eccnomy.

The economic and trade policy influenced England's,

then. Great Britain's, colonial expansion during the seventeenth
century to such an extent that by the end of the century msst of
I the papulation in the English islands was made up of slaves.
It may be said that during the seventeenth and the eighteenth
senfuries, Briiain established its first empire. lt;mainly covered the
:Caribbean and North America, but it alss expanded in the West
:lndies. The English presence in lndia came to be noticed by the
: activities of East lndia Company- although lndia came under the
, direct British rule only in the nineteenth century.
. The expansion of the first empire was primarily due to
,England's economic policy. The col*nies were establlshed with a
,view to increasing the weafth of the mother country, either as raw
'materiats sources or as markets for the products produced in
Sritain. ln the following period, governmental control over the
.colonies increased and the wealth of the country supported by its
rrnilitary suce€sses placed Britain in a position that would permit it
,t$ dominate the world,
, Due to its military suceesses a*d colonial expansion, on the
::*ne hand, and to John Locke's and lsaac Newton's contribution to
,,tlre development of the sysiem of Western thought, on the other,

Sritain imposed itself as an incontestable leading force of the

in the eighteenth ceniury.

i The Hanoverians
i, Under the prcvisions of the Act of Settlement, the ciown of
Sritain passed io the Hsuse of Hanover, whose members would
tlre country for two cenfuries, until Queen Victoria died in
it901. During this period, many of the revolutions of ihe Western
.ryorld, political, econornic or scientific, would originate in ar have a
in relatian to Britain.
 Of Gei-man origin, the first Hanoverian
king, George I i.!714_
1727) was unebre io speak the ranguage
of the country and he
never rearned Engrish- Thus he was forced
to initiate a new
system of government. The monarch rured
indirec*y through
appointed ministers, vrrho had to rook
for and rery on support in
Parriament in order to pass [aws, to raise
taxes and contror foreign
poficy' The cabinet was presided
aver by one minister, whose
position was ic be knov*n rater as
that of prime fl*inisterffi. sir
Robert warpore, on whonr George r reried
to set up the directions
of his home and forergn poiicy, is mentioned
as Britain,s first
Prime Minister- warpore, by his inccntestabre
administrative skirs,
coniributed to a rarge exteni to the strengthening
of the position cf
ihe Hanoverians in Britain
Rarher unpopurar in the country, George
rfeared the pcssibirity
af his being repraced by the stuart hei-eonvinced
that the Tories
supported the House of stuart, George
reried on the whig party
and a rong period of government controried
by the whigs started.
The main conc-arn of Sir Robert Walpole,
who was a Whig and
remained in office for more than
tweniy years, was to prevent the
Tories from coming to pawer and
maintain a homogeneous
Cabinet. l* foreign policy, George and
Walpole,s e{forts were
direcied towards maintaining peace,
especialry by an alriance w*h
France_
watpoie estabilshed the connection between
George reign
and that of his son, Georg e ll (1TZT$0), 's
Llke his father, Gecrge ll
r*mained more inierested in Franc,",er
than in Great Britain and
sorneiimes subqrdinated Britain's interests
to those of Hanover,

ffi House of Lcrcs or from the House

eourd be chosen by ihe monarch to of commons
be chiei or prime ruinis;. nu*ntrv,
Prime Minister has arways come irom ti.,u
the commo-ns and the job is given
leader of the partv with- tire largisi'";;#. io the
commons' The prime Minister.choi;;; of members in the House of
;;;*ides over the cabinet. He heads
the government of whcse activities h;6;H; informs the sovereign.
9.$
iras in the war of the Austrian succession.yet, as long as walpole
was retained as chief minister, due.to caroline's, the king's
wife,
suppo*' the country was peacefur and its weatth increased.
ln
1739, hcwever, warpore was forced bv the opposition
to give up
*is pacifist ideas and accept the war with spain bver the spanish
-solenies- Three years later, he resig*ed and his
favourite ideas
relating to the homogeneous cabinet and the aliance
wiih France
ave way to thoss oJWilliam pitt'the Elder" whose
main goal was
I power and the setting up af a British Empire
in lndia and
rica. The war befueen Britain and France, which broke
out in
754 in America, tur'*ed into a generar European
war in 17s6. As
result sf the Seven years' warlt gritain emerged as
the feading
ial pcwer of the worrd. wifiiam pitt had understood
conecfly
t Britain's fortune depended more on the.expansisn
of its
Ionial empire than on its dominating Europe.
under George I and George ll, wealth accumutated and the
rkets for the Engrish'gccds, arready existing in America
and
hdia, continued to develop by the extension of the merchant
The mentality of the new age had already been shaped in
e previous century'based on John Locke's philcsophy and the
premises for a new freedorn of the
individual and for private
itiative had been created. As a consequence, Britain under
the
two Hancverian kings became the proper prace for the great
Erst
nges generally associated with the lnduskial Revolution to
ke place in the latter hatf of the eighteenth century. Britain,s
ial, political and legar crimate was favourabre to change and
raged and guaranteed investrnent-

The seven Years' war {17s6-1263) was fought between A.usiria, France,
ssia, saxony, sweden and spain on one side and Britain, prussia
an*
r, on the other. one of its main c€ruses was the colonial rivatry uetneen
and France, each caunky struggiing to become the most lmportant
rial power. Eritain won and Fiance lia tu s# *r"tk'it= r*"a i,, ail**,
rda and lndia to Britain_

91
 The lndustrial Revolution
The rndustriar Revorution
impried a series of
economrc, spciar
-: u3 *ansrormaroR
---rY'r's{rurr't
ilffi:5.:::T:j'::jT-
agricultural eccnomies
ints industrial
or tess€rltl€ll}'
essenriaily

:n',ffi ""._-::,:e,
apptication *:ffi _il.",['':"fi"ilf
of scientific and ,**nJ*n,"r, 'ffi;;J":fil:
whieh,
.

manufacturing *e' brought

process, v:r'/ugrru about
aoout an increase
and efficiency. of productivi$

The economic changu*

affected the society,
they generated far more "on",ilory
significant sr
as
peopre
rurar areas in search reft the
of work ntt'"tchanges.
cities, where ra rg er busi "no
n ess *o r*r*1"i1r:.tJff
of goods and services expanded. :tr_il:#
A considerabre nurnber of
peopre' especiaty beronging
to the middre and the
started to enjoy greater prosperity upper cra$ses,
benefi$ng from the
of a much improveb heatth advantages
system. ru*uuir,s";;';.;rustriat
Revorution arso meant
the dispracement of
the rurardwe*ers from
their home areas and
the crowding of urban
areas. Esicient and

92
 ientific land working generated the deptetion sf the natural
resources, as well as greater pollution,
The lndustrial Revalutian dramatically changed Britain and the
Sritish socieg- New industrial tcwns and cities, such as Liverpool,
q:l*. . or -. ManeheqteL.=, de{*g gg{r*o. Thgyr*y b
Bi rmin ah .
"B4gE**
overcrowded, their population inereasing to
such an extent that by
the middle of the nineteenth century harf Britain,s popuration
rived
in ciiies.

The Ameriean Revalution

Althcugh wiiliarn pitt had come to be associated
with Briiain,s
new status as one oJ the most important
world powers, he did not
manage to have his views and ambitions
accepted by George n
(1760-1820).
unlike his predecessors, George lil, born and
educated in
England, was less concerned with Hanover,
whose king he
became in 1915' hre was derermined to
take an active part in
Great Britain's governrrlent and restore the
ord prerogatives of the
king' As the whig ministers had herd most
of the powers during
the reigns of the firsi two Georges, George $ decided
to rure
without the lffhigs. The king's poricies, especiaty
those rerating to
the American coronies, were carried into effect
by the king,s Tory
supporter, Lord North, Britain's prime &,4inister from
1770 ts 1272.
To caunterbalance the huge expenses generated by the
imperiatwars and to reduce the nationa{debt, George
fir had raws
passed by Parliament te tax cor*niar ccmmodities,
such as sugar
or tea. and legar documents and pubricaiions. The Tea
Act and
the starnp Ac;t passed without consurting the coronists provoked
the Americans' opposition and represented the pretext for
the
American Revolution- The Americans objecred
to their not being
represented in Farriament, although taxes were
enforced on them.

93
 fhe American Revolution
ti77S_1T53) refers ts
between America.
atd Britain, uihich ended
the war
!n Britain,s eventuary
states orAmerica
;::HJ-t-*.,..ruted in 1283. The DecJaraiion
staring rhat rhe rhirieen
Amerjcan coronies,
fi;T::J: ;:t rontinental
congress,
independent nf Br*ain.
independenf or Flr*^;^ r,rne aocumll;T'JT:::T: were
"],-1-:*:::* *l:'nn ::;
ffijffi rrghts, suctr as {ife, ,,,'**'
inalienable ",**, tert'rence
rererence to
ro men's
men,s ,

we' as to tir*ir rigni':Jvra_Ti_n

;:::in::,as il:,:':_:t
Cn account of the sfand
he took in tho tr,*^-;^__ l

::,3,-JX, j"' j::::::1.:twere,"IL:-i$:;T,,i':Jili

::;,;.::t.T;:,tJ;,:#ffi
jj.

:=:::l:ff
the
ihe British Empire.
deteriorated, rts defear
n-:r .
Fmni.o Britain,s .
,*"*'"-'"r(-lrr
outside
[o st'ke back ar

,_". o*J;:n- wars led to considerabry

*i
cf George's and n* **'*^-:'^'::::: the contesting
*,*,"iers, ability to gavern.
marked the end orr,s The defeat atso
re First British Empire'
The rcss of the American
colgnies, as well
J Yu rvs. d$
amount of British products as rne
the tncreasing
inr:ra*ci^^
availabie or export :

look to the east for forced Britain to

to carry on with its
rrade' The.e.n^_":::.Trkets
trade, rhe secand Brtish Empire ;ntu*_tion"] l
**#0""J':-:,:TH:::1'
,: berief in
!1 I rhe uurlcept
:::::,:"j :.:J::_:':,:*
Focusing rnore on Asia .-,.1 'rE concepi of
ol free iracje
tracje. ,l
"r-,-'
:,J::::1 il*T:::::
ttre s.,d of World War r..*J:r _;;;;;;';;=#:;::il::
":a;::::,:;':a*:*
l, afterwhich,
:

mc'.rements, Briiain
had to grant indr

ll;lrJ;i:::,::Americann"oo*t*f, Tff ;?'X*J"::

r{r
although there had been n^.,;^..^ 'tr..rr'r artq u8nida and,
althoughthereharll]]lY;se1ionsinlndiaandCanadaand,
..- -- '

it is in the e shree"f:HfiH?:::,f:::',T;,*fl1
 in colonising it. Australia became an important destination for ihe
Slitisfr convicJs and Sydney was fou*ded in 1Zgg.
At hsrne, Gearge lll solved the crisis generated by Lord
: North's resignation
as a result of Britain's defeat in the American
:iwar by appointing william pitts* prime Minister. pitt managed to
restore Britaln's stabilig and improve its finangial position. He is
also responsible forthe Act of union, passed in 1900 and coming
into effect on 1 January 1801, by which the Kingdom of Great
: Britain and all of lreland were united into the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and lreland.
surprising as it may seem, one of the most important events to
affect Britain during the eighteenth century was "the French
iRevotution of 1789, although its ideas \{ere accepted with much
rdifficulty by the English. The Revolutisn, however, permitted
Napoleon to rise and dominate the world's stage threatening to
destroy the international balance of power. consequenily, Britain
*ould not afford to stay out of the European conflict known as the
Napoleonie warsse. Britain fought Napoleon to prevent France
rom controlling Europ6. lts main goalwas to maintain the balance
of power in Europe, cn the one hand, and to defend iis empire, on
the other. That was whai it obtained at the congress of Vienna,
l:avhich ended the Napoleonic wars. A balance of power was
created among the nations of Eurape, whlch ensured peace on
.the continent for the following years and the peace of Europe
;permitted Britain to eontinue expanding its empire.

He is referred ic as \ny'itliarn Pitt the younger to distinguish him from his father,
cwn as 'the Elder'. He was Britain's youngest prime Minisier, being only
when he took office. He was Prime Minisier from 1793 ts 1901 and
#om 1804 io 18O5-
Tha Napoleonie wars were'fought from 1799 to 1g15 by Napotecn in his effort
take control of the whote of Europe- Managing to defeat most of his enernies,
s{-1eoleo1 was defeated by Britain in the Batfle of Trafalgar in 1905 and the Battle
'cf Waterloo, in 1815.

9s
 The Enlightenment
. -The prevailing intertectuar rnovement of eighteenth-century
Western Europe came to be known as the Enlightenment.
challenging the traditionar doctrines and varues,
the
Enlightenment manifested a clear tendency towards
individualism
and emphasisec the idea of human progress based
on the free
use of reason and rationar principres. Enrightenment thinking
revoJutionised the mentarity of western Europe
by ravouring
rationai scientific inquiry and rejecting obscurantism
and
superstition. Enlightenment thinkers pleaded for
the idea of
universal human rights, whrch necessariry impried hurranitarian
tslerance. Deism60 repfaced rerigicus dogma and reveration.
rn Britain, the beginning of ihe Enrightenment may
be traced as
far back as the Grorious Revorutionf with the new ideas
and
principles it brought about. Rerigious torera*ce
and a powerfur
Parliament became characteristics of the British poriticar and
social life.
The bases of the Enrightenment thinking in Great Britain
were
definitely laid by sir rsaac Newton's principia Mathematica,
published in 'i687 and John Lccke's An Essay canceming
Human
lJnderstanding, published in 1690. The end of the Enlightenment
is generally asscciated with the French and ihe Arnerican
Revslutions^ Most of the Enlighienment ideas and ideals
became
the driving force behind both events, while being, at the sarne
time, realised through them. These idears generated new
fendencies torgalcis spiritual liberation and free expression,
which
vrould take shape in the Romantic art and literatrure at
the end of

50
A system of ihought according tc which rerigion should be based
on reason
rather than on reveration. Althcug-h it accepied tie existence oi
or Creator as a,primary.caule of the universe, idea supposed "
supr#" g.ing
to UJcommon to
all religions, deism denied the interference of the cr*!i* Grr-*r*
rl-ws or tle
universe.

