The Restoration
Introduction to the Literary Period
Feature Menu
Key Concept: Order and Reason
Key Concept: Social Classes
Key Concept: Values and Beliefs
Your Turn
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.
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.
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. Seventyfour percent of children died before age 5.
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 Charles’s court.
• On the stage, the comedy of manners
appealed to men and women of fashion.
• The novel finds an audience in the middle class.
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.
The End