Comparing 17th and 18th Century England to 21st Century Social Media

Comparing 17^th and 18^th Century England to 21^st Century Social Media

            According to “Low and High People” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, the increase of reading and literacy throughout Britain in the 17^th-18^th centuries caused the world of literature to drastically change.  Public print culture increased during Oliver Cromwell’s rule over the Commonwealth of England, and then continued to grow after his falling out of power.  Before the 17^th century, writing and publications in England were mostly about nobility, aristocrats, and upper class; however this shift in literacy beginning at the end of the 17^th century allowed for story lines and main characters to be of the middle and lower classes.  As the chapter “Low and High People,” mentions, “the stage found room for stories of apprentices and criminals and middle-class lovers who talked in prose like ordinary people,” (2435).  Also, the explosion of novels allowed for writers to create plotlines that were relatable to “the common reader.” Along with plays and novels, “the language of poetry also came slowly down to earth,” (“Low and High People” 2435).  Poetry was no longer valued by the author’s education, but rather by its interest to the common people. This developed a total change in mentality toward poetry and literature all across England—poetry could “flourish anywhere and cover any subject,” and the idea arose that “poets were born, not made,” (“Low and High People” 2436-2437).  Thus, in the later part of the 17^th century and the beginning of the 18^th century a cultural and literary revolution developed with common people becoming involved in reading and publication.

            A similar cultural shift in publication has recently occurred in the 21^st century with the boom of using social media as a means of communication.  Because of venues such as online blogging and journaling, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Vine, people of any class, education, ethnicity, religious background, and age can post anything—literature, journalism, and/or art—on the Internet as a way of communication and even publication.  This cultural movement toward online communication and publication is parallel to the increase of public print and commoner writing in 17^th and 18^th century England because in both eras any idea could be (and now can be) expressed and published by almost anyone in society.   Regarding the topic of publication and literature, it is interesting how history repeats itself so similarly. 

Work Cited:

“Low and High People”. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, George H. Logan, Katharine E. Maus, and    Barbara K. Lewalski. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ninth ed. Vol. C.   New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.