Literature of the Enlightenment
(1660-1800)
Questions:
1. First English Novels: D.Defoe.
2. English Satire: J.Swift.
3. Novelists: T.Jones, H.Fielding, T.Smollet, L.Stern, O.Goldsmith.
1. First English Novels: D.Defoe.
The 17th century was one of the stormiest periods of English History. The growing contradictions between the new class, the bourgeoisie, and the old forces of feudalism brought about the English Bourgeois Revolution in 1640s. As the result of the revolution the king was dethroned and beheaded and England was proclaimed a republic. Though very soon monarchy was restored, the position of the bourgeoisie had changed.
One of Shakespeare’s outstanding contemporaries was Ben Johnson who excelled in comedies, most of them satirizing people’s manners and vices. He is known as a ‘vulpine’ for it. ‘Fox’ is a spoken name for a cunning person.
Another prominent writer was a poet John Donn. Mainly the poet created a great number of sonnets. He took up Shakespeare’s challenge of the elevated poetry full of refined fatty images and even went to the extremes because he employed rough, down-to-earth similar metaphors. There are a lot of philosophical thoughts in Donn’s sonnets. All this made him head of the so-called “circle of metaphysical poetry”. Many of his sonnets have a religious character and are called ‘ecclesiastical sonnets’.
The process of Reformation took a specific shape in England. King Henry VIII broke off with the Catholic Church because of personal reasons. He wanted a divorce. The child of his new wife was titled Queen Elizabeth I. he established the Anglican Church and announced himself Head of it. After Henry VIII died his first daughter Mary Tudor tried to return the power but Elizabeth fought her and succeeded. She had also to fight the Scottish queen and beheaded her.
In the early XVII century the English bourgeoisie inspired by the reformations on the continent, demanded purification of the church ‘from dogma’s’ (Puritans). All this brought the discord in the country which in combination with political ambitions of different forces led to the civil war called here as the English Bourgeois Revolution.
James I (1603-1625) was succeeded by his son (not so wise) Charles I. There arose a conflict between the king and the Parliament. Charles I dissolved the Parliament because he didn’t want to divide the power with the Parliament. The civil war was between the Royalists (Cavaliers) and bourgeoisie (‘round heads’) led by Oliver Cromwell. It started as a claim for democracy. The Commonwealth or the Republic was established. Charles I was beheaded and Cromwell declared himself Head of the Commonwealth, but gradually he turned into a tyrant which caused dissatisfaction on the part of many of his former supporters. His death in 1658 put an end to the Republic and in 1660 monarchy was restored in England. This period is known as Restoration.
During the war publicism became one of the most important aspects in literature and the 1st English newspapers came to light printed for and distributed among the soldiers of the Commonwealth Army. They were called ‘relations’ because they related to events of the war. There appeared people – agitators.
Among the people who supported Cromwell was a prominent writer John Milton. He was the son of a London Lawyer. He got a good education, studied at Cambridge for 3 years which was a strong hold of puritan thought. He was conscientiously preparing himself for a career of a poet. In the 30s he went to travel to Europe but hearing about the revolutionary events in England he hurried back and launched himself enthusiastically into political struggle. He became Latin Secretary in Cromwell’s administration. He started as an adherent of Crowell but soon he began to criticize his tyranny and anti-democracy. He was working in the form of pamphlets (social work on urgent subjects) and essays. He also wrote sonnets which he filled mostly with political and philosophical problems though lyrical (the second period – 40-50s). in his first period (1963s) he wrote mostly poetry which showed the dual nature of his outlook. His humanist ideas (optimistic) went hand in hand with religious ones – puritan thoughts.
In 1650 he developed blindness and in 1652 he became completely blind. He has a sonnet on his blindness. His greatest poems were written after the restoration when he was blind and poor. When the Restoration came, the king put Milton into prison and was going to behead him but he was saved by his friends. In poverty he wrote his best work ‘Paradise Lost’. It is a great epic song of 12 books written in blank verse (5 foot iambic meter written with no rhyme). It is based on the biblical subject relating to the revolt of Satan against God, the temptation of the first people and their punishment from the Garden of Eden.
