The Jacobean Age The Civil War and The Puritan Age

(1603-1660)

The Jacobean Age:

The great Queen (Elizabeth) died in 1603, after a glorious reign. She was succeeded
by James I, distantly related to her. The reign of James I ( in Latin called Jacobus),
following the Elizabethan Age, is popularly known as the Jacobean Age.

That Jacobean period kept up the high literary tradition of its immediate
predecessor. It was also the period of Shakespeare later and last plays as also the
plays of a good many of his big contemporaries and prominent successors, like Ben
Jonson, George Chapman, Beaumont and Fletcher, Middleton, Haywood, Webster,
Tourneur, Massinger and Shirley. The age also presents a galaxy of great poets like
Milton, Donne, Drummond, Drayton and so on. The prose master, like Bacon,
Burton, Donne (with his sermons) as also the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible,
published at the personal initiative of King James I, also belong to this age.

Two material elements, however, need be noted ere. The period of James I is
actually meant by the term Jacobean. But factually, in the first place, two agesElizabethan and Jacobean- are found to overlap and mingle up in the matter of
literature. In the second place, the literature of the Jacobean period ran to the
phases that followed- Charles Is rule and the Civil War, followed by the
establishment of the Puritan Parliamentary authority till the restoration of monarchy
in 1660. The ascension of James I to the English throne in 1603 marked an era of
social and philosophical transition that was reflected in the increasingly dark and
ambiguous drama of the period. While a Christian humanist conception of the
universe prevailed during the Elizabethan age, the scientific movement of the
seventeenth century cast doubt upon earlier views of the cosmos as a highly moral
environment governed by God. Astronomical discoveries, for example, along with
the publication of Sir Francis Bacon's The Advancement of Learning in 1605,
contributed to a new analytical mode of thinking that marked the separation of
philosophical and artistic thought from the realm of religion and morality.

The transition between the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages was reflected in drama
in varying degrees. With the exception of such late tragedies as Antony and

Cleopatra and Coriolanus, Shakespeare, for example, is generally associated with

the Elizabethan sensibility. Most of his works display a sense of providential justice;
a sense that the ravages of evil will ultimately be overcome by an inevitable
movement of the cosmos toward moral harmony. The works of several of
Shakespeare's noted Jacobean contemporaries including Webster and Middleton,
however, depart from the Elizabethan sense of moral order through depictions of
corruption and violence that do not suggest divine retribution and the ultimate
triumph of good. Critics do not consider Jacobean drama to be amoral, however:
many of the tragedies seek to affirm human dignity and honor in the face of
suffering and injustice. Irving Ribner described Jacobean tragedy as the search "to
find a basis for morality in a world in which the traditional bases no longer seem to
have validity."

While extensive critical commentary has focused on the tragedies of the Jacobean
period, by far the most popular and frequently performed dramas of the era were
the tragicomedies of Beaumont and Fletcher. Although lauded in the seventeenth
century, nineteenthand twentieth-century critics have frequently criticized the
Fletcherian tragicomedies for sensationalism, contrived plots, and the use of merely
entertaining dramatic devices at the expense of integrity and meaning. Some have
blamed the growth of private theaters during the seventeenth century and the
resulting rise of special interests among audiences for the perceived emphasis on
escapist entertainment over meaningful artistic commentary. Others, such as
Jacqueline Pearson, have defended the artistic significance and dramatic skill of the
tragicomedies. Pearson comments: "Behind the clear-cut structure of sharp
contrasts, surprise and suspense, lurks a teasing double-vision, a critical ability to
see events simultaneously in very different ways." Also popular during the Jacobean
period were masques, which became highly fashionable in the court of King James.
Predominantly written by the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson, the Jacobean masques
are noted for lavish set designs and musical scores provided by the major artists
and musicians of the period. The focus of the performances was most often the
glorification of nobility and right rule, presented in the context of an allegorical,
mythological framework. Pat Rogers commented: "The masque can be seen as
conspicuous consumption, a sign of decadence, or as the apotheosis of the arts."

The Background of the Civil War

When the continent was racked with religious rivalries and strives, England passed
through an undisturbed period, free from problem and religious explosions under
Queen Elizabeths wise rule. By the end of her reign, the English people in general
readily accepted he state-made Church, free from either Catholicism or and handled

well by efficient administration. The English people, in fact, came to be nurtured in

humanism, in the basic tenets of the Bible and their maritime prosperity.

But the situation started to change after the death of the august Queen. The next
royal authority James I had some hidden sympathy for the Catholics, but somehow
followed the neutral religious policy of Queen Elizabeth. Naturally, religious
freedom, humanistic tradition and literary affluences continued, though not as
sweepingly as in the Queens grand rule.

But the situation very unfavorably changed with the ascension of Charles I. Charles I
was somewhat opposite to his father and lacked the royal wisdom that alone could
preserve power and achieve prosperity. He was too arrogant and assertive of his
sovereign authority over the power of Parliament mainly because of the Kings lack
of sense to handle the later with care and caution.

The old tradition of England was parliamentary. The Tudor despotism was a novel
policy and based on the skilful parliamentary management by sovereign power with
a conciliatory policy of live and let live. Charles, however, tried to go beyond and
tramped down Parliament. As a result, a sort of Civil War stared in England. The war
continued for about five years and at the end won by the Parliamentarians. The king
was disposed.

Parliament, at that time was constituted of the intellectual gentlemen o f high

morals. They were, in the main, under the influence of Puritanism. The hostility
between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, mainly Puritans, brought about the
deposition of the King. That was followed by the execution of the King in open
Parliament in 1649.

The end of monarchy led to the establishment of the Commonwealth, under the
authority of Cromwell. The Puritans had the supreme command on all matters,
religious as well as literary and cultural. There was he abrupt end of the romantic
tradition of the Elizabethan age and the imposition of Puritan austerity was
inevitable.

Naturally the character of English literature had a sudden alteration. The liveliness
of Elizabethan literature was replaced by sombre Puritanism. There was the end of

romantic songs and lyrics and of the light hearted prose-romances. The theatre was
closed by a Puritan ordinance in 1642.

Literature of The Jacobean Age

Jacobean literature was yet fresh and lively with Elizabethan inspirations. In the
realm of drama, Shakespeare had a number of worthy contemporaries and
successors, pursing artistically their craft. Of course, there was a decline in dramatic
sphere. But the decline was only in comparison with Shakespeares unique dramatic
creations.

The University Wits and the Elizabethan Lyricists were no more but they were
replaced, not very unworthily perhaps, by the poets, like Donne and Drummond,
and the prose masters, like Bacon and the makers of the Authorized Version of the
Holy Bible.

Continuity in literature was marked, though a potential change was evident,

coming, perhaps slowly, but definitely firmly. A new literary world for England was
about to dawn.

Finally, the Civil War and the rigours of the Puritans rule seemed to cut off English
literature from its great tradition- from the traditional vitality and variety of English
literature. But it was a gloom before a sparkle to flash with the restoration of
monarchy. A few years after, English literature yet continued to be fresh and alive.