Age of Reason Flashcards
Enlightenment
Intellectual and literary movement; characterized by rationalism (principle or habit of accepting reason as supreme authority in matter of opinion/belief/conduct)
Age of Reason
- Enlightenment in England; gave equal place to experience/reason in examining human condition
- Less “rational” than French counterpart
John Locke
- Wrote “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (1690)
- Influenced Enlightenment
Age of Reason Time Periods:
- Early Years
- Middle Years
- Late Years
- 1660-1700
- 1700-1744
- 1744-1780
King Charles II
- Stewart; 1660-1685
- 1660: Restoration–Puritan regime toppled; King Charles II returned to thrown
- Sponsored King’s Players, outlawed Puritan religious sects; restored Anglican Church/theater/literature
- Mistress was Nell Gwyne, had child
- Founded Royal Society of London for Promotion of Natural Knowledge
- No legit. heirs/conflict with Parliament, niece betrothed to William of Orange
- Cerebral hemorrhage; turned Catholic on deathbed
Samuel Pepys
- English writer who wrote of Restoration in diary; 1660
- Cambridge degree, government service; man of world
- Recorded hanging of Puritan as consequence of killing Charles’ father
Restoration Effects
- Anglican Church became Established Church
- Puritans ousted from powers of position
- Theaters reopened
James I
- Stuart; 1603-1625
- Son of Mary, Queen of Scots
- Good Scottish king, difficulties with Parliament
- Issues united England
- Literary patron, Shakespeare, King James Bible
- Died natural death
Charles I
- Stewart; 1625-1649
- Son of James I; married Roman Catholic Spanish princess
- Believed in Divine Right of Kings; taxed without Parliament
- Erupted into Civil War (Parliament Roundheads v. Royalists and Cavaliers)
- Imprisoned and executed
Oliver Cromwell
- 1649-1660
- “Lord Protector” of the Commonwealth
- Rump Parliament, non-monarch, military genius known as “Old Ironside”
- During Catholic genocide in Ireland/Cromwell devout Puritan
- Invaded Scotland and won
- Parliament offers crown to Cromwell; review Constitution
- Cromwell dies of kidney infection
Monk
-Marched to England, restored full Parliament, resumed body of Cromwell and killed him as a traitor
2 Events During Charles II Reign
- 1665: Bubonic Plage; 65,000 die in one year
- 1666: Great fire of London; 13,200 homes burn
Succession of Rulers and Family
- 1603-1625: James I; Stewart
- 1625-1649: Charles I; Stewart
- 1649-1660: Oliver Cromwell, unaffiliated
- 1660-1685: Charles II; Stewart
- 1685-1688: James II; Stewart
- 1689-1702: Mary/William of Orange; Stewart
- 1702-1714: Anne; Stewart
- 1714-1727: George I; Hanover
- 1727-1760: George II; Hanover
- 1760-1820: George III; Hanover
James II
- 1685-1688; Stewart
- Catholic; had child, Parliament called on William of Orange (led invasion)
- Flees
- One unsuccessful attempt to regain crown
Mary and William of Orange
- 1688-1702
- Netherlands, Protestant
- Transition to Parliament based gov’t.
- Miscarried; no more children
- English Bill of Rights 1689
English Bill of Rights
-1689: Restrictions on monarchy re-instated; no Catholics can have thrown
Anne
- 1702-1714; Stewart
- Favors House of Tories; moderate Anglican
- 1710: Dismissed Whigs
- 17 pregnancies; no heirs
- Act of Settlement: Crown of England goes to Princess Sophia (died 2 months before Crown)
George I
-1714-1727
-Son of Sophia; great grandson of James I; Protestant
-56 Catholic heirs bypassed (not happy)
-Only spoke German
-Tories sided with Jacobites
0Anne’s brother on throne; Whigs grew to power
-Prime Minister: Robert Wapoel; limited House of Lords; Prime Minister has more control
George II
- 1727-1760
- 7 year war with France
- Built up Navy
- Prime Minister wanted to get rid of competition with France
George III
- 1760-1820
- Supports Tories; happy marriage with 9 sons and 6 daughters
- Buckingham Palace, National libraries, money to charities
- Conflict with America/Revolutionary war
- George III mentally ill
Duke of Monmouth
-
James Boswell
- Heir of wealthy judge and born in Edinburgh
- London at 19; met Johnson
- Law in Holland; island, Scotland/Hebrides
- Journey to…Western (1775)
- Journal of a Tour to…Hebrides (1785)
- Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791) first modern biography
Samuel Johnson
- Active in literary forms
- Dictionary, Lives of Poets, “Literary Club”
- Son of poor bookseller
- Wrote translations
- The Vanity of Human Wishes
- Rambler
Sir Christopher Wren
-Leading architect after fire of 1666 (rebuilding)
Literary Changes/Shifts of Early Period
- Ben Johnson use of classical models
- Sonnets replaced by satirical verses
- Closed couplet led to satire
- Introduction of literary periodicals for middle class
John Dryden
- Use of closed couplet for satire
- Alexander Pope later perfected it
Restoration Comedies
- Development of comedy of the manners
- William Wycherley: Country Wife (1675)
- William Congreve: Way of the World (1700)
Middle Years Politics
Anne, then Hanovers
- Two political parties:
- Tories: Favored royal power and established Church of England; opposed change
- Whigs: Favored reforms, progres, parliamentary over royal power
- Whigs wielded most power during Anne/George I and II
Whigs
- Favored new mercantile middle class
- Fostered trade, contributed to growth of cities/international commerce
Growing Middle Class
- Occurred during Middle Years
- Began to move into position of social dominance
- Samuel Richardson: Pamela (1740)
- Henry Fielding: Tome Jone’s (1749)
- Lesser barely affected; women still no rights
- Growth of coffeehouses
Periodicals
- Richard Steele: The Tatler; coffeehouse gossip mag (1709-1711)
- Steele/Joseph Addison: The Spectator; morals/manners (1711-1712)
Richard Steele
- Dramatist/partner at Drury Lane Theater
- Popularized moral comedy (sentimental comedy) that helped make theater respectable again
Jonathan Swift
- Greatest moralist; satirical for social evils
- “A Modest Proposal,” “Gulliver’s Travels”
Alexander Pope
- Closed couplet reached perfection
- “The Rape of the Lock,” “Essay on Criticism”
- “Homer” translation
- First to support self by pen
Patronage System
- Puritan regime weakened patronage
- Restoration/Hanoverian: Changes, few nobility patrons
- Playwriting produced income (Dryden)
- Payment from publisher (Dryden and Virgil)
Thomas Gray
Use verse forms other than heroic couplet; forerunner of Romantic Age
