ULOG 17: Literature to Teach not for Pleasure: The Puritan Way

“Literature is a mirror of life because it reflects what life is with all its varied dimensions; it deals about the love and hates, the joys and griefs, the defeats and triumphs of men and women who are living in the pages of the short stories, poems, dramas, etc. It offers you, the reader, a chance to leap outside the walls of yourself, to see through another person’s eyes the depth of the human heart, the human soul”. Kennedy (1997)

The quotation above suggests how literature can entertain us. It deals about love and hates, joys and griefs, defeats and triumphs of the people. It opens your imagination and gives you awareness to others-what is beyond the self. It gives you enjoyment in knowing the different dimensions of life.

But, this concept would not be applicable in Puritan’s literature. This literary write back posits the premise that the purpose of puritan’s literature is to teach and not for pleasure or entertainment.
​

The Puritan Way

​Puritan writers evidently favored the "plain style" of writing, which strives to use simple sentences and familiar language. They are not using Latin quotation or even elaborated metaphor.​Puritans feel that poetry should serve God by clearly expressing only valuable or religious ideas. That’s why they believe that using the plain style in writing was a better tool for revealing God's truth than more metaphorical language. Allusions in the Greek mythology or to classical literature were considered roadblocks to the important spiritual message by the Puritans.

For instances, instead of using a creative metaphor in which a sheet of paper is compared to a beckoning bowl of sweet cream, a Puritan writer would favor a straightforward description of blank paper. If I am going to evaluate that kind of literary concept, that sounds so boring. But, for the concept of teaching it might be easier for them to understand by the use of plain and simple language.

​Puritans feels that poems should serve God by clearly expressing only useful or religious ideas. The other types of writing that were developed during that that time were Biographies, Autobiographies, Histories, Hymns and Theological Studies which the purpose is to provide spiritual insight and instruction. They had also Diaries and Journals for serious self explanation.

They are not into fiction or drama. That is why on the study of Brian H. Cosby (2007) entitled “Toward a Definition of ‘Puritan’ and ‘Puritanism’: A Study in Puritan Historiography” postulated that as the Scriptures notify, the godly can expect to bear reproach for their holy way of life. The godly, then, were derided as killjoys who refer to the Puritans.

Source

​These texts served as writers’ search for signs of God’s approval in their lives and writings. Aesthetic success might be read as spiritual success. The bible served as their basis in their ways of salvation. Pleasure is considered as sin for them. They limit only with the bible as a tool for purification. But, if they are not only limiting into the bible, they have greater perspective in the views of life.

They could probably produce literature for pleasure. As what we have today, we have fiction and drama served as entertainment. If they continue what the Elizabethan era had started in terms of theater production then literature for them is not merely for instruction but also for pleasure.

​However, for us Filipinos, since the time of colonization, we had used our literature as a form of entertainment and education. Oral literatures were used by our ancestors to entertain their children. Stories like “Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang” were used to teach lesson. Novel and Novella like Noli Me Tangere, El Felibusterismo and Urbana at Feliza were used to enlighten the minds of Filipinos against the unjust treatment of the colonizers. Thus, only the Puritans used literature as purely education and not for pleasure.

Thank you for reading!