England, America, and The Invincible Armada English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) The zest for adventure, exploration and colonization actually reached a peak in the reign of Elizabeth; in 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh founded a colony in North

Mary Stuart - Elizabeth's Rival Essay - English Literature (100 Level Course) Mary Queen of Scots was Elizabeth’s great rival. She was very different from her cousin Elizabeth; she was a warm-blooded woman, who often yield ed to her private passions, and lacked the instinctive political skill and deep understanding of her people possessed by the queen of England.Mary Stuart was the grand-daughter of Henry VIII’s sister, Margaret, and next in succession after Elizabeth. She was sent to France in 1548, and in 1558 married the

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)- English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) In 1558 Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, ascended to the throne of England. Once crowned queen, she devoted her life, her instinctive political skill and courage to the creation of a modern stronger England. Elizabeth re-established the Anglican Church, but, as she was personally tolerant and even sceptical, she avoided the excesses of fanaticism.

The English Reformation - English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) All this led some people to look to Martin Luther as an innovator. Rome’s interference seemed intolerable, among other things, because of the new nationalistic spirit that was developing in Tudor times. Henry VIII, who had at first defended the Pope against Luther, was finally induced to separate the Church of England from Rome for both political and personal reasons.

Henry VIII was the ideal Renaissance monarch, since he was scholar, poet, musician and sportsman. He had a securer title to the throne than his father,who had fought a war to win it. He also had more wealth than

Moralities - English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) Miracle Plays were a form of popular art characterized by realism, simplicity of diction, and the absence of metaphors or sentimentalism.Of quite another quality was the second great literary product of the time, the Morality Play, which, in its structure, was complementary to the Miracle Play. It was also a religious drama, but whereas Miracles were concerned with biblical events,

Drama - English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) If the 15th century was comparatively poor in poetry and prose, it was rich in plays. It saw the flourishing of Medieval Drama, which would pave the way for the great Elizabethan theatre.Medieval Drama developed from liturgical ceremonies; the origins of medieval plays may in fact be found in the rituals of the Church. The clergy had always tried to convey the chief events of the

Chaucer and Boccaccio - English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) Although apparently influenced by Boccaccio, the tales and the Prologue show how deeply Chaucer differs from the Italian writer. In Boccaccio, for in¬stance, the storytellers are young gentlemen and ladies all belonging to the same social class and hardly distinct from each other. Chaucer, on the other hand, chooses highly

The Prologue - English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) What is remarkable in this passage is, first of all, the use of couplets with ten syllables and five accents in each line, and then the wealth of detail which Chaucer uses to describe the time of year when the pilgrimage took place. The month is April, when showers begin to fall, bringing new life to the earth, when Zephyrus (or the west wind)