SHE Unit-2
SHE Unit-2
SHE Unit-2
Throughout the Elizabethan period the theatre was half open to the
sky and the plays were acted during daytime. But towards the end of
Shakespeare’s career great changes for the better took place. In 1608
James Burbage bought the refectory of old Blackfriars Monastery and
converted it into an indoor playhouse. Here plays were acted by
candlelight and therefore more stage effects were possible.
Again in Macbeth, Act II, Scene 1, the time of action is night and
this is suggested by Banquo’s remark
The Elizabethan age was a period of transition from the old religious
drama to modern non-religious plays. It is often said that the Church
was the cradle of English drama. In the beginning the pageants were
performed inside the Church or the Church premises by the clergymen.
They were followed by the Miracle and Morality plays enacted with the
purpose of imparting both instruction and entertainment Aflci (he
50 SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
Renaissance there was a revival of learning and the demand was for the
new type of classically influenced non-religious drama. At first these
plays were written according to the classical tradition, observing the
three unities of time, place and action. Later these rules were broken
and the modem type of drama evolved. The first English dramatist of
some originality was Robert Greene, who was one of the “University
Wits”. The famous Spanish Tragedy, written by Thomas Kyd, is
considered to be the first tragedy in English. However, Christopher
Marlowe, the author of Tamberlaine, The Jew of Malta, Dr. Faustus
and Edward II, is recognized by all as the Father of English Tragedy.
The East India Company lasted for two hundred and fifty-eight
years. Started in 1600 for trade purposes, it ended in 1858 after having
built up a vast empire in India. The first Englishman to come to India is
believed to have been Father Thomas Stevetis, who became head of the
Jesuit College in Goa in 1579. His letters to his father aroused in England
a desire to have trade with India. As a result of this, in 1585 two English
merchants, Ralph Fitch and William Leeds, arrived at Fatehpur Sikri, the
city founded by Akbar, the Mughal Emperor. But the first important step
towards England’s commercial enterprise was taken in 1600 when Queen
Elizabeth granted a Royal Charter to the East India Company. Even
then it took eight years for the English traders to establish their first
trading centre at Surat.
The East India Company had a very humble beginning. It had only
125 shareholders with a capital of £ 70,000. A fleet of ships was fitted
out, members of the Company contributed whatever they could, and
when the fleet returned the profits were divided among the shareholders.
In the beginning the Company was able to make enormous profit but
later on it had to compete with many rival companies, both European
and English. So the East India Company had its ups and downs. In
certain years it was able to declare a high dividend of even 50%, but in
certain other years it could make no profit at all. However, it can safely
be said that on an average it was in a position to give the shareholders a
dividend of 6% per annum.
The East India Company outlived all other rival companies. Having
made steady progress in trade its next effort was to establish important
trade centres in India. In 1640 some land to the north of San Thome, the
Portuguese settlement, was obtained for rent from the Raja of
Chandragiri. Here the far-sighted Francis Day erected a number of
buildings and a fort which was named Fort St. George, after the patron
Saint of England. This was the beginning of the Presidency of Madras.
The name “Madras” is derived from Portuguese “Madre de Dios”, which
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 53
meant “Mother of God’. Bombay was a marshy place which belonged
to the Portuguese. In 1661 it was given to Charles II of England as part
of the dowry when he mairied Catherine of Braganza. Its value was so
little realised that the King parted with the place to the East India Company
for an annual rent of just ten pounds. Because of the efforts of the first
Governor Gerald Aungier the place was converted into a beautiful and
well-fortified town with a natural harbour. The trading factories at Surat
were soon shifted to Bombay. This was the nucleus of what was later
called the Presidency of Bombay. Towards the end of the seventeenth
century, in 1690, the famous British Agent Job Charnock built at Kalikata
(later known as Calcutta) a fort which he named Fort William in honour
of King William III. Several other factories were opened in Bengal and
placed under a President and Council with their headquarters in Fort
William. Thus was started the Presidency of Bengal.
In keeping with the colonial spirit of the Stuart period the l ast
India Company had acquired large territories in India. Report a Iler report
54 SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
reached England of serious scandals and irregularities and the home
government thought it necessary to control the activities of the Company.
