17th century England

After the weakining of the feudalism in the europe, nationalism

has rised and power came into the hands of monarchy. But
England there was a struggle between monarchy and the
parliament. Because both sides were in battle for their own
causes. Monarchy wanted to protect the Divine Rights of the
Kings but on the other hand Parliament of England tiried get
power from the king for their political rights. The Divine rights of
the kings is that The ruler or the kings takes their power from
the God. And they are not responsible to anyone but themselfs.
They are responsible for only their conscience. These idea
After, the end of Tudor domination, Tudor family has lost
their power. Because, after the death of Elizabeth I , the James I
came to power in 1603 and began to impose his will upon
religious matters and the parliament. He was a member of
Stuart family. But the absolute monarchy system has been
changed to constitutional monarcy in that period. The
Constitutitional monarchy system is a system of government
where the ruler (king) is limited. And the ruling system was tied
up to will of public.
This, Constitutional monarcy system caused conflicts
between the Kings James I and James II and the Parliament in
time between 1603-1649. As a result of these conflicts, the
traditional relationship between parliament and and the king
broke down.
n addition to that conflicts, Country marched into a
Civil war. The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts
and secret activities Parliamentairians and the Royalists
(cavaliers) in 1642- 1649.
In the end of the civil war Charles I defeated by
parliament. And The English civil war led to a trial and the
execution of King Charles I for high treason. So the King is
executed. t was the first regicide in the history.

This period effected the literature. Cavalier poets supported the

King and Puritans/ protestants supported the Parliament.

After the excution of Charles I, England was a republic

until 1660. Because they also removed monarchy, the House of
Lords, and the Anglican church completely from the country of
England. And It was ruled by Oliver Cromwell. And the puritans
ruled the country. After he died, a member of stuart family and
the son of Charles I, Charles II became the King in 1660 and
started a restoration period. Charles II was a self-indulgent man
but he was clever enough not to enrage the parliament. After
him, His brother James II became the King and once again
monarchy fell into conflict with the parliament.
Therefore, The parliament felt insecure and invited James
brother in law, William orange in 1688. He came with an army
to protect english people. t was a bloodless revolution so its
called the name of Glorious Revolution.
Because all of these conflicts, the literary mood of that
period is gloomy, pessisimistic. And the literature was poor in
that period, because there was not a standart in government.
And also there was not a fixed standart for literary criticism. But
it doesnt mean that there was nothing in literary and art.
The Literature in 17th century
Jacobean literature was produced at the time of James I. This
period takes his name from the king James. Because it was the
latin form of James. In literature, some of Shakespeare's most
prominent plays were written in that period such as Macbeth,
King lear and The temptest. Also during this period were
powerful works by John Webster, Thomas Middleton, John Ford
and Ben Jonson. And the Ben Jonson was the leading figure of
this period. His major plays were, Epioene, The alchemist and

the Bartholomew fair. The Jacobean literature was dark in the

mood and it was usually questioning the stability of social order.
And also the Bible translated into English in the name of King
James Bible. (1604-1611)it was a massive translition Project. t
also became the standart bible of the churh later.
In the 17th century poetry was divided into two parts.
The one is the cavalier poetry and its leader ben jonson and on
the other side th metaphisical poetry and its leader John
Donne.
Cavalier Poetry
The cavalier poets are the Supporters of the King Charles I
during the Civil War. Cavalier poetry is a poetry which is written
fort he king especially Charles I. Their existance was due to the
King Charles I because King Charles was a connoisseur of the
fine arts, therefore he demanded the creation of the fine arts
such as poetry, drama. The best known of the Cavalier poets
are Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas
Carew, and Sir John Suckling.
The cavalier poets accepts the ideal of the renaissance
gentleman who is a lover, soldier, man of affairs, musician and
poet. Cavalier poets were musicians and they abandoned the
religious aspects of life.They didnt favour the phliosophy. They
proved that it is possible for poetry to celebrate minor pleasures
and sadness of life. And they took their subjects of manners
from common life.
Characteristics of the Cavalier poetry
Most Cavalier works had allegorical and/or classical references.
The Cavalier Poets wrote their poetry both pleasure and virtue .
The cavalier poets were rich in reference to ancients as well as
pleasing.

