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17th Century British Literature: Historical Background and Context for English Literature — Transcript

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0:00Good day. And today we're going to have
0:02an introduction into a time period of
0:04literature called the Cavaliers and the
0:07Puritans. We're looking around the 17th
0:09century about 1625 to 1700 in Great
0:14Britain.
0:18First, we look at the religious and
0:19political point of view. We do see quite
0:22a bit of turmoil. There's a lot of
0:24turnover when it comes to who is in
0:26charge. For example, when Queen
0:28Elizabeth I dies in6003,
0:31she doesn't leave any specific heirs to
0:33the throne. She was unmarried all of her
0:35life. So she asks a relative, King James
0:38from Scotland to come and rule over both
0:40Scotland and England. And he does
0:42from6003 to about 1625.
0:46And then King Charles will rule over
0:48Scotland and England from about 1625.
0:51And with his exile, we'll say to about
0:531649. But of course during that time
0:56period you do see the English civil war.
0:59And so Oliver Cromwell is credited for
1:01having this political turmoil about 1642
1:04to 1660. And we see the restoration to
1:07the throne in 1660 with King Charles II
1:10from about 1660 to about 1685.
1:19Now what is there such controversy about
1:22that? we would see an English civil war
1:23coming in that people don't know who
1:26should be ruler next. Well, it even goes
1:28back before Queen Elizabeth and that is
1:30the major controversy of religion. The
1:33royal family are Anglican Catholic
1:36sympathizers overall while the common
1:39people have been Protestant
1:40sympathizers. And so there's a lot of
1:43fight up on the top about what the
1:45Church of England should look like.
1:47Should we allow Catholicism and Anglican
1:49to live together in peace? Should the
1:52whole country be one specific religion?
1:54And then which religion is that?
2:01Now this is also a time period where
2:03they still believe that there is a
2:04divine right of kings where the king is
2:07head of both the church and the state.
2:10And so this is where the controversy
2:12starts crack uh cracking under pressure.
2:18So we take a look at King James. He
2:20wasn't exactly a picture of health. He
2:23had crippling arthritis, weak limbs,
2:25digestive problems, the gout. He had
2:28difficulty walking. He had tongue
2:29problems. And after numerous attempts on
2:32his life, he just required constant
2:34care. He's not the type of person that
2:37you would expect to be in charge of a
2:39head of state.
2:41Now, there are some good things that he
2:42did. Not only was he ruler of Great
2:44Britain at the time, he also invented
2:46the current British flag. He combined
2:48England's red cross of St. George with
2:51Scotland's white cross of St. Andrew.
2:58However, he didn't quite help when it
3:00came to religious non-conformity. I
3:02mean, he tried. We do have the King
3:03James's version of the Bible today, but
3:06we start seeing these breakoffs in
3:09religious factions. We have the
3:11separatists, the Puritans who decide to
3:13go off first to Holland and then to the
3:16United States.
3:18We see congregationalists and
3:19Presbyterians breaking away from the
3:22more English Anglican church. Uh church
3:24government styles. Uh we we see the
3:26differences in the changing of time. Um
3:29whether or not you rely more on your
3:31congregation or your parish versus the
3:33reliance of a bishop telling you what to
3:35do. And then is your particular parish
3:38or your particular congregation going to
3:40work with lurggical versus non-lurggical
3:43rights?
3:50So with King James and the
3:51non-conformists, he once said, quote, "I
3:54shall make them conform themselves, or I
3:56will harry them out of the land, or else
3:59do worse."
4:02So you had better follow the head of
4:04church and state, what the king tells
4:06you to do with your religion, or you
4:09have to get out of England.
4:16Next, we have King Charles I. And he
4:19angers just about anybody who comes into
4:21contact with him. And this is why, of
4:23course, he's probably going to lose his
4:25head later on in life. First of all, he
4:27angers the parliament as head of state.
4:29He believes that he should have full
4:31rights over uh the state and in the
4:33parliament. He also angers people like
4:35the Puritans and other non-conformists
4:37to him being head of the church. And so
4:40because of this, there's beginning to
4:43see almost a private faction that is
4:45helping King Charles with his private
4:47arrests, trials that that simply go
4:50nowhere. We already know that the pe
4:52people are going to be found guilty and
4:54hung, drawn, and quartered, uh,
4:56decapitated. We we see lots of
4:59nonconformist and a lot of revolutionary
5:02tendencies starting to build up in the
5:05beginning of his reign.
