From Beowulf to Frankenstein Part II: Restoration

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From Beowulf to Frankenstein(Part II
Restoration 18th Cent.)

• English 12 Honors
• Mr. Raber

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Hello

• The Restoration
• 18th Century
• 1660-1800

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The Restoration

• When Stuart King Charles II was returned to the
  throne in 1660, the Church of England regained
  its power
• Hence, the power was RESTORED ( Restoration) to
  the Church of England/ a Protestant

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The Restoration

• Remember, during this time period (more
  specifically 1660-1800) people from England and
  Europe were pouring into North America.
• It was also during this
  period that America broke
  from England

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The Restoration

• English Overview
• 1660 England exhausted from nearly
  20 yrs of civil war
• By 1700 England had lived through
  the plague and a fire that left more than
  2/3 of Londoners homeless
• Mid to late 1700s American Colonies
  lost

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The Restoration

• Despite the American colonies lost, by mid 18th
  century, England had settled into a period of
  calm and order
• The middle class grew
• British men and women produced many brilliant
  works of philosophy, art, and literaturemore on
  lit. later

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The Restoration

• This long period of time, 1660-1800, has been
  given several labels
• the Augustan Age
• the Neoclassical period
• the Enlightenment
• the Age of Reason

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The Restoration

• Each of these labels apply to SOME
  characteristics of these 140 years, but none
  apply to all

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Augustan Period

• This time period was often called this because
  just like Augustus was the exalted one who
  restored peace to Rome after Julius Caesars
  death, Charles II was brought back to rule
  England after exiling himself in France.

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Augustan Period

• Charles II replaced his father that was executed
  at the end of the civil wars and restored peace
  to England
• He (CII) was hailed as a
  savior

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Neoclassical Period

• In this period many English writers consciously
  modeled their works on the old Latin classics
• These writings that imitate Latin works were
  called
• NEOCLASSICAL new classical

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Neoclassical Period

• The classics, it was generally agreed, were more
  valuable because they represented what was
  permanent and universal in human experience
• All educated people knew the Latin classics
  better than they knew their own English Literature

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Age of Reason / Enlightenment Period

• These labels reveal how people were gradually
  changing their view of themselves and the world.
• Example ppl thought before horrific events such
  as the assassination of a ruler took place, that
  the earth and sky would give warnings
  (earthquakes/comets/etc.)
• Before, ppl asked WHY did this unusual event
  happenand what does it mean?

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Age of Reason / Enlightenment Period

• Now, ppl asked HOW did this unusual event happen?
• PPL started to wonder HOW everything worked from
  the human body to the laws of the universe
• Ex. Halleys comet appears every 76 yrs b/c
  that is how long it takes to complete its
  orbithe calculated thishe did not guess at it
  or its meaning

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Changes in Religion More ?s

• The new scientific and rational explanations of
  phenomena gradually began to affect some peoples
  religious views
• Thus, DEISM evolved
• Deism a spiritual belief based on reason and
  the observation of nature
• Only a minority of enlightened rationalists and
  materialists adopted deism. The majority
  remained religious.

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Religion Politics

• Religion determined peoples politics in this
  period
• Charles II reestablished the Church of
  Englandalso known as the Anglican Church (this
  church is still present in England today and in
  the United States it is called the Episcopal
  Church)
• Charles attempted to outlaw all other churches
  and this caused persecution that lasted into the
  18th century

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Also during this period

• Charles was a big advocate of THEATERthus it was
  popular
• Both Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift
  popularized SATIRE by attacking the immorality
  and bad taste of the educated/leisured class

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Also during this period

• Daniel Defoe, Joseph Addison, and Sir Richard
  Steele practiced JOURNALISM in which they viewed
  themselves as reformers

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Also during this period

• Poems during this time period were said to have
  been by their authors WITS (minds) and not the
  soul of the author
• This was viewed by a number of other poets as a
  negative

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Also during this period

• Rather, poetry during this time period was
  written for a specific purpose
• Thus, the purpose and kind of poem to be
  conceived was decided before the actual poem was
  composed
• Some types of poems included ELEGY, SATIRE, and
  ODE

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Also during this period

• By the mid-eighteenth century ppl were writing,
  and others were buying
• Then, long fictional narratives called NOVELS
• Novels were developed by the middle class and
  were often broad and comical
• Some Novelists of the time Defoe, Fielding,
  Richardson, and Sterne

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ALMOST DONE

• Let us now switch gears back to what was
  occurring in England and the monarch at this time

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The Bloodless Revolution

• Then, when Charles II died, w/out an heir, his
  brother James II became king.
• James was a Roman Catholic and the
  Protestant English
  political leaders acted
  quickly to transfer power
  to Jamess Protestant daughter
  Mary
• It was worried that James was going to hand the
  country over to the pope

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The Bloodless Revolution

• Then, Marys Dutch husband, William of
  Orange, attacked England and forced King
  James (not Lebron) to flee
• Thus, William and Mary assumed the throne and
  came to power in 1689
• Not a drop of blood had been shed and this became
  known as the Glorious (Bloodless) Revolution

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Wrapping up the 18th Century

• By the last decade of the century, the English
  world was changing in disturbing ways.
• The INDUSTRIAL
  REVOLUTION was turning English cities and towns
  into filthy, smoky slums.
• People knew that the age of elegance, taste, and
  reason was over

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Wrapping up the 18th Century

• As a reflection of all this change, writers were
  developing new interests
• Appalled at the industrial blight, they were
  turning to EXTERNAL NATURE and writing about
  the effect of the natural landscape on the human
  soul. (The
  HEALING POWER OF NATURE is a RBD in the upcoming
  ROMANTIC PERIOD)

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Wrapping up the 18th Century

• These writers were also becoming interested in
  the literary possibilities of the humble life and
  were trying to enter into the consciousness of
  the poor and simple
• A NEW LITERARY AGE WAS BEGINNING

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• The
• ROMANTIC
• Time Period
• 1798-1832

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ANY

• QUESTIONS?