Download Thomas More

Part Ⅳ
English Literature in the
Renaissance Period
(15C-----17C)
Renaissance
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Brief Introduction
Essence and Features
Renaissance and Humanism
Humanism
Background of English Renaissance
Renaissance in England
The Main Artistic Styles
Brief Introduction
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Renaissance in European history, refers to the
period between 14th century to 17th century. It
started in Italy and ended in England and Spain.
“Renaissance” means “revival”, the revival of
interest in Ancient Greek and Roman culture and
getting rid of conservatism in feudalist Europe and
introducing new ideas that express the interests of
the rising bourgeoisie.
Brief Introduction
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There arose an interest in the manuscripts surviving from ancient
Greece and Rome. Classical learning and philosophy were
enthusiastically studied.
The intellectual wisdom of ancient Greece and Rome
encouraged a rebirth of human spirit，a realization of human
potential for development and creation．
Never before in human history were men and women so eager to
create and discover something new．In Italy a group of artists，
scientists，politicians，and writers created the most brilliant
page of culture and science in Renaissance Europe．
Examples:
① Copernicus (哥白尼) asserted that the earth was not
the center of the universe；
② The passionate Petrarch produced sonnets that
influenced Shakespeare and many others；
③ Boccaccio(卜伽邱) wrote tales of eternal charm: The
Decameron；
④ Marco Polo (马可波罗) made journeys into the
remote kingdom of China；
⑤ Michelangelo（米开朗琪罗），Leonardo da Vinci
(达芬奇)，Raphael (拉斐尔)，and Titian (提香) created
paintings and sculptures that are invaluable treasures
of the world．
《最后的晚餐》
1495 - 1497年
（意大利）
达 · 芬奇画
米兰圣玛利亚·格拉契修道院藏
拉斐尔:(1483-1520)意大利文艺复兴时期
最伟大的画家之一，代表了文艺复兴时期艺
术家从事理想美的事业所能达到的最高峰。
·
雕一 米
刻位 开
家多 朗
、才 基
画多 罗
家艺
、的 博
建博 那
筑学 罗
家的 蒂
、艺
诗术
人大
于师
一。
身他
集是
(1475-1564)
Essence and Features
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Essence: It is the reflection of the rise of the
bourgeoisie in the sphere of cultural life
(humanism).
Features:
① A thirsting curiosity for the classical
literature.
② The keen interest in the activities of
humanity.
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Feature1: a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature.
There rose a current of the study of Greek and Latin authors, in doing
which people caught something in spirit very different from the medieval
Catholic dogma. The love of classics was but an expression of the
general dissatisfaction at the Catholic and feudal ideas.
Feature2: a keen interest in the activities of humanity.
People didn’t think they should live only for God. Thinkers, artists and
poets arose to admire human beauty and human achievement, which
ran in odd with theology. Hense arose the thought of
Humanism.Humanism is the key note of the Renaissance.
Humanists held that Man could mould the world according to his
desires, and attain happiness by the exercise of reason.
Renaissance and Humanism

The term originally indicated a revival of classical
arts and science after the dark ages of medieval
obscurantism
. Indeed, a great number of the
works of classical authors were translated into
English during the 16th century.
The progressive thinkers of the humanists held
their chief interest not in ecclesiastical
knowledge,
but in man, his environment and doings and
bravely fought for the emancipation of man from
the tyranny
of the church and religious dogmas .
（蒙昧主义）

（教会）
（暴政）
（教条）
Humanism
Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It
sprang from the endeavor to restore a reverence for
the Greek and Roman civilization based on the
conception that man is the measure of all things.
Contrary to the subordination of individuals to the feudal
rules and the sacrifice of earthly life for a future life in
the medieval society, Renaissance humanists found in
the classics a justification to exalt human nature
and came to see that human beings were glorious
creatures capable of individual development for
perfection.
（赞美）
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By emphasizing the dignity of human beings
and the importance of the present life, they
voiced their beliefs that man did not only
have the right to enjoy life, but had the
ability to perfect himself and to perform
wonders.
Background of English Renaissance
1. The Hundred Years war & the War of Roses
2. Religious Reformation
3. The English Bible
4. The Economic Development
The Hundred Years War & the War of Roses
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(1) The eve of English Renaissance: a history of
turmoil
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1337-1453: the Hundred Years’ War ( btw England &
France )
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1455-1485: the Wars of the Roses ( btw Lancaster &
York)( their badges are roses)
The Wars of the Roses (1453–1487) were a
series of dynastic civil wars fought in England
between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster
and York.
The Wars of the Roses ended with Henry VII’s establishment of
the Tudor Dynasty that would rule England from 1485 to 1603.
The Religious Reformation
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1485-1509: Henry VII founded Tudor Dynasty,
a centralized monarchy which met the needs
of the rising bourgeoisie.
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1509-1547: Henry VIII the Reformation
(religious guise, political essence) which
broke with Rome,  new dogma known as
Protestantism.
It is a political movement under the cloak of
religion.
Henry VIII
Henry prided himself on his
education and his patronage
of humanist scholars such
as Sir Thomas More, but
his increasingly despotic
behavior left a more
enduring image. He is most
famous for founding the
Church of England and for
having six wives, two of
whom he had beheaded.
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1553-1558: Queen Mary – Counter-Reformation
– hundreds of Protestants got burned as heretics.
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1558-1603: Queen Elizabeth ended the bloody
religious persecution. She made such reforms as
more compatible with the monarchy and as
would be accepted by as many people as
possible, while she avoided the more
uncompromising and democratic forms of
Protestantism.
The English Bible
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Latin Bible, used by Catholic churches.
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Translation to English, during struggle between
Protestantism and Catholicism, the 1st complete English
Bible,
trs.
By
John
Wycliffe(1324?-1384)

