Literary Arts

Elizabethan Literature

The reign of Queen Elizabeth lasted from 1558 until her death in 1603, during which time the arts in England thrived. Fine arts received support and encouragement from the Queen that was unparalleled by any other English monarch; and as a result, the authors and works of this time period came to be known as Elizabethan. She was an avid reader and often held theater performances in her court, particularly from her own company of actors, known as The Queen's Players. Literature, in particular, flourished under the reign of Elizabeth, with many influential authors developing their personal styles during this time.

Some of the key writers of this era include Christopher Marlowe, Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, and William Shakespeare. Poetry—and sonnets particularly—became a popular form of writing, with Shakespeare and Spenser's extraordinary works at the forefront of the genre. Both authors heavily influenced the way sonnets would be written in the years to come. The style of writing sonnets in three quatrains and a couplet later became known as "Shakespearian" in recognition of the Bard's frequent use of this method.

Spenser's writing also sparked the adoption of a literary term: the "Spenserian stanza," which describes a nine-line stanza based on Spenser's work, most notably the epic The Faerie Queene. As a young man and writer, Spenser looked up to another excellent poet, Sir Philip Sidney, whose diverse career in politics, diplomatic positions, writing, and the military made him a "Renaissance man" of the time. Sidney's Astrophil and Stella is a prime example of Elizabethan poetry due to its wit and imaginative creativity. One of the most excellent pieces of Elizabethan literary criticism is An Apology for Poetry, Sidney's eloquent response to a minor writer's attack on poetry.

In addition to poetry, plays had become a prevalent and oft-produced element of English literature. Marlowe, in addition to the widely-popular Shakespeare, was one of the most well-known playwrights of the Elizabethan era. A contemporary of Shakespeare's to the year (both writers were born in 1564), Marlowe is credited with writing one of the first English plays in blank verse, Tamburlaine. Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, a tale of fatal bargains with the devil published around 1592, is his greatest work.

Another important literary figure of the period, Ben Jonson, was relatively unknown among the greater circle of English playwrights until he published Every Man in His Humour in 1598. A few years after its publication, Jonson was imprisoned for his satirical description of King James I's arrival in England. After he was released, he published Volpone in 1606, the work for which he is best known.

Although Marlowe and Jonson were reputable writers, Shakespeare--with his successful combination wit, blank verse, and classical writing--is generally considered to be the most successful of all Elizabethan writers. See our section on The Bard to read about his life and work.