enlightenment
The enlightenment period in England occurred most prominently in the eighteenth century and helped mold our current thoughts and values into what are accepted by our society today. Besides criticizing religion and broadening the range of science, enlightenment thinkers provided new points of view on society, politics, law, economics, and the overall course of history. The enlightenment period tried to replace a religious worldview with a view more associated in human reason. Many of the older values in England were replaced by human reason in order to combat ignorance, tyranny, and superstition in efforts to build a better world. However, not all of these enlightenment thinkers would agree that a better world was being attained by this period. Underneath of the silver lining that the enlightenment period presented, sat the rest of the society, which was not making progress. The rest of society was actually regressing. The rights of women were non-existent, the middle class (Bourgeoisie) was paying taxes to support a fabulously expensive aristocracy, and the poor were multiplying at alarming rates, leaving more and more empty stomachs on the streets. As the rich were getting richer, the poor suffered while still trying to
Arnold sees a pattern that worries him and I believe that was his basis for writing this piece, He notes the poor being oppressed and the middle class working to support the aristocracy and paying high taxes in order for them to live luxuriously. Ellis and Arnold should both be commended for their efforts and each writes in a powerful way that interest's and touches the reader's emotions. There were writers of this period that are less celebrated for their work, yet these writers had important messages of warning that could be heard very clearly because they spoke of the harsh truth's of this period. Repeatedly Ellis uses the words moral power in the piece and I believe that to be the backbone of her argument that women are a necessity to man and maybe even more important to society than man. The poor and the working middle class had built many of the great inventions of this period, the railroads as well as the manufactories. In Ellis's piece, she writes of something, which was good about the enlightenment period and used the writing as a call for a brighter and more powerful future for women. Anarchy is an evident event waiting to happen if these actions continue as followed and Arnold does not want to ignore this problem like many of his colleagues. In another writing that proves to be vital to enlightenment period, Matthew Arnold composed a piece called Culture and Anarchy, which focuses mainly on the poor and the working middle class and the hardships that they must endure in order to survive and please the aristocracy. Ellis's writing is in an upbeat tone that praises the work of the middle class woman, however, I believe that she is at the same time writing about the strength that women possess and is making a point to show that they are an important part of society in which they need to be taken more seriously. I like to think that this piece by Ellis and others like it helped to give women a sense of self-dignity and pride that they used as a focal point in their quest for women's rights. Both writers had very good purpose in writing their respective piece's and each one made their own special connection with their readers. Sarah Stickney Ellis wrote a piece called The Women of England, in which she depicts the role that woman played in England during the enlightenment period. Women in the middle class were seen as the moral backbone of the English society. The middle class was seen as having the moral power and intelligence of the country and was also designated as the pillar of England's strength. Ellis states that a woman's character makes man a wiser and much better person because of her tough mental state.
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Acceptance Essays
