Sidney's 'The Defence of Poesy' and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism

Download or read book Sidney's 'The Defence of Poesy' and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism written by Gavin Alexander and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2004-02-26 with total page 684 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Controversy raged through England during the 1570-80s as Puritans denounced all manner of games & pastimes as a danger to public morals. Writers quickly turrned their attention to their own art and the first & most influential response came with Philip Sidney's Defense. Here he set out to answer contemporary critics &, with reference to Classical models of criticism, formulated a manifesto for English literature. Also includes George Puttenham's Art of English Poesy, Samuel Daniel's Defence of Rhyme, & passages by writers such as Ben Jonson, Francis Bacon & George Gascoigne.