Spenser's Views On Change And Protestantism

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the Renaissance changed man’s view of the world. By definition, the term Renaissance means, rebirth. It was a time of big change in European history. Over 300 years, the spread of new ideas and advancements in technology spread across western and northern Europe. The Renaissance changed mans view of the world through art, literature, and science.

During the shift from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, humanist thinkers and writers showed distinct changes in the areas such as art and literature. After the shift, men developed different viewpoints on status and individuality. Moreover, life on the earth was being enjoyed by a simple Renaissance men. The responsibility of power was shifting from the church to the royals during the movement. By looking at the various outlooks of men, what men focused on, and why power was shifting, one could see that the Renaissance was not just a high point but the rebirth of opportunities.

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander of love’s complications in an exchange with Hermia (Shakespeare I.i.136). Although the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream certainly deals with the difficulty of romance, it is not considered a true love story like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, as he unfolds the story, intentionally distances the audience from the emotions of the characters so he can caricature the anguish and burdens endured by the lovers. Through his masterful use of figurative language, Shakespeare examines the theme of the capricious and irrational nature of love.

Queen, by Audrey Flack is a very captivating piece of artwork. It was painted in 1976, originally Audrey Flack took a picture and then used it as the basis for this painting. Queen is a painting of box that is full of special mementos. It has features such as a quarter of an open orange, a rose, a pocket watch, a queen playing card, a locket of an older and a younger woman, lip balm, perfume, a chess piece, blush, and a chain necklace with the letter “F” on it. The painting almost looks like a vanity drawer or a keepsake drawer. However, realizing the fruits and flower in the painting I understood it to be a collection of the artist's memories as opposed to a drawer. Audrey Flack was demonstrating the many things that were significant to her while aging. Queen signifies the fight against time. It shows that no matter what possessions you retain it will not keep you young. No one can win the battle against time.

This book my Millard Meiss is addressing an area of study that is lacking. This text while informative is difficult to follow and the puts a lot of pressure on the reader to connect the dots. The content of the early renaissance can often be a difficult time in art history to nail down and discuss just because it is on the cusp of the late medieval and the renaissance itself. As any time of transition it can be difficult to understand what is happening in the world of art but may have been more convincing if he had placed this Tuscan period within the context of Europe as a whole at the time .This text by Millard Meiss helps the audience contextualize what was was happening in Italy after the black death and in doing so we understand the art world that much better. That being said the way in which Miess goes about making the argument that the art of this time is regressive, is problematic. In response to the question posed by this assignment how effective in my view is Millard Meiss’s argumentation? I am coming from the stand point that his argument is not effective. His argument is problematic because it is unclear, difficult to follow, lacks cohesion, and puts too much work on the reader. These elemental issues with his writing and argumentation are what in my view render the argument Millard Meiss is trying to make ineffective throughout his text “Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death”.

“The Faerie Queene,” was written during the early modern period, shows a massive change in Christian religious practices. Redcrosse offers his services to Gloriana, Queen of Fairyland Una reveals that the dragon of hell has captured her parents and that she needs assistance in getting them free. Redcrosse takes on the challenge of getting her parents released (Canto 1). This demonstrate a hero, he will go through great trials and fight fierce monsters and this in itself is the character of a heroic knight. Not only does his armor protect his body and those with him, but also being a Christian he has the protection of Christ. For the Christian to be holy, he must have faith.

