1 English Literature in the Seventeenth Century
(literature of the Revolution and Restoration Period)
Contents
1.Background and the English Revolution
The Stuart: 斯图亚特王朝
James I (1603-1625)
Charles I (1625-1649)
Charles II (1660-1685)
James II (1685-1688)
King William III ( 1689-1702)
Queen Mary II (1689-1694 )
Queen Ann (1702~1714)
A. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the burgher市民 class became powerful, but
it was not strong enough to constitute a threat to the feudal monarch.
B. the newly risen class became increasingly influential in the economic and political
life of the country and it soon came into conflict with the power of the monarch.
C. when Charles I came to the throne (1625), conflicts arose between the monarch
and Parliament( represented the interests of the burgher class).
The Burghers wanted free trade but the king controlled trade and commerce and
imposed heavy taxes on the merchants. The king ruled without calling parliament and
invented all kinds of ways to raise money. this is one of the causes of the English
bourgeois revolution.
D. Another cause was the persecution of the Puritans. the English bourgeois revolution
was carried out under the cloak of religion.
. The puritans were Christians who wanted to make reforms in the Anglican
Church---against Charles I.
They demanded a simple religious belief, a simple manner of worship, and a simple
manner of church organization. They interpreted the Bible in a new way, advocating that
the common people and the king were equal in the presence of God. They argued that the
Bible encouraged trade and individual freedom.
So Puritanism represented the interests of the bourgeoisie. Charles Ⅰtook strong
measures against the Puritans and many of them had to run to America.
In 1640 Charles I summoned Parliament, which had been closed for 11 years, to collect
money to raise an army to suppress the Scots.
The next year the bourgeoisie and a number of aristocrats drew up the “Grand
Remonstrance” by which they bitterly accused the king of tyrannical rule and demanded
the rights of free trade and commerce.
The king rejected the Remonstrance. Almost all people (merchants, craftsmen,
apprentices, peasants etc) came to support Parliament.
E. Civil war broke out in 1642 between the king and the Parliament. the parliamentary
army led by Oliver Cromwell defeated the royal army. Charles I was beheaded in 1649
and England became a commonwealth.
In 1653 Cromwell became the Lord protector---more or less of a military dictator. He also
raised an army to plunder Ireland.
After Cromwell died, the bourgeoisie called a new Parliament in 1660 and invited the son
( Charles II) of Charles I to be king of England. 2 1685 James II succeeded his brother as King of England. But the expansion of the king’s
power and the fear that he would turn the country towards Catholicism made the
bourgeoisie stage a coup d’ etat(政变) and drove James II out of England and put on the
throne William of Orange, who had married James II’s eldest daughter Mary.
In 1688 William signed “The Bill of Rights” presented to him by Parliament, which
restricted the power of the English king.
Part II
1> Puritanism:
was the religious doctrine of the revolutionary bourgeoisie during this period.
It preached /thrift, so/briety(严肃）, hard work, but with very little extravagant enjoyment
of the fruits of labor. Worldly pleasures were condemned as harmful.
This was precisely the outlook needed by the bourgeoisie for the accumulation of capital.
Then Puritanism became a great national movement. It included different groups of
people, with a passion for liberty and righteousness. Puritans fought for liberty and
justice, overthrew /despotism（专制） and made men’s life and property safe from the
/ty(i)ranny of rulers.
2> literary Characteristics of the Period
(1) Elizabethan literature had a marked unity and the feeling of /patriotism and devotion
to the Queen, but in the Revolution Period，all this was changed, the king became the
open enemy of the people, and the country was divided by the struggle for political and
religious liberty. So literature was as divided in spirit as were the struggling parties.
2) Elizabethan literature was generally inspiring. It throbbed (fill) with youth and hope
and vi/tality．Literature in the Puritan Age expressed age and sadness. Even its brightest
hours were followed by gloom and pessimism.
3) Elizabethan literature was intensely romantic．The romantic spirit sprang from the
heart of youth．People believed all things, even the impossible．But in literature of the
Puritan period, we cannot find any romantic /ardor.热情
The main literary form of the period was poetry．Among the poets, Milton was the
greatest. Besides him, there were two other groups of poets, the Metaphysical Poets and
the Cava/lier（骑士） Poets.
Metaphysical poetry
A. It refers to The poetry of John Donne and other seventeenth-century poets.
B. their poetry is a blend of emotion and intellectual ingenuity感情和智力创造的
结合, characterized by conceit or “wit” .
C. The language is colloquial, but very powerful; the diction is simple and echoes the
words and /ca(ei)dences 节奏of common speech.
D. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved, with God, or with himself.