Platonic Love was also another characteristic of Cavalier poetry,

where the man would show his divine love to a woman. And the
woman would be worshipped as a creature of perfection.
There was also a celebration of the monarchy of Charles I
among the Cavalier poets
Cavalier poetry used the metaphors and imagination.
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist,
poet and actor. He was the contemporary and chief rival of
William Shakespeare, his best known satirical plays are Volpone,
The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair. And they are considered
his best lyric poems. His poetry was based on classic texts like
his plays. He became the Poet Laureate in 1616 by James I. He
was very influential in the literary affairs of renaissance.
And he was a little larger than life, the meaning of that he can
see the Next trend of the age. He was also a dictator of the
literary taste, because of his extremely influential style.
He wrote his poetry for pleasure and virtue like other cavalier
poets. And most of his poetry is epicgramic and cynical like
other cavalier poets.
He used both ryhme and stress to mimic the classica qualities
of simplicity, restraint and precision. Epigrams is an entry in
genre and it was popular in the late elizabethean and jacobean
era. And ben jonson was the only poet in his time who Works in
full of classical range.
His reputation as a playwriter is in a comparision with the
William Shakespeare but his reputation as a poet is in a
comparision with the John Donne. Because, Jonson represents
the cavalier poetry, emphasising grace and clarity of expression
but in contrast John donne represents the metaphysical poetry
with its reliance on strained, baroque metaphors and often
vague phrasing.

In his time Jonson was at least as influential as Donne. In 1623,

historian Edmund Bolton named him the best and most famous
English poet. And That judgment has made a wide influence on
the young poets. Therefore we can say that he was the father of
the cavalier poets and the cavalier poets were his sons.
John donne
John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in
the Church of England. He is considered One of the best poet of
the metaphysical poetry tradition. The Works of the
Metaphisical poets was characterized by the inventive use of
conceits, and by speculation about topics such as love or
religion. So, His works are noted for their strong, sensual style
and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin
translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His
poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of
metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries.
Donne's style is characterised by sudden openings and various
paradoxes and ironies. . Another important theme in Donnes
poetry is the idea of true religion which he really thought and
theorised about it. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and
love poems. He is particularly famous for his mastery of
metaphysical conceits.
His satires dealt with common Elizabethan topics, such as
corruption in the legal system. His images of sickness and
plague reflected his strongly satiric view of a World. n other
words he thought that England invaded by bunch of fools and
ruling by them. He also dealt with the problem of true religion,
which was great matter and very importance for Donne. He
argued that its better to analyse carefully, a religious
convictions than blindly to follow any established tradition.
Donne's early career was also notable for his erotic poetry,
especially his elegies, in which he employed unconventional
metaphors.

the end of his life Donne wrote works that challenged death,
and the fear that it inspired in many men, on the grounds of his
belief that those who die are sent to Heaven to live eternally.
Characteristics of metaphsical poetry
Their style was characterized by wit and metaphysical conceits
Their poetry diverged from the style of their times, they
contained noimages of nature and allusions to classical
mythology. They didnt used classical themes.
They influenced by the neo-platonism.
One of the primary Platonic concepts found in metaphysical
poetry is the idea that beauty in the World is a remembrance of
perfect beauty in the eternal World.
Some secular topics such as scientific or geographical
discoveries interested them.
But there was usually religious or casuistic elements in their
work, which they attempted to define their relationship with
God.

