English Literature in the Sixteenth Century

English Literature in the Sixteenth Century

English Literature produced in the sixteenth century is considered to be the most potent and productive in its literary essence as compared with other centuries preceding or succeeding. At first glance one is amazed to see how barren the intellectual pursuits had been just a century ago, as Chaucer the first ever English poet (though a genius or master of his craft) dealt with a very raw language, and since then no great creative work appeared except a few who tried to copy Chaucer. Was it a miracle to find the great assets of English Literature like Spenser, Sidney, More, Bacon, Shakespeare and hosts of other writers to appear all of a sudden with the mastery of their craft unmatched by the predecessors or successors?

No, it was not so. The wave of change in the thought and display of art and literature had broken out since 13^th century from Florence Italy and reached slowly to England with its zenith in the late 16^th century. The critics of 19^th century have termed this wave of European change as “Renaissance” derived from Italian word Rinascimanto which means “rebirth”.

Before discussing the effect of Renaissance on literature it is necessary to have an understanding of medieval culture, religion and philosophy with the dull and stale passivism prevalent across the whole Europe since the fall of Rome in the 4^th century. There followed nearly a thousand years in darkness marked by the autocratic influence of Church which, in order to keep the status quo, ravaged each human intellectual effort towards light so comprehensively that we seldom find any example of real revolt or challenge across the continent. Nomadic tribes searching for food resources and fighting against the odds of weather and climate, killings and bloodshed in the name of Christian holiness, wars to establish the ethnic and racial authority were in a striking contrast to their golden Roman and Greek past and contemporary Muslim prosperity in the Western Asia and East Africa. There slowly and gradually the times came as the traders and businessmen travelled to international markets; navigators like discovered new lands; Copernicus and Galileo came up with the new Scientific discoveries; the scholars fleeing from Asia after the fall of Constantinople spread in Europe; and all these developments were so much debated in the 13^th century during the commercial activities in Florence (the centre of trade in Europe) that there rose a reaction a ‘no’ to papal propaganda of renunciation in the streets of Florence which ultimately ran rampant through whole Europe. This reaction with the openness of mind and a will to search the new truths is termed as Renaissance.

The agents which contributed to creating an environment of change and revolt can be categorized as:

-          The scientists and Astronomers like Galileo, Copernicus who challenged the long established false beliefs merely because their scriptures held them true.

-          Navigators like Christopher Columbus and Vasco ‘de Gama who discovered new worlds through their sea expeditions. These discoveries helped people open their minds.

-          Italian Sculptors, Painters and artists like Da Vinci, Rafael, Michael Angelo focused on man’s individual powers and desires as the hinge of human existence. Such thoughts were considered immoral and had long been suppressed by Christian practice of renunciation and monasticism.

-          The philosophers like Machiavelli went a step ahead and proposed a code of conduct based on practical maneuvering to achieve power and excellence in worldly affairs by getting aloof of all the morality suggested by the religion.

-          Greek and Roman teachings were retraced to be found ideal in terms of achieving human individual excellence.

The initial Phases

     The influence of Renaissance in England assumed different forms; at some points inspired directly from the Italian intellectual rebels like Humanists and Educationists, and at times indirectly with native intent but Italian in spirit i.e. Reformation. The three Movements of Humanism, Educationists and Reformists are remarkable here because they not only affected the initial environment of Renaissance in England but also prepared the intellectual ground with willing acceptance for some great pieces of literature to follow.

Humanism and Educationists:

     Humanism was a revolt against the other-worldly orientation of medieval philosophy and religion. The humanists returned to newly discovered Greek manuscripts for inspiration and enlightenment; they saw in the ancient classics a more ‘modern’ and more desirable world than the one they lived in. They proposed to reform education in the direction of Ciceronian ‘Humanitas’, to make men realize their human capabilities as individuals, to free them from the shackles of scholasticism and the view that, as Chaucer had expressed it, “this world nis but a thurghfare ful of wo”.

The thesis of was that man’s proper role in the world was action, not contemplation. Wealth and power were not necessarily evil, since they might provide the means of achieving good. The mind and the will had to be properly disciplined, but they were to be used positively, not renounced for the sake of the salvation of the soul. Passion, striving for glory, the aspiring mind were to be encouraged when the motives were noble, and becoming the master of the earth and thereby achieving benefits for mankind was a noble motive. They studied the Greek text of the New Testament (St. Jerome’s Latin text). In Florence, under the patronage of Lorenzo ‘de Medici, such scholars of Plato as Marcilio Ficino (1433-99) and Pico della Mirandola (1463-94) created the liveliest intellectual environment in Europe.

