tamburlaine’
Whose poetry contained a dual nature?
Marlowe’s: his work was socially and religiously conventional but they also questioned conventional morality
Who is suggested to have been a spy for Elizabeth the 1st, spying on Catholics who wanted to overthrow the Protestant reign?
Marlowe
What are Francesco Petrarch birth/death dates?
1304-1374
Who was the father of Renaissance?
Petrarch
Who was the first Humanist?
Petrarch
Who was the first modern man?
Petrarch
Who did Petrarch dedicate sonnets to?
Laura; the sonnets are normally known as ‘The Laura Poems’
When is it believed that Petrarch saw Laura?
In church on Good Friday, April 6, 1327
Who is believed is the really identity of Laura?
Laura de Noves who died in 1348
Who was crowned with the poet’s laurel wreath in Rome?
Petrarch
What is Petrarch most known for?
Petrarch sonnet
What is the Petrarch sonnet?
A sonnet in the form an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines) with a rhyme scheme of abba abba cde cde
Who is considered the first poet to use the conceit (extended metaphor)?
Petrarch
What sonnets did we study of Petrarch?
“Alas, That Gentle Look” and “Life Hurries on”
What is “Alas, That Gentle Look” about?
Petrarch is upset over the lost of Laura.
What is the conceit of “Alas, That Gentle Look”?
Her beauty; her face, smile, gentle look are his love
What is “Life Hurries On” about?
A person who is at a point in their where they are reflecting on the life and death and how death is unavoidable
What is the conceit of “Life Hurries On”?
1) comparing life a frantic refugee
2) Compares life to a sea
2) Compares life to a sea
