Nguyễn Duy Bình

Foreign Languages Department

Vinh University
Tel: 0947 492 309
Email: duybinhdhv@gmail.com
THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

2021-2022
 Chapter 3:
THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

The beginning
Though renaissance began in 1453, its effect on
English life and literature was felt after 1500. For
this reason, it is generally accepted that the
Renaissance Period began with the beginning of
the 16th century and continued till the Restoration
in 1660. This period is called the Renaissance
Period because renaissance spirit was the main
driving force that characterized the literature of
this time.
 Chapter 3:
THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)
This period of 160 years is subdivided into four shorter
ages after the names of the political rulers:

-Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

Jacobean Age (1603-1625)

Caroline Age (1625-1649)

Commonwealth Period (1649-1660)

 Chapter 3:
THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

The name
This age is named after Queen
Elizabeth I who reigned over
England from 1558 to 1603.
This is called:
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

1. Historical background
The important facts which Influenced the Literature of
this Period:
- With the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, dynastic
problems and political troubles came to an end.
Religious and social stability brought about national
prosperity.
- The religious Reformation inspired religious tolerance
and secularism.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

1. Historical background
Elizabeth 1 introduced Anglicanism to settle religious
problems. It has a long history. In the 16th century
Martin Luther of Germany and Zwingli and Calvin of
Switzerland protested against the autocracy of the then
Pope. Those who supported them were called
Protestants and those who still supported the Pope were
called the papists or Catholics. Henry VIII who was the
King of England during those years supported
Protestantism for his personal advantage. He wanted to
divorce his first wife, Catherine, and marry Anne Boleyn,
his fiancée.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

But the Pope did not approve it. So he denied

Pope’s authority, married Anne Boleyn and
introduced Protestantism to England. Some of the
people accepted King’s religious authority but the
rest followed the Pope’s rule. This caused a bloody
civil war which continued till 1558, the year Queen
Elizabeth I came to power. She understood the
problem and introduced Anglicanism, England’s
own church. This religious settlement brought
stability and prosperity to England in the second
half of the 16th century.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

▪ Geographical and astronomical discoveries of the previous

decades brought unlimited fortune during this period.
▪ Renaissance that had started earlier was now very
strongly felt in England. It brought ancient Greek and
Roman wisdom to England. Erasmus reached England,
and with John Coiet, taught humanism and other ideals of
renaissance.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)
The social life of England was marked with:
a strong national spirit

Humanism

liberal religious views

scientific curiosity

social content

intellectual progress

unlimited enthusiasm.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

2. Literature
The Elizabethan Age was the golden age of English
drama. Some of its noteworthy figures include
Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Edmund
Spenser, and, of course, William Shakespeare.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

Main Literary Features of the Age:

Elizabethan literature reflects a great variety of creative

genius.

It demonstrates experimentation and innovation in dramatic

and poetic forms and techniques.

It is deeply influenced by the Renaissance spirit, especially

by the Renaissance literature of Italy, France, and Spain.

In style, it exhibits romantic exuberance.

 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

Its writers are all men (not women) from all classes of the society,

It is an age of exquisite poetry, unparalleled drama and splendid

prose.

It marks a shift from man’s Fate to his free will.

It develops English language to a level of stable standard.

Its spirit ranges from the Platonic idealism or the delightful romance
to the level of gross realism.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

The literature of this age shows a quest for “the

remote, the wonderful and the beautiful”.

It reflects original romanticism that revived

during the beginning of Romantic Age in 1798.

It initiates literary criticism.

 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

3. Major authors and works

3.3.1. Thomas More (1478-1535)
More was an English lawyer, scholar,
writer, member of parliament and
chancellor in the reign of Henry VIII.
He was executed for refusing to
recognise Henry VIII's divorce and the
English church's break with Rome.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

Thomas More was born on 7 February 1478 in

London, the son of a successful lawyer. He later
studied at Oxford, and qualified as a lawyer,
although he did contemplate becoming a monk.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

From 1510 to 1518 he was one of the two under-

sheriffs of London and in 1517 entered the king's
service, becoming one of Henry VIII's most
effective and trusted civil servants and acting as his
secretary, interpreter, speech-writer, chief
diplomat, advisor and confidant. In 1521, he was
knighted, in 1523, he became the speaker of the
House of Commons and in 1525 chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

At the same time More was building a reputation as a

scholar. He was close to the radical catholic
theologian Erasmus, but wrote polemics against
Martin Luther and the protestant reformation.
Around 1515, he wrote 'The History of Richard III'
which established that king's reputation as a tyrant
and has been described as the first masterpiece of
English historiography. In 1516, he published his
most important work 'Utopia' - a description of an
imaginary republic ruled by reason and intended to
contrast with the strife-ridden reality of
contemporary European politics.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

More remained a passionate defender of Catholic

orthodoxy - writing pamphlets against heresy,
banning unorthodox books, and even taking
responsibility when chancellor for the interrogation
of heretics.
In 1534, More was arrested after refusing to swear an
oath of succession repudiating the pope and
accepting the annulment of Henry's marriage. He was
tried for treason at Westminster, and, on 6 July 1535
was executed on Tower Hill.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

The Utopia
In May 1515 More was appointed to a delegation to
revise an Anglo-Flemish commercial treaty. The
conference was held at Brugge, with long intervals
that More used to visit other Belgian cities. He
began in the Low Countries and completed after his
return to London his Utopia, which was published
at Leuven in December 1516. The book was an
immediate success with the audience for which
More wrote it: the humanists and an elite group of
public officials.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

More’s Utopia describes a pagan and communist

city-state in which the institutions and policies are
entirely governed by reason. The order and dignity
of such a state provided a notable contrast with the
unreasonable polity of Christian Europe, divided by
self-interest and greed for power and riches, which
More described in Book I, written in England in
1516.
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ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

Utopia is a little, true book, both beneficial and

enjoyable, about how things should be in the new
island Utopia, a work of fiction and socio-political
satire by Thomas More written in Latin and
published in 1516. The book is a frame narrative
primarily depicting a fictional island society and its
religious, social, and political customs. Many
aspects of More's description of Utopia are
reminiscent of life in monasteries.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

The description of Utopia is put in the mouth of a

mysterious traveler, Raphael Hythloday, in support
of his argument that communism is the only cure
against egoism in private and public life.
Through dialogue More speaks in favour of the
mitigation of evil rather than its cure, human
nature being fallible. Among the topics discussed
by More in Utopia were penology, state-controlled
education, religious pluralism, divorce, euthanasia,
and women’s rights.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

The resulting demonstration of his learning,

invention, and wit established his reputation as
one of the foremost humanists. Soon translated
into most European languages, Utopia became the
ancestor of a new literary genre,
the utopian romance.
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

Quotes from Utopia

“A pretty face may be enough to catch a man, but it
takes character and good nature to hold him.”
“You wouldn't abandon ship in a storm just
because you couldn't control the winds.”
“Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments,
it would be far more to the point to provide
everyone with some means of livelihood, so that
nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming
first a thief and then a corpse.”
 Chapter 3: THE
ELIZABETHAN PERIOD
(1485-1603)

“Pride thinks it's own happiness shines the

brighter by comparing it with the misfortunes of
others.”

“Kindness and good nature unite men more

effectually and with greater strength than any
agreements whatsoever, since thereby the
engagements of men's hearts become stronger
than the bond and obligation of words.”
MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE

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2021-2022