The tale of the Fall or the Orginal Sin occupies in the Bible several verses while Milton developed it into a big masterfully written poem. According to Milton Satan overhears Gabriel’s story about the creation of the Universe and man which he then tells to Adam. Satan decided to take his revenge on God by tempting the first man. He appears disguised as a toad, whispers some seducing words into Eve’s ear. He learnt from the conversation of Adam and Eve that they are forbidden to eat a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Next day Eve who decided to walk into the Garden of Eden alone was approached by Satan again disguised as a serpent. Satan tells her if she plucks the piece of apple she would equal to the God. She plucks the apple for herself, another for Adam. She knows that she is mortal because she knows when she dies Adam would be given another wife. Due to this disobedience they lost their innocence and began to cover nakedness with leaves to hide themselves from the anger of God and finally they lost God’s favour. They were banished from the Garden of Eden and doomed to hard labour, sufferings and pains. They were not discouraged, they relied on each other.
The image of Satan himself was described as an attractive creature. He makes the reader feel sympathy towards him. Here we find a contradiction: Milton was highly religious but his description of Satan is attractive. It was because Milton was revolutionary himself. Most probably he did it to show that Evil has always been attractive and that’s why it has always managed to destroy men’s best future redemption (искупление) of Jesus Christ.
Milton’s second poem ‘Paradise Regained’ can be considered to continue the 1st. It tells of the temptation of Christ in the wildness by Satan. Satan is described by Milton as a cunning smooth creature, a spirit unfortunate. Paradise was regained thanks to Christ’s resistance to Satan’s temptations. This poem was written under the influence of the disillusionment of the outcome of the revolution. Having lost his faith in people’s joint struggle, Milton began to rely on the devotion. To some extent he endowed Christ with his own features.
His last work is called ‘Samson Agonistes’. It’s still another poem on a biblical subject. According to Milton he was a powerful man who fought against the enemy. He was endowed with great physical strength which was hidden in his hair. He was betrayed by his beloved wife Delilah. She told his secret and cut his hair. He was captured by the enemies and blinded by them. He took his revenge on the enemies by pulling down the pillars of the temple where there were some 3000 philistines’ assemble.
Milton’s contribution can’t be overestimated. He influenced the further development of the poetry by the form of his works and by the greatness of his themes.
In the 18th century politically and economically England achieved the position of great power in Europe. This period witnessed many ups and downs of England`s foreign policy. Along with military success and political expansion England achieved financial and commercial pre-eminence. London became the world`s greatest seaport and commercial center. This development involved the growth in number and influence of a great middle class of merchants and tradesmen. The 18th century England was distinguished also in science and philosophy. After the foundation of the royal society in 1660 the experimental sciences were establishing in men’s minds the idea that the Universe in which we live is a world of orders and invariable law. As the century advanced, the idea of democracy makes steady headway. Before the century was ended, the armies of French Republic were proclaiming to all Europe the doctrines of liberty, fraternity and equality. The end of the 17th and the 18th centuries are known in the history of the European culture as the period of the Enlightenment. The Enlighteners defended the interests of the common people- craftsmen, tradesmen and peasants. Their criticism was directed against social inequality, religious hypocrisy, as well as the immorality of the aristocracy. The central problem of the Enlightenment ideology was that of man and his nature. They believed in reason as well as in man`s inborn goodness. In this period thought was more important than emotion, and the literature of the day reflected that change. The name Enlightenment derives from the writers’ belief in virtue in man as inborn quality and vice is due to ignorance. That’s why they considered it their duty to educate or enlighten people.
This period is also called the Neoclassic age, the Augustan period, the Age of Reason and the Restoration period.
As far as literature goes, this age is remarkable for:
1) further development of poetry
2) birth of journalism
3) birth of the genre of novel of the XVIII century.
The poetry of the Age of Reason is called classic or neoclassic because
1) it was modeled on the works of the great ancient poets (Homer, Vergil)
2) it was characterized by precision and accuracy of expression, by a laconic and aphoristic manner of writing.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is a prominent English poet of the time. He was ugly-looking. His life was dramatic, he came from a Catholic family and this was the trouble of all his life, still he was well-educated. His poetry mostly has a satirical character. He wrote philosophical poems ‘Essay on Men’ and ‘Essay on Critisism’. Both are written in a heroic couplet (2-lined stanza, rhymed lines each consisting of 10 syllables).
“A little learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep or taste not the knowledge spring”
(«Вкушай много или не пробуй ничего»)
Pope’s criticism of contemporary society is very wittily presented in his mock poem ‘The Rape of the Lock’ (Похищение локона). There’s a contrast between the loftiness of the style and the triviality of the contents.
