The Restoration period in England from 1660-1800 followed a time of civil war and the overthrow of the monarchy. In 1660, King Charles II was restored to the throne, ending the republican government established by Oliver Cromwell. This period was characterized by an emphasis on reason and scientific inquiry inspired by thinkers like Francis Bacon. Literature of the time used genres like satire, journalism, and novels to explore politics, morality, and social issues during a time of cultural and intellectual growth.

1. The Restoration
1660-1800

2. Also know as . . .
• The Age of Reason
• The Enlightenment
• The Neoclassical Age
• The Augustan Age

3. Called the Restoration because . . .
1642--‐1651 --‐ English
Civil Wars
Charles I is beheaded
Oliver Cromwell takes
over and . . .
 abolishes monarchy
 institutes a republican
gov’t
 drafts a constitution
 outlaws common
practices

4. In 1651
Charles, the son of Charles I, who has been in
exile in Holland, returns to England and is
RESTORED as King Charles II

5. Vauxhall- Charles II
garden

6. The Great Fire of London 1666
13,200 houses
87 churches
Bridges, stores, p
risons
8 million pounds
in repairs

7. Sir Francis Bacon (Renaissance) is
a bridge to this era
• He began to use a slow, careful
process of examining physical
evidence (Reason).
• People started to ask
“HOW?” Instead of “WHY?”
• Example--‐Halley’s comet is
discovered to return by Earth
every 76 years (last time was
1986)
• People looked for
explanations for natural
phenomena

8. Religion . . .
• Mainly Deism --‐ God
has created a perfectly
working universe and
does not need to
interfere (clockmaker)
• Popular idea after
Puritans lose power

9. The Glorious Revolution
• 1688 James II (Charles II’s
brother), a Catholic king
whom no one trusted, fled
to France
• His daughter Mary and her
husband, William of Orange
(from Holland), take throne
• Both are Protestant --‐ all
future monarchs will be
Protestant
• Called glorious because no
one was killed

10. Literature of the era
• Modern English Prose
was stripped
down, precise, plain,
has short sentences
and used very little
figurative language
• The Age of Dryden
• Very reason or
science like

11. More literature
• Charles II reopens
theaters and allows
female performers
• Theater becomes a
popular form of
entertainment, esp.
among the rich

12. Even more literature
• Jonathan Swift and
Alexander Pope both
used SATIRE to reveal
immorality and
shortcomings of the elite
• Daniel Defoe and
Addison and Steele used
JOURNALISM to defend
the middle class (The
Spectator and The Tattler)

13. And even more literature
• Poetry was for public
purposes
 elegies
 satire
 odes

14. And the last literature
slide
• Novels --‐ “new” long
narratives
• Popular among
women (time)
• Daniel Defoe --‐ Moll
Flanders

15. •It all ends with Samuel
Johnson who believed
everyone could be good -
this makes a good transition
to the Romantic period