Literature

Renaissance literally means rebirth.

• It refers to the part of European literature which is influenced by the intellectual and cultural tendencies associated with the Renaissance.

• The earliest Renaissance literature appeared in Italy in the 14th century.

The Renaissance in Europe was in sense an awakening from the long slumber of the Dark Ages.

• The 14th through the 16th century in Europe witnessed a deliberate break with feudal modes of living.

• Aristocratic landowners lost their hegemony over the lower classes, as opportunities for growth and enrichment beckoned from the swelling urban centers.

• Intellectuals adopted a line of thought known as “ humanism” in which mankind was believed capable of earthly perfection beyond what had ever been imagined before.

• The specter of the Dark Ages and the Black death were still very fresh in people’s minds and the promise of moving forward and away from such horrors was wholeheartedly welcome.

• The creation of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg encouraged authors to write in the local vernacular rather than in Greek or Latin languages widening the reading audience and promoting the spread of Renaissance ideas.

• Every nation in western Europe experienced its own incarnation of the Renaissance.

• In different nations even different cities within the same nation, the manifestations of Renaissance art and thought was unique.

The dominant forms of English literature during this time were the poem and the drama.

• Engl ish poetry of the period was ostentatious, repetitious, and often betrayed a subtle wit.