the restoration

-begins with the Restoration in 1660 when Stuarts return from exile to British throne

-ends with publication of Lyric Ballads   and French Revolution  in 1789

THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND

I.               1660- King Charles II (1660-1685)

- Stuart heir who was in exile during civil war (fought over religious freedom)

-people who controlled power felt that King’s return would be lesser evil than continued

  Puritan rule

-political life dominated by desire to assure stability  (traumatized by civil war)

II.            James II (1685-1689)

-Charles’ brother

-openly committed to favoring Roman Catholicism and forming dangerous alliances with

 Catholic powers of Europe

-expelled from throne in “Glorious Revolution ”

            *upheaval occurred without bloodshed

            *assertion of status quo against monarch who threatened to upset it

III.           Mary  (1689-1702)

-James’ daughter; a protestant

-ruled jointly with Dutch husband ( William of Orange  )

IV.          Anne (1702-1714)

-died childless

-Mary’s sister

-crown should have passed to James Stuart (“ the Old Pretender”)

            *son of exiled and dead James II

            *was Catholic ; parliament has passed act that the British sovereign must be Protestant

            *ends Stuart succession (a.k.a. “Bonnie Prince Charlie”)

V.              George I  (1714-1727)

-distant relative of Mary, German Elector of Hanover

- France supported James Stuart’s return and there were some Stuart supporters called

“Jacobites”

            *unsuccessful attempts in 1715 & 1745

VI.          George II (  1727-1760 )

-did not learn English well

-showed greater interest in Hanover than Great Britain

-allowed control of British government to fall almost completely into the hands of Parliament   (where it still resides today)

VII.        George III (1760-1820)

-was different than first two Georges; was a strong English king

-attempt at ruling had some unfortunate results—loss of 13 American colonies

VIII.      Power of the King and English Government

-king remained highly influential, but real power moved increasingly to political parties of Parliament

-two party political system

            * WHIGS - represented financial and mercantile interests, cities, and towns,

                             progressive element; strongly opposed to any interference in politics by

                             the monarchy

            *TORIES- many Jacobites in early years; represented country squires and their

                               folk; favored old traditions.

-there were general elections, but few were entitled to vote

-no real political democracy

-most people were publicly spirited and expressed dissatisfaction by rioting

IX.          Restoration England

- France was greatest European power during reign of Charles II

            *  French classical style and manner were imitated

-Major disasters

            *  plague  (1665)

            *Great Fire ( 1666 )- devastated entire old city; rebuilt under direction of Christopher Wren

-New scientific and rational age

            *1662- Royal Society (composed of distinguished scientists, philosophers, and scholars; founded under direct patronage of the king )

            *Isaac Newton (mathematician and astronomer)

            * William Harvey (discovered circulation of blood)

            *John Locke (described mental processes )

X.             England in the Eighteenth Century

-population is 5.5 million at start of 18^th century; London is biggest city

-industrial development at end of century brought about rapid growth in cities of the

  north

-many alarmed by urban sprawl

-social order based on stratified class system (inevitable and divinely ordained)

            *1.  The Great (who live profusely)

2.     The Rich (who live plentifully)

3.     The Middle Sort (who live well)

4.     The Working Trades (who labor hard, but feel no want)

5.     The Country People, Farmers, etc. (who fare indifferently)

6.     The Poor (that fare hard)

7.     The Miserable (that really pinch and suffer want)

-hierarchy

            *Top- hereditary nobility (wealthiest merchants sought to join by marriage or

                       purchased titles )

            *country scene (dominated by gentry-landowning squires who administered local

              justice, as well as control of agriculture); were suspicious of rich wielders of

              power in far-off London; established social order

*  Professions (church, law, teachers, doctors, and military-commissions sold    rather than assigned on merit); THOUGHT OF AS PARASITES

            -terrified of crime caused by poverty and punished it ferociously

                        *first English who came to America were “transported” convicts

            -universal education was opposed by many on the ground that it would elevate humble

             people above their stations

                        *         and Cambridge- only 2 universities in England

                        *majority of people were illiterate (growing publication promoted rapid rise in

                          literacy)

