16 Elizabethan Age in Paintings and Pictures

Dr Kalyani Dixit

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Society is the motivational force behind every literary product. Social, historical, political and cultural background plays a vital role in the emergence and development of the literature of a particular age / era. As per Hudson, “A nation‟s life has its moods of exultation and depression. Its epochs a strong faith and strenuous idealism, now of doubt, struggle and disillusion now of unbelief and flippant disregard for the sanctities of existence, and while the manner of expression will vary greatly with the manner of existence will vary greatly with the individuality of each writer, the dominant spirit of the hour, whatever that may be, will directly or indirectly reveal itself in his work.” The spirit of the age influences the human psyche that creates the literature. Literature and society are indivisibly interconnected. Their mutual influence is the subject of study. It is also said that literature is also capable of moulding the society and its trends. In words of W.R. Goodman „A great man of letters is the creature as well as the creator of the age in which he exists‟.

Elizabethan Age : An Introduction

Elizabethan Age, popularly known as the Age of Shakespeare or the brightest period of English poetry and drama extends from the accession of Queen Elizabethan to the throne of England in 1558 to the demise of James I in 1625. Elizabethan Age witnessed various, social historical, political and religious upheavals in England. It also welcomed some fresh influences imported from the other countries. It encouraged movements like Reformation in order to reform the English society and Church. Influence of Renaissance on Elizabethan literature was immense.

Historical Background:

Queen Elizabeth‟s accession of the English Throne in 1558 marked the beginning of a new epoch. It is also known as the Age of Shakespeare. As per W. J. Long, “In the Age of Elizabeth all doubt seems to vanish from English History. After the reigns of Edward and Mary, with defeat and humiliation abroad and persecutions and rebellion at home, the accession of a popular sovereign was like the sunrise after a long night, and in Milton‟s words, we suddenly see England, “a noble and puissant nation, rousing herself, like strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks.” Sir Francis Drake and Lord Charles Howard commanded the English naval force that defeated the „Spanish Armanda‟ that was supposed to be unconquerable. “Queen Elizabeth‟s decisive defeat of the Invincible Armanda made England a world-class power and introduced effective long–range weapons into naval warfare for the first time, ending the era of boarding and close-quarter fighting.” (www.history.com/this-day-in-history…)

During her reign England was packed with the feelings of patriotism that clearly echoes in the literature of this era. Literary exponents of this period like William Shakespeare and Spenser were not untouched with such historical and patriotic influences. When Spenser came to England with his poems and met Leicester and Sidney, he got a golden opportunity to meet all the favourites of Queen Elizabeth. W.J. Long writes. „The court was full of intrigues, lying and flattery, and Spenser‟s opinion of his own uncomfortable position is best expressed in a few lines from “Mother Hubbard‟s Tale”.

Full little knowest thou, that has not tried

What hell it is, in suing long to bide‟:

To lose good days, that might be better spent;

To waste long nights in pensive discontent;

…

To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares;

To eat thy heart through comfortless despairs;

To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride, to run,

To spend, to give, to want, to be undone.

One year after the defeat of Spanish Armada, Drake went to Portugal along with a huge force. In year 1590 these English fighters were helping the Dutch against the Spanish King. Brittany and Normandy were also witnessing the fight. Brest was captured by Brittany in 1594. In 1597, another expedition was ready to repeat the previous success.

English troops were also helping the Dutch in 1600. In „Ireland Lord Mountjoy was again trying to restore order.‟ „Year 1601 proved to be lucky in form of two decisive victories of this age. Queen Elizabeth‟s death in year 1603 marked the end of various problems such as the battle with Spain. Before the death of the Queen, England had acquired the figure of world power in every respect. She increased the English boundaries at ocean and encouraged expeditions of discovery. In many respects the death of the Queen was the end of an era in England. But James the first‟s accession to the throne was another significant historical event of Elizabethan age.

