THE ELIZABETHAN AGE AND

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE
Group 3 :
Bethania Elira – 1209619023
Kesha Tita – 1209619032
Zafira Anandya - 1209619050
 Introduction
✣ The Renaissance is considered "the rebirth" or "the early modern period." This period
in history was a time of enlightenment, where some of the greatest poetry, medicine,
discovery, art, and many other achievements were accomplished during this time. In
general, the world became a new place, but still some ideas or beliefs stayed the same
however, many new improved ideas and beliefs formed.
✣ The Medieval period was not a good time to live. This period was rattled with plagues,
darkness, and malicious acts of inhumanity. Then the world began to change it began to
grow, and the diseases, the darkness, and the harshness started to crumble and
disappear into nothingness. However, it did take time to spread across all of Europe,
but when the darkness receded people saw the world in a new light and they felt
"reborn."
 The Revival of Learning (New Learning) in
England (1400-1550)

✣ After a dark time on Middle Ages, there’s a rise of modern world

which well-known as Renaissance.
✣ Early age of Renaissance often referred to as Revival of Learning.
✣ Revival of Learning in England also well-known as Age of Revival
which means the revival of literature where a lot of people started to
looking back and reading ancient Greek and Roman texts.
 The Beginning: War of The Roses
✣ This period of time started after the
end of Age of Chaucer (1300-1400),
and it started with a civil war between
House of York (White Rose) and
House of Lancaster (Red Rose) which
well-known as War of The Roses
(1455-1485).
✣ This war ended by Henry VII who was
defeated and killed Richard III and it
became a beginning of Tudor Dynasty.

RICHARD III HENRY VII

 Tudor Dynasty

✣ People in England were very happy

when Henry VII became a new king
because he brought peace to England,
encouraged education and send scholars
to Italy and Greece, and finally the
renaissance in England can be seen.
 Tudor Dynasty

✣ Henry VIII succeeded her father,

Henry VII and became a king.
✣ He was incredibly cruel and was
married six times.
✣ He kept marrying and killed his ex-
wife again and again because he
wanted a son but only had a daughter
which no use at that time. HENRY VIII

✣ Henry VIII was also the one who

started an Anglican Church.
 Historic Changes: Discovery of New
Continents

✣ During this period of time, a lot of

countries in Europe sending people
on voyages and in one voyage,
America was discovered on 1492 by
Christopher Colombus, and India on
1497 that discovered by Vasco da
Gama.
 Reformation
✣ The reformation that considered as a
religious revolution started by Martin
Luther on 1517.
✣ They brought Protestantism to catholic
church that led to a split in the church.
✣ They were more critical about the papal
authority and brought a new ideas to
people that told people to not only
believe in everything the pope or church
said but also read and interpret the
meaning of bible.
 Arrival of Printing Press

✣ Before the age of revival, people used a woodblock

printing, but then William Caxton brought a printing press
technology to England in 1476.

WOODBLOCK PRINTING PRINTING PRESS

 The Revival of Literature
✣ After people known a
printing press, there’s a
development of English
bible.
✣ It led people to can read a
bible in English and not only
listen to what the pope said.
Wycliffe’s Bible,
Gutenberg’s Bible, Tyndale’s
Bible, etc, were few bibles WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE GUTENBERG’S BIBLE TYNDALE’S BIBLE

published around this period

of time.
 The Revival of Literature
✣ There’s 2 greatest book
published during this period of
time. It’s Erasmus’s “Praise of
Folly” which an essay written in
1509 in Latin and published in
1511, and Thomas More’s
“Utopia” that published in 1516.
✣ Praise of Folly is a bold satire
that pokes fun at the foolishness
of mankind, and Utopia is a
fiction and a socio-politic satire
about a perfect imaginary world.
 The Revival of Literature

✣ Another famous writers during this age are William

Tyndale, Sir Thomas Malory, Margery Kempe, and Julian
of Norwich.

SIR THOMAS MALORY MARGERY KEMPE JULIAN OF NORWICH

WILLIAM TYNDALE
 The Revival of Literature
There’s a lot of famous writers and works
during this era, such as:
✣ William Tyndale’s famous works are
“Tyndale’s Bible”, “Practice of Prelates”
and “Obedience of Christian Man”.

