The Seventeenth Century

Main Topics Historical Background Representative Writers John Milton Paradise Lost John Bunyan The Pilgrim's Progress John Donne Go, and Catch a Falling Star The Canonization A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

Historical Background During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558 ～ 1603), England enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity. The burgher class grew in strength and capitalism was greatly developed

In 1603 with the accession of James I who firmly believed in the divine right of kings, the conflict between Parliament and the absolute monarchy began. When Charles I succeeded to the throne in 1625, the situation grew worse. The government of Charles I attempted to control commercial activity in the interests of the court and for eleven years he ruled the country without Parliament. Historical Background

Thus, the development of capitalism was greatly impeded. Furthermore, Puritans who held that the common people and the king were equal in the presence of God were greatly persecuted and many of them were forced to leave England to seek the New World in America. Finally, all forces against the absoluted monarchy united and the Civil War or the British Bourgeois Revolution broke out in Charles I was beheaded in 1649 and England became a commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. Historical Background

British Bourgeois Revolution Historical Background

However under the military dictatorship of Cromwell, there appeared a split in the revolutionary camp. And after Cromwell's death, monarchy was restored in Then the Restoration Period began. Historical Background

In 1668, William of Orange was invited as king by the bourgeoisie. This was the so-called “Glorious Revolution”. After that, the king and Parliament reached an agreement and England henceforth became a country of constitutional monarchy. Historical Background

The British Bourgeois Revolution was carried out under a religious cloak, and Puritanism was the religious doctrine of the revolutionary bourgeois of that period. Therefore, the British Bourgeois Revolution was sometimes called the Puritan Revolution. English literature of this period was very much concerned with the tremendous social upheavals of the time. Historical Background

Firstly, there arose the writers who defended in their works the English Commonwealth and the ideals of the Revolution. Such as John Milton, the greatest poet of this period, whose works are full of indomitable Puritan spirit, and John Bunyan, the typical Puritan writer. Secondly, the Restoration created a literature of its own. The representative literary figure of this period is John Dryden. Thirdly, during the rule of Charles I, there emerged two schools of poets. The poets of one school were called “metaphysical poets”, represented by John Donne, and the poets of the other school were called “cavaliers”, represented by Ben Jonson. Historical Background