English Literature during the Renassaince

An Evolution of the Past Although the literature of England during the Middle Ages may hardly seem comparable to the more elegant literature present during the Renaissance, England=s early literature actually paved the way for the poems and plays of the 16th century. In this respect, English literature of the Renaissance may be seen as a refinement of its earlier works, helped in part by the collapse of the universal church and the rebirth of Greek and Roman ideas. Many of the things written about during this period-- the issues addressed in The Canterbury Tales for example-- were not entirely new subjects, but instead ones that been suppressed by the church or upper-class in previous works of literature. Finally, with the growing education of the middle and lower classes, greater diversity of style became apparent. In order to understand the differences and similarities of these two literary time periods, one must first understand the influences upon the Middel Ages from its predecessor. During the Middle Ages, some of the traditional Old English beliefs were kept, but with a few changes.

The patriarchal system remained, although unlike the literature of the 8th and 9th century, women were now finding their place in many written works. For example, when Chaucer writes of The Wife of Bathe, he depicts a colorful character who would never have surfaced in Beowulf. Another change is found in the idea of the Ahero.@ During the Middle Ages, the hero has become less hardened; he has acquired values and morals. The idea of a chivalrous knight has taken the place of a unidimensional warrior who grunts and boasts and drags his knuckles as he walks.

The Knight 2 most prolific change, however, was in the new presence of the Christian Church, which took the place of the Anglo-Saxon=s fatalistic culture and influenced almost all of the aspects of the society of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance, with its rebirth of art and science, brought about further change to the literature of England. Where the stories of knights and warriors fighting Grendels and dragons once dominated the literature, beautifully scripted sonnets and tales of romance now took the literary forefront. Take, for example, women=s roles in written works. Women carried very little importance in the literature of Beowulf=s time, but by the time Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, female characters were more prevalent.

Although the Wife