In the 18th century people showed an immense interest in the affairs both at home and abroad. It was in the form of newspapers and journals. The most influential journalists were John Addison and Richard Steele who edited several journals called “The Spectator”, “The Englishman”, “The Tattler” (сплетник) in which they published different essays of poets on various problems of the day. Most of them had a didactic character.
This epoch in English literature may be divided into three periods:
1) Early Enlightenment (1660-1740)
2) Mature Enlightenment (1740-1760)
3) Late Enlightenment (Sentimentalism/Pre-Romanticism) (1760-1780)
First realistic novels appeared by D. Defoe and J. Swift.
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was born in London, the son of a merchant named Foe. Daniel added “De” to his name about 1700. He was educated for the Presbyterian ministry but decided in 1685 to go into business. He became a merchant and his business gave him frequent opportunities to travel throughout Western Europe. His life was full ups and downs. “30 times he was rich and poor”, he said. He wrote about 500 works of different character. In his early years he dedicated himself to journalism and published his own periodical “The Review”. His pamphlet “The Shortest Way with the Dissenters” was aimed at defending the freedom of religion. He published a lot of essays in which he put forward his ideas of social reforms (education for women). He married for money and had 8 eight children. Defoe was taken to prison and 3 times pillared (на осмеяние к столбу). This fact added to his popularity. His most known work is “The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner”. It had an immense popularity and was immediately translated into several languages. Its hero is a middle class man. He is a true bourgeois. He is courageous, energetic, enterprising, industrious, hard-working, and pious. The novel is written in a true-to-life manner. The first-person presentation sounds veritable. Some things are naïve. It was a hymn of endeavour, courage, undertaking, and a kind of glorification of bourgeoisie. The main message is bourgeoisie has a lot of advantages.
His other novels-adventures are “Roxana”, “Moll Flanders”, historical novels: “The Journal of the Plaque Year”, “Memoirs of a Cavalier”.
2. English Satire: J.Swift.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Anglo-Irish satirist and political pamphleteer is considered to be one of the greatest masters of English prose. His many pamphlets, prose, letters, and poetry were all marked by highly effective and economical language.
His first book was connected with the battle. William Temple, the diplomat and writer for whom J. Swift worked as a secretary, ordered him to write a pamphlet “The Book of Battles”, a discussion between the representatives of the classical and Modern trends in literature. Later J. Swift got a post of a minister in the Catholic Church in one of the villages and published his books anonymously.
Esther Johnson (Stella) was his beloved who inspired him to produce the best love letters in the world.
J. Swift got mixed in all kinds of political, social and religious events. He wrote “Tale of a Tub” (сказка о бочке) – an allegory dealing with the problem of religious argument. The idea of a ‘tub’ – empty vessels make the greatest sounds. On the surface it is a story of three brothers arguing over their father’s last will. Before his death Father (Christianity) leaves his coat to his sons Peter (Catholic), Martin (Protestant) and Jack (Puritan) and forbids changing anything in it. For 7 years they kept it safe and then they decided to change it because it seemed out of date to them. In his work Swift satirizes religious doctrine.
Swift moves to London and gets involved in politics, publishes a lot of pamphlets. His satires have one very interesting peculiarity: if you don’t understand the message, you can take it for the opposite. “A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture”. Message: for the Irish to boycott English goods, English money. The situation in Ireland was dramatic. Swift was the witness of the 1st wave of Irish immigration. “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of the Poor to Be a Burden to Their Parents of the Country or for Making Them Beneficial to the Public” (1729). The pamphlet is outrageous. He tried to save the whole Irish nation.
“Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World by Lemuel Gulliver” , first a sergeant and then a captain of several ships became his best masterpiece. It was published anonymously in 1726;it met with instant success. Swift's satire was originally intended as an allegorical and acidic attack on the vanity and hypocrisy of contemporary courts, statesmen, and political parties, but in the writing of his book, which is presumed to have taken more than six years,he incorporated his ripest reflections on human society. Gulliver's Travels is, therefore, a savagely bitter work, mocking all humankind. Nonetheless, it is so imaginatively, wittily, and simply written that it became and has remained a favorite children's book.
