Enlightenment Synthesis - Asher Period 3 Team 7

Throughout the Enlightenment Era, writers and philosophers satirized the importance that the Middle Ages and Renaissance Era placed on social status and family connections. These comedic values are seen in the works of Ludvig Holbery, Denis Fonvizin, and Denis Didero. Denis Fonvizin, a Russian writer, expressed his disgust of the previous eras in his work The Minor. This work is comedic and mocks these shallow views. The story is focused around an uneducated country farmer, Mitrofanushka, who is used to put into perspective the ridiculous beliefs of the times before. Denis Didero was a French philosopher and writer. Within his work, his characters and his essays, he shows a strong belief in free will. Through his work as the chief editor of Encyclopedie, Didero shows his belief in the connection between knowledge and progress. Didero clearly believes that with education comes social advancement, a belief against those of previous times. Ludvig Holberg is considered the father of Danish and Norwegian literature. Holberg uses intellect throughout his works because he believes that this is what binds and connects society. He plays off the values of the Middle and Renaissance Eras by communicating a notion of people’s free will. This goes against the previous ages in which there was only the ability to succeed based on your family and your social status. Holberg’s literature as well as that of Fonvizin and Didero conveys a sense that people have the option to make there most out of their lives and to better there spot society. Authors such as Holberg, Fonvizin, and Didero believe in the power of education and the ability for people to improve their situations even if they lack high social status.