Overview: The Corn Laws were a series of statutes enacted between 1815 and 1846 which kept corn prices at a high level. This measure was intended to protect English farmers from cheap foreign imports of grain following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In this context “corn” means grains of all kinds, not simply the … Read more
Bacon on the Importance of Travel Bacon provides convictions regarding the importance of travels. Neither was he concerned about moral development nor about gathering knowledge. He was solely focused on practical development. He always stressed the dispersed situation of knowledge and analyzed how it can benefit people. In this context, he observes that for younger … Read more
Introduction Francis Bacon, the English essayist, is widely popular for his experimentation in essay writing style. He preferred observation, experimentation, and inductive reasoning over tradition. Bacon’s empiricism made him different from his contemporaries. His essays are celebrated for brevity, aphoristic style and practical wisdom. Francis Bacon and His Essays Francis Bacon first published his Essays … Read more
Introduction to Revenge Tragedy The revenge tragedy or revenge play is a dramatic genre in which the protagonists seek revenge for an imagined or an actual injury. The term “Revenge Tragedy” was first introduced in 1900 by A.H. Thorndike to label a class of plays in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. Typically these … Read more
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH DRAMA The “origin of drama” as it is stated has been figured out in the religious instinct of mankind. This is considered to be true regarding drama of all countries with English drama as no exception. The “cradle of drama” here too rested on the cradle of the church, that … Read more
Introduction to the Comedy of Humours The comedy of Humours is created and popularized by Ben Jonson. It is directly opposed to the romantic comedy of Shakespeare. This type of comedy is based on the ancient concept of ‘humours’. The term ‘humours’ which is often used to denote some predominant trait of characters, refers to … Read more
GROWTH OF PRESS There were certain inventions and discoveries which contributed in the great movement of Renaissance. Of these the most important one was the invention of printing press.The art of printing was introduced in Europe by John Gutenberg of Germany in 1455 and in a few years’ time presses were established in every important … Read more
DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH PROSE Renaissance and the Rise of English Prose It was during the Renaissance that the English prose came out of the shadow of Latin and created an identity of its own. Both fiction and non-fiction prose flourished which foreshadowed the rise of prose as the most popular medium for literature in the … Read more
Introduction “One Day I Wrote Her Name” (also known as Sonnet 75) is one of the most famous love sonnets by Edmund Spenser. It is part of his sonnet sequence Amoretti, published in 1595. Unlike many Renaissance sonnets that portray love as painful or unattainable, this poem celebrates true love, faithfulness, and the power of … Read more
Introduction “Loving in Truth” is the opening sonnet of Astrophil and Stella, one of the greatest sonnet sequences in English literature. Poem at a Glance Summary The speaker is deeply in love and wants to express his feelings through poetry so that his beloved may read his verses, understand his love, pity his suffering, and … Read more