History Puritan + restoration age

 

The Puritan Age

                     "God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. the enjoyment of him is our proper,and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  -Jonathan Edwards.                                                                                                                          

                                     The period between 1625 and 1675 is known as the “Puritan Age (or John Milton’s Age)”, because, during the period, Puritan standards prevailed in England, and also because the greatest literary figure John Milton (1608-1674) was a Puritan. The Puritans struggled for righteousness and liberty.                                                                                                                                                                                                                The Literature of the Seventeenth Century may be divided into two periods—The Puritan Age or the Age of Milton (1600-1660), which is further divided into the Jacobean and Caroline periods after the names of the ruled James I and Charles I, who rules from 1603 to 1625 and 1625 to 1649 respectively; and the Restoration Period or the Age of Dryden (1660-1700).         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The Seventeenth Century was marked by the decline of the Renaissance spirit, and the writers either imitated the great masters of the Elizabethan period or followed new paths. We no longer find great imaginative writers of the stature of Shakespeare, Spenser, and Sidney. There is a marked change in temperament which may be called essentially modern. Though during the Elizabethan period, the new spirit of the Renaissance had broken away with the medieval times and started a new modern development it was in the seventeenth century that this task of breaking away with the past was completely accomplished, and the modern spirit, in the fullest sense of the term, came into being. This spirit may be defined as the spirit of observation and preoccupation with details, and systematic analysis of facts, feelings, and ideas. In other words, it was the spirit of science popularized by such great men as Newton, Bacon, and Descartes. In the field of literature, this spirit manifested itself in the form of criticism, which in England is the creation of the Seventeenth Century. During the Sixteenth Century England expanded in all directions; in the Seventeenth Century people took stock of what had been acquired. They also analyzed, classified, and systematized it. For the first time, writers began using the English language as a vehicle for storing and conveying facts.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Seventeenth Century up to 1660 was dominated by Puritanism and it may be called the Puritan Age or the Age of Milton who was the noblest representative of the Puritan spirit. Broadly speaking, the Puritan movement in literature may be considered as the second and greater Renaissance, marked by the rebirth of the moral nature of man which followed the intellectual awakening of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Though the Renaissance brought with it culture, it was mostly sensuous and pagan, and it needed some sort of moral sobriety and profundity which were contributed by the Puritan movement. Moreover, during the Renaissance period despotism was still the order of the day, and in politics and religion unscrupulousness and fanaticism were rampant. The Puritan movement stood for the liberty of the people from the shackles of the despotic ruler as well as the introduction of morality and high ideals in politics. Thus it had two objects—personal righteousness and civil and religious liberty. In other words, it aimed at making men honest and free.                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                         Though during the Restoration period the Puritans began to be looked down upon as narrow-minded, gloomy dogmatists, who were against all sorts of recreations and amusements, in fact, they were not so. Moreover, though they were profoundly religious, they did not form a separate religious sect. It would be a grave travesty of facts if we call Milton and Cromwell, who fought for the liberty of the people against the tyrannical rule of Charles I, as narrow-minded fanatics. They were the real champions of liberty and stood for tolerance.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The name Puritan was at first given to those who advocated certain changes in the form of worship of the reformed English Church under Elizabeth. As King Charles I and his councilors, as well as some of the clergymen with Bishop Laud as their leader, were opposed to this movement, Puritanism in course of time became a national movement against the tyrannical rule of the King, and stood for the liberty of the people. Of course, the extremists among Puritans were fanatics and stern, and the long, protracted struggle against despotism made even the milder ones hard and narrow. So when Charles I was defeated and beheaded in 1649 and Puritanism came out triumphant with the establishment of the Commonwealth under Cromwell, severe laws passed. Many simple modes of recreation and amusement were banned, and an austere standard of living was imposed on unwilling people. But when we criticize the Puritan for his restrictions on simple and innocent pleasures of life, we should not forget that it was the same very Puritan who fought for liberty and justice, and who through self-discipline and an austere way of living overthrew despotism and made the life and property of the people of England safe from the tyranny of rulers.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In the literature of the Puritan Age, we find the same confusion as we find in religion and politics. The medieval standards of chivalry, the impossible loves, and romances which we find in Spenser and Sidney, have completely disappeared. As there were no fixed literary standards, imitations of older poets and exaggeration of the ‘metaphysical’ poets replaced the original, dignified, and highly imaginative compositions of the Elizabethan writers. The literary achievements of this so-called gloomy age are not of a high order, but it had the honor of producing one solitary master of verse whose work would shed luster on any age or people—John Milton, who was the noblest and indomitable representative of the Puritan spirit to which he gave a loftiest and enduring expression.

