Literature and Art

The Book of the Courtier was published in 1528 by the Italian Renaissance writer Baldassare Castiglione. The book outlines the ideal qualities of a Renaissance man and was widely influential in European society. It was particularly influential in British society, where it came to define the correct behavior of a wealthy British gentleman.

The majority of the Renaissance took place in Italy, as intellectuals from all over Europe flocked to booming cultural centers receiving vast amounts of wealth and support from patrons of the arts and sciences. Florence in particular had undergone a public revitalization of classical Greek studies that focused on poetry, mathematics, science, and art during the rule of the prominent and scholarly Medici family.

Shelley's generation was disillusioned with the values of the Enlightenment that touted reason above all else. She and other Romantics believed that feeling and emotion were important, too. Her work did not discuss improving the lives of workers, nor did it encourage further alchemical studies.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is one of the two most important Russian literary figures of the 20th century, the other being Leo Tolstoy. Dostoyevsky wrote philosophical and psychological novels that explored themes of faith, duty, country, love, depression, grief, and family, among others. His two most famous works are The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment.

Romanticism was an art form that rose to prominence in Europe from the early to mid 19th century.

Romantic artwork emphasized capturing intense emotions such as shock, terror, and awe.

Voltaire was a French author, so he would not be a good choice here. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a poet and did not write novels, so he would not be a good choice here. Byron and Percy Shelley were friends and moved in the same circles, although they did not write the novel in question, so they would not be good answers. Lastly, Mary Shelley is the author of Frankenstein (1818), and although she initially published anonymously she is widely credited as the author, so she would be the best choice.

One of the most important writers of the 20th century, Vladimir Nabokov pushed the boundaries of not only what was socially acceptable, but what readers could handle. His novel Lolita features a chilling look at a sexual deviant's abduction and subsequent relationship with a pre-teenage girl.

Geoffrey Chaucer famously wrote the Canterbury Tales, so he would be the best answer here. Percy Shelley and Byron were both English authors, but they lived centuries after the publishing of the book in question, so they would not be good answer choices. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was English but he wrote primarily poems, so he would not be the best choice. Lastly, Moliere was a French playwright, so he would not be the best answer here.

Don Quixote is the most famous work in the history of Spanish literature. It was written by Cervantes in the sixteenth century and is primarily a mockery of the culture that existed in Spain in Cervantes’ time period. Cervantes wanted to shine a light on the absurd glorification of chivalry and anachronistic reverence for medieval values. Cervantes' disdain, and muted, vexed respect for, chivalric cultural values can be found in the most lasting image of the work, and one of the most lasting images in all of literature, that of Don Quixote riding valiantly into battle against a windmill.

The Renaissance represented a revival of Greco-Roman culture, and therefore its art began to reflect classical art and themes, including myths. Nevertheless, religious themes continued to be popular in art. During the Renaissance, the status of the artist increased greatly: individuals such as Michelangelo were widely revered for their artistic genius. Additionally, individual patrons more frequently began to commission art (most famously, the Medici family in Florence); the portrait became a more common genre; and even religious paintings often portrayed the patron and his family. Note that during the Renaissance, the human body began to be depicted in a more naturalistic manner, and was typically glorified. Consider, for example, Michelangelo’s David.