CHAPTER V
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH
TIME-CHART OF THE CHIEF AUTHORS
The thick line indicates the period of active literary production.
1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 | | | | | | | | | Spenser |........|.. ║[83] | | ║ | | | | | (1552–99) | | ║ ===================║ | | | | | | ║ | | |║[84] | | | |║ | Drayton | ║......|........|........|║===================================║ | (1563–1631) | | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | ║ | | | |║ | Donne | | ║ ....|........|.║==================================║ | (1573–1631) | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | ║[85]| ║ | | | | | Marlowe | ║......|........|...║========║ | | | | | (1564–93) | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | | ║[86] | | ║ | | | Shakespeare | ║......|........|........|.║===================║ | | | (1564–1616) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Jonson | | ║ | | ║[87] | | | | ║ | (1573–1637) | | ║....|........|..║=====================================║ | | | | ║ |║[88] ║ | | | | | Hooker |........|........|...║=====║=====║ | | | | | (1553–1600) | | | | | | | | | |║ | | | ║[89] | | | ║ | | Bacon |║.......|........|........|...║==========================║ | | (1561–1626) | | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | | | |║[90] | ║ | Burton | | ║.....|........|........|........|........|║==============║ | (1577–1640) | | | | | | | | |
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (1550–1630)
This chapter introduces the reign of Elizabeth, sees it reach its climax and conclusion, and then witnesses the literary decline under the first of the Stuarts. The dominating features of the period can be conveniently summarized under two heads.
1. Settlement. Both in politics and religion the English nation was attaining to a state of stability. Dynastic problems, though they were troublesome, were not sufficient to cause serious trouble; and the union of the Crowns finally set at rest the ancient quarrel between Scotland and England. In religion the same general features were apparent—a general subsidence into quiescence, with minor disturbances at regular intervals. The settlement was all for the good of literature.
2. Expansion. In our history this is perhaps the most remarkable epoch for the expansion of both mental and geographical horizons. New knowledge was pouring in from the East, and new worlds were opening in the West. The great voyagers, whose exploits were chronicled in the immortal pages of Hakluyt (1553–1616), brought home both material and intellectual treasures from beyond the “still-vexed Bermoothes,” as Shakespeare called them. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the important effects which these revolutionary discoveries produced in literature.