Historical background of Elizabethan age period peeps through the literature of this age. In words of L.G. Salinger; “There were popular Moralities satirizing abuses, in which history was subordinate to general social ethics: the Armada battle in Wilson‟s Three Lords of London (1589) for instance, is reduced to a symbolic episode (a struggle for shields) while the legendary Kings in A Knack to know a Knave (1592) or Nobody and Somebody (c.1606) are merely vague ciphers for the magistrate in general.” (Pg- 62-63) Spenser also used history of England in his Faerie Queene. Critics believe that Faerie Queene was composed to flatter the queen Elizabeth. The objective of this poem was to portray “the most excellent and glorious person of our sovereign the Queen and her kingdom in Faeryland.” The Faerie Queene is the Queen Elizabeth herself. Gloriana is the portrayal of Queen. She also figures in Faerie Queen as Britomart, the lady knight symbolizing chastity, Mercilla, and Belphoebe, „a pure, high – spirited maiden‟.

Elizabethan England also witnessed Nine years war within Spain (from 1594 – 1603). K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar writes: “War was no doubt evil, but civil strife was the worst curse of all, and its spectre was seldom very far from the consciousness of the Elizabethans.‟ Shakespeare in Hamlet portrays the preparations of war in the opening scene.

Marcellus: Why this same strict and most observant watch

So nightly toils the subject of the land;

And why such daily cost of brazen cannon,

And foreign mart for implements of war;

Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task

Does not divide the Sunday from the week;

What might be toward, that this sweaty haste

Doth make the night joint- labourer with the day.

(Hamlet,I, I, 71)

In Marlowe‟s Tamburlaine, also great wars form the background of the play. Wars were also the cause of the anxiety for the people and the ruler. Shakespeare tries to expresses some tension in Henry IV:

So shaken as we are, so wan with care,

Find we a time for frighted peace to pant…

No more the thirsty entrance of this soil

Shall daub her lips with her own children‟s blood,

No more shall trenching war channel her fields,

Nor bruise her flow‟rets with the armed hoofs

Of hostile paces

(HenryV, I, i, 1)

Expansion of horizon was a chief feature of his age. As per K. R. S. Iyengar; “The discovery – partly by design, partly by accident- of the ocean routes to the East and, more important still, the discovery of the New World, made England‟s situation central between the Old World and The New, whereas it had hitherto been considered merely peripheral to the known world?”

Famous Historical Events of Elizabethan Age

Political Background:

Political history of Elizabethan age was the specimen of peace, balance and steadiness. The Queen achieved a proper balance at both the fronts-inside and outside of England. Political parties did not come into existence till that time. The theory of state was working on the Christian doctrine. In words of G.B. Harrison, „In the accepted theory the Queen was supreme head of Church and State, and she constantly insisted in her speeches and public documents that she was directly under God‟s special blessing.‟ (pg173) People were following the established order blindly. Thomas More writes:

For to the King God hath His office lent

Of dread, of justice, power and command,

Hath bid him rule, and will‟d you to obey;

And, to add amples majesty to this,

He hath not only lent the king His figure,

His throne and sword, but given him His own Name,

Calls him a God on Earth.

She followed the policy of compromise and balance. It was a phase of religious tolerance. When Catholics and Protestants started raising their heads against each other she favoured both the parties. Protestants and Catholics followed her with equal devotion. Anglican Church turned into reality due to the efforts of the Queen. Anglicanism is sort of middle course or in other words a compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism. Positive effects of this religious peace reflect into the literature of this era.

Defeat of Spanish Armada and expansion of geographical boundaries were two major political events. Queen Elizabeth was unmarried. Problem of succession was the source of worry for English people. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex did not have a cordial relation with Queen. Essex rebelled against the Queen Elizabeth and was killed on 25 February, 1601. But unfortunately on March 24th, 1603, England lost its wise and sagacious queen forever. As per Harrison; “King James was immediately accepted as King, without dispute, and there was a very general feeling of relief that this dangerous problem had been settled without bloodshed or anarchy.” After Queen‟s death, the wars with Spain came to an end since King James was on friendly terms with Spanish King. But dignified court life soon disappeared, and fast degeneration was seen in the fashionable manners.

