The Early Seventeenth Century
(1603-1660)
Terms to Know:
- Calvinism (644)
- Jacobean (645)
- Metaphysical School (653)
Discussion Questions:
638:
- Explain the difference between Elizabeth I and James I in
terms of their view of the status of the monarch.
State and Church: 1603-40
638:
- Why did civil war break out in 1642?
642:
- Describe the Gunpowder plot.
643:
- Explain the significance of
the King James Bible (1611).
Literature and Culture: 1603-40
645:
- Explain the concept of the
Ptolemaic universe.
- Explain the concepts of
analogy and order.
649-50:
- Explain the licensing system
for printers and theater companies.
The Revolutionary Era: 1640-60
656:
- Why was there a revolution
and why was Charles Stuart executed (January 30, 1649)?
- What important concepts
emerged out of the revolution?
Literature and Culture: 1640-60
662:
- In what ways was Milton a republican?
Other Discussion Questions:
638:
- Describe the office held by Oliver Cromwell.
- List the Stuart monarchs (see also A42-43).
639:
- Describe the financial
situation that greeted James I upon his ascension to the
throne.
640:
- Describe his response to this
situation.
- Explain the period's "complex
attitudes toward same-sex relationships" (640).
- Explain the significance of
the 1604 treaty with Spain.
641:
- Explain the results of
seventeenth-century entrepreneurship.
- Describe the Elizabethan
religious compromise.
644:
- Explain the Calvinist views
espoused by Puritans.
- Describe the Bishops' Wars of
1639 and 1640.
Literature and Culture: 1603-40
645:
- Explain the concept of the
four bodily humors.
646:
- Explain the significance of
William Harvey's discoveries.
647:
- Explain the significance of
Galileo's discoveries.
- Describe the system of
literary patronage.
- What is a Caroline aristocrat
(see also 654)?
649:
- When did authorial copyright
become a reality?
650:
- Explain the influence of
censorship on 17th Century theater.
- Describe the changing
audience cultivated by the King's Men.
651:
- Describe the change in poetic
fashion during James's reign.
- Explain Jonson's views on the
role of the gifted poet in society.
652:
- How does Donne's poetry
differ from Jonson's?
- How, according to the
editors, do sexual and religious love share "a common
vocabulary" for Donne (652)?
653:
- What is the familiar essay?
657:
- What did the suspension of
censorship accomplish?
658:
- What was the Rump Parliament?
- Who were the Levelers?
660:
- How were English politics
different after the ascension of Charles II?
- According to the editors, in
what ways was the English civil war "disastrous for the
theater" (660)?
- What characterized the "elegant love lyric"?
662:
- In what ways did the revolutionary era give "new
impetus to women's writing" (662)?
