Part Nine.ppt

1、Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,I. Historic Background The 17th century was one of the tempestuous periods in English history. Because of both external and internal factors, the bourgeoisie and the monarchy had held strong lies until the 17th cent

2、ury when the absolute monarchy began to hinder the development of capitalism seriously.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,The clash between the feudal system and the bourgeoisie reached its peak and inevitably resulted in a revolution. James I succe

3、eded to the throne after Elizabeths death in 1603, and Charles I succeeded James I in 1625. Both of them believed in the absolute power of the king.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,Therefore, between the king and the parliament there existed a fur

4、ious struggle for rights and benefits. Charles dissolved the parliament and ruled the country without a parliament for about 11 years.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,A civil war broke out in 1642, which ended in 1649 with the execution of Charles

5、 I by the opposition forces led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell imposed military dictatorship in 1653 and established the commonwealth. However, two years after Cromwells death in 1658, the monarchy was restored and Charles II became the king. This is known as the Restoration.,Part Nine The 17th Centur

6、yThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,When James II threatened to restore the absolute monarchy, the bourgeoisie expelled him and invited Prince William of Orange (husband of the kings daughter Mary) to the English throne in 1688. This is known as the “Glorious Revolution” beca

7、use it was bloodless. The state structure of England was thus settled.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,The Revolution meant three things: the supremacy of Parliament, the beginning of modern English, and the final triumph of the principle of polit

8、ical liberty.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,During the period, there were drastic clashes in churches. The religious tyranny advocated the divine right of the king, thus was added to the political tyranny of the feudal monarchy. Against this roy

9、al arrogance, the Puritans offered another theory of divine right, the divine right of the individual conscience. Thus together with the long bitter struggle between the peoples Parliament and the Throne, there was religious division and confusion.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bou

10、rgeois Revolution and Restoration,In the broadest sense, the Puritan movement may be regarded as a second and great Renaissance, a rebirth of the moral nature of man following the intellectual awakening of Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. In Italy, whose influence had been uppermost in Elizabe

11、than literature, the Renaissance had been essentially pagan and sensuous.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,The Renaissance had hardly touched the moral nature of man, and brought little relief from the despotism of the rulers. People marveled at th

12、e moral and political degradation of a cultured nation.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,The Puritan Movement refers to the greatest moral and political reform which ever swept over a nation in the short space of a half century. It has two chief ob

13、jectives: the first was personal righteousness; the second was civil and religious liberty.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,In other words, it aims to make men honest and to make them free. The puritans advocated certain changes in the form of wor

14、ship of the Reformed English Church (归正宗）under Elizabeth, the ideal of liberty rose in mens minds, and opposed to it were the king and his evil counselors and the band of intolerant churchmen. Then the Puritanism became a great national movement. All men, including churchmen as well as extreme Calvi

15、nists, Catholic noblemen, all bound together in resistance to despotism in Church and state, and with a passion for liberty and righteousness.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,II. Literary Characteristics Literature of this period naturally reflect

16、ed this social upheaval. Generally speaking, there are three main characteristics in which the Puritan literature differs from that of the preceding age. 1) Elizabethan literature, with all its diversity, had a marked unity in spirit, resulting from the patriotism of all classes and their devotion t

17、o a queen. Later, all these changed, the kings were the open enemies of the people. The country was divided, and literature was as divided in spirit as the struggling parties.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,The puritans believed in simplicity and

18、 thrifty of life. They disapproved of the sonnets and the love poetry written in the previous period. In1642 the theatre were closed. The Bible became the one book of the people.,Part Nine The 17th CenturyThe Period of English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration,2) Elizabethan literature is generally inspiring. That which followed speaks of age and sadness. The spiritual gloom infected most of the writers of the age. Even its brightest hours were followed by gloom and pessimism inseparable from the passing of old standards. 3) The Elizabethan literature is intensely romantic