Late Early Modern England and the Augustans
Please note a change to the syllabus: Tuesday we will have an in-class peer reading day for Essay 3. Essay 3 will now be due on Thursday, Nov. 9 . Next class, we will spend some time practicing close reading. Keep up with the reading schedule on the course syllabus, however.
Here is the web site that has the mnemonic poem about English monarchs from the Conquest to Elizabeth II.
Some later early-modern English history:
*After Queen Elizabeth I died without children, the crown passed to King James of Scotland (He was James VI of Scotland, and James I of England, so is sometimes called James the Sixth and First)
*He believed in an autocratic monarchy, free of restraints from Parliament. He was also fairly shrewd—he listened to the complaints of the Puritans that the maintaining of the episcopacy in the Church of England was a doctrinally problematic remnant of Roman Catholicism, but did not removed bishops. His response was, “No bishop, no king.” Turns out he might have been right about that. . . .
*He was succeeded by his son, Charles I in 1625. Charles was the second son (his older brother died early) and had been sickly as a boy. His father persisted in calling him “Baby Charles” until the end of James’s life (royal families have a famous knack for messing up their kids!). Charles came to the throne determined that he would show everyone what a strong king he was. He exaggerated his father’s autocratic tendencies. He thought Parliament should pass whatever taxes he asked of them, and wasn’t willing to listen to their grievances or consider any governmental or religious reforms. He used his private courts to circumvent some of the traditions of English legal practice (like the use of juries).
*Finally, in 1641, a civil war started. The King’s party fought against a party consisting of an alliance between Puritans and Parliamentarians. There was a brief cease-fire, but war started up again and in 1649, Charles I was tried for treason and executed.
*The country was ruled by Oliver Cromwell, who took the title “Lord High Protector.” When he died, however, the Parliamentary party, who had gotten tired of Cromwell’s Puritanism and disregard for procedure, invited Charles II back to be king. He returned, and the following period is called “the Restoration.” Drama began to be written again—racy stuff, with lots of illegitimate kids and whatnot.
*The crown passed to Charles’s brother James II, who was Catholic. The Parliament didn’t like that, so they removed him from office, and offered the throne to William and Mary. They came to the throne in 1689. Their daughter Anne ruled in the early 18th century, then we get a line of kings from the House of Hanover—Germans (the early ones could barely speak English). The first 4 of them were named George.
The Augustans
The Augustans were a group of writers who wanted the English of their day (the 18th century) to represent the height of linguistic and literary achievement, like Latin had supposedly done under Caesar Augustus. To heighten this parallel, they laid down several "rules" of English that were based more on the usage of Latin than the way anyone really spoke or wrote English:
* Don't use double negatives
* Don't split infinitives
* Don't end sentences with prepositions
These are all prescribed, artificial "rules" that did not evolve out of spoken English at all!
Here is the web site that has the mnemonic poem about English monarchs from the Conquest to Elizabeth II.
Some later early-modern English history:
*After Queen Elizabeth I died without children, the crown passed to King James of Scotland (He was James VI of Scotland, and James I of England, so is sometimes called James the Sixth and First)
*He believed in an autocratic monarchy, free of restraints from Parliament. He was also fairly shrewd—he listened to the complaints of the Puritans that the maintaining of the episcopacy in the Church of England was a doctrinally problematic remnant of Roman Catholicism, but did not removed bishops. His response was, “No bishop, no king.” Turns out he might have been right about that. . . .
*He was succeeded by his son, Charles I in 1625. Charles was the second son (his older brother died early) and had been sickly as a boy. His father persisted in calling him “Baby Charles” until the end of James’s life (royal families have a famous knack for messing up their kids!). Charles came to the throne determined that he would show everyone what a strong king he was. He exaggerated his father’s autocratic tendencies. He thought Parliament should pass whatever taxes he asked of them, and wasn’t willing to listen to their grievances or consider any governmental or religious reforms. He used his private courts to circumvent some of the traditions of English legal practice (like the use of juries).
*Finally, in 1641, a civil war started. The King’s party fought against a party consisting of an alliance between Puritans and Parliamentarians. There was a brief cease-fire, but war started up again and in 1649, Charles I was tried for treason and executed.
*The country was ruled by Oliver Cromwell, who took the title “Lord High Protector.” When he died, however, the Parliamentary party, who had gotten tired of Cromwell’s Puritanism and disregard for procedure, invited Charles II back to be king. He returned, and the following period is called “the Restoration.” Drama began to be written again—racy stuff, with lots of illegitimate kids and whatnot.
*The crown passed to Charles’s brother James II, who was Catholic. The Parliament didn’t like that, so they removed him from office, and offered the throne to William and Mary. They came to the throne in 1689. Their daughter Anne ruled in the early 18th century, then we get a line of kings from the House of Hanover—Germans (the early ones could barely speak English). The first 4 of them were named George.
The Augustans
The Augustans were a group of writers who wanted the English of their day (the 18th century) to represent the height of linguistic and literary achievement, like Latin had supposedly done under Caesar Augustus. To heighten this parallel, they laid down several "rules" of English that were based more on the usage of Latin than the way anyone really spoke or wrote English:
* Don't use double negatives
* Don't split infinitives
* Don't end sentences with prepositions
These are all prescribed, artificial "rules" that did not evolve out of spoken English at all!
posted by Rebecca Brackmann at
7:51 AM
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