According to Isabel Rivers, the modern scholar or student approaches Renaissance literature with an obvious disadvantage because he does not share the same views, beliefs and preconceptions as the

Envy is a sin that poisons the sinner and is self-destructive in nature. The common perception of envy is that it is an emotion that, much like jealousy, that comes from a desire to possess something that someone else has. However, envy goes a step further and causes an individual to not only desire what someone else has, but to also wish that the other person did not have it at all. Spenser uses the conventional view of envy stated above in conjunction with some unconventional imagery in order to elaborate on the nature and implications of being an envious person. In doing this Spenser is able to teach to reader an aspect of envy that they may not already know or understand. In his portrayal of envy in book one of The Faerie Queene, Spenser is trying to convey to his readers that people who are envious are trapped in and endless cycle of envy that leads to nothing but unhappiness and misery. Spenser’s interpretation of envy, like the other deadly sins in the house of pride, can be broken down into 4 images: the animal that he rides, his appearance, how he behaves, and the ailment he has. This paper will use the first three of these images to show how Spenser’s depiction of Envy is meant to teach the reader that the sin of envy can only lead to perpetual unhappiness and misery.

Two very powerful female figures are presented in Error of The Faerie Queene, and Sin of Paradise Lost. These two characters are quite similar in description, Milton making a clear tribute to Spencer's work. Both characters have the same monster qualities, and both posses allegorical names and qualities.

A critical point in European history was the Renaissance period, which took place between 1300-1700. The term Renaissance stands for ‘rebirth’, and in this context refers to the increased interest that was taken in learning from Greek and Roman classical writing. Recent exploration by historians into the Renaissance period has seen a fixation on the discussion of the role of gender during the Renaissance. A variety of historians, such as Joan Kelly and Merry E. Weisner, believe that women didn’t experience any form of a Renaissance during this period. It can be widely acknowledged that during this period society did experience a ‘rebirth’, especially in terms of the role of the men in Europe. Women, on the other hand, weren’t as fortunate.

In Tomson Highway’s novel Kiss of the Fur Queen the opening passage transports the reader to the harsh, cold, and intense struggle of the caribou hunter, Abraham Okimasis during a championship husky sled race. Any race often proves to be physically and mentally exhausting for a person. Highway utilizes a fantastic variety of literary devices to dramatize Okimasis’ physical and emotional experience through his last leg of the race by creating a powerfully intense atmosphere through the effective use of descriptive imagery, passionate diction, repetition of words, and a tone of desperation.

Queen Elisabeth greatly enjoyed this piece of literature and, soon after, became Spenser’s patron, allowing him to devote his time to write. His belief in humanism and a new way of living, provided by the queen, helped him to continue writing about issues in society that were yet to be resolved. He wrote freely and with a strong opinion concerning all matters, especially religion. As society began to shift, religious views began to transform in England, due to many conflicting political events.

    Edmund Spenser in his epic romance, The Faerie Queene, invents and depicts a wide array of female figures.  Some of these women, such as Una and Caelia, are generally shown as faithful, virtuous and overall lovely creatures.  Other feminine characters, such as Errour, Pride, and Duessa are false, lecherous and evil.  This might seem to be the end of Spenser's categorization of women; that they are either good or bad.  Yet upon closer examination one finds that Spenser seems to be struggling to portray women more honestly, to depict the "complex reality of woman" (Berger, 92).  Spenser does not simply "idealize women or the feminine viewpoint" as he could easily do

The Faerie Queene is an important romantic epic that more than being just poetry, represents the protestant imagery in terms of kinds of individual virtue , the forces of temptation and human weaknesses to which the greatest of persons can succumb and, of course, the humanist ideals of its time. His author, Edmund Spenser, makes use of biblical and classic allegories to tell his story, that more than have been a religious writing, the poem’s purpose was to educate, to turn young men into gentlemen and to make a declaration of faith in England. However, the more important purpose of the Faerie Queene is its allegory, the meaning behind its characters and events. The story's setting is a fanciful "faerie land," that

Spenser also wrote the famous wedding hymns Prothalmion and Epithalmion. The Faerie Queene is the masterpiece of Spenser. He modeled it on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. It contains six books each of which describes the adventure and triumph of a knight who represents a moral virtue. It is a didactic romance. For this he invented a poetic form known as Spenserian stanza. Spenser's idealism, his love of beauty and his exquisite melody has earned him the name "The Poets' Poet."