The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century Introduction to the Literary Period

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The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
Introduction to the Literary Period
Feature Menu
Interactive Time Line Milestone Cromwell and
the Commonwealth Milestone The Restoration of
Charles II Milestone The Neoclassical Period
Milestone The Age of Reason Milestone The
Bloodless Revolution Milestone The Growth of
a New Reading Public What Have You Learned?
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The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
Choose a link on the time line to go to a
milestone.
16881689 The Bloodless Revolution
1660 The Restoration of Charles II
1650
1750
1700
1800
16531658 Cromwell and the Commonwealth
1700s The Growth of a New Reading Public
1600s1700sThe Neoclassical Period The Age of
Reason
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Cromwell and the Commonwealth
16421649

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

• King Charles I beheaded

16531658

• Oliver Cromwell rules England as lord protector

• Strict Puritan lawseventually military rule by
  Cromwell as dictator

• Theaters were closed, arts suppressed

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The Restoration of Charles II
16581660

• Puritan dictator Oliver Cromwell dies

• Parliament invites Charles Is son back from
  exile

• Charles II crowned monarchy restored

• English traditions also revived horse racing,
  bear-baiting, dancing around the maypole

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The Restoration of Charles II
Charles II (ruled 16601685)

• Anglican Church (Church of England) reestablished

• Other sects (including Puritan sects) outlawed
  and persecuted

• Theaters reopened

• Charles set the tone for courtly life
  extravagance and refinement

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The Restoration of Charles II
Society During the Restoration and the 1700s
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The Augustan Age and the Neoclassical Period
Period between 1660 and 1800 sometimes called
Augustan Agename comes from comparisons with the
reign of Octavian (Augustus) in ancient Rome

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

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

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The Augustan Age and the Neoclassical Period
Period between 1660 and 1800 sometimes called
Neoclassical Periodterm means new classical
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.
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The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason
Period between 1660 and 1800 sometimes called
Enlightenment or Age of Reasonlabels that reveal
changes in peoples view of the world
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The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason
Sir Isaac Newton

• Scientists begin to explain workings of human
  body, universe

• Natural phenomena less mysterious and frightening

• Rise of deismbelief that Creator set the world
  in motion and then let it run by itself

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The Bloodless Revolution
Beginning in 1685

• Charles II dies his brother James II (a Roman
  Catholic) takes 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 restored
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The Growth of a New Reading Public
Throughout the Period . . .
The Age of Satire
Alexander Popeattacks upper classes for
immorality and bad taste
Jonathan Swiftexposes the mean and sordid in
human behavior
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The Growth of a New Reading Public
Journalism A New Profession
Eighteenth-century journalists

• published journals described social and
  political matters

• saw themselves as reformers

Daniel Defoestood for thrift, prudence,
industry, respectability
Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steeleessayists
and journalists
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The Growth of a New Reading Public
Augustan Poets

• wrote poetry of the mind, not the soul

• saw poetry as having a public function

• set out to write a particular kind of poem

Poems were carefully constructed and used exact
meter and rhyme.
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The Growth of a New Reading Public
The First English Novels

• Corresponded to development of the middle class

• Often broad and comical

• Adventures frequently recounted in a series of
  episodes or letters

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What Have You Learned?
Choose the word or phrase that correctly
completes the sentence.
1. After Oliver Cromwell died, _____ was crowned
King of England in 1660. a. Elizabeth b. William
of Orange c. Charles II 2. Writers like Pope and
Swift used _____ to expose moral corruption. a.
satire b. elegies c. odes 3. The _____ was a new
literary form developed during the eighteenth
century. a. letter b. novel c. sonnet
c. Charles II
a. satire
b. novel
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END
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Viewing the Art
Coronation Procession
This painting by the Dutch painter Dirck Stoop
shows Charles IIs coronation procession
advancing from the Tower of London to
Westminster.
Activity What does Stoops depiction of this
event suggest about the way Charles II was
received?
Coronation Procession of Charles ll to
Westminster from the Tower of London (1661) by
Dirck Stoop.
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