Enlightenment Art

During the enlightenment various forms of new art, entertainment and learning institutions came about. Due to new advances in printing, reading became a very widespread form of news and entertainment. Reading, however was not well liked by current rulers and soon had regulations placed upon it such as taxes. With this new found love of reading and discussion new academies and universities began to open. These universities allowed mostly elite class people from different groups to come together to learn and discuss issues. Other, more informal organizations also formed during this time, saloons and secret societies are two such organizations. Due to the middle class' intense reading interest, "series" books and libraries came about during this time period. Like books another major form of art and entertainment was music. Famous artists like Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart and Monteverdi were popular. Orchestra and opera were popular ways to enjoy this music.

The material covered in this reading fits into the ideas of this course in several ways. Like many of the other ideas presented in class, the topics covered show us how some of our current ways of life came about and evolved over time. It also shows us the differences between life now and in the past. We can see how far we have come since the enlightenment.

There are many issues from the reading that are still issues today. Like the 18th century, reading is still very much a part of our lives today, almost everything we do involves reading somehow. Almost every town you will come across has its own library. Books are still a huge form of entertainment both directly, and indirectly (when made into movies). As in the 18th century, literacy rates vary from region to region and from gender to gender. Like the past there is also still a problem with government censorship and taxing on people. Today universities are more prominent than ever. However, now people outside of the elite class attend college as well. Like the saloons and secret societies of the past, today there are books clubs and Greek life. Today music is as popular as ever, with thousands of different artists, concerts and genres.