The English Renaissance was no sharp contrast with the past.
Attitudes and feelings which had been characteristics of the 15 century persisted well down in to the era of Humanism and Reformation.
The medieval point of view and the popular collection of verse tales of the fall of princes were recurrent subjects that characterized the English Renaissance.Such view embodied a sentiment of the vanity of all earthly ambitions and achievements. Yet there was at the same time a spirit joy and gaiety of innocence that future ages were to look on as "merry England". This spirit is popular , it comes from the folk and from the persistent love of Englishmen for their countryside , it is spontaneous,yet seems somehow stable and permanent.
In addition to that , there was of course among the Elizabethans the opposite mood : the burning desire for conquest, for achievement and for surmounting all obstacles.
2011-09-25, 9:00 pm