English Literature 2: Key Vocabulary

Flashcards to help students review key vocabulary from the lecture on English Literature 2, focusing on the Restoration, the 18th Century, and the Romantic Period.

Restoration (1660)

The return of the monarchy in England with Charles II, marking the end of Cromwell’s Republic.

The Glorious Revolution (1688)

The overthrow of King James II by William III and Queen Mary II, establishing a constitutional monarchy.

Act of Uniformity (1662)

Law requiring everyone to conform to the Anglican Church, leading to the exclusion of dissenters.

Test Acts (1673)

English penal laws that excluded Nonconformists from public office and imposed civil disabilities.

Dissenters

People who did not conform to the Anglican Church and were excluded from civil rights.

Declaration of Indulgence (1688)

Issued by James II, granting religious freedom to everyone, causing tensions in Protestant England.

Bill of Rights (1689)

Limited royal power and strengthened Parliament, marking the beginning of a constitutional monarchy.

Toleration Act

Gave some freedom to dissenters to practice their own religion.

Whig and Tory

Opposing political parties in England during the 18th century; Whigs supported landowning families and social reforms, while Tories supported the Church of England and the Monarchy.

Act of Union with Scotland (1707)

United the kingdoms of England and Scotland to create Great Britain.

Georgian Period (1714-1837)

Reigns of the first four King Georges of Britain, marked by political, social, and cultural change.

Enclosure Act

Legislation that shifted common lands toward private ownership, impacting countryside life.

Anthropocene

The period where human influence on the natural world became evident.

Consumer Society

A society where people bought things for display rather than survival needs.

Bank of England (1694)

Founded in 1694, it contributed to the industrial revolution.

The Enlightenment

18th-century cultural and intellectual movement based on reason and scientific thought.

Tabula Rasa

John Locke’s concept that people are born as a blank slate, shaped by experience.

The Grand Tour

A trip to European countries like Italy, France, and Switzerland to acquire cultural and intellectual experience.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

The forced movement of millions of Africans to the Americas, with Britain becoming the leading nation in the trade.

Royal African Company (1660s)

Organization that heavily influenced and contributed to Britain becoming a leading nation in the slave trade.

Periodical Paper

A literary genre that became popular in the 18th century, fostering literary criticism.

Dictionary of the English Language

Samuel Johnson’s dictionary published in 1755, listing 40,000 words and their detailed definitions.

Ladies Mercury

Newspaper created for women in 1693, concerning love, marriage, behaviour and dress.

Female Spectator

Magazine written by Eliza Haywood, the first magazine by and for women.

Circulating Libraries

Libraries that provided cheap access to novels and became fashionable daytime lounges.

The Bluestockings (1750's -1770's)

Women's literary circle famous for it's controvers behaviour. The leader was Lady Elizabeth Montagu.

Augustan Age Poets

Neoclassical poets such as Pope, Dryden and Swift that combined English and classical traditions, emulating the great Latin poets.

Heroic Couplets

Augustan poets used this verse to mastering the English language.

Mock Epic

Combination of epic and satire.The rape of the rock (Pope) is one of the greatest example of Augustan poetry.

Daniel Defoe

English writer, Daniel DEFOE (1660-1731) who wrote Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722).

Jonathan Swift

English writer, Jonathan SWIFT (1667-1745) who wrote Gulliver's Travels (1726 ).

Samuel Richardson

English writer, Samuel RICHARDSON (1689-1771) who created a new form of novels: the epistolary novel. Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740) and Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748).

Henry Fielding

English writer, Henry FIELDING (1707-1754) who create burlesque character in novels. An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews (1741) and Tom Jones (1749).

Laurence Sterne

Laurence STERNE, one of the most important forerunners of psychological fiction, opening up with feelings, emotions in his works. A Sentimental Journey (1768).

Cult of sensibility

Philosophers started to highlight the importance of emotions and for this reason authors mirrored this ideas. Idea of man that is naturally good, sense of benevolence at the origin of human being.

Second phase of the Industrial Revolution

Historical context that charaterized the Romantic period (1777-1832).

American Revolution (1776)

Historical context that charaterized the Romantic period (1777-1832),declaration of Independence of American colonies.

