The 17th century and the Enlightenment

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1、The 17th century and the Enlightenment The political troubles of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries did not preclude extraordinary developments in other areas. The scientific revolution changed the way Europeans thought about the physical universe. England, France, and above all the

2、Netherlands challenged the Iberian powers and created substantial empires of their own. In the process they greatly expanded Europes presence in world markets and accumulated capital in unprecedented amounts. The Netherlands emerged, however briefly, as a major power and a center of high culture. Ev

3、entually, states that had been nearly shattered by a century of war and revolution began to reconstruct themselves, reforming their governmental institutions, curbing the power of local elites, and gaining control over the armies and navies whose independence had threatened to engulf them. The model

4、 for many of these changes was the France of Louis XIV, but the rise of England as an economic and naval power would have an even greater influence on the age to come. In 1640, Charles I summoned Parliament to collect money in order to raise money to suppress the Scots. In 1641, the burgher class fo

5、rmulated the “Grand Remonstrance” in which they accused the king of his tyrannical rule, which was rejected by the king. This led to the war between the royal army and the Parliamentary army led by Cromwell in 1642.With the defeat of the royal army and the execution of Charles I, England became a co

6、mmonwealth. In 1653, Cromwell became the Lord Protector(护国公), assuming the role of a military dictator. And there was split within the revolutionary camp. Besides, Cromwell raised a huge army to plunder Ireland. After the death of Cromwell, Parliament called exiled Charles II to England in 1660. The

7、 Restoration led to a period of white terror to the country. Many Republicans were executed. In 1685, James II succeeded his brother as King of England. James II threatened to establish the old absolute monarchy and to restore Catholicism as the state religion. The bourgeoisie expelled him and put o

8、n the throne William of Orange, who was James IIs son-in-law.This was called the “Glorious Revolution” because it was bloodless. In 1688, King William signed “The Bill of Rights” presented to him by Parliament, which much restricted the power of the king. England became a country of constitutional m

9、onarchy. This marked the establishment of the capitalist system in England.In 18th century, the bourgeois revolution has ended. But there are some remains. So people stand up to strive to bring the revolution to an end by clearing away the feudal remnants and replace them with bourgeois ideology. Th

10、is is the original purpose of English Enlightenment. At this time, there were two parties in British policy, the liberal Whigs, the conservative Tories. One group of Tories, Jocobites, wanted to bring the Stuart back to the throne. So people hold different ideas on policy. They express their ideas a

11、nd argue with each other with pamphlets. At the same time, the public or pressing become prosperous, like Steele and Addisons public, Spectator.After the industry revolution, the economic developed. People worked on business. They went out to find new chance, like Defoes Robinson Cruise. Peoples lif

12、e was relatively rich. They had spare time to do more Social public activity. They went to pubs and clubs to discuss and share their life experience, current affairs, and even gossip. People had spare time to appreciate essays, poems and novels. So the literature developed quickly at this time.The e

13、nlightenment movement started in France. The enlighteners believed that when reason served as the yardstick for the measurement of all human activities and relations, every superstition, injustice and oppression would be replaced by Eternal truth, eternal justice and natural equality. The movement s

14、wept through the whole Western Europe. Then it influenced Britain a lot. So the home and abroad situation stimulates British literature.Enlightenment was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Europe during the18th century, with France in the vanguard, based on reason and materialism, agains

15、t the traditional concept and tyranny, celebrating reason, equality, science and humans ability to perfect themselves and society.How did the Enlightenment influence these writers in 18th England? The movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency was known as

16、 neoclassicism. Their forms of literature were to be modeled after the classic works of Greek and Roman writers, like Homer, Virgil, and Ovid. Another influence of the Enlightenment movement was the beginning of sentimentalism. The sentimentalists believed emotion was the evidence of kindness and go

17、odness. They were concentrating on the distress of poor people. Among the sentimentalist, Laurence Sterne was a famous one.So the Enlightenment brought about flourish in the 18th English literature. This period was called the age of Enlightenment.十七世纪的法国仍然是一个君主政体的封建国家，封建专制和天主教会控制着国家的社会生活和人民的思想， 天主教会与专制王权相互勾结，疯狂残害异教徒和有进步思想的人们。在文艺复兴运动的推动下，自然科学取得很大进展，随着资本主义的发展，新兴资产阶级要求摆脱封建专制统治和教会压迫的愿望日益强烈，首先在思想领域展开了反对封建专制统治和教会思想束缚的斗争，由此掀起了一场轰轰烈烈的空前的思想解放运动，即启蒙运动。