THE RESTORATION AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
(SLIDE 1) 1660-1700
There is no simple sentence that can sum up the long period that runs from 1660-1800.
I. POLITICAL ASPECTS (SLIDE 2)
King Charles I, who came to the throne in 1625, proved to be stubborn and untrustworthy. He continued to alienate Parliament, many of whose members were Puritans, staunch critics of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. In 1642, civil war broke out between the Royalists—the king and his supporters—and supporters of Parliament. In 1649, a Parliament entirely Puritan in membership beheaded Charles I. The Puritans, now in control, frowned on all forms of frivolity, including the theatre and even the lovely lyrics of the court poets. To them poets were all liars, rogues and sinners.(SLIDE 3) The Puritans became extremely powerful, chiefly because their leader, Oliver Cromwell, proved to be strong and efficient. Now, however, Puritans in England had power enough to install Cromwell at the head of government. The Puritans wanted to establish a democracy, but Cromwell created a protectorate as dictator. In an effort to control the nation’s morals, he enacted laws that invaded and severely restricted personal liberties. Theaters were shut down. Catholics and Anglicans were denied freedom of worship; massacres were conducted against Irish forces that challenged Puritan rule.
Cromwell, England’s first non-royal ruler, headed England as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth for nine violent years. Upon his death (1568), his weak son, Richard, proved to be unable to fill his father’s shoes and anarchy ensued. (SLIDE 4) In 1660, the English people had had their fill of strict Puritanism and chose to recall Charles (son of the executed Charles I) from France where he had been staying. Charles had tried to save his father twice, living abroad, ten years in poverty. Charles assumed the throne as Charles II. He reestablished the Anglican Church. The English were tired of revolution and wanted to be able to settle down, prosper, and enjoy life. This period from 1660 to 1700 is referred to as “The Restoration” because it restored, or returned, power to the monarchy and rejected the Puritans.
King Charles II led a reckless life. His mistresses (one of which was Nell Gwyn, an actress by whom he had two illegitimate sons and who lived next door to Windsor Castle), drinking, illegitimate sons, gambling were all a mask as he recaptured all the power he could for the crown and built himself a standing army. (Sidenote: His illegitimate son, Duke of Monmouth was killed in a battle against James and when he was beheaded, his head was brought back for a portrait.) Charles II had no legitimate children. Charles II also had a serious interest in the progress of science. In 1660 he established the Royal Society of London which promoted scientific research and still stands as an institution today. Charles II died in 1685 and his unpopular and hated brother, James, succeeded to the throne as King James II. (SLIDE 5) The problem with James II was that he openly acknowledged the Roman Catholic Church. This was the first time England had had a Catholic monarch since Bloody Mary Tudor.
James II began a policy of public terror and turned to France for aid. He replaced many high officials who refused to accept the Catholic faith and attempted to override the decrees of Parliament. Parliament is divided into two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. When both houses opposed him, he dismissed the House of Commons. He lost support from the Tories; he ousted professors from their teaching positions at Oxford. A short time later, Parliament invited James II’s Protestant daughter, Mary, and her Dutch husband, William of Orange, to accept the British crown. James, fearing his own execution, fled to permanent exile in France. Parliament voted that James had abdicated the government. Those who supported James were called “Jacobites.” Since James quietly left England, and there was no civil war or executions in crowning William and Mary as the new monarchs, this event is known as the “Glorious Revolution.” (SLIDE 6) (Side note: William and Mary College named after these monarchs.)
With the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the English rising middle class (in Parliament) gained authority over the crown. The 18th Century saw the gradual and eventually complete rise of the middle class in the life of the nation with the development of commerce and industry. William will die at the Battle of Boyne from a shoulder infection when he was thrown from a horse.
(SLIDE 7 and SLIDE 8) After the deaths of William and Mary, the 1700’s began with the crowning of Queen Anne (1702-1714), Mary’s sister and James II’s daughter. Anne is completely lacking in taste and judgment. She is married to a nymph from Holland. Under her England will become involved in war-the War of the Spanish Succession where England and France are foes. In 1707 the Act of Union will unite England with Scotland to form Great Britain. She will restore to favor John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough from whom Winston Churchill is descended. During this time, Parliament was dominated by two rival political parties: the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs (liberal) were chiefly from the growing merchant (middle) class and represented urban and commercial interests. They sought to promote war with France because they hoped it would lead to British dominance in trade. The Tories (conservatives) included most of the British nobility and the landowners-think rural and old money. They sought to advance agricultural interests and preferred an end to the conflicts with France. Queen Anne outlived her 17 children, and therefore, her royal line ended with her. Since she had no heir, the throne was passed to a distant cousin from Germany. (SLIDE 9) The House of Hanover, supported by the Whigs (middle class), came to the throne. George I (1714-1727), the next Protestant in line and distant relative of Anne, and son, George II (1727-1760) were from the German territory of Hanover, and made little effort to understand the country. They were more or less strangers to the English language. During their reigns, the Whig Party (in Parliament) was able to rule England for a period of thirty without a rival and did all it could to further the interests of the middle class. Robert Walpole would become the first prime minister. It was during George II’s reign that the Seven Year’s War (French and Indian War in North America) with France occurred. He was killed by a croquet ball and his mother said good riddance because she hated him.
(SLIDE 10, 11) When George III (grandson of George II) came to the throne in 1760, Britain had unrivaled prestige in Europe and empires in India and America. He believed that the king should play an active role in politics. He was, however, the last king to attempt recapturing the royal power from Parliament. His failure was almost complete. He succeeded only in discrediting himself with his people, in forcing the American colonies to revolt for their independence (the Boston Tea Party in 1773), and in bringing England near the brink of ruin in another war with France. He suffered from porphyria a symptom of which is blue urine. A chemical imbalance that can be cured now caused him to go insane, as portrayed in the movie The Madness of King George. George IV ruled as Regent during the Regency Period of his dad’s insanity.
