| Work | Date | Key Facts & MCQ Points |
|---|---|---|
| The Shepheardes Calender | 1579 | • 12 eclogues (one per month) • Dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney • Pastoral poetry • Pseudonym: "Immerito" • Introduced variety of meters |
| The Faerie Queene | 1590 (Bks I-III) 1596 (Bks IV-VI) | • Epic allegory (incomplete: 6 books of planned 12) • Each book = one virtue • Book I: Holiness (Red Cross Knight & Una) • Book II: Temperance (Sir Guyon) • Book III: Chastity (Britomart) • Book IV: Friendship (Cambel & Triamond) • Book V: Justice (Artegall) • Book VI: Courtesy (Sir Calidore) • Dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I • Opening Line: "Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske, / As time her taught in lowly Shepheards weeds" • Famous Line: "Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song" • Spenserian Stanza: 9 lines (ababbcbcc), iambic pentameter + alexandrine |
| Amoretti | 1595 | • 89 sonnets • To Elizabeth Boyle (his wife) • Published with Epithalamion • Spenserian sonnet: abab bcbc cdcd ee |
| Epithalamion | 1595 | • Wedding song (24 stanzas for 24 hours) • Celebrates marriage to Elizabeth Boyle • Classical allusions |
| Prothalamion | 1596 | • Betrothal song • For double marriage of Lady Elizabeth & Lady Katherine Somerset • Refrain: "Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song" |
| Colin Clouts Come Home Again | 1595 | • Pastoral poem • Dedicated to Sir Walter Raleigh • Colin Clout = Spenser's pastoral persona |
| Astrophel | 1595 | • Elegy on Sir Philip Sidney's death |
| Mother Hubberds Tale | 1591 | • Satirical beast fable • Criticizes court corruption |
| Fowre Hymnes | 1596 | • Love, Beauty, Heavenly Love, Heavenly Beauty |
| A View of the Present State of Ireland | 1633 (posthumous) | • Prose dialogue on Ireland • Written c. 1596 |
| Critic | Comment |
|---|---|
| Charles Lamb | "The Poet's Poet" |
| Ben Jonson | "Spenser, in affecting the ancients, writ no language" |
| William Hazlitt | "The poet of our waking dreams" |
| Coleridge | Admired his imagery and versification |
| Work | Date | Key Facts & MCQ Points |
|---|---|---|
| An Apologie for Poetrie (Also: The Defence of Poesy) | 1595 (written c. 1580) | • Written in response to Stephen Gosson's "The School of Abuse" (1579) • First major work of literary criticism in English • Key Arguments: - Poetry superior to history & philosophy - Poet as "maker/creator" - Poetry teaches & delights - Defense of imagination • Famous Quote: "Poetry is the companion of camps" • Discusses dramatic unities • Attacks English drama for ignoring classical rules |
| Astrophil and Stella | 1591 (written 1580s) | • First major English sonnet sequence • 108 sonnets + 11 songs • To Penelope Devereux (Lady Rich) • Astrophil = "star-lover", Stella = "star" • Opening: "Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show" • Famous Sonnet 1: "Look in thy heart and write" • Influenced by Petrarchan tradition |
| Arcadia (The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia) | 1590 (revised) 1593 (composite) | • First English pastoral romance • Prose work with inserted poems • Written for sister Mary Herbert • Old Arcadia (1580) vs. New Arcadia (revised, incomplete) • Complex plot with multiple storylines • Influenced by Sannazaro's Arcadia |
| Work | Date | Key Facts & MCQ Points |
|---|---|---|
| Essays | 1597 (10) 1612 (38) 1625 (58) | • Called "dispersed meditations" • Aphoristic style, condensed prose • Famous Essays: - "Of Truth" - "What is truth?" - "Of Death" - "Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark" - "Of Revenge" - Revenge "offends the law" - "Of Studies" - "Reading maketh a full man" - "Of Friendship" - "Of Love" - "Of Gardens" • Influenced by Montaigne |