In the light of the report submitted by a committee of enquiry (appointed
for the purpose) the British Parliament passed the Regulating Act in
1773. According to this Act the Governor of Bengal was made the
Governor-General with supervisory powers over the Presidencies of
Bombay and Madras. He was to be assisted by a council of four members.
A Supreme Court consisting of a Chief Justice and three other judges
was appointed to deal with all kinds of crime. The Directors of the
Company were expected to place copies of their correspondences before
Parliament. The purpose of this Act was to provide proper administrative
machinery for the Company’s territory, but it failed to achieve its purpose
and so the Home Government was obliged to do something more effective.
The result was the passing of Pitt’s India Act of 1784. According to this
new measure all Indian affairs had to be managed by a committee of
three senior Directors, supervised by a Board of Control appointed by
the Crown, but in actual practice the President of the Board of Control
exercised all the power.
The East India Company had its impact on English society.'It was
instrumental in popularizing Indian goods, like fine cotton calico cloth,
silk and tea for which there was great demand in the English market.
But the things which were in greater demand were the spices, especially
pepper. It was used for preserving meat for the winter, flavouring food
and drink and for medicinal purposes. Into the fabric of English society
was added a new but unwelcome element. There were numerous
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 57
Englishmen who benefited by the exploitation which followed Clive’s
conquest in India. Most of these men who came to India as employees
of the Company, especially in its initial stage, with the exception of a
very few, were drawn from the lower strata of English society. They
came seeking a meagre livelihood but returned home with immense
wealth, acquired in most cases through foul means. Robert Clive, for
instance, joined the Company as a clerk, drawing a nominal salary of ten
pounds a year, but when he returned home he was reported to have
become the King’s wealthiest subject. This class of wealthy people with
their opulence and outlandish ways were nicknamed “Nabobs”. The old
and established aristocratic society was not eager to own them as
members of their fraternity. The Company also provided ample
opportunities for intellectual commerce which gave far greater dividends.
Thus many English scholars took keen interest in the study of Indian
religions and literature. Bhagavad Gita, which is ranked among the
greatest treatises on philosophy, was translated into English by Charles
Wilkins. William Jones translated Sakuntala, the immortal Drama, by
the great Indian poet Kalidasa. A good number of Indian scholars like
Raja Ram Mohan Roy though they did not change their religion became
familiar with Christianity. The publication in 1820 of the famous book
"The Precepts of Jesus ” by Ram Mohan Roy is an eloquent testimony
to the author’s deep knowledge of the Bible. Mention may also be made
of the linguistic influences. Many words of Indian origin, like banian,
bungalow, jungle, Swaraj, to mention only a few, have found their way
into the English vocabulary. The influence of English on Indian languages,
especially South Indian languages, has been such that many Indians find
it difficult to convey their ideas in their own mother-tongues without
using English words occasionally.
CHAPTER IX
The Civil War was the culmination of the cold war that was going
on between the King and the Parliament for nearly four decades starting
from 1603, the year in which the Stuart King James I ascended the
throne of England. The issue at hand was “who should be more powerful,
the King or the Parliament” and the Civil War resolved it in favour of the
latter. After the Civil War no King, however great he might be, was able
to rule against the will of the people represented by Parliament. The
theory of the Divine Right of Kings was put into cold storage, never to
be used again.
There was frequent feud between James I and the Parliament, but
the King always followed a policy of compromise and managed without
any open war. Matters came to a crisis when his son Charles I came to
the throne in 1625. Though he had many good qualities of a King, he
was also stubborn and self-willed. He would break rather than bend.
This attitude naturally led to an open conflict between him and the
Parliament.
For the next eleven years, from March 1629 to April 1640, he ruled
without any Parliament. During his personal rule he trusted only his
close favorites, like Thomas Wentworth and Archbishop Laud. The entire
civil administration was under the charge of Thomas Wentworth, who
was successively made Lord Wentworth, and Earl of Strafford.
Ecclesiastical affairs were managed by Archbishop William Laud, who
was for bringing the Church of England as near as possible to the Roman
Catholic Church. Following the advice given by Wentworth, Charles
thought of enhancing his revenue by raising ship-money. In the past
ship-money was collected only from coastal areas for defence purposes.
Now the King decided to collect ship-money from the entire country
including interior places. People as a whole were against the tax and
their cause was championed by John Hampden, a rich gentlemen from
Buckinghamshire. He opposed the measure on the plea that the King
had no authority to collect a tax without the approval of Parliament. The
matter was taken to court and the servile judges gave the verdict in
favour of the King. This decision increased the irritation of the people.