General Characteristics of the Age of Milton/ Puritan age:                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              (i)   Civil War: 

The entire period was dominated by the civil war, which divided the people into two factions, one loyal to the King and the other opposed to him. English people had remained one and united and loyal to the sovereign. The crisis began when James I, who had recoined the right of royalty from an Act of Parliament, gave too much premium to the Divine Right and began to ignore Parliament which had created him. The Puritans, who had become a potent force in the social life of the age, heralded the movement for constitutional reforms. The hostilities, which began in 1642, lasted till the execution of Charles I in 1649. There was little political stability during the interregnum of eleven years that followed. These turbulent years saw the establishment of the Common­wealth, the rise of Oliver Cromwell, the confusion which followed upon his death, and, finally, the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

(ii) The Puritan Movement: 

The Renaissance, which exercised immense influence on Elizabethan literature, was essentially pagan and sensuous. It did not concern the moral nature of man, and it brought little relief from the despotism of rulers. “The Puritan movement,” says W. J. Long, “may be regarded a second and greater Renaissance, a rebirth of the moral nature of man following the intellectual awakening of Europe in the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries.” In Germany and England, the Renaissance was accompanied by a moral awakening, “that greatest moral and political reform which ever swept ‘over a nation in the short space of half a century”, which is meant by the Puritan movement. Puritanism had two chief objects: the first was personal righteousness; the second was civil and personal liberty. In other words, it aimed to make men honest and to make them free.

“Though the spirit of the Puritan movement was profoundly religious, the Puritans were not a religious sect; neither was the Puritan a narrow-minded and gloomy dogmatist, as he is still pictured in the histories.” Hampden, Eliot, Milton, Hooker, and Cromwell were Puritans.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        From a religious viewpoint, Puritanism included all shades of belief. In course of time “Puritanism became a great national movement. It included English Churchmen as well as extreme Separatists, Calvinists, Covenanters, Catholic noblemen,— all bound together in resistance to despotism in Church and State, and with a passion for liberty and righteousness such as the world has never since seen,” says W. J. Long.                                                                                                                                                During the Puritan rule of Cromwell severe laws were passed, simple pleasures were forbidden, theatres were closed, and an austere standard of living was forced upon an unwilling people. So there was a rebellion against Puritanism, which ended with the Restoration of King Charles ll.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 Literary characteristics of the Age of Milton:                                          Because of the influence of the church and puritans there are only limited works. though some major writers tried to create the best out of the worst.                                                                                            

(i) Influence of Puritanism: 

The influence of Puritanism upon English life and literature was profound. The spirit which it introduced was fine and noble but it was hard and stern. The Puritan’s integrity and uprightness are unquestionable but his fanaticism, his moroseness, and the narrowness of his outlook and sympathies were deplorable. In his over-enthusiasm to react against prevailing abuses, he denounced the good things of life, condemned science and art, and ignored the appreciation of beauty, which invigorates secular life. Puritanism destroyed human culture and sought to confine human culture within the circumscribed field of its own particular interests. It was fatal to both art and literature.

Puritanism created confusion in the literature. Sombreness and pensiveness pervaded the poetry of this period. The spirit of gaiety, youthful vigour and vitality, romance and chivalry that distinguished Elizabethan literature was conspicuous by its absence. In the words of W. J. Long: “Poetry took new and startling forms in Donne and Herbert, and prose became as somber as Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy. The spiritual gloom that sooner or later fastens upon all writers of this age, and which is unjustly attributed to Puritan influence, is due to the breaking up of accepted standards in religion and government. This so-called gloomy age produced some minor poems of exquisite work­manship, and one great master of verse whose work would glorify any age or people, —John Milton, in whom the indomitable Puritan spirit finds its noblest expression.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   (ii) Want of Vitality and Concreteness: 

