The Enlightenment: The Decline of the Church

German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) declared the Enlightenment creed in 1784: Sapere aude! "Dare to Know!" The Enlightenment was a period of intense intellectual fervor and advancement that we can date from 1650 to 1800. During this period, philosophers, intellectuals, scientists, and laymen began to question and challenge the authority of the Church and State in a frenzied pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the world. The roots of the Enlightenment begin with the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, when scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton made discoveries that shook the very foundation of Church dogma, creating a bitter, antagonistic relationship between religion and science that continues to this day. The Age of Exploration introduced Europeans to new cultures, new religions, and new ideas that opened the doors to innovative and novel ways of thinking. Also, the explorers brought back with them new plants and animals that added fuel to the scientific curiosity sweeping across Europe. These two factors led to the declining influence of the Church and to the rise of either religious reform or the abandonment of religion altogether. The Enlightenment saw the rise of Deism as an alternative to organized religions, differing from the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) in that it viewed God as a sort of "cosmic watchmaker" who created the universe and set it in autonomous motion and never again tampered with it. They fulminated against the dogma and doctrines of organized religion and believed god's revelation to mankind existed in man's communion with nature, not through the hearsay of prophets and the Bible. Contrary to popular belief, the founding fathers of the United States were Deists, not Christians.

The Crucible, Essay Topic

Arthur Miller's play The Crucible is an allegory set in the theocratic Puritan settlement of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The author uses actual historic events as a backdrop for his condemnation of the paranoia and hysteria over the threat of Communism that consumed the United States during the Cold War. The town of Salem was consumed by its own fear of witchcraft, which led to 150 people arrested and imprisoned, 29 people convicted of the capital felony of witchcraft, and 19 executed by hanging. Five more people died in prison while they awaited trial. Although the play has been slightly altered for literary and symbolic purposes, we can use the characters, their actions and motives, and the themes of the play to gain a better understanding of the history, and we can apply this knowledge to understand our modern world and contemporary issues. Choose one of the following three topics to write an essay:
I. Discuss three instances in which a character's concern for Reputation affects the action and events of the play.
II. Discuss three characters who use the hysteria of the witch hunt to express or release repressed feelings of anger, lust, guilt, jealousy, or frustration.
III. Play the part of Devil's advocate and defend three of the following characters: Abigail, Tom, Ann, Parris, Mary, Danforth, and John (regarding his affair and sin). Provide extenuating circumstances that may soften the readers' judgment of them.
This is a five-paragraph essay, size 11 font, 4-5 pages. You must provide at least 2 quotations for each body paragraph. The introduction of the essay is very important. You must demonstrate a solid understanding of Puritanism in order to establish yourself as someone who is qualified to write about the subject.

Puritans in the New World

Puritanism is a form of Protestantism that developed in the 16th century. Protestantism, like Catholicism, is a form of Christianity, and it was the dominant religion in England since 1536 when King Henry VIII founded the Protestant Church of England. The early Puritans were discontented with the state of religious affairs in England and the direction in which the Church of England seemed to be headed. They strongly disapproved of London life, with all of its plays, theatre, art, and literature (remember the Renaissance was in full effect) because they believe all of these activities lead to spiritual corruption and moral decay. The Puritans believed their interpretation of the word of God is the absolute truth, and the pursuit of Grace and the worship of God is to be pursued each and every minute of every day, not just on Sundays. To them, the fact that England was ruled by a monarchy, or a king, was upsetting because a king, or any political leader in charge of the state, was too often influenced by politics, corruption, or state affairs instead of adhering strictly to the moral guidelines set out in the New Testament. Without a proper spiritual and moral authority, the people would retrogress into a natural state of sin and disorder in a sort of spiritual recidivism. A more suitable form of government for a Puritan would be a Theocracy, in which a Puritan authority would establish, rule, and enforce the laws. When exploration of the New World in North America commenced, the Puritans saw a way to separate from the Church of England and the English monarchy and establish themselves in a new land. Because of what they considered to be persecutions and tribulations, the Puritans quickly identified themselves with the Israelites, who were the chosen people of God in the Old Testament, and they began to look at the New World as the future center of Christianity where they would build a new "City on a Hill." The allusion is a Biblical reference to the reconstruction of Jerusalem by the Israelites from a wasteland into the spiritual center of the Benei Israel, the descendants of Israel; the Puritans felt a divine mission to reconstruct Christianity from its European "wasteland" in the New World.

