THE RESTORATION 1660-1685 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 1700-1798

Related and Alternative Designations • Neoclassical Period • Age of Reason • Age of Rationalism • Age of Enlightenment • The Augustan Age

1660-1785:

The Eighteenth Century: The Neoclassical Period

• • 1660-1700:

The Restoration

1700-1745:

The Augustan Age (or Age of Pope)

• 1745-1785:

The Age of Sensibility (or Age of Johnson)

CHRONOLOGY

Rulers Historical Events Literary Events

Ruler 1600

Charles II (1660-85) James II (1685-88) William (1689-1702) and Mary (1689-94)

CHRONOLOGY Historical Events Literary Events

Restoration (1660-1700) Samuel Pepys (1633-1703): The Diary (1660) John Dryden Jonathan Swift. (1667-1745)

Ruler 1700

Anne (1702-14)

CHRONOLOGY Historical Events Literary Events

George I (1714-27) George II (1727-60) George III (1760-1820) American Declaration of Independence (1776) First Australian colonies 1700-1745: The Augustan Age (or Age of Pope) Newton’s

Opticks

(1704)

Rape of the Lock

(1714)

Gulliver’s Travels

(1726) 1745-1785: The Age of Sensibility (or Age of Johnson) Johnson’s

Dictionary

(1755)

18

TH

CENTURY BACKGROUND

Age of Reason Age of Rationalism Age of Enlightenment Augustan Literary Epoch Neoclassical Period

AGE OF REASON NEW ENLIGHTENMENT: Science NEWTON

AGE OF REASON NEW ENLIGHTENMENT: Philosophy LOCKE

AGE OF REASON SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY:

• • • An age increasingly dominated by

empiricism Natural laws

and

discoverable

Natural laws could be used by men for

understanding and regulation

1700-1745:

The Augustan Age AUGUSTAN LITERATURE

“Augustan” derives from George I wishing to be seen as Augustus Caesar

George I Augustus Caesar

Alexander Pope:

Epistle to Augustus

The Age of George was like that of Augustus, when poetry became more mannered, political and satirical

Alexander Pope Horace

1700-1745:

The Augustan Age AUGUSTAN LITERATURE

• Also Augustan Poetry "Augustan" derives from George I wishing to be seen as Augustus Caesar Alexander Pope, imitating Horace, wrote an

Epistle to Augustus

: Age of George like of Augustus, when poetry became more mannered, political and satirical

1700-1745:

The Augustan Age AUGUSTAN LITERATURE

•

Augustan literature

is a style of English literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the first half of the 18th century, ending in the 1740s with the deaths of Pope and Swift (1744 and 1745, respectively).

1700-1745:

The Augustan Age AUGUSTAN LITERATURE: Genres

• • • NOVEL: Rapid development of the novel SATIRE: Explosion in satire MELODRAMA: Mutation of drama from political satire into melodrama • POETRY: Evolution toward poetry of personal exploration.

1700-1745:

The Augustan Age

Political-economy

In the writings of political-economy it marked •

the evolution of mercantilism

(as a formal philosophy), •

the development of capitalism

, and •

the triumph of trade

.

SOCIO-POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS PASSION FOR ORDER : vs THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHAOS OF THE PRECEDING CENTURY

Social characteristics

• • • • • • • On the whole, the Augustan Age gives the impression of assured elegance and refinement, decorous social behavior, and propriety, grace, and certain rigidity in the arts.

Social characteristics

• But beneath the puffery or wigs and beribboned silks, beneath the restrained and witty conversation, there remained a very human zest for living – at times even a touch of boorishness. There was also • a pronounced uneasiness about the supposedly settled state of things.

‘Whigs’

18

th

Century Contrasts

Instability evident in contrasts

•

the beaux and belles

were carried in their coaches or brocaded sedan chairs for an evening’s entertainment,

the poor

lived with filth and stench and wondered what they would eat next day.

the beaux and belles were carried in their brocaded sedan chairs

The Poor (1700-1800)

Epidemics, Migration and Discovery

The 18th Century saw a growth in •

industrialization

that brought more and more people to cities in search of work.

Epidemics, Migration and Discovery

• • • While this led to

overcrowding, poor sanitation and subsequent epidemics,

there was a growing recognition of the nature of disease.

Epidemics, Migration and Discovery

There were two prevailing views of the causes of epidemics: •

Miasmic and Contagion

. • Both have public health implications.

Miasmic

:

• This theory held that epidemics stemmed from certain atmospheric conditions and from miasmas rising from organic materials.

Contagion

:

This theory held that epidemics resulted from transmission of germs.

Contrasts of the 18

th

Century

The contrasts extended to the lofty figures of the age as well,

Dr. Johnson – Deep personal struggles • His own writings and the reports of Boswell and others, indicates that this great man of letters who had such a sure touch and such apparently set opinions was actually tortured by deep personal struggles

Swift betrays disgust in reason

The Satire of Dean Swift betrays disgust in reason, human nature, and social progress

Pope and Addison - Satire

• Even the lighter satire of Pope and Addison hints at some misgivings about the settled nature of things and the ideals of reasonable human behavior.

The frontiers of the British Empire were extended • There was an energetic restlessness in the age which pushed at established limits. The frontiers of the British Empire were extended deeper into America, Africa, and Asia.