✣ Sir Thomas Malory’s famous work is

undoubtedly “Le Morte d'Arthur” that
discussed about the entire life of King
Arthur.
 The Revival of Literature
✣ Margery Kempe’s famous work is
“The Book of Margery Kempe”
that is the first English
autobiography.

✣ Julian of Norwich’s famous work

is “Revelations of Divine Love”
that is about 16 revelations she
had about God’s love.
 Identify The Flowering of Elizabethan
Literature

✣ During the victorian era sending messages hidden in a bouquet of

flowers became very popular. In the Elizabethan era the use of
flowers grew. In this era, behaviour had many strict codes and
naturally hypocrisy and the need to be sneaky also became very
evident especially in higher classes.

✣ Romance and love was also very desired during this era even, as
it can be seen in Shakespeare's plays, even though it was difficult
because of social class restrictions.
✣ Flowers gave couples a way to communicate "romantic gestures and the idea
of true love conquering any obstacles and strict rules“. If you were to send a
bouquet of flowers to a loved one, they could look up the different types of
flowers and their meanings.

✣ The types of flowers used were not the only aspect of this language but
"scents, sizes and even the position of the giver when bouquets were delivered
directly would affect the message". There were also many ways to accept
flowers that would give certain meanings. The receiver also had the chance to
give certain secret messages to the giver of the flowers. Also,  If a flower was
given upside down it would flip the meaning of the flower. For example, if a
rose was given upside down it would give a strong meaning of rejection. 
 Thyme flower: carried by Elizabethan
sweethearts as a sign of fidelity. Symbol of
rememberence.

Marigold flower: the sun or with

"one who follows a great leader“
because it "follows the path of the
sun“.

Ivy flower: leaves were placed under the pillows of

young women to induce dreams of future lovers.
And also symbolizes fidelity, friendship and
affection as well as wedded love.
 Define the characteristic of Elizabethan
Theatre

✣ Natural and Universal Lighting

Elizabethan Theatre made use of natural lighting. Shows mostly were
performance in the afternoon.
✣ Sets
The significant achievement of Elizabethan stage was connected with
the theatres of professional acting groups. The building boom connected
✣ Live Sound Effects and Music
An actor in William Shakespeare's company, Philip Henslowe, recorded
in his diary that the company owned trumpets, drums, a treble viol, a
bass viol, a bandore and a cithern.
✣ Costumes
Costuming in Elizabethan theater was elaborate, colorful, rich and helped
distinguish between social classes. Costumes mostly were all Elizabethan.
✣ Audience Involvement
Actors would interact with audience. Sometimes audience would boo the
actors or throw things.
✣ Acting
Two kinds of acting were used, boys choirs and adult companies. Adult
companies consisted of 12-25 adult men and the younger boys were used
for women's parts. Boys were apprenticed from the age 10 to the time
they became independent actors.
✣ Playwrights
Well known playwrights in the Elizabethan theater were Shakespeare,
Marlowe, and Jonson. Play wrights often needed to sell 4-5 plays a
year to maintain a good income, and once a company bought a play it
was the company's possession.
✣ Plays
A play’s lifespan normally lasted for 1 or 2 years depending on
popularity.
Elizabethan Theatre
 Identification and Analysis of
Elizabethan’s Poetry and Prose
✣ Elizabethan Age is well-known as the golden age of literature. It started
from 1558-1603.
✣ There’s a lot of great writers on this age such as William Shakespeare,
Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, Thomas Lodge, John Lyly, Henry
Howard, and Thomas Wyatt.