96
 the eighieenth century. The same ideals wourd rie at the basis of

ry
the political liberalism and reform system in nineteenth-century
It- Britain.
1A : Given the peculiarities of seventeenth-century Britain, it may
m I be said that the Enlightenment naturafly errclved from the liberal
}A . atmosphere and cultura! effervescence of Augustan England. ln
ry the context of the profound changes brought about by the
]g ':
lndustrial Revalution and the colonial
-..._ expansion,
v^t'qr r*vr I, the
Lr.L

]d ,- Enlightenment thinkers tried to impose a rtew value system meant

^f
, to undermine and replace the older social and religious order"
starting from a central principle
synthesised by the GermaR
ir philosopher lmmanuel Kant in "Have courage to use your own

}S , reason-that is the motto of Enlightenment," the Enlightenment

id : intellectuals considered human reason central, and indispensable,
lJl " io both pclitics and human canduct. The universe, previously
*/.1
' believed to be under the supreme contrel of a supernatural God,
was now considerd ruled by scientific laws and consequenily lent
; itseif to scientific analysis basd on experiment and observation.
2 The revolutionary discoveries in science and technorogy permitted
3n ffren to know nature and use it to his ewn benef?t. The individual
RI
{it , had, as it was formulated in the American Declaration of
in i:,{ndependence, the right to happiness and this could be achieved
onty by eliminating all external timitations and constrainls. The
. free individual, a man or a woman, had the right and obligation to

w reform the world in which he lived- Faith in progress and freedom

.L : *f religion were two of the favourite ideas of the Enlightenment

JI and they definitely influenced the whole course of civilisation in

the folfowing centuries.
Typical for the spirit of the Enlightenment was the contribution
?fl
.of the Scotiish histarian and philosopher David Hume, whose
:E philosophical pesiticn was influenced by the ideas of the British

9"1
philosopher John Locke. His Ireafrse af Human Nature, whose
ideas- were condensed in An Enqutry Canceraing Human
understandjng is cne of the key works that taid the basis *f the
tradition of British empiricism, by trying to demonstrate that peopte
could be certain only abaut what was directly taken in through
their senses-

Enlightenrnent Art and Literature

The Enlightenment ideas find their reflection in the
neoclassical art and architecture that developed in Europe and
North America in the later half of the eighteenth ceniury. The
neoclassical art, inspired by and trying to assimilate the values of
the Greek and Roman ones, became characteristic for an age
whose ideals were considered ts be rivalling with those of the
ancient Rcman and Greek democrqeies. The productions ef the
British neoclassical artisb, including the po*raits of Sir Joshua
Reynolds and George Rornney or Thomas Gainsborough's land
or seascapes, observe the principles of order, fogic and
proportion. The same tendenry can be noticed in the style of the
Scottish arcfiitect and designer Robert Adam, who redesigned a
number of stately English houses, such as Osterley Park House,
introducing the neoclassical style to Great Britain.

Osterley Park House designed by Robed Adam

98
 The literature of the period is characterised by reason,
>n and simplicity. The later seventeenth century and part
the eighteenth century were dominated by a sirnilar
assical view. Lcoking back on the ancient Greek and Roman
works, considered to have already reiched perfection, ihe
itish creators try to write according to clearly established rules.
ristotle's Poettcs and Horace's Ars Poetica substantially
uenced neoclassical literature and the necclassical view
Accarding io which ari must detight and instruct at the same time.
The genres and speciesGl ol classical literature became the
iavouriie forms used by the necclassicalwriters. The neaclassical
,.doctrine was best synthesised in Boileau's L,4rf Podlrque and
Alexander Pope's Essayon Cntrcrsm.
,
ln the c*ntext of the Enlightenment, Dryden's and Pope's
;Foetry represents the creator's effort ts attain that perfection of
i,*rm th"t could be achieved only through human reason.

. *te preoecupatien with the power cf reason and good serlse,

{he belief in
:
human progress and the tendency towards
rindividualism characteristic of ihe eighteenth ceniury a{so
encoilraged the productian of a large number of prose works,
such as Swift's Gullivefs lravels cr Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.
A aew popular, though highty Protean, form emerged in the
century. The novel was discovered as the best means to
, represent the changing reality of the time. Samuel Richardson,

I Herrry Fielding, Laurence Sterne or iane Alrsten used ihe ncve,tr to

express their view of the complexity of the individual and the
, power of individualism, as well as of a world subject to constant
change.

99
 Joseph Addison and Richard Steele's Speclafor imposed a
nqw prose ghfe, gatisfying audience's taste for popular joumaiism"
while taking this opportunity to otrer witly criticism of their,
contemporary society in a style charaeterised by reason,
moderatisn and common seRse.

Rernanticism
Towards the end of the century, there occurred in Europe a
profound shift in the attitudes to art and human creativity
generated bya reaction against the ordered rationality of the
Eniightenment, perceived as mechanjeal and a*ificial.
Paradexically, Romanticism defined itself by cha$enging the very
sarne principies in which it origina€d. unlike neoclassicism,
Remanticism tried to restore imagination and aspiratian as the
main priviiege cf the individual-. The romantic age stressed
emotlon over reason.
fn the laie eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, painters
fike John Consiable and J. M. W. Turner, who exercised a **ear
influence on Fre*ch irnpressionism, returned to nature as a
source of inspiration, emphasising its beauiy aRd force. Far from
observing rules thai cauld have generated refatively similar artistic
responses, the Romantic paintings may be said, however, to
share a specific approach, highly imagi*ative, capable of
suggesting intensity of emotion-
ln literature, Romanticism subordinaied reascn to intuition and
passion and was characterised by the cult of nature and an
interest in the past and the exotic. English Romanticism emerged
at the end of the eighteenth century with the writings of william
Blake and William Wordsvsorth's Preface to LyricatBallads. The

10s
o.,.,*
 iectien of the arti*ciatity of *esclassicar csnventions brought .

sour a "revivar of ryric poeky. w.ordsworth and coreridge

were l

'll*wed by a secsnd generation of Rsnsr$c pcets represer*ed

ryr Byron, shelley and Keais. A new weve sf wcmdn
noverists
creati*g in Britain during this period. $rtary shetley
and the ,

sisters wrote novers with a powerfur imaginative

force,
ng to cverrcme the prejudice against women
writerc.
 Chapter $fx

The Vietsrian Age

Dsm*nating the WsrH;$
Skge

George *continued as King of Gregt

Britain and rrerand unti{
1820. yet in 1911 his already
deciared mental illness
inrpossibre for him to rure made.it
and his prerogatives were
taken over by
his son as Prince Regent
untit the kino,s crerrh 1,1a^.-*__ ,
king as George iV (1820_1830).
tr,. n"**";';;==rrrg;;ril;
though George rv, king George
*r's erdest son, and then
brother' wrfiam IV rubd the his
country uniil f837, the
nineteenth
ceniury in Briiain's history
is genera*y known as the
viciarian era
or age, name derived frsm
that of eueen Mctoria
i1S3Z_1gGti.
on account of his profligacy and
extravagance, George lv
better known as *the first gen*eman was
of E;r";; oi#-*"n ,"
rhe oniv important;;";;
' ni= ,*ign
is asscciated v';ith rvas one whose
':T":::::::::lrreland
opposed as a mjtte, af facf,
passing in partram;n* ;" l

ihe Cathr:lic Emancipation

Act€z.
:'%%
62 passed
in 1g2g this-statute granted poriticar
cathoiics in Great Bntain,and and civir riberties to Roman
r"r["J. in5 reptacea
"ct towrri"n the anticlttroric raws
initiated ever since Henry
v*'s r.,n",-"#"i0il? the cathorics
fl:?ff: p,";i;; il* were not
.,," vdrrurrr;s
f',?*"J,,il were
il::J'i'n"g, "i"i,"
granted even the right ,qo g, ilffi'"d;ncipation
:i to f",ofO omoln p##J,
:r:.
I
aa
;;;
 Fr'

William lV was king of Great Britain and lreland (1830-37). His

iqn ineant no more than his brother's did except for the firsi
Bitl of 1832 passed under his rule. To have the bill passed
the House of Lords dominated by the Tories, William lV created
naw Whig peers to counterbalance the Tory opposition, The
Bilt of 1932s3 was the first in a series of acts of Parliarnent
in the nineteenth century that contributed to the
tion of the electoral process and brought about
reform. By redistributing the seats in Parliarnent and
iminating certain restriciions relating to residence and
alification, the act almost tripled the eleciorate. lt also increased
representation of lreland and Scotland. lts importance resided
the fact that it generated a transfer of political power from the
istocracv to the middle classes, from the House of Lords to the

a
use of Commons.
. Most of the significant changes that
nineteenth-century Britain took
ce, however, under Queen Vicioria (1837-
901). Her reign was the longest in the British
isicry, which is why it"came to be known as
Victorian age. Moreover, Victoria's tife
rinciples and ideals tended to extend to an
ire nation- Devotien to family, the sense of responsibitity or
te law came to be accepted as standard conduct
ring the Victorian era. The new mentality contributed much to
period being perceived as a conventional,

The Refsrm Bill of 1832 abolished the 'nrtten' boroughs, i:e" wiih nc or small
and ths'pocket' boroughs, i-e. whose representaiives were controlled
influential iandowners, in ihe sense that their representatlon in Parliament
Jicreased, while the representation of the new industrial cities increased. By
,befting rid of the 'rotten' boroughs, the Reform Bill led to a more representative
govemment. By taking measures against the 'pocket' boroughs, R eliminated
corrupt electoral practices, such as bribery.

103
 political and
but also as a highly stable one in spite of the secial,
economiodynamismthatcharacterisedit.ltisagainstthis
irJ"f.g;*nd of apparent stabilig and ccnventionality that rnuch of
the renewal associated with the twentieth century would define
itself.
.period as a
Mctoria's reign coincided with Britain's greatest
its climax
world power. The British Empire expanded and reached
was queen of
in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Victoria
official head
the united Kingdorn and lreland, but she also was the
New Zealand,
of an empire that included canada, Australia, lndia,
and large Paris of Africa-
QueenVictorja'sBritainwastheworldsmostdevelaped
industrial natian. The lndusfial Revo$$on GoRti$ued
to affe-ct the
country'sevolutionthroughoutthewholeofthenineteenth
cenhrry.Theunprecedented.nduskialdevelopmentwasatthe
basis of the Victorian people's beliEf in progress' but
it also
child
generated the need for further social and political reform'
labour was one of the aspects subject tp reform' Laws
were

passed to {imit the number of hours children could

work and the

ageunderwhichtheycouldnot.Childeducationbecameanissue
intheperiodandeducationactswereadoptedtohelpestahlish
public schools in the local districts and make education
compulsoryforchildrenfromf,vetoten.Thernushrosrning
indugtrialtownsandtheirincreasingpopulationimposed
and wate: supply
me€sures i|J the field sf public heallh, se{ferage
systems-
Tosolveproblemsrelatingtowages,workingconditionsand
hours,workerskgantoorganisethernselvesinkadeunions,
by the
whose existence and right to sirike were recognised
governmentinthels70s.Thelabourunionsgraduallygrewin
British politics'
number and fiorce until they carne to influence the

104
The Labour Party formed at the beginning of the tweniieth century
from the representatives of the unions imposed itself later in ihe
century as one of the tu,ro major political parties in Britain.

Reforrn ftllovement
The political reform movement in Britai*from 1838 to 1848 is
known as Chartism or the Chartist movement. The programme
known as the People's Charter aimed to improve the political
system by demanding the right to voie for all adult male citizens,
the right to vote in secret, annual parliamentary elections and the
right to become a Member sf Parliament without possessing land.
The Chartists' programme openly supported and signed by more
than three mi{licn people was rejected by par{iament three times,
in 1839, 1842 and 1848. Yet, in spite of parliament's opposition,
all the Chartists' demands, except for annual pariiamentary
eiections, were met and they were turned into law later in the
nineteenth century*or at the beginning of the twentieih.
The Referm Bill of 1867il extended the right to vote to urban
dwellers and the Reform Bill of 188465 enfranchised ihe
agricultural workers as well. The right tc vote in secret v,ras
introduced in 1872, but all men and women got the right to vote
only in 1918. Result of the changing social siiuation of Britain, all
these acts were the expression of a constant need ior reform
movement characteristic of nineteenth-century Britain. Although
they were far from solving it're social inequity and the problem of

q
The Reform Bill of 1867 created a number of new boroughs and increased the
representation of the industrial cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and
Manchester; it alsa enfranchised the householders in the boroughs, whc were
mainly working men.
s The Reform Bill of 1884 enfranchised the workers and the agricultural
labourers, almost doubting the electorate and making representation
proportionate to the male population.

105
representation, they meant a considerable step forward in
{egociqi:sgtion of the politicat process.

Victorian Politics
Two impo*ant political parties ernerged during the 1g30s and:
came to dominate the victcrian politics. The vdhigs in parliament
created the Liberal Pa*y, whose policy envisaged government
refcrm, free trade and the enfranchisement of a larger percentage
of Britain's population. The Conservative party, evolved frsm the
former Tory Party, continued the Tory policy as supporters of the
monarchy and Britain's imperiatist iendencies. Consequentfy, the
contest between the outstanding leaders of these two parties
became a characteristic of ihe Victorian period. Benjamin Disraeli,
leader of the Conservative Party in 1846, was prime Minister of
Britain in 1868 and from 1874 io 1S&. William Gladstone, leader
of the Liberal Pa$, was Prime Minister of Britain four times, 1g6g
ta 1874, 1880 ts 1885, 1886 and 1892 to 1894. The hro potitical
rivals represented the leading figures of British politics for atmost
half of the Mctorian era and considerably influenced the course of
Britain's history during the latter half of the nineteenth century,
both in domestic and in foreign afhirs.
ln spite of his Cs*servative views, Disraeli
contr"ibuteci to the reform process in Britain. He
extended the suflrage to the wcrking classes by
inircducing the Refcrm Bill af 1867, He also
managed tc have legislatic* passed to improve
housing and the working canditicns for the poar.
Howe\rer, his major achievements as Prifie
Minister were registered in foreign poiicy, where his goal was to
protect and expand the British Empire. ln 1875, he managed ta
purchase half af the Suez Canal, increasing thus Britain's

106

e -tB
 ftuence abroad. Three years later, following the defeat of the
Empire in the Russian-Turkish War, Disraeii gained a
diplomatic victory at the Congress of Berlin and, though Russia
was victoricus, he managed to prevent it frem extending in the
iterranean. ln 1876, faithful to his imperialist views, Disraeli
created the title of Empress of {ndia for Queen Victoria.
William Gladstone \ilas a keen supporter of free .

and parliamentary and sscial refurm. The

Bill of 18S4 increased enfranchisement
by extending the right to vote to practically all the
It male population of Britain. The Education
passed. while' he was Britain's Prime
inisler were the expression of Gladstone's effort to create a
,national elementary education systern, by estabtishing public
sshools in the lscal districts66 and making education computsory
r children from fue to ten67- Gladstone was confident that
government reform could contribute to improving the life of the
tsritish. He also betieved in the possibility of improvement for
atl over the world, his views being essentially anii-
.$mperialistic. Gladstsne impased the concept of a strong
overnment and thus created the image of stability that Mctorian
tain is generally associated with. At the head of a very strong
Liberal Pariy, he was seen as a symbol of the reform movement
:.during the Victorian era.
, ln damestic affairs, Gladstone's greatest efforts were directed
iowards finding a soluticn to the problem of goveming lreland, as
,,&e lrish, who had fought for an independent lreland for centuries,
dernanded independence from British rule. Gladstone tried to
solve the lrish problem by setiling first ihe religious issues, which

* The Education Act of 187S stipulated the responsibility of ihe local districis to
establish public schools suppo*ed by local taxes.
*' Passed in 1881.

