Renaissance & Early Modern Prose: Ultimate UGC NET Guide
Master the prose literature of 1500-1700 periods for your UGC NET English Literature preparation
Introduction to Renaissance & Early Modern Prose
The Renaissance and Early Modern period (1500-1700) witnessed a remarkable flourishing of English prose, marked by humanistic learning, religious reformation, and scientific revolution. This comprehensive guide covers all essential authors, works, and movements for UGC NET aspirants.
Why This Unit Matters for UGC NET
Renaissance & Early Modern Prose typically carries 4-7 questions in UGC NET English. Key areas include:
- Major prose writers and their works
- Development of English prose style
- Humanist, religious, and scientific writings
- Characteristics of Renaissance prose
- Transition from medieval to modern thought
- Influence of classical rhetoric
Major Prose Writers
The foundational figures who shaped English prose during this period:
Humanist scholar and statesman, executed by Henry VIII.
- Utopia (1516) - Latin work envisioning ideal society
- The History of King Richard III - Influenced Shakespeare
Father of empiricism and scientific method.
- Essays (1597-1625) - "Of Studies", "Of Truth" etc.
- The Advancement of Learning (1605) - Defense of knowledge
- Novum Organum (1620) - New scientific method
Metaphysical poet and preacher.
- Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624) - "No man is an island"
- Sermons - Powerful religious oratory
Scholar of melancholy and human nature.
- The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) - Encyclopedic work
Key Characteristics of Renaissance Prose
Ciceronian Style
Ornate, balanced periods (Hooker, Milton)
Anti-Ciceronian
Concise, pointed style (Bacon, Donne)
Euphuism
Highly artificial style (John Lyly)
Plain Style
Direct, unadorned (Bunyan, Royal Society)
Literary Forms and Movements
Key prose genres and developments of the period:
Humanist Prose
More's Utopia, Erasmus's works
Religious Prose
Tyndale's Bible, Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Scientific Prose
Bacon's Novum Organum, Royal Society
Character Writing
Overbury, Earle's "Microcosmographie"
Essay Form
Bacon's Essays, Montaigne's influence
Pamphlet Wars
Marprelate Controversy, Milton's Areopagitica
Important Works by Genre
- Philosophical: More's Utopia, Bacon's Essays
- Religious: Hooker's Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
- Scientific: Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica
- Biographical: Walton's Lives
- Political: Hobbes' Leviathan
Stylistic Developments
Evolution of English prose style during this period:
Pioneer of Euphuism - highly artificial style.
- Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578)
- Euphues and His England (1580)
Master of Ciceronian prose in religious context.
- Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1593)
Baroque prose stylist of remarkable erudition.
- Religio Medici (1642) - Personal faith statement
- Hydriotaphia (Urn Burial) (1658) - Meditations on death
Master of polemical prose and grand style.
- Areopagitica (1644) - Defense of free speech
- The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
Style Characteristics
- Euphuism: Balanced antitheses, alliteration, classical allusions
- Ciceronian: Long periodic sentences, rhetorical balance
- Senecan: Short, pithy sentences, aphoristic style
- Baroque: Ornate, elaborate, metaphorical (Browne)
- Plain Style: Direct, unadorned, practical (Royal Society)
Historical Timeline of Renaissance Prose
Thomas More's Utopia published in Latin
William Tyndale's New Testament translation
John Lyly's Euphues establishes euphuism
Francis Bacon's first edition of Essays
Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy
Milton's Areopagitica on press freedom
Browne's Urn Burial - meditative masterpiece
UGC NET Preparation Tips
Important Questions to Focus On
- Analyze Bacon's prose style in his Essays
- Discuss More's Utopia as Renaissance humanist text
- Compare Ciceronian and Senecan prose styles
- Examine the development of religious prose
- Analyze Browne's style in Religio Medici
- Discuss the significance of Areopagitica
- Trace the evolution of scientific prose
- Evaluate the characteristics of euphuism
Recommended Study Approach
- Read selections from Bacon's Essays and More's Utopia
- Study characteristic passages from major stylists
- Make comparative charts of different prose styles
- Understand the historical context of key works
- Solve previous years' UGC NET questions on this unit
Memory Aid: Renaissance Prose at a Glance
Early Humanists: More (Utopia), Erasmus
Elizabethan: Lyly (Euphues), Hooker
Metaphysical: Donne, Browne
Scientific: Bacon, Royal Society
Styles: Euphuism, Ciceronian, Senecan, Plain
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