Essay on the Golden Age
Gold century is defined to the historical period that made art and Castilian letters flourish, where the military and political boom of the Habsburg dynasty and the Spanish empire was given, it is usually considered a golden century between 1492, and it is in thatyear that the reconquest was ended, and the discovery of America was given, also, in this period Spain and France signed the "Treaty of the Pyrenees", in the Golden Age new sources of thought were instituted, and changes were givenDrastic in the literature, within this, changes to poetry, theater, prose and transcendence, also changes in philosophy, in the plastic arts, more specific in painting and sculpture, music and architecture.
In the 16th century, an artistic and cultural movement that implies a new conception of the human being and life, the Renaissance is developed. Represented by humanism, a current of thought that emerged in Italy in the 16th century and that now reaches its maximum diffusion. However, this progressive and future vision was hand in hand with the claim of the classics. This is the reason why the culture of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as mythology and classical poets, were very present in the cultural and social landscape of the moment.
The genres that emerged from this movement were: poetry, prose, theater and novel.
Some of the characteristics are: anthropocentric and universal vision, two different ways of seeing things, the appearance of foreign issues outside the contemporaries of that time, the aesthetic use of Greco -Roman myths and legends, the resurgence of the Greco -Roman myths and theVirtuosity of its heroes, the idealization of love (platonic and/or melancholic love), the aesthetic definition of ideal beauty, and the thought of idealized women.
During the Renaissance a vitalist attitude is established that invites the enjoyment of existence. Human capacities are exalted and an ideal of person arises who cultivates physical and intellectual qualities: Renaissance courtiers dominates weapons and letters.
Following this, important writers of Spanish Renaissance literature spoke:
- Garcilaso de la Vega (1501 – 1536).
- San Juan de la Cruz (1542 – 1591).
- Fray Luis de León (1527 – 1591).
- Cristóbal de Castillejo (1490-1550).
- Juan Boscán (1493-1542).
Also in the Renaissance these main works emerged:
- Lazarillo de Tormes (anonymous author – 1554).
- The ingenious Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra -1615).
- The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri – between 1306 and 1321).
- The courtiers (Baltasar Castiglione – 1528)
- Gargantúa and Pantagruel (François Rabelais – 1534).
The Catholic Church reacted to the Protestant reform with a control system called counterreform. In some states, such as Spain, the Inquisition worked to pursue and punish those who departed from the Catholic dogma.
Subsequently, an artistic style arose that to date is debate among people, some believing that it is the end of the Renaissance and others that the beginning of the Baroque, however, this is the transition between the previous mission.
Between 1520 and 1620 mannerism developed, born in Italy to subsequently expand to the rest of Europe, where both literature and arts gave a change to what was already known.
It expanded thanks to the trips of artists through the pest of 1522 and the sack of Rome in 1527 that marked the lives of many citizens.
Since May 6, 1527, the assault began to the city, followed by days of looting for the troops contrary to the Holy See that ended around July 1527, when compensation was paid to the Army of the Holy Empire, but also byThe plague outbreaks that arose in a city where the bodies were not buried.
Because of these incidents many artists and authors traveled through Europe, inspired by events, expressed themselves in their works.
During the reigns of Felipe II and Felipe III from 1556 to 1621, since it was a crown that intended, with several difficulties, to achieve hegemony in Europe and the world faced problems such as:
- The attacks of the English privateers to the ports of the Iberian Peninsula.
- The rise to the throne of France of a king who was not Catholic.
- The protests in the Courts of Madrid for the economic wear and tear for wars, causes Spain not to pay their debts.
- The emergence of a plague that ends the life of half a million people.
The mentality of society changed, its noble values disappeared, absolutely all social classes were affected by this, they led an leisure life and the social goal was not to lead a dignified life so they lived from the use of.
They were classified as manierists:
- The French plethora of the mid -16th century.
- English metaphysical poetry of the early seventeenth century
- The Italian poetry of Giovanni della Casa or Giambattista Marino.
- Fernando de Vega and Miguel de Cervantes in Spain.
In 1605 Miguel de Cervantes published “Don Quijote de la Mancha” one of the best known works until today.
- TASSO TORQUATO IN ITALY.
- Luis de Camoes in Portugal.
- William Shakespeare in England.
In 1597, William Shakespeare published Romeo and Julieta, in 1603, Hamlet published, in 1626, Macbeth published.
What is painting and architecture practically broke the stereotypes and rules that were, meanwhile in literature it was expressed in the events of the time, the loss of confidence of the certain significance of the facts and exaltation of the apparent, both theArts as literature at this time predominated the abstract.
Subsequently, a very important cultural and artistic movement was born in literature.
The Baroque, a Baroque word, is of French origin, but it is presumed that it is a derivation of the Portuguese or Spanish "Barrueco". Both agree that the word makes a reference to an "imperfect or gross pearl". It is not really known if the word comes from Latin or Arabic.
The Baroque literary style emerged in Rome. It is characterized by using a language with many "ornaments", exaggerations, ostentations and extravagances, applied to poetry, prose, narrative and theater. This language describes situations, feelings and images.
It develops in Europe and Latin America during the seventeenth and early eighteenth century (1580 – 1750), forming part of the golden age, which was an era where many creations of literature emerged, more than anything else in Spain.
As style, it is between Rococó and Mannerism, at a time with many religious altercations between countries with Protestant religion and countries with Catholic religion, in addition to multiple differences in the political level between parliamentarians and absolutists, at a time when it was appearingThe bourgeoisie who began with the bases of capitalism.
At the time the Baroque style appears, the characteristics that occurred in the Renaissance appear: the fleeting of life, how fast the time passes, how complex the world is at that time, etc.
It contrasts to the serenity and sense of balance of the literature of the 16th century and with this destabilization the styles entered into conflict.
This style, at the beginning it was not given the value it has to date, because it was thought was recharged and misleading. It was valued at the end of the 19th century and made it historian Jacob Burckhardt.
The most frequent issues in this style are love, pessimism, honor, religion (taking advantage of the fact that the counter -reform was given) and satire.
Among the writers who used this style are Francisco de Quevedo, Sor Juana, Bernardo de Balbuena, Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora, but the maximum level of this style is observed in the works of Cervantes.
The Golden Age was influenced by political and social facts, consequently creating three movements that marked both literature and the arts in which the authors and artists expressed themselves around the events around them, as well as in their experiences oflife because of them.
This era marked the history of Spain, where literature and arts expanded creating new styles, often influenced by artists from other countries, there was a literature of unrepeatable quality that to date remains insurmountable.
Leave feedback