5:08Now we also see him worshiping uh the
5:10Catholic religion as the high church
5:12which becomes the last straw for the
5:15common folk. Presbyterian Scots and
5:17their new liturgy as well were not very
5:20pleased that Catholicism was becoming
5:22the high church once again.
5:27And that's where we see the English
5:29civil war or the bloody revolution. King
5:32Charles will be headed in 1649 by a
5:36bunch of different people getting
5:38together such as the Puritans who are
5:39known as the round heads. We also have
5:42the cavaliers, the royal loyalists who
5:44try to come to his aid. Now there is a
5:47council of state that is set up that is
5:49backed by revolutionary officers once
5:51King Charles is dethroned and Cromwell
5:53assumes control as Lord Protector of the
5:56Commonwealth.
6:02Under Cromwell's rule, we see a Puritan
6:05strictness. Now, we are going back to a
6:08more Protestant religion, but we are
6:10heading way over to the left side where
6:13everything is following exactly what you
6:16are told in the Bible to do. And he
6:19backs it up with military power. After
6:22all, he's now head of the state. He's
6:24now head of the state in England and
6:25Scotland. And so if you wanted to be
6:28Presbyterian, if you wanted to be
6:30Catholic, if you wanted to be something
6:31other than Puritan or Anglican, you
6:34better get out of this the country just
6:36like you were with King Charles.
6:39We also see a suppression of theater and
6:41other frivolous activities. Again, with
6:43the Puritan strictness, these were
6:45considered sins. And so therefore, you
6:47wouldn't go out and find these more
6:49entertaining follies. and he becomes a
6:52bit of a dictator, a bit more of a
6:54tyrant when the commoners take a look at
6:56his rule.
7:02Now, Cromwell's death is going to doom
7:05Puritan rule. uh before we had kings and
7:08queens who would have heirs to the
7:10throne. So you kind of knew when one
7:12died who would be taking over next or at
7:15the very least if there was going to be
7:17one set of family who was going to be
7:19fighting in order to take over the royal
7:21family. But here with Cromwell not
7:24having heirs or not having set up a way
7:26to elect some other Puritan leader in
7:30Parliament then asks for King Charles
7:32back from exile in Holland.
7:35And people quite honestly were tired of
7:37the Puritan strictness and they wanted
7:39to revolt against it.
7:49So when Charles II becomes king again
7:51after his exile he as his father was a
7:54Catholic sympathi sympathizer uh and so
7:57we start repressing religious measures
8:00again remember they were in under such a
8:02strict Puritan Anglican rule that if
8:06we're giving Catholics sympathies we are
8:09going to start making more religious me
8:11measures that ally a bit more towards
8:14the Catholic religion and the pope and
8:16certainly because Charles was hiding
8:17over in Holland and France
8:19you see more of an alliance to Catholic
8:21France.
8:23This again is not what the common people
8:25of England wanted and discontent grows
8:27versus the monarchy.
8:33When James II takes the throne in the
8:351600s, he is also a Catholic sympathizer
8:38and he begins to appoint Catholics to
8:40influential government and military
8:42posts. And this is the first time after
8:45over a hundred and so years that we see
8:47Vatican representatives in the court.
8:49You also see religious persecution of
8:52Scottish Protestants. So it's again we
8:54had to swing all the way to one side
8:56away from uh Catholicism and into
8:59Protestantism with Cromwell. And it's
9:01almost like the the swinging back to the
9:04other side where now we have a more
9:06Catholic country under first Charles II
9:09and even more so under James II.
9:14And so we are going to have a revolution
9:17once again, but this time it is
9:19considered the bloodless revolution. And
9:21that's because the next rulers that we
9:23have is James II's daughter, Mary, who
9:25marries William of Orange, a Holland
9:27Protestant. Parliament asks them to rule
9:31in the place of James II. And so James
9:34II is dethroned and William and Mary
9:37take over.
9:39as they take over. Since this was
9:41Parliament who asked them to do so, it
9:43was almost a contractual kind of
9:45obligation. And so you see a more
9:47limited monarchy from here on out.
9:54Now, at this time in the 1600s, you also
9:57see London growing to over 600,000
9:59people. It is quite believably a a huge
10:02city in Europe. It is becoming quite
10:04influential to help the English the
10:07British Empire become quite an influence
10:09across the world.
