Literature of the Enlightenment

(1660-1800)

Questions:

1. First English Novels: D.Defoe.

2. English Satire: J.Swift.

3. Novelists: T.Jones, H.Fielding, T.Smollet, L.Stern, O.Goldsmith.

1. First English Novels: D.Defoe.

The 17^th century was one of the stormiest periods of English History. The growing contradictions between the new class, the bourgeoisie, and the old forces of feudalism brought about the English Bourgeois Revolution in 1640s. As the result of the revolution the king was dethroned and beheaded and England was proclaimed a republic. Though very soon monarchy was restored, the position of the bourgeoisie had changed.

One of Shakespeare’s outstanding contemporaries was Ben Johnson who excelled in comedies, most of them satirizing people’s manners and vices. He is known as a ‘vulpine’ for it. ‘Fox’ is a spoken name for a cunning person.

Another prominent writer was a poet John Donn. Mainly the poet created a great number of sonnets. He took up Shakespeare’s challenge of the elevated poetry full of refined fatty images and even went to the extremes because he employed rough, down-to-earth similar metaphors. There are a lot of philosophical thoughts in Donn’s sonnets. All this made him head of the so-called “circle of metaphysical poetry”. Many of his sonnets have a religious character and are called ‘ecclesiastical sonnets’.

The process of Reformation took a specific shape in England. King Henry VIII broke off with the Catholic Church because of personal reasons. He wanted a divorce. The child of his new wife was titled Queen Elizabeth I. he established the Anglican Church and announced himself Head of it. After Henry VIII died his first daughter Mary Tudor tried to return the power but Elizabeth fought her and succeeded. She had also to fight the Scottish queen and beheaded her.

In the early XVII century the English bourgeoisie inspired by the reformations on the continent, demanded purification of the church ‘from dogma’s’ (Puritans). All this brought the discord in the country which in combination with political ambitions of different forces led to the civil war called here as the English Bourgeois Revolution.

James I (1603-1625) was succeeded by his son (not so wise) Charles I. There arose a conflict between the king and the Parliament. Charles I dissolved the Parliament because he didn’t want to divide the power with the Parliament. The civil war was between the Royalists (Cavaliers) and bourgeoisie (‘round heads’) led by Oliver Cromwell. It started as a claim for democracy. The Commonwealth or the Republic was established. Charles I was beheaded and Cromwell declared himself Head of the Commonwealth, but gradually he turned into a tyrant which caused dissatisfaction on the part of many of his former supporters. His death in 1658 put an end to the Republic and in 1660 monarchy was restored in England. This period is known as Restoration.

During the war publicism became one of the most important aspects in literature and the 1^st English newspapers came to light printed for and distributed among the soldiers of the Commonwealth Army. They were called ‘relations’ because they related to events of the war. There appeared people – agitators.

Among the people who supported Cromwell was a prominent writer John Milton. He was the son of a London Lawyer. He got a good education, studied at Cambridge for 3 years which was a strong hold of puritan thought. He was conscientiously preparing himself for a career of a poet. In the 30s he went to travel to Europe but hearing about the revolutionary events in England he hurried back and launched himself enthusiastically into political struggle. He became Latin Secretary in Cromwell’s administration. He started as an adherent of Crowell but soon he began to criticize his tyranny and anti-democracy. He was working in the form of pamphlets (social work on urgent subjects) and essays. He also wrote sonnets which he filled mostly with political and philosophical problems though lyrical (the second period – 40-50s). in his first period (1963s) he wrote mostly poetry which showed the dual nature of his outlook. His humanist ideas (optimistic) went hand in hand with religious ones – puritan thoughts.

In 1650 he developed blindness and in 1652 he became completely blind. He has a sonnet on his blindness. His greatest poems were written after the restoration when he was blind and poor. When the Restoration came, the king put Milton into prison and was going to behead him but he was saved by his friends. In poverty he wrote his best work ‘Paradise Lost’. It is a great epic song of 12 books written in blank verse (5 foot iambic meter written with no rhyme). It is based on the biblical subject relating to the revolt of Satan against God, the temptation of the first people and their punishment from the Garden of Eden.

The tale of the Fall or the Orginal Sin occupies in the Bible several verses while Milton developed it into a big masterfully written poem. According to Milton Satan overhears Gabriel’s story about the creation of the Universe and man which he then tells to Adam. Satan decided to take his revenge on God by tempting the first man. He appears disguised as a toad, whispers some seducing words into Eve’s ear. He learnt from the conversation of Adam and Eve that they are forbidden to eat a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Next day Eve who decided to walk into the Garden of Eden alone was approached by Satan again disguised as a serpent. Satan tells her if she plucks the piece of apple she would equal to the God. She plucks the apple for herself, another for Adam. She knows that she is mortal because she knows when she dies Adam would be given another wife. Due to this disobedience they lost their innocence and began to cover nakedness with leaves to hide themselves from the anger of God and finally they lost God’s favour. They were banished from the Garden of Eden and doomed to hard labour, sufferings and pains. They were not discouraged, they relied on each other.

The image of Satan himself was described as an attractive creature. He makes the reader feel sympathy towards him. Here we find a contradiction: Milton was highly religious but his description of Satan is attractive. It was because Milton was revolutionary himself. Most probably he did it to show that Evil has always been attractive and that’s why it has always managed to destroy men’s best future redemption (искупление) of Jesus Christ.

