Restoration period in English literature

1. RESTORATION PERIOD
(1660-1798)
Javlonbek Toshpulatov

2.  Literature produced in Restoration Period is also
known as:
 The Augustan Age,
 The Neoclassical Period,
 The Enlightenment, and
 The Age of Reason

3. Restoration literature is the English literature written during the
historical period commonly referred to as the English
Restoration (1660–1689). Some literary historians divide this
literary movement in three parts:
 The Restoration Age (1660-1700) introducing the comedy of
manner (a play about the manners and conventions of a highly
sophisticated aristocratic society.)
 The Augustan Age (1700-1750) introducing poetry of personal
exploration, and serious development of the novel, melodrama,
and satire.
 The Age of Johnson (1750- 1798) or the Age of Sensibility was a
transitional period between Neo-Classicism and Romanticism
introducing contrary to Age of Reason (Neo-Classicism) emotional
quality.

4. Political History-I
The period begins with the RESTORATION of the
Monarchy in 1660
 bringing Charles II from his exile in France.
 He brings with him the indulgent and artistic ways
of Louis XIV’s court
 Two distinct political parties resulted, the Whigs
and the Tories
a. Whigs wanted to limit royal authority
b. Tories supported absolute royal authority

5. James II (brother of Charles II) takes the throne and is
voted out by Parliament due to his highly Catholic ways.
 The Glorious or Bloodless Revolution is a reference to
the lack of violence needed to change the throne
from Catholic James II to his protestant daughter
Mary and her husband William.
 Shortly after James II’s abdication of the throne:
a. Bill of Rights limiting the power of the King.
b. Parliament passed an act forbidding Catholics to
rule.

6. George I of Hanover Germany took the throne in 1714 when his
cousin
Anne, daughter of William and Mary, died ending the rule of the
Stuarts and beginning the rule of the House of Hanover.
1. George I and his son George II did NOT speak English and relied
heavily on their advisors establishing the role of England’s first
Prime Ministers. Richard Walpole for George I and William Pitt for
George II .
2. Under George I and George II and their Prime Ministers, the
British thrived winning the Seven Years War (aka The French and
Indian War) and adding French Canada and India to the Empire.

7. In 1760, George III became the first British born
Hanover monarch although he was less effective
than his father and grandfather.
Because his English was reliable, he used his Prime
Minister less and is held responsible for the loss of
the American Colonies

8. Why to name it as Augustan &
Neoclassical Period
Similarities in Political History
 The title of The Augustan Period refers to similarities between
England at this time and Rome during the reign of Caesar Augustus,
also known as Ocatvius (63 BC-14 AD).
 Octavius ruled in the time after Julius Caesar’s assassination. He
restored order and peace to the people of Rome and is often
classified as its second founder.
 In a similar way, Charles II is taken from exile in France and
restored England. He reopened playhouses, brought back a formal
court, and had the body of Oliver Cromwell exhumed and
decapitated.

9. Why to name it as Augustan &
Neoclassical Period
 Similarities in literary History
 Most educated people of the time are familiar
with the classical works as well as the works of
their own time and country and found enjoyment
in their connection.
 They enjoyed allusions to the political connections
of the time periods and references to the classical
characters and themes.
 Works emphasizing these similarities are labeled
“neoclassical” meaning “new classics.”

10. Why to name it as Age of Reason
& The Enlightenment Period
This period is known as The Age of Reason and The Enlightenment
because of the country’s shift from an emotional approach to thinking to
an educational and factual one.
A. The Industrial Revolution plus advances in science research and
mathematics influence all aspects of British thought including the
literature.
B. People no longer believed in signs and vast punishments from God (ie.
The London Fire and Plague), but begin to turn to science and order.
They begin asking “how” instead of “why.”
C. The writing content, style, and order of scientists spill over into all of
literature as sentences are shortened with the allusions and extended
metaphors of their predecessors.

