THE RENAISSANCE

It could be argued that no other literary period in history is as rich—or paradoxical—as the Renaissance. Many historians place the
Renaissance from the mid-fifteenth until the early seventeenth century. The Renaissance started in Italy, then spread slowly to
other European countries, most notably France, Spain, and finally, England.

At its most pure form, the Renaissance (from the French word for “revival”) refers to the widespread renewal of interest in
classical Greek and Roman learning and culture that took place between the Middle Ages and the modern period. With the advent
of the printing press in 1450, the development of vernacular languages, and the weakening influence of the Catholic Church on
daily life, among other historic events, Renaissance writers and scholars received new avenues for expressing their views. The
explosion of literary works that followed live on today as some of the most celebrated in literary history.

The revival of ancient classical learning scored its first clear impact on English drama in the middle of the sixteenth century. In
fact, the Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama. Previous to this impact there had
been a pretty vigorous native tradition of drama, particularly comedy. This tradition had its origin in the liturgical drama and had
progressed through the miracle and the mystery, and later the morality, to the interlude. John Heywood had written quite a few
vigorous interludes, but they were altogether different in tone, spirit, and purpose from the Greek and Roman drama of antiquity.
The first English regular tragedy Gorboduc (written by Sackville and Norton, and first acted in 1562) and comedy Ralph Roister
Doister (written about 1550 by Nicholas Udall) were very much imitations of classical tragedy and comedy. It is interesting to note
that English dramatists came not under the spell of the ancient Greek dramatists "(Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the
tragedy writers, and Aristophanes, the comedy writer) but the Roman dramatists (Seneca, the tragedy writer, and Plautus and.
Terence, the comedy writers). It was indeed unfortunate, as Greek drama is vastly superior to Roman drama. Gorboduc is a slavish
imitation of Senecan tragedy and has all its features without much of its life. Like Senecan tragedy it has revenge as the tragic
motive, has most of its important incidents (mostly murders) narrated on the stage by messengers, has much of rhetoric and
verbose declamation, has a ghost among its dramatis personae, and so forth. It is a good instance of the "blood and thunder" kind
of tragedy. Ralph Roister Doister is modelled upon Plautus and Terence. It is based on the stupid endeavours of the hero for
winning the love of a married woman. There is the cunning, merry slave-Matthew Merrygreek-a descendant of the Plautine slave
who serves as the motive which keeps the play going.

Some examples of Elizabethan comedy are– John Lyly’s The women in the Moone, Thomas Dekker’s The Roaring Girl, William
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Examples of Elizabethan tragedies are–Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, Thomas Kyd’s The
Spanish Tragedy and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi.

Revenge Tragedy or Revenge play is a type of drama which flourished in the Elizabethan age under the Roman dramatist, Seneca.
Its main theme was revenge for murder. The first example of this type was Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy and the
play Hamlet written by Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare is considered an Elizabethan dramatist in the broader sense, although most of his work was produced during
the reign of James-I. Shakespearean comedy is different from other contemporary comedy. Its primary aim is neither a satire nor a
correction of the evils prevalent in society. It aims at giving pleasure and joy. Charlton classifies Shakespearean comedy into four
categories– (1) Romantic Comedy (2) Anti Romantic Comedy (3) Middle Comedy (4) Late Comedy. On the other hand
Shakespeare’s tragedies are concerned with the ruin and restoration of the soul and the life of the men. In other words, it is subject
to struggle of good and evil in the world.

Shakespeare is admirable for his humanity. He loves human beings and has infinite feelings of sympathy for his creations. He is
not a rabid satirist like his contemporary Ben Johnson. Shakespeare’s greatness lies in his sympathy for human beings. His
language and style impress us most. At last, we can say that in the realm of English Drama, Shakespeare is surely without a peer.

In conclusion, we can say that this age was a glorious period. It was like a sunrise after a long period of darkness. In the words of
Milton “We suddenly see England, a noble and puissant nation, rousing herself like a strong man after sleep and shaking her
invincible locks.” It was a glorious in which men of genius like Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon and Marlowe could make their mark.
The Elizabethan literature became very pregnant with the impact of Renaissance.