The Renaissance was a period of cultural rebirth that began in Italy in the 14th century and later spread to Europe. Humanist thinkers studied classical Greek and Roman writings and focused on humanity rather than religion. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg allowed widespread distribution of literature for the first time. William Caxton introduced printing to England. Thomas More's Utopia, published in 1516, was emblematic of Renaissance ideals. Shakespeare, who wrote plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, was the greatest English author of this era. Sonnets became a popular poetic form with set structures like Petrarchan or Shakespearean.

1. RENAISSANCE
PERIOD
LITERATURE
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2. RENAISSANCE
• The word “Renaissance” is a
French word which means
“rebirth”.
• It refers particularly to a
renewed interest in classical
learning – the writings of
ancient Greece and Rome.
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3. RENAISSANCE
• The Renaissance was a cultural
movement that started in Italy
and spread all over Europe.
• It is considered to be the division
between the Middle Ages and the
Modern era.
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4. RENAISSANCE
• The thinkers of this period,
also called “humanists”,
believed that the man should
be the subject of study, and
not God, as the Church had
taught during the medieval
period.
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5. The Printing Press
• Johannes Gutenburg is credited
with inventing the first printing
press in Germany around 1400.
By 1476 William Caxton had his
own printing press up and
running in Westminster, England.
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6. The
Printing
Press

7. The Printing Press
• The Printing Press: William
Caxton was the person who
introduced printing in England.
Before that, the books were
written out in longhand, what
meant a very slow jog.
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8. William Caxton

9. The
Recuyell of
the
Historyes
of Troye,
printed in
1473.

10. Thomas More: (1480-1535)
• Thomas More was is
considered one of the greatest
of all English humanists,
mainly for the book “Utopia”,
written in Latin, in which were
about an imaginary island
where everything is perfect.
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11. Utopia
• Utopia means “nowhere” in Greek;
Thomas knew clearly that such an
island could never exist. This dream of
a place where happiness reigns and
sorrow is banished is the most
persistent of human fantasies and
became a recurrent theme in many
other British literature works.

12. Thomas More Utopia

13. Italian Genius of Renaissance
Writing
• Machiavelli published a book
in 1513, The Prince. Theorized
about how a perfect ruler
would govern.
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14. Bible
• In 1604, King James I ordered
forty-seven scholars to
produce a translation of the
Bible to serve as the official
one of the Anglicanism, the so-
called “King James Bible”.
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15. It was published in
1611 and is
considered
a masterpiece of
English prose.

16. William Shakespeare: (1564-1616)
• William is considered
the greatest of all
English authors; his
texts and plays are
known worldwide and
are updated
constantly.
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17. Romeo and
Juliet
Hamlet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

18. Macbeth
• Macbeth compares life to a
candle, then to a shadow, to an
actor and finally to a story; this
rapid shifting of metaphors is
very characteristic of
Shakespeare’s work.
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19. Great writers from the Renaissance
Period
• Christopher Marlowe
• Sir Walter Raleigh
• Robert Herrick
• Andrew Marvell
• William Shakespeare
• John Donne
• Ben Jonson
• Francis Bacon
• John Milton
• John Bunyan
• Edmund Spenser
• Sir John Suckling
• Richard Lovelace

20. Poetry of the Renaissance/Elizabethan
Age
• Major themes – love and
beauty Physical beauty –
outward sign of the spirit
striving for perfection
(humanist theory).
• “Fair” = a sign of beauty

21. Poetry of the
Renaissance/Elizabethan Age
• Poet writes to a lady who is
inflexible. Man seeks her love,
but hopelessly. Her moods
create the weather. Lady is
usually not real (a stereotype).

22. Mona Lisa

23. Carpe Diem
• Carpe Diem is a Latin phrase
which means “seize the day.”
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24. “Live for today. Eat, drink,
and be merry, for tomorrow
we die.”

25. Pastoral Poetry
• Pastoral Poetry focuses on the
idealized countryside and the
simple life.
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26. Three Sonnet Types
• Petrarchan (Italian)
• Shakespearean (English)
• Spenserian
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27. Sonnets
Characteristics of ALL sonnets:
• meter = iambic pentameter
• rhyme = definite, but varies
from sonnet to sonnet
• 14 lines long

28. Sonnets
Variations in sonnets:
• rhyme
• structure (octave – sestet
VS. quatrains and a couplet)