11. THEMES: Superiority of the
Intellect
 The philosophers claimed that humans have the ability to
perfect themselves and society and that the state has the
potential to be an instrument of that progress. Part of their
criticism of the existing government was that it impeded
such progress in its refusal to surrender power or
resources to the people so that they could take control of
their lives. The philosophers lamented the social conditions
of contemporary England and France, but they remained
confident that its people could attain happiness and
improve living standards. Armed with these concepts and
fortified by science and reason, the philosophers attacked
Christian tradition and dogma, denouncing religious
persecution and championing the idea of religious
tolerance.

12. THEMES: Superiority of the
Intellect
 At the center of the belief in the superiority of the
intellect was the Enlightenment reaction against
traditional authority, namely the Church and the ruling
class. The philosophers claimed that rather than
depend on these authorities for physical, spiritual, and
intellectual needs, individuals could provide for
themselves such needs. By using their minds and
demanding morality of themselves and others, people
could actually change their realities for the better. This
idea is evident in Rousseau’s The Social Contract and
in the Declaration of Independence.

13. THEMES: Basic Goodness of
Humankind
 The philosophers maintained that people were innately good and
that society and civilization were to blame for their corruption.
Because people are good, they are fully capable of ruling
themselves and collectively working toward the welfare of all.
Rousseau asserts this in The Social Contract, as he explains that
despite individual differences and priorities, people as a whole will
make decisions for the common good. In Emile, Rousseau applies
this idea to the education of a child, demonstrating that the
purpose of education is not to correct a child or mold the child to
exhibit a certain set of characteristics but rather to draw out the
child’s unique gifts and goodness. Not all Enlightenment writers
emphasized man’s inherent goodness, however; in Candide,
Voltaire provides numerous examples of humanity’s cruelty and
abuse of power. Once the characters are living peacefully on a
farm (outside of civilization), they seem to be less violent, but the
theme of humankind’s goodness is diminished here.

14. THEMES: Deism
 Deism is a religious belief system that emphasizes morality,
virtuous living, and the perception of a creative but
uninvolved God. Deists believe in God but reject the
supernatural, including the New Testament miracles and
resurrection of Christ. They reject the idea that God is active
in people’s daily lives, instead claiming that God created the
world but is now distant.
 This view of God directly contradicts the view of Catholic and
Protestant religions. The philosophers were particularly
incensed by the Roman Catholic Church, which they
perceived as too restrictive and dominant.
 The period is marked by the rise of Deism, intellectual
backlash against earlier Puritanism and American’s revolution
against England.

15. THEMES: Deism
 As deists, the philosophers were uninterested in
life after death. They maintained that people
should spend their time and energy improving this
life, and they advocated pursuing worldly
happiness and contentment. Diderot addresses
these ideas in the Encyclopedia, and they are
implied in the Preamble to the Declaration of
Independence, which states that among a person’s
unalienable rights are ‘‘life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness.’’

16. STYLE: Rhetoric
 Over the course of the Enlightenment, there existed two
clearly opposing schools of thought concerning rhetoric.
The traditions of the Renaissance, largely influenced by the
works of Peter Ramus, held over into the early part of the
movement. Ramus attacked Aristotle’s view that rhetoric
and dialect should be integrated, indicating that, though
they may have been used in conjunction in the past, they
should be disengaged. Ramus advocated a linear style,
bereft of embellishment, so that scientific and
philosophical writings might be better representations of
truth. This straightforward approach adhered naturally to
the rational thought and methodical observation
promoted by the Enlightenment. However, while this
rhetorical convention was becoming less popular, another
was quickly gaining ground.

17. STYLE: Rhetoric
 Near the end of the Enlightenment, the Belletristic
Movement was in full swing. Works such as Lectures
on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres (1783), by Hugh Blair,
and Philosophy of Rhetoric (1776), by George
Campbell, were published. Both authors embraced the
idea of using eloquence, beauty, and emotion to allow
one to communicate, with the most advantage, to his
or her audience. The word belletristic comes from
belles-lettres (French for literature), which is literature
that is appreciated not just for its content but for its
beauty as well.