| The Advancement of Learning | 1605 | • First major philosophical work in English (not Latin) • Survey of human knowledge • Defends learning against attacks • Three categories: History, Poetry, Philosophy |
| Novum Organum | 1620 | • "New Instrument" (vs. Aristotle's Organon) • Inductive method • Four Idols (false notions): 1. Idols of Tribe (human nature) 2. Idols of Cave (individual) 3. Idols of Marketplace (language) 4. Idols of Theatre (philosophical systems) |
| New Atlantis | 1627 (posthumous) | • Utopian work • Modeled on Thomas More's Utopia • Describes Bensalem (ideal society) • Salomon's House (scientific institution) • Unfinished |
| The History of Henry VII | 1622 | • Historical work • Scientific approach to history |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Aphoristic | Short, pithy statements |
| Epigrammatic | Pointed, memorable expressions |
| Utilitarian | Practical, worldly wisdom |
| Latin Influence | Uses Latin constructions |
| Imagery | From nature, business, law |
| Author | Major Work(s) | Date | Subject/Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Malory | Le Morte d'Arthur | 1485 (Caxton print) | • Arthurian legends • Based on French romances • Written in prison • 8 tales of King Arthur |
| Thomas More | Utopia | 1516 (Latin) 1551 (English) | • "Utopia" = "No place" • Ideal commonwealth • Book I: Dialogue (critique of England) • Book II: Description of Utopia • Communal property • Religious tolerance • Humanist ideals |
| Roger Ascham | Toxophilus The Scholemaster | 1545 1570 | • Toxophilus: Dialogue on archery • Dedicated to Henry VIII • Plain English style • The Scholemaster: On education • "Double translation" method • Tutor to Princess Elizabeth |
| Richard Hooker | Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity | 1594-97 | • 8 books (5 published in lifetime) • Defense of Church of England • Against Puritans • Prose style influenced by Cicero • Rational theology |
| John Fisher | Sermons & Religious Treatises | Early 16th C | • Bishop of Rochester • Executed 1535 (opposed Henry VIII) • Eloquent preacher |
| William Tyndale | English Bible Translation | 1525-30 | • First printed English New Testament (1525) • Influenced King James Bible • Executed for heresy (1536) |
| John Foxe | Acts and Monuments ("Book of Martyrs") | 1563 | • Protestant martyrology • Immensely popular • Anti-Catholic propaganda |
| Raphael Holinshed | Chronicles of England, Scotland & Ireland | 1577, 1587 | • Historical chronicles • Source for Shakespeare's history plays |
| Contribution | Details |
|---|---|
| Sonnet in English | • Introduced from Italian (Petrarch) • Wyatt's sonnet: abba abba cddc ee • 31 sonnets in Tottel's Miscellany |
| Famous Poems | • "They flee from me that sometime did me seek" • "Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind" (about Anne Boleyn) • "My lute, awake!" |
| Forms | • Introduced Terza rima (aba bcb cdc) • Rondeau • Strambotto |
| Themes | • Courtly love • Betrayal • Political danger at court |
| Contribution | Details |
|---|---|
| Blank Verse | • First in English • Translation of Virgil's Aeneid (Books II & IV) • Unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| English Sonnet | • Developed what became "Shakespearean sonnet" • abab cdcd efef gg • 3 quatrains + couplet |
| Famous Poems | • "The soote season" • "Prisoned in Windsor" • Sonnets in Tottel's Miscellany |
| Death | • Executed by Henry VIII (1547, age 30) • Treason charge |
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Title | Songes and Sonettes, written by the ryght honorable Lorde Henry Haward late Earle of Surrey, and other |
| Compiler | Richard Tottel (printer) |
| Contents | • 271 poems • 40 by Surrey • 97 by Wyatt • Rest by Nicholas Grimald & anonymous |
| Significance | • First printed anthology of English poetry • Popularized sonnet form • Introduced courtly love poetry to wider audience |
