Emily Drummond European History

Was the Enlightenment an era of optimism? Illustrate your answer with references to specific
individuals and their works.

Prussian philosopher, Immanuel Kant, once stated that, only he who, himself enlightened, is
not afraid of shadows. By definition, to enlighten is to shed light on, illuminate and ultimately make
whatever in question clearer; to bring something from darkness. The essence of this definition is
directly applicable to the enlightened beings Kant speaks of, and to the era of which they emerged
into prominence the Age of Enlightenment. The middle of the eighteenth century brought a shift in
philosophy. Influenced by moments in history such as the both mind-expanding and border-
expanding Age of Discovery, and the more recent Scientific Revolution, the stage became truly set
for the Enlightenment Era to cast its light upon Western Europe. During this time, various intelligent
figures such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu took the radical scientific advances of the past
and the evidence of problems presently surrounding them and propelled themselves into a place of
reason and rationality. Such notions would find themselves kindling a certain flame within people.
Kant gave the suggestion that they, Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason! The
Enlightenment offered such an opportunity to those it extended to. It allowed people to not only
think, but to question. In Rousseaus Social Contract he queried the idea that the Divine Right of a
King was not from God, but from the people will, and soon, others began to see that with this type of
thought, fantastic change could come about. There could be equality, natural rights, and an emphasis
on the importance of an individuals mind. There is no doubt that when this light had been poured
over the darkness that had prevailed for so long, it was only expected to get brighter. For this reason,
the Enlightenment was an intensely optimistic period. Reason, rationality and questioning would
surely bring human beings and society to betterment. However, through studying consequences of the
Enlightenment such as the bourgeoisie, who could only extend class divisions, and the reactions of
women such as Mary Wollstonecraft, who saw that women experienced so little change in such a
progressing era, the Enlightenment is seen under harsher lights, with little hope for the future.
Although the Enlightenment was optimistic theoretically, with the notion that reason and rationality
would bring Europe to a brighter reality, its true results left a large portion of people mainly women
and lower classes underserved.

Radical ideas were thoroughly perpetuated by the Enlightenment. The realisation that society
could be reconstructed into a place that discards certain characteristics of religion and monarchy
aspects so fundamentally engrained into Europe, and embrace ideas such as government, deism,
scientific reason and even economic freedoms, leads us to believe that, like the Renaissance that
happened centuries prior, the power of the individual mind was at the forefront. With this ideology,
so many areas of life were challenged by the big thinkers of the time commonly known as the
philosophes. These individuals gave the Enlightenment its substance, and the traits we see almost
instantly becoming parts of society in the near future. We can look at Adam Smith, and his sweeping
concept of laissez-faire economics. By the time the Industrial Revolution found itself in its prime,
these ideals were being embraced throughout Europe. Furthermore, we can study Montesquieus
desire for a branched government system, of which we see emerging through the creation of a House
of Commons in Britain. These ideas definitely gave optimism to many in Europe, however only to
the extent of the voice behind them largely, as was customary at the time, through men. Women,
 Emily Drummond European History

even in an enlightened society, found themselves in almost exactly the same place. The
Enlightenment could give no optimism to those who were no represented, and women undoubtedly
fell into this category. Significant figures, such as Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft, lead us to such
a conclusion. Wollstonecraft stated, I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over
themselves, in her A Vindication of the Rights of Women. From this text we can gather that she saw
the definite divide between men and women of the time, and felt that change should come about. In
her works she puts focus on women having rights and being educated, for in a world embracing this,
improvement would only occur. Wollstonecraft was tired of women being weak, obedient and
confined to being mere objects in the hands of men; she, an early feminist, sought equality. The
Enlightenment, by its optimistic nature, shouldve carried these beliefs, and allowed people to delve
into them but it did not. Rousseau said on the matter, Always justify the burdens you impose upon
girls but impose them anyway. They must be thwarted from an early age. They must be exercised to
constraint, so that it costs them nothing to stifle all their fantasies to submit them to the will of
others. These words summarize the true conditions women found themselves in during the
Enlightenment. Womens status was still tied to their husbands, women were still expected to raise
families, and women were still not allowed to attend school. Although women were now marrying
later, it was only due to men wanting to be educated before marrying thus, still an action advancing
the man. If Wollstonecrafts ideas were embraced as much as the thoughts of the philosophes, the
profound optimism the Enlightenment offered would provide outcomes that upheld what the Age of
Reason justly promoted improving society and human beings.

