CSP
What is Renaissance? Discuss the main characteristics of Renaissance.
Answer:
The word Renaissance is an Italian word which means re-birth or regeneration or reawakening. Actually it was a revolution reviving the spirit of Greek and Latin learning. This revival of classical knowledge is called the Renaissance. It conveys the idea that for centuries. It shows a larger change in point of view. The Renaissance was essentially a European movement that originated in Italy and then spread gradually to other countries of western and northern Europe like Germany, France, and England. It was a glorious age in which men of genius like Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon, Marlowe contributed a lot in English literature.
The English Renaissance has many important features. Some of important features are—
Intellectual rebirth, thirst for knowledge, freedom of thought and action, humanism, scientific outlook, love for beauty, love for adventure, love for the remote past, the spirit of discovery, individualism, desire for unlimited wealth, earthly pomp and power and so on.
1)The most important feature of the Renaissance is intellectual rebirth or regeneration. It conveys the idea that for centuries. Europe had been dead intellectually and then by some means, had recovered life. The rebirth or regeneration came to Italy first and then to other European countries.
2)Freedom of thought and action is another important feature of the Renaissance. An awakening of the minds of men, freedom of thought, and action were the dominant passions of the Renaissance.
3)Thirst for knowledge is another important feature of the Renaissance. It was an age of great curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Man desires to know the unknown and to see the unseen.
4)Scientific Outlook: During the Renaissance period, the European explorers and scientists contributed significantly to the development of inquiry.
5)Humanism is another important feature of the Renaissance. During the Elizabethan age, there was the revival of classical learning which passion became with the people. The rediscovery of Greek and Roman antiquity gave birth to a new culture and that is called Humanism.
6)Love for adventure: The age Renaissance was an age of great curiosity and love for adventure. During this age, the people show their love for adventure. In the 15th century, Columbus reached America and Vasco da Gama reached India. This kind of love for adventure influences the Renaissance greatly.
7)Love for beauty is another feature of the Renaissance. Here beauty signifies the beauty of culture, the beauty of the civilized world the beauty of women, and so on. We notice this kind of love for beauty in Renaissance literature.
8)The desire for unlimited power and wealth is another important feature of the Renaissance. England’s trade and Commerce improved and the country grew rich and prosperous. Dr.Faustus by Christopher Marlowe is one of the best examples of the Renaissance play in which the hero sold his soul to Lucifer only to get earthly wealth and power.
To sum up, we can say that the Renaissance has many features. Renaissance literature reflects the Renaissance features very clearly.
-by Antora