Euphuism is a fancy way of writing that was popular for a short time during the Elizabethan era. This style used a lot of alliteration, antithesis, balance, and simile, along with mentions of nature and stories from mythology. Euphuism was especially popular in the 1580s in the Elizabethan court. It began with Spanish writer Antonio de Guevara, whose elaborate and detailed writing became well-known in Europe. His book, The Clock of the Princes, was translated into English in 1557 by Thomas North and became most popular during the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
Euphues(1580)
The word "Euphues" (εὐφυής) means "graceful" and "witty" in Greek. John Lyly wrote two books titled Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and His England (1580). These works showed the intellectual trends and popular themes of Renaissance society, written in a very formal and stylized way. The stories in these books are not important; they serve only as backgrounds for conversations, discussions, and letters that mostly focus on the topic of love. Similar features appeared earlier in works like George Pettie’s A Petite Pallace of Pettie His Pleasure (1576), in religious writings, and in Latin texts. Lyly improved and perfected the special writing techniques that defined this style.
Principles
The euphuistic sentence used balance and opposite ideas in a very extreme way, intentionally choosing opposite ideas even if they did not always make sense. John Lyly created three main rules for how sentences were built.
Examples
"Virtue is what makes a person truly noble and honorable. It can make the poor rich, the lowly respected, the powerless strong, the unattractive beautiful, the sick healthy, the weak brave, and the most unhappy the happiest. Two key qualities in humans are knowledge and reason. Knowledge leads, and reason follows. These qualities cannot be changed by the unpredictable events of life, nor by the tricks of others, nor by illness, nor by growing old." (Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit)
"Is it not better to avoid wrongdoing by remembering the mistakes of others, rather than by regretting one's own errors?" (Euphues, 1, lecture by the wise Neapolitan)
"Can anything in life be more valuable than a true friend? A friend with whom you can rest safely, share your secrets without fear of betrayal, and face difficulties without doubt. A friend who sees your pain as their own, your troubles as their own, and even a small injury to you as a deep wound to them." (Euphues)
"How foolish are lovers who chase only physical beauty? Beauty that fades quickly with the heat of summer and the cold of winter. It disappears before one even notices it growing." (Euphues' after-dinner speech to the 'coy' Neapolitan ladies on whether the qualities of the mind or the composition of the man are more worthy).
"Time has separated me from my mother's care, and age has freed me from my father's discipline." (Lucilla, considering her father's reaction in abandoning her fiancé Philanthus for Euphues).
"A painful problem has a quick solution." (Euphues)
"Women are hard to win without great trust, and hard to lose without a strong reason for change." (Euphues to Lucilla on the quality of 'fervency' in women).
"But alas, Euphues, how can a traveler be trusted? A stranger is unreliable. Their words and actions are fleeting, their feet always moving, their promises broken when they leave." (Lucilla to Euphues).
Legacy
Many critics did not like Lyly's overuse of complicated language and styles. Philip Sidney and Gabriel Harvey criticized his writing, as did Aldous Huxley in his book On the Margin: Notes and Essays, where he wrote, "If you remove Lyly's knowledge and his love for matching phrases, all that remains is Mrs. Ros."
Despite this, Lyly's writing style influenced Shakespeare. Shakespeare used it in speeches by characters like Polonius and Osric in Hamlet, and in the overly elaborate language of romantic characters in Love's Labour's Lost. Characters such as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, as well as Richard and Lady Anne in Richard III, also used similar styles. Other Elizabethan writers, including Robert Greene, Thomas Lodge, and Barnabe Rich, adopted Lyly's approach. Later, Walter Scott mocked it through the character Sir Piercie Shafton in The Monastery, while Charles Kingsley defended Lyly's work in Westward Ho!.
Contemporary equivalents in other languages
Euphuism was not only found in Britain, nor was it a result of specific social or artistic conditions in that country. Other European countries had similar styles, each with its own name: culteranismo in Spain, Marinismo in Italy, and préciosité in France, for example.