The document provides context about the Enlightenment period from 1650-1800. Key developments included Kepler discovering the first law of planetary motion in 1605, Galileo developing the telescope and supporting the Copernican model of the solar system in 1609, and Newton publishing "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" in 1687, which reflected the growing scientific revolution. Exploration and imperialism brought Europeans into contact with new cultures, while the declining influence of the church led philosophers to question religious beliefs and the existence of God. The document asks how these contextual aspects are incorporated in the novel Perfume.

1. PERFUME The Enlightenment: 1650-1800 by S Abeyawardene

2. The Enlightenment: 1650-1800 The Roots of the Enlightenment Key Events: 1605 - Kepler discovers first law of planetary motion 1609 - Galileo develops his first telescope and supports the sun-centered Copernican model of the solar system 1687 - Newton publishes Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica How is this scientific revolution reflected in the novel? What is God’s place in this emergent scientific world? How is this question addressed in Perfume ?

3. Other developments… Exploration and Imperialism - brought Europeans into contact with new cultures The Declining Influence of the Church - philosophers claimed rational thought to be more important as a guide to conduct than religion - it became much more common in European intellectual circles to put the concepts of religious belief to question. Does God even exist? The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) - Bohemian Protestants revolted against their incoming Catholic king. His divine right to monarchy was questioned. How – if at all – does Suskind incorporate these contextual aspects in Perfume ?

4. Most importantly… John Comenius (1592–1670) questioned the necessity of war, emphasizing the similarity of man by writing that “we are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood.” Dutch thinker Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) wrote that the right of an individual to live and exist peacefully transcends any responsibility to a government’s idea of national duty. These ‘enlightened’, yet controversial ideas of that time are widely accepted, today. Can you think where?

5. Fundamentally, the Enlightenment heralded… man’s ability to reason, to look past the traditions and conventions that had dominated Europe in the past, and to make decisions for himself the separation and freedom of man’s intellect from God - a development that opened the door to new discoveries and ideas (an important contextual aspect in our study of the novel) the decline of the most powerful of Europe’s long-standing institutions, the church and the monarchy.

6. INDIVIDUALISM, RELATIVISM, AND RATIONALISM … encompassed everything the Enlightenment would stand for. Individualism, which emphasized the importance of the individual and his inborn rights. Relativism, was the concept that different cultures, beliefs, ideas, and value systems had equal merit. Rationalism was the conviction that with the power of reason, humans could arrive at truth and improve the world. How are these contextual ideas brought into the novel? How does the story of Grenouille, our alienated antihero, reflect any of these?