Europe inThe 17th Century

The Age of Reason, Enlightenment, and Scientific Revolution

Religion Protestant Reformation vs. Catholic Counter-

Reformation Rise of Puritans and Anabaptists Vicious sectarian violence throughout Europe

30 Years War:The Battle of Lützen, a Swedish victory, but one that saw the death of King Gustavus Adolphus on November 16, 1632.

Reformation Repercussions Rivalry between Spain and England

1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada Competition for colonies in the Americas

Religious Persecution Revival of the Inquisition’s persecution of heretics Religious wars in France (1560-98) Witch-hunts (1550-1750) The Eighty Years War (1568-1648) between Spain and the

Netherlands The Thirty Years War (1618-48) English Civil War (1642-1660) and Regicide of Charles I (1649) Migrations to the New World for religious freedom

French Huguenots to Florida – driven out by Spanish Puritans to New England Quakers and Amish to Pennsylvania Roman Catholics to Maryland

Deism Natural theology: Derives the existence of God from reason and personal experience rather than divine revelation or scripture

Cultural influences: Reaction against sectarian

violence in Europe Growing knowledge of diverse

religious beliefs both classical and contemporary

Textual study of Biblical scriptures

Advances in scientific knowledge – Bible could not be seen as authoritative for matters of science

Skepticism about miracles and books that report them

“Watchmaker God” Unitarianism

William Blake

The Age of Reason 17th c. philosophers broke with Medieval and Renaissance

scholasticism System-builders — philosophers who present unified systems of

epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and ethics, and often politics and the physical sciences

RATIONALISTS: Knowledge can be gained through the power of reason – mathematics as basis of knowledge Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz

EMPIRICISTS: Knowledge comes through the senses, through experience – physical sciences as basis of knowledge Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, George

Berkeley, David Hume

René Descartes1596-1660

“Cogito ergo sum” “I think, therefore, I am”

“Father of Modern Philosophy,” “Father of Modern Mathematics”

Developed analytic geometry

Discourse on the Method: methodological scepticism – favors deduction over perception

René Descartes. Portrait by Frans Hals, 1648

The Enlightenment 18th c. movement in European and American

philosophy and intellectual thought which advocated REASON as the primary basis for authority

Period is marked by: Nation building Government consolidation Systemization of knowledge: academies, encyclopedias,

dictionaries Decline in power of authoritarian institutions such as the

church and nobility Greater rights for common people

Prominent Enlightenment Philosophers

Thomas Paine

Mary Wollstonecraft

Voltaire

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

David Hume

The ScientificRevolution

Emphasis on experimentation and inductive reasoning

Scientific Method New methods of

observation: the microscope and the telescope

1662: Charles I chartered the Royal Society of London for the Improving of Natural Knowledge

A replica of Isaac Newton's telescope of 1672.

Sir Isaac Newton1643-1727

Mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, and natural philosopher

Developed calculus contemporaneously but separately from Liebniz

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica: described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion

Opticks: discovered that light was composed of particlesGodfrey Kneller's Sir Isaac Newton at 46

Neo-Classicism The consideration of Greek and Roman art and

literature as “the canon” of art Adoption of Classical conventions into art,

architecture and literature Desire for stability and order Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns

The Ancients: Greece and Rome established standards and models never to be excelled

The Moderns: those standing on the shoulders of their predecessors could see farther – the new could excell the ancient

G. P. Pannini assembles the canon of Roman ruins and Roman sculpture into one vast imaginary gallery (1756)

Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784

A CLASS SOCIETY

The Aristocracy Professionals

Scientists Physicians Attorneys Clergy Literati Military Officers

Merchants and Bankers Tradespeople Working Class

Domestic Servants Hired labor Apprentices The Unemployed: debtors,

beggars,thieves Peasants

Commerce

The Royal Exchange. Engraving by Bartolozzi. The British Library

The Rise of the Middle Class

Increased LiteracyLeisure Time

International TradeEmpire Building

Gin Lane (1751). Etching and Engraving by William Hogarth.

The New York Public Library.

Poverty and Unemployment

Displaced agrarian labor

No social safety net Education only for the

elite Child labor Cheap gin

Societal Ideals Clear hierarchical structures Public life more important than private life Decorum: well-defined codes of behavior Society: importance of the social group and shared

opinion Marriage and family as a social microcosm Urbane: the city is the center of human discourse –

the country is pastoral, an idealized refuge for renewal and relaxation, or the venue of the ignorant “country bumpkins”

Wit: the importance of language used well

Vauxhall Gardens (1784). A drawing by Thomas Rowlandson. Victoria and Albert Royal Museum.

