Title: Restoration Literature
1Restoration Literature
- Unit FourThe Serious Side
- Lesson Five
- The Other Restoration Literature
2Difference in the Literature
- Todays work is much more typical of what the
majority of literate people would be reading. - Much more reflective of the general populations
values.
3Qualities
- Much less artificiality (check the OED for the
contemporary meaning) - No brilliant displays of wit
- But not without imagination and beauty
4John Bunyan
- B. 1628, son of a poor tinker (metal
worker/repairer). - Very little schooling, followed his father in the
tinker's trade, - Parliamentary army, 1644-47
- Married 1649
- 4 children, eldest, a girl, blind,
- wife died 1655, remarried 1659.
5Life in the Church
- Received into the Baptist church 1653.
- In 1655 became deacon and began preaching with
marked success from the start. - 1658 was indicted for preaching without a license
6Prison Time
- Kept on preaching, and finally went to jail
November, 1660 - There with the exception of a few weeks in 1666,
till January, 1672. - Out of prison, became pastor of the Bedford
church. In March, 1675, he was again imprisoned
for preaching for six months.
7Influential Books
- English Bible he knew thoroughly.
- Greatly influenced by Martin Luther's Commentary
on the Epistle to the Galatians, in the
translation of 1575
8Puritans Revisited
- Sadly, most people today do not have a proper
understanding of the Puritans. They tend to be
thought of as old stogies who just wanted to
spoil everybody's fun. However, the modern-day
view of he Puritans is far from the truth.
Perhaps the following summation of the real
Puritans will put us on the road to a right
understanding.
9From A Quest for Godliness, by J.I. Packer
- The essential thing in understanding the Puritans
was that they were preachers before they were
anything else...Into whatever efforts they were
led in their attempts to reform the world through
the Church, and however these efforts were
frustrated by the leaders of the Church, what
bound them together, undergirded their striving,
and gave them the dynamic to persist was their
consciousness that they were called to preach the
Gospel
10More Baptist History
- The Puritans wanted to see real biblical reform
come to the Church. These early Puritans were led
by Bishop Richard Hooker and Thomas Cartwright
and they began to call for a pure Church.
However, the Queen and the Church of England were
not willing to put up with these Puritans and
thus began to enforce religious conformity by
law. Thus ended a brief period of religious
peace.
11Church Reform
- This demand of conformity from the political and
religious forces in England produced a group
known as the Separatists. - The principles behind this movement were the
freedom of the Church from State rule, pure
doctrine rather than a watered-down or
compromising doctrine, and overall reform of the
Church.
12What is the Church?
- They stressed that the Church was only those who
were the redeemed, not a body of
politically-minded upstarts. - They refused to believe that the Bible taught a
hierarchical church government (rule from top
down), instead calling for a church government
that had some form of participation from the
people (rule from the grass levels).
13Forms and Aids
- They preferred a simple worship liturgy which
emphasized a Holy God. They felt that the state
forms and written aids of the Church of England
led to the peoples focusing on the forms and not
the Sovereign God thus these types of aids
were looked down upon.
14Synonyms
- Puritans
- Separatists
- Non-conformists
- While not technically synonymous, they are close
enough in meaning for our purposes to be used
interchangeably.
15G.M. Trevelyan
- Of all the works of high imagination which have
enthralled mankind, none opens with a passage
that more instantly places the reader in the
heart of all the action that is to follow not
Homers, not Miltons, invocation of the Muse
not one of Dantes three great openings not the
murmured challenge of the sentinels on the
midnight platform at Elsinor - not one of these
better performs the authors initial task. The
attention is at once captured, the imagination
aroused. In these first sentences, by the magic
of words, we are transported into a world of
spiritual values, and impressed at the very
outset with the sense of great issues at stake -
nothing less than the fate of a mans soul.
16Source
- Bunyans England, The Review Of The Churches,
July, 1928, pp. 319. - Trevelyn is a very famous historian who was
writing in the early to mid-20th century. Very
important for those who study the period.
17Pilgrims Progress
- Most successful allegory ever written
- The second best-seller of any book in history,
second only to the Bible. - It is commonly translated by Protestant
missionaries after the Bible.
