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ENGLISH HISTORY AND LITERATURE

ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN PERIOD

The Elizabethan Period is one of most the fascinating era and considered by many
historians to be the golden age in English History and literature. The Elizabethan Era is named
for the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England from the year 1558 A.D to 1603 A.D. The
Elizabethan Period called as The Golden Age because in this periode literary works are
increasingly developing and advancing. Many of the great works of English literature were
produced such as art, poetry, drama, and learning in general flourished as the confidence and
nationalism Elizabeth inspired spilled from the economic sector to cultural achievements. This
era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that we
still read and watch today (The Lost Colony, 2019). Progress in the Elizabethan period continued
until the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I which was finally continued by King James I. The
James I period or also called the Jacobean Period began from 1603 to 1625. Literary works
produced in the Elizabeth and Jacobean era has a privilege because it has many characteristics
distinguish it from the literary works produced in the previous period.

Elizabethan Period

The Queen Elizabeth I was the regent queen of England and Ireland between 1558 until
1603. Elizabeth, Henry VIII’s daughter, was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor
dynasty. She assumed the throne after the death of her brother Edward VI and her sister
Mary I She is known by several nicknames but one of the most famous is The Virgin
Queen because she decided not to get married although there were several petitions from
the Parliament (UKEssays).

Mary I and Elizabeth I disagreed with each other because of the background of religious
differences. Mary I who is Catholic strongly opposed Elizabeth who is protestant. After the death
of Mary I, Protestants increasingly grew up under the reign of Elizabeth I. Under the early
guidance of the Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's pro-Catholic
legislation, established a permanent Protestant Church of England, and supported the Calvinist
reformers in Scotland (Editors). Moreover, Queen Elizabeth is a wise queen. During her reign,
Queen Elizabeth had resolved many conflicts, one of which was religious conflict. As a result,
religious tolerance emerged between Catholics and Protesan. Furthermore, under her reign,
England developed with a greater leap than ever before and English literature reached the
culmination of its development. The year 1588 had been the high point of Elizabeth’s reign. The
defeat of the Spanish Armada signalled England’s supremacy of the seas (McRae and Carter,
2001). She managed to solve important problems such as religion, peace with Scotland, the
inauguration of the national government, and achieved achievements such as the expansion of
international trade, strength at sea, and victories over the Spanish Armada that made England
could lay claim to being the greatest sea power in the world. On the other hand, the next several
decades, the crisis hit England. The Spain war continued, until it was followed by increasing the
Irish conflict. England experienced a food supply crisis until a rebellion in the palace of Queen
Elizabeth. Finally, the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ended because she died on March 24, 1603. At
that time, the elizabethan period also ended. Finally, it became the ending of the Elizabethan
Period.

The Elizabethan Period is part of the English Renaissance.  English writers were still greatly
influenced by the writing of the Italian Renaissance and were also much influenced by the
development of intellectual thought in France and other European nations. The influence of Italy,
France and Spain on English literature continued in this age. Drama, novels and poetry all
enjoyed a golden age of literature along with fine arts, science and philosophy (English
Summary). Some of writers in the Elizabethan Period whose works are still known and sought
until today are William Shakespeare and Chaucer. They produce beautiful works which inspired
by the work of French writers. At that time, writers increasingly showed their existence by
creating works that not only made them famous in Europe, but also throughout the world and are
still known until nowadays, for instance, William Shakespeare. In Elizabethan Period, better
state of things began to be .In this period, the increase in the field of literature is quite amazing.
Thus, there are many kinds of literary works produced. Even to the things that made a
controversy. Pamphlets and treatises were freely written; much abuse, often of a personal and
scurrilous character, was indulged in; and literary questions became almost of national
importance (Albert, 71). Characteristics of literary works in the Elizabethan era is a long form of
literary work. The long form of a literary works created in the Elizabeth era not only found in
form narrative, but also poetry. In fact, the poem was created one writers in the Elizabeth era
became the longest poem ever exist in English literature. The genre that developed and was
widely used by writers in this era was romantic, tragedy, comedy and tragicomedy.