Swift's last years, after the death of Stella, were overshadowed by a growing loneliness and dread of insanity. He suffered frequent attacks of vertigo (головокружение), and a period of mental decay ended with his death on October 19, 1745. He was buried in his own cathedral beside the coffin of Stella. His epitaph, written by him in Latin, reads "Here lies the body of Jonathan Swift, D.D., dean of this cathedral, where burning indignation can no longer lacerate (причинять боль) his heart. Go, traveler, and imitate if you can a man who was an undaunted (бесстрашный) champion of liberty."
3. Novelists: T.Jones, H.Fielding, T.Smollet, L.Stern, O.Goldsmith.
The social moralizing novel was born in this period. It was represented by the works of such writers as Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding and George Tobias Smollet.
Defoe introduced a picturesque and adventurous novel.
Swift introduced a sample of a satirical allegorical novel.
Their followers made their own contribution by making it reflect the everyday life of contemporary society.
Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) can be considered the initiator of the everyday family social novel (бытовой семейный социальный роман) He democratizes the novel by introducing a common woman as an embodiment of his ideal. His novels are deeply psychological. He wrote three of them in epistolary form (the letters which the characters exchange) – a structure that he refined and developed. For this reason he is considered a founder of the English modern novel.
1. “Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded” (2 volumes) Didactic, moralistic character of the novel can be seen from the title. Pamela is a maid in a rich family. She writes letters to her friend and family. Her landlady’s son makes passes on her trying to seduce her. But Pamela was so virtuous and gave a dignified resistance to the young lord so that he started to respect her and fell in love with her. He proposed to her and she became a lady. This novel came out to the bad morals of the aristocracy anв highly praised the feelings of self-respect and virtue of common people. The novel was very popular.
2. “Clarissa; or the History of a Young Lady” (7 volumes) The essence of the novel is similar to the first one. It is longer than the first one (537 letters). It is interesting from the psychological point of view. Clarissa Harlow, a daughter of a rich man, intelligent, beautiful. Her relatives decide to marry her off to a man whom she doesn’t love. She is in despair. A young aristocrat Robert Lovelace suggests his help. They run away but he takes advantage of his position and steals her virtue. Clarissa is shocked and finally she dies from grief and shame. Richardson wants the reader to sympathize with Clarissa, to show that it’s bad to disobey parents. But R. Lovelace was so appealing that readers had a different impression – they admired him. Being distressed by this fascination, Richardson wrote the 3rd novel.
3. “The History of Sir Charles Grandison” (7 volumes) Here he presented his ideal of a true Christian gentleman. He overdid this image; it was too ideal.
Henry Fielding (1707- 1754) is the most talented and outstanding enlightenment writer. He was a playwright, a publicist and a novelist. He started his career with writing social-political comedies where he ridiculed corruption of the ruling classes of England, the grabbing policy of England. The Government disliked his criticism and introduced severe censorship. They made him give up drama and turn to novel- writing.
His novel “The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wilde, the Great” is a picturesque novel treating the life of a famous highway man who had been hung a few years before. Fielding used this plot for creating a satirical portrait of the country. He compared the rulers of England with the famous robbers.
“The History and the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams” was conceived as a parody on Richardson’s “Pamela”. Joseph Andrews is a servant at lady Butby’s house. The lady seduced him but being virtuous he ran away from her. Later this stupid situation developed into a realistic novel.
“History of Tom Jones, a Foundling” is considered to be one of the world’s great novels. Once there lived a gentleman Mr. Allworthy by name. He had a sister. Once he came home from his trip to London and found a baby boy in his bedroom and called him Tom. His sister was married and gave birth to Bliefield. Mr. Allworthy loved both boys but Bliefield was his heir. Sophia Western was his neighbour. She preferred Tom. His sister died and left a letter in which she told him that Tom was her illegitimate child (his father was a school teacher). Now both were equal. Bliefield decided to remove his rival. He slandered (оклеветал) Tom. Mr. Allworthy was shocked and banished Tom from the house. Tom joined the army. On his way he got in all kinds of adventures. Sophia ran away and followed him to London. He didn’t know that. Finally Bliefield was punished and Tom married Sophia. In this novel Fielding presented his views on the art of novel writing in the so-called lyrical digressions which came at the beginning of all 18 books of the novel. He put forward some ideas about the gist of the novel, the style, etc. That’s why Fielding is known as a theoretician of realistic Novel, his ideas are interesting.
