Ronsard and the Age of Gold

Elizabeth Armstrong seeks an explanation for the use of Age of Gold in Renaissance literature.

Elizabeth Armstrong (Author)

9780521113434, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 June 2009

236 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.3 cm, 0.31 kg

The Age of Gold was one of the so-called 'commonplaces' inherited by the Renaissance from classical antiquity, a myth (taking many different forms) telling of an era of human happiness without war or want. Most writers used it as a convenient device, predicting its return as an age of peace and plenty upon the accession of a ruler or the signing of a treaty: others moralized it as a reformed or spiritually regenerated society. Elizabeth Armstrong's search for an answer to this question has entailed a study of a wide range of possible influences, classical, medieval and contemporary, and an examination of neglected areas of Ronsard's own vast literary output. Most of all an explanation is sought in his temperament and tastes, which made the theme of the Age of Gold at one period in his life a welcome vehicle for poetry expressing his love of freedom and his sensibility to untouched nature.

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction: the Age of Gold in Renaissance symbol and ceremonial
1. The Age of Gold in Ronsard's poetry
2. Classical, medieval and renaissance concepts of the Age of Gold
3. Other representations of the Age of Gold in Ronsard's time
4. Traditional and contemporary influences affecting Ronsard's idea of the Age of Gold
5. Ronsard's natural surroundings, tastes and temperament idealised in his image of the Age of Gold
Map: the Ronsard country
Appendix to chapter 1: chronological table
Bibliography
Indices.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]