THE PURITAN AGE genel olarak 17. yzyl adylada

bilinir.
The puritan age is includes the time between 1600 and 1660.
The literature of 17th century is divided into two period, on The
one side is the puritan period also known as the Milton Age
(1600-1660). This period also divided into two parts, Jacobean
and Caroline periods .But on the other side is restoration period,
also known as the age of Dryden (1660-1700).
The 17th century is known as the declininig of the renaissance
spirit. The writers of this period imitated the greatest masters of
elizabethan age such as W. Shakespeare, E. Spencer, P. Sidney

or followed new ways. In other words,in this period all the

greatest writers were not in life. And in terms of literature, there
was a kind of mutation in this period in the spirit of renaissance
because it required a kind of moral sobriety. The imgaination of
renaissance spirit replaced by the spirit of observation and
analysis of facts. In other words the spirit of scientific methods
popilarized and in terms of literature and it showed itself in the
form of ciriticism. In addition to this new spirit of observation
and analysis improved the art of biography popilarized. And the
writer started write about the lifes of the important, famous
persons. The also started to write diaries, journals and
autobiographies.
PURITAN MOVEMENT
After the date of 1660, 17th century dominated by the
puritanism. Therefore 17th century may also called the Puritan
age or the age of milton who was the best and noblest
representative of the puritan age. n terms of literature, The
puritan period is considered as the second renaissance and
known as the rebirth of the moral nature of man. The
renaissance culture was mostly sensuous and pagan and it
required a kind of moral sobriety and deepness. And it was
added by the puritan movement.
The puritan movement is a movement that stood for liberty of
the people, morality and high ideals in politics. It was also a
movement that against a despotic ruler. It aimed two things,
The personal honesty and the civil, religious liberty. Although,
many people considered them as narrow-minded, their
movement was a liberty movement. Although they were
profoundly religious persons, they did not established a kind of
religious sect.
But also, their leaders such as Milton And O. Cromwell fought
for liberty of the people against a tyrant, King Charles I . And
both of them were the champions of liberty and toleration.

The name Puritan was at first given to those who defended

certain changes in the form of worship of the reformed english
church under the rule of Elizabeth. But king Charles I, his
councillors, some of the clergymen with Bishop Laud as their
head, were opposed to this movement. And in that time,
puritanism became a national movement against the rule of
Charles I and stood fort he liberty of the people. When Charles I
was defeated and executed in 1649, they established a
commonwealth under Cromwell. And they ruled the country for
11 years as a republic. They purified the society of england,
english church and established the bible as the dominant
power. Although, they started this movement as a liberty
movement, they were religious people and there were fanatics
and radicals among them. So they restricted the sipmle
pleasures of life such as theatres. They restricted the
entertainment and imposed a simple life style on unwilling
people.
In terms of literature, there were no fixed standart in this period
because of all these conflicts. the Works of chivalric romance,
love and romances dissapeared, n other Words, love became
less important because there were too many conflicts. It was a
gloomy period. The writers of this period imitated older poets or
exagerrated the metaphysical poets. But even in this time
there was a master verse that represented the Puritan spirit in
noblest ways, John milton. He was the best poet of his own
time.
The background of the puritan period
Tonnage and pundage : certain duties and taxes
Arminianism : Arminianism is based on the theological ideas
of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius. It is a
collection of ideas that rejects the providence and defends the
freedom of self willingness.

Squirearchy : it is a largely historical British class and consists

of land owners who lived on rental income. t includes,
baronets, knights, esquires and gentlemen.
Prerogative : it is an exclusive right given by government.
A privy council : a body that advises the head of city.
Originally, it is a committee of the monarcys closest advisors.
Lord treasures : An english governmental position.
The book of common Prayer : a number of related books used in
Anglican society.
Anglicanism : A tradition in the Christianity comrising churches
with historical connections to the church of england or similar
beliefs.
A prerogative Court : it is a court which the privileges and
legal imunitives were exercised.
In 17th century england, there was a clash appeared between
these churches and the Crowns authority and laws.
Episcopacy : it is a system of Church government where
bishops are the chief.
Presbyterianism : it is a branch of Protestant Christianity that
sticks to the Calvinist theological tradition and whose societies
are organized according to a Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian
theology typically points the domination of God, the authority of
the holy books, and the necessity of grace through faith in
Christ.
Calvinism : it is a type of protestant theological system.
Independents : In English church history, Independents
defended local congregational control of religious and church
matters, without any wider geographical hierarchy, either
religious or political. Independents reached particular
importance in time between 1642 and 1660, in the period of the
English Civil War.