Samuel Johnson

James Boswell Hester Thrale

Oliver Goldsmith

Duchess of Devonshire Mary “Perdita” Robinson

Prince of Wales

Social Gatherings

A London coffeehouse. The British Museum

Coffee and News

Periodicals and Newpapers

Addison and SteeleThe Spectator

Periodical EssaysLiterary Criticism

Character SketchesPolitical DiscussionPhilosophical Ideas

Literary Salons Intellectual and

literary circles formed around women

Brought together members of society and philosophers and artists

Emphasis on conversation and wit

A reading of Molière, Jean François de Troy, ca. 1728

Neo-Classical Artist

Social Arbiter of Taste Elitist Moral Intellectual Critic

Louis Michel van Loo Portrait of Diderot

Literary Conventions Verisimilitude

a semblance of truth Hazlitt: “ the close imitation of men and manners… the very texture of

society as it really exists.” recognizable settings and characters in real time elimination of fantastic and supernatural elements

Morality Revelation of ideal moral patterns Poetic justice: the good are rewarded and the wicked punished God’s plan is inevitably just

Universality Social norms are unchanged regardless of period or locale

Decorum Appropriate adherence to contemporary behavioral standards

J. S. Muller after Samuel Wale, A General Prospect of Vaux Hall Gardens Shewing at one View the disposition of the whole Gardens

(after 1751).

ARTIFICE

ARTIFICE Art as an improvement upon nature Neo-classical ideals: balance, harmony, reason Gardens Major poetic forms:

Heroic couplets: rhymed iambic pentameter (English): / ں ں / ں / ں / ں /

Alexandrines: rhymed iambic hexameter (French): / ں ں / ں / ں / ں / ں /

Epic and mock epic Poetic essay

Literary Genres Drama: comedy and tragedy Epistle: public letters in poetry or prose Epic: didactic, idealistic, Ode: occasional poem in praise of an event or person Satire: exposure of public and private foolishness

Mock epics Mock odes

Epigrams: pithy, witty ideas Novels: realistic portrayals of bourgeois life

Social Satire

Voltaire, Candide Alexander Pope

Mock epic: “The Rape of the Lock”

Literary Satire: “The Dunciad

Jonathan Swift “A Modest Proposal” Gulliver’s Travels

The Laughing Audience (1733). Etching and engraving by William Hogarth. The New York Public Library

Entertainment

TheatreOpera

Symphony

French Neoclassical Theatre, 17th-18th C.

Modelled theatre on Greek and Roman examples Disdained English Elizabethan theatre’s

“messiness” and eclecticism Neoclassical Conventions

Decorum Verisimilitude Universal truths Poetic: Alexandrines 5 act structure 3 unities: time, place action

Tragedy and Comedy

Rulers/nobility Affairs of state Unhappy ending Lofty poetic style Revealed the horrible

results of mistakes and misdeeds committed from passion

Corneille and Racine

Middle class/bourgeosie Domestic/private affairs Happy ending – often deus

ex machina Ordinary speech Ridicules behavior that

should be avoided Moliere

Pierre Corneille1606-1684

Known as “the founder of French tragedy”

Chafed under the critical strictures of Cardinal Richelieu and the Académie Français

Le Cid 1637Querelle de Cid

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliére1622-1673 Playwright, actor, producer – headed his

own theatrical company Favorite of Louis XIV – troupe was

established at court: Palais Royale Theatre Influenced by commedia dell arte and by

Roman comedies and French farces – he used these forms to ridicule social and moral pretensions.

Le Misanthrope, (The Misanthrope), L'École des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).

Jean Racine1639-1699

• First tragedies originally produced by Moliere’s company – he defected to the rival Hôtel de Bourgogne

• Most of his tragedies are based on classical themes and tragedies

• Considered the master of the Alexandrine line

• Major works:Andromaque (1667) Britannicus(1669) Bérénice (1670) Iphigénie (1674) Phèdre (1677)

TartuffeMme. Pernell Flipote

Elmire---Orgon—deceased wife Cleante, Orgon’s friend

Damis Mariane >< Valère Dorine

Tartuffe M. Loyal Officer of the Courta hypocrite a bailiff deus ex machina

Phaedra (Phèdre)

Antiope------Theseus-------Phaedra AriadneAmazon King of AthensQueen Oenone, Phaedra’s nurse Panope, lady-in-waiting

Aricia><Hippolytus Theramenes, tutorAthenianprincess

Aegeus Minos----Pasiphae-----BullKing of Athens King of Crete Minotaur