HumanismandtheRenaissanceinEngland.doc

Humanism and the Renaissance in England 人文主义与文艺复兴在英国 Renaissance is a French word, meaning quot;rebirthquot; or quot;revivalquot;, and in this particular context, it means the revival of arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Rome after the long years of neglect in the medieval time. In England, at first a great number of classical works were translated into English in the 15th and 16th centuries and English scholars and men of letters showed a strong interest in ancient Greek and Roman art and science. They followed in the wake of the intellectual and literary movement which began in the 14th century in Italy and later spread to France, Spain, Holland and other western European countries. This was usually called the Renaissance Movement in England and its ideal was Humanism. In fact, with the growth of both political and economic powers of the country a prosperous period in England had come into being, which greatly promoted literary activities. As a result, a good number of poets and dramatists appeared during the Tudor reign. They not only tried in their literary practice to incorporate the Greek and Roman traditions, but also took the humanistic values of ancient Greece and Rome as a guiding principle. Humanists are greatly concerned about the welfare of human beings and believed that human happiness in this life was more important than what people were supposed to gain in their after life. Therefore, men should enjoy full freedom in both their intellectual and emotional life. Humanists also demanded in their works religious reformation of the church and praised man and mans pursuit of happiness. Humanism, therefore, opened mens eyes and helped them to come out of the spiritual bondage inflicted on them by Roman Catholicism of the medieval age. 文艺复兴是一个法语词，意思quot；再生quot；或quot；复兴quot；，并在这种特殊的背景下，这意味着在中世纪时忽略长期的艺术和科学的复兴古希腊和古罗马。在英国，一大批经典作品被翻译成英文在第十五和第十六世纪，英国学者和作家表现出浓厚的兴趣，在古希腊和罗马的艺术和科学。他们遵循的知识和文学运动开始于第十四世纪在意大利，后来蔓延到了法国，西班牙之后，荷兰和其他西欧国家。这通常被称为英国的文艺复兴运动，它是人文主义理想。事实上，在