The literature of this period lacks concreteness and vitality. Shakespeare stands first and foremost for the concrete realities of life; his words and phrases tingle with vitality and thrill with warmth. Milton is concerned rather with theorizing about life, his lines roll over the mind with sonorous majesty, now and again thrilling us as Shakespeare did with the fine excess of creative genius, but more often impressing us with their stateliness and power, than moving us by their tenderness and passion. Puritanism began with Ben Jonson, though it found its greatest prose exponent in Bunyan. W. J. Long writes: “Elizabethan literature is generally inspiring; it throbs with youth and hope and vitality. That which follows speaks of age and sadness; even its brightest hours are followed by gloom, and by the pessimism inseparable from the passing of old standards.”

                                                                                                                                                                        (iii) Want of the Spirit of Unity: 

                                              

           Despite the diversity, Elizabethan literature was marked by the spirit of unity, which resulted from the intense patriotism and nationalism of all classes, and their devotion and loyalty to the Queen who had a single-minded mission to seek the nation’s welfare. During this period James I and Charles II were hostile to the interests of the people. The country was divided by the struggle for political and religious liberty, and the literature was as divided in spirit as the struggling parties.

                                                                                                                                                                       (iv) Dominance of Critical and Intellectual Spirit:                                                                                                                                                                                                         This period is remarkable for the decay of drama. The civil disturbances and the strong opposition of the Puritans was the main cause of the collapse of drama. The actual dramatic work of the period was small and unimportant. The closing of the theatres in 1642 gave a final jolt to the development of drama.                                                                                                                                                                         

                                            

ThAct: Macbeth

             This is a blog written in response of a task assigned by Dilip Barad sir. It is based on on Shakespeare's famous play, Macbeth.                                                                                                                           Macbeth- The tragedy of ambition: How do you view it in today's time?                                                                                                          Macbeth is one of the most fmous tragedies of William Shakespeare. In this tragedy, many claims that, the reason of Macbeth's downfall was witches and Lady Macbeth. but apart from these the greed,ambition,and jealousy of Macbeth  can be consider as most prominant aspects of this tragedy. because- to be the king is like a fire for Macbeth and the prophecies and influence or advise of Lady Macbeth worked as an air and oxygen for Macbeth. for me this is how three witches are metaphor.  

                                                                                   Prophecy:  Perhaps more than any of shakespeare's other plays, Macbeth is a play about the future. Macbeth is a play that begins with the weird sisters discussing their future meeting,and ends with Macduff and the other survivors preparing to go and see Malcolm crowned King. Even the soliloquies in Macbeth seem unusually focused on not just the contemplation of a future course of action (for that’s a common feature of many soliloquies in many other plays) but on the displacement of time that the play is preoccupied with: ‘If it were done, when ’tis done’, begins one of Macbeth’s most famous speeches, while he greets the news of Lady Macbeth with his celebrated meditation on ‘tomorrow’:

 Tomorrow, and tomorrow,and tomorrow,                                                 creeps in this petty pace from day to day,                                                  to the last syllable of recorded time;                                                         and all our yesterdays have lighted fools                                                 the way to dusty death.

The first words Lady Macbeth speaks to her husband in the play show how her ambitions for her and her husband are already making her mind leap from the present into the future:                                                                                                                                                                             Thy letters have transported me beyond                                                    this ignorant present, and I feel now                                                          the future in the instant.                                                                                    