The Commonwealth : The official name of political system

that replaced the Kingdom of england from 1649 to 1653 and
1659 to 1660 under the rule of oliver Cromwell and his son
successor Richard.
Erastianism : An ideology that suggest, the sins of christians
should be punished by the state , not by the state.
Liturgy: a traditional publical worship
Millennialism : it is A belief or idea that beliving the second
coming of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom in earth.
Main ideas of the puritanism
The ideas of Freedom and purifiying the english church, bring
simplicity to church services and reestablish the authority of the
bible are the main ideas of the puritanism.
Sevent Tenets of puritanism
1- Absolute sovereignity of god : god rules everthing
2- Predestination : everything decided by god before it
happened.
3- Providence : god directly intervenes in this World.
4- Natural deprativty: since Adams fall, all men are born in
sin and deserve damnation.
5- Doctrine of effect : through godS mercy a few saved by
gods grace alone not by own efforts.
6- Evil is inner: man needs to reform himself
7- God is rerevealed in the bible
Puritanists wanted to purify the church of england and get rid of
the rituals that resembled catholicism. They also wanted to
reestablish the authority of the bible and restore simplicithy
services.
After the defeat of Charles I, puritans became the dominant
power. They purified the english society and english church and
reestablish the bible as a dominant power. And the most
favoured and famous writer of this period is the John milton.

Throughout his poetry life, he wrote about himself and his own
high soul.
JOHN MLTON
He was the greatest poet of his own time and was a puritanist.
He completely identified himself with puritanism but also he
had a strong, dominating personality that represents any one
but himself.

He was very religious, artistic and prolific person in his artistic

style. He may be called the last elizabethan writer. But when we
compared him with Shakespeare, he was too egoistic. And His
verse was harmonious and musical. Being a deeply religious
person, he had a high degree of artistic talent. He dedicated
most of his life to poetry. He wrote lyric poetry in his early
times, some of his early poems are The hymn on the nativity,
Lallegro, II penseroso, lycidas and comus.
In the times of civil war, he dedicated himself into the struggle
against King Charles I. He devoted his best years to this
national puritan movement. But he didnt fight as a soldier but
he became the latin secretary to Cromwell. After the
establishing of commonwealth under Cromwell, he returned to
the poetry to create his masterpiece. But after return of the
monarchy he became friendless and found himself artistically
blind. But even his hars times he wrote his greatest poetical
Works, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.
The paradise lost is an epic poem, written by joh milton in the
17th century. It was published in 1667 and organized in ten
books. The poem concern with the biblical story of adam and
eve, their temptation, fall of man and the war of angels.
The subject matter of paradise lost consists of the casting out
from the heaven of the fallen angels, Their plan to revenge,
Satans flight, Mans temptation and fall from the grace and the
promise of redemption. In the poem, Milton projects his own

philisophy of the purposes of human existence and tries to

justify the ways of God to humanity. His paradise lost is called
the last elizabethan poem. Although it is written in blank verse,
it is strengthened to suit the requirements of an epic poem.
Restoration Age 1680- 1750
The king came to the throne once again. Charles II to returned
from france to become king and with them all of the Stuart
family returned. In other words, the monarchy came to power
after death of Oliver Cromwell and restored its place.
The members of the royal family were on exile and they came
back by the charles II. This is called the restoration period. They
also established a link between their restoration and the
emperor Augustuns restoration of Rome. Therefore, this age is
also known as the name of Augustan Age and they gave a big
importance to classism. The puritanism has came to an end
with the returning of the king. The most important figre of this
period is John Dryden. He was the dominant literature figre in
that time. He was a protestant but converted into catholicism.
The puritans were defeated and a strong reaction was launched
against the sacred philosophies of puritans.
When the monarchy and the King Charles II was in France, he
learnt the difference ways of life and they mostly enjoyed the
looseness. But when they came back, they supported the idea
that english literature and poetry must be directed towards the
gaiety of life.
Therefore, the poets of the restoration period started to imitate
the french writers. There is heavy influnces of the French writers
on the English writers in this period. As a result of this, different
styles, different views and different view points came to
England and poets started to focused on the Vices like french
writers. As a result of this, the spirit of adventure, romance,
creativity became things of the past.

