Elizabethan literature
In 1588, the Spanish fleet approached England with a force of over one hundred ships. This military threat created a moment of intense national anxiety that shaped the cultural output of the era. Elizabeth I presided over this period of crisis and recovery from her throne in London. Her reign established the Church of England through the Elizabethan Settlement. This religious compromise allowed for a vigorous culture to flourish despite political tensions. The defeat of the Spanish Armada became a central theme in art and literature. An unidentified artist painted the famous Armada Portrait during these years. The painting shows allegorical figures alongside the naval backdrop of the English victory. This image captured both imperial majesty and the survival of the nation. A London-centred culture emerged as courtly and popular interests merged. Writers found patronage within this shifting landscape of power and belief.
John Lyly published Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit in 1578. His mannered literary style originated in this first book and became known as euphuism. He followed this work with Euphues and His England two years later in 1580. Thomas Nashe arrived on the scene around November 1567 and died circa 1601. Nashe is considered the greatest of the English Elizabethan pamphleteers. He wrote plays, poetry, and satire throughout his career. His novel The Unfortunate Traveller stands out among his many works. Lyly must also be remembered as a primary influence on the plays of William Shakespeare. Specifically, his romantic comedies show clear traces of Lyly's earlier prose techniques. Love's Metamorphosis by Lyly influenced Love's Labour's Lost by Shakespeare. Gallathea serves as a possible source for other plays written during that time. George Puttenham published The Arte of English Poesie in 1589. This handbook on poetry and rhetoric remains influential to this day.
Thomas Wyatt lived from 1503 until 1542 and introduced innovations into English poetry. He worked alongside Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey who lived from 1516 or 1517 until 1547. These two men brought the sonnet form from Italy into England in the early 16th century. Wyatt took subject matter from Petrarch's sonnets but changed the rhyme schemes significantly. Petrarchan sonnets start with an octave rhyming ABBA ABBA followed by a sestet. Wyatt employed the Petrarchan octave but used CDDC EE for his most common sestet rhyme scheme. This marks the beginnings of the English sonnet with three quatrains and a closing couplet. Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene which appeared in 1590 and again in 1596. Sir Philip Sidney lived from 1554 until 1586 and produced works like Astrophel and Stella. Poems intended to be set to music became popular as printed literature spread more widely. Thomas Campion lived from 1567 until 1620 and contributed songs to this musical tradition.
Thomas Kyd lived from 1558 until 1594 and wrote The Spanish Tragedy in 1592. This play established a new genre known as the revenge tragedy or revenge play. Its plot contains several violent murders including a personification of Revenge. The Spanish Tragedy was often referred to or parodied in works written by other Elizabethan playwrights. William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe all referenced elements from Kyd's work. A play-within-a-play used to trap a murderer appears in Hamlet alongside a ghost intent on vengeance. Jane Lumley lived from 1537 until 1578 and translated Euripides into English for the first time. Her translation of Iphigeneia at Aulis stands as the first known dramatic work by a woman in English. William Shakespeare wrote plays in various genres including histories, tragedies, comedies, and late romances. His early classical comedies like A Comedy of Errors gave way to romantic atmospheres in the mid-1590s. Works such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing defined this era.
Christopher Marlowe lived from 1564 until 1593 and focused his subject matter on moral drama. He introduced the story of Faust to England in Doctor Faustus around 1592. This play features a scientist and magician who sells his soul to the Devil. Faustus uses the dramatic framework of morality plays with figures like Lucifer and Mephistopheles. Thomas Dekker lived circa 1570 until 1632 and was involved in about forty plays between 1598 and 1602. He is particularly remembered for The Shoemaker's Holiday which appeared in 1599. Dekker noted for his realistic portrayal of daily London life and sympathy for the poor. Robert Greene lived circa 1558 until 1592 and is now best known for a posthumous pamphlet. Greenes Groats-worth of Witte contains an attack on William Shakespeare widely believed to be attributed to him. John Donne lived from 1572 until 1631 and Ben Jonson lived from 1572 until 1637. These writers contributed significantly to the literary landscape of the period.
The canon of Renaissance English poetry has always been in some form of flux since its inception. It is only towards the late 20th century that concerted efforts were made to challenge this established list. Questions regarding geographical areas, genres, and specific writers became central to modern scholarship. The Victorian period formed the canon through anthologies like Palgrave's Golden Treasury. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch published Oxford Book of English Verse in 1919 as another representative idea. T.S. Eliot wrote many essays on Elizabethan subjects mainly concerning theatre but also brought back long-forgotten poets. He championed Sir John Davies in an article in The Times Literary Supplement in 1926. Yvor Winters suggested an alternative canon of Elizabethan poetry in 1939. He excluded famous representatives of the Petrarchan school represented by Sidney and Spenser. Instead he focused on native or plain-style anti-Petrarchan movement which had been overlooked. George Gascoigne lived from 1525 until 1577 and was deemed the most underrated member of this movement. Both Eliot and Winters were much in favour of the established canon before the end of the 20th century.
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Common questions
When did Elizabethan literature begin and end?
Elizabethan literature spans from 1558 to 1603. This period covers the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England.
Who wrote Euphues The Anatomy of Wit and when was it published?
John Lyly published Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit in 1578. His mannered literary style originated in this first book and became known as euphuism.
What is the significance of Thomas Kyd's play The Spanish Tragedy?
Thomas Kyd wrote The Spanish Tragedy in 1592. This play established a new genre known as the revenge tragedy or revenge play.
How did John Donne contribute to Elizabethan literature?
John Donne lived from 1572 until 1631 and contributed significantly to the literary landscape of the period. He is one of the writers who shaped the era alongside Ben Jonson.
Which poet introduced the sonnet form into English poetry during the early 16th century?
Thomas Wyatt lived from 1503 until 1542 and introduced innovations into English poetry. He worked alongside Henry Howard Earl of Surrey to bring the sonnet form from Italy into England in the early 16th century.