Paper 1

1. Name: Vaghasiya Alisha
Roll no- 01
M.A. Sem -1
Paper no. (1)
Renaissance literature
Assignment topic:
Evaluate/discuss salient literary
features of renaissance in Dr. Faustus,
Hamlet, paradise Lost and in John
Donne’s poems.

2. Assignment :-
‘Evaluate/discuss salient literary features
of renaissance in Dr. Faustus, Hamlet, paradise
Lost and in John Donne’s poems.’
Introduction:-
During Elizabeth’s reign in Milton’s
word we suddenly see England “ a noble
and puissant nation, rousing herself, like
a strong man after sleep and shaking her
invincible locks”. With the queen’s
character, a strange mingling of frivolity
and strength which reminds one of that
iron image with feet of clay.

3. Under her administration the
English national life progressed by
gigantic leaps rather than by slow
historical process, and English literature
reached the very highest point of its
development.
• Literary features /characteristics of this
age*
New Classicism:-

4. By the time of Elizabeth the
renaissance had made itself strongly felt
in England. In particular, there was an
ardent revival in the study of Greek,
which brought a dazzling light into many
places of the intellect. The new passion
for classical learning, in itself a rich and
worthy enthusiasm. In all branches of
literature Greek and Latin usages began
to force themselves upon English, which
results not wholly beneficial. English did
not emerge unscathed, from the contest
but applied to this slight extent, the new
classical influence were a great benefit.
They tempered and polished the earlier
rudeness of English literature.

5. Abundance of output:-
As we have pointed out, the
historical situation encouraged a healthy
production. The interest shown in literary
subjects is quite amazing to a more
chastened generation. Pamphlets and
treatises were freely written and literary
questions became almost of national
importance.

6. The New Romanticism:-
The Romantic quest is for the
remote, the wonderful and beautiful. All
their desires were abundantly fed during
the Elizabethan age, which is our first and
greatest romantic epoch. On the one
hand, there was revolt against past, on
the other there was a daring and resolute
spirit of adventure in literary as well as
other regions. And most important of all ,
there was an unmistakable buoyancy and
freshness in the strong wind of the spirit.
It was an ardent youth of eng. Literature
and achievement was worthy of it.

7. Poetry:-
Though the poetical production
was not quite equal to the dramatic, it
was nevertheless of great and original
beauty. As can be observes from the
disputes of the time, the passion for
poetry was absorbing and the outcome
of it was equal to expectation.
Prose:-
For the first time prose rises to
a position of first rate importance. The
dead weight of Latin tradition was
passing away. English prose was
acquiring a tradition and a universal
application. And so the rapid
development was almost inevitable.

8. The Drama:-
The drama made a swift and
wonderful leap into maturity in this age,
yet it has still many early difficulties to
overcome. On more than one occasion
between 1590 and 1593 the theaters
were closed owing to disturbances
caused by the actors. In 1594 the
problem was solved by the licensing of
two troupes of players. Another early
difficulty the drama has to face was its
fondness for taking part in the quarrels of
the time.
In spite of such difficulties,
the drama reached the splendid
consummation of Shakespeare’s art but
before the period closed decline was
apparent.

9. Religious tolerance:-
The most characteristic
feature of the age was comparative
religious tolerance, which was due largely
to the queen’s influence. Upon her
accession Elizabeth found the whole
kingdom divided against itself, the north
was largely catholic, while the southern
countries were as strongly protestant.
Elizabeth favored both
religious parties, and presently the world
saw with amazement Catholics and
protestant acting together as trusted
counselors of a great sovereign. The
defeat of Spanish armada established the
reformation as a fact in England. And at
the same time united all Englishman, in a
magnificent national enthusiasm. For the

10. first time since the reformation, the
fundamental question of religious
toleration seemed to be settled. And the
mind of man, freed from religious fears
and persecutions turned with great
creative impulse to other forms of
activity. It is partly from the new freedom
on the mind that the age of Elizabeth
received its greatest literary stimulus.
Social contentment:-
It was an age of comparative
social contentment. The rapid increase of
manufacturing towns gave employment
to thousand who had before been idle
and discontented. Increasing trade
brought enormous wealth to England.
The increase of wealth, the
improvement of living, the opportunity
for labor, the new social content- these

