What is the Enlightenment?

Circa 1650 – 1780 Also called the Neo-classical Period

“The Enlightenment” begins with a rejection the values and beliefs of the preceding “Renaissance Period”. . . .

•Of dogma•Of superstition•Of traditional religion•Of factionalism•Of (in some cases) monarchy•Of disorder

The 1600s had a different ideology--one steeped in supernatural politics.

• Alchemy, Angelology, Demonology • The Great Chain of Being• Divine Right of Kings

The War of the Roses

. . .but that led to dire political schisms when a monarch died without a clearheir.

Alchemy… Angelology… Demonology… The Great Chain of Being…Divine Right of Kings…

The Renaissance saw many countries become Protestant, shattering the fifteen-hundred-year-old spiritual monopoly of Catholicism.

Renaissance Reformation!

Jan HusIn Eastern Europe

Henry VIII in Britain (created Protestant Church of England)

Factionalism lead toreligious wars -- some continuing (off-and-on) for a century…England, Germany, and Holland became Protestants allies.They fought repeatedly against Catholic France, Spain, andItaly. Later, Protestant groups turned on each other--with Anglican persecutions against Jansenists, Anabaptists, Quakers--and in America, Puritans against Quakers, etc.

. . . And to heresy trials

And to the auto-da-fé

That is the execution of individuals who dissented from standard scripturalinterpretations--usually by public burning. The practice began in 1215 in medieval Catholicism, but Protestants picked it up in Geneva and London in the mid-1500s. John Calvin oversaw the public burnings of Michael Servetus and other theological dissidents. Martin Luther moved away from toleration ofJews early in his career to increasinganti-semiticism later in his preaching.

…and to ever increasing numbers of witchburnings

Witch trials were actually higher in number duringthe Renaissance reign of King James I than in any decade of the medievalperiod in Britain.

And the Inquisition’s growth.The Inquisition received official Church sanction in 1215, but the height of its activity in Spain and France actually peaked in the 1500s and 1600s-- i.e. Renaissance times.

Not even Galileo was safe.The church arrested GalileoFor heretical ideas such as heliocentricism. Threatened with torture, he publicly recanted his science and lived his last days under permanent house arrest.

Western Christian biblical references Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 include text stating that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." In the same tradition, Psalm 104:5 says, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” This meant that the Idea the earth spun on its axis or revolved around the sun was incompatible with literalist readings of scripture--and many medieval and Renaissance church authorities forbade such teachings.

“The enlightenment “ rejected the values and beliefs:

• Of dogma• Of superstition• Of traditional religion• Of factionalism• Of (in some cases) monarchy – eg: French Revolution • Of disorder

Before “The Enlightenment”

Where does “The Enlightenment”

fit?

What were the values and attitudes of The Enlightenment?(1) A desire for rationality, logic, consistency.(2) A rejection of emotionalism(3) A preference for evidence, not faith(4) Increased interest in science, mathematics, geometry(5) An admiration for Greece and Rome and an abhorrence for everything medieval.(6) A preference for the artificial over the natural,technology over wilderness.

The Enlightenment! 1650 – 1760 (approx.)

What is the Enlightenment socially?

6. A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” as being unharmonious.

7. A preference for democracy.

8. A preference for civilized, polite discussion of ideas. Conclusions reached by intelligent debate--not force.

9. A desire to create social standards based on reason--not tradition.

10. An embrace of monotheistic Deism rather than traditional Trinitarian doctrines.

What were the social values of “The Enlightenment”? Aesthetically…

1. A desire for geometric shapes, orderly repetition in mathematical patterns.

2. A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” in art and clothing and hairstyles as being unharmonious.

3. Greco-Roman architecture4. Endless Heroic Couplets5. Satire as a means of social critique

See for instance: Enlightenment gardens.

Here, the “messiness” of the natural world must bow before pure geometry. In such a garden, the chaos of nature is tamed to match the orderly design of human intellect.