The humanists’ movement began in Italy but it reached England slightly before the beginning of the 16^th century. The dutch scholar Desidarius Erasmus visited England and in 1499 he mentioned with the great English scholars like John Colet (at oxford), William Grocyn (at oxford, Thomas Lincare and Thomas More.              (Humanists excerpt taken from Hallet Smith introduction of Sixteenth century English Literature given in The Norton Anthology”

The educationists directly influenced from Humanist ideals gained subtle ground. The more remarkable are sir Thomas Elyot with his “Governour” in which he gave a moral philosophy imitated from the Italian and full spirit of antiquity, Sir John Cheke a professor of Greek at Cambridge wrote “The Art of Sedition” in 1549; and Sir Thomas Wilson who wrote “Arte of Rhetoric” which recommended the use of pure and simple language. (Taken from “A Short History of English Literature” by Emile Legouis).

Reformation:

     The Reformation movement in England headed by the Tudor King Henry viii was meant in the noble cause of cleansing the religion by breaking away from the Roman Authority, but the history reveals that the King had some dynastic gains to achieve which had nothing to with the religion. The story tells that in order to produce a male child the king wanted to marry Anne Boleyn in the life of his first wife. This marriage was held unlawful by the Roman Church when the king demanded a special exception. The refusal aroused his anger and he high handed got the permission from the local English Church and deliberately funded the defamation of Roman ecclesiastic existence by collecting the data of their corruption. Already corrupt Church could ill defend it when the proofs came with the knowledge pregnant nuns and unholy ‘fathers’. Henry VIII himself became the Head of English Church.

Among the first who opposed was Thomas More who was King’s Lord Chancellor. He preferred resignation than sign such an unholy oath, and finally gave up his life. Henry himself ensured the availability of Sriptures in English although the great translator William Tyndale was persecuted, driven out of England and finally killed during Reformation. The great Bible of 1539 was made available to all who could read. The protestant theologians swarmed to England from the whole continent, and the Book of Common Prayers was published in 1549, 1552, and 1553.

Henry’s son Edward VI born in 1537 and reigned from 1547-53 patronized the protestant force of Reformation on the lines of his father. After his death, his older sister Mary rose to the throne. She was a devout Catholic and had married to her Spanish cousin Philip II. Catholics on the throne, and the retaliation was obvious. Violence, fight, bloodshed broke out. The Protestants fled to other lands. Her reign was too short; moreover, she did not produce an heir, so after her death the Protestants got back to England again and enjoyed great status in the court of Queen Elizabeth who succeeded Mary.

Reformation had a far reaching effect on English Culture and literature. The controversy ignited an endless debate of conservative and modern approach to religion which still exists.

English Prose in Renaissance

     The prose of Renaissance age, though inferior to the contemporary poetry and drama, bears all the hallmarks of literary peak. The great writers of the era have all the highlights of Italian Renaissance like the novelty of thought, height of imagination, search for new truths, and the revival of Greek ideals.

     With the introduction of movable printing machine brought to England by William Caxton, the volume of prose print increased manifold. This genre always considered inferior from literary perspective was infact the same when viewed as a whole, because the bulk of prose in the sixteenth century was in the form of pamphlets, propaganda by Protestants and Catholics for their support during Reformation. However, there are a few literary genius who left their marks qualitatively on the contemporary literature.

Sir Thomas More:

“what has nature ever created more gentle, more sweet, and more happy than the genius of Thomas more”, wrote Erasmus on his first visit to England.

An epitome of an ideal renaissance figure, Sir Thomas More was the strongest of English voices on the political, social, and human fronts. Voicing against the king Henry VII attempt to increase the tax revenue, Thomas More exactly knew his boundary line which he never stepped over. Never calling King’s name directly More entered politics, but lost his poise only once which proved fatal as King Henry VIII imprisoned More’s father during his conflict against the King’s Reformative adventure. His ‘Utopia’ though written in Latin, is a typical Italian inspiration inspired by the great Plato’s philosophy. It’s a philosophical romance, a fanciful account of an ideal republic. His “Edward V” is the first example of good English according to Hallam.

