Renaissance English Literature

Troubadours and Courtly Love

2005-07-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

A short description of the troubadours and courtly Love--scroll down and listen to a beautiful recording of "Ce fu en mai."

Faust - Melvyn Bragg's IN OUR TIME

2005-07-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

Melvyn Bragg hosts roundtable discussions on the history of ideas in the always excellent BBC Radio 4 program IN OUR TIME. This show from the archives, Dec. 23, 2004, which you can listen to in its entirety online, is all about Faust or this one about Christopher Marlowe.

A Brief History of Classical Arcadia

2005-07-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Marc-Andre Wiesmann, Professor of French and Classics, in the Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Skidmore College, provides an excellent brief background on the origins of classical Arcadia, which may give you some insight into the pastoral mode as it is used by the writers in the English Renaissance.

An essay on the pastoral ideal in the Renaissance

2005-07-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Essay on the pastoral by Michael Everton: "Style: Critical thumbprints in Arcadia: Renaissance pastoral and the process of critique"

Old Virginia: The Pursuit of a Pastoral Ideal

2005-07-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Virginia Historical Society has put together an interesting website called Old Virginia: The Pursuit of a Pastoral Ideal. Some very interesting materials here!

Article: Utopia as Mirror for a Life and Times

2005-07-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Utopia as Mirror for a Life and Times, a conference paper by Richard Marius, Keynote Address, Loyola College of Baltimore, Maryland. 2 March 1995.

Thomas More Society

2005-07-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

A nice page devoted to the study of Thomas More. You might find the section called More about More especially useful.

Renaissance Editions - Online Library (1477-1799)

2005-07-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

Renaissance Editions is a one-stop online library of 193 titles, all "works printed in English between the years 1477-1799."

Greville's Dark Night

2005-07-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

A brief analysis of Lord Brooke Fulke Greville's sonnet, "In night when colors all to black are cast."

Utopia: New York Public Library Online Exhibit

2005-07-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Take a virtual tour of the NYPL's recent Utopia Exhibit.

Paradise Lost Illustrated

2005-06-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Illustrations by William Blake, Gustave Dore, John Martin, John B. Medina, Edward Burney, Richard Westall, Francis Hayman, and Terrence Lindall.

Milton: Paradise Regain'd (full text with notes)

2005-06-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

An online reading room for Paradise Regain'd.

Milton: Study Guide for Paradise Lost

2005-06-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

An official online Paradise Lost Study Guide.

Squashed Philosophers: Thomas Hobbes' LEVIATHAN

2005-06-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Even this amazing abridged and condensed version of Leviathan is hefty (11,700 words).

Ben Jonson (& His Followers)

2005-06-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

A broad overview that serves as a nice introduction to Ben Johnson (& his followers, known as the "Sons of Ben") by Professor Jennifer Mooney, who writes, "Ben Jonson and John Donne, each in his own way, represented in some degree a revolt against or at least a turning away from the Spenserian tradition. The result was decisive for the future of English poetry...."

Shakespeare Online - the Sonnets

2005-06-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

A cleanly presented, useful index to the Bard's Sonnets. Much else here for Shakespeare enthusiasts as well.

Shakespeare's Sonnets and Then Some

2005-06-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

The amazing web site of Shakespeare's Sonnets contains riches beyond description. The site design may pose some difficulty, but bear with it. You'll find interesting and helpful commentary provided with each of Shakespeare's sonnets. You can also find other texts of the period presented, including sonnets by Wyatt and Drayton (Idea is presented in full), as well numerous paintings and sketches of Elizabethan London and its many major players.

Francesco Petrarch and Laura DeNoves

2005-06-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a site devoted to Francesco Petrarch, the influential Italian poet whose sonnets greatly inspired many of the English poets we're studying. Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Drayton . . . (who am I forgetting?) They were all influenced one way or another by this Italian master of the canzoniere.