YEAR III AND IV - NOTES ABOUT THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE RESTORATION

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

the idea of «enlightenment» evokes feelings of hope, doesn't it … yes... but… no!!!!
This is the effect of Puritanism on the government of England!
The boys in Parliament didn’t like king Charles I (or his head!)
Once he was dead, there was much cheering… now what do we do? awkward silence.., then someone said…whatever we want! more cheering, And what do we want? silence... this is to say, nobody really knew what to do without a monarch!
Until one man stepped forward, Oliver Cromwell, leader of newly founded English Commonwealth who had defeated Charles I and the royalists… ruler of commonwealth, which lasted 4 years, then parliament said they wanted a proctectorate, which lasted 6 years.Total: about 10 years without a British monarchy.
In 1658 Cromwell died, and the title of lord protector passed to his son richard who panicked, so they restored the commonwealth … but that didn't work either!
Finally, in 1660 they decided to call up Charles II who was in Spain, and pretend nothing ever happened…
«Hey Charlie, we were only kidding about all that! come on back and rule your kingdom.»
Under puritan protecotrate of cromwell, laws were passed to prevent frivolous enjoyment: all entertainment banned, no public performances, closing of all english theaters less than 50 years after shakespearse’s plays graced a stage


RESTORATION
They put back charles II «let’s RESTORE the monarchy…. we are restoring the country, what everyone knows as English rule»
People start to act differently… after 10 years of puritanism, everyone could flourish again and THAT IS WHAT  BRINGS ABOUT THE ENLIGHTENMENT (OR ALSO AGE OF REASON )
profound faith in human reason and clarity of thought
skeptical attitude towards traditional religion - seeds planted in enlightenment - … this will keep growing leading to Darwin, and humanism

charles II opened two play houses (this means showbusiness was back on), appointed duke’s company, and king’s company.
drama marked by adaptations of shakespeare, appearance of women! on stage,more romantic subplots possible

LITERATURE
Samuel Pepys…author of Pepys’s Diary, rare historical document about personal life of a london aristocrat, window into 17th century … political bias… pepys’s perpective makes him indifferent to the tragedies of the poor
Jonathan Swift, irish… author of Gulliver's Travels
age of enlightenment, beginning of 1700s while others contend it began in 1688 when they put in mary and william of orange. reason, logic… swift criticized enlightened thought and the age of reason… in gulliver’s travels, we see fantastical lands like lilliput, laputa, japan, all of which are talking about the critical failure of 18th century society…
satire: form of literature that ridicules a subject to call attention to its failings and the need for change. it needs understanding to make a point.
people saw gulliver not as scathing of society as it had been inteneed, but as children's entertainment!   
In ‘A modest proposal,’ there is an overabundance of poor children,irony, he highlighted abismal treating of the irish poor… and how did people resposnd ? by laughing… sorry swifty!!
good things about the period: 1707 england and scotland united as great britain under Queen Anne in 1757 british rule in India begins BRITISH IMPERIALISM, which saw almost 2 centuries of british imperialism..that saw hundreds of countries deprived of their natural resources

ultimately reason didn’t solve the problemas of the world, including revolutions in France and America that started to REshape the world
NOVEL as an western art form developed
INDUSTRIALIZATION of labor that made it possible to print large quantities of printed material
and dr Sam Johnson’s publication of first reliable English Dictionary so we could look up the words
seems a long time ago but isnt and were a major step in sthaping the future for better or worse.