Enlightenment Age to Post-Modernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Enlightenment Age to Post-Modernism - Essay Example The paper "Enlightenment Age to Post-Modernism" discusses various historical and cultural eras in the world’s history. This study analyzes Enlightenment, Romanticism, Modernism and post modernism. The enlightenment era is a period in world’s history that stretches between seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. This age is sometimes referred to as the age of reason. It was a period considered to be the maturity of reason after its rebirth in the renaissance period. It was marked by new discoveries in science for example Galileo Galilei invention of a telescope that he used to discover and accept that indeed Copernican was right in saying that the sun was at the centre and that all planet revolve round it. Rational or intellectual capabilities and a rise in technology were among the many characteristics of this age. It was dramatized with revolutions. Industrial revolution for instance marked a total change in lifestyle whereby we see a movement from manual lab or to mechanical labor. People’s life standard improved since they could be employed to work in these industries and earn income. It is during this time that we see the rise in thinking; a change in societal, cultural and political attitudes. It is during this time that we see the society producing intellectuals who emphasize on reason alone. Scientific philosophies like the empiricism and rationalism became the focal point of departure. Philosophers like Rene Descartes, Leibniz, David Hume and Emmanuel Kant among others emerge. Their main focus was to move the society from centralized church governance to a level where every individual’s life counts; that the church’s authority needed to be decentralized. It is during this time that we see the ant Christian movements: a claim that God having created the Universe left it alone to be controlled by natural laws. In relation to the above point, the book, Discourse on Method, written by Rene Descartes, establishes a clear methodology of thinking which he calls deductive reasoning whereby one begins by doubting everything until he can no more doubt his own existence â€Å"Cogito Ergo Sum,† meaning â€Å"I think, therefore I am.† The fact that I doubt everything, I cannot doubt my own existence. However, as the great period of enlightenment continued, it faced a lot of rebellion from the emerging group of people who were against the principles of strict adherence to logic and clarity This deviation from restraint, clarity, and reason resulted in the beginning of the Romantic Age in English literature. From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, Romanticism came into play as the major form of literary expression of the time. The Romantic view emphasized emotion, nature, mysteriousness, and self discovery, among others. The idea is that every one needed to learn and interpret reality according to his or her own experience; rather avoid thinking with our own heads high, everyth ing is not about ideas. Jane Eyre clearly demonstrates this romanticism in her own experiences, first, mystery in the red room which later helps her to realize herself discovery a thing that unfolds the truth in order for her to find a better place in this world. She clearly portrays a kind of woman who breaks and gets out of women slavery and conformity of the society and indeed moves to take up bigger roles and responsibilities out of her own independence and separation from the traditions of the society. She is a great figure of the romantic age since she shows how