1. Poetry and Prose

Poetry in Elizabethan period has several characteristic. The first one is about the form.
The form of poetry in this period was dominated by sonnet form. The lyric in this period that
became into popular usage were descriptive and narrative poetry. The theme of poetry in this
period mostly came from classical texts which reflected the social and political life of the
Renaissance period. Ideas of patriotism, nationalism, freedom, free speech,
humanism, dominated the literary space. In stark contrast to Chaucer’s age, this age was
embellished with the notions of grand romances, exorbitant metaphors, experimentation and
innovation (English Summary). Moreover, there are other topics that used by poets, for instance,
war and conflict, political life, nature of life, the duality of man, and the others. Poetry in the
Elizabethan era was also influenced by the characteristics of the use of interesting language
styles such as metaphore, alliteration, wordplay, language use and many more where poets have
the freedom to make what they want. In addition, in sixteenth century the language that used had
moved much closer to its modern form. There are some poets and the writers that popular in this
period such as:

- John Lyly (1554‒1606). His writing style is sarcastic against classical history. In
addition, Lyly is also able to balance words, clauses and phrases by means of alliteration
(repetition of consonant sounds) and asonation in his creation. Lyly's work is a romantic
story entitled Eupheus, the Anatomy of Wit and Eupheus and His England. Lyly received
a lot of praise for this work. Lyly's writing style came to be known as euphuism.
Euphuism is a style that is made up or impressed excessively, and contains alliterative
forms, such as the phrase "hot liver of a heedless lover" known until nowadays.
- Sir Edward Dyer (?-1607) with his poem titled My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is.
- Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86) was a courtier, soldier, and poet (Humanistictexts). The
literary works that he created during his life earned him praise as a novelist and poet. His
best known poetic works are some 108 sonnets about unrequited love (Astrophel and
Stella), and a pastoral romance (Arcadia) which was written around 1580 and became an
offering to Mary, her younger sister. Arcadia contains stories about family, romance, and
knights.
- Edmund Spenser (1552-99). He is an expert in the field of poetry and English rhymes.
Edmund Spenser also called “The Father of Poetic Diction (English)”.
His minor poems was entitled The Shepheardes Calender. This is the Spencer's first work
was created in 1579. The Shepheardes Calender has many stanzas. This poem contains
eclogues (pastoral poetry) which contains inter-pastoral dialogue. The contents in the
form of dialogue make this work regarded as poetry in English with a new style.
Spenser's next work was Amoretti, who became a famous sonnet in the Elizabethan
Period. This sonnet contains seductions he wrote for his wife, Elizabeth Boyle.
The most important of Spenser’s work is The Faerie Queene. The Faerie Queene is the
longest allegory in literary works in English. Spencer spent twenty years of his life to
complete this work. This work became his maseterpiece.
- Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618). There are many poems by Sir Walter Raleigh found in
the Tower of London that he made when he served his sentence. One of the best known
poems by Sir Walter Raleigh is “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,”. “The Nymph’s
Reply to the Shepherd” is Sir Walter Raleigh’s response to a poem written by Christopher
Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” In the Marlowe poem, the shepherd
proposes to his beloved by portraying their ideal future together: a life filled with earthly
pleasures in a world of eternal spring (Encyclopedia). Other poems by Sir Walter Raleigh
were “What is Our Life?”, “ Raleigh to His Son”, “My Body in the Walls Captived”,
“Affection is Not Love”, and many more.
- John Donne (1573-1631). Donne was the most independent of the Elizabethan poets, and
revolted against the easy, fluent style, stock imagery, and pastoral conventions of the
followers of Spenser. He aimed at reality of thought and vividness of expression (Albert,
78). In these years (1590-1601) he wrote his Satires, the Songs and Sonets, and the
Elegies, but, though widely circulated in manuscript, they were not published until 1633,
 after his death (Albert, 78). The best known of his poems are Aire and Angels, A
Nocturnall upon S. Lucies day, A Valediction: forbidding mourning, and The Extasie.
Futhermore, John Donne is also a prose writer.

2. Drama

Drama in the Elizabethan period developed very rapidly and became the most important
and most popular literature work in this period. The most popular writers in this period were
William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Characteristics of drama in this
period are that there are several genres that developed in drama, namely romantic, tragedy,
comedy, and tragicomedy. During this period, Shakespeare was incessantly to produce his work
that the name Shakespeare skyrocketed and his work is known today. Comedy drama of
Shakespeare’s works are “The Comedy of Errors” and “Taming of the Shrew“. Moreover,
“Midsummer Night’s Dream” was another highlight of the period. Shakespeare also produced
the tragicomedy drama entitled Hamlet. There were also satirical plays for the likes of Ben
Jonson etc who preferred the substance over show. The tragedy became the most popular genre
and was replete with violence, horror and gore (English Summary).

Meanwhile, the thing that became the characteristic of drama in this periode is the theme
of drama. In Elizabethan drama, there are several theme such as Anti-Semitism, Revenge
Tragedy, Supernatural Elements, and Comedy of Humours. The plays that contained Anti-
Semitism theme are Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta and William Shakespeare’s The
Merchant of Venice. The Revenge Tragedy theme tells about the the motive of revenge in drama,
for example, a ghost in Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy or a Prince in Shakespeare’s
Hamlet. The Supernatural Elements contains stories about supernatural powers related with
ghosts that reflect the societies at that time who were highly superstitious. The last, Comedy of
Humours was introduced by Ben Jonson, in English Drama. The Comedy of Humours was the
natural expression of his genius.The term ‘humour’ as used by Ben Jonson is based on an ancient
physiological theory of four fluids found in the human body (English Summary).