11. are factor, which help to account for the
new literary activity.
Age of dreams,adventure and unbounded
ENTHUSIASM:-
It is an age of dreams, of
adventures, of unbounded enthusiasm
springing from the new lands of fabulous
riches revealed by English explorers.
Drake sails around the world, shaping the
mighty course which English colonizers
shall follow through the centuries, and
young philosopher Bacon is saying “ I
have taken all knowledge for my
province”. “ THE MIND MUST SEARCH
FARHTER THAN EYES”. With new rich
lands opened to the sight, the
imagination must create new forms to
people the new worlds. While her
explorers search the new worlds for the

12. fountain of youth, her poets are creating
literary work that are young forever.
Cabot, Gilbert, Raleigh- a score of
explorers reveal a new earth to men’s
eyes, and instantly literature creates a
new heaven to match it. So dreams and
deeds side by side and THE DREAM IS
EVER GREATER THAN DEED. That is the
meaning of literature.
To sum up, the age of
Elizabeth was a rime of ‘intellectual
liberty’, ‘of growing intelligence’ and
‘comfort among all classes’, ‘of
unbounded patriotism’ and ‘of peace
at home and abroad’.
In the age of Elizabeth
literature turned instinctively to the
drama (rise of drama) and brought it
rapidly to the highest stage of its

13. development.
Renaissance age
The characteristics of renaissance
are…
Humanism
Nationalism
A new approach to life
A new spirit in art
Architecture
Literature and learning
The growth of the vernaculars and
Scientific investigation.

14. The renaissance stood for
Humanism, the sympathetic and devoted
study of mankind, instead of the
theological devotion of the middle ages.
Petrarch is regarded as the father of
Humanism. this movement could be regarded
for the turning away from the medieval
tradition of asceticism and theology
towards an interests in man’s life on
earth.
The rise of rational spirit and
of scientific investigation gave rise to a
new approach to life whereas the
medieval approach was based on reason.

15. It laid emphasis on the importance of
critical examination and evaluation of
ideas and principles.
The Renaissance led to
significant results. It brought about a
transition from the medieval to the
modern age. The period witnessed the
end of the old and reactionary medieval
spirit, and the beginning of the new spirit
of science, reason and experimentation.
The Renaissance gave a great impetus to
art, architecture, learning and literature
which reached tremendous heights.

16. Dr. Faustus :-
• Introduction:-
Dr. Faustus( the Tragicall
History of the Life and Death of Dr.
Faustus) is a classic creation of the great
Renaissance writer Christopher Marlowe.
The setting of the play is 1580s , and the
time and place when Dr. Faustus was

17. written is 1590s , England. And at that
time queen Elizabeth was on throne. It
was just the beginning of the
Renaissance(Reawakening)(dawn). The
people were slowly and steadily coming
out from the Medieval ideas, from the
dark age. Yet it was just Dawn of
Renaissance, Medieval thinking was still
there. So religion was over powering
upon people, darkness was over powered
on them.
But Christopher Marlowe
challenged that medieval ideas with the
help of his great works. Christopher
Marlowe’s heroes were hungry for more.
Marlowe broke that classical rules and
regulation and started to write in Blank
Verse. During Renaissance the drama
made a swift and wonderful leap into

18. maturity. For the first time it rises to a
position of first rate importance. Yet
Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Spencer,
Sackville were still to come.
Doctor Faustus is a
protagonist, tragic hero of the play. He is
brilliant 16th
century scholar from the
Wittenberg, Germany. He was born to a
simple parents. He was very profound,
intelligent learner. He had acquired all
the knowledge available, like Aristotle’s
Analytics, Economy, physics, logic etc. He
says “ I have also learned Physics
(medicine) if I become doctor than I will
be rich –earn gold, but I don’t want that”.
“I want to become immortal”
“couldst thou make men to live
eternally

19. Or being dead, raise them to life
again’’
-first monologue
Dr faustus don’t want to earn
name, fame and money. But he
wanted to reach at place where no one
was reached ever before- and this is
the Spirit of Renaissance this
thing we can see in the first
monologue that he don’t wanted to
become lawyer or doctor. But he
wanted to do something
extraordinary, which make him God.
So he says he wants to make dead
person alive. So he decided to turn
toward necromancy.

20. This play epitomizes the
ideals of the renaissance; egocentrism,
the over-indulgence of knowledge and
the lust of power. He represents the
spirit of renaissance with its rejection
to the Medieval, god centered
universe, and its embrace of human
possibilities. Faustus, at least early on
his acquisition of magic is the
personification of possibility. Because
Faustus gave his life and soul to satan
himself for the sake of gaining greater
knowledge is the proof that he is a
Renaissance hero. He rebels against
the limitation set forth by medieval

21. ideas and makes a contract for
knowledge and power.
Medieval versus Renaissance
The play is a clash between
the medieval world and the world of
emerging renaissance.
The medieval world(dark age)
placed God at the centre of existence
and shunted aside man and natural
world. They thought that if you try to

22. cross the set limit or to try to go
beyond something then god will be
unhappy and punish you.
The Renaissance was a
movement that began in ITALY and
soon spread throughout Europe ,
carrying with it a new emphasis on
individual, on classical learning and
on scientific inquiry into the nature of
the world. In medieval academy,
theology was the queen of the science.
In the Renaissance, though, secular
matters took centre stage.