10?
had been the main cause of the lrish-Briiish confrict for a long
!!me... Jo fhjq,gnC, he passed .lavss fitat removed the Anglican
Church as ihe nation's officialchurch.
Although Giadstone proved sympathetic to the lrish grievances
and taok action to find solutions, the lrish naiionalists still lnsisted
that the British rule should be sverthrown and a free r*sh state
should be established. charles stuari pamelr ted the lrish
resistance, violence against the British offtcials increasing
furthermore. Gladstane kied several iimes io introduce home rule
for freland. but he failed, which brought abaut viorent confllct
betrrgeen Britain and lrelandffi.
Alihough Giadstone's views were mainly against the Empire
and the British expansion brought about discussions on morality in
the age, the Briiish self-confidence and trust in the potential of the
individual were generaied by Britain's having gained an
unprecedented posiiion cf power in tlre world. The Second Briiish
Empire represented a seurce of pride for the British, no matter
how contradictory the opinions related to it may have been:

The Seccnd British Empire

lf the First British Empire had been essentially based on the
economic relations between the mother country and its colonies,
being the result of people's effart to explore and develcp trade,
the Second British Empire was the result of political and mifitary
actions known as imperialism, lmperialism implied the military
domination cf ine native peoples wha were compelied to
recognise the efficiency of the British instiiutions transpianied in
the colonies and to observe the superiority of the British and
* ln 1921, most of lreland gained its independenee. yet the violeni conflict
continued to, represent a problem in Northem lreland, where the protestant
majority voted to rer*ain part of the united Kingdom, unfortunately, the conflict
escalated in the latter hatf sf the 20th century.

r08
 tradiiions caused widac^,^^r
resefiiirent arnong
againsi the British ,.,widesPread the
rebelliono", though
dou;n by the Briiish,
dola;n Br t sJ'.;:*
with lndia and instead
nrade th. B;;ers ::'::-iiT:J:jff:--:?:*ff :::pui
their relations
of trvinn ,^ -^^,,r-.reconsider
bv arso assimirating -e it, thev tried ro govern
,n- ,;;;".r:"r,:,.":_ '
Britein also €XFranr{o.r ,-:_-"': ]"

::ffiT::;ffi:: :=,1*
eastern coast of
-.,
the conrina^+
ffn
:"."'''s
iffi:'_.h j,,T:
the i
over tne wealth
of '

,,_
::*i il1 ambitio
Cana,. The*ililrr i#i$::;::::,:::,r
of the British was
n:,r:.r,
v,,v,r, gatned control
of the Suez :

side af the African to coniiol alf the ;_r;

provrded
wealth
*rea*h of diamands
diamand":":"::I'
an.{ n^rx :l'"1 lvrvvrUeu a much dreanred_of
-rr-__^
t;1J::r*i:,,-n
*r""nl*o'# I
*;;;;,"
r

ambition,
rheir efforr .";;,:; .
generated a state " cf cn",fi;-r
r:nnfi;-r ,-^r
vurrr'uL oetween
>m \-dlfo
"'tr cairo to Cape
cape town,
Town, j
European po\rJens, j:-T:kilv '^-r tsrrtain and ihe
.

€ Gen-nany
cther
vc.,vr
Atthoiinh ih^
Although the rnirtr{l^ -.
'-.'-"Y *!ru Hoiland7o.
ahd nql4ld''. j
chara*eriseo ov cenrury was
'.[|]"*J,,*jT ,:::_:::*
sense that Britain
rnn-o ,_.^l
w,.e *^_^
wa.c
"' iI
rttrl-tsrriiltsi
;-.^._ ,tmperialist rratters,
rnatters, in the
the
f un*ion"m"i"n;v"i1lni":'".'"::.:#"lnnd**:

[:"ill,-.l""::"Ji,il";"J;"i;"n,^lnn.n"ins thus tneir traae

ln the same
concept
'-t'"*Pt of responsible of
govei"nmentTl
i*o.,*ir ifself
Jovei'nment,, imposed 1"..lfli,,
Rr;*.,^
___.., ut ^,
r.qir srdft€d .*.
responsibre
l
fronr certain colonie withdrawing militarity
affairs
rrralrs and ger ,*oo,l"j,t
,1-l::":'':"1]t"
ser invorved in
rishr to
externar #:tT.t:^*o:uo,
foreign -"-i,"***] ;!
the 'a'ustraljan coronres rrus, uanada
v/ei-e granted ' and
;:'""''='
sponsibie governmeni.

*-lt'u supoy p[ffiilo?.,,-^ i^ ra-_ '$epov'

^
;i'?ff;:":",;1:-::*.':1.:^"y"'-vv
ro Known.
Tho R^.1-*;;:_"-:."::'^.
'r 'oc/ --Fv:! was
vydu rne
the narne under
which
whicfi
*.;;,;;;",^:j,!l??:1e02) broke out between rha D;r;_r
:''fl 11 Ge rm a n o rj'i"i' "'H: B oe rs' wh o
;:l?f
,, xi'l:: :?1ru ;f
il il il.;i[1*
"" " "-'**i#
J"n"" o# "*?""T;Ji:
fff $ffi :; ;y;
i
i e s o ve rn m "

r10
 ns or th e
- -:::".ff;:;:"T :::,::.11,:_""
i
em pi re n crea sed
reason for whieh
i

lerself
i' o.*foo*'o*:::--'"o*l
*erself pteferre,J
'---'vi'lLu
rh-* /*-.*-
Csftse;vative
Queen vrciaria
"'e Benjamin Disra*lit*
ihe Liberal
,,.*lillla:-n Gla,jstone.
As a matter ofi fan* iucr,
Brif*in,*
d.*minated Britain,s ", r{e{.t} tnc cg;**rvatives
tlt3
+!_^
Co;s*rvatives
crlvjarnmn^: ___ .
*r vicrsria,s reign, the rasl desade
J:ff.::t 1':-
ro a ceri+i:: extent,
Lr'r*rt.' euggnce
ai'id a harr
bvcuraf rhe .;::..";;.__,,:=,
vcuraftheconsgi-vativet, ia*^_..^r: evidence in
ives,irnperiaiist
policy being ai::
, lhe British p,eierred
nation whole. As a matter
v. facl,
jru*a came
:toria *. be
carne te id*fitii:j ;;;th rre *! ----v, of
*- ,*l]..; rqur, L{ug€rr
eueen
ilding, which is why empire
she reach*o ,nun*t*enth-eentury
:u peak
ped^
f*lvards
rards the end of rpi_^ tt.r ;s
her reign. _, an acccuntot
:^ afso
of Rer
her pcpularity
pcpularity
Siven by the er*pire that of the prestige
the \{;iorian era gave
:r:ntinuitv
ntinuity and sfahir;i. -.-,. _ *rro
i- spire
srabii*y,z in
en impressicn sf
Li"nlil:Jl::ffi:;
:ractensed hy dynamism "tit,
and
Eritain became o*r "f*"ngu.
: sf the most pcl:=rful ii":dr:siij:lised
the wcrld. Briiain,s nations
position- of pcwei
;:'tessage ih**he *^-,::::bted
ssage th*ttheworld -' '-vtrsr was lneihe mai;':
main
Exhibition, in=r

-lrld" ln a fetier 5:::i

tJ::?Ti::: *;; ;;;::::.::n:
" arq:riii;iii'ic{ :1:-;JJJ
lo the whole
tJ
addresse* in k^_.._-.
coria synrhesise- f:._:ll, *ers;uin,
e orsanisarion
::_::::: i:::"i: ;r
ihai had anirnaied
of ; g#'i :;,-,T;'=sm
r of ig5l
rrld the hecr un'i.l^_
utusr tce Of
and given the
urrrdrrr s uncontested
Britain,s _ _ ...
l;nr:nn*oar^r positrcn,
:;:gendering a natio
:: ?::-:"::
*l:r fii*toro. :':::'ff
_.! i the
,:,u r
rtiost
'"v iT
;T
beautiful
;*ff ;Hn:l
r*r rvJdy 1s5'l' the grealesi
day ;:
:"i' in
and imposlng anci tLrrr.i.^
:::"ff,'ffi l"i.;1ll
lwas astonishing, lT l''"'::n
*,O scene.
oi n,u
be,aved
; T;u
l F.4any _n_0,
*.*ffi;l":;;:
^,0.,-,
r**,ing, * was rhe happiest,
::l-'ffi]]::
:Froudest ::'i*-.:::::-'
ctay in my tife, and I *.,., rhi;;
dearest name is imrnortalised
;, H;r::"-ffff:
with this crear .^_.-_.-:_::^
and my own dear country -
showed ; *";-;;;;; ;ff il
iil
 triumph is irnmense, for up to the last hour the difficulties, the
opposition, and the ill-natured attempts to annoy and friglrten, of a
certain set of fashionables and protectionists, were immense; bui
Alberi's temper, patience, firmness, and energy surmounted all. ,

and the feeling is universal. you will be astaunded at this great

work when you see it! - the beaufy of ihe building and the
vastness of it all. I can never" thank God e*ough I feel so happy;
so proud. our dear guests were much pteased and impressed."?2

The Crystaj Palace

'The building' victoria was so praud of was the crystar

Palace73, which was certainly intended ta impress and suggested
Britain's position as the leading force during the industrial age.
Entirely built of,cast iren and glass, the crystal palace epitcmised

'" The Letters af Queen victoria, A selectian {ron Her Majesly's corregoerr.rderu"e
between {he Years 18ST and ?B6f {London: John Muray, fSOll.
re
Tlre crystal Palace in London was designed especially for the Great Erfribition
of 1851 by the English architect Jcseph paxton_ Entireiy made of cast iron
and
glass, the building of the crystar palace radically challenged ilr" *"til.J,
materials of traditional architecture, iron replacing ihe tracitiinat masonry
,"J
of stone
or brick. Benefiting by t!: advantages of mass production and prefabrication, a
feature of the lndustrial Revolutisn, paxton managed io erect the building
in the
res:ord time of six months._Follswing paxtair's model, Gustave Eitrel designed
the
Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889-

112
 with the rnonarc*ry as the guarantee of
stabirig of the victorian

There was, however, an impon"*

Ci="overy in
science that challenged ihe prevailing
belief of
Westem peopte, aeording to which every
ihing
that existed was God's creation. Darwin,s
theory of evolution essentiatly influenced
not
anly life and earth sciences, but aiso all
modern thought- lt was tc chellenge
even the
rnoral premises
of the British imperialist
tendencies, which was going to be felt
as a clearer influence at
ihe turn af the century.
The sociar and poritica{ devefopments in
the victorian era
brought about the advent of a materiaiLuc phircsophy,
thinkers
and writers becoming further interested in
the pragress of the
individual and of the society based on the
devefopment of
educaiion and growth of demacracy. The
British phircsopher and
econamist, who considerabry infruenced
the nineteenth-century
thought, was Jshn stuart Miil, whose uiiritarian
doctrfnesTa rie at
lhe centre of the victsrian system of thought. Mif|s
views were
seen as radicar in the age, as he supported
innovating ideas such
as equality fsr women7s, compulsc,ry education
or birth control.
some of the thinkers of the victorian age deveroped
specific
attitudes as a reaction against the materialism
and commercialism
of the periad. Th-qmas carryre's idearisi phirosophy
was an attempi
ft utilitarianism reryesentg
the syslem of ideas accarding to wlrich the
the good and good arl th.ose actions ti,.t-p*l*" usetur is
happiness. rt is argsed that
shourd try to produce the greatest rrirjpiness
fff#r"*" t" tn" greatest
*li4ill's.supporiing
the right to vote fcrurar$en in the discussions
over the Reforrn
contributed ts rhe formatisn oilrt" sur"ag*
tjtx!}X[ *ouu*rni'in rhe earry

114
 I
..'
.::

to recover the worth and nobility of life by means of werk, courage

and the discovery of the godlike in man. John Ruskin, writer and
ila artist, believed that beauty and vitatity could be reached only by :,

*f getting rid of ihe iils of ihe indusirial socieiy. A believer in social

':.:
.:.

nfi justice, Ruskin supported the idea of education for the working
r'c people. Scholars iike Walter Pater proposed a possible escape
ut
^+ from social problems by withdrav,ring inio aestheiic hedonism.
:ll
ttt Moving away from Romanticism, the Victorian poetry became
:+ more inteliectual and rational. The Victorian poeis themselves
-l
addressed issues characteristic of the Victorian age, developing
-i
an interest in problems relating io social change, religious faith or
potitical power. Affred Tennyson, Robert Browning and Matthew
Arnold are the represeniative poets of the Victcrian age. Their
poetry, marked by the tendency towards meditation, introspection
and emotional analysis. has clear phitosophical and ethical
i;
dimensions, anticipating in technique the evolution of modern
poetry, r.
From among all literary genres, however, the novel was the
most sensitive to the dynamism and change of the Victorian
period. Thai is why ii became the dominant form during this
period, proving able to be record the contrasting aspects of an
apparently stable society. Realism was the creators' favourite
nrode of writing, gradually replacing the rornantic one.
The novelists' liierary effort clearly went in the direction of
capturing the individual problems and social relationships. From
Jane Austen to Thomas Hardy, whose works marked the
beginning and end of a century of unprecedented achievement in
the field of novel writing, the Victorian novelists developed a keen
sense of observation, becoming interested in the individual's
t.,
:

r.j

115 -:

:i
:l
development as much as in the social relationships. charles
Dickens, william Makepeace Thackeray, George Etiot set up a
sound tradition of novel writing against wtrich much of the renewal
sf the twentieth-century modernists would define itself. Able to
capture and expose the saeial evils, sensitive to the changes in
the age, the victorian writers managed to offer a complete and
accurate view of a period perceived as stable and conventional in
spite of its obvious dynamisrn.
?b

,^ l
'cl

;^

?d
Chapter Seven
in

The Twentieth Century

lntegrating into the lnternational comrnunity

Until ihe beginning of the twentieth century, the British

history
had been markgd by a crear effort to define a nation,s identity.
To
reach this gaal and impose itself in the European and world's
csntext, Briiain sometimes chose to remain isolated within its
water boundaries. At some oiher moments, Britain opened up
towards the European continent, until, during eueen Victoria's
reign, ii managed to gain a position of unprecedented power in
the
world.
By surveying the various periods in the hisiory of British
civilisatian, there is, hcwever, a recuffent pattern that one can
identifi in ihe succession of these periods. The history of
civilisation can be seen not necessarily as a succession of
hisiorical or culturai periods, but as a series of assertions and
denials, or rather efforts to challenge what exists, following one
another. A form of denial succeeds to another form of denial and
what cne may have the chance to discover is that, once it
imposes itself, innovation becomes tradition to be replaced
by a
different type of innovation. Every new cultural period denied and

lt7
*
 replaced the cerhinties of the previous
one, changing its own
elqesli.ons into neyUly constituted ge*ainties-
,
The speciar quarig of the twentieth cenfury
resides in its
essentiaty being a entury characterised
by internationarismre. rn
spite of its privireged position as one
of the greatest world powers,
if not the greatest, Britain wourd be fored
to ream to rive as part
of a worrd whose situations of crisis courd
be sorved onry if
countries accepted to function as perfec{y
synchronised systerns_
The beginning of the fuventieth cenfury
was characierised by a
spirit of change to be sensed everywhere
in the worrd. The
stability of the Mctorian efia was put to
severe test and the new
value system started chailenging the fairry
sorid Mctorian one. As
a rnatter of fact, ail the reform movemenb
initiated in nineteenth
began ts affect considerabry the British
at the beginning of
the twentieth cenhrry. "#iutv

Britain at the Turn of the Century

when victoria died in 1901, her son succeeded
to the throne
and ruled the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and lreland from
1901 to 1910 as King Edward vil. He arss
took over his mother,s
position as emperor of lndia. His reign
is known in the history of
British civilisation as the Edwardian period.
Because of Mc'toria's unusuaty rong reign,
Edward was prince
of wales for most of his rife. He spent his
time siudying and taking
part in sociar events. rn his capacity as prince
of wares, he arso
travelled a rot to British dominions and foreign
countries, ssch as
Russia or France, inaugurating thus the kaditisn
of goodwiil visits
by members of ihe British royalfamily.

76
lntemationarisrn is to be taken as the berief
that countries
and leam to urdsstad and accept **, o*,Li, tacfitians. shourd r,vork together
118
 Edward's passion fer sports. especiafiy yachting
and horse
:. i'acing, increased his popularity
at home, both as prince of wales
,. and as king' His reign is
noted as a period of peace and economic
, prosperity for Britain, ail the more so as it was fogowed
by the
r years of conflici and outburst of viorence
of the First worrd war.
i As king of Britain, Edward iried to diminish ihe poriticar tension
'?hat had been mounting in Europe in the first decac{e of the
-f*rentieth century and it was on his dipromatic
effort that
. intemaiisnar arniiy increased in Europe, Britain,s position
being
:' subsequenfly strengthened,
on his death, the crewn oi Britain
::#afit to his son. George, who ruied
as George V {1910_1g30).
,: George's popularity with the British was as high as his father,s.
3t depended to a large extent
on his supporting the British armed
:forces
during worrd war r. Besides, under the
tensioned poriticar
r'and miriiary circumsjances ef ihis confragration,
George found it
:'*ppropriate to give up his German tiges and
change his famiry
, *er|te from Saxe-Coburg_Gotha
to Windsor in 1g17.
the years preceding the outbreak of World War
l, many of
;?he politicar and sociar movernents started
during the victorian
;.,period continued or began ia have visibre resuris. Their impaci
:,was higher, however, as their goal was no longer
to improve
existing conditions, but rather to reorder the
society aftogether.
I'socialist ideas began to gain ground not
onry among the industriar
workers, but also among middie_class iniellectualsTi

or ol f: rnqrt important sociarist movemenls was the one red by sidney and
IBeatrice webb- rt was known as the London Fabian so*"iv
rnctuoeu
among its members the noverist H, G. weils "nJiiiiJ
and the ptaywiight c."s. dr,r*. rL*
j*:t': plays brought on stage and attackeJ some
r/ictorians, of the taboo ideas of the
such as crass distiiction or
ihat the conditions of the workers and friuui*
properry. The Fabians considered
of *,* poo, shbud become the object of
scientific
analysis and that regisration snouu LJaoopted
to improve them.

119
 Free school meals, pensions for ihe elderly or the National
lnsuranceTu. repr.esented some af the rneasures taken by the
government in the first years of the hnentieth century to improve
the living conditions of the poor, Tlrey were made possible by the
introduciion of the budget known as 'the people's budget'ru, which
permitted the implerneniation af certain far-reaching social
programmes-
Closely associated with the country's social siiuation, several
poliiical movernents became rfiore severe during this period,
proving indispensable to the reordering of a mcre just society. The
trade union strikes at the beginning of the twentieth century were
the best evidence cf the poirver cf the labour mcvernent. which
had started to organise itself and act as a unified fo,rce in the last
decades of the nineteenth century, The Labour pariy, created to
gain representation for the workers, managed to win huenty-ni*e
seats in Parliament !n the 1906 elections,
A*other issue that the British government had to address
during this period, although its origins were to be traced as far
baek as the Age of the Entightenmentso, was that of women's
suffrage. This movement acquired impetus at the tum of the
century and was underlain by the women's efforl te get the right to
vote and to be represented. Known as the wornen's emancipation,
this movement scmetimes had a rather vislent aspect in Britain.
Yet ii iook until after World War I that the womefi, who had had a
significant contribution in wartime and influenced in a favourable
way ti:e pubtic oplnion, manageC to win their i-ights. ln 1g1g,
Parliarnent enfranchised women householders, householders'

76
lt provided health-care and unemployment insurance to the families that lived
below the poverty line.
7e
lntroduced by the Welsh socialist politician David Lloyd George in 19O9, the
b,udget was destined to fund social programmes for the poor-
uo
Briiish ferninism may be said to originate in Mary wolLtonecraft's A vindication
of fheRgi{s sf Waman wriiten in 1792.
120
 wives and lr/ornen university graduates
over thidy years of age,
r the voting age limit being
lowered to twenty_one only
ten years
later

sovel:ment also had to cope wth the

: ,-^,:jl*'"': rising rension in
L'lre{and, where the lrish Republicans militated
for freland,s
whire the Briiish unionists
i :.."*"fnce, suppbrted the union v,rith
This tension finairv red to
''::n1': the rrish Revcrution in 1912.
, to pass the home rute bitt
,:,i:*-'1fort
in fairure' The threat of worrd
for tretand had ended
war r, h'wever, made Britisn
rure for {retand in 1e14
:::,::::::":=.home ro avoid civir war,
its enactment being suspended,
however, until after the war.

World War I
i:

been invclved in more or tess

throughout i:t,
_r.j.:::.
, exrended wars
its history, bui none had been as violent as
World
before the twenrieth cenrury,
3::: lforeover, rhe wars Brfain
ott in had been resionat at the worsr. rhe first
i :_11T ',:
,^." tuy.entieth century affected
:TL:Tr,::
extent ihat a, its domestic probrems
Britain ro such an
were perforce pushed to the
background of the political
stage.
at the end of the nineteenth
I _.^t:::::::,:1.:pansionism
struggle to take possession
cenrury
\r . evt trua y

I ::o 1- of new territories brought the

inio a conflict rhat proved
:,:::::: T*l= ro redress
r. v vv ,r,
,impossibre
ryvrluJtE ro
r{.} solve
rhe batance of power and to prevent
i ".l":"::
:::::::0":.11:
hostitities, the European
nations formed a'iances, which
cons_titule {ater ci-i
| ,::"tT the two opposing sides cur;ng r//ortd
o-.afle to oppose Gernany,s
l Y::,: ]:
Britain entered into the Tripre
srowing mitiiaryI threar,
L' tt uql,

Entente with France and Russia,

while Germany estabrished the
Tripre A*iance
with Austria_
i rtary' rn 1914, when a serbian
r l_uou"w "y
assassinated
naiianarisi
the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary,
rhe

t2l
European natisns had to take a stand and dip{onratic allian
had io be hpn-qured. The Eurcpean powers were thus puiled inta a
confliet that evoived into a totalwar.
The war seriously affected Britain and chenged the Britishl
society, Faced with the prospect of war, the two major politicaf,
parties, at odds ever since the seventeenth century, formed a:
coalition govemment that also included representatives of the
Labour party.The trade unions urged that strikes should be put an
end to. The rncvement far women's emancipatlan carne to a stop. l

The British economy was reorganised for wartime needs. The,

munitisns industry came under the government's control.'
Agriculture had to produce more. Women started working in'
indusiry fo
replace the over six rni{[on British nren who had
become members of the armed forces.
For Britain, as for all the other countries involved in this
conflict, World War I proved ts be extremely expensive. Weapons
had become better and more efiicient. The new technolagies,
however, did nothing but make the war even more sophisticated
and destruciive- More than three millicn British died in the war and
rnany returned to the British lsles with a certain degree of
disabilrty.
For the British government, the situation became even mcre
complicated urith ihe claims for the independence of lrefand.
Although promises sf home rule for lreland had been made irt
1914, the lrisi took the *pportunity of the war io reassert their
clalms for total freedarn. The Easter Rebelllcn cf 1316 gave
further impetus to the lrish Revalutian and in 1918 the lrish
representatives to Parliament declared an independent lrish Free
State with its ewn PartiamentEl. As the British go\€rnffient woutd
not recognise ii, the Biitish security forces staried to be attacked

tt lt was calld D6il Eirean*, meaning 'Assembly for lreland' in Gaelic.

1?.2 '*"F
 by armed groups organised into the lrish Republican Army tlRA)'
Bv the Anglo-lrish Treaty of 1921, the lrish Free state, consisting
. of the whole of lreland, except Northern lreland, became an
. independent nation, but it remained par't of the British Enrpire.
By the Treaty of Versaiiles concluded behrueen the Allies and
Gemany in 1919, which officialty ended the war, Germany was
,fcrced to pay for war damage and ii iost possession of large
cotonial territories. Britain got some of the German colonies in
, Africa and received a smalt part of the flnancial reparations
; GermanY had to PaY.
,. at home, Lloyd George's coalition governrnent, re-elected in
: 1918, had to cope with the seriaus problems caused by ihe large
: number of soldiers comlng back is the British lsles. Hlgher prices
i., and lower wages brought about a series of strikes and generated
unemployment, making the government unable to provide
: unemployment insurance. The economic situaiion worsened
during the follswing decade and in spite of the social welfare
I pfogt?rnme proposed by the Labour and Liberal governrneni of
1929, Brilain \ffas severely affected by the worldwide economic
:, crisis. Radical measures had to be taken to raise income taxes
placing
and reduce unernployment. Briiain abandoned free trade,
,, duties on imports. lt nationalised utilities, inctuding coal- Most

: importantly, however, although lts economy staried to recorrer by

. tg:s, Briiain had te modernise atl its sectors to be able io face the
,, fierce competttlon from the United Sates mainly, but also from
I G*r*nny, r,vhose econorlly had reccvered due to a suslained
rearmarnent Programme.
Yet, nc maiter how seriously affected it was by the Great
pswers,
Depressicn, Britain still was one of the world's greatest
having a teading role in the newly established League of

r23
 Nationss2, whose aim, after the experience
of World War l, was
try and. solve.internatioaal cenflicts peacefulfy.
The more serie
impact the war had on the Brftish
was rather of a morar naiure
y":* *l.t had brcught about a feeting of uncertainry
anc
insecurity. The British, no longer
willing to fight, did not see
they shourd hord on to the coronies
of the vast British Empire,
expensive to rure anyhow' Besides,
many of these coronies ns
longer wanted to be ruled by Britain.
Under the circum";-;
Canada, Australia, New Zealand
and South Africa became
independent countries. They remained,
however, p"ri of ;;;
British Commonwealth of Nations
set up in 1g31. ln 1922, Egypt
was granted independence ioo, anhough
Britain retained controt
of the $uez canar- A nationarist rnovement,
under Mahatma:
Gandhi's leadership, started in rndia,
rgaking it di{dcurt fcr Britain
to csntrolthis colony,

World War ll
rn the ratter harf of the thidies,
Germany under the rure of the
Nazi Party, through Adorf Hite/s actions,
started to represent
again a threat to the peace of the worrd-
German expansionism
was not radicaily eounteracted, the
European countries, especiaily ,

Britain, trying to make concessions

to Germany in an effort to,
rnaintain peace in Europe.
Despite Germany's act of aggression
against Austria and
czechosrovakia, Britain did not take
a stsnd unt' Germany i
invaded pcrand !n september 1g3g-
when Br.itain anc France
dectared **t o'i Germany, worrd war
r! began and Britain had an
imporhnt chageng* to face, as for the next
two years, it was the
only country to ftght the Germans in Europe.