It was also called an age of conspiracies and planning. Queen was a protestant and Catholics wanted to kill, and replace her with a Catholic. Ridolfi plot, Throckmorton Plot, and Babington plot were such plots. Earl of Northumberland was against monarchy. After the Queen‟s death, in the Bye plot, Catholics planned to kidnap King James. And most famous is Gunpowder plot. This plot was discovered on the night before its execution. It was a plot „to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. It was discovered in time with eight conspirators executed, including Guy Fawkes, who became the iconic evil traits in English Lore.‟ (Wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan-era)

Political events, conspiracies and rebellions make a core area Elizabethan literature. In words of L.G. Salinger, „The main themes behind Shakespeare‟s histories are the main themes of Tudor political thought- kingship, the sinfulness of rebellion against God‟s deputy on earth, the problems arising from royal misgovernment.‟ (pg- 62) Almost all the big historical and political events were taken up by the poets and dramatists of Elizabethan age. Histories of baronial wars were taken up by Daniel and Drayton in their verse.

Drake‟s voyages were ready to write a new history and to open up the new gates for the colonization. Industrial towns were providing employment to the people. As per W.J. Long; „Hakluyt famous collection of Voyages, and Purchas, His pilgrimage, were even stimulating to the English imagination than to the English acquisitiveness… Cabot, Drake, Frobisher, Gilbert, Releigh, Willoughby, Hawkins, – a score of explores reveal a new earth to men‟s eyes, and instantly literature creates a new heaven to match it.‟ (Pg. 100-101). Writings of Hakluyt inspired Marlowe to make Dr. Faustus assign the new tasks to Mephistopheles.

I‟ll have them fly to India for gold

Ransack the ocean for orient pearl

And search all corners of the new round world

For pleasant fruits and princely delicacies.

Spenser‟s Faerie Queen is political allegory, where Gloriana represents Queen Elizabeth.

Arthur‟s love for the Fairy Queen (Gloriana) represents Lord Leicester‟s soft feelings for Queen.

Arthur‟s enmity with Giant Orgoglio represents Leicester‟s wars against the Roman Catholic faith.

Cultural Background:

It was an age of social contentment and religious tolerance. It was also an age of learning, violence, brutality, superstition, court-corruption, and intellectual liberty. All these features of this age reflect themselves into the literature of this period. Great advances in the field of human anatomy, surgical operations and medicines made this period scientifically advanced. Galileo – Galilee‟s invention of thermo scope, hydrostatic balance are big inventions of this age. Despite such inventions and scientific advances people still had strong faith in superstitions, and supernaturalism. These people believed in magic mystery, supernatural powers, witches, ghosts, spirits, devils and magicians. Krishna Gupta writes: „During the Elizabethan period much importance or significance used to be attached to certain equipments of magic such as books, robes, wands etc., without which the magicians could not perform any of the magic tricks.‟ In The Tempest also Shakespeare has used this feature. Caliban wants to grab that book of magic:

Remember

First to posses his books; for without them

He‟s but a sot, as I am, nor hath not

One spirit to command.

It was a great age of learning, and knowledge. Sir Francis Bacon extricated „science from its philosophical entanglements‟ gave it „a new lease of hope‟.

Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend,

The wondrous Architecture of the world

And measure every wand‟ring planet‟s course,

Still climbing after knowledge infinite,

And always moving as the restless spheres,

Wills us to wear ourselves add never rest….

At the time of composition of these lines of Tamburlaine new scientific theories like Copernican hypothesis, belief in astrology and alchemy, in magic and witchcraft were at their peak. Gilbert worked on magnetism and Harvey on the circulation of blood. Ralegh favoured the natural magic of the alchemists and the Neo-Platonists- „not the brabblings of the Aristotelians, but that which bringeth to light the inmost virtues, and draweth out of nature‟s hidden bosom to human use.‟ Later on Bacon solved those problems that were the source of tension for Ralegh.

