French and Italian Influence on English Literature

Italian and French, both are the most spoken languages in the world today. French ranks 6th in the world rankings with more than 274 million speakers. On the other hand, Italian ranks 20 in the world language rankings. It has more than 63 million speakers. They both are famous as romance languages. French belongs to the Indo-European family while French evolved from the Gallo-Romance. Italian and French are Latin or Neo-Latin languages which means that they are the direct descendants of Vulgar Latin.

These languages are so popular that they are the official language of more than one country. For example, French is the official language of not only France but also Cameroon, Canada, the Republic of Congo, Monaco, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, and many more.

Italian on the other hand is the official language of San Marino, Switzerland, and one of the primary languages of the Vatican City. It is often difficult to distinguish between Italian and Latin. It is because Italian is the closest language to Latin. This is the reason why often Italians are mixed with Latin speakers.

The Versatility of English Literature

The versatility of English literature brings forward the impact of other cultures and kinds of literature on it. English literature is beyond American and British literature. It extends to other countries such as Italy and France. Italian and French both have influenced English literature in their own way. Well, not only do these two languages and cultures have affected literature but there is evidence from the Greek and Latin side also.

English literature consists of so many genres that it becomes difficult to study each of them deeply. You will find prose, sonnets, poetry, black verses and so much more. The era of Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Woolf each have their own effect on this diverse literature.

One thing that you must know about English Literature is that it not only contains the history of just American and British literature but also how we actually come to know about literature and its inception. If specifically talking about eras, then the effects of Victorian, Romantic, and Postcolonialism are still present in the literature that we read today.

Role Of French And Italian Writers In English Literature

With the help of translation services English to French, French readers get the approach of the American writers.

Role of Medieval Italian Poets

When it comes to Italian literature, the works of Petrarch and Dante Alighieri are the most famous ones. Dante and Petrarch both have a profound impact on Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer was the one who brought the Italian sonnet into English Literature and that’s how Shakespeare wrote world class sonnets. The Petrarchan sonnets are evident in the works of Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard.

“The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer depicts the essence of French literature. It shows that not only Chaucer was inspired by the Italian poets but also the French poets. As Italian and French both have a versatile effect on English literature, French translation services are necessary so that French speakers also get the gist of this influence.

Renaissance and Humanism

Renaissance is the rebirth or revival of literature which is a response to the dark ages. The emphasis of the Italian Renaissance was on classical learning and humanism. It is certified Italian translation services that translates Italian Renaissance literature for a global audience. In this way, literature enthusiasts are able to know about the history of English literature.

French Comedy

The works of Molière are responsible for the inclusion of French comedy in English literature. William Congreve adopted the style of Molière and its effect is evidently seen in “The Way of the World”, “Love for Love”, “The Double Dealer” and “Squire Trelooby”. English to Italian translation services help in the accurate translation of Molière’s exotic plays such as “Tartuffe” and the “Le Misanthrope”.

Shakespeare and Italian Renaissance

William Shakespeare’s plays consist of the Italian setting. Especially “The Merchant of Venice” and “Romeo and Juliet” are the notable results of Shakespeare’s Italian inspiration. When it comes to English literature, Shakespeare is a big name. One of the contradictory statements about Shakespeare is that other than taking inspiration from Marlowe and Boccaccio, he intentionally copied the unpublished work of Marlowe. One philosopher claims that “If there was no Marlowe, there would have been no Shakespeare”.

Final words

To sum up, we can say that English literature is a mixture of all other languages and cultures. Many other literature have a profound effect on it. The role of Dante and Petrarch is the most dominant one. It is one of the reasons that today we have the writings of Shakespeare and Chaucer.