The Bourgeois Revolution

Historical Background. At the beginning of the 17^th century the contradictions between the feudal nobility and the bourgeoisie reached their climax.

As the role of the absolute monarchy was no longer progressive and hindered the further development of capitalism, the bourgeoisie, which had once supported the king, turned against absolute monarchy.

All through the reign of James I (1603-1625), the Commons quarrelled with the king for controlling trade and raising taxes without the consent of Parliament.

The struggle between the two sides continued during the reign of Charles I, who took his father's place on the throne in 1625. The Commons worked out the Petition of Rights, aimed at limiting the king's rights, and the king was compelled to sign it. Several times Charles dissolved Parliament and then called it again in the hope of restoring his rights. At last, to crush the opposition, he decided never to call another Parliament, and ruled autocratically for eleven years, till 1640. His reign during this period was supported by the Church and was marked by extreme injustice and cruelty, which turned people's minds against the monarchy and the Church.

Those supporting the king were called Cavaliers, or Royalists.

The Puritans, or the petty bourgeoisie, took the lead in resisting the king. It was easy to distinguish the Puritans from the Cavaliers: the Puritans cut their hair very close to the head, for which they were nicknamed "Roundheads", while the Cavaliers had flowing locks and wore rich clothes.

In 1640 the need of money for the war with Scotland compelled the king to call another Parliament. The Commons at once began to attack him for his bad government during the previous years. The king became angry and dissolved Parliament again. This Parliament is called in history the "Short Parliament". But the Scots marched into the north of England and the king was forced to summon Parliament again to get its consent to raise new taxes. This Parliament is known as the "Long Parliament" because it lasted off and on for 19 years, till 1653. Parliament passed an Act saying that the king's ministers should be responsible to Parliament and that Parliament could be dissolved only by its own consent. The king, however, thought he could turn the course of historical events in his favour by force, and in 1642 he gathered an army and declared war on Parliament. Thus the Civil War between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians began, which lasted from 1642 till 1649.

King Charles was supported by the old nobility and by the Church. The Parliamentary Army, headed by Oliver Cromwell, consisted of representatives of the bourgeoisie and the gentry (new nobility); they also gained the support of the yeomen, artisans, and other working people, who by that time had realized that the taxes they had paid to the king under the old feudal laws had been used not for national purposes, but in the interests of the crown and the old nobility.

Oliver Cromwell was a member of the Long Parliament and the leader of the Independents, who demanded the overthrow of the monarchy. He had military talents and created an army of a "New Model", a "troop of horse" under iron discipline.

The fact that the popular masses took the side of Parliament against the Royalists decided the results of the war. The latter were defeated and the Bourgeois Revolution (sometimes called the Puritan Revolution) triumphed. Charles Stuart was tried and beheaded in January, 1649, the House of Lords abolished, and a Commonwealth (or Republic) proclaimed. Later, however, frightened by the rising revolutionary spirit of the masses, Cromwell intensified his oppression and in 1653 imposed a military dictatorship on the country. It lasted till his death in 1658.

As neither the common people nor the upper classes were satisfied with the results of the Puritan Revolution, the monarchy was restored after Oliver Cromwell's death.

Charles II, son of the executed king, ascended the throne in 1660. The years between 1660 and 1688 are called the "Restoration", but try as he would, Charles was unable to restore the old state of things. Neither could his successor James II with the support of reactionary groups in England and Ireland establish a despotic regime.

By that time two main parties had been formed in Parliament, one representing the interests of business men, the other, the interests of the land-owners and clergy. The two parties hated each other so much that the insulting nicknames of "Whigs" for business men and "Tories" for land-owners were invented. Later, these names came to be used officially.

In 1688 Parliament worked out the Bill of Rights, according to which the royal power, the armed forces, and taxation were brought under the control of Parliament. King James II fled to France, and in 1689 the crown was offered to his daughter Mary and her husband William of Holland. These events were called the "Glorious Revolution". It was not a people's revolution, it was an agreement between the bourgeoisie and the landed aristocracy. Thus constitutional monarchy was established, which marked the end of the whole revolutionary epoch of the 17^th century.