Consistency throughout history shows us that class divisions are continually a problem within
society. Prior to the Enlightenment, it was a mere part of life that the nobility had serfs or peasant
labourers, and these people, despite their quality of life, remained in such positions until they died.
Although the end of the Middle Age brought with it less harshness to the life of a peasant, the lower
class still remained; there was always a divide between the peasants and the nobility. The
Enlightenment saw the developing of something new within class systems. The bourgeoisie became a
new middle class in society, and from this we see how the Enlightenment, in its optimistic glory, only
perpetuated the gap between the upper and lower classes. Between the 1500s and the 1700s, Europes
cities saw remarkable growth. A natural consequence of this was that a new middle class had room to
be established. The bourgeoisie became those who could gain wealth and success without being a
part of the nobility; in many ways, an urban upper class. They worked in finance, trade and industrial
areas, and with this garnered wealth, respect and ties between the people and the government. For
those who entered into a bourgeoisie lifestyle, the Enlightenment was a beneficial occurrence. These
people were able to increase land ownership, marry into nobility, be educated, and if anything
purchase titles for themselves. However optimistic this was for those it managed to grasp, there is no
doubt that from it an unrepresented lower class found itself unchanged. While the bourgeoisie
became an accessory to the nobility, they created a barrier between high and lower classes, and as a
result made the common more common. The bourgeoisie became another class of people to exploit
those below it, and we see this through instances such as the Industrial Revolution. This event
allowed a middle class to rise up and find control, and resulted in extreme consequences, whether
through the lack of workers rights, or the harsh reality of the free market. Through the
Enlightenment, the bourgeoisie were able to use their positions as educated and improved average
 Emily Drummond European History

people to simply become as the nobility. From this, we see the effects of such an optimistic period,
once again, be misleading.

Both women and the lower class are specific examples of those who gained little from the
Enlightenment, however, society in general felt distance from this era; it did not cater to their wants
or needs. We see this through the rise of the Romantic Era as a reaction to the Enlightenment. Where
the Enlightenment emphasized reason and science as characteristics that would steer the world to a
heightened place, a sense of disenchantment came from those it either did not benefit, or did not meet
the expectations of. This caused people to feel that the Enlightenment did not provide for feeling and
human personality, and that from it society would become conventional, unequal and oppressive. The
stirring of these ideas grew to be the Romantic Era. This movement focused on art, literature, music,
aesthetic and emotion, which is a stark contrast to the reasonable, scientific and political endeavours
of the Enlightenment. German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, All the knowledge I
possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own. This perfectly displays the eventual
underwhelm of the Enlightenment. Although knowledge was beneficial, it was limiting in the sense
that it was generally free to all, whereas subjects that derived from the heart such as art and music,
were truly intuitive. When viewed as a repercussion of the Enlightenment, Romanticism gives
evidence that even the most optimistic of eras leaves its people distressed, unsatisfied and withdrawn.

The Enlightenment as an idea was magnificent and led to positive installments in

society, such as the development of liberalism, but it can only be described as optimistic in
theory. Truthfully, it was a glorified period of time in which those dissatisfied didnt become less
so, but found themselves in much the same place. Through studying figures like Mary
Wollstonecraft, the rise of the bourgeoisie and the Romantic Era as a reaction, we can see that in
order for the Enlightenment to really have the optimistic results expected, representation and
appreciation of wide span ideas would have to be embraced.