23. • Quest for knowledge
• To go beyond what nature had given to
us
• Quest for power
• A desire to be ‘omnipotent’ or ‘demigod’
• Hunger to achieve impossible (Faustus)
You can achieve anything you wish, neither
religion (internal) nor outer world will trouble toy
• The insatiable spirit of adventure
• Enthusiasm to reach a place where no
one had reached before
• Challenge to the ideas of myth and
religion
• Thinking beyond something
• Try to do impossible
This all are the spirit of
renaissance, which we find in Dr. Faustus.
Good Angel Vs Evil Angel

24. The legend of Faustus was
believed to be a terrible and ennobling
example, and a warning to all
Christians to avoid the pitfalls of
science, pleasure and ambition which
had led to Faustus’s damnation. But it
has to be noted that the renaissance
value represented in what the devil
has to offer, and one is loft wondering
whether it is the religious life or the
worldly life that is more attractive.
All that the good angel in
this play has to offer is “warnings”, for
instance, the good angels warn
Faustus against reading the book of
magic because it will bring God’s
“heavy wrath” upon his head, and ask
him to think about heaven. To this the
Evil Angel replied: “ No, Faustus,
think of honor and of wealth”

25. At another point in the play
the Evil Angel urges Faustus to go
forward in the famous art of magic
and to become lord and commander
of the earth.
There can be no doubt that
the devil here represents the natural
ideals of renaissance by appealing to
the vague but healthy ambitions of a
young soul which wishes to launch
itself upon the wide world. No wonder
that, Faustus A CHILD OF
RENAISSANCE, cannot resist the
devil’s suggestions. We like him for
his love of life, for his trust in nature,
for his enthusiasm for beauty.
In a word, Marlowe’s
Faustus is a martyr to everything that
the renaissance valued- power,
curious for knowledge, enterprise,

26. wealth and beauty. The play shows
Marlowe’s own passion for the
Renaissance values.
It is said that Good Angel
and Evil Angel are the presentation of
Faustus’s inner conflict/ mental
struggle. At the same time we can also
say that Good Angel is symbol of
Medieval ideas and Evil Angel is
symbol of Renaissance
spirit(ideas)The legend of Faustus was
believed to be a terrible and ennobling
example, and a warning to all
Christians to avoid the pitfalls of
science, pleasure and ambition which
had led to Faustus’s damnation. But it
has to be noted that the renaissance
value represented in what the devil
has to offer, and one is loft wondering

27. whether it is the religious life or the
worldly life that is more attractive.
All that the good angel in
this play has to offer is “warnings”, for
instance, the good angels warn
Faustus against reading the book of
magic because it will bring God’s
“heavy wrath” upon his head, and ask
him to think about heaven. To this the
Evil Angel replied: “ No, Faustus,
think of honor and of wealth”
At another point in the play
the Evil Angel urges Faustus to go
forward in the famous art of magic
and to become lord and commander
of the earth.
There can be no doubt that
the devil here represents the natural
ideals of renaissance by appealing to
the vague but healthy ambitions of a

28. young soul which wishes to launch
itself upon the wide world. No wonder
that, Faustus A CHILD OF
RENAISSANCE, cannot resist the
devil’s suggestions. We like him for
his love of life, for his trust in nature,
for his enthusiasm for beauty.
In a word, Marlowe’s
Faustus is a martyr to everything that
the renaissance valued- power,
curious for knowledge, enterprise,
wealth and beauty. The play shows
Marlowe’s own passion for the
Renaissance values.
It is said that Good Angel
and Evil Angel are the presentation of
Faustus’s inner conflict/ mental
struggle. At the same time we can also
say that Good Angel is symbol of
Medieval ideas and Evil Angel is

