Renaissance Literature Themes
The main themes in Renaissance literature include antiquity, individualism, and faith in reason.
- Antiquity: The Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual rebirth that revived the ideas and works of classical antiquity.
- Individualism: The Renaissance brought a new emphasis on the powers and freedoms of the individual, a break from the hierarchical paradigm of the Middle Ages.
- Faith in reason: One of the core philosophies of the Renaissance was humanism, which promoted a secular approach to life.
Antiquity
The Renaissance emerged from a revival of classical learning, which had been largely neglected during the Middle Ages when most authors celebrated the Catholic Church and its teachings. As cities flourished, religious corruption grew, and the Church's influence diminished. Writers began to reengage with classical texts and integrate them into their own works. Erasmus’s personified “Folly” in The Praise of Folly states, “My father was neither the Chaos, nor Orcus, nor Saturn, nor Jupiter,” referencing four deities from Greek and Roman mythology. The invention of the printing press in the 1450s ushered in an era of mass-market print distribution, allowing more writers to access a classical education.
Individualism
The study of classical languages and values inspired Renaissance writers to adopt the classical style in their works and embrace a more worldly perspective than the religious writings of the Middle Ages. This encouraged writers and scholars to look beyond the Church’s teachings and independently interpret scriptures. This significant shift from relying solely on the Church’s wisdom to seeking understanding through scholarship led to a profound appreciation for the human individual, a movement known as Humanism. This celebration of humanity and human experience eventually fostered the belief that humans could attain perfection in this life, not just in a divine paradise. Shakespeare’s Danish prince Hamlet reflects this idea in a well-known passage from Hamlet: “What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties!” (Here, "faculties" means “abilities.”)
Faith in Reason
With the revival of classical learning and a focus on secular, or nonreligious, human concerns, scholars and writers adopted a spirit of skepticism and began to prioritize reason. This belief directly contradicted Church teachings, which urged people to place their faith solely in the Church. However, it is crucial to understand that humanists were not opposed to the Church. In fact, most humanists believed their faith was reinforced by reason, and when they used rational or skeptical arguments against the Church, it was to encourage reform of the Church’s practices. Beyond their critique of the Church, humanists also used reason to challenge the unrealistic ideals prevalent in medieval literary works, particularly chivalric romances. Cervantes’s Don Quixote exemplifies this approach. The protagonist, an old man, becomes so consumed by the idealism found in medieval romances that he loses touch with reality, believes he is a knight, and sets off on adventurous quests. In one of the most famous scenes, Quixote attempts to battle windmills, mistaking them for giants. Quixote declares, “This is noble, righteous warfare, for it is wonderfully useful to God to have such an evil race wiped from the face of the earth.”
Education
Education was of paramount importance to Renaissance writers, who pursued their own learning with great enthusiasm. As literacy rates increased due to the printing revolution, more people beyond scholars were able to read, prompting writers to broaden their focus. Historian Norman Davies notes in Europe, “The humanists knew that to create a New Man one had to start from schoolboys and students.” Renaissance writers then directed their attention to other specific segments of the public, producing various educational publications that detailed the proper ways to do nearly everything. In 1518, Baldassare Castiglione wrote The Courtier, a guide to courtly behavior. In 1530, Erasmus penned Manners for Children. In 1532, Guillaume Budé highlighted the importance of learning in The Right and Proper Institution of the Study of Learning, while in the same year, Machiavelli authored The Prince, a handbook for government leaders.
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