82
The League of Nations was estabfished
in 1g20 as an iniemationar ailiance
peace' lt existed untrig+o, vurien ir;'"iu;;iJ.iie
ffi.*J?f^:i:qrae uniteo

124
 8y 1941, the.war had become intemational and two aliiances
were -created. The Axis powers included germany, ltaly, and
Japan, while Britain, the union of soviet socialist Republics
{ussR} and the united states were known as the Allied powers.
The British were determined to fight the
Germans and win the war, inspired by the artful
speeches of one of the nationls greatest
statesmen, Winston Churchilt, Britain's
Conservative Prime Minisier from 1g40 to 1g4S.
By the concerted actions of the allied forces,
Germany's expansion was put an end to and
Germany was eventually defeated in 1g45.
World War ll was far more violent and extended than World l. lt
took its toll on every.nation. practically all countries of the world
finatly got involved in the conflict. More than fifu rniilion people
, wcr€ killed. The most importani problem, however, that the
: humani$ was confronted with in this war was of a moral nature. ln
1945, the war ended when the Allies took control of Germany and
Hitler killed himsel{ but Japan was defeated cnly when the atomic
bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by
, the united states Army Air Forces. According to U.s. estimates,
r out of the ihree hundred and fifty thousand people of Hiroshima,
sixty to seventy thousand people were kiiled or missing, $ixty-
; eight percent of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed and more
than twenty percent were damaged. Three days after the aitack
on Hiroshima, another atoniic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki,
, killing more than forty thousand people. The victary was not
necessarily ane gained by army comrnanders, but one gained as
' d result of rnaking a disastrous experiment upon a civilian
population. People died of flash burns, but radiation had
considerably more and far-reaching effects-

1?5
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,riar:riii-rl lS
 The Labour government started a nationalisation programme,
getting ownership of the Bank of England, of the coal, gas and
electricity industries. Besides, the government took the iron and
steel industries, which had been profiiable private businesses.
Yet, the fierce competition on the internbtional market also
required an ample programme of modernisation of these
industries.
A series of nreasures were also taken to improve the living
conditions of the British. Welfare programn'les were established"
The 1946 National lnsurance Act provided insuraRce for
maternity, unemployrnent, old age, disability and death. ln 1948,
the National Health Service was set up, offering free medical care
to the British. The Marshall Plan83 contributed to a large extent to
the reconstructicn of the United Kingdom after the war. ln a few
years, Eritain managed to re-esiablish its export industries.
The Marshall Flan was clear evidence of the fact that a major
outcome of World.:War ll was the new position of the United
States as a world power. The most important effect of World
War ll, however, was to be seen in the political field. This conflict
cf unprecedented dimensions and violence forced the world's
nations is reconsider their position to one another and to take
immediate measures to stop similar future canflagrations.
The League of Nations, established in 1gZA, had been
considered a sslution to the peace of the wsrld. Yet, it proved too
weak to prevent the outbreak of World War ll, which meant that it
was imperative that such organisations should be strengthenec{ if
they were expecied io play an active and effective role in the
world's twentieth-century history. Consequently, the United

83
The European Recovery Programme, known as ihe Marshall Plan afler the
name of the US $ecretary sf $tate George Catlett Marshall, was a programme
designed by the United States in 1947 to help European countries rebuild their
econornies after the war through low-cost loans.

r'2'l
 Natians organisation wes set up in 1g4s. Tire
aim of this
intemationgl o.rgelisatian based in New york
was to promote,
peace around the wor{d and sorve internationar
probrems. As a.
permanent member of the Unhed Nations
security councir, Britain
continued to pray an impo$ant part in inter*ationar
affairs..
Moreover, ihe Labour gevernneni suppcrted Britain,s
miritary
presence in ihe British coronies and in
Europe, in an effort to
maintain its position and rore as a lvorrd power.
The unitedj
Kingdom had an equarty significant part as one
of the founding
members of ihe North A*antic Treaty Grganisatian
estabrished in 1g4g as a fieE$ure against ihe
- NATci
ssviet &reat afrer
Wr:rldWar lf. :

Sisintegration of the British Empire

r

Before world war fr, in the aftermath of worrd

war r, Britain i
had reconsidered its reraticnships with rnany of its
caronies and in '

1g3t it created the commonwealth sf Nations. severar coronles

,

were granted the status of dominion, which arso irnpried.

apart .

from ihe right to serfgovernment, a prefereritiar treatme*t

on the l

sritish market for the goods coming from these dominions.

By I
Britain's adopting this course of action, Bi.itish rure
oracticairy
ended in Canada, Australla and NewZealand,
,4 sustained movement for independence eventualiy rnade
Britainwithdrawfromlndiaioc,althor-rghtlrelossofBritain,smost
valued colony represented the beginning of the disintegration
of
the British En'rpire. rndia became rndepenrient i* 1g47, nhen i ti

it
divicied into two countries, lndia and pakistan,
ln 1922, Egypt had been granted independence, but
the gritish
had preserved the $uez canaf, which herped Britain
maintain its
rqle as a world trader- rn 19s6, the Egyptians seized
the canal
and, despite its efforts and the miritary assistance
of Fra*ce and

128
 Britain was forced to leave ihe canal area, losing thus its
in the region. ln ihe 1960s, many of Britain's
$ossessions in Africa readjusted iheir relations to Britain. They
$-either changed into republics, adopting, however, the British forms
!]
f*f government and law, cr ihey became self-govemingstates and
lFined the Commonwealth,
F-' Yet, although it lost its empire, Britain continued to exercise
iieonsiderable, even if indirect, influence in the areas that had once
i
'-been part oi the British Empire, through institutions and, more
: dnportant{y, education. The Commonwealth also provided the
ii'
$*amework for Britain's having an important contribution in
b:

$tnternational affairs and aciing as a mediator in situations of

F,.sonflict in zones that had previously been under British control,
,

isuch as the Middle East and Africa.

Developments in the Z0*-century A,rts and Thinking

The twentieth century waq..from its very beginning, ccnfronied
with a state of crisis in all fields of life, social, political or ariistic.
Srlore than any of the centuries preceding it, the hrentieih was
tt

i:
essentialiy an international one, characterised by a new spirit,
i under the fonn af a reaction against ihe established system of
l:'
.yalueg a*d break with tradition. The key concept, shared by the
.t
::.
t:
: whob Western world was that af 'the modern'- It would be then
difficult to speak about distinct achievements restricted to Britain
alone. As the two world wars ciemonstrated it, Britain could no
longer play its role on ihe international stage independently, but
as an integral"part cf a system whcse functioning depended on
the individual countries' ability to interrelate, while acknowledging
sne another's identity. Britain was just one of the components of
the Western warld and the rapid economic, social, political and

r?9

i*
cultural changes occuning in this v*orld proved unlikely to leave
B.ritain unaffee*te-d.
An unprecedented development cf science and technolcgy led
to a complete questioning of the pre-establlshed values of the
previous oenturi+s and forced the human mind ts a.dapt itself to a
seemingly dismembering system and try to cast order upon it.
Netn* va[ues s'rruggled ts emerge a*d become operaiianai
throughout the twentieth century. The concept of ihe medem' is
probably the most diffic{rlt tc desne in ihe c+ntext of this cenfury,
but whai is certain is that modemisation occurred atmost
simultaneously in altfields and in all counbies of western E*rope.

ln 1899, ihe Austrian

-psychiatrist Sigmund Freud
wrote Th* lnterpretatian of
Drearns, in wh-ch he
formulatd the fundamerrtal
ccncepts to underlie the
psychcanatytic method,
based on dream analysis
and free association. His work was to exercise ane of the most
nctable influences on ttre twentieth-century mdernist titerature, fn
that a new interest in the rnind and ihe mechaaisms undertying
the mental processes sta*ed to be taken. The mast significant
develaprnents in narrative technique that charaeterised the
twentieth-ceritury literary productions eame to be associated with
Freud's tFr*ories"
tn
1900, the Gerrnan physicist Max planck developed his
quantum theory, posfulating that energy is radiated in small,
discrete units, called quanta.

130
 ln 1905, the German American physicist
Albert Einstein developed the iheory of
relativity, which would become the basis of
the later demonstration of the unity of matter
and energy, cf space and time and of the
forces of gravity and acceleration. Not only
did beth theories usher physics into the
modern era, but they also substantially
influenced the new artistic perspeciive, making creaiors
reconsider the reiationships between art and reali$.
Based on this develcpment of science and technology, arts
begin to claim their right to represent in a new way, even if this
meant deforming them, the daia of sense perception and
experience. Msdem artists started from the assumption that
"whether we call it life or spirii, truth or reality, this, the essential
thing, has msved off, Qf on, and refuses to be contained any
' lcnger in such ill-fitting vestments as we provide."e Since 1908,
. the year of Braque Exhibition, Georges Braquess, Pablo Picassoso,
: Constantin BrAncugisT have forced audiences to rethink and
reorganise their pereeption of life or reality.
The samp tendencies of refashioning older art v.rere present in
music and dance. lgor Stravinsky's88 music broke the conveniions
cf harmcny and was characterised by asymrnetrical rhythms. ln

8a
Mrginia Woo{ 'Modern Fiction.' The Cammatr Reader ilondon: The Hogadh
Press, 1962).
ts
118e2-'lgo3), French painter, wlro, with Pablo Picasso, originated cubism and
the cubist style, one sf ihe main tendencies in twentieth-century ad.
tsu
(taAt-:gZS), Spanish painter. Considered to be the most impofiant artist of the
iwentieth century, Pablo Picasso originated cubism, invented collage as an
artistic technique and developed assemblage {constructions of various materials}
in sculpture.
u7 qts76-'tss7), Romanian sculptcr. His work considerabfy influenced the modern
concepts of form in sculplure, painiing and industrial design-
t*
1taa2-tsz1), Russian American cornposer, one of the influential figures ol the
Z0h-century music.
ral
lJt
1908, he sta*ed composing music for Sergey Diaghilev's8e Ballets
Russes,"music of-surprising dissorance becoming a perfeet match
for an unmnventio*al chmeagrapfry. :

Gaudf'ss0 highly personal style, a mixture:

cf nec-Gothic and art ncuveau, als+
including surealist and cubist elements, is
at its best in the lofly cubist tawerc of the
Templa Expiaterio de la Sagrada Famili*
{the Church of the Holy Famity} in:
Barcelona. The forrns, calours and
textures of the building still impress visiiors, farcing them tc
reorganise their knawledge of what the art of architecture !s or is
expected to be.. ;
lf in the period preceding World War I and belrseen the fuis
world wars, Europe had praved to be the inco.ntestabte centre of
rnodem art, afler World War ll, the centre tended to moye to the
United Siates. The American artists' efforts were marked by their
intention ta move away from European modamism. Various
movements such as abstraet expressionisrnel, minimalism% or
pop arte3 were associated witlr the American
arlists' endeavcur to identify a form oJ
expression of their cwn.
Moderrl architecture criglnated in the
United States and Europe, frcm where it
spread to the rest of the world, lts distinctiva

un (tgZZ-tg:9i, Russian ballet impresario.

His major contributisn to the
development of 2O"'-ce*tury a* was ti'rat he attempted to reviye ballet as a
serious art fgrm.
eB
Anteni Gaudi y Co*ret, {X852-1926}, Spanish arehitect, one of the most
representative architects of the modem art of architecture.
e1
* Among its represeniatives were Jaskson Pcllock or Mark Rothks-
lnitiated by Frank Stelt+ minircalisrn avsided rcference to everyday objec{s
and used repetitionas a means of cornposing the picture.
e3
Represented by Andy WarhoJ, pop art tneO to establish a s*rong comection
between high art and popular culture. See picture above-

t3?
 character depended much on developments in iron and concrete
as building materials. Modern architects considered it necessary
to invent new styles and technorogies more appropriate to express
the spirit of a new age. A wide variety of buildings, sometimes
dissimilar in appearance were put up. rf they did not share
a styre,
they shared, however, a sense of the modern understood as
an
attempt to break with the conventions - materials, technologies
or
styies, of earlier architeeture. Britain provides twa of the earfiest,
yet well known examples of modern architecture, which is
not
surprising if one looks at Britain as the cradle and centre of
the
lndustrial Revolution.

The bridge over the Seyern at lranbridge

. The first structure entirely built of cast iron was the bridgesa
: cver the severn at lronbridge, a town in England
considered tc be
'an early centre of the lndustrial Revolution. The iron and glass
,crystai Palace in London, designed to house the Great Exhibition
sf 1851 and bear witness to Britain's power, undoubtedly
anticipated the principles and technology of the iwentieth-ceniury
arehiteciure

to
lt was designed by the Engrish architect rhomas pritchard in 1279.

133
 From ihe art nouveau styre, architeeture evorved towards
an
j1leryatiar:al gharqqterised by a new
"sglgll emphasis on votume. l

regularity and proporiio*s, *n technical perfecilon given

by the:
use of materials such as steel and glass.

Britain in the Latter Harf of the Twentieth century

ln 1951, the conservatlve party came back to the fore of the ,

British politicat stage, by winning the rnajority in parriament.

rn
1952, Elizabeth ll ascended the throne af tsritain, associating
her
name v'rith a period of renewed prosperity for ihe nation.
The ,

British eco*cmy grew stronger througlr sustained investments

in
the automobile and chemical industries. Besides, the steel and l

ircn industries, highly profitable before and during wsrld war

ll, l

returned to private ownership. After severar decades of

exhaustion and subsequent slow recovery during and
after the
war, a consalidated economy contributed to the growth of what
was called *the affluent society." The Briiish regained their
confidence in the potentiat of the Briiish nation to play a part
in the
world's context. The 1gs0s represented a elimax of Britain,s
cultura{ optimism iransiated in a definite influence Britain l

exercised in fashion, style, music or sports over the other

countries cf the Western wortd.
The enthusiasm of the lgs0s dampened in $re 'i36os and
1970s mainly because of the fierce competition frorn other
European countries, especially Gerrnany and France, which had
e.'nerged as incustrial and tracing powe;-s afier ihe .vYar. France,
under De Gaulie's leadership, even tried to prevent Britaln from

e5
ln 1932, lntemational &yle: Architecfure since 1922, written by the
American
historian cf architecture Henry-Russell Hitchcock and the
presented what could be seen as the characteristics "i"r-ii"jpi.irlp Johnson
of modern *iln*..tur*,
beccming thus one of the influential writings in the field.

134
 jaining the Eurcpean
Economic Comrnunitysc,
mainfy an account
w*h the United stafes
::j::::J:,jJo::",hips B*""u** af an
indusrries,**"li*TJffi
fall inta a decline, bringing ]il:I.::'ff :.,1::,:::_:J:,,::
about k
workers and emproyers and between
n"n".tnn:A::"t"nships
The Labor.rr party
won the 1g7q eb
rhe demands of *" by promising to
meet
courd nat be ";_',*,:::-:':ctions
t"" '.-,. l::":HJ:":";iHT:ilffi:
ra r.* i.
in,s firsr p
:::]1l1
Margaret f-er,Bf
Thaicher,s po{icy "
rime Minisrer,
*o-bn**C on
, her firm befief that
the state should nut
i*
business, reasr
int*.f*r*
rar which many of
industries owned the
;n ihe state were privatised.
Besides, she was ly
not to give in to
the trade unions rnr***tned
ihus substantially
*a^i_ _-. reduced
-ry q o=i ri ial'S. Tr,-e
iheO,^,r ai iha
:asjsofThaicher'spolicywascalledviyaL,ne-€
.''-rrvrsrrlrlr
onetarism ang I tnvolved
and it
rcontrol ef ihe rr.rnarr involved
'control ^.,__,_
trroney supplyto reduce inflation'
'investmen* tv r"*.,ng en@uragement of
r'reducing tax rates and
government Interveniion of businesses by
-
in ino",Ttilsion
ihe sPur of the Falkland
-,." war and Britain,s vicrory
T:::'T# in
n r *onti* u
vern me
so
I* ;"J' .;:X,:tr:,n,:,:,,H,,
accept any comprom*e
as far as the sociar programmes rr
** ;
:oncerned' By the were
mid-1gg's. Thatcher,s
monetarist pclicy started
:aving visible effects,
in that inflatian w
ad been brcught dcwn
and *r,o=;*::::;r.j,;:t:X::
^IT q=q was esrablished in 1e57 and rhe,
g#tti,r"l!Lii.':{,tr;lu*:ln:";;*,ff
rcame a memberoftheL.r.,
on
tuto, January in1"+:,"'ix.::?tii:
1967, griiain Rnatty
1 rnra.

