renaissance | English Research Sources

The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V by Will Durant is about the civilization history of Italy from 1304 to 1576. Will Durant gained popularity with his History of Philosophy. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V is the fifth volume in his monumental seven-part series. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V was published in 1953 under by Simon and Schuster located in New York.

The purpose of this book is to aim towards the philosophical history, studies the economic basis and background, and focuses on the growth and history of the Renaissance era and the effects it had on society. Durant explains how Renaissance was presented in multiple cities in Italy and among different types of people from princes, poets, historians, scientists, etc. An example is how the “waning of the Renaissance” was popular among historic figures like Titian, Aretino, Veronese, and Benvenuto Cellini. He explores the self-emancipation of man during the Renaissance and how they had no purpose except for their happiness. Durant explains how in Italy they explored ideas in order to advance as a society but then banished these ideas.

The book is organized by book and then chapters. Book I: Prelude covers years 1300-1377. Chapter one is about The age of petrarch and Boccaccio (1304-1375). Under each chapter there are several subheadings like The Father of the Renaissance, The Poet, Siena, etc. Chapter two covers The Popes in Avignon (1309-1377). After chapter two, Book II picks up with chapter three, and it does this with three through five as well. The book does include pictures like Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Doors of the Baptistery located in Florence and Donatello’s David bronze statue in Florence.

Works Cited

Durant, Will. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V. Simon and Schuster, New York: 1953.

Renaissance Drama was first published in 1956 under University of Chicago Press. The journal’s goal is to investigate the significance of Renaissance drama by examining interpretations of plays, theater, and performance. There’s a new volume out every year, and it circulates about five hundred of them. In order to be featured in the journal, the suggested length of an article is 6,000-12,000 words, the editing style must be Chicago, and have to submit at least three copies.

In Volume VIII, which was published in 1965, one of the articles included was “The Wit-Interludes and the Form of Pre-Shakespearan: Romantic Comedy” by Werner Habicht. He explores contrasts of morality and love that were featured in plays before Shakespeare came into the scene. Habicht speaks of situations that revolve around moral play, “temptation, deneration, repentance, regeneration,” (Habicht pg. 79). Habicht goes on to explain how these are typically dramatized as an archetype of morality. In the same volume, there was an article called “Forms and Functions of the Play within a Play” by Dieter Mehl. In his article, he discusses how the actors on stage are having to perform separately of their characters at some points in a play. An example he gave was how sometimes an actor on stage would divulge from the play to provide comic relief after a heavily serious scene.

In Volume XXVII, which was published in 1996, an article included was “Elizabeth Cary and Edward II: What Do Women Want to Write?” by Meredith Skura. Her article focused more on Elizabeth Cary and her part in with History. She speaks of the claim that Cary actually wrote History instead of Falkland. Another article was “Corneille’s City Comedy: Courtship and Consumption in Early Modern Paris” By Karen Newman. In Newman’s article, she discusses Corneille’s comedies as well as how courtship was portrayed in plays. Newman speaks of how women were always portrayed as “the object of a lover’s passion.”

In Volume XL, published in 2012, it featured an article called “Recent Trends in Editing of Renaissance Drama Anthologies” by David Bevington. He discussed the anthology of Renaissance drama in England and how it had begun. Bevington discusses how Renaissance drama was introduced to more people because of this journal, and how in the earlier versions it was typically filled with similar articles. The last article was “Defining the Proper Members of the Renaissance Theatrical Community” by Mary Bly. Her article was about how playwrights would tend to “borrow” ideas during the sixteenth and seventeenth century including Shakespeare.

The Renaissance Drama journal has changed over the years by including more topics that fall under Renaissance drama. When the journal first started out, the articles included were always about Pre-Shakespeare and plenty of the same playwrights. Whereas now, the journal includes discussions over ideas and topics that were seen in plays as well as discussions about a female playwright. This journal includes a great deal of articles about Renaissance drama that anyone wanting to learn more or a student has to write a paper over Renaissance drama they can find useful information in it. If a student writes a paper over Renaissance drama, they can easily access this journal by going to the campus library and checking the journal out.

Works Cited

Bevington, David. “Recent Trends in Editing of Renaissance Drama Anthologies”. Renaissance Drama New Series 40 edited by Jeffrey Masten and William N. West. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 2012.

Bly, Mary.“Defining the Proper Members of the Renaissance Theatrical Community”. Renaissance Drama New Series 40 edited by Jeffrey Masten and William N. West. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 2012.

Habicht, Werner. “The Wit-Interludes and the Form of Pre-Shakespearan: Romantic Comedy”. Renaissance Drama Volume VIII edited by S. Schoenbaum. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1965.

Mehl, Dieter. “Forms and Functions of the Play within a Play”. Renaissance Drama Volume VIII edited by S. Schoenbaum. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1965.

Newman, Karen. “Corneille’s City Comedy: Courtship and Consumption in Early Modern Paris”. Renaissance Drama Volume XXVII edited by Mary Beth Rose. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1998.

Skura, Meredith. “Elizabeth Cary and Edward II: What Do Women Want to Write?”. Renaissance Drama Volume XXVII edited by Mary Beth Rose. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1998.