Part Ⅴ. 17th century ppt.pptVIP

Part Ⅴ The 17th Century  The Period of Revolution and Restoration Restoration and Revolution James II and the Glorious Revolution In 1685 Charles II died and his brother James II succeeded to the throne. He threatened to restore the old absolute monarchy. Another crisis came in the Revolution of 1688, aroused by the attempt of James II to establish another despotism (专制主义 ) in Church and state. Within the parliament, the Tories supported him and the Whigs opposed him. When the parliament was preparing to overthrow him, James II fled to France. In 1688, the parliament welcomed his daughter Mary and her husband, William, Duke of Orange of Holland back to England as joint rulers. This is known in history as the Glorious Revolution because the king was overthrown without shedding any blood. That revolution meant three things: the supremacy (自高无上)of Parliament, the beginning of modern England, and the final triumph of the principle of political liberty for which the Puritans had fought and suffered hardship for a hundred years. Literary characteristics 1). the puritan age/influence: gloom age Poem: John Milton, metaphysical poets, John Donne… Prose: John Bunyan (Puritan Writers – John Milton and John Bunyan) 2). Restoration/French influence drama: rimed couplet literature: witty and clever, immoral and cynical on the whole Metaphysical Poetry The word“metaphysical”applied to Donne and his followers refers to their conception of a unified universe where all things physical and spiritual are related. All things have a similarity between them, the most concrete object being in some way an image of the most spiritual. For instance, in the poem The Flea”, the flea that has sucked both lovers’ blood is the symbol of their union; the compass of Valediction is an image of the high degree of love between a man and his wife; God in Holy Sonnet XIV is compared to a blacksmith. 　 This use of imagery requires wit; that is, the mental ability to join ideas