Enlightenment Synthesis Period 6- Team 7
Christine Yi
Aashrita Mangu
Elaine Hong
Tiffany Show
Period 6 - Team 7
The Enlightenment was an era of discovery and awakening; many of the traditional ideas of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were torn down by the Christine Yi Tiffany Show Aashrita Mangu Elaine Hong Period 6 – Team 7 Enlightenment. In fact, during this era many artistic works satirically attacked many institutions. For example, Jonathan Swift one of the most famous satirical writers attacked the political systems of France and London, the ridiculous structure and nature of religion, and the monetary greed of man in his novel, Gulliver’s Travels. In addition, his essay A Modest Proposal, a quintessential piece of literature that represented the blatant discontent of the corruption of the rich and the suppression of the poor. Swift’s work proposes that not only the unfair treatment of a minority like the Irish is unfair, but that a society that is run by the powerful, greedy rich that is similar to the system of feudalism and the poor that resemble the peasants, cannot continue. Another vital part of the Enlightenment was Voltaire, who was a writer and philosopher of France. He was especially known for his satirical style, and his advocation of the separation of the Church and the state and the politics of that time. One of his most popular works, Candide, was an emergence in style that is direct mockery and contrast to the way of life that the Medieval Era and the Renaissance represents.The protagonist was not the stereotypical hero that was portrayed in the past, he was a bastard and part of the riff raff of society. Overall, Swift and Voltaire are a fragment of the satirical and discontented voice that constituted the literature of the Enlightenment. The arts of the Enlightenment voiced out discontent for the ways of the Renaissance and the Middle Ages and emerged in the sciences and enlightened thought as a result.
While your answer makes good points, I do have one disagreement with you: I doubt that the famous satirists of the Enlightenment wrote solely because they were discontent "for the ways of the Renaissance" as you so eloquently stated. The Renaissance was a rebirth in terms of literature, art, and humanism. In fact, most historians agree that without the Renaissance's positive influence, there would be no enlightenment. The Renaissance represented the possibility of change, the will of man, and a new concept during the time - democracy. Many of those who were at the forefront of the Enlightenment movement gave a nod-off to Renaissance leaders because they were the original catalysts, the original men who decided to change society. The Age of Enlightenment wasn't a result of people being discontent with the previous ways of the Renaissance - the age of Enlightenment was a result of the Renaissance instilling a sense of humanism and personal will in every person.
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