Download Renaissance literature refers to European literature

Renaissance literature refers to European literature which was
influenced by the intellectual and cultural tendencies of the
Renaissance.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES [ edit ]
Demonstrate understanding of different styles and ideas which influenced Renaissance literature
Evaluate the influence of Dante and Machiavelli on Renaissance Literature
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
The earliest Renaissance literature appeared in 14th century
Italy; Dante, Petrarch and Machiavelli are notable examples of Italian Renaissance writers.
From Italy the influence of the Renaissance spread across Europe, the scholarly writings of
Erasmus and the plays of Shakespeare can be considered Renaissance in character.
Renaissance literature is characterized by the adoption of ahumanist philosophy, the recovery of
the classical literature of Antiquity and benefited from the spread of printing in the latter part of
the 15th century.
Dante, one of the greatest of Italian poets, showed many lyrical tendencies in his writings,
including in his poems where he idealizes love. His Divina Commedia tells of the poet's travels
through the three realms of the dead and is probably Dante's most famous work.
Niccolò Machiavelli was a founder of modern political science, and more specifically political
ethics, best known for his work The Prince.
TERMS [ edit ]
Spenserian stanza
Fixed verse form invented by Edmund Spenser for his epic poem The Faerie Queene. Each stanza
contains nine lines in total, the rhyme scheme of these lines is "ababbcbcc. "
anthropocentric
Belief that human beings are the central or most significant species on the planet, or the
assessment of reality through an exclusively human perspective.
Dante
Major Italian poet of the late Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy is widely considered the greatest
literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.
Machiavelli
(1469 – 1527) Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in
Florence during the Renaissance. Best known for his treatise The Prince.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [ edit ]
The earliest Renaissance literature appeared in 14th century Italy; Dante, Petrarch and
Machiavelli are notable examples of Italian Renaissance writers. From Italy the influence of
the Renaissance spread at different rates to other countries and continued to spread
throughout Europe through the 17th century. The English Renaissance and the Renaissance
in Scotland date from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. In northern Europe the
scholarly writings of Erasmus, the plays of Shakespeare, the poems of Edmund Spenser and
the writings of Sir Philip Sidney may be considered Renaissance in character.
The literature of the Renaissance was written within the general movement of the
Renaissance which arose in 13th century Italy and continued until the 16th century while
being diffused into the western world. It is characterized by the adoption of a humanist
philosophy, the recovery of the classical literature of Antiquity and benefited from the spread
of printing in the latter part of the 15th century. For the writers of the Renaissance Greco­
Roman inspiration was shown both in the themes of their writing and in the literary forms
they used. The world was considered from ananthropocentric perspective. Platonic ideas
were revived and put to the service of Christianity. The search for pleasures of the senses and
a critical and rational spirit completed the ideological panorama of the period. New literary
genres such as the essay and new metrical forms such as the sonnet andSpenserian
stanza made their appearance.
The creation of the printing press (using movable type) by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1450s
encouraged authors to write in their local vernacular rather than in Greek or Latin classical
languages, widening the reading audience and promoting the spread of Renaissance ideas.
The impact of the Renaissance varied across the continent; countries that were
predominantly Catholic or Protestant experienced the Renaissance differently. Areas where
the Orthodox Church was culturally dominant, as well as those areas of Europe under
Islamic rule were more or less outside its influence. The period focused on self­actualization
and one's ability to accept what is going on in one's life.
Dante
Dante, one of the greatest of Italian poets, showed many lyrical tendencies in his writings. In
1293 he wrote La Vita Nuova ("new life" in English, so called to indicate that his first
meeting with Beatrice, his muse, was the beginning of a new life), in which he idealizes love.
It is a collection of poems to which Dante added narration and explication. Everything is
super­sensual, aerial, heavenly, and the real Beatrice is supplanted by an idealized vision of
her, losing her human nature and becoming a representation of the divine. Dante is the main
character of the work, and the narration purports to be autobiographical, though historical
information about Dante's life proves this to be poetic license. Divina Commedia made
Dante immortal, and, to some, raised him above all other men of genius in Italy. It tells of the
poet's travels through the three realms of the dead—Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise—
accompanied by the Latin poet Virgil.
Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist,
and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He was for many years an official in the
Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He was a
founder of modern political science, and more specifically political ethics. He also wrote
comedies, carnival songs, and poetry and his personal correspondence is renowned in the
Italian language. He was Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from
1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his masterpiece, The Prince, after
the Medici had recovered power and he no longer held a position of responsibility in
Florence.
Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito
Posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469­1527).
Legacy
"Machiavellianism" is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of
the sort Machiavelli described in The Prince. The book itself gained enormous notoriety and
wide readership because the author seemed to be endorsing behavior often deemed as evil
and immoral.