Restoration & Enlightenment

1660-1798

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Also known as Age of Reason, Neoclassical Era, Augustan Period, Age of Pope, and Age of Johnson

Oliver Cromwell

Nicknamed “Old Ironsides,” he led a rebellion against the crown and became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and signed the execution order for Charles I in 1649.

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By 1660 when the Royalists returned to power, Cromwell’s body was exhumed, hung in chains, and beheaded.

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Restoration

• In 1660, England was exhausted by 20 years of civil war
• By 1700, it had lived through a devastating plague and a fire that left more than 2/3 of Londoners homeless
• Despite losing the American colonies, Britain spread its empire around the globe
• Although life for many was wretched, the middle class grew and England had transformed itself

Restoration

• Following the “grim” era of Puritan rule, entered into a period of lavish excess (at least for the upper class)
• Return to Anglicanism and a shared authority with Parliament
• Emergence of political parties:
• Tories (supporters of royal authority)
• Whigs (favored Parliament)

Charles II

• Charles II had spent much of his exile in France, during the court of Louis XIV, and his tastes influenced English society
• Patron of the arts and sciences
• Appointed the first official poet laureate
• Chartered the Royal Society
• Faced a series of disasters, including the Great Plague of 1665, and Great Fire of London a year later

King Charles II

William & Mary

• Charles was succeeded by his Catholic brother James (James II)
• Parliament replaced James in 1688 with his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, the Dutch nobleman William of Orange
• Known as the “Glorious” or “Bloodless” Revolution
• In Ireland, William and Mary’s policies resulted in over 300 hundred years of fighting between the English Protestants and the Irish Catholics

House of Hanover

• Throne passed to Mary’s sister Anne – the last monarch of the House of Stuart
• Surviving all 16 of her children, Anne dies without an heir, so the throne was given to a distant cousin, a German
• George I spoke no English but gained favor with the Whigs, leading to the appointment of the first “prime minister,” Robert Walpole
• George III reigned during the American Revolution

After Re-Establishment of Monarchy

• Imitated “new classical” (neoclassical) style in poetry
• Emphasized logic, scientific observation and factual explanation
• Turned to wit and satire to expose excesses and corruption
• Developed the essay to comment on public manners and values (published first journalism)
• The first novels were written to satisfy the tastes of the leisure class
• Reopened the theaters and allowed women on stage

Age of Pope / Age of Johnson

Development of the Language

• Writers modeled their works on those of ancient Greece and Rome - with a focus on balance, order, logic, sophisticated wit, and emotional restraint
• Era is divided into three periods
• the Restoration
• the Augustan Age (aka Age of Pope)
• the Age of Johnson
• Alexander Pope - dominant poet of the period
• Samuel Johnson - Britain's most influential man of letters

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Development of the Language

• Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language published in 1755 - became the basis for Webster’s dictionary in America
• Created standards for pronunciation, usage and spelling
• Vocabulary constantly growing due to exploration and interaction with other cultures
• Differences developed between the colonies and the mainland -- Americans, for example, developed their own dictionary at the time of the revolution

Early English Novel

Aphra Behn, often cited as the first known professional female writer, was a successful playwright, poet, translator and essayist.

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Published less than a year before she died, Oroonoko is sometimes described as one of the earliest English novels.

Early English Novel

Other Developments in Literature

• Drama flourished - influenced by French "comedy of manners," English drama often satirized the artificial, sophisticated upper class
• Heroic dramas usually written in "heroic couplets" - iambic pentameter in rhyming pairs - usually appealing to the elite
• Journalism of Addison and Steele - periodicals written to entertain and inform - esp. The Spectator

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Other Developments in Literature

• Diaries and Journals - record the daily activities of individuals
• Diary of Samuel Pepys (Pepys)
• Journal of the Plague Year (Defoe)
• Essay - short work that offers a writer's opinion on something, range in tone (formal and informal)
• Biography - recounts the events of a person's life
• James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

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The Age of Reason

John Locke - late 17th century philosopher who provided justification for the Glorious Revolution - that there exists a "social contract" between governments and the people they govern, guaranteeing the "natural rights" of life, liberty, and property -- any that failed to uphold those rights should be overthrown

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Sir Isaac Newton - scientist who provided rational explanations for gravity and motion

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Royal Society

The President, Council and Fellows of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge

The Royal Society was founded in 1660 and has it roots in the “new science” promoted by Sir Francis Bacon

Robert Hooke, Micrographia - 1665

John Wesley lead an evangelical revival that gave rise not only to the Methodist church but also to a revivalist movement within the Church of England

Samuel Pepys

The Diary of Samuel Pepys is a firsthand account of many of the important events of the period - written by a middle class Londoner

• Coronation of Charles II
• Great Fire of London
• Domestic Affairs
• Includes a dinner party, a trip to the theater, a knife fight, and a dispute with his wife

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope is thought to be the greatest poet of the 18th century:

• 4 ½ feet tall due to tuberculosis of the spine
• Roman Catholic, so self-taught
• Made his living as a poet
• Little tolerance for bad writing and “dullness”
• Made use of the epigram, which emphasizes conciseness, balance, clarity and wit

Alexander Pope Cont.

WIT - intellect, imagination, and cleverness

NATURE - universal principles of truth underlying the structure of the world - a source of order and harmony for society and individuals

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Gained fame through his translations of Homer’s epics, using a meter known as “heroic couplets” - two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter

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Satire “laughter as a weapon” (584)

A literary technique in which behaviors or institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society.

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• Horation satire - playfully amusing, understanding and gentle - ex. Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock"
• Juvenalian satire - darker in tone, criticizes with scorn or outrage - ex. Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"

Jonathan Swift

• born in Dublin, Ireland of English parents
• attended Trinity College and ordained as an Anglican priest - eventually became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral
• Wrote primarily about the struggle between the English (Protestants) and the Irish (Catholics)
• Gulliver’s Travels - disguised as a travel journal
• “A Modest Proposal” - disguised as a pamphlet

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“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”