Storia inglese: gli Stuart e l'età augustea, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Inglese

Scarica Storia inglese: gli Stuart e l'età augustea e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE STUARTS (1603-1714) 1603: Queen Elizabeth I died and was succeeded by James I of Scotland, who united the crowns of England and Scotland. James was the first Stuart king. He ignored the parliament and based his reign on the theory of the “ Divine Right of King '' that was the representatives of God on heart. He joined Scotland, England and Wales as a kingdom, called the Great Britain with a new flag, the Union Jack. He also translated the Bible in English. In 1604 he met the representative of the bishop and the Puritans to try to make an arrangement. The Catholics, excluded from his meeting decided to organise the “ Gunpowder plot “ to blow up the Parliament on 5th November 1605, led by Guy Fawkes. But they were found and executed. A direct consequence was the immigration of a lot of them to the new world. CHARLES I 1625: Charles I (James’s son) became king. He believed in the divine right of the king (= the power of the king came directly from God) and in absolute monarchy. For this reason, he tried to rule without calling the Parliament and imposed taxes illegally. This led to a struggle with Parliament, which wanted a constitutional monarchy. In 1628 was made the petition of right that saw that the king couldn't imprison or impose taxes without the consent of the parliament but he dismissed it and used his power to extend ship money a tax on costal towns. But in 1640 a new Parliament called The Long parliament was elected. It worked to impose control over the king, but the king attacked them. 1642: A Civil War began. the forces were divided into Royalist, with the king and Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwer. with the lords and the church aristocracy supported the parliament. Welsh, Cornwall and west of England supported the king while London, the sea parts and the east England supported the parliament. The parliament army was stronger because it was made by professional soldiers and it had a cavalry. 1649: The Parliamentarists won and the king was executed. England became a Republic, called the Commonwealth, ruled by Oliver Cromwell. COMMONWEALTH / OLIVER CROMWELL 1653: Oliver Cromwell dissolved Parliament, became Lord Protector and began to rule in a very strict way. People had less freedom during Cromwell’s rule than they had under the king! Cromwell was a fervent Puritan, so: - he believed in hard work and strict moral principles - he banned all forms of entertainment, which were considered immoral - he closed the theatres because they were considered as the centres of corruption - he banned games on Sunday. Cromwell’s foreign policy was more successful: - he reorganized the Navy - he defeated the Dutch, so England gained supremacy over the sea - he restored the prestige of England 1660: After Cromwell's death in 1658, and the failure of his son Richard's short-lived Protectorate, the Republic failed. THE RESTORATION / CHARLES II 1660 → Monarchy was restored → Restoration → Charles II (Charles I’s son) returned from France (where he had been exiled). As a reaction against the severe lifestyle imposed by the Puritans during Cromwell’s rule, the Restoration was a lively period. Many Puritans went to America, where they founded new communities (→ Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower) Positive aspects of the period: - theaters were reopened - Charles II was interested in art and science, so there was a new burst of scientific activity 1660: the Royal Society was founded to promote science. Members of the Royal Society were mainly philosophers and scientists. They aimed at: ● Gathering useful knowledge ● Reforming English prose to make it clearer (both in contents and language) ● Verifying truth through experiment (and not relying on tradition) The most famous member of the Royal Society was Isaac Newton (1642-1727) - the ideal of religious tolerance began to spread - the first political parties were formed: WHIGS (they were against absolute monarchy and in favor of religious freedom) TORIES (they supported the king and the Church) THE AUGUSTAN AGE Why “Augustan Age”? Because it was inspired by the age of the Roman Emperor Augustus, characterized by order and stability as well as by a remarkable literary production (Ovid, Virgil). This period is also referred to as “Neoclassicism” or the “Age of Reason” - “Enlightenment”, with reference to the intellectual spirit of the period (scientific progress / rationality vs. old superstitions). Features of the period: - political stability - religious tolerance - colonial expansion → trading empire → wealth - scientific and technological progress All these features resulted in general optimism. THE AUGUSTAN AGE: CULTURAL CONTEXT Features of the period: - prevalence of reason over feelings - a rational approach to life - desire of stability, order, balance, discipline. In this period, there was an increase in prose writing of every genre (journalism, essays, novels). What factors contributed to this? 1- A new reading public: Rise of the middle class → desire to improve their education (there were many women in this new reading public) 2- Expansion of the education system 3- Improvement in the printing technology 4- Creation of circulating libraries (= people could borrow books and magazines freely) / Coffee