On Alretino And His Secular Spirit

Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) was a famous poet and dramatist between the lateof15th century and the middle of16th century. The secular spirit of Aretino is closelyrelated to his legend life. Highly secular people became favourite during the period ofRenaissance and Aretino was one of the typical representatives. He was a man ofhumble birth and studied by himself. He experienced various of difficulties in thebottom of society. So he strongly desired that he could have his name up. Aretinoestablished his own status in the Italian literary circus on his great talents. His onlypurpose was to earn more fame and wealth whether by biting sarcasm or flatteringto those nobles and princes. Because of the strong secular spirit we can hardly findsome influence of religion on Aretino. However, he was not impious. He carednothing except for actual benefits and what he chased for during all his life was histemporal interests.Domestic research on Aretino is lacking while at the same time Chineseversions of Aretino’s works can not be easily found, let alone those studies whichsuppose that Aretino lives in modern times invoking historic point of view. Theresearch on Aretino and his works can be regarded as a significant starting point tostudy the secularization of Italian society during the Renaissance Period. Prominentfeatures of Aretino’s secular spirit mirrored the transition from middle ages tomodern times in Europe.