1. Jonathan Swift and the Age of Reason
Jonathan Swift and the Age of Reason

2. Overview of dates 1660: Trade in Asia
1605: Gunpowder Plot-to kill James I
1607: Jamestown
1620: The Mayflower
1649: Charles I beheaded
: Oliver Cromwell rules
1660: Charles II restored to throne

3. Development of English Commonwealth:
1649—King Charles I beheaded
Controversy with Parliament over money
Fought with Puritans and Calvinists over methods of practicing religion
Oliver Cromwell, nominated by radical Puritans) takes over as Lord Protector and acts as a dictator until his death in 1658

4. The Restoration:
Charles II (who had escaped to France when father beheaded) is restored to the throne
Time of partying and lavish activities (think of the huge white wigs, white make-up, painted beauty marks)
Charles II pushed for study of arts and sciences

5. Glorious Revolution 1688
After Charles II, James II (a Catholic) came to the throne
Parliament asked Mary, daughter of James I and a Protestant, to rule England with her husband William of Orange
James II escaped to France
William and Mary agreed to respect Bill of Rights that gave Parliament more power and made England a limited, or constitutional, monarchy

6. Enlightenment (Age of Reason)
A time of scientific revolution where people believed there had to be an answer for everything
Sir Isaac Newton and the study of gravity and the planets (1687)
This led the way to new inventions and tools, which brought about the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions
Writers and intellectuals became disillusioned as the revolutions brought misery to many poor who could not find work to survive (which led into the ideas expressed during the Romantic Period)

7. Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions
Landlords had advantage of new tools and could plant and harvest larger crops, providing more food for the nation
They fenced in lands they had once rented out to sharecroppers and hired laborers
Farmhands who no longer had jobs in the countryside moved toward towns to work in the factories

8. Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions cont.
Factories and industry boomed because of new inventions (steam engine), increasing England’s wealth
By late 1700’s “progress” meant misery for many
Men, women, and children crowded into towns to find regular work
Regular work generally meant working hour days for little pay (no labor laws intact yet)

9. Literature during the Age of Reason
Writers brought back qualities of ancient Greek and Roman writers—harmony, restraint, and clarity (“Neoclassical”—new classics)
They favored generalities and had a fondness for satires poking fun at society’s follies—they used wit
Jonathan Swift
Restoration literature dealt with more controversial and lavish topics—sex, partying, essentially ideas involving carpe diem

10. Age of Satire
A literary work of human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.
Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift used satire to expose moral corruption and crass commercialism

11. Journalism
Journalists thought of themselves as reformers of public manners and morals
Eighteenth century journalists didn’t really describe political and social matters

12. The novel (something new)
The novel affected English literature because it was a new form of entertainment
Novels written during that time told us what life was like at that time
Novels also help us understand the joys and disappointments of human life of all ages

13. The first novels
Robinson Crusoe which is thought to have been a true novel
Tom Jones which includes rowdy incidents though the characters are basically good
Pamela, Clarissa which are novels in letters to teach young women how to act
Tristam Shandy experimental

14. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Born in Dublin, Ireland to English parents
Wanted a career in politics but received no support in this area and decided on a career in the church
Wrote satires throughout his life
Scornful critic of the rising merchant class (saw them as shameless money grubbers)
Wrote satires that showed human nature as deeply flawed

15. Swift cont.
Reluctantly took a position as dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin
He despised the Irish for various reasons
Eventually he noticed the problems forced on the Irish by the English
“A Modest Proposal”
Uses techniques of satire and exaggeration to get his point across