Characteristics of Elizabethan Age
( 1550 - 1620 )
Political summary :
In the age of Elizabeth all doubt seems to be vanish from English history . After the reigns of Edward and Mary , with defeat and humiliation abroad and persecution 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 a strong man after sleep , and shaking her invisible locks . "
It is the national life that concerns the literary students , since even a beginner must notice that any great development of the national life is invariably associate with a development of the national literature . It is enough for our purpose , therefore to point out two facts : that Elizabeth with all her vanity and inconsistency , steadily loved England and her greatness ; that's why she inspired her people with the unbounded patriotism which exults in Shakespeare and with the personal devotion which finds a voice in the Faery Queen .
Under her administration the English literature and life progressed by gigantic lepas rather than slow historical process and English literature reached the very highest point of it's development .
Religions Toleration :
The most important characteristics of the age was comparative religious toleration , which was due largely to Queen's influence . Upon her accession Elizabeth found the whole kingdom divided against itself ; the North was largely Catholic , while the Southern was largely Protestant . Scotland followed the Reformation in its own intense way , while Ireland remained true to its old religious traditions and both countries were openly rebellious .
But Elizabeth favored both religious parties and presently the world saw with amazement Catholics and Protestants acting together as the trusted counselor of a great sovereign . The defeat od Spanish Armada established the Reformation as a united all Englishmen in a magnificent national enthusiasm .
For the first time since the Reformation began , the fundamental question of religious toleration seemed to be settled and the mind of man , freed from religious fears and persecutions , turned with a great creative impulse to other forms of activity . It is partly from this new freedom of the mind that the age of Elizabeth received it's great literature stimulus .
Social contentment :
It was an age of comparative social contentment , in strong contrast with the days of Langland . The rapid increase of manufacturing towns gave employment to thousands who had before been idle and discontented . Increasing trade brought enormous wealth to England and this wealth was shared to this extent at least , that for the first time some systememtic care for the needy was attempted .
Parishes were made responsible for their own poor and the wealthy were taxed to support them or give them employment . The increase of wealth , the improvement in living the opportunities for labor , the new social content these also are factors which help to account for the new literary activity .
Enthusiasm :
People were getting rich and were getting rich and we're getting employments . They were happy and this happiness has filled them with joy of living life . It is an age of dramas , of adventure , of unbounded enthusiasm springing from the new lands of fabulous riches revealed by English explorers . Young philosopher Bacon is saying confidently ,
" I have taken all knowledge for my province "
The mind must search farther than the eye ; with new , rich lands opened to the sight , the imagination must create new forms to people the new worlds .
There was a flow of imagination and thinking in a positive manner . Poets of this age were creating poems which became young forever .
In this age dreams and deeds increase side by side and the dreams is ever greater than deeds . We can tell that dreams and deeds were going parallel in the age of Elizabethan people were dreaming bigger and also working on the dreams .
The Drama :
The age of Elizabethan can be considered as the age of drama . There were also poets like Edmund Spnser and Shakespeare but the plays of Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare were more famous . There was a dominant position of the drama and play on the mind of people .
Such an age of great thought and great action appealing to the eyes as well as to the imagination and intellect , finds but one adequate literary expression ; neither poetry nor the story can express the whole man , his thought , feeling , action and the resulting character ; hence in the age of Elizabeth literature turned instinctively to the drama and brought it rapidly to the highest stage of its development . By the writing of Shakespeare drama is still alive after 400 years of his writing .
Conclusion :
Elizabethan period is generally regarded as the greatest in the history of English literature . It was marked by a strong national spirit, by patriotism , by religious tolerance , social content , unbounded n enthusiasm . Such an age of thought , feeling & vigorous action . It regared as a golden age of english literature .
