The Renaissance and Elizabethan literature

The term Renaissance is a French word meaning "rebirth"

• True

• False

The term Humanism is a Latin word meaning "education"

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Humanism was a philosophy concerned with man and his life on earth. It aimed at the perfect and balanced development of the human spirit. The "new learning" was based on the rediscovery of Greek and Latin literature.

Thomas More's "Utopia" is and example of prose in English.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

It was written in Latin

Elizabethan drama followed Aristotle's rules

• True

• False

Answer explanation

It was the result of popular, medieval and classical influences, so it did not follow Aristotle's classical unities of time, place and action

Elizabethan drama was a fusion of morality plays and classical plays.

• True

• False

The spread of Latin and Greek texts translated into English influenced the development of English prose.

• True

• False

All of Shakespeare's sonnets were addressed to a mysterious lady.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Most o them were dedicated to a mysterious "fair youth", probably his friend and patron

The Elizabethan stage was almost completely bare of stage props, which is why playwrights resorted to highly descriptive language to convey the atmosphere, events off stage and the setting.

• True

• False

The main theatrical genres of the Renaissance were comedy and romance.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Comedy, tragedy and romance. Shakespeare also introduced a new kind of historical play based on recent English history

"A play within a play" is a dramatic technique often used in Elizabethan drama

• True

• False

Answer explanation

It is often used as a technique to unmask the villain. In "Hamlet" the protgonist asks a company o actors to act out a murder scene in front of his uncle, which provides an opportunity to reflect upon appearance and reality, with the theatre as a central metaphor.