Page 9 - FEN1(2)C01 LITERATURES IN ENGLISH PAPER I: From Chaucer to the Present

Characteristic of the age:
The most characteristic feature of the age was the
comparative religious tolerance. The frightful excesses of the
religious were known as “The Thirty Years war.” The whole
kingdom divided again itself—the north was largely Catholic,
while the Southern counties were as strongly Protestants. It
was in age of social contentment. The rapid increase of the
manufacturing towns gave employment to thousands who
had before being idle and discounted. It was an age of dreams,
of adventure, of unbounded enthusiasm. The age of Elizabeth
was a time of intellectual liberty, of growing intelligence and
comfort among all classes, of unbounded patriotism, and of
peace at the home and abroad.

Elizabethan Sonneteers
Sonnet in England was imported from abroad. It was Wyatt
who introduced the sonnet in England. Wyatt’s lead was
accepted by Surrey whose sonnets were likewise published
after his death, in the Miscellany. The Italian plan of writing
sonnets in sequences was adopted by Spenser also. His
Amoretti, a series of 88 sonnets describe the progress of his
love for Elizabeth Boyle, whom he married in 1594. It is with
Sidney’s work that the popular vogue of the sonnet began. The
vogue remained in full swing till the end of the 16th C. Sidney’s
most important was his sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella
which appeared in 1591. It comprised one hundred and eight
sonnets and eleven songs. It is Sidney told the story of his
unrequited love for Penelope.