Milton’s second poem ‘Paradise Regained’ can be considered to continue the 1^st. It tells of the temptation of Christ in the wildness by Satan. Satan is described by Milton as a cunning smooth creature, a spirit unfortunate. Paradise was regained thanks to Christ’s resistance to Satan’s temptations. This poem was written under the influence of the disillusionment of the outcome of the revolution. Having lost his faith in people’s joint struggle, Milton began to rely on the devotion. To some extent he endowed Christ with his own features.

His last work is called ‘Samson Agonistes’. It’s still another poem on a biblical subject. According to Milton he was a powerful man who fought against the enemy. He was endowed with great physical strength which was hidden in his hair. He was betrayed by his beloved wife Delilah. She told his secret and cut his hair. He was captured by the enemies and blinded by them. He took his revenge on the enemies by pulling down the pillars of the temple where there were some 3000 philistines’ assemble.

Milton’s contribution can’t be overestimated. He influenced the further development of the poetry by the form of his works and by the greatness of his themes.

In the 18^th century politically and economically England achieved the position of great power in Europe. This period witnessed many ups and downs of England`s foreign policy. Along with military success and political expansion England achieved financial and commercial pre-eminence. London became the world`s greatest seaport and commercial center. This development involved the growth in number and influence of a great middle class of merchants and tradesmen. The 18^th century England was distinguished also in science and philosophy. After the foundation of the royal society in 1660 the experimental sciences were establishing in men’s minds the idea that the Universe in which we live is a world of orders and invariable law. As the century advanced, the idea of democracy makes steady headway. Before the century was ended, the armies of French Republic were proclaiming to all Europe the doctrines of liberty, fraternity and equality. The end of the 17^th and the 18^th centuries are known in the history of the European culture as the period of the Enlightenment. The Enlighteners defended the interests of the common people- craftsmen, tradesmen and peasants. Their criticism was directed against social inequality, religious hypocrisy, as well as the immorality of the aristocracy. The central problem of the Enlightenment ideology was that of man and his nature. They believed in reason as well as in man`s inborn goodness. In this period thought was more important than emotion, and the literature of the day reflected that change. The name Enlightenment derives from the writers’ belief in virtue in man as inborn quality and vice is due to ignorance. That’s why they considered it their duty to educate or enlighten people.

This period is also called the Neoclassic age, the Augustan period, the Age of Reason and the Restoration period.

As far as literature goes, this age is remarkable for:

1. further development of poetry

2. birth of journalism

3. birth of the genre of novel of the XVIII century.

The poetry of the Age of Reason is called classic or neoclassic because

1. it was modeled on the works of the great ancient poets (Homer, Vergil)

2. it was characterized by precision and accuracy of expression, by a laconic and aphoristic manner of writing.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is a prominent English poet of the time. He was ugly-looking. His life was dramatic, he came from a Catholic family and this was the trouble of all his life, still he was well-educated. His poetry mostly has a satirical character. He wrote philosophical poems ‘Essay on Men’ and ‘Essay on Critisism’. Both are written in a heroic couplet (2-lined stanza, rhymed lines each consisting of 10 syllables).

“A little learning is a dangerous thing.

Drink deep or taste not the knowledge spring”

(«Вкушай много или не пробуй ничего»)

Pope’s criticism of contemporary society is very wittily presented in his mock poem ‘The Rape of the Lock’ (Похищение локона). There’s a contrast between the loftiness of the style and the triviality of the contents.

In the 18^th century people showed an immense interest in the affairs both at home and abroad. It was in the form of newspapers and journals. The most influential journalists were John Addison and Richard Steele who edited several journals called “The Spectator”, “The Englishman”, “The Tattler” (сплетник) in which they published different essays of poets on various problems of the day. Most of them had a didactic character.

This epoch in English literature may be divided into three periods:

1. Early Enlightenment (1660-1740)

2. Mature Enlightenment (1740-1760)

3. Late Enlightenment (Sentimentalism/Pre-Romanticism) (1760-1780)

First realistic novels appeared by D. Defoe and J. Swift.

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was born in London, the son of a merchant named Foe. Daniel added “De” to his name about 1700. He was educated for the Presbyterian ministry but decided in 1685 to go into business. He became a merchant and his business gave him frequent opportunities to travel throughout Western Europe. His life was full ups and downs. “30 times he was rich and poor”, he said. He wrote about 500 works of different character. In his early years he dedicated himself to journalism and published his own periodical “The Review”. His pamphlet “The Shortest Way with the Dissenters” was aimed at defending the freedom of religion. He published a lot of essays in which he put forward his ideas of social reforms (education for women). He married for money and had 8 eight children. Defoe was taken to prison and 3 times pillared (на осмеяние к столбу). This fact added to his popularity. His most known work is “The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner”. It had an immense popularity and was immediately translated into several languages. Its hero is a middle class man. He is a true bourgeois. He is courageous, energetic, enterprising, industrious, hard-working, and pious. The novel is written in a true-to-life manner. The first-person presentation sounds veritable. Some things are naïve. It was a hymn of endeavour, courage, undertaking, and a kind of glorification of bourgeoisie. The main message is bourgeoisie has a lot of advantages.

His other novels-adventures are “Roxana”, “Moll Flanders”, historical novels: “The Journal of the Plaque Year”, “Memoirs of a Cavalier”.