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.
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