                        * women received haphazard education, could not enter university, and were

                          banned from professions

                        *only well-to-do males could vote

            -            ceremony was regarded as an economic arrangement uniting families and

             estates

            -religious life was dominated by the Anglican Church with hierarchy of bishops and

             parish priests in every village

                        *  dissenters - minority who remained outside of the Church

                                    -Alexander Pope- catholic

                                    - John Dryden - Catholic

                                    -Daniel Defoe- Presbyterian

                        *evangelical revival led by John and Charles Wesley

XI.          The Arts

-most striking characteristic of the arts was practical quality (portraits and familiar

  landscapes)

-music was cultivated but at a level of competence, rather than genius (finest musicians

 were foreigners  such as Handel and Haydn)

- drama was active (more great actors than playwrights during this time)

-much building and “improvement” of towns and estates during this time; handsome

 streets and squares put up in “Georgian” style after reigning monarchs

-made a favorable art form of garden and landscape designs (were replacing formal

 symmetry of French-inspired garden with a more natural style; landscapes admired for

 “picturesque” qualities

-ideal was to make use of art  in every aspect of life, but to do so in such a way that it

 becomes natural

XII.        The Coffeehouse

-middle class’ ideal social center

            *came to occupy area between town houses of aristocrats and rough and roaring

              taverns of Elizabethans and Jacobeans

-          could be gathered and exchanged, some business conducted, political secrets

 whispered

-serious discussions of  religion , philosophy,  literature, domestic and foreign  affairs, as

 well as pleasant or malicious gossip

-knitting together of the middle and upper sections of English society (benefit to writers)

-created a feeling that closely knit and highly articulate society represented a new, but

 enduring civilization which belonged only to persons of some position, wealth, and

 influence; common people were still outside of it

XIII.      The Age of Reason

-most people were strongly patriotic and welcomed many signs of the country’s greatness

-scientists and philosophers provided framework of a system that seemed capable of

 explaining everything in the universe (described universe as a smoothly running machine set in motion by benevolent deity …rational religion known as Deism  )

-human reason and “common sense” played a huge role in society during this period

XIV.      Literary Developments

-THEATRE

            *Charles II reopened the theatres closed by

            *Restoration theatre very different

                        -theatre for the court, nobility, and men and women of fashion

                        -  women’s roles were now played by women

                        -most characteristic dramas were comedies of manners

-PREFERENCE FOR PUBLIC/GENERAL THEMES VRS. PRIVATE, INDIVIDUAL ONES

            *lyric fell into disuse except for playful purposes (because lyric poems generally

              expressed personal feeling)

            *writers wanted to address themselves to universal human experience , to

              problems of society, and recurring constants in human behavior

-PATRONAGE

            *writers either rewarded directly by wealthy patrons to whom they dedicated their

              work or given easy well-paid government jobs called “ sinecures” that would                                                                                

              enable them to keep writing in comfortable circumstances

            *allowed writer to confidently address his works to cultivated, intelligent readers,

              and could maintain a certain level in his writing

            *soon gave way to a system of publishers (who were also booksellers)

                        -readers no longer confined to a small class

                        -new middle class took to buying and reading books

-NOVEL

            *comparatively new literary form; won popularity by 1770’s

            *outstanding novelists include Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence

              Sterne

-PROFESSIONAL WRITERS

            *usually led desperate lives scribbling away to keep selves from starvation

            *would often undertake to write about long subjects they knew little about just

              because these were what booksellers demanded

XV.        The End of an Age

- Industrial Revolution (greatly increased use of machinery and steam power in

  manufacturing and transformed England into a blackened, ruined countryside of

  mineshafts and horrible industrial towns in which people lived in horrid conditions)

-French Revolution (1789-1799 ) left everything uncertain

            *Britain sharply divided between those who feared and denounced it and those

              Who welcomed it

            *old values and standards seemed to vanish in roar of Napolean’s cannon

            *old aristocracy was giving way to rising middle class and increasing sympathy

              for the underprivileged

            *ideas of political freedom, independence, human brotherhood, and “natural rights” became more widespread