18Early Publishing Facts
- Before Bunyan's death ten editions of The
Pilgrim's Progress had been published, - Supposedly a hundred thousand copies had been
sold, - American edition published in Boston in 1681
- Only five copies of the first edition are known
to be in existence. - The reason for this is that the people who bought
copies of The Pilgrim's Progress bought them to
read, and literally read them to pieces.
19Bunyan in Holy War
- "It came from my own heart, so to my head,And
thence into my fingers trickledThen to my pen,
from whence immediatelyOn paper I did dribble it
daintily.Matter and manner too was all mine
own,Nor was it unto any mortal known,Till I had
done it. Nor, did any then,By books, by wits, by
tongues, or hand or penAdd five words to it, or
write half a lineThereof the whole and every
whit is mine.
20Speculation as to Sources
- Dante
- Fairie Queene
- But probably the only source is the Bible and
Bunyans imagination.
21Why We Read PP
- Language, colloquial
- Realistic description
- Good story-telling skills
- very important for a good preacher
Victorian Illustration of Vanity Fair
22Comparisons
- Sir Thomas Malory
- anticipated Defoe and Swift
- minuteness of detail
- unconcerned colloquialism
- apparent absence of straining for effect.
- For these reasons, some critics called PP the
first English novel - many read it solely as an adventure.
23Thomas Macauley
- "Though there were many clever men in England
during the latter half of the seventeenth
century, there were only two minds which
possessed the imaginative faculty in a very
eminent degree. One of these minds produced the
Paradise Lost, the other The Pilgrim's Progress."
24Reading Milton
- Not an easy task,
- But he really and truly is worth the effort.
- I am e-mailing you a list of some secondary
sources that may help.
25Five Basic Rules for Milton's Moral Universe
- God, by definition good, created the universe ex
deo, not ex nihilo. - As a result, the universe may be conceived as an
infinitely expanding circle of goodness. - No created being can get outside the circle
without achieving nothingness or nonbeing.
26Rules Cont
- Goodness includes free will.
- Evil arises from free will and and eventually
destroys itself or turns into goodness
27Miltons Background
- Born 1608 into the family of John Milton Sr., and
his wife Sara - John Milton Sr. is a prosperous scrivener-legal
aide, real-estate agent, notary, preparer of
documents, money-lender - Father is also active as a composer of liturgical
music.
28First Teacher
- Milton is tutored at home by Thomas Young, a
Scottish Presbyterian who will come to be
identified with the Puritan movement. - Young will present Milton with a Hebrew Bible and
will trade Latin and Greek verses with him
29On to School
- Around 1620 Enters St. Paul's School
- AB, then AM cum laude, Christ College, Cambridge,
1632, - He didnt take orders because he didnt like the
direction of the church
30Master of Languages
- Latin
- Ancient Greek
- Hebrew
- most modern European languages
- French
- Italian
- German
- Spanish
31Private Study
- Retires to family homes at Hammersmith, near
London, and at Horton, in Buckinghamshire, to
study for five years, at his father's expense - Occasionally visiting London "for the purposes of
learning something new in mathematics or music,
in which I then delighted.
32Continental Travels
- 1638-9, Toured the Continent to finish his
education, as many young men did. - Visited the Vatican library
- Spent some time with Galileo, under house arrest
in Florence - Spent time in Geneva, Calvins City (though
Calvin has been dead 70 years), still Protestant
Rome.
33Starts Private School
- When returned, set up a private school at first
for nephews, then for aristocrats children
34Pamphlet Wars
- Before TV and radio and even daily newspapers
with their ads, different sides of the debate
would publish a pamphlet on the topic, often
arguing another pamphlet that was out there. - Very important insight into the politics of the
time. - Go back to Elizabethan times.
35Prose Writing Period
- Between 1640-60
- Of Education
- Areopagitica
- Much more
36Miltons Point of View
- English people are chosen by God to perform a
necessary political act--founding a state based
on principles of choice and, within Christian
bonds, freedom.
37Marriage Troubles
- In 1642 married 17 year old Mary Powell (he was
34). She left after a few weeks. - Her family are Royalists. (and so is Ms brother)
- Because of this during 1643-45 wrote his divorce
tracts - argued that incompatibility is grounds for
divorce. - earned him a reputation as a radical.