William Shakespeare Edmund Spenser Sir Philip Sidney Thomas Lodge John Lyly Henry Howard Thomas Wyatt
 General Characteristics
✣ Prose and poetry on Elizabethan Age mostly written in iambic
pentrameter and the rhythm used to be abab cdcd efef gg.
✣ Mostly the themes/topics are romance, science and theology.
✣ Sonnet is the popular form of writing poetry.
 Prose
✣ Famous Writers and Works :
1. Sir Philip Sidney
o “The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia“
o A pastoral romance prose

2. John Lyly
o “Eupheus: The Anatomy of Wit” and
“Eupheus and His England”
o A didactic romance that written in euphuism,
a highly elegant and bombastic style

3. Thomas Lodge
o “Rosalynde: Eupheus Golden Legacy”
o A romance prose that is a source of William
Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy play, “As You
Like It”
 Poetry

✣ Famous Writers and Works :

1. Sir Thomas Wyatt

o He was introducing sonnet (lyrical poems of 14 lines
that follow a specific rhyming pattern) to English
literature and his first anthology of English poetry to
feature and attribute was “Tottel's Miscellany”.

2. Edmund Spenser
o “The Faire Queene”
o It’s about he adventures of a number of medieval
knights.

3. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

o He is the first sonneteer along with Sir Thomas
Wyatt.
SHAKESPEARE WORKS
take a peek through Shakespeare's works and plays.

27
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
AND THE RENAISSANCE
The Renaissance was a movement which occured in Europe
between the 14th and 17th century that mainly affected the
culture and the lifestyles of people. William Shakespeare
was among the people who brought a lot of changes and
transformed literature into the later culture. He is usually
referred to as the Renaissance man due to the contributions
he had on the lives of people during this period.

28
 How Did Shakespeare Impact
the Renaissance Period?

• Through his works, he touched on the key issues which were affecting the people at the
individual level and society, the problems against the monarch and general community.
While doing so, he also entertained his audience.

• For example, Shakespeare changed from the traditional two-dimensional writing (a

technique that was being used during the pre Renaissance drama) and simple characters
to created more complex and well rounded characters that were more believable. He was
able to bring hundreds of different characters to life that were all believable and yet
different from each other, in which could think and make decisions without being
influenced by the elders, society, the law. This humanism concept was brought out in his
work entitled Hamlet.

29
Hamlet is a modern Renaissance Elizabethan
character who is placed in the medieval world. As
an Elizabethan character, he is part of the
Renaissance era movement, which at its core
debated the nature of man.

30
Moreover, Shakespeare also utilized the information and knowledge he had concerning the
classics, which were Greek and Italian origin. These works had been banned from circulation
by the Catholic Church and Shakespeare used this information while writing his literature. As
for this, not only that he put forward the culture of foreign societies but also attracted his
audience and made English people familiar with foreign customs, which can be adopted and
learned.

Due to his excellent work, he had a broad audience, mainly composed of people from the
middle class who flocked to the theatres to see his work (McEvoy 92). The most famous and
important plays Shakespeare wrote during the renaissance are Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and
King Lear, which in total of 39 plays. Before his retirement, he had made a lot of innovations
in the genres, comedy, drama, romance, and other forms of performing arts, which we still use
up to the present moment.

31
32
 references
https://englishkipathshala.wordpress.com/the-revival-of-learning-1400-1550/#:~:text=Schools%20and%20univer
sities%20were%20established,The%20Revival%20of%20Learning.&text=So%20the%20mind%20was%20furni
shed%20with%20ideas%20for%20a%20new%20literature
.

https://www.estudent-corner.com/2018/07/revival-of-learning-notes-renaissance.html

https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature/Elizabethan-poetry-and-prose

https://www.literaturewise.in/mdl/mod/page/view.php?id=130
http://englishliterature.tripod.com/id6.html

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-characteristics-elizabethan-age-literature-133269

https://ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-the-Flower-Language&id=103118

33
 references
https://reepinfo.org/elizabethan-herbs-uses-and-symbolism

https://symbolicmeaningofflowers.weebly.com/symbolic-meanings-of-flowers.html

https://prezi.com/dsmsat0lfkwz/characteristics-of-elizabethan-theater/

https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-shakespeare-affected-the-renaissance-period/

https://
shakespeare.yoexpert.com/shakespeares-legacy-6780/how-does-shakespeare-s-plays-reflect-the-renaissanc
e-46436.html

34
 THANK YOU

35