18. STYLE: Satire
 Although there are few stylistic consistencies among works
of this age, the fiction of the period is almost always
satirical. Satire is an indirect way of commenting on social
or political issues. Satire reveals how people and things are
not what they seem on the surface, and readers can often
identify what aspect of society is being ridiculed. Satire
allowed the philosophers to get some of their writing past
government censors despite its harsh criticism of the
status quo. The number of censors increased in France
during the Enlightenment because of the radical new ideas
being put forth. When writers used satire, however,
censors either missed the point of the writing or were
unable to make a convincing case for suppressing it.

19. STYLE: Satire
 Satire also served as a witty way to criticize.
Enlightenment writers were often clever and sarcastic,
and their work tended to attract an intelligent
readership. A common satirical technique was to
create a character that was a stranger to a country.
Because the character is naive and unfamiliar with the
local society, the character may be confused by that
society or find fault with it. These characters were
generally ignorant or silly, making their faultfinding
seem equally ignorant or silly. The satiric irony,
however, is that the character is the author’s
mouthpiece for pointing out the absurd and unjust in
his society

20. Characteristics of the Age
 With people generally looking more closely at the part they played in
society, the main themes of the Neoclassical period were restraint and
order. Each person was expected to do what was “proper” and to show
that he or she had good taste, the idea being that, given the flawed
nature of mankind, putting some limits on what someone said or did was
better than trying and failing at the outrageous. It became very important
to prove that someone had a decent level of intelligence. Writers often
used their works not only to express rules about etiquette and decorum,
but also to demonstrate brilliant skills of wit. Other characteristics of the
age include:
 Imitation of classical form
 Artificial and aristocratic society
 Sophisticated behaviour
 Style is polite, urbane, and witty
 Instructive and entertaining
 Restraint in passion and personal expression
 Ideals: order, logic, accuracy, "correctness," decorum

21. Popular Genre
 The emphasis on order, reason, etiquette and wit made
certain styles of literature more popular than others.
Diaries, essays, letters and first person narratives were
extremely successful, because they concentrated on what
a single person thought or accomplished, which was in line
with the Neoclassical idea of analyzing and reforming a
person’s social role. Moral fables were a favorite, as well,
as were parodies and burlesques. Novels in various styles
developed rapidly, becoming a main entertainment for
women in the home. The rhymed couplet — specifically,
the heroic couplet — dominated poetry, and in the
theater, audiences flocked to sentimental comedies,
comedies of manners and heroic dramas.

22. Representative Writers
 One of the most influential Neoclassical writers was
John Milton (1608 - 1674), author of the epic
poem, Paradise Lost. Much of his work reflects the
political issues England and other countries faced.
John Drydon (1631 - 1700), also called “Glorious John,”
was also a major force during Restoration, working on
both plays and poetry to such a degree that the entire
first section of the period sometimes is called “the Age
of Drydon.” Two of his most famous works are
To My Lord Chancellor and Marriage a la Mode.

23. Representative Writers
 Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744) was an
Augustan poet. He made money translating major
works, such as The Iliad, but soon established
himself with his own pieces. His Pastorals and An
Essay on Criticism are probably the best known of
his writings, and scholars recognize him for his
command of the heroic couplet.

24.  For satire, the champion of the period was
Johnathon Swift (1667 - 1745). Although he wrote
both poetry and prose, he is best known for the
latter. Many of his works were originally published
under pseudonyms, including M.B. Dapier and
Isaac Bickerstaff. He is the author of the well-
known novel, Gulliver’s Travels.

25.  Along with Samuel Richardson, Daniel Defoe (1660
- 1731) was one of the leading pioneers in the
development of the English novel. He is notable
not only for the content of his works, but also
because of the sheer number of them — some
experts say at least 500 different pamphlets, books
and other writings are Defoe’s. Perhaps the one
out of all of these that people still know well today
is Robinson Crusoe. His political writings brought
trouble at times, with Defoe even spending some
time in prison.

26.  Experts usually see Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
as the last great writer of the Neoclassical period
in literature. His major contribution is A Dictionary
of the English Language, which people used for
well over a century. Although the Oxford English
Dictionary eventually replaced it, Johnson's
dictionary was a major accomplishment in the
development and standardization of English.