Elizabethan Renaissance

Marlowe

Born in Canterbury
Attended Cambridge on ministry scholarship, but never entered ministry
Most famous for plays; most recognized playwright of late 1580s before Shakespeare’s talents fully realized

Canterbury

Marlowe was born in ______________

spying, brawling

Marlowe notorious for __________ and ____________

Marlowe, inn

____________ stabbed to death at an __________ (some said over bill; others insist it’s related to involvement in undercover political intrigue)

verse

Marlowe also had wonderful gift for ___________

Pastoral

a type of poem that deals with shepherds and rustic life in an idealized way

Pastoral poetry

_________ was considered the humblest kind of poetry, written in the lowest style

Eye rhyme

the appearance and close proximity of two words which, because of their similar spellings, look alike but when pronounced do not sound alike (e.g. love, prove)

Spenser

Often referred to as “the poet’s poet”
Generally acknowledged to be the greatest non-dramatic poet of Elizabethan Age

the poet’s poet

Spenser is referred to as _________

Spenser

Attended Cambridge University
Held services of positions in service to prominent English noblemen
Close friends with Sidney
Served as “Lord Deputy” in Ireland and ended days there

The Faerie Queen

Spenser’s greatest achievement was _____________ published in 1590

Irish rebels

Spenser had to return to England shortly before his death because of ____________

Lyric poem

a poem, usually a short one, that expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts or feelings

Alliteration

the repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words

Initial alliteration

occurs at the beginning of words (ex. Sally sold shells)

Internal/hidden alliteration

occurs within words, usually on stressed syllables (ex. But came the waves and washed it away.)

Bacon

Key figure in transition from intellectual world of late Middle Ages to modern Europe
Prophet of new century; characterized by growing scientific spirit

Bacon

Member of parliament; served as royal counsel under Elizabeth
Later in career, he was brought before House of Lords in charges of bribery and retired to private life

Scholar, scientist, writer, philosopher

Professions of Bacon

Essays, essayist

Bacon published _________ in 1597 and became England’s first ___________

Bacon

Greatly concerned with humans’ understanding of themselves and world

classical scholar

Bacon wrote in tradition of ____________; formal style

Latin

Bacon wrote mostly in what language?

Bacon

Powerful, direct, & compact; lots of quotes, metaphors, & allusions

Aphorism

a concise, pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life

1609, 1590

Shakespeare published in _____, but probably written around _______

154

Shakespeare has _________ total sonnets in sequence; suggest an elusive and mysterious “story” involving a young man, dark lady, and a rival poet

First 126 of Shakepeare’s Sonnets

Addressed mainly to a young man of greaty beauty and promise
Speaker addresses/expresses his affection and admiration for the young man and urges him to marry and perpetuate his virtues through children
Warns the young man about destructive power of time, age, and moral weakness

Shakepeare Sonnets 78-86

Concerned with a rival poet who has also addressed peoms to the young man

Shakepeare Sonnets 127-154

Addresses to the “dark lady”; a lady with dark hair, eyes, and complexion
Both the speaker and young man seem to be involved with her romantically

young man, woman

Shakespeares sonnets were different from his contemporaties because they had the idealization of ________ (rather than a _______) as object of praise, love, and devotion

promiscuous, dark

His sonnets were also different beauty he wrote of _________ and ___________ women

Petrarchan

Shakespeare wrote about a woman who was not a despairing as ___________ lover; includes an array of emotions such as delight, pride, melancholy, shame, disgust, fear, etc.

Sydney

Embodiment of ideal Renaissance man and courtier
Came from prominent aristocratic family
Started at Oxford and completed education by traveling around Europe; saw many literary and aristic developments in Italy, France, etc.

Sydney

Assumed role of courtier, diplomat, and a man of beliefs
Deep political and religious interests (died fighting for Dutch Protestants against Spanish)

Sydney

Discussing/writing poetry was private and informal, not professional

The Defense of Poesy

Finest piece of Elizabethan literary criticism
Provoked by an extremist Puritan attack against poetry and plays
Addresses itself to the universal values of imaginative literature
Greatly exalts role of the poet and moral value of poetry
Intended to establish the high nobility and great social and moral value of poetry

Astrophel and Stella

First fully developed sonnet sequence in ENGLISH

Sonnet sequences of Petrarch

What was Astrophel and Stella modeled on?

Astrophel and Stella

Series of 108 Sonnets (reflect autobiographical love for Penelope Devereux who married older and wealthier Lord Rich)

starlover

Astrophel means

star

Stella means

Conceit

a kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things; may be a brief metaphor; usually provides framework for an entire poem

Apostrophe

a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman is addressed directly

Sir Thomas More

One of the most versatile and enigmatic figures of the English Renaissance
Became well known humanist
Torn between active role in public affairs and monastic devotion

Sir Thomas More

Visible public figure under Henry VIII; named Lord Councillor (highest office under crown)
Resigned when Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn & divorced Catherine

Sir Thomas More

Would not accept Act of Supremacy; tried and executed
Felt he was dying for faith of Catholic Church
Canonized as a saint

Utopia

Published in1516
Written and published in Latin
Description of imagined society
Set up as a dialogue between a character named More and a returned traveler named Raphael Hythloday
Debater over whether scholar should participate in government or should be confined to an Ivory Tower

Sir Walter Raleigh

Founder of VA; responsible for introducing tobacco to Europe
Solider, explorer, colonizer, courtier, poet, philospher, historian

Sir Walter Raleigh

Favorite of Queen Elizabeth in 1580’s until secret marriage
Secretly married one of Elizabeth’s maids of honor; was imprisoned in Tower of London
James I was convinced he was part of plot to bar James succession to throne; imprisoned & executed

Anti-pastoral

realistic tone used in poetry that shatters the idealism of pastoral life

Allusion

a reference to a person, place, event, or literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to; may be drawn from history, mythology, literature, geography, religion

Iambic Pentameter

a poetic line consisting of five verse feet, with each foot an iamb (unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable U/ )

Sonnet

fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter, generally expresses a single theme or idea

Italy, 13th century

Where and when did sonnets originate?

14th century

Petrarch produced most important group of sonnets in European lit; remained dominant influence in

Italian or Petrarch Sonnet

*has a rhyme scheme which divides the poem into an octave (first 8 lines) and sestet (last 6 lines)
*octave rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA
*sestet rhyme scheme is CDE CDE or CD CD CD
*shift from the octave to sestet is called the Volta (point of dramatic change)
*usually NEVER ends in a rhymed couplet

ENGLISH or SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET

* lines are organized into 3 groups of alternating rhymes plus a final couplet
*four line groups are called quatrains
*rhyme scheme is usually ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

SPENSERIAN SONNET

*complicated interlocking rhyme scheme broken into 3 quatrains and a rhymed couplet
* rhyme scheme is ABAB BCBC CDCD
EE

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