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- The theory of revolution upheld by many writers in the
Romantic period believed that salvation lay in dismantling
established institutions. This contrasts with Jonathan's
Swift view in Gulliver's Travels, covered
in "The Enlightenment in Europe." Distinguishing
between the ideals and reality of institutional practices,
Swift nonetheless argues that ideas about social structures
created to monitor justice have their own power (see
pages 433–483 in volume D).
- Although both Victor Hugo's Et nox facta est
and John Milton's Paradise Lost, covered in
"The Renaissance in Europe," paint a picture of
Satan, Hugo's work explores the defiant psychology
of Satan. Whereas Milton draws attention to cosmic drama
on a large scale, Hugo creates a narrower focus, thereby
creating a poignant as well as nightmarish vision of Satan
(see pages 2996–3060 in volume
C).
- The naïveté and good feeling that characterizes
the central character of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions
resembles Voltaire's Candide, covered in "The
Enlightenment in Europe." Voltaire, however, emphasizes
Candide's experiences over his personality, whereas
for Rousseau, feelings are more significant than experiences
(see pages 520–580 in volume
D).
- The Jansenistes, mentioned in Rousseau's Confessions,
are a sect of strict Catholics; they are also mentioned
in chapters 21 and 22 of Voltaire's Candide,
covered in "The Enlightenment in Europe" (see
pages 556–564 in volume D).
- Rousseau's presentation of the self is in sharp
contrast to the vision of the self posited in Michel de
Montaigne's writings, covered in "The Renaissance
in Europe." Where Montaigne emphasizes the similarities
among the reader, author, and humankind, Rousseau insists
on the uniqueness of the individual. (see
pages 2632–2671 in volume C).
- Prologue in Heaven in Goethe's Faust
is patterned on Job 1.6–12 and 2.1–6, covered
in "The Invention of Writing and the Earliest Literatures"
(see pages 77–93 in volume
A).
- William Blake's Mock On, Mock On, Voltaire,
Rousseau voices his opposition to the rationalism of
eighteenth-century thought, covered in "The Enlightenment
in Europe." In Blake's view, Rousseau and Voltaire
belong together because both implicitly oppose orthodox
Christianity as well as private varieties of revealed religion.
(See pages 517–580 in Volume
D).
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