The Reflection of Life During the Renaissance in Literature

Life in the Renaissance has been greatly reflected through the literature of its time. Many authors from this time reflected life in the Renaissance through their works. Several authors who strongly demonstrated this reflection include William Shakespeare, Thomas Elyot, Christopher Marlowe, Walter Raleigh, and Christine de Pizan. They accomplished this by producing various literary works, such as Hamlet, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” Le Livre de la cite dames, and many others. A major aspect of life and culture in the Renaissance that is prevalently shown throughout the literature of the time are the roles of women. Women had a large variety of roles during the Renaissance. Women played several different roles within their family. Their role typically depended on their age. The roles they played included daughter, wife, mother, and widow. According to Margaret King, “Preachers, philosophers, humanists, and even ordinary letter writers defined women by these roles in their writing”. Males on the other hand, were defined by their social position such as knight, merchant, priest, weaver, and many others. With each woman role within the family came a specific job or duty. The role of the daughter was to hold honor, virginity, and to link lineages. The role of the mother was to conceive, and raise children. The role of the wife was to hand over a dowry, create textile crafts, supervise servants, and take care of the sick. The role of the widow was to return to her father’s household, marry again, or enter a religious convent. Although women were to only hold these roles, Thomas More, the author of, “From Utopia,” educated his daughters so they received a “greater access to spiritual life, autonomy and equality in a companionate marriage, and the ability to learn wisdom,” (Rabil). This was also said to have taught the girls virtue. This directly relates to the role of a daughter, which was to hold honor and