--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only an obstinate prejudice about this…" description: "\"“Only an obstinate prejudice about this period (which I will presently try to account for) could blind us to a certain change which comes over the mere..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg" --- # Only an obstinate prejudice about this period (which I… ![“Only an obstinate prejudice about this period (which I will presently try to account for) could blind us to a certain change which comes over the merely literary texts as we pass from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century.” quote by C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg) > ““Only an obstinate prejudice about this period (which I will presently try to account for) could blind us to a certain change which comes over the merely literary texts as we pass from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century.”” [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literary shifts reveal deeper cultural changes, not just stylistic evolution. **In simple terms:** Literature reflects broader societal change. Key Takeaway Look beyond style to cultural context. Themes history literature culture change Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical interpretive When to use this quote - studying medieval to Renaissance literature - teaching literature - researching cultural trends Key Concepts Historical criticism cultural analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do literary forms signal societal shifts? - What non‑literary signs accompany such changes? A Different Perspective May overemphasize literary texts at expense of other evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Literary criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-criticism/) [Merely Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merely-literary-5749337/) [Middle ages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-ages/) [Obstinate Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstinate-prejudice-3272585/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Prejudice Period](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice-period-5749336/) [Sixteenth Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sixteenth-century-533894/) ## Related quotes > [“The liberality of the age, or in other words the weakening of the obstinate prejudice, which makes men unable to see what is before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-liberality-of-the-age-or-in-other-words-the-weakening-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“for as we are never in a proper condition of doing justice to others, while we continue under the influence of some leading partiality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/for-as-we-are-never-in-a-proper-condition-of-doing-justice-to-others/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“Modern women had their own self-made guilt to make them miserable, but the sixteenth-century people had diseases, their fear of the unknown, their ignorance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jude-deveraux/modern-women-had-their-own-self-made-guilt-to-make-them-miserable-but/) [Jude Deveraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jude-deveraux/) > [“In the sixteenth century, English was established as a language of record;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kory-stamper/in-the-sixteenth-century-english-was-established-as-a-language-of/) [Kory Stamper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kory-stamper/) > [“It is called Giordano Bruno after the sixteenth-century Roman Catholic scholar who held that there are an infinity of worlds and that many are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-called-giordano-bruno-after-the-sixteenth-century-roman/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Think about it. People in the sixteenth century - not to mention in Jesus's time - didn't look like this: perfect skin, perfect hairdos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-david-levithan/think-about-it-people-in-the-sixteenth-century-not-to-mention-in/) [Julia David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-david-levithan/) > [It is beyond a doubt that during the sixteenth century, and the years immediately preceding and following it, poisoning had been brought to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-beyond-a-doubt-that-during-the-sixteenth-century-and-the-years/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In the middle of the sixteenth century, Spain was the incubus of Europe. Gloomy and portentous, she chilled the world with her baneful shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-parkman/in-the-middle-of-the-sixteenth-century-spain-was-the-incubus-of/) [Francis Parkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-parkman/) > [In the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/in-the-ancient-city-of-london-on-a-certain-autumn-day-in-the-second/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The history of literature is very far from being one of simple progress.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-history-of-literature-is-very-far-from-being-one-of-simple/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“In reality the puritans and the humanists were quite often the same people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/in-reality-the-puritans-and-the-humanists-were-quite-often-the-same/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“It must be remembered that no art lives by nature, only by acts of voluntary attention on the part of human individuals. When these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/it-must-be-remembered-that-no-art-lives-by-nature-only-by-acts-of/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Attempts to connect men's circumstances too closely with their literary productions are usually, I believe, unsuccessful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/attempts-to-connect-men-s-circumstances-too-closely-with-their/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Nearly all our older poetry was written and read by men to whom the distinction between poetry and rhetoric, in its modern form, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/nearly-all-our-older-poetry-was-written-and-read-by-men-to-whom-the/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If you read history you will find that the Christians begin the most for the present world are just the ones that thought the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-you-read-history-you-will-find-that-the-christians-begin-the-most/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## More by C.S. Lewis > [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Isn’t it absolutely essential to keep a fierce Left and a fierce Right, both on their toes and each terrified of the other?