London – Urban Center of Trade • London was growing into an ever greater urban center of trade, its creative and commercial life focusing on the smoky din of its coffee houses where merchants, lawyers, writers, brokers, and men of affairs, as well as the “pretty fellows” of fashion, gathered to bargain, argue, swear (with restraint, of course) laugh, gossip, and read the latest poem, pamphlet, or journal.

18

th

Century London

Party Politics and Power

• The eighteenth century was also a time of earnest party politics and shifting centers of political power. During the early years of the century the middle class, which had already begun to merge with the landed gentry, through intermarriage and common concerns for wealth and property, moved into a position of political dominance.

Party Politics and Power

• Representative of this enlarged and newly powerful group was the Whig party which gained great power in Parliament. When Queen Anne, the last of the Stuart monarchs, died without an heir in 1714, the Whigs threw the Tory, or conservative party out of office and granted the royal succession to Anne’s cousins from the small German kingdom of Hanover.

Anne of Great Britain

• • • • • • •

c. 1683

Reign

8 March 1702 – 1 August 1714

Predecessor

William III & II

Successor

George I

Spouse

Prince George of Denmark

Died

1 August 1714 (aged 49) Kensington Palace, London

Burial

Westminster Abbey, London

Recruiting party. - He's a fine fellow, and I dare say will never disgrace the scarlet d-mme - he'll be a General. Brought in a new recruit your honour. - Shall we play the Grenadiers March

George I and George II

• The first kings of the House of Hanover George I (1714-1727) and George II (1727-1760) – were, contrary to common belief, competent if limited rulers,.

George I

(George Louis; German:

Georg Ludwig

) • • • 8 May 1660 – 11 June 1727)[ King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death.

Ruler of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698.

George II (George Augustus; German:

Georg II

) • • •

August

; 10 November 1683[1] – 25 October 1760) King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick Lüneburg (Hanover) Archtreasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death

Townshend, Walpole and the Pitts • …but their power rested to a large extent in the hands of their cabinet ministers, Townshend, Walpole, and the two Pitts, who were masterful wielders of political influence and effective in keeping Parliament in line.

George III

• When George III came to the throne in 1760, he tried successfully to reestablish the Tory party and to loosen Parliamentary curbs on monarchial power.

George III of the United Kingdom

• • • • 1738-1820 King of Great Britain and Ireland (1760 1801) Third monarch of the House of Hanover.

Unlike his two predecessors, born in Britain and English first language.

George III – Political Issues

His obstinacy in asserting himself over Parliament and in insisting on Parliament’s power over the American colonies caused a long period of political instability in England and prolonged war in America.

George III – Illness and Madness • By 1788 George III had already begun to show signs of progressive blindness and madness, and for the last two decades of his reign his life was enshrouded in the darkness of insanity.

End of the eighteen century

• England had already suffered the first major loss to her colonial empire.

• War with America had drawn her into war with France.

• The Industrial Revolution which was to blacken Britain’s skies had already begun.

American Revolution

(1763-1783)

The Industrial Revolution (late18 th – 19 th centuries) • • • • Period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Production, and Transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain.

The Industrial Revolution (late18 th – 19 th centuries) • The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. • The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human society. • Almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.

First Industrial Revolution vs Second Industrial Revolution • The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the • Second Industrial Revolution around 1850,

Watt Steam Engine

Second Industrial Revolution

Technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of (1850) steam-powered ships, railways (later in the 19th century) internal combustion engine electrical power generation.

Steam-powered ships and Railways

Internal Combustion Engine and electrical power generation

By the end of the eighteen century The truths which had seemed so self evident at the beginning of the century were being questioned by those with a new vision of man’s role in the world.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

PERIODS AND ERAS IN ENGLISH HISTORY

Relevant Periods in English History • • •

Stuart Period Georgian era

(1603 –1714) (1714 –1830)

British Regency

(1811 –1820)

Periods and eras in English History • • • • •

Tudor period

– (1485

Elizabethan era

–1603) (1558 –1603)

Stuart Period

(1603 –1714) –

Jacobean era

–

Caroline era

(1603 – 1625) (1625 —1642)

Georgian era British Regency Edwardian period

(1714 –1830) (1811 –1820) (1901 –1910)

Stuart Period

• • • • Jacobean Age - James VI of Scotland and I of England (1603-1625) Carolean Age - Charles I of England and Scotland (1625-1649) Commonwealth (English Interregnum : 11 years) Restoration Age : Charles II of England (1660-1685) and Scotland (1649-1685)

Stuart Period (Cont.)

• • • James II of England and VII of Scotland (1685-1688) Mary II of England and Scotland (1689-1694) - with William III of England and II of Scotland (1689 1702), Augustan Age - Anne of Great Britain (1702-1714)

Works Cited and Sources

• • • Damrosch, David, ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Volume A. 2nd Compact Edition. London: Longman, 2004. David Burnley. The History of the English Language. 2nd ed. London: Pearson Education, 2000. Glatthorn, Allan A., Charles W. Kreidler & Enerst J.Heiman. The Dynamics of Language. Book 4. USA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1971.

Works Cited and Sources

• • • Jordan, Constance, and Clare Carroll. “The Early Modern Period.” The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. Vol.A. London: Longman, 2004. 391-1039.

Miller, James E., Jr., Myrtle J. Jones, and Helen McDonnel. England in Literature. Macbeth Edition. London: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1973.

Nist, John. A Structural History of English. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1966.