Renaissance (Literary Movements in Literature)

THE RENAISSANCE

The term Renaissance  means Rebirth or Revival of Learning.In art and literature it meant to the rebirth or revival of Greek art, Literature, Culture and pattern of life which had partly or largely been destroyed by the repeated invasions of the Turks.the turks were a barbarous tribe who not only destroyed the wealth of the greeks but also destroyed their art and literature and the centres of their culture and education during the 15th century. The final holocaust of Greek art and literature occurred when Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453.

The Greek artist scholars, poets and philosopher fled from Greece and carried with them their own books manuscripts and other objects of are together with those of their ancestors and found favourable centre in Rome in Italy. In Italy they found a very favourable atmosphere for the revival and further enrichment to of their art and literature. Therefore this event may be taken as the starting point of the Renaissance.

The Greek learning was revived by The scholars of the classics called Humanists.they revived the knowledge of the Greek language discovered a great number of Greek manuscripts and added considerable e to the number of Roman authors and works which had been known in the middle ages.

From Italy the Renaissance spread through Germany, Spain ,France, the Netherlands and finally reached England. The Renaissance become a national movement during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. During her reign it became a mass movement and flourished and came to the reign of King James 1 and it came to its end during the reign of king Charles 1.

The Renaissance advocated and brought into practice the principle of dignity of man as man the patriotic Zeal, The spirit of love and beauty and revival of Greek and Roman literary forms .

Milton in the Paradise Lost, Spenser in the Faerie Queene and his Pastoral Poetry, Gray in his Pindaric Ode, Milton in his sonnets Ben Jonson in his comedy of humours, Shakespeare in his tragedies, Elizabethan critics in their literary theories followed the Greek and Roman models.

Homer, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles became the models for various forms of literature for all time to come.