The Influence Of The Gutenberg Press

Times are Changing The Renaissance was a time of discovery and exploration for its people. People became curious about the world around them. Idealistic governments were imagined instead of the present monarchies and absolute rulers. Literature was written to symbolize the problems in their current society. A new invention, The Gutenberg Press, allowed people to indirectly discuss these controversial issues across the globe. New ideas about government, science, and the arts paved the way for the modern world. During the Renaissance, many people spoke out against their monarchs in many ways in hopes of changing the government for the better. Voltaire, an author famous for writing Candide, wrote, ‘“We were asking if you do not tenderly love
The Gutenberg Press drastically improved lifestyles. This scientific invention made it easier to produce massive amounts of books instead of writing individually each one by hand. One way people’s lifestyles changed was through reading. Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, wrote, “Of all those [writings] that he thus devoured none pleased him so well as the ones that had been composed by the famous Feliciano de Silva, whose lucid prose style and involved conceits were as precious to him as white pearls” (831). Cervantes is showing how important it was when people first began to read for pleasure in the Renaissance. Another thing his writings show is how people became more attached to earthly things such as books. Before this time, it was mostly useful knowledge for educational purposes in books. Also, this change represents how the Renaissance was a time of learning, but also a time of living comfortably and lavishly. The Gutenberg Press created this change in reading because books were easier to access. Also, when The Gutenberg Press was invented many people became literate. The Renaissance showed people that they do not have to live off the bare necessities. People can live comfortable lives and treat themselves to things such as reading a story. In our modern world people often curl up with a good book. People might not have this tradition today
These new forms of art were used to hint at rights for women. Sir Thomas More, the author of the novel Utopia, wrote, “…in Utopia, where everything belongs to everybody…” (800). More is saying that in this ideal society it does not matter what gender you are. In this Utopia no one has more rights than anybody else. Also, only men in this time period could own items and More wrote this as the idea of women owning items too. Basically, at this point in history, men owned women. The only thing given to a women was her husband’s title. If Sir Thomas More had just come out and wrote that women should be equal to men, people would disagree and not support his literature. This is showing how More was hinting at rights for women and how they should be equal to men. Today women and men have the same rights. Utopia helped shaped women and men equality for the modern