| Sequence | Author | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astrophil and Stella | Philip Sidney | 1591 | 108 sonnets + 11 songs (First major sequence) |
| Amoretti | Edmund Spenser | 1595 | 89 sonnets (Spenserian sonnet form) |
| Idea | Michael Drayton | 1594-1619 | 61 sonnets (includes "Since there's no help") |
| Delia | Samuel Daniel | 1592 | 50 sonnets |
| Diana | Henry Constable | 1592 | 77 sonnets |
| Type | Period | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Mystery Plays | Medieval | • Biblical stories • Performed by guilds • Cycles (York, Chester, Wakefield) |
| Morality Plays | 15th-16th C | • Allegorical • Virtues vs. Vices • Example: Everyman (c. 1495) |
| Interludes | Early 16th C | • Short dramatic entertainments • Secular themes • Performed at court |
| Regular Drama | Mid-16th C | • Classical influence • Five-act structure • Gorboduc, Ralph Roister Doister |
| Category | Play | Author(s) | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Blank Verse Tragedy | Gorboduc (Ferrex and Porrex) | Thomas Norton & Thomas Sackville | 1561 | • Performed at Inner Temple • 5 acts • Senecan model • Political theme (succession) • Norton wrote Acts I-III • Sackville wrote Acts IV-V |
| First Regular Comedy | Ralph Roister Doister | Nicholas Udall | c. 1553 | • Based on Roman comedy (Plautus) • School play • Comic braggart hero • Rhymed verse |
| First Historical Play | King John | John Bale | c. 1538 | • Protestant propaganda • Anti-Catholic |
| Feature | Description | MCQ Points |
|---|---|---|
| Humanism | Study of classical texts; focus on human dignity & potential | Key figures: Erasmus, Thomas More, John Colet |
| Individualism | Emphasis on individual achievement | Vs. medieval corporate identity |
| Secularism | Interest in worldly matters | Though religion still important |
| Classical Revival | Imitation of Greek & Roman models | NOT decline of Latin literature |
| Vernacular Literature | Writing in English (not Latin) | More's Utopia exception (Latin first) |
| Printing Press | Caxton (1476) | Democratization of learning |
| Exploration | New World discoveries | Influenced literature (Utopia) |
| Reformation | Break with Rome (1534) | Henry VIII, religious turmoil |
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1476 | Caxton establishes printing press at Westminster |
| 1485 | End of Wars of Roses; Tudor dynasty begins (Henry VII) |
| 1509 | Henry VIII becomes king |
| 1516 | More's Utopia (Latin edition) |
| 1534 | Act of Supremacy (Henry VIII head of Church) |
| 1535 | Thomas More executed |
| 1547 | Henry VIII dies; Edward VI (boy king) |
| 1553 | Mary I ("Bloody Mary") - Catholic restoration |
| 1557 | Tottel's Miscellany published |
| 1558 | Elizabeth I becomes queen (Protestant) |
| Category | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Epithets | Spenser | "Poet's Poet" (Lamb), "Prince of Poets" |
| Sidney | Perfect Renaissance gentleman | |
| More | "Man for All Seasons" | |
| Wyatt | Introduced sonnet to England | |
| Surrey | Introduced blank verse | |
| First Works | Printed Book (England) | 1476 (Caxton) |
| Blank Verse | Surrey's Aeneid (1540s) | |
| Sonnet Sequence | Astrophil & Stella (1591) | |
| Pastoral Romance | Sidney's Arcadia (1590) | |
| Drama Firsts | Blank Verse Tragedy | Gorboduc (1561) |
| Regular Comedy | Ralph Roister Doister (1553) | |
| Historical Play | Bale's King John (1538) | |
| Publications | Tottel's Miscellany | 1557 |
| Faerie Queene (I-III) | 1590 | |
| Faerie Queene (IV-VI) | 1596 | |
| Bacon's Essays (final) | 1625 (58 essays) | |
| Famous Lines | "Fierce warres and faithfull loues" | Faerie Queene (opening) |
| "Look in thy heart and write" | Astrophil & Stella, Sonnet 1 | |
| "Reading maketh a full man" | Bacon, "Of Studies" |