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, â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,† â€Å"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†¦show more content†¦In â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd to his Love,† a Shepherd asks to â€Å"come live with me and be my love† (Marlowe). A Shepherd is not a high-class occupation, which would mean the dowry he seeks with marriage would most likely not be much. Through the â€Å"Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,† the Nymph rejects the Shepherd’s request to come live with him. By knowing the usage of dowries, it can be assumed that the Nymph might have rejected the Shepherd not because she did not like his offer, but because her dowry does not match his class standing. It is unable to be concluded whether the Nymph was of high or low class standing, because all that is known is that a Nymph is a beautiful and gracious maiden. Dowries were very important in the Renaissance when considering marriage. Literature during the Renaissance has also been influenced by marriage. During the Renaissance, marriage was almost always arranged. Most of the time, â€Å"women married men that they did not even know† (King). With women having no control over their marriage, most were obviously unhappy. 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