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ENGLISH RENAISSANCE + SONNET

The English Renaissance, spanning the 15th century, was a cultural movement marked by a focus on Humanism and literature, differing from the Italian Renaissance by prioritizing court life and drama over visual arts. The sonnet emerged as the predominant literary form, introduced by Thomas Wyatt and later developed into the Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet, characterized by its unique structure and themes of love and beauty. Key figures in this period include Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, and William Shakespeare, who contributed significantly to the evolution of English poetry.

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2 views1 page

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE + SONNET

The English Renaissance, spanning the 15th century, was a cultural movement marked by a focus on Humanism and literature, differing from the Italian Renaissance by prioritizing court life and drama over visual arts. The sonnet emerged as the predominant literary form, introduced by Thomas Wyatt and later developed into the Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet, characterized by its unique structure and themes of love and beauty. Key figures in this period include Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, and William Shakespeare, who contributed significantly to the evolution of English poetry.

Uploaded by

Luisa Pepe
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

The English Renaissance (15TH century) was a cultural and artistic movement which began in
England with the dynasty of Tudors and ended with King James I. It corresponds to the Italian
Renaissance which started in the 14th century, but they are different: English renaissance rejected the
visual arts of Italian renaissance and preferred the court life and dramas.
The major intellectual movement in this period was Humanism or “New Learning”. Humanism is
the passion for humanities or literary culture, and it is the desire of learning classical letters.
Humanism focused on human passions and reason. In this period there was the Elizabethan view of
the world: world was a “great chain of being”. This chain started with God who governed every
creation; man has the role of linking the creation. Moreover, English society had to be governed by
one person the monarch.
During English Renaissance there were great success in literature, both in prose and poetry. The
main characteristics of Renaissance Prose were the importance of the English Language, irony and
satire and elaborate style.

RENAISSANCE POETRY – THE SONNET


The most used literature form during Renaissance was the SONNET. Sonnet was introduced in
England by Thomas Wyatt who had travelled to Italy. In fact, at the beginning Italian sonnets were
simply translated into English. The most influential sonnet was the PETRARCHAN SONNET
which has its own rules. But then Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard and Early of Surrey introduced a
different version of the sonnet which was called the ELIZABETHIAN or also SHAKESPEREAN
SONNET.
The Sonnet is a short poem with musical accompaniment. It is composed by two quatrains (one
quatrain is made by four lines) with lines of 11 syllables and a sestet (six lines). There are in total 14
lines.
Between the Italian PETRARCHAN and ELIZABETHIAN SONNETS there are some differences
in the structure.
 The PETRACHAN SONNET is composed by an octave and a sestet of iambic pentameters
with the CROSS RHYMING (rhyming scheme ABBA / ABBA or ABBA / CDCD in the
quatrains or CDE/CDE or CDC/DCD in the sestet). The octave presents the situation and the
sestet the solution.
 The ELIZABETHIAN SONNET is composed by three quatrains and a final couple of
iambic pentameters with the ALTERNATING RHYMING (rhyming scheme ABAB CDCD
EFEF GG). The 3 quatrains present the situation and the couple the solution.
The themes are almost the same and were introduced by Petrarch in his sonnets of “Canzoniere”:
love, beauty, and faith. In fact, one of the major themes is “courtly love” which is the love between
a man and a woman in the court.
The most important authors of English Sonnets are Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, and William
Shakespeare.

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