A GOLDEN AGE OF EMPIRE

In 1837 Victoria become the queen of Great Britain. Her reign lasted up to 1901 and it is the longest sovereignty in British history.  This term is called as Victorian Age. Important Economic, social, political reformation came about during The Victorian Age in Britain. 

The British Empire has hit the highest point at this term, quarter of the world was covered by British Empire. Great innovation has occurred in technology. The amount of the middle class got bigger extremely. Great attention was given to Education, by the 1850's many people were educated. Indeed, the democratic rights started to take place, for instance the right to vote for citizens.

  

The most well known poet of the Victorian Age is Alfred Lord Tennyson,he wrote narrative poets. In addition Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the one of the important poets of this period, she wrote sonnets mostly about love, for their lyric beauty.   

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797-1798. It is one of the most important and unique among Coleridge's works. It was written during the Romantic Period thus it reflects some factors of this term as well; nature, supernatural forces, sin, restoration and strong human emotions.  

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is about the venture of a sailor and his experiences.What the most important and affects me, is the lines; "Water, water, every where / Nor any drop to drink." Ancient Mariner and his friends are punished for his mistake.Water is all around them but it is completely undrinkable and they need water badly.These lines have been using frequently in order to refer situations in which one is enclosed by the thing one desires.

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

The Romantic Period  begins with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge`s Lyrical Ballads and with the death of the novelist Sir Walter Scott it ends. Romantic Movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows more diversity in style, theme, and content than the other periods of English Literature.

In addition, the Romantic Period has been the topic of disagreement and misunderstanding. Romanticism had its supreme impact in English Literature from the end of the eighteenth century. Poetry was the main vehicle of expression in this period of time.

Romanticism is a progress in art and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in against the Neoclassicism. In short, the Romantics are important as they made easier to describe, and actually to create, the modern world.

  

A QUOTATION FROM ROBİNSON CRUSOE

" O drug!" said I aloud, "what art thou good for? Thou art not worth to me, no the taking off of the ground; one of those knives is worth all this heap; I have no manner of use for thee; e'en remain where thou art and go to the bottom as a creature whose life is not worth saving." However, upon thoughts, took it away. . . .

We studied the quotations from Robinson Crusoe at the lesson. I will try to explain one of them. We can see Crusoe's attitude towards money in this quotation, he states that the money he finds out is useless, only moments before taking it away for hiding.

Furthermore, Crusoe's wish for money is also remarkable, because Crusoe is aware of his feelings. He identifies money as medicine and states that he is addicted. However, he is not paying attention to his fail to practice what he recommends. 

Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe. It was first published in 1789. This novel tells the desire of Robinson Crusoe ,a youngest son of a German family, living in England, to travel around the world despite all his father objections and the events he encounters.

Robinson Crusoe has lived on a desolated island for 28 years and except the last three years, he was all alone. He keeps a diary through the journey. One day Crusoe meets a someone. The day was Friday when Crusoe saved this man's life so he gives a name Friday to this man. This man is treated by Crusoe as his servant. There are some elements that reflect the effects of realism.

THE EFFECTS OF REALISM 

1. Real date and time

2. Diary

3. Real place setting

4.Real names 

A MODEST PROPOSAL

As we have learned from this lesson, the 18th century was the age of town life with its coffeehouses and clubs. The real English novel starts to be appear, and we can see the effects of social events among these works. The rise of population had caused many problems like as lack of food, diseases, even little children had to work under bad conditions at this term.

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is a satirical essay published in 1729. Swift suggests some solutions for the economical problems, but actually he intends to criticize the society. What the most affects me is the way of making children of poor people beneficial. The suggestion is not reasonable, but it was the fact of this term, someone had to focus on this subject to make the authorized people aware of this situation. Swift was forced to use such a discussing attitude. 

A Modest Proposal is a mirror of the social life of 18th century. For the first time when I read this essay, I was shocked, I said myself how can a human suggests that solutions for the economical reconstruction. When I second read I got the author's real intention, actually he doesn't offer such bad things, he wants to make criticizing.

JOHN DRYDEN

After John Donne and John Milton, John Dryden was the greatest English poet of the seventeenth century. He was a greatest  playwright as well. And he had not had been a writer of prose, he dealt with literary criticism, and  translator. The poet is known today as a satirist, he wrote two original satires, Mac Flecknoe (1682) and The Medall (1682). 

Mac Flecknoe is the resultant of a series of disagreements between Thomas Shadwell and Dryden. The quarrel evolves the fallowing disagreements:

1. Their different estimates of genius of Ben Jonson

2. The preference of Dryden for comedy of wit and repartee and of Shadwell

3. A sharp disagreement over the true purpose of comedy

4. contention over the value of rhymed plays

5. Plagiarism 

ANDREW MARVELL

        

Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet. He was born on March 31, 1621. He grew up in the Yorkshire of Hull where his father, Reverend Andrew Marvell, was a lecturer at Holy Trinity Church and master of the Charterhouse. 

When Andrew Marvell was twelve, he began his studies at Trinity College.Two of Marvell poems, one in Latin and one in Greek, were published four years later.

 Marvell was also a well known politician, he held office in Cromwell's government and represented Hull to Parliament during the Restoration period. Among his most famous poems there are two poems stand: To This Coy Mistress and The Puritans. 

 To This Coy Mistress is a metaphysical poem including wit, irony and conceit or comparison. It was published ,after Andrea Marvell's death, in 1681. 

The Puritans were some of the earliest settlers in America and they were a group of protestants.They rejected the traditional structure of the Church. 

The Metaphysical Poetry

What is the metaphysical? First of all we must pay attention to the word "Metaphysical". It is made of two words "meta"; beyond and "physical"; our surroundings means such artificial world.  People approach metaphysics as a study of "higher" reality or the "invisible" nature behind everything. Actually it doesn't mean like that because it is admitted as  the study of all of reality, visible and invisible; and natural and supernatural.

We have learned "metaphysical poetry" in this lesson. Metaphysical poetry often took God as their subject. Their love is platonic and this makes them different from others like Shakespeare. And we learned the meaning of wit and its function through the poem "The Flea". I personally think that it is a product of a wise brain, the metaphors that the poet used are very clever. When I first read this poem, actually couldn't get the connection between the flea and marriage. The way of  metaphysical poetry is very interesting, and it could drew my attention to the lesson.