13s
competitive. Yet, while the Conservatives won the support of the
upper classes, their policy was less favoured by the lower middl*
classes, especially because Margaret Thatcher encouraged
people to reiy on themselves, rather than on the welfare state. ln
other words, instead of perfecting sccial programmes to improve
conditions fer the poor, she made people pay for their own health
care, education and Pensions.
Some pecple were critieal of Thatcherism, i-e. the poliiical and ,

economic policies of Margaret Thatcher, while she was Britain's ;

Prime fiiinister {1979-1990i. Althcuglr ihese palicies helped .

develop British economy, by layi*g due emphasis on private

enterprise and reducing inflation. they also created new social i
divisions, by increasing the gap between the rich and the poor.
Besides, critics of Thatcherism deplored ihe fact that these
poiicies had led io the loss of Britain's traditional industries, many '
workers remaining unemptoyed. They also feared thai they had
led to a sort sf dehumanisation, as people were more interested i* :

rnaking rnoney than in ene anather. .

Because sf her attitude ts the Furopean Union, Margaret

Thatcher was forced to resign in 1990 by members of her own
party,afterhavingwonthreegeneralelections.TheConservative
JohnMajorsucceededMargaretThatcheras3ritain,sPrime
Minigter. Unfortunately, the Csnservative Party Major inherited
was divided rnainly cver issues relating tc European Union. ln
1992, the Maastricht Treaty amended the Treaty of Rome through
which the -urcpean Economic ccmmunity had been established-
Under the Maastricht Treaty, the maior European powers agreed
on a greater European integration, by creating a single economic
union. Briiain's Conservative government cpted out o{ the Social

lJb
 policy should
considering it apprcpriate that the social
Chapters, mernber
exclusively tall under
the responsibility of individual
did not sign the document
in 1992'
states. Therefore' Britain
the
every other European country agreed to it' Moreover'
although
proposed to create euroet
as the single
Maastricht Treaty also
European union as part
of the European
unified currency of the
.MonetaryUnion.AsParliamentandtheBritishpeopledisagreed^li^'r lho
the
monerary poricy,
in a singre
:'rJil"r'**r," should loin
nct ccmmit
decided that they shouid
conservative governrnent
Britain to ioining'
ln1997,theLabourPal,ry'undertheleadershipofTonyBlair'
srgned the
of ihe Social Chapter'
they
won the eleetions' ln favour join the Economic
that Britain would not
document' but decided to be
20CI2' The joining was
and Moneiary Union before for
a possibility anly if it had ciear economic benefiis
*ansidered economic union
far whcm the idea of the
Britain and if the British'
to it in a referendum'
.";':'l'";;;;*
was highly unpopular' agreed h*r rhe
tnl-n:,out
had lost the elections since 'n*
to seriously consider the
defeat of 199? forced its
members
of the Labour
Tony Blair became the leader
party's reorganisation' itself as
and effected the change that had imposed
Party in 1994 he creaied a new
His great contribution was that
indispensable' the
party' which was no longer to be seen uirder
image for his get
individuals could
of the trade unions' This implied that
control
cr:
,, The social chapt", *Jrno, seciion:i tT Maastrich" T;-r-'aly

peopte'srishtsunder,nJ"=u'"p?unl;'iri1.-i:,tl-""1;f rut-.";ni;'fJ,1i;!l
;*: HJI': : :';:TJ'[',ii"T
i!ffi l p p"'tu'i rti " i w e re sti p u ai e d
r

#jr|"#il: ll,
i"'liiil o"ir"ttla.,.- oill
es Euro became the ^*r,"1
1999'
currency of ihe European
Union on 1.January

,J;;;";ilt*'r,i:iliil;tf
oaPer money trom I
\H:'i"ffi:fffi6:5ii":F!'--
'
,tlJ' tn" mo neta ry " "
countries that had .upfr
trerand' ltaly' Luxembourg' +1,iru;U;,|.T ?ii[ riJ'l XXi
Germany' Greece'
Spain). 13?
more private wealth and they could have a more personal choice
about their education or heafth care.
Despite the fact that Britain had reached a very good
economic and social situation under the Gonservative
govemment, the Labour defeated the conservatives in
19g7 and
Tony Blair, the leader of the party, took office and became
Britain's youngest prime Minister since the nineteenthcentury.
Tony Blair's centrist policies contibuted to the Labour party
winning the national elections of 2001.

"f
 Tcxts
Reading, Dlscussions and Analysis

From Eeowulf

lndeed, we have heard of the glory of

the Spear€anes, kings
of the nation in days gone by _ how those princes
performed
deeds of courage.
' ofren scyld scefing dragged away the mead
benches from
bands of foes, frcm many tribes struck
- terror into the Heruriee.
r From the tinre when firsi he was found
destitute {he received
consoration for that) he flourished beneath
the skies, prospered in
honours untir every one of those who dwert
around about him
across the whare's road had to obey him, pay
him tr"ibute. That
was a great king!
. Later a son was born tc him, a young man
in the court, whom
: God seni to be a comfort to the people. He had perceived
the
cruel distress they once suffered when for a long
time they racked
a king' Therefore ihe Lord of Lifu, the Rurer af
Grory, granted him
hcnour in the worrd; Beowurf was renowned, the
fame of scyrd,s
son spread widery throughout the Danish rands. so
it is that a
'young man whire stifi in his father's protection ought to do good
deeds, making liberal rich gifts, so that when he
comes of age
good companions wilr stand by hinr, rend
aid to the peopre when
'w6f G'rras- Among ar! nations it is by praiseworthy deeds that a
,man shall prosper.

(Lat' Heruri) were a Germanic peopre originaty

inhabiting rhe Danish
Llljrt*"
139
 Then at his destined hour scyld, stiil very ictive, passed away
to go into the keeping of the Lard. Those whc were his dear
companions canied him down to the surge of the sea as he
hirnself had instrucied when, friend of the scyldings, he governed
with words. The beloved leader of the land had been long in
possession.
There at the tandingplace stood the curved prow, ice-covered,
ready to put out, a prince's vessel. Then they laid down the
beloved ruler, the distributsr of rings, in the bosom of the ship, the
famous man by the mast. Many treasures, jewels from distant
lands, were brought there. I have not heard of a craft more
splendidly furnisfred with weapons sf war and bat$e garrnents,
wiih swords and caats of mail. on his brel$ lay many treasures
whieh were to go with him far sut inic lhe power of the flood. ln no
way did they provide him with {esser gifts, ireasures of the nation,
than did those who at the beginning when he was still a child sent
him off alone over the waves. Furthermore they set up a golden
banner high over his head; they let the sea carry him, gave him up
to the ocean. Their spirits were sad, their hearts sorrowful. Men
cannot say for certain, neither councillors in the hall nor waniors
beneath the skies, who received that cargo.

Then in that stronghcld the beloved king cf the peopte,

Beowulf of the Scylciingsl0o, was for a long time lamous arnong
the nations (his father had passed elsewhere, the chief fram his
land) until to him ii tum was born tofu Healfdene. He ruled the
noble scyldings for as long as he lived, old and savage in r.,rar. To
him, the leader sf armies, there were born into the world in
succession four children: Heorogar and Hrothgar and Halga the

'* Not to be mistaken for Becnirrulf the Geat, tite hero of the poem.

I40
qs
Good: I have heard ihat yrse
was Onela,s queeni
g:
bed-fellsw of the War-scylding. the bejoved
ll
s
Then success i

lil,Jl JJ;;T;ff :,: :::rT:

d.*

nt'
il*,:: I*'T,TI*
wa*iors rt came,jlnH: il:l-ffi ,l::r,:::;:ffi1:
rhan the chirdren
:_:'il::,ff:::::, distribute to young
of rnen had ever heard
of,
God had given n,* ]o and old everything
which
for public land and
: :ff :"nilx"Til,T:* ;# ffi ;:,: -:LT I ::;
have heard n"*, ,"--"1111t the lives or *"n. t

time - rapidlv ER
rapidly -:""' ihe
r5's rrarion's
natlon's palace.
So
--^r-,
rnon FFr.rran
&s men ; in

;':T":::X:: k+::H --il::".*:T:i ffi ; :li

distributed rings, tr<
name Heorot' He
did not neglect his
vow, he
banquet. rhe he
i roty and wrdegabred:
:on *,0*-o"o,.,ll:::-::jT
awaled *n.;::]].1'
I hait rose up high
high,
runous surge of
The day was hostile
*rl-*:'.::-':t:
".r en vio ten t haf red
flanres.
berween
I ::::,::
a nd tu ther_i*_r,*, :h
or..;;;;,"J1.""
"-1:*er-in-rawphourd be bsm
son-i,r-rah
son _ir-l_taw

,, hard
,,"J?J:j:::T,:TilT:, n* *i" abode in darkness,
,
rs endure this iime
rqoicing in the hall.
****f _;;;.d;JH:J.:::: it
round

There was the sound

i' ssng of the ryrinc*ror rr^ - ,. v' the
of rrarp' the
'rE harp, tne cieal
cjear
fii*sf:-el L.{a..,r,^

ilirJ* :Hii f
bright-raced plain {i1:T'i_
which rhe waters
:.ffi?;;r
;;,
;* j:;* :
:ilr"; Ti,il;i;l
moon as right for
those dweilins on
:::,lT;r.-::and earfh with branches
tand, and

i ;lT_T::i::,j*
atso he creaiF.i ,,rj:^:1:n_
ror eve.y o'no
und ,**uu*, ncw
n,l*-;",,l."-" :ffiJ"7
, *:a btessedty in joy unrit
from ;.;;;""=".:.: wreak evir. a cefiain fiend
::;_5""T:il,j, rhar ;; ffi "il:'""}::
wasrerands, **"*ou]"il1jil:. l:J"'o"rra nds' rvho hetd rhe
appy creature, he ljved
for

r4l

Wwry
HOrveyvN
a time in the home of the monster race after
God had condemned
them as kin of cain. The Eternar Lord avenged
the murder
whereby he killed Abet; he got no joy fam
that feud, but
Providence drove him fur away from
mankind for that crime.
Thence were born ail evir broods: ogres and
efues and gobrins
likewise the giants who for a rong time
-
strove against God; he paid
them their reward for that.

ldentiff in the fragment aspects relating to the

organisation of the Germanic wanior societies.
Discuss the burial customs as presented
in thefragment.
Look for more information on this issue
and try to see
whether the paem reflects sucfr custorns
accuratety.
Tly to account fcr the referesces to the Ghristian
cosmogony in the context af the heathen
religions of {re
Germanic peopfes.
Principal Provisions of Magna Caria - 1215
john, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of lreiand, Duke
of Ncnnandy and Aquiiaine, count of Anjou, to the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earlS, barons, jUsticiarslol, foresiers, sheriffs,
f€ves, seryants, and atl beitiffs and to his faithful people,
greeting:
y

1. ln the flrst place, we have granted to God, and by this otlr

present chader confirmed for us and our heirs forever, that the
and its
English ehurch shall be free, and shall hold its rights entire
liberties uninjured; and that we willthat it shauld thus be observed
is shown by this: that the freedom of elections, which is
ta the
copsidered to be mcst important and especialiy necessary
Englishchurch,we,Qfourpureandspontaneouswill'granted'
andbyourcharterccnfirmed'beforethecontestbeiweenusand
by ihe
sur barons had arisen, and ute obtained a confirmation of it
lordpoplnnocentlll,whichwewillobserve,andwhichwewill
sha{l be observed in gcod faith by cur heirs forever'
We have
, granted, moreover, to all free men of our kingdotn, for us and our
: heirs forever, all the liberties written below, to be had and holden
' by th.*telves and their heirs from us and our heirs'

kings of England
ret
The ctrief politiel and judiciat officer of ihe Norman and laler
until the 13h century.
143
2- lf any of cur earls sr barocs, cr others holding from us in chief
by military service, shallhave died, and when he has died his heir
shall be of full age and owe relief, he shail have his inheritance by
the ancient relief; that is tc say, the heir ar heirs of an earl, for the
whale barony of an earl a hundred pounds, the heir or heirs of a
baron, for a wh+le barony, a hundred pcunds, the heir or heirs of
a knight, fcr a whole knighfs fee, a hundred shiliings at mosf and
whs cwes tess, let him give iess, according is the ancient custsm
of fiefs....

7. A widow, after the death cf her husband, shail have her

marriage poriion and her inheritance irnmediately and withoui
obstructicn....

8- No widow shall be cempelled to marry so long as she prefers ta

live without a husband, provided stre gives securigr that she wlll
not mar-ry without our cons€nt, if she holds frcrn us, or without the
ccnsent of her lard ftom wham she holds, if she holds from
another....

12. No scutageloz or aid shali be imposed in our kingdom save by

the commcn council of our kingd*m, except for the ransoming of
our bcdy. far the rnaking of our olcest scn a knighi, and for once
marrying our oldest daughteq and for these purposes it shall be
only a reasonable aid; in the same way it shall be done
c*ncerning the aiCs of the city cf London"

13. And {he city sf Lcndsn shall have all its ancient liberties and
fiee custorcs, as well by land as by water. Msreover we vvill and

l't A tax levied upon a ten*nt of a knight's estate in place of military servie.
144
 grant that atlother cities and boroughs and vil{ages and ports shall
have all their liberties and free customs.

