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He certainly incorporated Renaissance ideals: from his own astonishing linguistic invention to the number of plays inspired by ancient Greek and Roman history and literature, Shakespeare is a product of a time looking both ahead and behind. When he moved to London in the 1580s, he moved from a more medieval life to a Renaissance one, and this duality is present in his writing. In writing these Renaissance men and women, however, Shakespeare was also drawing on a long career as a playwright steeped in Middle Ages convention.īecause the Renaissance reached England later than other parts of Europe, the hold of medieval beliefs was strong in Shakespeare’s day, especially in the less urban Stratford-upon-Avon of his youth. Many of these values can be seen in The Tempest, whether in Prospero’s love of learning and magic, Ferdinand’s courage and loyalty alongside his willingness to try new experiences, or Miranda’s wonder and excitement at the world opening up before her. And magic played a role: astrology and alchemy were taught alongside astronomy and chemistry in the universities that spread wildly during the time. With the invention of the printing press and the resulting spread of the printed word and literacy, written grammar and spelling were standardized. Because the search for knowledge was so central, scientific beliefs were reevaluated and new understandings of subjects like the body or the structure of the solar system were presented. The Renaissance’s emphasis on discovery and learning led to a huge number of advancements creatively, culturally, linguistically, and scientifically. LEFT: A 1568 engraving of a printing press (source: Wikipedia) RIGHT: The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, a Renaissance painting about a classical subject (source: ) For Renaissance thinkers, the intervening centuries offered little of value, and only passed the time between the two greater eras. In fact, it was the Renaissance that gave us the term “Middle Ages” in an attempt to reject the time between the classical and Renaissance eras. #Theater through the ages the renaissance answer key how toIn addition to pushing toward the new, though, the Renaissance also reached backwards toward the classical age, where the ancient Romans and Greeks presented models for how to learn and live. Humanists were as interested in these fields as they were in the act of learning, and the willingness to constantly explore was central to Renaissance thought. Whether in Italy or England, the Renaissance can be characterized by the rise of humanism, which placed more value on rhetoric, poetry, history, grammar, and moral philosophy than on accepted dogma. ![]() The period was shorter in England, however: the ideals of the period would not reach Britain until the 16th century, and gained most traction in the second half of that century in the urban center of London. The Renaissance began in Italy around 1350, reached most of the rest of Europe by 1450, and ended around 1620. LEFT: The Gothic architecture of early 13th-century Rievaulx Abbey church, North Yorkshire (source: English Heritage) RIGHT: An illustration of Chaucer from a 15th century manuscript of THE CANTERBURY TALES (source: Encyclopaedia Britannica) It also laid the groundwork for the Renaissance gothic architecture and universities were both born in this time, and it produced writers like Chaucer and Dante. ![]() #Theater through the ages the renaissance answer key seriesThe period was marked by the Crusades and feudalism, one a series of religious wars and the other a work system built on strict distinctions between the landowners and those working the fields. It was characterized by a belief in God’s complete control, and adherence to the Roman Catholic Church that interpreted and enforced religious doctrine in everyday life. Some argue that the European Middle Ages started with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, while others believe it began in 1100. Characteristic for his work, and for its endurance, is his merging of the Middle Ages thinking of his youth with the Renaissance traditions of his adopted home: London. However, the values and theatrical structures of the Middle Ages were not far from Shakespeare’s mind. #Theater through the ages the renaissance answer key fullOriginally produced during Lantern Theater Company’s 2017/18 season and streaming May 4–30, 2021, as part of our new Plays from the Lantern Archives series, The Tempest was written when London was in full sway of the Renaissance and would remain so for another decade. Clerics in the religion-focused Middle Ages learning geometry and astronomy (Source: Wikipedia) ![]()
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