10:15Now of course with that is going to come
10:17some destruction and some trials and
10:20tribulations. We do also see around this
10:22point in time with William and Mary the
10:24great plague in London about 1665 where
10:26over 68,000 perhaps more die from the
10:30plague.
10:34Right after that, you also see the great
10:36fire of London in 1666, where there will
10:39be more deaths and more tragedy.
10:45But what we've really come here for is
10:47to take a look at the literary side of
10:49the 1600s. Throughout all these
10:52revolutions, throughout all these
10:53changes in monarchy, what is being
10:55written at the time? Well, let's start
10:58off with the Cavalier Poets. If you
11:00recall when we're starting into our
11:01first revolution, the Cavaliers are
11:04going to be these very Anglican
11:06royalists. And so they are supporters of
11:09the king. So when we take a look at
11:11poets such as Love Lace, Suckling, and
11:13Heric, you look at their topics of wine,
11:16women, war, and love. people who have
11:19gone off to war, have journeys, have
11:22quests, and they're simple and easy to
11:25understand
11:28because they are supporters of the king.
11:30They also want to be sure that once the
11:32king is dethroned that their poetry is
11:34read. So, you're going to notice they
11:36have a tendency to avoid religious
11:39topics.
11:40For the most part, when you look at the
11:42Cavalere poets, you'll notice that they
11:44are satires. They're quite witty. And as
11:46since they're simple and easy to
11:47understand, it looked like it looks like
11:49it's just written for the common man for
11:51pure entertainment purposes.
11:58Next, we'll look at the metaphysical
11:59poet poets. Uh you have Heric showing up
12:02once again into this period, but you
12:04also have the the works of John Dunn and
12:07George Herbert. Now, these are clearly
12:10Protestant writers. We didn't see a lot
12:12of religion with the cavalier poets, but
12:13these poets will start bringing religion
12:15back into their writing. These are also
12:18poets who are not happy with the king.
12:22And so with the religious and
12:23philosophical topics, they are going to
12:25be challenging the idea of a church
12:28versus state. They're very demanding as
12:30to figuring out what philosophy or what
12:34religion, what is going to rule over
12:37man. And so you'll see a lot of
12:39symbolism being used in their poetry as
12:42well. And they're called metaphysical
12:43poets because of their metaphysical
12:45conceits. You're going to see some
12:47unusual metaphors that make you wonder
12:50what is being compared.
12:58Now when we look at 17th century poetry,
13:01we have to mention one of the greatest
13:03poets at that time and that is John
13:05Milton. and we look at his great work of
13:08over 10,000 lines, Paradise Lost.
13:12Now, from John Milton's point of view,
13:14this is a very Puritan look at fall into
13:17sin, and he's attempting to justify the
13:20ways of God to man.
13:28Another one of our great 17th century
13:30poets would be John Dryden. He is the
13:31poet laurate of Charles II. Now he
13:34writes more in a le classical style.
13:36You're going to be seeing more satires
13:38coming from him. He's he's after the
13:40cavalier poets, but he will also be
13:42writing satires and ods basically to
13:44entertain the population. But he didn't
13:47just write poetry. He's also an essaist.
13:49He is known as the father of modern
13:51pros. He also was a debater and a
13:53translator. And what he's known a lot
13:55for is his literary criticism of other
13:58works of art coming out at this time.
14:01Moving
14:05over to 17th century drama, we look at
14:07Ben Johnson's works, specifically his
14:10comedies. Because the Puritans are
14:12closing the theater, he wasn't as
14:14wellknown or popular at the time he was
14:16coming out, but he certainly becomes
14:17more popular after the Puritans and
14:20Cromwell leave. because his comedies
14:22again were written for entertainment
14:24purposes. He has the comedy of manners
14:26being written at this time which is
14:28going to bring in a whole new era of
14:29drama. With the satires that are very
14:32popular during this time with poetry and
14:34with pros, you're going to see satiric
14:36comedy also coming into drama and even a
14:39tragic comedy which kind of feels a
14:42little bit like today's soap operas.
14:45And by the end of the 17th century, for
14:47the first time in Great Britain,
14:49actresses are acceptable on the stage.
14:57Now, we move to 17th century pros.