The political struggles involving the broad masses of the English population led to the publication of news pamphlets and political pamphlets, and laid the foundation of journalism and the periodical press. The English people took a tremendous interest in all the political events of the time. There appeared pamphlets which not only reported events, but also explained them to the people. Satirical ballads on contemporary themes were also published in pamphlet form.

The greatest of all publicists during the Puritan Revolution was the poet John Milton. His pamphlets have theoretical foundation to the struggle of the bourgeoisie against the monarchy.

During the Renaissance poetry had been the most popular form of literature. During the Revolution prose became very popular because it was easier to write on social and political problems in prose.

John Milton

(1608-1674)

His Life and Work

The great poet John Milton was born in London on December 9, 1608. Milton's father was a prosperous scrivener (a clerk who copied documents) in London. He was also an amateur composer.

From childhood Milton learned to love music and books; he read and studied so intensely that at the age of twelve he had already formed the habit of working until midnight.

At first Milton attended St. Paul's School. His progress in every department of knowledge was very rapid, and at the age of sixteen he went to the University of Cambridge. On graduating, Milton retired to his father's country place, Horton, in Buckinghamshire. There he gave himself up to study and poetry.

Many of Milton's poems were written at Horton. These comprise the first period in his creative work.

Milton had long wished to complete his education by travelling, as was the custom of the time. In 1637 he left England for a European tour. He visited France and Italy, which gave him an opportunity to satisfy his thirst for knowledge. He met the great Galileo, who was no longer a prisoner of the Inquisition, but was still watched by Catholic churchmen. Milton succeeded in getting into the house where Galileo was kept. His meeting with the great martyr of science is mentioned in "Paradise Lost" and in an article about the freedom of the press. In 1639 he returned to England, just when the struggle between the king and the Puritan bourgeoisie began. For some time Milton had to do educational work, and a result of it was a treatise on education.

Milton kept a keen eye on the public affairs of the time. The years between 1640 and 1660, the second period in his literary work, were the years when he wrote militant revolutionary pamphlets. His views on civil and religious liberty made him the most prominent pamphlet-writer of the Independents.

When the Republican Government under Cromwell was established in the year 1649, Milton was appointed Latin Secretary to the Council of State. The work consisted chiefly of translating diplomatic government papers into Latin and from Latin.

In his pamphlets, most of which were written in Latin, Milton made Europe understand that the Puritan Revolution was not just a great rebellion, as the Royalists insisted, but that it was the only force which could give the people rights and freedom. The execution of the king, he said, should not be regarded as bloodshed by a cruel people, but as the only means by which the people could free themselves from the monarchy; and that the king was not a martyr, but the worst of enemies in the cause of liberty. During his years as Latin Secretary and journalist Milton wrote only a few sonnets.

Milton had weak eyes even as a child; in 1652 he lost his eyesight completely.

With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Milton was discharged from office. All his famous pamphlets were burnt by the hangman. But the poet's militant spirit was not crushed. He and his family moved to a small house not far from London, and Milton again began to write poetry.

Milton's years of retirement became the third period in his literary work. During this period he created works that made him one of the greatest poets of England. These were his great epic "Paradise Lost", completed by 1667, and then, the second epic "Paradise Regained" and a tragedy, "Samson Agonistes", both written by 1671.

The story of "Samson" is taken from the Bible. Samson, the great hero, is imprisoned and blinded, but manages to destroy his enemies, although he perishes himself. The tragedy is autobiographical: in it Milton shows that he remained faithful to his ideals. It is considered his most powerful work.

Milton died on November 8, 1674 and was buried in London.

