THE PURITANSTHE PURITANS

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDHISTORICAL BACKGROUND

THE NAME PURITAN

Came to be used to describe members of the Church of England who wished to purify it of all semblances to the Roman Catholic Church, in particular the liturgy, vestments and episcopal hierarchy.

The Puritans emphasized that they did not wish to destroy the Church of England, nor did they want to separate from it. Their sole aim was to restore it to its original purity.

A radical minority within the Puritan movement, the SeparatistsSeparatists, wanted to remove itself from the tainted English church and worship in its own independent congregations.

The death of Elizabeth I in 1603 brought profound changes to England.

The new king, James I, bruised the feelings of many by asserting his “divine right” to rule and by supporting the business ventures and public careers of many English Catholics.

These trends were deeply disturbing to the Puritans, many of whom began to entertain thoughts of escaping their increasingly repressive environment.

• In the mid-seventeenth century, John Milton was a successful poet and political activist. He wrote scathing pamphlets against corruption in the Anglican Church and its ties to King Charles. In Milton’s day Puritanism meant having politically radical views. And at one point Milton was actually jailed for recording them on paper.

PLYMOUTH. MASSACHUSETTSPLYMOUTH. MASSACHUSETTS

• In spite of the fact they had left England, the Puritans who sailed to Massachusetts Bay in 1630 maintained they were not separatists, but wanted to purify the Church of England by establishing "a city upon a hill" as an example of how godly people should live.

In the mid-seventeenth century, John Milton was a successful poet and political activist. He wrote scathing pamphlets against corruption in the

Anglican Church and its ties to King Charles.

• Milton had contemplated the composition of an epic poem for many years. For his subject matter he chose the fundamentals of Christian theology. By the time he began writing Paradise Lost in the late 1650’s, Milton had become blind. He dictated the entire work to secretaries.

Puritan political influence had largely disappeared in Massachusetts by the end of the 17th century, but attitudes associated with it remained.

The Puritans, heirs to the Calvinist tradition, had emphasized that:

suffering was necessary to redeem oneself from original sin;

hard work not only produces wealth, but strong moral character (the "Puritan Ethic"). Those who did not devote themselves to hard work were in mortal danger of falling into evil ways.

LITERATURE OF THE PURITANISMLITERATURE OF THE PURITANISM

Prose writing flourished, e.g. sermons, controversial tracts and political documents.

Masterpieces: 1.The Pilgrim´s Progress (John Bunyan)2.Paradise Lost and Areopagitica (John Milton)3.“Of Travel”, “Of Studies”, “Of Revenge” “Of

Parents and Children, “Of Love” “Of Beauty” and “Of Adversity” (Francis Bacon)

• Paradise Lost has many of the elements that define epic form. It is a long, narrative poem; it follows the exploits of a hero (or anti-hero); it involves warfare and the supernatural; it begins in the midst of the action, with earlier crises in the story brought in later by flashback; and it expresses the ideals and traditions of a people. It has these elements in common with the Aeneid, the Iliad, and the Odyssey.

• The poem is in blank verse, that is, non-rhyming verse. In a note he added to the second printing, Milton expresses contempt for rhyming poetry. Paradise Lost is composed in the verse form of iambic pentameter—the same used by Shakespeare. In this style, a line is composed of five long, unaccented syllables, each followed by a short, accented one.

The first edition of Paradise Lost was published in 1667, in ten chapters or books. In 1674 Milton reorganized the poem into twelve books, by dividing two of the longer books into four. He also added an introductory prose “argument” summarizing the plot of each book, to prepare readers for the complex poetry that would follow. Part of that complexity is due to the many allusions and diversions into ancient history and mythology throughout the poem.

• The central story line is built around a few paragraphs in the beginning of Genesis—the story of Adam and Eve. The epic also uses elements from many other parts of the Bible, particularly involving Satan’s role. Focusing his poem on the events surrounding the fall of Adam and Eve, Milton intended, in his words, to “justify the ways of God to men,” by tracing the cause and result for all involved.

In the last two books of the epic, Milton includes almost a complete summary of Genesis. This lengthy section may seem anti-climactic, but Milton's mission was to show not only what caused man's fall, but also the consequences upon the world, both bad and good. A concept central to this tale is that of the “felix culpa” or fortunate fall. This is the philosophy that the good which ultimately evolves as a result of the fall--God's mercy, the coming of Christ, redemption and salvation--leaves us in a better place, with opportunity for greater good than would have been possible without the fall.

John Bunyan 1628 - 1688

John Bunyan - (1628-1688), • John Bunyan had very little schooling. John Bunyan was received into the

Baptist church in Bedford by immersion in 1653. In 1655, Bunyan became a deacon and began preaching, with marked success from the start. In 1658 he was indicted for preaching without a license. The authorities were fairly tolerant of him for a while, and he did not suffer imprisonment until November of 1660, when he was taken to the county jail in Silver Street, Bedford, and there confined (with the exception of a few weeks in 1666) for 12 years until January 1672. In March of 1675 he was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license, this time being held in the Bedford town jail. In just six months this time he was freed, (no doubt the authorities were growing weary of providing Bunyan with free shelter and food) and he was not bothered again by the authorities.

The Pilgrim's Progress

• John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress in two parts, of which the first appeared at London in 1678,which he had begun during his imprisonment in 1676. The second part appeared in 1684. The earliest edition in which the two parts were combined in one volume came out in 1728. A third part falsely attributed to Bunyan appeared in 1693. The Pilgrim's Progressis the most successful allegory ever written, and like the Bible has been extensively translated into other languages.

Francis Bacon

• He was born on 22 January 1561 in London. He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the great seal for Elizabeth I. Bacon studied at Cambridge University and at Gray's Inn and became an MP in 1584. However, he was unpopular with Elizabeth, and it was only on the accession of James I in 1603 that Bacon's career began to prosper. Knighted that year, he was appointed to a succession of posts culminating, like his father, with keeper of the great seal.