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Unit 1: Development of Prose Writing through the Literary Ages

whether it should be more like Latin, the international language of learning, or whether it Notes
should be true to its own native genius.
• The spread of printing meant that people who were not learned (who did not know Latin)
could afford English books and would therefore read, as they had not done before. Notable
defenses of the vernacular tongues of Italian and French had been published; some Englishmen
felt that an equally valid defense of English could be made. As early as 1543 a translator,
Peter Betham, proclaimed that he thought translators ought to use the usual terms of our
English tongue, not borrowing terms from other languages, because, as he said, continual
borrowing without repayment would make the language, as it would make a man, bankrupt.
Furthermore, he deplored what he called “inkhorn” terms, learned words derived from
Latin or invented by authors—words so obscure that he thought the ordinary Englishman
would not be able to understand them. To be sure, he admitted, a few words of foreign origin
must be allowed, since languages are clearly interlaced with each other, but the good writer
of English is the one who follows Chaucer and other old writers, keeping English in its
native tradition. The most notable theorist of language reform in the middle of the century
was the famous classical scholar, Sir John Cheke, Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge.
His theory of phonetic spelling is demonstrated in his letter to the translator Sir Thomas
Hoby. The most important translations of the sixteenth century were the renderings of the
Bible into the vernaculars. In England William Tyndale began his translation in 1523; he had
to do it surreptitiously and outside the country; he finally suffered martyrdom for his efforts.
In 1530 a royal proclamation condemned Tyndale’s translation and all other versions in the
vulgar tongue. Then in 1535 Miles Coverdale published, in Zu¨ rich, the first complete Bible
in English. By this time the official attitude was changing, and in 1540 the so-called Great
Bible was published, the first English Bible issued with official sanction—evidence of the
extent of the breach between the English church and the Church of Rome.

1.8 Key-Words

1. Elizabethan Age : Elizabethan Age is often used to describe the late 16th and early
17th centuries even after the death of Elizabeth. This was the
time of swift expansion in English commerce and the
development of nationalist feeling - the time of the defeat of
Spanish Armada in 1588. It is considered as a great age English
literature - the greatest in the field of drama.
2. Caroline Age : Caroline Age - the reign of Charles I (called “Carolus” in Latin).
It was the time of English Civil War between the supporters of
the King and supporters of the parliament.
3. The Neo-classical Period : The Neo-classical Period in England covers almost 140 years
after the Restoration (1660). The authors such as John Dryden,
Alexander Pope, Joseph Addition, Jonathan Swift, Oliver Gold
Smith, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke contributed to neoclassic
literature.

1.9 Review Questions

1. Write a short note on the history of English Literary Prose.
2. Discuss Chaucer’s prose writing.
3. What is the development of English prose through Literary ages.

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