In terms of poetry,drama and prose, the Works were not

comparable to that of elizabethean period writers, milton or the
other puritan writers. They were not as crative as the
elizabethean writers.
But there were also positive sides of this changing.
The first positive side is the tendency for preciseness and
realism. This preciseness later became the major characteristic
of the restoration age. It emhasized the directeness and
simplicity of expression. There was not much space for
extravagance and extreme stiuations. Restoration writers
emphasized the reason and reasoning rather than romantic
fancy. As a result, a new way of expression emerged. And this
new style of expression contained short, clean-cut senteces
without any unnecessary phrases.
The leader of this period was John Dryden and he accepted the
preciseness expression in his prose and poetry. He accepted the
preciseness movement of the age. He was very influential in
that period and influenced the other writers.
The poems of this age were formal and elegant and also this
style dominated english litarature for more than one century.
To sum up; Styles were changed and they became more simple
because of the influences of the French after the Charles II
came to the throne.
In restoration, puritans are subdued . Writers gave importance
to directness and simplicity. The writers tried to get away from
the formal beauty. They were also inspired from the ancient
writers, mostly roman writers, but they rejected the mindless
adherence of ancient writers.
Restoration period is a stabled period. Because after th things is
stabled, people, the said their internal feelings about that old
conflicts and usually satired these conflicts. People of england,
with the increasing freedom of expression they told what they
wanted to and shared their own ideas in the society.

In this period there a again new developments such as

Neoclassical Poetry.
Neoclassical Poetry ( age of dryden) 1680- 1750
This period is also known as the auguston age. Because, the
returning of the monarchy to the power represented itself like
Emperor augustos. And they argued that the monarchy restored
the country like the emperor augustus did in the ancient rome.
In other words, some literary historians established a link
between ancient rome and the England of that age.
The writers of this period mainly influenced from the writers of
ancient rome such as virgil,vivid and ovid. John Dryden was the
represantative of this period. And this period marked the end of
romanticism of Elizabethan period. The writers of this period
started to use reason instead of emotions. In other words,
imagination and extravagance of the past lost its interest.
People favoured reason over passion. The spirit of the age was
analytic and inquisitive. It put a greatest emphasis on intellect
and reason. Therefore, the passion for imagination declined.
The neoclassists of this period were champions of common
sense and reason.These two elements were in favour of normal
generalities against the whims and eccentricities of individual
genious. And these normal features went under the term of
nature. But, nature meant something different for the
Romantics.
Nature was an element that increasing their imagination by
writing poems. But their ideas were different from the romatics.
They saw romantics and their passions as uncontrollable and
favoured reason nstead of passion. Therefore, neoclassists
methodised the nature. They regarded the ancients and
frequently translated and adapted the classical Works.
The writers of this period had given attention to elagance and
correctness. And the literature of this time was order and fullsense. In neoclassic poetry, there are realism, didactic and
satiristic elements. There was a tendency for satire in this