houses. They became the meeting places not only for journalists and writers, but also for politicians, merchants, lawyers and fashionable people. Here, they could exchange opinions and do business transactions. The first London coffee house opened in 1652 and by 1739 there were over 500 in the city, which was the economic and cultural heart of England. Satire was the most popular literary form (both in prose and poetry). Journalism developed in this period, especially after the abolition of censorship in 1694. Newspapers and periodicals became very popular. The two most popular newspapers of the period were The Tatler and The Spectator by Richard Steele and Joseph Addison respectively. What was their aim? To entertain but also to instruct their readers. (Addison, in particular, wanted to revive the interest in the classics). Readers could learn how to improve their manners as well as their culture. What was their style? It was elegant and witty, with clear and fluent prose. THE RISE OF THE NOVEL Who were the writers of the period? Almost all the novelists of the time started their career as journalists until writing started to become a profitable job. In general, the writers of this period belonged to the middle class. What was the role of the 18th century novelists? They were the spokesmen of the middle class (they belonged to the middle class and they addressed a middle-class reading public). Who were the new readers? They were mainly members of the middle class (there were many women in this new reading public). The new readers did not want to read about kings, knights and dragons; on the contrary, they wanted to be able to identify with the characters. They wanted to read stories which reflected their lives and their world in a literary form. For this reason, novelists of the time wrote about the struggles of middle-class people, using experiences that were clearly recognizable to the reading public. Features of the 18th century novel: Realism - realistic settings - realistic details about place and time (dates, events, names of streets and towns) - original stories but set in ordinary contexts - plain, factual language - first-person or third-person narrator - chronological order of events - characters are ordinary people, with ordinary names and typically embody middle-class people. They display typical middle-class values: - spirit of enterprise - self-confidence - hard work - respectability - faith in God - sense of reward and punishment according to one’s behavior The typical hero of the novel is a self-made man, a man able to control the environment and the reality around him thanks to his skills and abilities. His knowledge comes from experience and he is the maker of his own fortune. THOMAS HOBBES – The state of nature as a state of war In this extract, Hobbes begins by saying that nature has made men equal in terms of physical and mental qualities; even if there are some differences, they are not so considerable and, in the end, all men have equal abilities. As a result, all men hope to attain their end, which is basically self-preservation, and this inevitably creates a struggle between them, with every man trying to overcome others. The three main causes of contrast among men are competition, diffidence and pride. In the absence of a common power able to create awe and thus restrain human nature, the natural condition of mankind is a constant and violent condition of struggle, in which each individual tries to gain power, regardless of the interests of others. The only laws that exist in this state of nature (the laws of nature) are not covenants between people but principles based on self-preservation. This is why Hobbes sees the State of Nature as a State of war, characterized by the war of “every man against every man”, in which all human beings constantly seek to destroy each other in an incessant pursuit for power. In such a condition of constant fear, where everyone mistrusts everyone else, there can be no civilization, no justice, no commerce, no culture. Since people are fighting to reach a common goal, there isn’t order or safety: to guarantee peace Hobbes thinks that there should be a social contract between a superior ruling authority and the ruled people ( who give up some of their freedom in order to be ruled properly) JOHN LOCKE – The government exists to serve the people According to Locke, a constituted commonwealth must always act for the preservation of the community, doing what is best for the people. In such a community, the legislative power is the supreme power, while the other two powers (executive and federative) are subordinate to it. But the legislative power is based on trust, meaning that people are confident that the legislative body will act to reach certain ends. So, if people find that the legislative body neglects this task or even opposes to it, they will inevitably lose trust in their government and place it where they feel best for their security. The government exists for the people's benefit and can be replaced or overthrown if it ceases to function toward that primary goal, and the people’s primary goal is self-preservation. For this reason, they have the right to save themselves from anyone who may try to deprive them of their supreme and inalienable right: freedom. Freedom is a fundamental, sacred right for every individual and, as a community, people are entitled to get rid of anyone (man or institution) threatens such freedom.