Irma Nydia Villanueva-Rivera

Irma Nydia Villanueva Rivera

"Renaissance,"
French for
"rebirth," perfectly
describes the
intellectual and
economic changes
that occurred in
Europe from the
fourteenth
through the
sixteenth
centuries.
 RENAISSANCE

• The Renaissance is one of the most interesting

and disputed periods of European history. Many
scholars see it as a unique time with
characteristics all its own.
• The approach here is that the Renaissance began
in Italy about 1350 and in the rest of Europe after
1450 and that it lasted until about 1620.
• Began in Italy
• Later spread north to Germany and England
During the era known by this name, Europe emerged
from the economic stagnation of the Middle Ages
and experienced a time of financial growth. Also,
and perhaps most importantly, the Renaissance was
an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and
political thought turned in new directions.
• Interested in Greek & Roman culture (“the
classics”)
• Use of perspective in paintings
• Believed in Humanism
• Used critical method of study
 Gutenberg

When Gutenberg invented the printing

press in 1445, he forever changed the
lives of people in Europe and,
eventually, all over the world.
 Previously, bookmaking entailed copying all the
words and illustrations by hand. Often the copying
had been done onto parchment, animal skin that
had been scraped until it was clean, smooth, and
thin. The labor that went into creating them made
each book very expensive. Because Gutenberg's
press could produce books quickly and with
relatively little effort, bookmaking became much
less expensive, allowing more people to buy
reading material.
 The Demand for Books Grows

In the Middle Ages, books had been costly and

education rare; only the clergy had been regular
readers and owners of books. Most books had been
written in Latin, considered the language of
scholarship. In the Renaissance, the educated middle
classes, who could now afford books, demanded
works in their own languages.
Furthermore, readers wanted a
greater variety of books. Almanacs,
travel books, chivalry romances, and
poetry were all published at this time.
Simultaneously, a means of printing music was
also invented, making music available at a
reasonable cost. As the demand for books
grew, the book trade began to flourish
throughout Europe, and industries related to
it, such as papermaking, thrived as well. The
result of all of this was a more literate
populace and a stronger economy.
 Humanism

• Books also helped to spread awareness of a new

philosophy that emerged when Renaissance
scholars known as humanists returned to the
works of ancient writers.
• Previously, during the Middle Ages, scholars had
been guided by the teachings of the church, and
people had concerned themselves with actions
leading to heavenly rewards. The writings of
ancient, pagan Greece and Rome, called the
"classics," had been greatly ignored. To study the
classics, humanists learned to read Greek and
ancient Latin, and they sought out manuscripts
that had lain undisturbed for nearly 2,000 years.
• The humanists rediscovered writings on scientific
matters, government, rhetoric, philosophy, and
art. They were influenced by the knowledge of
these ancient civilizations and by the emphasis
placed on man, his intellect, and his life on Earth.
• The recovery of ancient manuscripts showed the
humanists how the Greeks and Romans
employed mathematics to give structure to their
art. The relationship between these two studies
is most evident in architecture, where numerical
ratios were used in building design.
 Divine Proportion

• During the Renaissance, Phi served as the "hermetic"

structure on which great masterpieces were
composed. Renowned artists such as Michelangelo,
Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci made use of it for
they knew of its appealing qualities.
• Therefore, the Divine Proportion presents itself in
the very physical nature of Creation. It is seen as the
beauty and organization within
the cosmos. It is the harmony
and glue that holds the unity of
the universe.
 Anthropocentrism

Considering human beings as

the most significant entity of
the universe.
 Francesco Petrarch

• Petrarch's work represents the transition from

a medieval tradition, beholden to Dante, to a
modern literature. This is mainly because of
his introduction of Italian as the language of
his poetry.
• He is the creator of the Italian sonnet
• Outside Italy, the Petrarchan sonnet was
practiced in Spain by Garcilaso de la Vega
(1501-1536) and Juan Boscán (1492-1542).
Shakespearean
Sonnet
Spenserian
Sonnet

