1. King Louis Xiv rule in France is often considered as the epitome of absolutism. He modernized France and was dubbed the “sun king” by his subjects. Kangxi brought long-term stability in the Chinese empire and ruled for historical 73 years expanding the kingdom. Peter the great is also a famous expansionist and famous modernizer of the Russian Kingdom. Aurangzeb is remembered for his ability to control almost one third of the world’s population. All these leaders were draconian and expansionists. While Kangxi, Peter, and Aurangzeb were expansionists, Louis XIV was less of an expansionist (Lewis, 2008).
2. Shakespeare’s plays were determined by a society that was determined by class. His plays cut across the class system. Some of the plays present characters that are extremely low on the British class order while others present the top most of the society such as Kings and members of the monarch. The classical example of a cross class play includes Henry series with characters such as Henry V and Falstaff (Dobson & Wells, 2001).
3. Economic changes, arising from increased trade and the advancement of cities, created an artistic revolution. The artistic revolution permeated the boundaries of class, gender, ethnicity, and religion. During the medieval ages, art was primarily influenced by religion and nude paintings were abhorred. At the time of enlightenment and the renaissance, art took a new form the incorporated secular ideas. Progressive ideas of modernism and individual freedom were presented by artists in various forms, and central role of religion in the culture was marked by continued paintings, music, and architecture heavily influenced by Christian lifestyles (Herst, 2010).
References
Herst, J. (2010). The Shortest History of Europe. ReadHow you want. New York.
Lewis, Brenda. (2008). The Kings and Queens of Europe, Grapange Books, New York.