French Revolution (1789)

Historical context that charaterized the Romantic period (1777-1832).

Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)

Historical context that charaterized the Romantic period (1777-1832), in particular, wars with Napoleon were devastating for England (economically).

Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)

Historical context that charaterized the Romantic period (1777-1832).

Radical Dissenters

After the French Revolution, the British government felt the need to monitor intellectuals who had supported revolutionary ideas. Acted like Joseph Johnson (publisher), William Godwin (philosopher, political theorist, and novelist and Mary Wollstonecraft (writer).

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Romantic writer influenced by German idealist philosopher Immanuel Kant, who argued that the mind actively shaped the external world.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Romantic writer and feminist (1759-1797) who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).

literary journalism

Introduced new, more accessible forums for critical discussion.

Three-decker

The physical form of the novel became standardized with the dominance of the three-volume octavo in the 1830s. It's a term.

Gothic Fiction

Literary genre that emerged at the end of the 18th century, it is a picture of real life and manners, of the times in which it is written.

Sublime

Exploring the pleasure derived from objects of terror.

Anna Laetitia Barbauld

Said Passion and fancy cooperating elevate the soul to its highest pitch; and the pain of terror is lost in amazement

Horace Walpole

The first to open up the Gothic tradition, pioneering something completely new rather than merely copying existing works.

The Castle of Otranto (1764)

By Horace Walpole and it is first Gothic fiction in history, opening the possibility of creating a genre.

Horace's Ars Poetica

Important source that draws inspiration for The Castle of Otranto the is second edition of Horace Walpole. Is aware that he is doing something new, using romance in an innovative artistic way—creating something original while drawing from important sources

Ann Radcliffe

continued the Gothic tradition, emphasizing suspense and terror in her Gothic romances.The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794).

Terrror Gothic

Anne Radcliffe highlights the distinction On the Supernatural in Poetry: Engages the imagination, leaving the reader to envision the horror.

Horror Gothic

MG Lewis highlights the distinction On the Supernatural in Poetry: Describes gruesome details explicitly, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Matthew Gregory Lewis

Introduced horror Gothic with his novel The Monk (1796), innovating by moving beyond stereotypical characters and developing novel character archetypes.

Gothic Elements

Gothic fiction uses elements such as historicism and supernatural

William Gilpin

Religious and travel writer, theorized how to portray picturesque scenes on paper.

William Gilpin picturesque

The picturesque experience intertwines beauty, travel, and sketching. It involves painting landscapes with words rather than merely describing them, closely linked to imagination.

Edison - The Spectator

an example of sublime, Edison embarked on his Grand Tour and experienced the crossing of the Alps, which he described as an astonishing experience and a personal transformation.

Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)

From Edmund Burke, he explored the origins of the sublime and the beautiful, considering them natural categories of the human mind.

the sublime (Burke)

associated with pain, fear, and danger

Burke - the beautiful

Linked to pleasure.

William Gilpin

Three Essays on Picturesque Beauty (1794) provided instructions that Ann Radcliffe would later adopt.

The first edition of the romance

The author name is missing: it was a pratice of the time to write by authoress. by authoress of a sicilian romance - quote from Shakespeare, from Macbeth -> in three volumes

Pierre de la Motte

Protagoniste in The Romance of the Forest, he is compelled to act or escape from Paris due to creditors. He represent the countryside,La Motte reflects a real man (with good and bad characteristics).

Maturin - Melmoth the wanderer

Wille create the modern anti hero

The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) title page

The author's name is prominently displayed, and the mention of romance Provides a definition of the story we are about to read: we can expect stereotypical characters, a gothic setting, mystery, suspense, and a complex plot that keeps the reader engaged. Has been written from Ann Radcliffe

The mysteries of Udolpho - beginning place

open on pleasant banks of the Garonne, the tranquility and idyllic environment with the character's relationship of parent and child. St Aubert.

The sublime scene

With a touch of the imagination. Emily and St Aubert have a new sense entering the Pyrenes.