Sonnet 75 from Amoretti

 Dante

Many authors produced influential literary

works during the Renaissance. Dante was the
writer whose works some historians date as
marking the beginning of the Renaissance,
and he is called the father of the Renaissance.
He was an Italian writer who wrote in the
vernacular, or common language, so his works
gained popularity among ordinary people as
well as scholars.
 His most famous work is The Divine Comedy, which
describes in vivid detail the author’s journey through
hell (Inferno), purgatory (Purgatorio) and heaven
(Paradiso). Although called a “comedy”, the book is
anything but funny. This is because Dante was using
the classical meaning of “comedy”, in which a story is
not necessarily humorous, but ends happily and
according to the divine will of God. In The Divine
Comedy, Dante blends Greek philosophy with Christian
theology, in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas. Dante’s
guide through Hell is Virgil, and the greatest sinners
present in Hell are Judas Iscariot (Jesus’ betrayer) and
Brutus (Caesar’s betrayer).
 VERNACULAR LITERATURE

• Vernacular literatures flourished in the

Renaissance even though humanists preferred
Latin. In 1400 standard English, French, German,
Portuguese, Spanish, and other vernaculars did
not exist. People spoke and sometimes wrote a
variety of regional dialects with haphazard
spelling and multiple vocabularies. Nevertheless,
thanks to the adoption of the vernacular by some
governments, the printing press, and the creation
of literary masterpieces, significant progress
toward elegant and standard forms of modern
vernaculars occurred.
 The Tudors
• The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are
among the most well-known figures in Royal
history.
• During this period, England developed into one
of the leading European colonial powers, with
men such as Sir Walter Raleigh taking part in
the conquest of the New World.
• Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw
many changes. The Tudor court played a
prominent part in the cultural Renaissance
taking place in Europe, nurturing all-round
individuals such as William Shakespeare,
Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey.
Elizabeth I: the last Tudor monarch

• Her 45-year reign is generally

considered one of the most
glorious in English history.
• She was very well-educated
(fluent in six languages), and had
inherited intelligence.
• Elizabeth's reign also saw many
brave voyages of discovery,
particularly to the Americas.
These expeditions prepared
England for an age of
colonization and trade expansion,
which Elizabeth herself
recognized by establishing the
East India Company in 1600.
 Royal Library, Windsor Castle, holograph on the last
page of text in a copy of a French Psalter published
in Paris ca. 1520. Elizabeth inscribed these lines
when she presented the psalter to a servant or
friend at some time before November 17, 1558.

No crooked leg, no bleared eye,

No part deformed out of kind,
Nor yet so ugly half can be
As is the inward, suspicious mind.

