Impact of puritanism on english literature
Answers
The Puritans coloured their lives on the preaching of religiousreformers, John Wycliffe andJohn Calvin. They had their own sets of beliefs and idealisms. These are:
1. They believed that The Bible represented the true law of God. So they always wish to reshape people and church on the ideology of Bible.
2. They were up against the episcopacy or the rule of Bishop. Instead they wanted church to be managed by a group of‘presbyters’ or elders.
3. They believed the voice of God in each man’s conscience and hence no priest or bishop could rightfully come.
4. They insisted on extremeausterity of worship, believing that images, ornaments, alter, rituals, embroidered surplices owned by the priests.
5. The puritans were strict disciplinarians who stressed on grace, devotions, prayers, and introspection.
6. They hated to see the Church being reduced to political body. They challenged Elizabethanreligious settlement of 1559 to solvethe religious debate. They didn’t accept the Tudor doctrine that every member of the state was automatically the member of state Church.
Charles I of England made efforts to purge all Puritan influences in England, which resulted in theGreat Migration to Europe andAmerican colonies. Those who remained in England responded to this persecution with the EnglishCivil War (1641-1651) which led to the execution of Charles I, the Exile of his son Charles II and the rise of Oliver Cromwell.
The Puritan period was too short for a man to be born into it and reach manhood while the influence was strongest and too stormy. Poets likeAndrew Marvell, Abraham Cowley and John Milton led their tremendous impact on Puritan poetry. Milton’s Paradise Lost is a dream for the Puritans. In the field of prose literature Robert Burtonand John Bunyan are worth mentioning. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress had kissed the zenith of success and is well regarded “Next to Bible” (Taine). Undeniably, this book is the greatest product of Puritan literature. There was a steep decline of drama in the puritan period. After The Tempest in 1611, the productive energy of Englishrenaissance seemed to dry up.
While the Puritan literature speaks of age of sadness, gloom and pessimism, the Elizabethan literature throbbed with youth, vitality and hope. The Elizabeth literature was intensely romantic; in Puritan literature critical, intellectual takes the place or romantic ardour.
The large victory in the Civil Warsupplied oxygen to the Puritans to set up the Commonwealth. Oliver Cromwell built his military dictatorship during Protectorate, but in 1660, monarchy was restored. Though failed, the Puritans left their shoes to put on for the Whig Party into the Political affair of England.
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Answer:
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, there was a religious reform movement that aimed to purge and cleanse the Church in England. It is known as the Puritan Revolution. Some strong Protestants showed their contempt and disgust with the changes that King Henry VIII, Edward II, and Queen Elizabeth made following the Reformation. It served as New England's cornerstone for its religious, intellectual, and social order. But Puritanism wasn't just a historically distinct phenomenon that occurred at the same time as New England's establishment; it was also a way of life, a method of reacting to lived experience, and it has had an ongoing impact on American culture ever since.
Explanation:
The sermons of religious reformers John Wycliffe and John Calvin colored the Puritans' way of life. They each held their own set of ideals and ideas. Which are:
- They held that the Bible was an accurate representation of God's law. They thus constantly seek to alter society and the church in line with biblical philosophy.
- They were contending with episcopacy or bishop control. They preferred that the church be controlled by a group of "presbyters," or elders.
- They held that each man's conscience contained the voice of God, thus no priest or bishop could legitimately arrive.
- They insisted on a strict form of worship, believing that the priests owned the statues, decorations, alter, rites, and embroidered surplices.
- The puritans were stringent disciplinarians who placed a strong emphasis on grace, piety, prayer, and self-analysis.
- They detested the Church's transformation into a political force. To resolve the religious argument, they attacked the 1559 Elizabethan religious settlement. They rejected the Tudor idea that everyone in the state was by default a member of the state Church.
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