, 14. And for holding a common council of the kingdom concerning

the assessment of an aid otherwise than ln the three cases
mentioned above, or concerning the assessment of a scutage, we
shall cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots,
, earls, and greater barons by our letters under seal; and, besides,
, we shall cause to be summoned generally, by our sheriffs and
:i bailitfs, all those v'rho hoicl from us in chief, for a ce*ain day, at the
: end of at teast for$ days, and for a c,ertain place; and in alt the
: letters of that summcns we will state the eause sf the summons,
and when the summons has thus been given the business shall
proceed on the appointed day, cn the advice of those who shall
, be present, even if nct all of those who were summoned have
ccme.
-.::

20. A free rnan shall not be fined for a small offence, except in
propcrtion to the gravity ef the ofience; and far a great offence he
, shall be fined in proportion to the magnitude of the offence, saving
his freehold; and a
merc*ant in the same way, saving his
merchandise; and the vitlein shall be fined in ihe same way,
, saving his wainagetut, if he shall be at our mercy; and none of the
above fines shall be imposed except by the oaths of honest men
of the neighbourhood-...

, 39. No free man shaii be taken, or imprisoned, or dispossessed,

i ar autlawed, or banished, or in any way iniured, nor will we go
' upon him, nor send upon him, except by the legaljudgment cf his
' peers, or bY the law of the land-

'ot lrain': a large and heavy vehicle for farm use.

145
40. To no cne willwe sell, to na one willwe deny or delay, right or
justice.

41. All merchants shall be safe and secure in going out frorn
England and corning into England, and in remai*ing and going
through England, as well by land as by water, far buying and
selling, free from all eviltctls, by the ancient and rightful customs,
except in tir*e of war, or if ihey are af a land at war wittr us; and if
such are found in our tand at the beginnlng of war, they shall be
atiached without iniury ts their bctlies or goods, until li shall be
kncwn frofi us, or frorn aur principal iusticiar, in whgt way the
merchants of our land are treated who shall be then found in ihe
country which is at war with us; and if ours are safe there, tte
sthers shatl be safe in our land---. .F

52. tf any one shall have been dispossessed or remsved by us,

without legat judgment of his peers, fronr his lands, castles,
franchises, or his right, we wili restore them to him immediatety;
and if contention arises about ftis, then it shall be done according
to the judgment of the trrenly-five barc*s, of wtrom mention is
made below concerning the securiiy of the peace. Concerning all
those things, however, from which any one has been rer*oved, or
of which he has been deprived, without legal judgment af his
peers, by Ki*g Henry our father, cr by King Rich*rd sur brather,
which we have in our hand, or which athers hold, and whit'h ii is
cur duty tp guarantee, we shall have respite iitl the usual term of
crusaders, excepting those things about which the Suit has been
begun or the inquisition made by our wdt before Gur assumpiion of
the cross. When, however, we Shali return from our iourney, or if

145
i:by chance we desist from the journey, we wilt immediately show
fuiljustice in regard to them....
l:

61. Since, moreover, for the sake of God, and for the

., improvement of our kingdom, and for the be.tter quietiSs of the

.1.

i- hostility sprung up lately between us and our barons, we have

i. rnade all these csncessions; wishing them to enjoy these in a
,L;.

!., complete and firrn stabiiity forever, we make and concede to them
i:
i:, ti.t" securiiy described below; that is to say, that they shall
eleci
it:
*f t**nty-nve barons of ihe kingdom, whomsoever they will, who
figj,:' ought with atl their, power to observe, hold, and cause to be
:i:

*1,*nserved, the peace and liberties which we have conceded to

t.
i. tn**, and by this cur present charter confirmed to them; "'
fi'

$i SS.... lt has been sworn, moreover, as well on our part as on ihe

part of the barons, that all these things spoken of above shall be
observed in good faith and wrthout any evil inient. wtness lhe
above-named and many others. Given by our hand in ihe meadow
whieh is catled Runnymede, betr'veen windsar and staines. on the
flfteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign'

* ln The Pr{ncipal Provistons af Magna Carta find

information on the structure and organisation of the
English society during the Norman period.
* Enlarge r:pon the r*'ays in 'ruhich ihis documeni sets iimits
to royal authoritY.
. Can we consider The Great Charter the document that
paved the way to constiiutional monarefry? Find
argurnents in the text of the docurnent-

141

W;ffi
From Sir Gawa in and lfle Green Knight

After the siege and ihe assault had ended at Troy, and the city
had been broken down and bumt to charred beams and ashes, ,

the man who wsve ihe web of treassn there v,ras tried fcr his ,

deceit, famed as the truest of men. [t was the prinee Aeneas,

Sret
and his noble race, who later conquered other kingdoms, and :i

became the lsrds of almsst allthe welth in the lands to the west. ,,i

When the mighty Romulus has quickly made his way to Romq '

straighhruay he builds that ci$ with great magnificence, and nal1es

it with his own r.lame, as it is still called; Ticius goes to Tuscany ,

and founds settlements, Langobard raises homesteads in

Lombardy, and iar away across the English clrannel Felix Brutus
i

cn many a brcad hill happily establishes Britain, where *om age :

to age there have been v*arS and reprisals, mafvels and atrocities,
and where iriumphs and disasters have constantly and quickly
succeeded ane anqther ever since'

prince of '
{...J And when fris Britain had been founded by that
men. a .bold race was bred there, lcvers of strife, wha in many a
troUbled age made miseirief. ln this land greater wsnders have
repeatedly oi:curred than in any otfier that I knew of' ever since .'
that time. But of all whs dwelt here as kings of Briiain, Arthur, as
I've heard teil, was the nobiest ever. And sC I Hlean tc reveal an '

actual occulrence, such that some men consider it a veritable

t48
marvel, and an extraordinary episode from the strange tales of
Arthilr" ["..]

The king was at Camelot at Christmas time, with many a

handsome tord, the best of knights, all the noble brotherheod of

the Round Table, duly assembled, wiih revels el fltting splendour
and carefree pleasures. There they held tourney on many
oceasions; these noble knlghts jousted most gallantly, then rode
back to the court io make rnerry. t...1with alt the well-being in the
world they dwelt there tagether, the mosi famous knights in
Ghristendom, and the iaii-est ladies who ever lived, and he who
held court there was the handsomest of kings. For ihis ggodly
company in the castle hall were ail in the springtime of tife, the
most favoured on earth, their king the most noble-minded of men;
It would now be very hard to narne so valiant a company in any
casile.

white New Year wasso young that it had iust newly arrived, on
the day itself the company was serued with redsubled splendour
at table, \Alhen the king had come with his knights into the hall' ihe
singing of Mass in the chapel having drawn to an end, a loud
hubbub was raised there by clerics and cthers, christmas was
celebr,ated anew, 'Noel' called out again and again' And then
'New
nobtes came forward to offer good-luck tokens, called aloud
Year gifts', proffered them in their hands" ["'] They carried on
all 11;1
!r.:

this merry-making untit the dinner hour' When they had duly
I washed, ihey went to table, the noblest person always being mcre
highlypiaced,asseemedmorefitting'QueenGuenevere'
nrittiantty dressed, was set in the midst, piaced on ihe dais
of
I
, honour, alt about her richly decorated, fine silk around her, a
of
canopy above her af choice fabric of Toulouse, many hangings

t49

:tat{?:-n:i6#-**w
Tharsian siuff, which were embroidered and s+t with the best
gems that ever money could buy - the fairest jewel to be seen,
her grey eyes shining, no man could truly say he ever saw a
lovelier.

But A*hur wsuld nst eat until all had been served, he was so
youthfully light-heerted, and rather boyish: he liked a* active life,
and was all ihe less,silling either io tie idle or to sit stilt for long,
his youthful biood and restless brain stirred him so- And he was
alsa influenced by anather custom, which tre had assumed as a
point of honour, that he would never eai upon such a festive day
before he had been toid a novel tale of some perilous incident, of
sarne great wonder. whicir he couid believe true, of princes old, of
feats of arms, or other adventurcus deedq or until someone had
begged him for some tr*sty knight to jcin with him in jcusti*g, a
man ready to stake his life against another, each a$owing the
other such advaniage as fsrlune shoutd favour him with. This was
the king's accustomed behaviour wherever he rnight be holding
caurt, at every splendid feast among his noble company in castie
hall. Therefore, proud of mien, he presides standing in his plae,
very youthful at that New Year, making much mirth with everysne-

And so ihe bold king ln persan siands in his place, talking

graciously of this and that to thcse at ihe high table. There the
gocd sir Gawain is placed beside Guenevere, and Agravain of the
Hard Hand sits oi-: tris oiher side, both nephews of the king and
very worthy knights; Bishop Bawdewyn, in the seat af honour,
heads the tahle, and Ywain, Uriefi's son, dine beside him. T}ey
were seated on the dais and sumpfuously served, and afier them
many irusty knights at the side tables. Then the first course came
in with blaring of trun':pets, frorn which hung many a brigtrt banner;

150

d*9
 From Geoffrey Ghaucer,s lhe Canterbury lales

The Genera{prologue

Whan that April with his showres sootg

{its sweet showers}
The drought of March hath percgd to the
roote
And bathed every vein in swicfr licour,
{such moisiure}
Of which vertu (by whose power) engen{rgd
is the flowr;
Whan Zephyrus, eek {also}, with his sweeQ
breeth
lnspiqd hath in every holt and heeth
{wood and heath}
The tender croppgs, and the yonge sunne
Hath in the Ram his halvg course y_runng, (in
April)
And smallg fowlgs {birds) maken melodyg
That sleepen allthe night with open ye
(So pricketh hem Nature in hir corages),
Than longen folk to go on pilgrimages,
And parmers for to seeken sfraunge strondes
fforeign shoresi
To feme halvrps (to distant shrines), kouth
{knowni in sundry .

londes: .

And specially, from every shires ende

Of Engelond, to'Canterbury they wende,
i
The ho{y blisshul martyr ffhomas Beckett)
for io seeke

TS2
 they were sekg'
That hem hath holpen whan that
Sefellthat in that seson on a day'
ln Southwek at the Tabard as I laY'
Redy to wenden on mY Pilgrirnage ;
corage' ["']
To Canterbury, with fulldevout
A KNIGHT there was - and that
a worthy man -
That from the time that he first begen
he lovqd chivalrye'
To riden oui igo cn knightly expediiions)'
curteisye'
Trouth and honour, freedom and
werrg {wari'
Full worthy was he in his lordes
ferre (fariher)'
And thereio had he riden, no man
govemed by
As well in Christendom as in hethenessg {lands

And ever honaured for his worthinesse' ['-']

namo (ne more)
A YEMAN had he and servants
(for it pteased him to ride in this
At that time, for him tisJg ridg so
way) -
of greene'
And he was clad in cote and hood
AsheefofpecockarnA'es,brightandkeene(sharp),
(properly)'
, Under his belt he bare full thriftily
w*rr"ouohedresshistackleitakecareofhisarrows}yemanly:
iowg'
His arrurgs droupgd not wiih fetheres
bowe' ["']
And his hand he bare a mighty
There was alsg a nun, a PRIORFSSE'
Thatofhirsrnilingwasfullsimpleandcoy(modest).
Seinte Loy {Saint Elegiusi;
Hir greetest ooth was but by
Eglentine'
And she was cleped Madame
Futlwell she song the service divine'
Entuned in hir nose fullseemelY'

153

,,'
.

.r', ffi&W
And French she spak full fair and fetisly {fastidieuslyi, .

After the scote of Stratford*ate-Bowg-

For French of Paris was to hir unknowe.
Ai mete imeats) welly-taughtwas she withalle:
.

She let no morsel from hir lippgs falle,

Ne wet hir fingers in hir sauce deepg; :,

Well caud she carry a rtorsel, and wellkeepg

That no drop ne fill uPon hir brest.
!n curteisy was set full muchel hir lest. {Her pleasure was much
set on courtly conduct) [...]
A MONK there was, a fair for the maistryg {excellent above all
others)
An sutrider, that loved veneryg; (hunting)
A manly man, to been an abbot able.
Full many a daintee {splendid) horse had he in stable,
And whan he rade men might his bridle heergn
Ginglen in a whistling wind as clere
And eek as loud as doth the chapel belle. [...]
A MARCHANT was there with a farked beerd,
{n motfee, and hy ihigh} on horse he sat
Upon his heeda Flandrish bever ha*,
His bcatgs claspgd fair and festty.
Hls reassns (views) he spak solempnely,
Souning alway the encrees of his winning- (ahuays tcuching upon :

the increase of his Profits) ',

He wold the see were kept for any thing

Bi*gixg Middleburgh and orewelle. {He w*nted the sea to be kept : .:

safe) a.

A CLERK there was of Oxenford atso t.'-1 (a student at Oxford

preparing for Priesthood')

t54
 A SERGEANT OF THE LAWE ione of the king,s
representatives), a FRANKELAIN {landowners},an
HABERDASHER and a CARPINTER, a WEBBE, a DyER,
and a
TAPfCER' a cooK, a SHIpMAN, a DocToR oF pHysrc,
a
REEVE and a MILLFR, a SOMNOUR and a p*itooNrR.
A good W|FE was there OF beside BATHE

Comment on those aspects characteristic of the

rnedievalsociety to be identified in the fragment.
Compare the image of the medieval society Chaucer
offered in lhe Canterbury lafes with the cne presented
ln Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Enlarge upon the tone Chaucer adopted in the portrayal
of the representatives of the Church
consider the Engrish ranguage chaucer used irr his work
and compatd'it *itt modern English. Give your opinion
of the differences and similarities between the two.

;:;,111r,:,:1.4ffi4ffi

ffi
ww
#
King James I's speech before parliament

21 March 1609
"Kings Are Justly Called Gods"

The siate of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth, for

kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earih, and sit upon
God's throne, but even by God himsetf they are ealled Gods...
-.;!

Kings are jusily called Gods, for that they exercise a manner o{
resernblance of divine power upon earth. For if you will consider
the athibutes to God, you shall see how they agree in the person
of a king. God hath power to create, or destroy, make or unrnake
at his pleasure, to give life or send death, to judge all, and to be
judged nor accountable to none. To raise low things, and to make
high things low at his pleasure, and to God are both soul and body
due. And the like power have Kings: they make and unmake their
subjects: they have power of raising, and casting down: of life and
of death: judges over all their subjects, and in all causes, and yet
accountable ts norie bui God cnli'. They have pcwer tc exalt low
things, and ibase high things, and make of their- subjects like men
at the chess. A pawn to take a bishop or a knight, and to cry up or
down any of their subjects, as they do their rnoney. And to the
king is due boih" the affection of the soul, and the service af the
body of his subjects...

