■ English Renaissance- A Panoramic View.ppt

The English Renaissance (1500-1660 ) “ What a piece of work is man; how noble in reason; how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable; in action how like and angel; in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals.” 人是一件多么了不起的杰作！多么高贵的理性！多么伟大的力量！多么优美的仪表！多么文雅的举动！在行为上多么像一个天使！在智慧上多么想一个天神！宇宙的精华！万物的灵长！ Renaissance Renaissance, “rebirth”, is the name commonly applied to the period of European history following the Middle Ages; it began in Italy in the late 14th century and continued, both in Italy and other countries of western Europe, through the 15th and 16th centuries.  In this period the European arts of painting, sculpture, architecture, and literature reached an eminence not exceeded in any age. Renaissance The development came late to England in the sixteenth century, and did not have its flowering until the Elizabethan (1558-1603) and Jacobean (1603-1625) periods; and John Milton is sometimes described as the last great Renaissance poet. A Grand Vista 总景象Historical and Cultural Backgrounds Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. It was sparked off by a combination of historical factors, such as the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman classics古希腊、古罗马的文学著作 the Protestant Reformation explorations in geography the economic expansion development of “new science” . A Grand Vista 总景象Historical and Cultural Backgrounds A. The New Learning. Renaissance scholars of the classics, call humanist, revived the knowledge of the past, the Greek and Roman literature and art. For the first time in history, the medieval minds saw the beauty of the human form and learned about the importance of human life and human values, as represented in the classic art and literature. Humanism: With the Reformation and Renaissance, people in this period was able to adopt A New View of Life A New Attitude toward Living, which was to