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/isn-t-it-absolutely-essential-to-keep-a-fierce-left-and-a-fierce/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/all-hell-is-smaller-than-one-pebble-of-your-earthly-world-but-it-is/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“the greatest service we can do to education today is to teach fewer subjects. No one has time to do more than a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-greatest-service-we-can-do-to-education-today-is-to-teach-fewer/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-the-divine-call-does-not-make-us-better-it-will-make-us-very-much/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the Church -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-husband-is-the-head-of-the-wife-just-in-so-far-as-he-is-to-her/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“We use a most unfortunate idiom when we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he "wants a woman". Strictly speaking, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/we-use-a-most-unfortunate-idiom-when-we-say-of-a-lustful-man-prowling/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Después de cada fracaso, pedid perdón, levantaos del suelo y volved a intentarlo. Muy a menudo, lo que Dios nos otorga primero no es…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/despu-s-de-cada-fracaso-pedid-perd-n-levantaos-del-suelo-y-volved-a/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/then-two-wonders-happened-at-the-same-moment-one-was-that-the-voice/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/because-free-will-though-it-makes-evil-possible-is-also-the-only/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be grave. For jokes as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/laugh-and-fear-not-creatures-now-that-you-are-no-longer-dumb-and/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/when-two-humans-have-lived-together-for-many-years-it-usually-happens/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/he-sees-as-well-as-you-do-that-courage-is-not-simply-one-of-the/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If you do not take the distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that anything you find in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-you-do-not-take-the-distinction-between-good-and-bad-very/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/now-the-whole-offer-which-christianity-makes-is-this-that-we-can-if/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) [Explore all 1,165 C.S. Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## More Literary criticism quotes > [“The first phase of modernism, which so far as the English language goes we associate with Pound and Yeats, Wyndham Lewis and Eliot and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-first-phase-of-modernism-which-so-far-as-the-english-language/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [“Milton argued, in 1649, after the execution of Charles I, that a people 'free by nature' had a right to overthrow a tyrant; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-carter/milton-argued-in-1649-after-the-execution-of-charles-i-that-a-people/) [Ronald Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-carter/) > [“If you were to stare at this box of matches, you could extract entire worlds out of it. If you search for tastes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-gombrowicz/if-you-were-to-stare-at-this-box-of-matches-you-could-extract-entire/) [Witold Gombrowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-gombrowicz/) > [Historical investigation and literary criticism have taken the magic out of the Bible and have made it a composite human book, written by many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/historical-investigation-and-literary-criticism-have-taken-the-magic/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [Criticism even should not be without its charms. When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [“Because it is written by a nineteenth-century American, and because of its closeness to the twentieth century, The Portrait of a Lady foregoes Victorian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-gregor/because-it-is-written-by-a-nineteenth-century-american-and-because-of/) [Ian Gregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-gregor/) > [“By the close of the nineteenth century her studies with her father were being supplemented by tuition in the classics from Dr Warr of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/by-the-close-of-the-nineteenth-century-her-studies-with-her-father/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Bloomsbury lost Fry, in 1934, and Lytton Strachey before him, in January 1932, to early deaths. The loss of Strachey was compounded by Carrington’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/bloomsbury-lost-fry-in-1934-and-lytton-strachey-before-him-in-january/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [“It is already the fashion to diminish Eliot by calling him derivative, the mouthpiece of Pound, and so forth; and yet if one wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/it-is-already-the-fashion-to-diminish-eliot-by-calling-him-derivative/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [“In 1925 Woolf began an affair with Sackville-West, who was married to Harold Nicolson, the diplomat and writer, and the development of their close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/in-1925-woolf-began-an-affair-with-sackville-west-who-was-married-to/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [“Modernism and feminism are two broad axes on which Woolf criticism turns, and there are many other categories that reflect the range of positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/modernism-and-feminism-are-two-broad-axes-on-which-woolf-criticism/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [“Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don't try it. You should leave that to people who haven't been at a University.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/literary-criticism-is-not-your-forte-my-dear-fellow-don-t-try-it-you/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Virgina Woolf versus Edward Lear." "Christ Alive," said Billy. "Are those my only choices?" "I went for Lear," said Leon. "Partly out of fidelity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/virgina-woolf-versus-edward-lear-christ-alive-said-billy-are-those-my/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) [Browse all 335 Literary criticism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-criticism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Only an obstinate prejudice about this period (which I will presently try to account for) could blind us to a certain change which comes over the merely literary texts as we pass from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.S. Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-period-which-i-will-presently/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Literary criticism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-period-which-i-will-presently/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/c-s-lewis-121_literary-criticism_only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-p_1542755.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only an obstinate prejudice about this period (which I will presently try to account for) could blind us to…” — C.S. Lewis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "C.S. Lewis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Only an obstinate prejudice about this...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-period-which-i-will-presently/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-an-obstinate-prejudice-about-this-period-which-i-will-presently/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```