The English Restoration
1660 - 1798
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: CHARLES II
* He was in exile when his father, Charles I, was executed in 1649.
*There was a turbulent relationship between Parliament and the
monarchs. (power struggles)
*Like his father, Charles II was the ruler of England, Scotland, and
Ireland.
*Charles II was crowned upon returning from exile and the monarchy was
RESTORED in 1660.
*He made a series of compromising agreements with Parliament in 1660 upon taking
the throne.
*He was a patron of the arts and sciences and tried to implement the lavish style that
he had encountered in France.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
Restoring Society
 POWER – The monarchy was restored in 1660 after years of rule by
Parliament and the Commonwealth.
 ENTERTAINMENT – Theaters were restored after Charles II opened
them when he took the throne following the rule of the Puritans.
 RELIGION – Charles II tried to introduce a sense of religious
freedom, but Parliament firmly stopped him. All officials had to be
members of the Church of England. (Charles II converted to Roman
Catholicism on his deathbed in 1685.)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Royalty
 The English Bill of Rights in 1689 limited royal authority.
 James II, the Roman Catholic brother of Charles II, took the throne
in 1685.
 Under Queen Anne’s rule, Great Britain was established (England,
Scotland, and Wales).
 Queen Anne was the last monarch in the house of Stuart.
 Upon her death, a distant cousin from Germany took the throne as
George I becoming the first ruler of the house of Hanover.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: THE QUIZ
1. Which ruler was beheaded for treason? Charles I
2. Which event marked the beginning of the
Restoration?
The coronation of Charles II
3. What happened when Charles II tried
to introduce religious freedom to
England?
His plans were thwarted by
Parliament; all officials had to
be members of the Church of
England.
4. Which three countries make up Great
Britain?
England, Scotland, and Wales
5. Which house ruled England
immediately after the house of Stuart?
The house of Hanover
IDEAS OF THE AGE
 This period is also called The Enlightenment and The Age of
Reason.
 Sir Isaac Newton’s major work, Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy, outlined his development called the
scientific method.
 Newton inspired many scientists to use logic instead of fate
or religion to understand the world. Ex: Comets and eclipses
were phenomena to be studied instead of warnings from
God.
IDEAS OF THE AGE
 Philosophers like John Locke applied logic to societal or
economic concerns. Ex: Instead of the belief that the
monarch had “divine right,” people should rebel.
 The spirit of the Enlightenment led to the development of
vaccines and other improvements.
 Even though many people began to live very well, the period
drew to a close at the onset of the problems that came with
the Industrial Revolution.
IDEAS OF THE AGE: THE QUIZ
The
1. What are some other names Enlightenment
for the Restoration?
or The Age of
Reason
2. Who developed the
scientific method?
Sir Isaac
Newton
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES
 The growing middle class creates a rise in average people with
money to spend on reading and art.
 This growing class demanded writing about their own concerns
(and not about classical literature that they’d never read).
 Popular forms of “real-life” literature such as journalism grew.
 Daily newspapers and essays sprouted throughout England.
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
John Dryden (1631-1700)
 He was appointed by Charles II as England’s first poet laureate.
 He was one of the most influential writers of the Restoration.
 He wrote in many forms including poetry, comedy, tragedy, heroic
plays, odes, satires, translations of classical work and critical
essays.
 He displayed allegiance to whoever happened to be the monarch
and wrote accordingly.
 He’s buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey near
Chaucer
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
Satirical Voices
SATIRE = ridiculing or criticizing perceived problems with a
desire to bring about improvement
Horatian satire = a
gentle, playful,
sympathetic approach
to satire that often
allows us to laugh at
ourselves (Ex: SNL or
Family Guy)
Juvenalian satire = an
urgent, biting, stinging
approach to satire that
pierces the offender
and tends to make the
audience
uncomfortable
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
Satirical Voices
Horatian or Juvenalian?
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
Satirical Voices
Jonathan Swift
Alexander Pope
• A Juvenalian satirist
• Appalled by the
corruption he saw in the
world around him
• Attacked educators,
politicians, churchmen, etc.
• Masterpiece: Gulliver’s
Travels
• A Horatian satirist
• Made fun of people of high
society in his poetry
• Addressed issues in his
elegant couplets
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
The Age of Johnson (Samuel Johnson)
 Samuel Johnson – known as Britain’s most influential “man of
letters” during his time
 A poet, critic, journalist, essayist, scholar, and lexicographer
 Combined accuracy and eloquence in his work
 Gained prominence by publishing his A Dictionary of the
English Language
 A neoclassical writer who also influenced the main stream
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
The Rise of Women Writers
 Salons – French-style gatherings in private homes hosted by
women in response to a lack of social outlets for female
writers
 Aphra Behn – the first woman in England to earn a living as a
professional writer
 Charlotte Smith – poet and novelist who expressed a radical
attitude toward morality and class equality
 Fanny Burney – a successful novelist during her time who is
also remembered in modern times for the diary she kept
from age 15 to 85
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES:
The Rise of Women Writers
 Mary Wollstonecraft – published A Vindication of the Rights of
Woman in 1792
 She expressed views about equality and the rights of women
that were considered very radical at the time.
 Her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, grew up to
become one of the leading writers of the next period of
English history.
LITERATURE OF THE TIMES: THE QUIZ
1. What type of writing did the growing middle
class of the Restoration demand?
“real-life” writing such as the
work of journalists and essayists
2. Who was England’s first poet laureate?
John Dryden
3. What are the two types of satire?
Horatian and Juvenalian
4. Who was the leading Juvenalian satirist of
the Restoration?
Jonathan Swift
5. Which neoclassical writer published a
major English dictionary in 1755?
Samuel Johnson
6. Which places were social outlets for
women who had limited public places to
network and fellowship?
salons
Quirky Facts About the Restoration
 1. Inoculation is introduced to England in 1718.
 2. Samuel Johnson’s dictionary contains no words that begins with the
letter X.
 3. Samuel Johnson had a condition that would now probably be labeled
as Tourette’s Syndrome.
 4. These pets are still called King Charles Spaniel after the ruler who
made them popular.
 5. French writer Voltaire found a flaw in the French national
lottery and won more than $41 million in today’s money; the French
lottery system went bankrupt.
JOURNAL
How was English society
improved during its
Restoration Era?
(150+ words)