29. symbol of Renaissance spirit(ideas)
Good Angel- Medieval thinking
Evil Angels- Renaissance thinking
Good Angel:- o Faustus, lay that
damned book aside,
And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy
soul,
And heap God’s heavy wrath upon
thy head!
Read, read the scriptures- that is
blasphemy.
Evil Angel:- Go forward, Faustus, in
that famous art
Where in all Nature’s treasure
contain’d:
But thou on earth as Jove in the
sky,
Lord and commander of these
elements
Good Angel:- sweet Faustus, leave that
execrable are.
-prayer, repentance will bring thee
unto heaven!
Evil Angel:- Rather illusion, fruits of
lunacy

30. Good Angel:- sweet Faustus, think of
heaven and heavenly things
Evil Angel:-No Faustus, think of honour
and wealth
This conversation of Good
and Evil Angels sounds as they
are presenting the Medieval and
Renaissance ideas. Medieval
idea was that one should not
think apart from god, think only
about heaven and god. But the
renaissance deconstructs the
center. According to
Renaissance man is at the
center, not god. Rather than
giving to much importance to
the heaven and god, they
preferred art, science, new
knowledge and thinking. It
becomes quite clear that Good
Angel is a medieval idea which

31. wants to restrict Faustus in
boundary, while the Evil Angel
which is a Renaissance Spirit is
freely allowing him to enjoy his
life, to do whatever he likes, free
play of mind is there.- all are
Renaissance Spirit.
Faustus as a man of Renaissance:-
Faustus’s inexhaustible thirst
for knowledge, his worship of beauty, his
passion for the classics, his skepticism, his
interest in sorcery and magic, his
admiration for Machiavelli and for super
human ambition and will in the pursuit of
ideals of beauty of power, or whatever
they may be prove the Faustus to be a
man of Renaissance.
Faustus appears as a man of the
Renaissance in the very opening scene

32. when rejecting the traditional subjects of
study, he can subjects of study. He turns
to magic and considers the varied user to
which he can put his magic skills after he
has acquired it. He contemplates the “
world of profit and delight, of power, of
honors, of omnipotence” which he hopes
to enjoy as a magician. In dwelling upon
the advantages which will accrue to him
by the exercise of his magic power. He
shows his ardent curiosity, his desire for
wealth and luxury, his nationalism and his
longing for power. These were precisely
the qualities of the Renaissance, which
was the age of discovery.
Faustus desires gold from East
Indies; pearls from the depth of the sea,
pleasant fruits and princely delicates form
America. Thus, Faustus’s dream of power

33. includes much that had a strong appeal
for the English appeal including Marlowe
himself.
The Renaissance man was
fascinated by new learning and
knowledge. He took all knowledge to be
his province. He regarded knowledge to
be power. He developed an in satiable
thirst for further curiosity. Knowledge,
power, beauty, riches, worldly pleasure
and the like. The writer of this age
represented their age in their work.
Marlowe is greatest and truest
representative of his age. So, the
renaissance influence is seen in his every

34. plays Dr.Faustus represents it in many
ways.
Thirst for Knowledge/ Intellectual
curiosity : -
The most important desire of
renaissance man finds expression in
Faustus. In the very beginning of the
play, he has studied various subjects,
logic, metaphysics, Medicine , law ,
theology. He remarks ‘ yet art thou
still but Faustus , and a man.’ So he
decides to study “metaphysics of
magician and regarded necromantic
books as heavenly” with the help of
knowledge he wanted to acquire
power and to become “as powerful as
Jove in the sky”
There was an intellectual
curiosity during the renaissance. The
new discoveries in science and
developments in technology went

35. beyond mere material advances. It
was a youthful age to which nothing
seems impossible. Before the
European, this period opened a new
world of imagination and led them to
believe that the infinite was
attainable. In Dr. Faustus Marlowe
has expressed such ideas, when Dr.
Faustus says
O , what a world of profit and
delight,Of power, of honour, of
omnipotence,
Is promised to the studious artisan!
All things that move between the
quite poles
Shall be at my command.
Wealth and explorarion.
The renaissance man desired
wealth and wordly pleasure. After his
agreement with devil he would have
spirit at his command to do whatever
he liked. He would like them to bring

36. gold from India, pearls from oceans
and delicates from every part of the
world. So with the help of
Mephistopheles he travelled to distant
countries and
He views the clouds, the
Planets and the stars
The tropes, zones, and quarters of the sky
From east to west his dragons swiftly glide
Love and Beauty.
Beside having love of
knowledge, power, worldly pleasures
Dr. Faustus has the Renaissance spirit
of love of beauty. So he wanted to
have a wife and fairest maid. As he
wanted to see the most beautiful
woman in the world, he conjured the
HELEN
He expresses his feeling of great
delight in following words.
Was this the face that
Launches a thousand ships?