Milton's works form a bridge between the poetry of the Renaissance and the poetry of the classicists of a later period. Milton was attracted by ancient poetry because of the free thought there expressed and because of its great epic forms. Although poetry was discouraged by the Puritans, he was nevertheless a champion of the Puritans in so far as social and religious problems were concerned, because he believed that only a republican government could provide a foundation for freedom.

Milton's works are characterized by their duality (which means that two independent views go together). He chose his themes from the Bible, but under his treatment they became revolutionary in spirit.

"PARADISE LOST"

"Paradise Lost" was written after the Restoration, but the powerful voice of the poet declared that the spirit of the Revolution was not broken, that it still lived in the hearts of the people. Being a Puritan, Milton wanted to portray God as an almighty embodiment of Justice, and Satan as the villain, but Satan becomes the hero of this great work.

"Paradise Lost" is an epic poem. The characters are Satan and his rebel-angels, God, three guardian angels - Raphael, Gabriel and Michael, and the first man and woman - Adam and Eve. The revolutionary spirit is shown in Satan, who revolts against God, draws to his side many rebel-angels and is driven out of Heaven. Down into the fires of Hell they fall. But Satan is not to be overcome. He hates God who rules the universe autocratically:

High on a throne of royal state,

Sole* reigning, holds the tyranny of Heaven.

· sole - alone, autocratically

The very word "tyranny" makes God a despot and repulsive to the free mind. Though banished from Heaven, Satan is glad to have gained freedom. He pities the rebel-angels who have lost life in Heaven for his sake, and decides to go on with the war against God.

"Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,"*

Said then the lost Archangel, "this the seat

That we must change for Heaven? - this mournful gloom

For that celestial light? Be it so, since He

Who now is sovran* can dispose and bid

What shall be right: farthest from Him is best,

Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme

Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields,

Where joy forever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,

Infernal world! and thou, profoundest Hell,

Receive thy new possessor - one who brings

A mind not to be changed by place or time.

The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

What matter where, if I be still the same,

And what I should be, all but less than he

Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least

We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built

Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:

Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."

(Book I)

· clime (poetic) - region

· sovran (old spelling) - sovereign, king

Adam and Eve are allowed by God to live in Paradise, in the Garden of Eden, as long as they do not eat the apple that grows on the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. Satan, who has been driven from the Garden of Eden by the guardian angels, returns at night in the form of a serpent. Next morning, the serpent persuades Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and to take another one for Adam. Eve tells Adam what she has done.

Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length

First to himself he inward silence broke: -

"O, fairest of Creation, last and best

Of all God's works, creature in whom excelled

Whatever can to sight or thought be formed,*

Holy, divine, amiable or sweet!

How art thou lost!........................

...................... Some cursed fraud

Of enemy hath beguiled* thee, yet unknown,

And me with thee hath ruined; for with thee

Certain my resolution is to die.

How can I live without thee? how forgo*

Thy sweet converse and love so dearly joined,

To live again in these wild woods forlorn?"

(Book IX)

· in whom nothing that can be seen or imagined can be surpassed.

· beguile - deceive.

· how (can I) forgo - how (can I) do without.

Adam decides to eat the fruit for love of Eve. As a punishment, God banishes Adam and Eve to the newly created world, where they have to face a life of toil and woe. The angel Michael drives them out of Paradise, waving his fiery sword. From a hill Michael shows Adam a vision of the tyranny and lawlessness which are to befall mankind.

Milton's sympathies lie with Adam and Eve, and this shows his faith in man. His Adam and Eve are full of energy. They love each other and are ready to meet whatever the earth has in store for them.

When they are driven out of Eden, Eve says to Adam:

"............. but now lead on;

In me is no delay; with thee to go

Is to stay here; without thee to stay

Is to go hence unwillingly; thou to me

Art all things under Heaven, all places thou,

Who for my wilful crime art* banished hence".

(Book XII)

· art (old form 2^nd person singular) - are.

The revolutionary poets of the 19^th century said that in "Paradise Lost" Milton refused to accept the conventional Bible story. Adam and Eve are Man and Woman - the finest of all earthly creatures.