Analysis Of The Renaissance By Jerry Brotton

The Renaissance (A Very Short Introduction) written by Jerry Brotton has been illustrated into six illustrations: A global Renaissance, The humanist script, Church and state, Brave new worlds, Science and philosophy and Rewriting the Renaissance. Since this book is a history book, it is quite tough to read. This book is all about the past history which is related to the Renaissance. Honestly, I do not even have clear understanding on what is called “Renaissance” until I read this book. On page 9, under the subtitle of “Where and when was the Renaissance?” I finally found the meaning of Renaissance: the revival of classical culture. This word is come from Italian word which is rinascita. Then, French historian, Jules Michelet had come out with the definition of Renaissance. He define Renaissance as decisive historical period in European culture that represented a crucial break with the Middle Ages, and which created a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world. He also promoted the Renaissance as representing a certain spirit or attitude, as much as referring to a specific historical period. But then, his Renaissance only took place on 16th century even though he had defined it from the previous century. There was also Jacob Burckhart, Swiss academic defined it as an Italian 15th-century phenomenon. By read it further, I found that these two persons read the vision of the Renaissance like a version of their own personal circumstances. Then again, there was also an Oxford-educated don, Walter Pater defined on this word. Similarly, in further reading, all these three thinkers had created 19th –century idea of the Renaissance as more of a spirit than a historical period.

On the chapter 1 which is “A global renaissanc...

... middle of paper ...

...mple of his drama is, The Comedy of Errors. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid offered Renaissance poets classical models of empire-building and myths of national origin structured around the heroic wanderings of a central protagonist. One of the most influential practitioners of the epic was Ludovico Ariosto, an ambassador to one of the greatest Italian dynasties of 15th century, Este Ferrara. Then, Matteo Bandello published his Novelle, short stories of contemporary urban life while Giambattista Giraldi or known as Cinthio, printed another collection of equally influential novellas in 1565. These works were so good as it is emphasize on the struggling of previous people.

As a conclusion, Renaissance is an important event throughout the world. It changes world from being in depressions into being into developing lifestyles. This event so impresses me.