The court life inspired Campion to compose songs, Spenser to write „Spousal Verse‟, Prothalamion, and Davies to write Orchestra, A Poem of Dancing (1996).

Yet therein now doth lodge a noble peer,

Great England‟s glory and the Worlds wide wonder,

Whose dreadful name, late through all Spaine did thunder,

And Hercules two pillors standing neere,

Did make to quake and feare :

Faire branch of honor, flower of chevalrie,

That fittest England with thy triumphs fame,

Joy have thou of thy noble victorie,

And endless happinesse of thine owne name

That promiseth the same:

(Prothalamion)

Queen‟s court festivals gave opportunities to poets, actors, musicians, and craftsman to perform. In the plays of Shakespeare we „get hold of the spirit of Elizabethan holidays‟. Morris – Dances, sword – dances, wassailing, mock ceremonies of summer kings and queens and of lords of misrule, mummings, disguising, masques – and a bewildering variety of sports, games, shows and pageants improvised on traditional models,‟ were indivisible part of Elizabethan culture. Other celebrations include Shrove Tuesday, Hocktide, May Day, Whitsuntide, Midsummer Eve, Harvest – home, Halloween, and Christmas celebrations. C.L. Barber writes that, “Here one cannot say how far analogies between social rituals and dramatic forms show an influence and how far they reflect the fact that the holiday occasion and the comedy are parallel manifestations of the same pattern of culture, of a way that men can cope with their life.” (Approaches to Shakespeare, pg – 233 – 34) Elizabethan age is also famous for its music.

Cittern, a simplified form of lute, having four strings was used in musical performances. Tabor and pipes were also used. Ariel in The Tempest and Feste in Twelfth Night play pipe and tabor. Horns, as the instrument for hunting music was used in A Midsummer Night‟s Dream. The organ was used in theatre. The regal was used in melancholic music. In Shakespeare‟s works like, Love‟s Labour‟s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night‟s Dream and The Merry Wives of Windsor there are performances sung by either solo singer or by the chorus. Ophelia‟s mad song is very famous. The Tempest is also packed with music and songs. Edward J. Dent rightly remarks that;

“Music was obviously an attraction to Elizabethan audiences, and it has been shown that the Shakespearian theatre eventually became sufficiently prosperous to be able to hire as many musicians as might be wanted.”

Renaissance & Reformation:

A fresh movement from Italy and France reached England in form of The Renaissance. W.J. Long writes: „Greek ideas and Greek culture came to England in the Renaissance and man‟s spiritual freedom was proclaimed in the Reformation‟. Renaissance is defined as revival or rebirth of classical learning and arts from the bonds of dogmatic or rigid opinion. Hudson also writes that „In the development of literature this revival of learning worked in two ways: it did much to emancipate thought from the bondage of medieval theology by restoring the generous spirit and ideals of pagan antiquity; and it presented writers with literary masterpieces which they might take as models for their own efforts.” English literature also received love of beauty, sensuousness and rich colour effect from Italian sculpture and painting. The entire English scene was floating in the vogue of Italian fashion and manners.

Sailor‟s voyages were touching new horizons and new harbours. New sciences and discoveries of Arabs were „opening men‟s eyes to the unexplored realms of Nature.‟ (Long) Entire Europe was flooded with Greek literature and learning. Malory‟s Morte d‟Arthur was a remarkable publication of this age. Erasmus‟ Praise of Folly and Thomas More‟s Utopia were originally composed in Latin. Long remarks; “In this Utopia we find for the first time, as the foundations of civilized society, the three great words, Liberty, Fraternity, Equality, which retained their inspiration through all the violence of the French Revolution which are still the unrealized ideal of every free government.” (pg – 94)