14:59You're going to run the gamut of
15:01everything. Remember, London has grown
15:03into a big, busy center of Europe. And
15:06as the British Empire is establishing
15:08itself across the world, you're going to
15:10see writers come into the foreground.
15:14For example, their philosophical
15:15writings of Hobbes and Lach are going to
15:18be studied for centuries afterwards. Uh
15:21the scientific writing as we start
15:23seeing a more age of reason coming into
15:25play with the beginning of the
15:26industrial revolution.
15:29John Ryden's literary criticism is going
15:31to bring literature a little bit more
15:34upscale. People are going to start
15:36competing and wondering how do we
15:38improve.
15:40The King James's Bible has also been
15:42written during this century and it is
15:44going to be revised and renewed and
15:46become a mainstay of the work in the
15:49Anglican church.
15:51And we have other great writers such as
15:52Isach Walton writing the complete
15:54angller. John Bunyan's the pilgrim's
15:56progress comes out. You have the diary
15:58in coin written by Samuel Pepsis. Lots
16:01of different genres of 17th century pros
16:04are starting up our more modern era of
16:07pros.
16:12Now we take a look at one of the writers
16:14such as John Bunan at this time. We can
16:17see some of the works that we know from
16:19today in their very early stages. Matter
16:23of fact, when I read this particular
16:26poem to you, I'm wondering if it will
16:28sound familiar. Our Father, which in
16:32heaven art, thy name be always, thy
16:35kingdom come, thy will be done, thy
16:37heavenly path be followed. By us on
16:40earth, as it is with thee, we humbly
16:42pray. And let our bread, us given be
16:45from day to day. Forgive our debts as we
16:48forgive those that to us indebted are
16:51into temptation lead us not, but save us
16:54from the wicked snare.
16:56The kingdoms thine, the power to we thee
16:59adore. The glory also shall be thine
17:02forever more.
17:09Now Bunyan was writing Pilgrim's
17:11Progress in prison and his main
17:14character is Christian and we take a
17:16look at Pilgrim's Progress as an
17:18allegory of Christian life. Again, we
17:19talked about Pilgrim's Progress being
17:21this foray foray into sin, looking at
17:24what sin is and how we can possibly
17:26avoid it later. And a lot of people at
17:29this time period held up John Bunan's
17:31Pilgrim's Progress as the last great
17:34Christian classic.
17:41When we move on to the diary writing,
17:42when we start looking into more
17:44journals, one of the earliest writers
17:45that we have of this is Samuel Pepsis.
17:48And for example, when we take a look at
17:49one of his diaries for June 15th, he
17:52writes, "The Duke of York not yet come
17:54to town. The town grows very sickly, and
17:56the people be a fear of it. They're
17:58dying this last week of the plague 112
18:01from 43 the week before, whereof one in
18:03Fan Church Street and one in Broad
18:05Street by the treasurer's office."
18:13Now lastly, if you're looking at 17th
18:15century pros, watch for spelling
18:17becoming set. At this time period, we
18:20start seeing the first dictionaries
18:22become real.
18:25As we've been mentioning throughout
18:26poetry, throughout the comedies, uh
18:28throughout pros, satire becomes a very
18:32entertaining piece in the 17th century
18:34great British literature. So satire is a
18:37moral writing to expose evil. With
18:39religion and political turmoil, satire
18:42becomes the way of expression in the
18:4317th century. We also see the rise of
18:47comedies as we have a bit of the six of
18:49of the 17th century where we cannot have
18:51any theater at all. People are looking
18:54for escapist literature. So there will
18:55be a rise of comedies.
18:58You also get the heroic couplet in
19:00poetry. We're not yet quite ready to
19:02start looking for byronic heroes or
19:03others in our stories of pros, but the
19:06heroes are going to start making their
19:09way into our poetry and into our
19:11literature.
19:13And lastly, remember this is just after
19:15the time period of William Shakespeare.
19:17And so at this time, William Shakespeare
19:19is considered a rough, uncultured author
19:22and he's not often performed.
19:27Thank you so much for stopping by to
19:28learn about Cavaliers and learning about
19:30the Ron Heads and as well as learning
19:32about 17th century literature. If you'd
19:34like me to cover any of these in
19:35particular, like if you'd like to learn
19:37more about John Bunan's Pilgrim's
19:38Progress or D or Dryen, let me know in
19:41the comments who I can cover for you.
19:43And as always, I'd appreciate it if you
19:46subscribed. Take care.

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