GOTHIC TERROR (as defined by Radcliffe)

Terrors impressed upon the mind and imagination. The reader then can imagine whatever he wants, they also leave a blank that create suspense. It is an active process that will keep the reader interested and engaged

Black veil meaning

mystery for a very long time but will have reasonable ending, is a device that has been very successful

The Monk, the novel

Show black magic, pure terror, anxiety-inducing uncertainty, demonic elements, and characters who changed drastically throughout the narrative+it’s a great metaphor of the political and social context of times. Has been written y Matthew Lewis

Why is The Monk transgressive?

Challenges the social hierarchy and moral corruption of his time (and the readers).

Horror Sublime - concept

It´s explicit, paralysing the imagination and emotions, is disturbing the reader, an uncomfortable experience the reader cannot get rid of. Its the limit of Burke concept of “Safe to Experience Pain”. Has been used from Mathew Lewis.

The monk plot description

Set in Spain Madrid, chosen country to symbolize dark forces (symbol of catholic church corruptet by evil forces).

Horace Wapole and Anne Radcliffe -> Isabella and Madred

Lewis in The Monk has been inspired to create istantiacion into characters that are easyly and readily identifiable.

The Monk characters

The villain is known from the begining.

The gothic plays stereotypes

plays were very well received by the audience- meant to have a very interesting and full of action play. their plot was not difficult to follow (because it is linear and flashback are used just for historical or past events) - The horror and the terror are mingled together.

Ambrosio

The villain: Manfred is ruling the family, he is despotic, everyone in Otranto and the village is afraid of him. Whenever he says something, everybody is obeing. He represents a metaphorical source of patriarchal society, patriarchal power.

Reeve - the novel

picture of real life and manners, and of the times in which it is written. The Romance in lofty and elevated language, describes what never happened nor is likely to happen

Lady Bertram

the perfect english society -> nothing goes wrong

Austen-> Northanger Abbey

For the first time, the word gothic appeared on the first page.

gothic story

Walpole used this word as cultural reference; it does not refer to the historical Gothic people but rather evokes a sense of mystery.

gothic manifesto

The second preface can be considered a gothic manifesto. Horace Walpole created a literary prototype for gothic romance, inspiring many followers who emulated his style.

Enlighment is

suggesting that not everything in life has a rational explanation. there remains an element of mystery in both human and inhuman life

First ediction of Walpole Book

literary experiment, but after great notoriety on the second ediction there significant noveity: the greatest element of innovation the label gothic story. He is aware that he is doing something new, his intentions are clearly explained in this edition of the book

Edimund Burke (The Terror)

Highlights the human desire to witness moments of terror firsthand, through not as direct participants. We share the pain, but our lives are not at risk, allowing us to engage with fear in a controlled way.

The Romance is

an heroic fable, which treats of fabulous persons and things. The Novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the times in which it is written

Social gothic

more focused on the normal behavior (Jane West)

Three Literary Periods

• Restoration and long Eighteenth Century (1660 - 1780), - Romanticism (1776 - 1832), Victorian Age ( 1832 - 1901) -> Flexible dates.

Mary Robinson

Feminist writer (1758-1800) that wrote Letter to the Women of England and the Injustice of Mental Subordination (1799). She addressing a wider audience compared to Wollstonecraft’s formal and philosophical arguments.

Literary journalism

Introduced new, more accessible forums for critical discussion; it multiplied and diversified the opportunities for critical expression, it fostered new critical values, drew attention to new literary genres, systematized the treatment of established ones, and expanded the audience for criticism.

Reviews influenced

public opinion and were politically charged.

The Gentleman’s Magazine

It provided to be a mirror of the states of art, politics and the economy at both national and international levels. Edward Care, Middle-class, moderate, liberal (1731)

Thomas Paine

Politician during Romantic period. He were a radical disserters and want to spread even more revolutionary ideas.

Erasmus Darwin

philosopher, poet and scientist during Romantic. He were a radical disserters and want to spread even more revolutionary ideas.

Erasmus Darwin

minister, philosopher, and chemist during Romantic. He were a radical disserters and want to spread even more revolutionary ideas.

Scientific gothic

In Frankenstein introduced scientific themes into Gothic writing, abandoning the romanticized elements of earlier works

The nine living muses

those women and those intellectual called Bluestockings were remembered through the years

Pre romanticism

Starting to investigate the relation between human and nature, that is leading to a sort of pre-romanticism. We could called him a natural poet, but he's still following the Augustan poets