Fadillah Ayu Natasya

200512501006

Assignment 9

Mengapa Era Milton atau Puritan Age disebut-sebut sebagai tahun kematian
drama? Tulis essay singkat mengenai hal ini (400-500 words)

Why is the Milton era or the Puritan age called the year of the death drama?

During the Puritan period (1620-1660), English dramas began to suffer

serious setbacks and even died, especially after the nobility had been ruled by
the puritans. In 1642, theaters were closed by the British parliament of the
majority to view it as a den of wickedness.

For Elizabeth I and her successors James I and Charles I, theatre was a
good way of keeping the people of London happy, and something that they
enjoyed being associated with.

Charles’ enemies, on the other hand, were fervent Puritans, united by

their disapproval of the monarchy, which was seen as too Catholic, and of the
theatre, which was despised for its frivolity and, like most other forms of
entertainment, regarded as sinful.

These views were central to the Puritans’ Protestant movement, which

regarded the reformation of the Church of England to be only half complete, and
aimed to stamp out remaining traces of Catholicism. Such traces included what
they saw as excessive levity, and, if necessary, a royal family that was seen as far
too sympathetic to the Catholics.
 Puritan people think that drama or theatrical activities represent the habit
of evil so that there were no prominent figures for drama. Their chief complaint
was that secular entertainments distracted people from worshipping God,
though they also felt that the theater’s increasing popularity symbolized the
moral iniquity of city life. For instance, they regarded the convention of boy
actors playing women’s roles as immoral, and some Puritan preachers even felt
that the sinfulness of play-acting either contributed to or else directly caused
London’s frequent outbreaks of plague.

The conservative sect of Protestantism disliked theatres because they

were seen as immoral places harbouring anti-Puritan ideas and groups. This
immorality was manifested in criminal groups often found in theatres, who
would steal from visitors or coerce them into criminal activity such as
prostitution. These groups were heavily associated with the issue of
drunkenness at theatres, which also opposed conservative Puritan ideals of
sobriety.

Therefore, Puritans were strongly against theatres due to their promotion

of immoral acts both on stage and within the crowds. The plays themselves
often included references to liberal morals such as pre-marital sex, thus Puritans
strongly resented all aspects of the theatre. Furthermore, these immoral plays
were commonly performed on Sundays. This conflicted with conservative view
of Sunday being a day of church and prayer, with no social activities to be
practiced. Thus, the theatre experience was wholly repugnant to the strict
Puritan group. The Puritans’ strict adherence to Protestant principles conflicted
with the experience of theatre which promoted liberal values and the
prioritisation of social activities, both legal and criminal, over the devotion to
prayer.