Satire in the Enlightenment

I wish that we had spent more time in class studying the satirical pieces in the book like Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," which is one of my favorite works not only of the Enlightenment period, but ever. I feel that "A Modest Proposal" displays unique characteristics that unite the ideals of the philosophes and romantics. While Swift's essay is educational in that, through attempting to "rationalize" a solution for a problem caused by absurd and unfair treatment of the Irish by the English, Swift's engagement with his subject matter also shows clearly throughout the essay and while it is not a spontaneous work, it is sincere.

The playfulness of Vivaldi's music

In many of Vivaldi's composition's, such as The Four Seasons, the listener hears an almost play tone in the music. In the concerto, he is able to break through the formal and rhythmic structure by giving brightness to it, which really highlights the quality of his work. He is able to impress the listener with a variety of innovative melodies which were quite pleasing for the listener to hear. He was also among the first to compose music that was meant to be heard by a wide majority of the public, instaed of simply by the minority of educated people who had for so long been the desired audience for composers. His popularity among people of all educations may in fact come from this joyous and playful quality that his music contained. He was one of the most influential composers, and helped bring Baraoque music into the classical style.

Rococo

The rococo period of art was an interesting subcategory of French art that gave a bit of insight into the tastes and activities of the French nobility at the time. The delicate nature of rococo art indicates that the nobility of France had begun to move past the richness of baroque art and were embracing a more natural, floral type of art. Baroque art was created during a time of philosophical upheaval and religious revival, so it was appropriately bold and passionate. Baroque art was characterized by bold contrasts, depictions of religious and mythological figures, and strong strokes and accents. As the nobility in French centered around Louis XV, their lofty status, isolation from the people of France, and Louis XV's own excesses allowed them to cultivate a more delicate art form. Rococo art had an element of playfulness to it that matched the spirit of the nobility at the time and notably appeared in paintings depicting people performing everyday tasks in a lighthearted manner. Rococo art also drew influences from foreign cultures, such as Oriental artwork and German baroque. The nobility were well-cultured in foreign arts, unlike the lower classes, and they utilized their knowledge of these other cultures in the creation of Rococo art.

Rousseau's Lack of Evidence

Rousseau's largest flaw was his lack of evidence in his arguments. His views on education were basically unfounded, as well as his views on the role of women and family units. His claims were basically supported by his insistence that nature dictated these rules, and that disobeying nature leads to failure. However, Rousseau had no actual evidence to support his theories on the supposed rules of nature. His views on women were probably based on the established attitudes at the time among men, which were inherently sexist. His views on education were also relatively unfounded. While he did challenge the concept of universal education as indoctrination, his foundation for his views is flawed.
Rousseau did have some ideas that were good. His "Contract Social" was a forerunner of many treatises of the same spirit. While this work did not contain much evidence, it was based more on original observation and was quite progressive. While Voltaire avoided the question of racial equality, his statement implied that racial equality was an issue for him.

Surprise Symphony

When i heard about Haydn's Surprise Symphony(Symphony No. 94), I wanted to learn more about the intentions that Haydn had when he composed this particular work. After some investigation, I learned that what we learned in class was not 100 percent accurate. It was never Haydn's intention to include the "surprises" as a means of keeping his audience awake. According to Haydn's biographer, Haydn simply wanted to surprise the public with something new which they had not experienced before, and make a brilliant debut that would outdo his student Pleyel. The supposed awakening aspect the symphony has on the audience is merely a side effect.

Rococo

The Rococo period marks a movement in art towards subjects that exist in nature and their ability to bring pleasure the observer. Personal pleasure after all was the whole purpose of Rococo art. In rococo paintings, bright pastels are used to create an air of happiness, and the subject matter doesn’t usually stray far from human sexuality, the depiction of human sexuality in painting actually lead to some criticism from people who found it immoral. With ornamentation and sculpture there was an effort to recreate nature, in some sense the outdoors was brought indoors. This was not the first time in history where an emphasis was put on finding personal pleasure. This was also found during the Greek Hellenistic period where written works shifted away from profound topics and dealt with nature and human sexuality. Philosophies of the time such as Epicureanism encouraged people to seek pleasure in their everyday lives. This shift came as a result of the political turmoil of the period. Is it possible that the same thing is true with the Rococo period?

The Oath of Horatii

This post deals with The Oath of Horatii. I wanted to make a post about this painting because when I was examining it for aspects of the Enlightenment period, I noticed something strange. In the back part of the painting, a woman is covered in a blue cloth which is most likely her clothing. She is not watching what is going on with the three brothers and their father because she is clearly upset that they are going to battle. She also is shielding two children from what is going on. She manages to cover the eyes of the little girl, but not the young boy. Why is the young boy so interested in what is going on? I came up with an idea. I think that the young boy wants to watch what is going on because it is in his blood. Basically, he is a boy and one day will be a strong man. He wants to see what the three brothers are doing so that when he becomes that age, he will be as strong, curageous, and loyal as them.