Talking about drama certainly will not be separated from the term theater. In the
beginning, the word theater came from Greek, that is theatron (theathres) which means 'theater'
which is a place to show a drama performance. Talking about drama certainly will not be
separated from the term theater. In the beginning, the word theater came from Greek, that is
theatron (theathres) which means 'theater' which is a place to show a drama performance. The
first opening of public theatre known as ‘The Theatre’ by a carpenter James Burbage. In this
theatre the play that usually performed is the William Shakespeare's works, for instance, Romeo
and Juliet.

Jacobean Period

The death of The Queen Elizabeth I’s because she suffered deep depressions in her old
age made her reign must be replaced. The next reign was continued by King James 1. The reign
of King James I started 1603 to 1625. James was also a King of Scotland on July 24, 1567 as
James IV. In this period, literature was given a lot of importance and it was at its peak. There are
many writers who made their works that related with the circumstances of the societies at that
time. Shakespeare gave his great contribution in this period. Shakespeare's works made in this
period and the most prominent works are King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), and The Tempest
(1610). The characteristic of Jacobean period, people were religious. However, they also
believed in the existence of witchcraft and supernatural beings and activities.

1. Poetry
During this period, a new genre of poetry emerged, namely metaphysical poetry.
This poem was originally popularized by a group called metaphysical poets that use stark
imagery in place if musical lyrics of the previous age. “Metaphysical Poets” is a term
coined by poet & critic Samuel Johnson, who describes a loose group of English
lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterised by ample use of conceits,
guess & speculation about topics such as love, religion etc. (English Summary, 2019).
One of the people who popularized metaphysical poetry was John Donne in the early
17th century. Then he meme the appearance of other poets such as George Herbert,
Henry Vaughan, Richard Crashaw and Andrew Marvell.
Moreover, Shakespeare is also the most of popular poets in this time. There are
other popular poets in this time such as Ben Johnson who became an eminent dramatist
and the best poet in Jacobean period, George Chapman, and many more.
2. Drama
 Ben Jonson, who wrote an Ode (To the Memory of my Beloved, the Author Mr
William Shakespeare: And What He Hath Left Us) for the First Folio of Shakespeare’s
collected plays (1623), is the Bard’s greatest contemporary. It is difficult to sum Jonson
up briefly because, as a writer, he was a master of many styles and genres, and, as a
character, achieved high recognition (Carter & McRae, 92). John lasting masterpieces are
The Alchemist (1610) and Volpone (1605). In this period Ben Johnson became an eminent
dramatist. The other major figures of drama in Jacobean periode are Thomas Middleton,
John Webster, Thomas Dekker, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (usually in
collaboration), Thomas Heywood, and Philip Massinger and the most significant (tragic)
dramatist, John Ford.
In this period, two famous playhouses are the Rose and The Globe that used for
performing the play. The construction of the playhouse gave rise to the spirit of theater
among the people in England. However, The masque performances are different from the
public theater performances. The masque performances held in private royal halls
because the costumes are expensive. There the disctiontion between tragedy and comedy
in drama. The world of Jacobean tragedy is a dark world of corruption, perversion, blood
and passion. The world of comedy is more localised, ‘city comedy’, based on the city of
London and its people, with their obsessions, above all, with money and sex (Carter &
McRae, 95). In the tragedy, there is a Domestic Tragedy. The plays of domestic tragedy
are Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603), and two anonymous
plays of approximately the same period – Arden of Faversham (published 1592), and A
Yorkshire Tragedy (published 1608). Meanwhile, in the comedy, there is a City Comedy.
Jacobean city comedy contains several of the themes of domestic tragedy – unhappy
marriages, debts, adultery, and so on (Carter & McRae, 101). The examples of City
Comedies are Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday (1599), Thomas Middleton’s
A Mad World, My Masters, and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1613).

All in all, Elizabethan Period is the Golden Age of English literature. In Queen Elizabeth
I's reign, England experienced rapid progress especially in the field of literature. Many literary
works have appeared with different variations. England had become a major world power in
every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England's greatest monarchs.
after her death, the reign of England continued by King James I, and that period was called as the
jacobean era. Literature in this period became more develoved into many variations. Those two
periods give the great impact of English literature at that time and for the subsquents period.

References

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"The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”. Poetry for Students. Encyclopedia.com.  2019. 23 Oct.

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