1. Restoration & Enlightenment 1660 AD – 1798 AD Copyright 2012 - Peter S. Willis

2. Why “Restoration”?  England hopes for a prosperous and secure time after its rocky Civil War and demise of a national church.

3. Restoration More Than a Name  This time in English history has many names. None of the names completely describes the time period. But each name describes a particular aspect of the time: Neoclassicism or Augustan Age; Restoration; English Enlightenment; Age of Reason; Age of Satire.

4. Restoration Society  There’s a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor.  The wealthy waste money while London children and the impoverished die of poor nutrition and health.  Samuel Pepys’ secret diary allows historians a means to experience the inequities and peculiarities of Restoration England. Daniel DeFoe’s Journal of a Plague Year documents the year 1665, which brought mass destruction to England.

5. Deism, Age of Reason, and Enlightenment Thinking  Renewed interest in the classical writers, such as Aristotle, remind English thinkers of the power of the scientific method.  Philosophers such as Hume, popularize a “faithless” religion called Deism.  The Enlightenment’s reach stretched to politics as well.

6. Creating a Social Order  The Restoration was a time to attempt order from chaos.  Samuel Johnson accepted the challenge to construct an English dictionary.  Writers like Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift revealed social inequities and individual peculiarities with a new, witty satire.

7. The Growth of Novels  Daniel DeFoe’s adventure novel, Robinson Crusoe, popularized the English novel. Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, and Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa followed.

8. Odes & Elegies  In poetry, the ode and the elegy increase in popularity. Odes are formal tributes to an honoured, absent subject. Elegies are similar, yet feature a tone of mourning as they pay tribute someone who has passed on. Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a famous example from this period.

9. Rebirth of Theatre  Puritan disapproval of the theatre diminishes in this century and theatre becomes another outlet for social satire. Restoration comedies addressed social issues like manners. The works were sophisticated in style and mature in content.  John Dryden’s “Essay of Dramatic Poesy” brings Shakespeare back into the limelight.

10. Women Writers  Aphra Behn published poetry and short novels, ensuring her place in history as the first seriously considered female English writer.  Lady Mary Montagu was a well-travelled and sophisticated poet.  These two writers demonstrated skill in what was once a male-only profession.

11. Where Does England Go Now?  Like many artistic movements, the pendulum will swing far, and a subsequent movement will emerge that is opposite in thinking.  The interest in odes will continue, but the late 1700s will bring about a new ‘’Romantic’’ poetry – focused on the individual, not society, emotional in impact yet simple.