38Defends Regicide
- In 1649 he defended Cromwell against critics
- Explicitly defended Charles Is execution
39Secretary for the Foreign Tongues
- Named by by the Council of State,1649
- a post dealing with diplomatic correspondence,
usually in Latin - his name lent it dignity.
- Payment was 288 per year
Milton around this Period.
40Blindness
- 1652, February. Becomes totally blind towards the
end of the month, most likely as the result of
glaucoma. - Because of his blindness, his salary reduced from
288 to 150 in 55, but that becomes a pension
for life. - They wanted his name and stature as a scholar.
41Anti-Monarchist Till the End
- When Charles II returned, Milton was imprisoned
and in danger of execution. - intervention of many people who appreciated him
as an artist saved him, especially Andrew Marvell - who had been Miltons secretary when he worked
for he Council of State. - Fined and a lost property
- by this point included houses and land.
42Wont Bow to Royalty
- James, Duke of York, went to visit Milton, since
he was one of Englands greatest poets. James
suggested that Miltons blindness was divine
punishment for supporting regicide. Milton
answered If your Highness thinks that
misfortunes are indexes to the wrath of heaven,
what must you think of your fathers tragical
end? I only lost my eyes. He lost his head.
43Three Major Poems
- Written in the last 14 years of his life
- Paradise Lost, 1667 (made 10 from it, and his
widow sold the rights for another 8) - Paradise Regained, 1671
- Samson Agonistes, 1671
44Paradise Lost
- First published in 1667 and then was revised into
12 books in 1674. - The composition probably began in the 1650s, but
writing an epic on scriptural sources was
probably on his mind since the 1640s
45Epic
- Long narratives tracing the adventures of heroes.
46Blank Verse
- Unrhymed iambic pentameter
- Usually used in drama during this period
47Things We Look at in the Poem
- Language
- The world he creates
- The characters
48Bible
- Especially as glossed by the early fathers of the
church and Protestant theologians. - Milton draws on the entire Hebrew and Christian
scriptures, even the Apocrypha
49Talmudic Writings
- Jewish rabbinical writings.
- This is where Satans envy of sex comes from as
well as his persuasive arguments to Eve. - See, esp. the medieval writer Moses Maimonides
50Patristic Writers
- Particularly St. Augustines City of God
51Latin and Greek Epics
- Such as Homer and Virgil for the conception of
the epic, also Classical Greek drama was an
influence
52Fall of Man
- Medieval literature
- Renaissance literature
- as some versions of the event from Latin poems
are evident in earlier texts
53Italian Epic Poems
- Such as Ariostos Orlando Furioso and Tassos
Jerusalem Delivered
54Rebellion
- Satan vs. God
- Adam Eve vs. Divine Law
55Confronts Questions of
- Choice
- Obedience
- Forms of Government
56Raises Issues of
- Freedom
- Social relationships
57Justice/Mercy
- If I give you a grade of A, do I have to justify
it?
58Open to Various Readings
- Feminist
- Marxist
- New Historicist
- brings into play Marxism and emphasis on
political/social context and the interplay
between the text and society - Psychoanalytical
59Theology Can Be Confusing
- If youre ambitious and/or interested, the
intellectual theology is most easily understood
by studying Miltons De Doctrina Christiana,
which at the time was quite heretical, and in the
poem, he tones it down a bit. - This need not concern us as we can just avoid a
theological reading!
60PL as Myth
- Milton sees it as myth
- In Doctrina Christiana, he writes that Scriptures
are accommodations to mans limited faculties,
and so is his poem - So we must see Milton in the role of inspired
prophet like the Hebrews of old. - As such, Milton is a revealer of truth in the
Platonic sense
61Milton does Share the Orthodox Christian Views of
- Special creation of Man
- Satans role in temptation
- Mans original sin and fall from Grace
- The incarnation of Christ
- The last Judgement
- Angels as intermediaries between God and Man.
62Milton Disagrees with Certain Anglican Aspects
- Prescriptive ritual
- Hierarchical priesthood
63Denies Certain Puritan (Calvinistic) Thought
- Assertion of predestination
- Milton follows the Protestant theologian
Arminiuss assertion of free will - Gods foreknowledge is sure but does not
necessitate the event, for each man is morally
responsible for his choice of belief or
disbelief.