The Aged Reason & Enlightenment

Out of all of the Enlightenment photos, the picture I found the most intriguing was the scene of a young man and woman who were involved in an arranged marriage.  This photo clearly depicts life during the Age of Enlightenment.  The common characteristic of rationalism that was evident during this time period plays into the mood of the picture.  While the idea that rationalism played an important role in the science world, it was a key part of the social aspect as well.  The fostering of the arranged marriage was due to the benefits that each side of the family would receive.  During that time period the merchants had all of the money.  The arrangement between the aristocrat and the merchant would bring the aristocrat wealth while it brought the merchant higher up on the social ladder.  Their decisions are focused upon the idea of rationalism.  It is an easy and convenient way to create benefits for both parties involved, besides the married couple of course.

 

The thoughts and ideas of the people living during the Enlightenment directly correlated to the music of that time as well.  The music was clean cut, simple, and logical, and it showed signs of the classes coming together.  This is similar to the marriage depicted in the photo in respect to that the moderately lower class merchant created an agreement with the aristocrat.  Another way in which the music parallels society is in the balance and proportion of the instruments.  For example, a string quartet is strictly the combination of two violins, one viola, and one cello.  Each instrument is unique and is valuable to creating the correct sound.  In the arranged marriage, the young man and woman, the merchant, and the aristocrat all played specific roles in the marriage.  While this comparison may be far fetched, it is interesting to think of all the different parallels between the music and society during that time period.