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RENAISSANCE LITERATURE

Renaissance literature forms part of a cultural movement that emerges in Florence (Italy) in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there birth a type of literary form that centuries later would end
in what we know today as novels. This period is characterized by the humanist recovery of classical
Greco-Latin literature and diffused with great force thanks to the invention of the printing press
around 1450.

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE LITERATURE

ALIGHIERI D. was an Italian poet. He was the first to write in vernacular language (native
tongue) rather than Latin.
PETRARCH F. was a scholar and poet. He was responsible for the recovery of manuscripts
and works of Greek and Roman writers. He is called the father of humanism because he
fostered the development of humanism.
MACHIAVELLI N. was a diplomat, official, political philosopher and Italian writer,
considered father of modern Political Science because he was the first political theorist
who views politics as an autonomous field of analysis and with a logic different from
religious morality.

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE LITERATURE

Thomas Wyatt, was an English poet and diplomat in the service of King Henry VIII.
Introducer of the Italian poetic forms in the Renaissance England was one of the first
English Renaissance poets. His literary output consists of translations and imitations of
sonnets of the Italian poet Petrarch.
It is in the second half of the sixteenth century, with the Elizabethan period (called so to
take place under the monarchy of Elizabeth I of England), when the classical and Italian
influence reaches its fullness.
The dominant forms of English literature during this period were the poem and the
drama.

In the area of drama, no one matched William Shakespeare (the most important writer in the
English language) in terms of variety, profundity, and exquisite use of language. His subject matter
ran the gamut, from classical Greco-Roman stories to contemporary tales of unrequited love.
Shakespeare is known for his ability to shift between comedy and tragedy.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGLISH RENAISSANCE LITERATURE

The sonnet (fourteen verses of eleven syllables divided into four stanzas with
consonant rhyme) is used as the form of expression.
The enunciator (the poetic voice) that speaks in the composition is an innovation
of this type of literature
The love plays a primordial role among the main themes of Renaissance
Literature. But this one has a melancholic tinge. It deals with themes about a
 loving poet who cries (singing) for the impossibility of being with the woman he
loves.
Beloved woman is the one to whom poetry is dedicated. She presents several
characteristics: clear eyes, blonde hair and white skin.
There were two trends or approaches that are evident in Renaissance literature.
Realism and naturalism.
Realism was a literary movement characterized by the representation of real life.
Realism depicted middle-class characters. Realistic novels used themes like
society, social class, mobility etc.
Naturalism was an outgrowth of literary realism, influenced by scientific theories.
Naturalism depicted lower class characters. Naturalistic novels were written on
themes of violence, poverty, corruption, prostitution etc.

6 MAIN LITERARY WORKS OF THE RENAISSANCE

1. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (published in 1597)

This tragedy about two young lovers is one of Shakespeare's most popular works, and along with
Hamlet one of the most frequently staged. Nowadays, the characters Romeo and Juliet are
considered archetypes of young lovers.

Shakespeare uses in the work a dramatic poetic structure and it oscillates between the comedy
and the tragedy to increase the tension.

2. Utopia by Toms Moro (published in Latin in 1516)

Island of Utopia of the work of Toms Moro. At the same time fiction and political work, this book
tells a story centred on a fictional society that lives on an island. The word "utopia" comes from
the Greek and means "no-place" or "nowhere".

The work was popular in its time, although also misunderstood. At present, the title of the book
eclipsed the central story created by Moro and is used when speaking of "utopian society". In that
sense, Utopia is truly important in literary history for creating the notion of parallel realities and
closed societies in themselves.

3. Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (published in 1593)

This important work of the Renaissance is based on stories about Faust, a popular figure in
German culture. The popularity of the work of Marlowe is based on a myth that tells that one of
the first places of the work appeared real devils on the stage.

It is believed that Doctor Faustus is the first dramatization of the popular legend about Faust. In
addition, some diviners at the turn of the century took the name Faust, which in Latin means "the
favoured.

4. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (published 1603)

It is a tragedy of revenge that reaches the summit of the universal literature as far as the
characterization of a human type. It represents doubt.
Shakespeare defined here one of the most archetypal personalities of Western culture: man and
his dilemma as the centre of existence. The great dichotomy represented in this character lies
within the human being, who struggles between thinking (Hamlet's true passion) and executing.

5. Lost Paradise by John Milton (published in 1667)

It is considered a classic of English literature. The poem is an epic about the biblical theme of the
fall of Adam and Eve. The work deals, fundamentally, on the problem of evil and suffering in the
sense of answering the question of why a good and almighty God decides to allow them when it
would be easy to avoid them.

6. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (published in 1615)

It counts on the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The first, of considerable age, has
delusions, is considered a gentleman and begins an adventure that leads him to face imaginary
rivals, such as windmills.

The second by a countryman named Sancho Panza, who serves as a squire, they go through a
thousand adventures that usually come out badly.