156
Akinggoverninginasettledkingdomleavestobeaking'and
degenerates into a tyrant as soon as he leaves off to rule
accarding to his laws. ln whieh case the king's conscience may
-lfiicecon'
speak unto him, as the poor widow said to Philip of
either govern according to your law, Aut ne Rex sis1f. And though
no christian rnan ought to allow rebellion of people against their
prince, yet doth God never leave kings unpunished when they
transgress these lirnits; for in that sap1le psalm where God saith to
ye
kings, Vos dii estisl0s, he immediately thereafter concludes, But
shalldie like men.

The higher we are placed, the greater shall our fall be. ut casus
sic dolorls: the taller the trees be, the more in danger of the wind;
and the tempest beats forest upon the highest mountains.
glad to
Therefore all kings that are not tyrants, or perjured, will be
bound themsefves within the limiis of their laws; and they that
persuade them the contrqyy, are vipers, and pests' both against
them and the comrnonwealth. For it is a great difference between
a king's government in a settted state, and what kings in iheir
original power might do in lndividuo vago' As for my part' I ihank
Gad, l have ever given good proof, that l never had intention to

ihecontrary.Andlarnsuretogotcmygrcvewiththatreputation
qnd cornfort, that never king was in ali his time more careful to
have his laws duly observed, and himself to govern thereafter,
than l.
a!rl;::l:.:;.,::iif

lconcludethenthispointtouchingthepowerofkingswiththis
axiom of divinity, that as to dispute what God may do' is

1oo
Or you cannot be King (Latin)-
105
You are Gods (Latin).
(Latin).
roe
Tl,* higher yo*are pla*ed, the greater the pain rlriren fatling
157

HSllf$lrwru ffi
F
blaephemy, but guid vult Deuslo7, that divines may lawfully, and
dc ordinarily dispute and discuss; for to dispute A posse ad
essetoe is b,oft against logic and divinity: so is it sedition in
subjects to dispute what a ki*g nray do in the height of his power.
Eut just kings will ever be wiliing to declare what they will do, if
tirey wit not incur the curse of God. I will not be content that my
power be disputed upon, but I shall ever be willing to make the
reascn appear of ail ray doings, and rule rny actions according to
my laws.

Cornment on James I's idea of the King's divine right as

presented in his speech before parliament.
Compare the Stuarts' view of mcnarchy with the
caaception of this same inttitution during the Tudor age.
Do James l's ideas run counter to the prcmises John
Lackland made under the pressure of the barons in
Magna Ca*a?
Do you think that after Elizabeth I's reign, parliarneni,
and impiicitiy the people, coutd easlty eome to t*rms with
James I's theory of the divine right?

ro7
What God wants tlgtin).
to"
Frorn what one can to wlrat one is {Lati*}.

158
 From John Bunyanloe's lhe pilgrim,s progress

Vanity Fair

Then I saw in my dream, ihat when they were got out of the
wiiderness, ihey presenfiy saw a tcwn before them, and the name
of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept, called
vanity Fair, it is kept all the year long; it beareth the name of
vanity Fair because the town where it is kept is lighter than vanity;
and aiso because allthat !s there sold, or that cometh thither, is
vanity. As is the saying of the wise, "All that cometh is vanity"
{Ecclesiastes i.2, 14;ii.11,17;xi, g; lsaiah xl. 17i,

This fair is no new-erected business, but a thing of ancient

standing; I wiil show you the original of it.

Almost five thsusand years agone, there were pilgrims walking to

the celestial city, as these two honest persons are; and
Beelzebub, Apollyon, ar-:d Legion, with their companions,
perceiving by the path that the pilgrims made, that their way to the
city lay througfr this tawn of vanity, they contrived here to set tip a

t@
11628-1648) English writer of religious books and eloguent puritan preacher.
ln the English civil war he fought on the side of parliarnent. Then, for his
Nanconformist religious liews, he spent eleven years in prison, period during
which he started writing The pilgim's prograss- ,**tr9Effi
@n* t@!i#!.ii
i'r-i:: l::,:rl:.r':.:
: .

159
r:: ra*
@#g
jwsi@es
,ffi
w€@
"HS
 fair; a fair wherein shau{d be .

sord a* sorts cf vanity,

and thai ii.
s*ourd rast a* the'year fong.
Therefare at this fair are ,
merchandise sold, as houses,
a, such
lands, trades, places, honours,
prefermer:ts, ti*es, ccr*ntries,
kingdoms, lusts,
derights of a* sorts' as whores, ;;;_r;.=, and
bawtis, wives, husbands,
chirdren.
rnasters, servants, fives, bload,
bodies, soufs, si{ver, gcld, pearls.
precious stones. and what
not_

And' moreover' at this fair there

is at a* times to be seen
jugglings. cheats, garx€s, prays, foors,
and that cf every kind.
apes, knaves,
""0
;;, ,

Here ere ta be seen, ioo, and

that for nothing, thefts, murders,
adulteries, fa{se swearers, and
that of a bloodged cclcur.

And as in other fairs of ress manrent.

ther€ are the severar rows
and streets, under their proper
names, where such and such
wares are vended; so here rikewise
you have the prcper pfaces,
rows' streets iviz., countries and
kingdoms), where the wares
this fair afe sconest to be found. of
Here is the Britain Row, the
French Row, the ltalian Row,
the $panlsh Row, the German
Row,
where severar sorts sf vanitr'es
are lo be sord. But, as in other
fairs' some cornmodity is as ihe chief
'ne of a* the feir, so the
ware of Rome and her merchandise
is grea*y promated, !.rin stl-
this
fair;onlyourEngtishnation,withscrneathers,havetakena
dislike thereat.

Now' as r said' the way to the

cerestiar city lies just through
this
torsn where this rusty fair is kept;
and he that wit go to the
city,
and Yet nct gothrough this town,
must needs "go out of the ws*d,,
{1 corinthians \.' 10}- The Prince af princes
himself, when here,

15S
went through this town to his own country, and that upon a fa[r-
day too, yea, anc as t think, it was Beelzebub, the chief lord of this
fair, that invited him to buy of his vanities; yea, would have made
him lord of the fair, would he but have done him reverence as he
went through the town. (Matthew iv. 8; Luke iv, 5-7.) Yea, because
lie was such a person of honour, Seelzebub had him frarn street
to street, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a little
time, that he might, if possible, allure the Blessed one to cheapen
and buy some of his vanities; but he had no mind to the
merchandise, and therefore tefl the town, without laying out so
much as one farthing upon these vanities, This fair, therefore, is
an ancient thing, of iong standing, and a very great fair-

Now these pilgrims, as I said, must needs go through this falt.

well, so they did; but, behold, even as they entered into the fair,
all the people in thg fair were moved, and the town itself as it were
in a hubbub about them; and that for several reasons: for

First, The pilgrims were ctothed with such kind of raiment as was
people,
diverse from the raiment of any that traded in that fair. The
therefore, of the fair, made a great gazing upon them: some said
they were fools, some they were bedlams, and some ihey are
outlandish men. (l Corinthians ii.7, S')

secondly, And as they wondered at their apparel, so they did

likewise at their speech; for few could understand v"rhat they said;
they naturally spoke the language of canaan, but they that kept
the fair were the men of this worid; so that, frsm one end of the
fair to the other, they seemed barbarians each to the other.

161

r,g*
EFjgc.{

HOIV9irlVf*
 Thirdly, But that which
- did not a litile
wa s rhai ti:ese pirsrim
J; ffi T ?il jll
;*Tff
not so much as to look
to buy, frey rru,ould put
upon tt .*.,
"nO
if &ey called upon
iheir fingers in their
them
"f;
ears, and ct/, *Tutn
vanitv"' and rook upwards,
ll1.'r
JffiT"--n:"::: a*c
:l1H:;:: T:,,:,:l rad *;; #:*:fi"il::"T j
chanced mocklngry,
'neunto behordirrg the carriages
say them, What wfll ye of ihe men, io
buy? Aut they, locking
gravely upon
6r,overos xxiii.23| Ar {ha*here
11tr,"::y:._1t,m"
il-"J:::A:-::i"
despise trie ruen ;; ;;*--"'ff*li]was
.
reproachfull.g,
-"'-.'.*: and
srru scrne
upon ciherc *^
r,Don oihers -*,.]l,upeaking tt.,rne caliing
caliina jj
to srnite them. At last things
came ts a hubbub
great rha rair
]reat stir in the ;*-^,- thar and !
fair, insomuch
*{, .;;;Ji""-*:-T
ffT:JT"T::"H -11,-:". ::*-J:'.one
or the r*r, whc
to take these men trH-;fT::
rr,, m6-, .'f 1l
t*" *ination, J::'=;::'
almssr
armssr ov.
overrumed. so rhe fter wer€ ;;;;;;;'ilfrff ffi .
tnem wrrence thev
,tHX,=::::::i::.*:
they went, and whathey
did there, *
came, wh*her .:

men tord them that they "J;';uXJ[:J:rl:

were pirgrirns and strangers
and that they in trre worl*,
were gaing ia their
own ccuniry, whicft
was the
{Hebrews xi 13_16r; and th**hey
ff::::;:;:T,:_ had given
ro the merchandisers
thus ra abuse *"iT}ie;"J.i.,
:;X
,:'vet
ror rhai, when one asked
rhem whar
But thev that uaere
ffi,lfft#TjJ:,
il:::;'::::j::Yt
them did not believe
$:ern *" be
appointed to ex*mrne
any;;;ffi;::::T::
or eise such as came
io put at things into
a confusion in the
fair.

t62
s ..F
Therefore they took them and beat them, and besmeared
them
with dirt, and then put them into the €ge, that they
mighi be made
a spetiacle to alt the men of the fair-

Comment on Bunyan's view cf life as revealed by the

fragment.
Enlarge upon the mentarity of the protectorate and
discuss the impact these religious ideas had on
the
cultural life of Britain_
Try to account for Bunyan's having chosen the
allegorical mode for his work-

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 From Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan

of the NATURALL cQNDrrfoN of Mankind,

as c*ncerni*g their
Felicity, and Misery.

Nature hath made rfien so equa{|,

in the faculties of body, andr
r*ind; as that though there bee foufid*cne
ffian ****,
manifestly stronger in body, or of quicker
mirrc tten anoth";
when air is reckoned tq€th€r, the difference ;;.
betwee. *;,';.
man, is not so considerabre, as that
one man can thereuper craim
to himserfe any benefit, to which another
m+y not pretend, as werl
as he' Far as to the strength af body,
the weakest has strength ,

enough to kifl the strongest, either by

secret machination, or"oo'
confederacy with others, that are
in the sa{ne danger witir
himselfe.

And as to the facurties of the rnlnd,

{sefiing aside the arts
grounded upon words' end especia*y
that ski' of proeeeding upon
generafi, and infailibre rufes, cafied
science; which very few have,
and but in few thirigs; as being not a
native faculty, born with us;
nor attained, {as prudence,) rxhire we
rook after ssmewhat e,s,) r
ftnd yet a greaterequarity amongst men,
than that cf strength. For
Prudence, is but Experience; which
egua* time, equariy besiowes
an all rnen, in thee things they equaily
apply themselves unto.
That which may perhaps make such equarity
incredibre, is buta
t64
 cattell; the second, to defend them; the third, for trifles,
as a word.
a smile, a different opinion, and any other signe of undervalue,,
either direct in their persons, or by reflexion in their Kindred,
their,
Friends, their Nation, their profession, or their Name.

Hereby it is manifust, that during the time men live without a

comrnon Power to keep them all in awe, they are in
that condition
which is called warre; and such a warre, as is of every man,
against every man. For WARRE, consisteth not in Battefl
onely, or
ihe act of fighting; but in a tract of time, wherein the will to
contend by Battell is sufiicienily knawn: and therefore the
notion of l
Tirne, is to be considered in the nature of Warre; as it is in
the
nature of weather. For as the nature of Foure weather, ryeth
not in ,

a showre or hrvo of rain; but in an inctination thereto of many

.,

dayes tagether: sc the nature of waf consisteih not in actuali

fighting; but in ihe known disposition thereto, during all the
time
there is no assurance to the contrary. All other time is PEACE.

whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of ware, where

,
every man is Enemy to every man; the sarne is consequent to the
time, wherein men live without other securi$, than what their own l

strength, and their own invention shall fumish them withall. ln i

such condition, there is no place for lndustry; because the fruit

thereof is uncertain: and consequenily no culture of the Earth, no
Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by ,

$ea. nc commodiaus Buirding; no rnstruments cf moving, and

removing such things as require much foree; na Knowledge of the :

tace of the Earth. no accout*. oi rime, no Arts; no Letters; no

Society;andwhichisworstofall,continuallfeare,anddangerof
violent death; And the life of man, soritary, poore, nas$, brutish,
and short...
,

166 r,
 vain conceipt cf ones owne wisdome,
which armost all men think
they have in a greater degree, than
the vurgar; that is, than a'
men but themselves, and a few others,
whorn by Fame, or for
concurring with themserves, they
approve. For such is the nature
of men' that howsoever they may
acknowredge many others to be
more witty' or more eroquent, or
more rear:ned;;yet they w'r hardry
believe there be many so wise
as themserves: For they see their
own wit at hand, and other mens
at a distance. But this proveth
rather that men are in that point
equat, than unequa*. For there
is
not ordinarirSr a greater signe of
the equat distribution of any
thing,
than that every man is contented
with his share.

From this equarity of abirity, ariseth

equarity of hope in the
attaining of our Ends- And ther-efere
if any two men desire the
same thing, which nevertheresse
they cannot both enjoy, they
become enemies; and in the way
to their End, (which is principa*y
their owne conservation, and ssmetimes
their derectation onry,)
endeavour to destroy, or subdue
one an other. And from hence
it
cornes to passe, that:iwhere an
rnvader hath no more to feare,
than an other mans single power: if
one plant, sow, build, or
possesse a canvenient seat,
oihers may probabry be expected
to
come prepared with forces united,
to dispossesse, and deprive
him, not onry of the fruii of his fabour,
but arso of his rife, or riberty.
And the lnvader again is in the like
danger of another.

So that in the nature c,f man. r,re find

ihree principall causes of
quarrell. First, Competiticn; Secondly,
Diffidence; Thirdly, Glory,
: r@€@t@
The fir:st, makeih men invade for Gain: :, ,@r,sfiw4*
ihe second, for safety; and :,:
-

the third, far Reputation. The first use wffidffiffiff!#F

:.t"W
Violence, to make
themselves Masiers of oiher mens persons,
wives, children, and

165

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