Sir Walter Raleigh: A soldier, navigator, courtier, author wrote “A History of the World” during Prison. Other works are “A Nymph’s Reply”, “A Lie”, “On Sidney”.

John Lyly: A courtier, a soldier, a poet, a knight the brilliant John Lyly’s ‘Euphues; Anatomy of Wit’ is a prose romance with poetic expression and subtlety of thought. Lyly pioneered a new genre of Euphuism in English literature. Its subject was the adventures of a young man (Euphues) well-endowed by nature but not disciplined by education. Apparently, the hero is an Athenian and Naples is the town of temptation, but beneath the disguise Euphues is an Oxford undergraduate corrupted by Italianate society of London. Lyly cared little of the criticism launched against him, and stuck to his style as in 1580 he came up with “Euphues and his England”.

Sir Philip Sidney: Another remarkable man with an all-round genius was Sir Philip Sidney whose famous attempt in prose was his “An Apologie for Poetrie” which defended poetry and poets in the same way as Aristotle did in his times.

Religious Prose:

     As mentioned earlier, the bulk of prose written in the age of Renaissance was religious in nature, sometimes serving the people with translations of the Bible, and at another merely abusing the teachings of opponents’ faith for propaganda. The pamphlets printed during the conflicts of Catholics and Protestants were in millions which developed a taste for the printed things though but did no practical good to the literary spirit of the age. However, the remarkable attempts in this respect are:

-          The translation of the Bible in English by William Tyndal

-          Thomas Cranmers “The Book of Common Prayers”

Sir Francis Bacon: Bacon’s Essays titled as “Novum Organum” though in Latin, are considered the greatest attempt in prose literature of that age because of two reasons: first, it is the maiden introduction of French literary genre of Essay which became increasingly popular in the ages to follow; secondly, the philosophy presented in them reflects the true Renaissance freedom of thought infused by the Italian Renaissance philosopher, Machiavelli.

Non Dramatic Poetry of Sixteenth Century under Renaissance

Poets of Sixteenth century were impressed more by Renaissance than Reformation. They remained aloof of the frivolous controversies. They, however, sought the light from Humanism. The revival of poetry was an uphill task chiefly because of two reasons: Chaucer being the only main predecessor was eyed with suspicion of having faulty metre because of the major change of language over past one and half century. His words with ending “-e” had been freed of it by then. Secondly, his successors like Stephen Hawes had rent much of a languor to English poetry, and John Skelton’s attempts were no more than the impression of ‘disorder’.

EARLIER POETS:

     Two courtier poets of Henry VIII undertook the task for which Italy provided both model and stimulus. These pioneers whose works were ended by their untimely deaths were Wyatt and Surrey.

Wyatt’s stay in France and Italy introduced him to the languages and styles unknown in England. His main contribution to English is the introduction of Sonnets from Italian models. His taste found nothing English poetry to build on. His sonnets in the beginning were very clumsy but he achieved smoothness and regularity. His sonnets carry new lyric style, richness of images, metaphors, subtlety and diction Petrarch and his followers.

Earl of Surrey further beautified Sonnet after Wyatt. “Though lacking in Wyatt’s energy and independence Surrey was more graceful, more sensitive, more given to Elegy and more loving to nature”, says Legouis. What Surrey excels greatly is in his metrical innovations. His three quatrains with different rhyming schemes followed by a couplet is exactly what today we call Shakespearean sonnets in structure, because of the perfection Shakespeare had, otherwise it was Surrey who not adapted it for English language. Both of these poets’ work was not published till years after their death when in 1557 a joint collection appears known as “Tottel’s Miscellani”. Following Surrey and Wyatt are literally no one before Edmund Spenser, however, it would be injustice if not mention the contribution of George Gascoigne and Thomas Sackville. Gascoigne’s “Steel Glass” is considered to be the first long English satire and Sackville’s “The Mirror for Magistrates” (Stories from English history in verse) carries meritorious parts.

THE STAR POETS OF RENAISSANCE:

     It will not be exaggeration at all to credit Edmund Spenser as the only non-dramatic genius of sixteenth century English poet with only John Donne a very distant second to follow in a different way. In him, we find a marvelous union of intellectual and creative powers with “brilliant imagination, fertile invention and flowing rhythm” according to Chateaubriand.