Historical Influence on Literature

Question One: Summary

The Restoration ushered in a period that emphasized science, merging secular activities with religion, and biting political writing. Charles II, the king of England at the beginning of the Restoration, founded the Royal Society, which reflected Charles’ interest in political and social progress (Greenblatt, 2012). The Royal Society studied science as a natural order, but also as one that was created and influenced by God; this lead to the influence of empiricism in literature, which was still accessible mostly to the educated, wealthy citizens (Greenblatt, 2012). Parliament was restored, which created a balancing act between Charles’ desire to be an absolute monarch, and instead created constitutional monarchy (“The Restoration Settlement,” n.d.).

Prior to Charles II, England was a primarily Puritan country, which banished anything deemed against God; after Oliver Cromwell’s death, the Anglican Church was restored, which created tension between Charles and his anti-Catholic parliament (Greenblatt, 2012). With Charles’ re-establishment of the Anglican Church, the persecution of other sects of Christianity grew, becoming so harsh that even his successors in the royal line were forced to flee to escape the anti-Catholic sentiments (“Introduction: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century,” n.d.).

Because of the influence of the empirical science held as an ideal in the Royal Society, and the reduced emphasis on religious themes in favor of more secular, humanist themes, literature began to evolve to include diaries, essays, satirical poems, and literary criticism, and featured very sensory information (Greenblatt, 2012).

Question 3: Compare and Contrast

William Blake’s Romantic writing focused closely on the human condition and experience; he wrote Songs of Innocence and Experience to illustrate the effects he witnessed on the culture following the urbanization and beginning of the industrial movement, especially with children (Greenblatt, 2012). His writing was very political, and interwoven with references to religion to make a moral impact on his audience. His poem “The Chimney Sweeper” in particular showed how immoral and hopeless the life of a child worker could be, to incite change (Greenblatt, 2012); “London” shows his contempt towards the three sources of injustice: Government, church, and the economic system (Greenblatt, 2012)

Shakespeare also made religious references in his plays and poems, but his sonnets and plays were written mostly with a Royalist attitude. The plays Macbeth and Hamlet illustrate explicitly the dangers of killing kings, while Blake was a staunch supporter of the French Revolution, which resulted in the public beheadings of the king and queen (Greenblatt, 2012).

Shakespeare also wrote his own poems and sonnets mostly for the sake of expressing the pleasure of human emotion and experience; he focuses on the beauty of women, describing the colors of their lips and hair carefully, even if ironically in the case of his Sonnet 130 (Greenblatt, 2012); Blake is more critical, though he shows how he longs for joy in his Songs of Innocence.

Question 4: Compare and Contrast

The Romantic era was sparked by the French Revolution and the fall of the Bastille prison (Greenblatt, 2012). The Romantics embraced the revolution in its inception, because it worked to disassemble the class system and monarchy, creating a government of citizens; once the revolution’s Reign of Terror began, and citizens were sent to death by beheading, however, Romantics became very disillusioned by the political movement (Satin, 1969, p. 332).

During the height of the support for the French revolution and the Enlightenment era, Romantics followed the idea of dismantling the church, which epitomized the old social hierarchies (Greenblatt, 2012). Instead, it emphasized humanistic philosophies and political awareness, emphasized by the writings of authors such as Wordsworth and Keats, who wrote about the human experience, and the merging of civilization and nature (Cunningham, 2010, p. 452).

The literature of the Romantics pushed back against the beginning of industrialization in England, and focused on natural scenes, human nature and experience, and beauty (Greenblatt, 2012).

The Victorian age really began with the reign of Queen Victoria I, when continued industrial revolution began to give rise to a stronger middle class (Greenblatt, 2012). It also gave rise to some of the earliest feminist thinkers, and began the shifts in gender and class roles, creating a sense of unease in the country, and in its literature (Greenblatt, 2012).

Many Victorians were very religious, as a way to soothe their unease at the social climate coming to a precipice of change; they embraced religion out of a deep need to have some structure and meaning left in their lives as the country changed around them (Greenblatt, 2012).

The literature of the Victorians reflected this unease, seeming to drift across the spectrums of style and genre, but tended to keep a critical attitude towards the changing culture, exploring the role of literature within the emerging society; many writers created work reflecting the negative facets of the industrialized society and its effects on their way of life, especially the role of women (Greenblatt, 2012).

References

Cunningham, L., & Reich, J. J. (Eds.). (2014). Culture & values: A survey of the humanities (7th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Damrosch, D. (Ed.). (2012). The Longman anthology of British literature (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Greenblatt, S. (2012). The Norton anthology of English literature (9th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Introduction: The restoration and the eighteenth century. (n.d.). Nexus Learning. Retrieved November 17, 2013, from http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/elements_of_lit_course6/Restoration_and_18th_century/Restoration%20Intro.htm

Satin, J. H. (1969). The humanities handbook: Part II. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

The restoration settlement. (n.d.). The History Learning Site. Retrieved November 17, 2013, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/restoration_settlement.htm