Charles was convinced that the only solution for hr. piohlcnr. " n
to call a Parliament. So ending his personal rule which hr.ted I. >< । |. . n
long years be convened a Parliament in 1640. This Paihiinu nt < it Im
such a long time that people called it the Long Parliiinicnl It ... I. .| .i. .1 (
very aggressive attitude towards the King and his liivoiiiin lit. tin
Earl of Strafford and Archbishop Laud. Both of them h hut ug in
64 SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
the Tower and later executed. The Long Parliament was dominated by
Puritans who wanted to do away with Episcopacy in England. This was
not acceptable to many and they started siding with the King.
The whole nation became divided into two groups, one group
supporting the King and the other supporting the Parliament. The
supporters of the King were called the Royalists or Cavaliers and the
people supporting the Parliament were nicknamed Roundheads. The
supporters of the King included a large majority of the nobles and wealthy
men of the country the great body of the clergy, both Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge, and all those who were strongly attached to the
Episcopal Government and the Anglican ritual. All those who liked the
splendour of dress and a pleasure-seeking life also joined the King’s
faction. The Roman Catholics were also on the side of the king for two
reasons: the Queen was a Roman Catholic, and secondly, the King was
tolerant towards them. Most of the supporters of the Roundheads were
freeholders, merchants and shopkeepers of the towns. All Protestants,
Non-Conformists, municipal corporations and the majority of the House
of Commons were on the side of the Roundheads. These people were
led by some of the mighty Earls and Lords. By 1642 both the groups
became turbulent and started preparing for war. The King collected an
army from Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire and wanted to make for
London, which was the stronghold of the Parliamentarians. The
encounter between the King’s army and that of the Parliament took
place at a place called Edgehill which was twenty-nine miles north-west
of Oxford. The Parliamentary army fared badly in the battle and Oliver
Cromwell who fought in it was thoroughly disgusted with its performance.
On 29th October 1642, Charles entered Oxford and made it the
centre of all his military operations. From there in 1643 he planned a
triple attack on London from north, east and south - three different
directions where he had friends, but like many of his other schemes, it
proved to be a failure. The Roundheads under the leadership of Pym
made an agreement with the Scots, and their combined army defeated
the Royalists at Marston Moor near York in July 1644. Meanwhile
Cromwell reorganized the Parliamentary army with meticulous care.
The new army consisting of 20,000 men with Fairfax as Commander-in-
THE CIVIL WAR AND ITS SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE 65
Chief was called the New Model Army. Cromwell himself was appoi nted
Lieutenant-General of the cavalry. On 14in June 1645 the New Model
Army defeated the King at Naseby in Northampton shire and with this
defeat the fortunes of Charles were on the decline. On 5 May 1646
the King fled in disguise from Oxford and rode to Newark where he
surrendered to the Scottish army hoping that they would help him. On
20m June Oxford was captured by the Parliamentary army. When the
Scots knew that the King would not agree to their proposal to suppress
Episcopacy in England, they surrendered to Parliament on 30 January
1647. Meanwhile tension was mounting between the army and the
Parliament in the contest for power and the army came out successful.
The King was removed from Holmby House where he was lodged to
the army quarters at New market. Within a few months the King managed
to escape to Carisbrook Castle in the Isle of Wight.
With the defeat and death ofthe King the Cavuln i , In.i tin li pom i
and prominence in the society. Even after the Re'.loinlimi tin \ i oiild
not claim to have regained their original importnnei I Im tin pnlh was
prepared for parliamentary democracy in I jigland I h< .■ >i • iliiiggle
between the King and the Parliament was n pm mil ol I'liiilnn
predominance. For the next few years the Puritan .pun pi i ml' <1 every
aspect of social life in England. Though Puritanism dh d mil m tin years
66 SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
following the revival of the monarchy, it had left its imprint on English
society and particularly the spirit of independence. The Civil War marked
the beginning of political parties in England. Starting as Royalists and
Roundheads, the party system came to stay in England, though changing
names from time to time. Another significance of the Civil War was that
it inaugurated revolutionary changes which were more or less settled
with the Glorious Revolution in 1688.