In 1611, the King James Bible, authorized version,
spreading fast, the Authorized English Bible has rooted
into the English language, English literature and English
life. With the widespread of influence of the English Bible,
the standard modern English has been fixed and
confirmed.
The Economic Development
3. the economic development:
• (1) the Enclosure Movement(15th century) seize
land
• (2) the commercial Expansion(16th century)
establish colonies [ in 1588, rout of the Spanish
fleet Armadathe English bourgeoisie took the
place of feudalism.
• (3) the Industrial Revolution(17Th century)
Armada
Renaissance in England
 The time: mainly from the reign of Henry VIII, Edward,
Mary and then to Queen Elizabeth and Jacobean Era
 a. Beginning: the last years of the 15-th century---first
half of the 16-th century
 b. Flourishing: the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)
 c. Declining: the period of James I (1603-1625) early
17-th century
The flowering of English literature
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The second half of the 16th century, “a nest
of singing birds”
The early period: imitation and assimilation,
translated works, poetry and poetic drama
were the most outstanding literary forms.
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Sonnet: an exact form of poetry in 14 lines of
iambic pentameter intricately rhymed.
Blank verse: iambic pentameter unrhymed
The flourishing of literature
The 1st half of 16th century, the English Renaissance developing
into flourishing literature.
 translation
important: “Lives of Greek and Roman
Heroes”( Julius Caesar); “Iliad”; “ Odyssey”.
 Works of history  Shakespeare’s historical plays
 Books of discoveries and adventures
 Poetry: England then became “a nest of singing birds”.
 Drama: the greatest and most distinctive achievement of
Elizabethan literature
 Prose
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The latter period:
Drama— the real mainstream of the English
Renaissance
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“university wits”: Lyly, Peele, Marlowe, Greene, Lodge and
Nash who entered the dramatic circle between the years
1587-93. they were all of humble birth and struggled for a
livelihood by writing. Through hard work, they revised old
plays and wrote new ones. They made rapid progress in
dramatic techniques because they had close contact with the
actors and audiences. They were looked down upon by the
gentlemen and suspected by the government. It was their
industrious work that furnished the Elizabethan stage.
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
The Main Artistic Styles
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translation: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Homer’s
Iliad, Montaigne’s Essays
travel books: More’s Utopia
poetry: Edmund Spenser
drama: “University Wits”, Marlowe,
Shakespeare
essay: Francis Bacon
The three great representative
achievements in literature
•
1. Edmund Spencer’s The Shepherd’s
Calendar and Faerie Queen
•
2. Francis Bacon’s Essays
•
3. William Shakespeare’s dramas
Engels on the Renaissance
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1. Renaissance was the greatest progressive
revolution.
2. It had produced giants in power of thought,
passion and character in universality(广泛性)
and learning.
3. The fullness and force of character that
makes the giants the complete men.
—— Dialectics of Nature《自然辩证法》
Thomas More (1478-1535)
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
William Shakespeare（1564-1616）
Ben Johnon (1572-1637)
Thomas More(1478-1535)
He was born in a middleclass family. his father was a
prominent lawyer, and later a
judge. A scholar by nature, he
became a lawyer. Quite early
he was elected to Parliament
and he acted as the spokesman
of London merchants who were
one of the principal stays of
the Tudor monarchy.
Thomas More

Sir Thomas More was known for his intelligence
and devotion to the Catholic church. That devotion
put him at odds with his one-time friend, King
Henry VIII, who had More beheaded for refusing to
sanction, as lord chancellor, Henry’s divorce from
Catherine of Aragón.
Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most influential
books in the Western philosophical and literary
tradition and one of the supreme achievements of
Renaissance humanism.
More humanism. More coined the word ‘utopia’ (from
the Greek: ‘no place’), and his complexly ironic
account of an imaginary communist society not only
has given rise to the genre of utopian fiction but
has been an inspiration to generations of political
reformers.

More is best known for Utopia (1516), a satirical
account of life on the fictitious island of Utopia.
On this island the interests of the individual are
subordinate to those of society at large, all
people must do some work, universal education
and religious toleration are practiced, and all land
is owned in common. These conditions are
contrasted with those of English society, to the
substantial disadvantage of the latter. Utopia was
the forerunner of a series of similar books.
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More's Utopia 《乌托邦》
1. More's masterpiece.
2. written in the form of a conversation
between a returned and experienced voyager,
Hythloday, and More himself.
Two parts:
Utopia, Book One; Utopia, Book Two.
Utopia, Book One
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What are the social conditions of England
1) A picture of contemporary England:
The poverty among the poor;
The greed and luxury among the rich;
The eagerness for war of the rulers.
2) An exposure of the evil reality of his time,
the rich men's conspiracy(阴谋) against the
poor:
Utopia, Book Two, an ideal society
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1. More provided us a sketch of an ideal commonwealth
where property was held in common and there was no
poverty.
2. More showed a principle, "From everyone according
to his capacities, to everyone according to his needs".
3. More solved the problem of the separation of town
and country by co-operation between them.
4. More emphasized the importance of labor for every
member of the Utopian society. And the Utopians spent
their spare time in study of literature, art and science.
More's Limitations
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1. More had no revolutionary spirit.
2. In More's works, the system of
bondsmen(农奴) still retains the features of
class exploitation.
3. More could never find at that time the
means to realize socialism.
Comments on Thomas More
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1. A great humanist and far-sighted thinker.
2. A learned scholar, an expert of Latin.
3. A forceful talker, a lover of music.
4. An honest statesman, a man of nobility.
5. A lover of nature and mankind.
6. A forerunner of socialist theory.