Your loving mistress,

Elizabeth

1. out of kind, so as to be unnatural

2. inward, secret
 William Shakespeare
The Importance of Shakespeare
• In a world where the quality of the art form called "writing"
is so often said to be rapidly diminishing, it is important for
scholars of English literature to retain some studies of the
true classics, such as Shakespeare. A well-rounded
education logically must have a strong foundation in both
modern and classical literature, the latter of which an in-
depth study of Shakespearean works would more than
satisfy. Not only was Shakespeare so well accomplished in
his writing skills that he has become an undeniably
significant point in the history of literature, but a majority
of his works were written on such basic human themes that
they will endure for all time and must not be allowed to slip
into the tragic oblivion of old age.
• William Shakespeare has become an important
landmark in English literature. To see why this is
so crucial for students to study, let us consider an
analogy. One must be familiar with the conditions
and circumstances of colonial America and pre-
Revolutionary times if s/he is to understand the
rationale behind many of the provisions of the
Constitution, a two-hundred-year-old document
still alive and highly significant today.
• In much the same way, one must be familiar with the
early days of English literature in order to comprehend
the foundation beneath much of more modern
literature’s basis. Shakespeare’s modern influence is
still seen clearly in many ways. For example, the
success of Shakespeare’s works helped to set the
precedent for the evolution of modern dramas and
plays. He is also credited with being one of the first
writers to use any modern prose in his writings; in fact,
the growth of the popularity of prose in Shakespeare’s
time is clearly shown as he used prose progressively
more throughout his career.
• Furthermore, there can be no doubt that
Shakespeare was a master of the artistry of the
English language. He wrote with such fluidity of
thought, word, rhythm, and sound that the work
is presented in a complex manner, but is not
unintelligible, even for the inexperienced reader.
• There can therefore be no doubt that substantial
knowledge of the works of William Shakespeare
is necessary for any education of English
literature to be considered complete and well
rounded.
 Hamlet
• First performance at the end of 15th century, ~
timeline, death of Elizabeth I and accession of James VI
and I. First printing 1603. One of the more accessible
Renaissance/early modern period texts. One constant
theme of the English renaissance is the development
of personal character and fame. Hamlet is portrayed as
being uncertain as to whether he is the prince of the
title, or student. Throughout the play Hamlet is
presented with choices, of belief, of action, of love, of
justice and of conscience. The play is famous for its
soliloquies, where Hamlet presents the audience
privately with his perceived choices. The results of his
limited choices culminate in the tragedy of Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore
art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy
name.
Or if thou wilt not, be but
sworn my love
And I'll no longer be a
Capulet.“

- William Shakespeare, Romeo and

Juliet, ACT II Scene 2
 Romeo and Juliet
In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a
long feud between the Montague and Capulet
families disrupts the city of Verona and causes
tragic results for Romeo and Juliet. Revenge,
love, and a secret marriage
force the young star-crossed
lovers to grow up quickly
and fate causes them to
commit suicide.
 The Golden Age
of Spanish Literature

The first known novel of chivalry, Amadis of Gaul, was printed

in Zaragoza in 1508 and served as a model for the novels of
chivalry that became (16th cent.) the most popular genre in
Spain, together with the anonymous ballads (romances) that
were sung and recited everywhere. Meanwhile the spirit of
the Renaissance had been invading Spanish letters, and Spain
had also become a dominant
European power. In the reign of
Emperor Charles V, the first picaresque
novel, was published (1554).
The latter part of the 16th cent. and most of the 17th
cent. made up the great era of Spanish literature,
known as the Golden Age. At the start of this period
the poet Garcilaso de la Vega, stimulated by the work
of Juan Boscán, succeeded in mastering the meter and
essence of Italian verse and in acclimating it to the
Spanish spirit, thus revolutionizing Spanish poetry. The
chief prose monument of the Golden Age, and one of
the masterpieces of world literature, is the novel Don
Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes
Saavedra.
 The Ingenious Gentleman
Don Quixote of La Mancha

• Published in two volumes a decade apart, in

1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the
most influential work of literature from the
Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish
literary canon. As a founding work of modern
Western literature, and one of the earliest
canonical novels, it regularly appears high on
lists of the greatest works of fiction ever
published. In one such list, Don Quixote was
cited as the "best literary work ever written".
 Don Quixote:
Invention of the Modern Novel

• Before Cervantes' time, books weren't written like they

are now. The idea of a long, fictional narrative was
basically non-existent back then. Books were mainly
written as historical narratives, philosophical treatises,
scientific works, plays, or epic poems. The closest thing
to a "novel" would have been something like the Iliad, or
the Odyssey, or the Divine Comedy. But each of those
was written in verse. Then along comes Don Quixote,
which looks a lot like the fiction of Homer or Dante, but
written in PROSE (non-verse). Don Quixote is considered
the first modern novel because it was one of the first to
contain a fictional narrative, written in prose.
Created byIrma Nydia Villanueva-Rivera
Spanish Teacher, Puerto Rico Department of Education

spanishteacherpr@yahoo.com
http://irmavillanuevarivera.wordpress.com
http://lenguajelenguayhabla.blogspot.com