The Restoration and the 18th
Century
The Age of Enlightenment
The Restoration
Monarchy restored, but power
weakened- Britain becomes more
democratic
King rules by the consent of the
people
Beginnings of the Industrial
Revolution
The Enlightenment
Great Advances in the Sciences
Celebrated the scientific method –
believed Man could perfect himself
and society
Literature of the time very orderly
and formed (rhymed couplets, etc)
ORDER
Neo-Classicism
Emulated Classic styles
Frequent references to classics
(myths, gods, and heroes)
Tried to look at the world
objectively
Use of Aphorisms (One liners—the
equivalent of the “sound byte”)
Very fond of Satire
Three Periods
Age of Dryden
Named for John Dryden
Celebrates Human Achievement
Age of Pope and Swift
Heavy Neoclassic style characterized by
Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift
Age of Johnson
Beginnings of a shift toward Romanticism
John Dryden
The most accomplished poet of the
period
Made prose acceptable to literary
circles, and helped establish writing
as a legitimate career
clear and concise and became the
standard against which all other
English writers were measured.
John Dryden
His work was a response to the
excesses and political upheaval of
the restoration.
Praised the virtues of order,
balance & harmony
Poet laureate in 1668
ODE
A single, unified strain of exalted lyrical
verse
Deals with ONE theme and praises its
value/virtues
Elaborate, dignified and imaginative
Daniel Defoe
Born into a working class family
Considered the ministry but instead
decided on becoming a crappy
businessman
Didn’t start writing the novels that made
him famous until into his sixties
Was pilloried for political writing
Daniel Defoe
Wrote two very popular novels (a new
form at the time)
Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders
(both purported to be nonfiction)
Crusoe started a genre
Also wrote a real non fiction account—
Journal of the Plague Year
Jonathan Swift
Was born in Dublin, Ireland
Was a minister in the Church of England
His satirical works ruined his chances to
advance in the church
Still remained a staunch supporter of the
Anglican faith
Held a great amount of political power in
later years- wrote political pamphlets for
the government
Jonathan Swift
Wrote “A Modest Proposal” which
championed the Irish cause
His greatest work, Gulliver’s
Travels is considered one of the
greatest satires in British Literature.
Satire
A work that blends humor and wit for the
improvement of human institutions or
humanity
Satire is not intended to “tear down” as much
as to “inspire remodeling”
Does not attack an individual- it will “pass
over a single foe to charge whole armies.”
Satire is subtle enough that the reader must
make the inference to what or who is being
mocked
Alexander Pope
The first English poet to support himself
solely by his writing
Being Catholic prevented him from holding
public office or getting a wealthy patron
First major work was An Essay on Criticism,
which brought him to the attention of the
leading literary figures of the time.
Alexander Pope
Very frail in health- was less than five
feet tall. Was a sharp wit and was a
sought after guest
A brilliant satirist-one of his best know
works is The Rape of the Lock, one of
the greatest Mock Epics in English
Heroic Couplets
Iambic Pentameter in rhymed pairs
Became a fixed for with Pope and
dominated English verse for decades