Renaissance culture and atmosphere became ingredients in many of Shakespeare‟s Plays. The Merchant of Venice is the example of such plays. M. St. Clare Byrne; “The Venetian background of The Merchant of Venice is negligible; so far as local colour is concerned. It amounts to references to the Rialto, to a gondola and to the „tranect‟ or common ferry to Mantua and Padua and Rome. But if these things are negligible, the emotional atmosphere of Renaissance culture in which the play is set is all – important. The grace, the dignity, and the sweet – gravity of the verse, translate the characters from the London – Venice of their creation into that scene of timeless abstraction which is Renaissance feeling.‟ (pg.194). Cymbeline is also written in Renaissance manner. Atmosphere, imagery and Sonnets are the biggest contribution of Shakespeare in the field of Elizabethan poetry. Sonnet was originally cultivated in Italy under the guidance of Dante and Petrarch. Sonnet in form of Italian influence was imported by Wyatt and Surrey to England.

Shakespeare  used  his  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Roman  classics  in  writing  his  plays. Shakespeare was influenced by Seneca, a Roman philosopher and statesmen. Shakespeare adopted Senecan model for his plays.

Spenser was also influenced by Renaissance and Reformation. The Renaissance refers to the movement stimulated by the fall of Constantinople, resulting in „the dissemination‟ of Greek scholarship and Byzantine art.‟ Spenser was also inspired by Aristotle, Plato, Virgil, Seneca, and Tasso. Eloyt, Wilson, Ascham, Lyly, Castiglione and Skelton influenced him deeply. Spenser has been called „the child of the Renaissance and the Reformation‟, by Rickett. About his poetry Hudson remarks that it is „steeped in the humanism of the classics and Italian literature, and it everywhere testifies to the strenuous idealism and moral earnestness of Protestantism.” It is said that he adopted the description of the voyage to the Bower of Bliss from Homer‟s Odyssey. Virgilian phrases are also present in Spenser‟s poetry. Classical stories, myths and symbols have been used in abundance in the Faerie Queene.

Spenser like a true Renaissance humanist portrays the idealised picture of men and human life. He wrote to reform the society. Entertainment and amusement was not his aim. Moral teachings form an indivisible part of his poetry.

The noble heart that harbours virtuous thought

And is with child of glorious great intent,

Can never rest, until it forth have brought,

The eternal brood of glory excellent.

Reformation was a political and religious movement against the vices of Catholic Church and Roman Papacy. Hudson appropriately remarks that: “While the Renaissance aroused the intellect and the aesthetic faculties, the reformation awakened the spiritual nature; the same printing press which diffused the knowledge of the classics put the English Bible into the hands of the people; and the spread of an interest in religion was inevitably accompanied by a deepening of moral earnestness.” Martin Luther King raised his voice against the supremacy of Pope. A new reformed form the Church came into existence. Puritanism developed due to the released forces of Reformation. „Christian humanism‟ may be called the offspring of Puritanism and humanism. Theological Prose reached at its peak. William Tyndale‟s translation of the New Testament and publication of The Authorized Version of the Bible (1611) were example of such writings. Influence of Renaissance and reformation comes out in form of literary works of Ben Jonson, John Milton and Bunyan. Reformation also inspired chronicle writers. Edward Hall‟s Chronicle (1548) and Raphael Holinshed‟s Chronicles (1578) were two major chronicles of this time. In words of L.G. Salinger: „The triumph of humanism, however, involved a profound conflict of cultural standards; for „civility‟ especially in its Puritan setting, meant reducing the „barbarous influence of folk tradition and popular taste.‟ (pg – 70) In the age of Reformation, „the spoken literary forms of preaching and acting dominated the printed forms.‟

