Puritan age and Restoration age literature
This blog is about puritan age and restoration age this task is given by megha ma'am.
PURITAN AGE:
· Puritanism, a religious reform
movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that sought
to “purify” the church of England of remnants of the roman catholic “popery”
that the puritans claimed had been retained after the religious settlement
reached early in the reign of queen Elizabeth 1.
· Puritan age is marked by the decline
of renaissance age the age of revival of knowledge.
· Puritan age is further divided into
two classes; Jacobean period in which James 1 was the ruler; Caroline period in
which Charles 1 was the ruler.
Meaning
of Puritanism
ü A member of a group of English
protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries advocated
strict religious discipline along with simplification of the ceremonies and
creeds of the church of England.
ü Puritans one who lives in accordance
with protestant precepts, especially one who regards pleasure or luxury as
sinful.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF PURITAN AGE
The puritan
age in English history was characterised by several features,
Ø Religious discipline
The puritans
believed in strict moral discipline and personal salvation through Christ.
Ø Political and religious divisions
The country
was divided by political and religious divisions during this turbulent time.
Ø Literature
Literature from this period characterised by themes of sadness, gloom,
and criticism. Puritans writers often used first-person works with simple
language and sentences structure, and incorporated many biblical allusions.
Ø Government
The puritans believed that the government’s primary purpose
was to punish breaches of God’s laws. They were also Committed to the
separation of church and states, and forbade ministers from holding public
office.
Ø Social and economic values
Puritans made a virtue of qualities that led to economic
success, such as self-reliance, frugality, self-discipline, and industry.
Influence of the English civil war on the literature of
puritan age
· Puritanism, a religious movement that
wanted to cleanse the church of England of its catholic ties, had a significant
impact on writing during this time
· Puritan’s authors often wrote in the
first person, using simple language and sentence structure, and frequently
included religious references and biblical allusions.
· The rise of new genres: the novel
emerged as a popular genre towards the end of the 17th century.
· Religious work: the puritan age favoured
religious works, and people wrote a lot of them.
· Pamphlets: with the collapse of
drama, people started writing and publishing many pamphlets.
Moral and
Religious theme
· Puritans believed in a strict moral
discipline and purity as the correct way to live as a Christian.
· Puritans believed that God had chosen
a few people, the “elect”, for salvation, and that the rest of humanity was
condemned to eternal damnation.
· Puritans believed in individual
relationship with God.
· Puritan emphasized preaching that drew
on scripture and everyday experience.
· Puritans believed that everyone
should live by the word of God and the bible.
· Puritans believed in religious freedom.
Two prominent writers of puritan age
1) 1) John Milton:
Born: 9th Dec 1608
Died: 8th Nov 1674
He was best known for his writing of paradise lost. Milton first
planned to become a priest. He studied at Cambridge university and afterwards
decided to abandon this path to become a full-time writer and poet. Milton
became a very active in politics, and often wrote political pamphlets along with
his other writings.as a protestant who believed in freedom of worship. John
Milton would work for the English government under Oliver Cromwell after the
removal of the monarchy.
Many of his works have religious, political, instances of
imagery of light and darkness and good and evil can be found in several works.
Milton’s famous works:
Paradise lost classical tragedy samson agonistes, and
pastoral elegy Lycidas are widely regarded as the greatest poem of their kind
in English.
Milton wrote 24 sonnets. 18 English 6 Italian.
He is best known for paradise lost. The poem is a retelling the story of Adam and Eve. From the biblical book of Genesis which describes the creation of heaven and earth and of Adam and Eve.
2) 2) John Bunyan:
Born 1628
Died 31st Aug 1688
John Bunyan was an English writer and puritan preacher. He is
best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The pilgrim’s progress,
which also became an influential literary model.
Bunyan’s famous works:
Pilgrim’s progress, the book that was the most
characteristics expression of the puritan religious outlook, the life and death
of Mr. Badman, the holy war.
The pilgrims progress about a man named Christian who is anxious and ashamed of his sin and the burden on his back. He must make a journey to the celestial city to find redemption.
RESTORATION AGE
The restoration age in England refers to the time between
1660 to 1700. The period in England began with the reinstatement of Charles the
second and spanned twenty-eight years of the 17th century. Charles
the second restored to the throne and monarchy was re-established in England.
LITERARY THEMES AND STYLE
· Restoration period had a preferred
rhyme scheme. Rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter.
· Restoration period discussed themes
like temperance, logic, and realism.
· Restoration literature adopted a the
heroic couplet as a poetic medium that is two iambic pentameter lines which
rhymed together.
· The restoration period was a time
when writers were free to experiment with form, structure, and content.
· Restoration literature often focused
on social and political themes, and was known for its sharp wit and satire.
· The Restoration period saw the return
of the theatre, which had been closed for 18 years due to religious and
political leaders' beliefs that it was sinful. Charles II, a fan of drama,
encouraged the theatre’s presence, and the period saw many innovations,
including the Restoration comedy genre.
Defining feature of restoration age
· Neoclassical influences: The
Restoration period is also known as the Neoclassical period, and writers were
influenced by the classical literature of Greece and Rome.
· Political focus: Much of the
literature from this period was political, with some writers welcoming the
return of Charles II and others lamenting it.
· Comedy of Manners: A popular form of
Restoration drama that mocked the upper class and included vulgar and sexually
suggestive language.
· Satire: A form of writing that was
popular during the Restoration period.
· Poetry: Poetry was the most popular
and significant form of literature during the Restoration period.
· Prose: Prose writers became more
concerned with formalizing and de-Latinizing language.
· Women in literature: Women began
writing literature and acting in plays.
· French influences: Charles II brought
French theatre and ornate architecture ideas to England.
· Freedom of expression: Writers were
free to experiment with content, structure, and form.
TWO KEY WRITERS OF
RESTORATION ERA
1) John Dryden:
Born: 19th Aug 1631
Died: 12th May 1700
He is seen as dominating
the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came
to be known in literary circle as the age of Dryden. Romantic writer sir walter
scott called him “Glorious john”.
Dryden wrote almost 30
tragedies, comedies, and dramatic operas.
FAMOUS WORKS:
Absalom and Achitophel, Mac
Flecknoe, The hind and the panther, Essay of dramatic poesy
A satiric narrative poem in which Dryden uses a biblical allegory to discuss the events and main personalities involved in this crisis.
central idea of this poem
is power and ambition.
2) William Congreve:
Born: 24th Jan 1670
Died: 19th Jan 1729
He was an English play
writer, poet and whing politician. His works, which from an important component
of restoration literature, were known for their use of satire and the comedy of
manners.
FAMOUS WORKS:
The old bachelor, The
double dealer, Love for Love, The way of the World.
The old bachelor is the
first play written by British playwright. The 'Old Bachelor' is Heartwell, 'a
surly old bachelor, pretending to slight women', who falls in love with Silvia,
not knowing her to be the forsaken mistress of Vain love, and is lured into
marrying her, only discovering her true character afterwards, from the gibes of
his acquaintances.
REFERENCES:
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