           But the glue that keeps all of these future meditations in place, and acts as the main device in Macbeth linking present to future, is the role of prophecy.It’s worth stopping to consider and analyse the role of prophecy in Macbeth. It’s true that the Witches are clearly meant to be supernatural, and their prophecies are supposedly founded on – well, on their witchcraft. One of the reasons Shakespeare may have been drawn to the story of Macbeth is that, as well as speaking to King James I’s Scottish blood, it also played to his interest in witchcraft, black magic, and the supernatural.                                                                                                                                               For Macbeth to become King, he needed to know that it was ordained that he would one day sit on the throne, so he could then murderously take it from the current incumbent. If Macbeth had not acted upon the prophecy, it may not have come true.                                                                                                                                                                      Similarly, Banquo starts to take his prophecy seriously once he sees Macbeth’s coming true. Nevertheless, the idea that no man of woman born being able to harm Macbeth isn’t ever tested to the full: Macbeth may simply be unusually lucky in combat, and Macduff, regardless of his caesarean section, may just have proved lucky; at the same time, believing that having been ‘from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped’ made him invincible against the tyrannical Macbeth may have given him the self-belief that he could bring the usurper down. The stories we tell ourselves about our own lives, and our destinies, shape what we do.                                                                                                                        Ambition: Ambition – or ‘vaulting ambition’ as Macbeth himself puts it – is another central theme of the play. Hearing the prophecy from the Witches convinces Macbeth that he could be King. Indeed, more than that, the prophecy suggests that he is meant to be King. Although Duncan has ‘honour’d [him] of late’, and Macbeth knows that to kill the king who had raised him to the title of Thane of Cawdor would be, among other things, an act of supreme ingratitude, Macbeth is driven to commit murder so he can seize the crown.                                                                                                         

                                                                                  Everything that happens afterwards – his dispatching of the hired killers to murder Banquo, the attempted murder of Fleance, the killing of Macduff’s wife and children, and the final battle at Dunsinane – is a result of this one act, an act that was inspired by both Macbeth’s private ambition and his wife’s lust for power. 

                        Guilt: But Macbeth’s guilt over the murders of Banquo and Duncan is less remorse than it is fear of being discovered, and one bad deed gives birth to another, each of which has to be carried out to make Macbeth and his wife ‘safe’, to use the word that recurs throughout the play (a dozen times, including ‘safely’, ‘safety’, and other variants).                                                                                                                                        Even when Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth at the banquet, and appears to him alone, suggesting it is a manifestation of his own guilty conscience, he is terrified that the ghost’s presence will betray his secret, rather than wracked with remorse for killing his friend. Angus’ wonderfully vivid image of Macbeth’s guilt (‘Now does he feel / His secret murders sticking on his hands’) reminds us that ‘hands’ and ‘eyes’ and other body parts are often somewhat disembodied in this play, as numerous critics have acknowledged. From Macbeth’s bloody hand (‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?’) to Lady Macbeth’s feverish somnambulistic hand-washing, to Macbeth’s early words in an aside, signalling his deadly ambition (‘The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see’), eyes and hands are at odds in this play, as if the eye countenances the evil carried out by the hand, with the wielder of the dagger turning a blind eye. after those murders his wife Lady Macbeth was feeling very guilty for her deeds. she often washes her hands and feels that -                                                                                                                                                                                                                       "All the perfumes of Arebia will not sweeten this little hand"                                                             

                       she was having nightmares and sleep walk during night. when  Macbeth then demands whether there are not medical remedies to "minister to a mind disead", the physician's answer once more is that -                                                                                                                                  "Therein the patient must minister to himself "                                            

                     This is how one can say that Macbeth is all about ambitions and guilt. I'd really like to connect the play 'Macbeth' with the contemporary situation of politician of India.                                                                                  

  Ambition : Politicians of India are so ambitious towards what? developement of India? probably not! politicians are more ambitious for vote only. there is very famous game in Gujrat for children called "chakli ude farr" exact same thing with all the promise of politicians of India. politicians are extremly ambitious for their position and power same like Macbeth. even though Macbeth was a murderer, he is still innocent in comparision of politicians.                                                                                      

                                                                  Guilt: There is no such an emotion of "guilt" for politicians. Macbeth was guilty for all the murderers that he has done but politicians have never felt guilt in history, Not even today and not even tomorrow.  many 'Tughlaq decisions' of politicians has disturbed whole country! politicians are murderers of billion people's dreams with Tughlaq decisions. e.g.Agniveer Indian Army controversy , demonetisation in India , Kashmir conflict during Nehru's time etc. it will take an eternity to to have mojority having employments/ jobs, reduce poverty in India. who knows who will alive to see "Vikas in India" and " kab hoga nyay". after all, we are  the public, responsible citizen of India are nothing more than the three monkeys of Gandhi!