Malcolm X

When discussing African-American literature, poetry, and speeches, it is essential to study the writings and speeches of Malcolm X. He was an outspoken advocate of Black Nationalism and separatism as a meas of building up the self-esteem, confidence, righteousness, and self-respect of black men and women. Malcolm X never advocated violence, nor was he ever involved in any violent movements or protests; he did advocate self-defense as an intelligent and naturally human response to violence and oppression. Over the course of his life, his ideas were constantly changing as he grew as an individual, and he was never afraid of new ideas and new information as he sought to grow spiritually and intellectually. Early in his life he espoused the doctrines of the Nation of Islam, and he believed the Muslim faith was the answer to the problems facing the black community in North America.

Harlem Renaissance

During the same decade T. S Eliot's The Waste Land proclaimed the disintegration of Western culture, setting the despairing tone for modernist literature for the rest of the century, popular culture exploded in Hollywood and in Harlem. Although writers like Eliot viewed the 20th century breakdown of rules and beliefs as detrimental to Western culture, it allowed other forms of art and culture to establish themselves and find a place in the reconstruction of the modern world. Minority artists were able to find their voice and an audience, and they were able to be recognized for their talent and creativity in a modern world that was looking for "new" art. Harlem, the district in northern Manhattan, became a center of learning and expression for blacks following a great migration to the North to escape poverty and oppression in the rural South. Musicians explored new realms in musical experimentation and interpretation in Jazz, and writers and poets experimented with language and imagery to capture the essence of the black experience in America. People soon found in these many black artists and musicians an unexpected source of hope and inspiration in an otherwise desolate and chaotic modern world. The Harlem Renaissance can be likened to a flower that grows out of the 20th century "waste land."

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

J. Alfred Prufrock is a character who is overwhelmed by anxiety, indecisiveness, and fear. He is afraid to confront a woman and declare his love, afraid of rejection. We can argue Eliot uses this "love" situation to illustrate mankind's fear of rejection in its search for a universal and spiritual love. Just like Prufrock, mankind has a fear of rejection, meaningless, and insignificance. It is better to not ask the "overwhelming question" (is there meaning/am i significant) than to ask the question and receive a curt rejection, or even worse, no reply at all, an empty echo in the emptiness of space. As a result of his fear, Prufrock does nothing at all but sit and watch time go by, "measuring (his) life with coffee spoons; he is paralyzed "like a patient etherized upon a table," "formulated, sprawling on a pin...wriggling on the wall." He lives a life of meaningless indecision and triviality rather than boldly search for love and meaning. The poem reflects Eliot's perception of modern civilization as a spiritual void, empty of faith and meaningful love, and paralyzed by anxiety and fear.

20th Century: Modernism

How are we to react to this changing world of the 20th century? With the many social, scientific, and philosophical upheavals, many people viewed the world as being divested of meaning, purpose, and significance. If everything we do is completely and utterly insignificant, how can we attach meaning and purpose to our actions? T.S. Eliot perceived the modern world to be a shattered, fragmented version of the medieval world, where order and balance were achieved through religion, social structure, and faith in god and human significance. He believed the medieval world to be the high point of civilization, and our contemporary world has seen a breakdown of these ideal structures, resulting in a wasteland filled with anxiety and boredom. With an expanding universe and a fading, almost obsolete notion of god, humans felt a growing unease and sense of forlornness, or hopelessness in the face of our insignificance as transient beings in an infinite universe. The old microcosm of safety that was the medieval world is shattered and we are left to pick up the pieces and re-create our modern world; but on what are we to base this modern world? T.S. Eliot says we are "Hollow Men" who live in a "wasteland." Are we living in a delusion? Many writers and thinkers felt a growing sense of disillusionment, as if they were seeing the world for the first time. What they saw was a wasteland of illusion, forlornness, and obsolescent beliefs.