The Elizabethan era in England is considered to be the Golden Age in the history of the kingdom. The people broke away from the set conventions of the Middle Ages and the new age of questioning everything took its place. The origins of the Renaissance, which literally means rebirth, can be traced back to the city of Florence in Italy.
It is a period that resulted in the rediscovery of art, culture, and literature. Not only the literature field experienced changes but also the economic one. The Renaissance opened the English economy to the rest of the world. The Middle Ages were considered to be the ages of darkness and ignorance and the Renaissance brought light to this dim world.
It is considered to be a bridge between the middle ages and the modern era.
Immense literary and artistic contributions characterized the era. Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 and stayed till 1603. The lady was a huge patron of art and literature and thus her reign consisted of numerous contributions in the field making her age the Golden era of English Literature.
The variety of achievements this age made is a topic of research for many scholars still and yet areas have been left unexplored. Let us discuss a few contributions made in this era that would provide the students with Thesis or essay writing help:
- One of the most popular of all the paintings in the world, Mona Lisa was created by Leonardo da Vinci, who was an Italian painter, architect, and a Renaissance man. He also came up with another popular work known as The Last Supper.
- Rene Descartes, a French mathematician, and philosopher, who is also known as the father of modern psychology came up with his work and theories in this age.
- Galileo’s astronomical discoveries added to the bunch of knowledge in this era.
- Titian, an Italian painter, contributed to the age by his famous paintings Venus and Adonis and portraits of Charles I and Pope Paul III.
- The most important and famous dramatist and personality of this age was William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is best known for his dramas but even wrote popular poems as well. His dramas were focused on the lives of the elite class, whether he wrote comedies, tragedies, or histories. Shakespeare quite impressed the Queen with his works and thus became the court dramatist. His works are said to be evergreen because the themes on which he wrote are still prevalent. Romeo and Juliet can still be related to the lovers of the day and the trauma of their separation. Macbeth’s theme can still be related to the struggle for power in the modern era. The theme of ambition that is well explored in the drama still appeals to the audience today conveying a message that vaulting ambition can be dangerous. His histories portray the characters in the most vivid sense. The way Shakespeare wrote his dramas- giving a proper exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and the end, has become an example for other dramatists to follow. It will look strange if you come to know that Shakespeare’s most of the plots were not original. He effectively borrowed plots from other plays like Holinshed’s Chronicles which he relied heavily on, for the plot of most of his dramas. His only original works were Love’s Labor Lost and The Tempest. But the way he wrote his work, his dramas with the borrowed plots, his style of writing, was exclusive and original, and classic examples of drama writing. Shakespeare was even a part of the theatres in the era. He even wrote poetry and sonnets and added them to the list of contributions. His sonnets focused on several different subjects. The immense contributions made by Shakespeare have become a subject of research paper writing in today’s time, also an object for which students need to find reliable essay writing services.
- Other dramatists that dominated the Elizabethan era were the University Wits, who were, George Peele, Robert Greene, Thomas Nash, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Kyd, and most popular among them was Christopher Marlowe. These University Wits were Oxford University graduates whose works depicted their talent in the utmost sense. These works became a source of several plots of Shakespeare’s plays. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus became the best example of the consequences of vaulting It resembles how the misuse of your knowledge can lead you to your doom as happened Faustus. Though Marlowe lived a short life, his works gave a tough competition to that of Shakespeare. Marlowe’s plots were considered even better. Thus even Marlowe has become an important subject of writing in the modern world.
- In the same era came Edmund Spenser with his Faerie The work was divided into twelve parts and deals with the adventure of a knight who represents twelve virtues. Thus it is the finest example of allegories ever written.
- Metaphysical poems excelled at the hands of John Donne who aimed at expressing reality in his works unlike the easy, fluent style of Spenser. His love sonnets are abundant in metaphysical conceits. Donne influenced the later poets in the genre of metaphysical writing, like Andrew Marvell, Thomas Carew, etc.
- Theatres saw a rocket rise in the era, though the women were not permitted to act and it was boys in the adolescent years who portrayed the role of women.
Thus overall the Renaissance influenced every sector of art and literature in England. Its impact spread like fire throughout Europe and advancements were seen too in the fields of Science and Commerce.
Be it the preceding or the succeeding eras of Literature, none was able to leave an impact so bold as that of the Age of Renaissance. Nonetheless, the basic points mentioned above could provide the students with thesis writing help and further support their research.