“Amelia” is Fielding’s favourite work but it’s weaker in comparison with “Tom Jones”. Fielding defined his novel as comic-epic poems in prose. He was the 1st to introduce the 3rd person narration into a novel. It was a real step forward – the writer can present his own views.
Tobias George Smollet (1721-1778) His novels were critical of English social life, his mockery was harsher than Fielding’s but his novels were narrower in scope and less masterful. Smollet defined his novels as satire upon mankind. His aim was to laugh. He meant to ridicule everyone. No people deserved to be good spoken about. He presented some misanthropic (man-hating) ideas. His most known novels are “The Adventures of Roderick Random” – a story of a seaman, “The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle”, “The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker”.
Late Enlightenment (Sentimentalism/Pre-Romanticism) (1760-1780)
The social and political life in the 2nd half of the 18th century made the writers doubt the values and ideals of their older colleagues. The Early Enlighteners believed in Reason, in the great abilities of the human mind to cognize the world. Yet, the advance of industrialization, the emergence of new social force, that of the workers who began to be exploited by their masters, the ruins of the English countryside – all these phenomena were the result of the industrial revolution taking place in England. So the writers of a new generation began to rely on feelings, on sentiment, on heart rather than on Reason or Mind. Sentimentalism stressed the alliance of sensibility with true virtue. They also tried to appeal to their readers’ senses and sentiments.
Sometimes the 18th century is called the Age of Sensibility. Poetry was best manifested in the works of the so-called ‘grave-yard poets’.
Tomas Gray (1716-1771) was the most prominent of them. The essence of his poetry is: the phenomenon of death makes us think over the morality values, essence of life, mortality. (melancholy, moonshine, nightingale songs)
The principle representatives of sentimentalism in the genre of the novel were Oliver Goldsmith, Lawrence Stern and in drama – Richard Sheridan.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) is a very versatile literary writer. He wrote poetry, drama (comedies), essays and one novel with which he actually entered the literary world.
“The Vicar of Wakefield” is a story of a good family which has great misfortunes, but all comes well in the end. It tells about the fate of a kind-hearted, honest, village priest Dr. Primrose, a highly educated man with a scientific degree. He and his family suffered much from the hands of a young landlord. Yet the sufferings didn’t harden the priest’s heart. He remained as kind and sensible to the others as he used to be before the misfortunes began (he got into prison and helped the people beside him). His virtue is reinforced. The novel contains some short poems and shows the very age and body of the time.
O. Goldsmith’s most known poem is “The Deserted Village” in which he describes the situation in the English countryside changed by the industrial revolution. The essence of the poem is: landlords turned to ship-building, peasantry disappeared, turned into workers.
Lawrence Sterne (1713-1768) – a village priest, started his literary career when in mid-40s. His astonishing books are as confusing as life itself. He seems to dislike order and common sense. His ”The Life of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman” made him famous. It tells a story of an English aristocrat. It is a very eccentric novel. We have to read about half the book before the hero Tristram is born. The author leaves the story whenever he likes to give opinions and write essays on any subject in the world. Some chapters are several pages long and some contain only 3-4 lines. He leaves some blank pages to confuse his readers as much as possible.some pages contain only dots. The beginning of narration comes in the middle of the novel. Yet, the novel gives a fairly good idea of a country aristocrat family portraying people with all their weaknesses. Most of the characters are “shandies”. In a dialect it means ‘a crack’ – чудак, сумасшедший. The book was so popular that within a few years he produced 8 more volumes to it.
“A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy” describes the journeys of a poor village priest who sets out to travel about different English countries. But it’s not so much the adventures that constitute the contents of the novel but his feelings, emotions, thoughts and sentiments he expressed during the journey.
Sterne anticipated the technique which would be used by the 20th century writers – the stream of consciousness.
To get away from the rationalism and realism of their predecessors some writers went to the genre known as the Gothic novel which was based on the phenomenon of writer’s interests in medieval literature which was awakening at the time. Their novels were full of mystery, fantasy, the scene was usually set among some ancient ruins, forests, castles. The Gothic novel was the beginning of what is called now ‘horror stories’.
Horace Walpole (1717- 1797) is known for his novel “The Castle of Otranto”
He wrote it just for fun. It is full of elements of the supernatural.
Ann Radcliffe “The Mystery of Udolfo”
Charles Maturin’s “Melmoth, the Wanderer” is about a man who sold his soul to the devil and couldn’t die when the time came.
Lecture 4