THE ELIZABETHAN AGE (1558-1603)

 

  

    The Elizabethan Age belonged to the Tudor Dynasty (England). It is considered as an extension of Renaissance. The Elizabethan Age is often referred to as The Golden Age in English and also The Nest of Singing Birds.

The Tudor Dynasty

    This "golden age" represented the peak of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music, art and literature. The era is most famous for its theatre, as renowned writer William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of both exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the Spanish Armada was repelled. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.

Spanish Armada

    There was the Elizabethan content and zest for life. Foreign influence, especially of France and Italy, did much to stimulate the growth of the Elizabethan lyric. Also, there was a renaissance of music. The Elizabethan carved for music. The richer sect had their own musicians to while away their leisure hours. Countless books of music were published of which Thomas Campion's Books of Airs the most popular. It was an age of poetry and romance. New wonders were being discovered almost every day. The atmosphere was surcharged with romance, and song is the very breath of romance. Elizabethan Age was considered as The Nest of Singing Birds for these very reasons.

    It was during this age when the thoughts were liberated as the period was romantic in many ways. As thoughts got liberated and people rebelled against religion, mainly against Roman Catholic Churches which resulted in their reformation.  During this period no restraint human imagination was let loose.

    It was the period of inventions and discoveries. Many theories and concepts related to astronomy changed including both Heaven and the Earth. The concept of the Earth being the centre of the universe upturned man’s ego and this was reflected in literature.

    Another prominent characteristic of this age includes veneration for classical works. Writers of this age were sandwiched between previous age which marked a shift from an old system to a new one and the present age of discoveries.

    Though many great writers of the age were highly educated and had great admiration for classical works, this age witnessed the emergence of what is known as National Literature. Till now in the reign of the Roman Empire, Latin language had a superiority in comparison to other languages. But with the decline of Roman Empire which was resulted by the fall of Constantinople (1453), Christians lost all the territories to the Ottoman Empire. As a result, Christian monks fled to west and spread learning which resulted in Renaissance. Also, as Latin lost its supremacy; regional languages gained prominence. Eminent writers like Shakespeare, Bacon, Sidney wrote in regional languages. Now that the writings were more available in regional languages, the masses began to take interest in literature. The common people which knew only regional language, got access to the works. Moreover, the invention of printing press (1439) also helped people get access to more books. Spenser introduced the ‘Spenserian Stanza’ and from his works, we got the impression of inventiveness & intrepidity. On the whole, the outlook of the writers during the age was broad & independent.  English Patriotism developed and the rise of regional language symbolised how people were proud of their nation. This began the romantic quest for the remote, the wonderful and the beautiful.  All these desires were abundantly fed during the Elizabethan age, which is the first & the greatest romantic epoch (period).

    English Novel made its first proper appearance during this age.

    UNIVERSITY WITS

    In the Pre-Shakespearian Drama, there existed Shakespeare’s immediate predecessors known as University Wits. They were prominent in the 1580s. They are so called because they were associated with the university of Cambridge (Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, Christopher Marlow) or Oxford (John Lyly, George Peele, Thomas Lodge). Thomas Kyd attended neither of these universities, but is still included because he wrote in the style of the wits. They had a fondness for heroic themes, and thus their works had heroic treatment with heroic style. Their themes too were usually tragic in nature like Shakespeare.

 

IMPORTANT AUTHORS AND WORKS

·         Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

 

The Fairie Queene (1590)

Astrophel (1595)

Amoretti (1595)

Epithalamion (1595)

Prothalamion (1596)

 

·        Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

 

Arcadia (1580)

Astrophel and Stella (1591)

Apologie for Poetrie (1595)

 

·         Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

Essays (1597)

Novum Organam (1620)

The Advancement of Learning (1605)

The New Atlantis (1629)

 

 

·         John Lyly (1554-1606)

Eupheus: The Anatomy of Wit (1578)

Endymion (1588)

The Woman in the Moon (1595)

John Lyly

 

·         George Peele (1556-1596)

The Famous Chronicle of King Edward I (1593)

The Old Wives’ Tale (1595)

A Farewell to Arms (1590)

 

·         William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

 

Four major tragedies:

            Hamlet (1601)

            Othello (1604)

            Macbeth (1605)

            King Lear (1605)

 

Long narrative poems:

            Venus and Adonais (1593)

            The Rape of Lucrese (1594)

 

Comedies:      

            The Comedy of Errors (1593)

            The Merchant of Venice (1596)

            As You Like It (1600)

            Much Ado about Nothing (1598)

 

·         Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

The Alchemist (1610)

Volpone or the Fox (1605)

Every Man in his Humour (1598)

Every Man Out of his Humour (1599)

-Ayesha Sana PNP