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“An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” written by John Locke set the pace and provided the measure for the next literary era in England. Considering the tumult of the seventeenth century that then was about to end, Locke’s influential work seemed to have been timely. It appealed to reason and understanding, to self-analysis and sensibleness. Together…
Tag Archive: English literature
The Prominent Poets of Early Renaissance Period
The first prominent literary milepost during the Renaissance Period was the “Faerie Queene” written by Edmund Spencer. It is an epic poem which involved a feast which the Queene of Fairyland holds for twelve days. In each of those days, a distressed person shows up seeking help against a tyrant, a giant, or some other…
“Faerie Queene” by Edmund Spenser
The first prominent literary landmark since Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was the epic poem “Faerie Queene” written by Edmund Spenser. The “poet’s poet” as Spenser had been called, was the morning star of the Renaissance Period. The “Faerie Queene” embodied most of the ideas of the Renaissance Period and it was a treasure-house of echoes…
The Beginning of Sonnets
The formally written kind of poetry had not made any progress or development since Geoffrey Chaucer. It was not until Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, introduced the sonnet form at the beginning of the Renaissance that any advancement was made. Having traveled in Italy like Chaucer, who was his inspiration, Wyatt…
English Literature during the Humanism and the Renaissance Age
The term “humanism” refers to the eminence, the elevation, the point of view, or the philosophy of life that laid emphasis on the life of men in this world rather than in the next. It questioned the theological and philosophical system that till then had held absolute sway over the minds and hearts of Europeans….
The Renaissance Movement
Some writers call the Renaissance Period as “The Elizabethan Age.” This view is justified by the great literary developments far exceptional than those of previous periods that characterized the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Poetry and drama were written as they were never written before. As a matter of fact, literature and the other arts…
The Ballads as Literature
The Fifteenth Century English Literature was not as unproductive as the lack of eminent writers would have us believe. The anonymous bards, the minstrels, and even the common people made up for the seeming deficiency by the quality and quantity of ballads they spontaneously composed in their own dialects. The ballads were like wild flowers…
Understanding Beowulf, the Epic
In their migrations across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium, the Angles and Saxons brought with them their oral traditions, their songs, and their stories of great deeds. Succeeding generations of composers and reciters called “scopes,” embellished old stories or combined separate ones. The one that became so popular was Beowulf. “Beowulf” is considered as…
The Epic “Beowulf”
The Angles and the Saxons, in their migrations across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Germany, brought with them their oral traditions, their songs, and their stories of great deeds. The one that became well-known was Beowulf. This epic appears to have historical basis since the characters mentioned therein (Beowulf, his uncle Hygelac, and Heardred, son…
Well-Constructed and Hilarious Play by William Shakespeare
“The Taming of the Shrew” is by far the most enjoyable plays written by William Shakespeare. The characters are real and fascinating – the sweetly stupid Bianca and her hoard of suitors; Baptista, who is more engaged in selling his daughters to rich men than making them happy; the masterful and sly Petruchio; and, Katherine,…