The Restoration Introduction to the Literary Period

1
The RestorationIntroduction to the Literary
Period
Feature Menu
Key Concept Order and Reason Key Concept
Social Classes Key Concept Values and
Beliefs Your Turn
2
Key Concept Order and Reason
History of the Times

• In 1660, after twenty years of civil war and
  Puritan dictatorship, England is ready for
  stability and the return of Charles II.

• Five years later, London suffers an outbreak of
  plague, and the Great Fire ravages city in 1666.

• The Glorious Revolution of 1688 enables William
  and Mary to take the throne without bloodshed.

• Parliament becomes more powerful a two-party
  system emerges. The Age of Reason ushers in era
  of scientific and rational thought.

3
Key Concept Order and Reason
16421649

• England is embroiled in civil warparliamentary
  party (Puritans) against the kings party
  (Royalists).

• King Charles I is beheaded.

16531658

• Oliver Cromwell rules England as lord protector.

• Strict Puritan laws are imposed eventually the
  military rules with Cromwell as dictator.

• Theaters are closed and the arts suppressed.

4
Key Concept Order and Reason
16581660

• Puritan dictator Oliver Cromwell dies.

• Parliament invites Charles Is son back from
  exile.

• Charles II is crowned the monarchy is restored.

• English traditions are revived, including horse
  racing, bear-baiting, and dancing around the
  maypole.

5
Key Concept Order and Reason
Coronation Procession
This painting by the Dutch painter Dirck Stoop
shows Charles IIs coronation procession
advancing from the Tower of London to
Westminster.
Coronation Procession of Charles ll to
Westminster from the Tower of London (1661) by
Dirck Stoop.
6
Key Concept Order and Reason
Charles II (ruled 16601685)

• The Anglican Church (Church of England) is
  reestablished.

• Other sects (including Puritan sects) are
  outlawed and persecuted.

• Theaters are reopened.

• Charles sets the tone for courtly life
  extravagance and refinement.

7
Key Concept Order and Reason

• Plague symptoms include
• blotches on the skin
• hardening and swelling of glands under the armpit
  or in the groin
• delirium
• insanity

Death strangling a victim of the plague. From the
Stiney Codex. Czechoslovakia, 14th century.
8
Key Concept Order and Reason
The Bloodless Revolution

• Charles II dies in 1685 his brother James II (a
  Roman Catholic) takes the throne.

• Power is transferred to Jamess daughter Mary
  (wife of Dutch William of Orange, a Protestant).

1688 William attacks England James flees.

1689 Parliament declares William and Mary king
and queen Protestant rule is restored.
9
Key Concept Order and Reason
Period between 1660 and 1800, sometimes called
Enlightenment or Age of Reason, labels that
reveal changes in peoples view of the world.
10
Key Concept Order and Reason
Sir Isaac Newton

• Scientists begin to explain the workings of the
  human body and the universe.

• Natural phenomena are no longer considered quite
  so mysterious and frightening.

• Deismthe belief that a Creator set the world in
  motion and then let it run by itselfis on the
  rise.

11
Key Concept Order and Reason
Literature of the Times

• Restoration literature is influenced by French
  classical ideas.

• The emphasis on cleverness, or wit, is intended
  for the upper classes.

• Writers Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift use
  satire in their works.

• Journalism emerges as a new form of writing.

• Neoclassical writers revive standards of order
  found in classical literature of ancient Rome.

12
Key Concept Order and Reason
Throughout the Period
The Age of Satire
Alexander Pope ridicules and attacks upper
classes for their immorality and bad taste.
Jonathan Swift exposes the mean and sordid in
human behavior.
13
Key Concept Order and Reason
Journalism A New Profession
Eighteenth-century journalists

• published journals described social and
  political matters

• saw themselves as reformers

Daniel Defoe stood for thrift, prudence,
industry, and respectability.
Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele wrote
essays and journals.
14
Key Concept Order and Reason
Period between 1660 and 1800, sometimes called
Neoclassical Period, a term that means new
classical and refers to writings modeled on old
Latin works.
Classics were considered valuable because they
represented what was permanent and universal in
human experience.
Click here to listen to a neoclassical recording.
15
Key Concept Order and Reason
Period between 1660 and 1800, also known as
Augustan Age. Name comes from comparisons with
the reign of Octavian (Augustus) in ancient Rome.

• Augustus restored peace and order to Rome after
  the assassination of Julius Caesar.

• Stuart monarchs restored peace and order to
  England after the civil wars.

16
Key Concept Order and Reason
Augustan Poets

• wrote poetry of the mind, not the soul

• saw poetry as having a public function

• set out to write particular kinds of poems

Poems were carefully constructed and used exact
meter and rhyme.
17
Key Concept Social Classes
History of the Times

• The social order of Restoration England was based
  on the class system.

• The hereditary nobility at the top of the system
  indulged in elegance and excess.

• The poor lived in sewage-strewn streets or
  rat-filled tenements. Children had to work.

• Industrialization created overcrowded slums and
  wretched working conditions.

• Physicians served only the rich. Seventy-four
  percent of children died before age 5.

18
Key Concept Social Classes
Society During the Restoration and the 1700s
19
Key Concept Social Classes
Literature of the Times

• After the return of Charles II, English writers
  were receptive to French wit and literary taste.

• The most successful literary form was the drama.
  Lavish theater dramas reflected the
  sophistication of Charless court.

• On the stage, the comedy of manners appealed to
  men and women of fashion.

• The novel finds an audience in the middle class.

20
Key Concept Order and Reason
The First English Novels

• The novel finds an audience in the middle class.

• Theyre often broad and comical.

• Adventures were frequently recounted in a series
  of episodes or letters.

• Robinson Crusoe (1719), by Daniel Defoe, may have
  been the first English novel.

21
Key Concept Values and Beliefs
Literature of the Times

• As the state religion, the Anglican church
  dominated religious life.

• Protestants who remained outside the Anglican
  church were known as Dissenters.

• Prominent writers of this period were Roman
  Catholics and Dissenters.

• Many were denied public office and university
  education despite ample talents.

22
Key Concept Values and Beliefs
Catholics and Dissenters

• John Dryden, Englands poet laureate for nearly
  twenty years, had to resign in 1688 because
  Catholics couldnt hold office.

• Because Alexander Pope was Catholic, he was
  denied a university education.

• Presbyterian Daniel Defoe was not allowed to
  attend Oxford or Cambridge universities.

23
The End