In Shakespeare‟s works we notice the influence of classical learning. He was Greeko – roman mythology and images in his plays and poems. About his imagery Caroline F.E. Spurgeon writes that “…there are … a lesser number of classical images…. There are also small numbers from art in general (painting, sculpture, etc.), a similar small number from the theatre, from natural science and from proverbs and popular sayings.” In Romeo and Juliet he uses classical images of „cupid‟, „Aurora‟, „Phoebus and Phaeton‟, and „Venus‟. In Hamlet also he uses classical references such as „Hyperion to a Satyr‟, „Niobe all tears‟, „Hercules‟, „Nemeanlion‟, „Lethe Wharf‟. „Cyclops and Mars‟, „Vulcan‟s stithy‟, „Hyperion & Jove, Mars‟, „The Herald Mercury‟, „Pelion and Olympus‟, and Ossa. Shakespeare‟s Sonnet 55 is famous for the „theme of the triumphant immortality of his celebration of his love in verse‟ from Horace, Ovid, or from a paraphrase of Ovid in Meres‟s Palladis Tamia.

Not marble, nor the guilded monuments

Of princes shall out live this powerful rime,

But you shall shine more bright in these contents

Then unswept stone, besmeer‟d with sluttish time.

When wastefull warre shall Statues over – turne,

And broiles roote out the worke of masonry,

Nor Mars his sword, nor warres quick fire shall burne,

The living record of your memory.

Gainst death, and all oblivious enmity

Shall you pace forth, your praise shall stil finde roome,

Even in the eyes of all posterity

That weare this world out to the ending doome.

So til the judgement that your selfe arise,

You live in this, and dwell in lovers eies.

Sonnet 59 is also based on theme of Ovid‟s cyclical creed. Shakespeare was very much influenced by Golding‟s  translation of Ovid‟s  Metamorphoses.

Whether we are mended, or where better they,

Or whether revolution be the same.

Oh sure I am the wits of former daies,

To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

Influence of Italian writings and classical literature peeps through the songs and lyrics of Elizabethan poets. John Lyly‟s Alexander and Campaspe, Thomas Campion‟s „When Thou Must Home‟, Thomas Nashe‟s „ Litany in Time of Plague‟, Sir Philip Sidney‟s Astrophel and Stella and Christopher Marlowe‟s Hero and Leander are examples of works containing lyrics and songs exhibiting classical influence and touch.

Big Literary Events in Elizabethan Period

Reference 

• C.L.Barber. ‘The Saturnalian Pattern’. Approaches to Shakespeare, Mc Graw Hill book, New York, 1964
• Byrne, M. St. Clare. ‘The Social Background’. A Companison to Shakespeare Studies. Cambrige University press, Cambridge.1962.
• Dent, Edward J. ‘Shakespeare and Music’. A Companison to Shakespeare Studies. Cambrige University press, Cambridge.1962.
• Harrison, G.B., A Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 1962 Hudson,
• Iyengar, K.R.S. Shakespeare: His World and His Art. ASIA Publishing House. Bombay.1964
• Long, W.J. English Literature: Its History and its Significance for the Life of the English Speaking World. Maple Press, Dehradun.2010.
• Marlow, Christopher. Dr. Faustus
• Salinger, L.G. The Age of Shakespeare. A Pelican Book. Vol.2. Penguin Books. 1963. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Lakshmi Narayan Agarwal Publications. Agra
• Bradbrook,M.C. Shakespeare and Elizabethan Poetry. Chatto & Windus. London. 1961 Dean, Leonard ed. Renaissance Poetry. Second Edition. Vol.III Prentice-Hall. U.S.A. Dowden, Edward. Shakespeare: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art. London. Grundy, Joan. The Spensarian Poets. Edward Arnold. 1969.
• Harrison, G.B. Introducing Shakespeare. A Pelican Book. Penguin Books. 1954.
• Murry, John Middleton. Shakespeare. Jonathan Cape, London. 1936.
• Smith, Martin Seymour – ed. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. London.1963.
• Spurgeon, Caroline. Shakespeare’s Imagery, Cambridge University Press. 1968.