period and there was less lyricism, Word plays and puns. They
put special emphasis on reality. Therefor, the neoclassical
poetry is, didactic, satire and realistic. The most improtant
writers of this period is John dryden and Alexander Pope. For ex:
Drydens absolom and architopel and the Medal were political
satires.
The neoclassical poets wrote as a civilized man speaking to
other civilized men. Therefore it is the verse of society. The aim
of the neo-classic poetry was arguing and convincing the others
with the help of reason and logic. Therefore they usually used
the genre of satire in this period in order to convince other side.
In neoclassical poetry, wit and the intellect took the place of
passion and imagination.
And also in this time , The passion and imagination was
decreased by wit, intellect and reason.
Restoration Satire
The restoration period has put a great emphasis on satire.
The high spirit of satire regained its supreme in this period and
throughout the coming decades. And n the hands of dryden,
satire became a weapon of correction, offense an even self
expression. There are several reasons for the rise of satire in
this period.
There 2 reason of the satire, the one is construct and the
another is destroy. And, satire rises from a sense of
dissatisfaction,anger or disgust at the departure of the real from
the ideal. And also, with the restoration of monarchy, the
conventional, orthodox and puritanic morality was dismissed
and replaced by fashion and genteel taste.
The restrictions of puritanists disappeared and a greater
freedom of expression came, also any condamnation against
puritanists was welcomed in restoration period. After the order
establihed in the country, the writers identified their own fixed
standarts. There were many satirical work in this period such as

Dreydens Absolom and Architopel and the Medal. The interest

in study of classical text increased among writers. They ususally
inspired from the Roman writers and their work. This inspiration
motivated renaissance men to take the genre of satire as a
personal expression style and public improvement. The great
roman satirists were appreciated, respected and intiated in this
period.
The spirit of satire was important in france and by the returning
of Charles II and the monrachy from france, it inspired the
Works of england. Because after they returned, they brought
the ideas and forms which they gained in the france. Therefore
most of the inflences comes from french. But usually they
influenced from the ancient roman satirists such as persius,
Juvenal and Horace. They studied, appriciated and imitated
them.
There were lots of satirists in this period such as Samuel Butler,
John Dryden and John Bunyan.
Samuel Butler wrote the Hudibras. It is divided into three parts.
t was satire of puritans. He was not a royal man and he was
just son of a farmer and died from poverty. He published his
Hudibras in time between 1663 and 16786 in three parts. t was
a satirical poem which he satirizes religion and puritans. And
legend says that even the king used to keep a copy of it in his
pocket.
John dreyden
He lived in the time between 1631 and 1700. He was a satirist.
Today, most of the critics considers him as the represantative
writer of the restoration period.
He converted into christianity therefore we can infer that
interested in too much about the religion. Because there were
lots of religious conflicts in this period so probably he was tried
to find a solution to this problems. And also, he wanted to earn
Kings favour and grace therefore he changed his religion.
Because the new king was a Catholic. He used the genre of

satire as a weapon and wrote so many religious satire Works.

Drydens work was verse of society. He was close to public. He
wrote about politics, religion, war or scientific developments.
He was a neoclassist. He is known for his appreciation and
recommendation of the theory and practice of the ancient
greeks and romans. And also he is known for, His critical and
realistic assessments of his own times with the handling of
topical and realistic themes which have direct bearing up his
society and times.
He was a neoclassist and like the other neoclassists, his
neoclassism was a reaction against the romanticism. His
neoclassism is also reveals itself in his reverence of the
ancients. In other Works, he and his contemporaries looked
upon the ancients as their models.
He had the features of a neoclassist and gave a place to control,
good sense, intellectuality, reason order, symmetry and clarity
instead of imagination, passion and disorder.
The romantic literature is marked by the lack of realism but
classism puts a special emphasis on reality.Therefore, his Works
does not lose its interest to outside and the environment of his
age. His poetry is about the practical motives which govern
human actions. Most of his poems is linked with the important
events of his own time. He wrote religio laici as a defence of the
church of england but later he wrote The hind and the panther
as a defence of his new religion. He also satirized the exclusion
cirisis and wrote his absolom and achitopel.
He was close to his Public. And as a gentleman he wrote for
ladies and gentlemen. And he created his own audience. His
Works were not appraised by the rewievs or critics but by the
public and the judgments that voiced in the coffeehouses.