Straight lines, 90 degree corners, the stuff to warm the heart of an Enlightenment thinker. Thus, hedge--mazes appear across Europe.

Even the untidiness of natural hair disturbs Enlightenment society. Thus, the tradition of the perfectly coiffed wig appears in the age of Washington and Jefferson and Marie Antoinette. Powdered porcelain make-up and other cosmetics become fashionable and artificial “beauty” patches (bits of black cloth with adhesive) are used to create artificial moles or freckles (or to hide natural ones.) It is an age of absolute artifice.

The Enlightenment is so devoted to Greco-Roman logic and philosophy it is thus also called the “Neo-classic Period.” A similar taste appears in their architecture,their plays and drama. . . .

Take a look at the Arch of EmperorConstantine, built c. 312-315 CE.

Then look at the French Arc de Triomph duCarrousel. Note any similarities?

Top Left:the Parthenon of the Acropolis, built c. 447-438 BCE.

Bottom left:Ragensberg Replica,Planned in the 1790sAnd built 1830 CE.

Cultural value: Obsessive and rigorous in standardizing language:

Samuel Johnson workingon his dictionary of 1755.

The French AcademyOf Language

…and artificial grammar rules based on Latin, or Greek,or even rules of algebra!

• Double negatives?• Reflexive pronouns?• Split infinitives?• Standardizing spelling

based on etymology?• “Incomparables”

versus positives and superlatives?

• Shall versus Will?• “It is I,” or “It is

me”?• Count Nouns versus

Non-Count Nouns?

How do these tendenciesaffect the Enlightenment’sliterature?In poetry:

• heroic couplets • “perfect”metrical patterns • classical Greco-Roman epics: Cf. Pope’s The Rape

of the Lock.

In both poetry and prose, a focus on satire --the use of mockery to point out social stupidities.

Years: 1660-1798The Restoration: the reign of Charles II, 1630 - 1660 (after his restoration to the thrown in 1630 following the English Civil War and Cromwell)The Age of Enlightenment (the Eighteenth Century)Content:

• emphasis on reason and logic• stresses harmony, stability, wisdom• Locke: a social contract exists between the government and the people. The government

governs guaranteeing “natural rights” of life, liberty, and propertyStyle/Genres:

• satire• poetry• essays• letters, diaries, biographies• novels

Effect:emphasis on the individualbelief that humanity is basically evilapproach to life: “the world as it should be”Historical Context:• 50% of males are functionally literate (a dramatic rise)• Fenced enclosures of land cause demise of traditional village life• Factories begin to spring up as industrial revolution begins• Impoverished masses begin to grow as farming life declines and factories build• Coffee houses—where educated men spend evenings with literary and political associates

A Sampling of Key Literature & Authors:• Alexander Pope• Daniel Defoe• Jonathan Swift,• Samuel Johnson• John Bunyan• John Milton

What came after “The Enlightenment”?

AFTER THE ENLIGHTENMENT… came

• “THE ROMANTICS” … or “ROMANTICISM”

In 1818, German artist Caspar David Friedrich painted Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, in which a man props his foot up on a wind-whipped mountaintop, looking out over a wild, foggy landscape

Years: 1798 – 1832Content:

• human knowledge consists of impressions and ideas formed in the individual’s mind• introduction of Gothic elements and terror/horror stories and novels• in nature one can find comfort and peace that the man-made urbanized towns and factory

environments cannot offerStyle/Genres:

• Poetry• lyrical ballads

Effects:• evil attributed to society not to human nature• human beings are basically good• movement of protest: a desire for personal freedom• children seen as hapless victims of poverty and exploitation

Historical Context:• Napoleon rises to power in France and opposes England militarily and economically• gas lamps developed• Tory philosophy that government should NOT interfere with private enterprise• middle class gains representation in the British parliament• railroads begin to run

Key Literature/Authors:Novelists

• Jane Austen• Mary Shelley

Poets• Robert Burns• William Blake• William Wordsworth• Samuel Taylor Coleridge• Lord Byron• Percy Shelley• John Keats