Several general characteristics of Elizabethan literature and writers should be indicated at the outset.
The period has the great variety of almost unlimited creative force; it includes works of many kinds in both verse and prose, and ranges in spirit from the loftiest Platonic idealism or the most delightful romance to the level of very repulsive realism.
In style it often exhibits romantic luxuriance, which sometimes takes the form of elaborate affectations of which the favorite 'conceit' is only the most apparent.
It continued to be largely influenced by the literature of Italy, and to a less degree by those of France and Spain.
The literary spirit was all-pervasive, and the authors were men (not yet women) of almost every class, from distinguished courtiers, like Ralegh and Sidney, to the company of hack writers, who starved in garrets and hung about the outskirts of the bustling taverns.
伊丽莎白文学的总体特征可总结为如下几点:
这一时期具有几乎无限的创作力量,作品种类繁多，从柏拉图唯心主义或最令人愉快的浪漫主义到反映丑恶的现实主义。
在风格上往往表现出浪漫的繁茂，有时略显矫揉造作。
它能在很大程度上由意大利文学的影响，并略受法国和西班牙的影响。
文学精神更是无孔不入，男性作者（尚未涉及妇女），几乎覆盖每一个阶层，从著名廷臣像Ralegh和Sidney，到受雇于出版商的文人，到在阁楼挨饿或是混迹于熙熙攘攘的酒馆的人。