II. LIFE DURING THE RESTORATION
It was during this period of the Restoration that London suffered two major disasters. (SLIDE 12) In 1665 the Great Plague swept through London leaving 68,000 dead. (SLIDE 13, 14) In the following year, 1666, the city was devastated by the Great Fire (SLIDE 15)(of which Samuel Pepys, whose fine home would be in danger of being consumed as detailed in his Diary) consumed 13,000 houses, 400 streets, and almost 90 of London’s 101 churches. (SLIDE 16, 17) Mostly the poor were affected as the wooden buildings standing so close together burned quickly. Directed by that famous architect, Christopher Wren, 51 churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, were rebuilt by 1800. At this time in England, the Industrial Revolution was just beginning. London had a population of ? million; England had 5 ? million. Instead of goods being produced at home, they were now being produced in factories where because of new machinery they could be produced in greater quantities and in less time.
Scientific and technological advances went hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution. (SLIDE 18) Especially important was the steam engine and the spinning jenny, which revolutionized the textile industry. (SLIDE 19) Other scientific advancements included the development of vaccinations, the telescope, the barometer, the pendulum clock, Newton’s Law of Gravity, and the development of geometry and calculus. With the new emphasis on the scientific method, the implication was that natural phenomena were no longer the result of external influence (the “gods”).
(SLIDE 20) III. VARIOUS LABELS FOR THE 18 TH CENTURY -The most accurate adjectives would be rational, logical, objective, moralistic and symmetrical.
The eighteenth century has been given several labels by literary historians:
1. Age of Reason – anything could be achieved through the calm working of the mind. People stopped asking “Why?” and started asking “How?”
(Logic) Writers tended to distrust imagination and prefer to write in limits of logic and common sense.
2. Age of Classicism – (Neo-classicism) a fascination with the classical styles of Ancient Greece and Rome because neo(new) classicists believed Roman and Greek classic were perfect form. Neo-classicists focused upon order, balance, and harmony in their art.
3. Age of Elegance – upper classes led an ostentatious and elegant lifestyle, while the masses lived plainly. Charles II (SLIDE 21), while exiled in France, picked up the styles of the French and wore them when he got home to England. The upper class began to follow his lead. Men wore colorful knee breeches and colorful coats, vests, and stocking. Women wore lavish costumes with corsets so tight that breathing was difficult. Both sexes wore wigs or powdered their hair (until the 1790’s hair powder tax led to natural hairdos).
4. Augustan Age – referred to the Emperor Augustus of a prosperous Rome of long ago when commerce and great literature thrived (classical ancient Rome). The Augustan period in Roman history was supposedly the greatest. Age Some divide this period into two smaller periods:
a. The Age of Pope (after Alexander Pope) who had a rationalistic view of the world.
b. The Age of Johnson (after Samuel Johnson)
IV. LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS (SLIDE 22 )
The greatest achievements in literature were not in poetry or drama, but in prose. Literature was basically concerned with order, balance, and control of thought and style. General characteristics of the literature: 1) respect for cities (living in the country a bore) with nature tolerated in such locales as the Garden of Versailles; 2) little interest in the individual; more interested in the conduct of the urban society; 3) chiefly interested in satire because of its attacks on those who don’t conform to society; 4) wit at a premium ; good manners in both conduct and writing; 5) interest in concerns of contemporary life.
Examples are:
1. Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1688) by (SLIDE 23)John Dryden (Master of Modern English
Prose)-the greatest literary man; younger men went to coffeehouses to hear him
2. (SLIDE 24) A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) by Samuel Johnson (vocabulary and spelling); poor, little formal education, blind in one eye and deaf in one ear; wife 20 yrs. older, life pension by George III; various friends; odd mannerisms, dedicated to learning, wise, talker, beloved; 9 yrs. for dictionary with 6 assts. 140,000 words defined; NOTE: Noah Webster stole from him without giving credit
3. Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762) by Robert Lowth (syntax)
4. The Tatler and The Spectator (1711-1714) by Joseph Addison and Richard
Steele – England’s first magazines/newspapers (periodicals); Addison trying to bring learning out of the schools into coffeehouses. Wanted to publish serious essays and the less formal with satiric humor. 900 essays together Addison ended up alienating himself from Swift, Steele and Pope with his haughtiness
5. (SLIDE 25) Essay on Man; Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope – literary criticism-literary scholars of the day became critics of past and present literature. Child prodigy, Roman Catholic, tb, hunch backed dwarf, 4 1/2 ft, 16-pastorals; translations of the Iliad and Odyssey, second most quoted writer in English literature, bitter quarrels with other writers, after his edition of Wm. Shakespeare was attacked, wrote The Dunciad which ridiculed bad writers, scientists, critics; satirized in this cartoon; one of first poets to earn a living; landscape design-tunnel from waterfront to back garden walled with shells and pieces of mirrors; heroic couplet modeled after John Dryden’s-two lines of rhymed iambic pentameter-A little learning is a dangerous thing.
6. (SLIDE 26)“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift – satirical essay-most favored genre
7. Diary by Samuel Pepys -- historical
8. Political writings—like Swift
9. Philosophical writings
10. (SLIDE 27) Development of the novel (new to Britain)
a. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe; De in front of name to add an aristocratic prefix; spy for Wm. III,
b. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
c. Pamela by Samuel Richardson
d. Types of novels
1. picaresque – a series of loosely strung together episodes of an adventurer