I.B.

(PG) College,
Panipat
class: B.A. FIRST Year
English HONS.
Topic :
RESTORATION AGE
• SINCERE THANKS TO:
• DR.AJAY KUMAR GARG
• PRINCIPAL , I.B. (PG) COLLEGE,
• PANIPAT

• DR.MADHU SHARMA (H.O.D.)

• ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
PRESENTED BY :

REKHA SHARMA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
 Literature produced in Restoration Period
is also known as:
 The Augustan Age,
 The Neoclassical Period,
 The Enlightenment, and
 The Age of Reason
 Restoration literature is the English literature written
during the historical period commonly referred to as
the English Restoration (1660–1689). Some literary
historians divide this literary movement in three parts: 
 The Restoration Age (1660-1700) introducing the
comedy of manner (a play about the manners and
conventions of a highly sophisticated aristocratic
society.)
 The Augustan Age (1700-1750) introducing poetry of
personal exploration, and serious development of the
novel, melodrama, and satire.
 The Age of Johnson (1750- 1798) or the Age of
Sensibility was a transitional period between Neo-
Classicism and Romanticism introducing contrary to Age
of Reason (Neo-Classicism) emotional quality.
Political History-I
The period begins with the RESTORATION of
the
Monarchy in 1660
 bringing Charles II from his exile in France.

 He brings with him the indulgent and

artistic ways of Louis XIV’s court

 Two distinct political parties resulted, the

Whigs and the Tories

a. Whigs wanted to limit royal authority
b. Tories supported absolute royal authority
 James II (brother of Charles II) takes the throne and
is
voted out by Parliament due to his highly Catholic
ways.
 The Glorious or Bloodless Revolution is a reference

to the lack of violence needed to change the

throne from Catholic James II to his protestant
daughter Mary and her husband William.
 Shortly after James II’s abdication of the throne:

a. Bill of Rights limiting the power of the King.

b. Parliament passed an act forbidding Catholics to
rule.
George I of Hanover Germany took the throne in 1714
when his cousin
Anne, daughter of William and Mary, died ending the rule of
the
Stuarts and beginning the rule of the House of Hanover.

1. George I and his son George II did NOT speak English

and relied heavily on their advisors establishing the role
of England’s first Prime Ministers. Richard Walpole for
George I and William Pitt for George II .

2. Under George I and George II and their Prime

Ministers, the British thrived winning the Seven Years
War (aka The French and Indian War) and adding French
Canada and India to the Empire.
In 1760, George III became the first
British born Hanover monarch although
he was less effective than his father and
grandfather.
Because his English was reliable, he
used his Prime Minister less and is held
responsible for the loss of the American
Colonies
Why to name it as Augustan &
Neoclassical Period
Similarities in Political History

 The title of The Augustan Period refers to similarities

between England at this time and Rome during the reign
of Caesar Augustus, also known as Ocatvius (63 BC-14
AD).

 Octavius ruled in the time after Julius Caesar’s

assassination. He restored order and peace to the people
of Rome and is often classified as its second founder.

 In a similar way, Charles II is taken from exile in France

and restored England. He reopened playhouses, brought
back a formal court, and had the body of Oliver Cromwell
exhumed and decapitated.
Why to name it as Augustan &
Neoclassical Period
 Similarities in literary History
 Most educated people of the time are familiar
with the classical works as well as the works of
their own time and country and found
enjoyment in their connection.
 They enjoyed allusions to the political
connections of the time periods and
references to the classical characters and
themes.
 Works emphasizing these similarities are
labeled “neoclassical” meaning “new classics.”
Why to name it as Age of
Reason & The Enlightenment
Period
This period is known as The Age of Reason and The
Enlightenment because of the country’s shift from an
emotional approach to thinking to an educational and factual
one.

A. The Industrial Revolution plus advances in science research

and mathematics influence all aspects of British thought
including the literature.

B. People no longer believed in signs and vast punishments

from God (ie. The London Fire and Plague), but begin to turn
to science and order. They begin asking “how” instead of
“why.”

C. The writing content, style, and order of scientists spill over

into all of literature as sentences are shortened with the
allusions and extended metaphors of their predecessors.
THEMES: Superiority of the
Intellect
 The philosophers claimed that humans have the ability
to perfect themselves and society and that the state
has the potential to be an instrument of that progress.
Part of their criticism of the existing government was
that it impeded such progress in its refusal to
surrender power or resources to the people so that
they could take control of their lives. The philosophers
lamented the social conditions of contemporary
England and France, but they remained confident that
its people could attain happiness and improve living
standards. Armed with these concepts and fortified by
science and reason, the philosophers attacked
Christian tradition and dogma, denouncing religious
persecution and championing the idea of religious
tolerance.
THEMES: Superiority of the
Intellect
 At the center of the belief in the superiority of
the intellect was the Enlightenment reaction
against traditional authority, namely the Church
and the ruling class. The philosophers claimed
that rather than depend on these authorities for
physical, spiritual, and intellectual needs,
individuals could provide for themselves such
needs. By using their minds and demanding
morality of themselves and others, people could
actually change their realities for the better.
This idea is evident in Rousseau’s The Social
Contract and in the Declaration of
Independence.
THEMES: Basic Goodness of
Humankind
 The philosophers maintained that people were innately
good and that society and civilization were to blame for
their corruption. Because people are good, they are fully
capable of ruling themselves and collectively working
toward the welfare of all. Rousseau asserts this in The
Social Contract, as he explains that despite individual
differences and priorities, people as a whole will make
decisions for the common good. In Emile, Rousseau applies
this idea to the education of a child, demonstrating that the
purpose of education is not to correct a child or mold the
child to exhibit a certain set of characteristics but rather to
draw out the child’s unique gifts and goodness. Not all
Enlightenment writers emphasized man’s inherent
goodness, however; in Candide, Voltaire provides
numerous examples of humanity’s cruelty and abuse of
power. Once the characters are living peacefully on a farm
(outside of civilization), they seem to be less violent, but
the theme of humankind’s goodness is diminished here.
THEMES: Deism
 Deism is a religious belief system that emphasizes
morality, virtuous living, and the perception of a creative
but uninvolved God. Deists believe in God but reject the
supernatural, including the New Testament miracles and
resurrection of Christ. They reject the idea that God is
active in people’s daily lives, instead claiming that God
created the world but is now distant.
 This view of God directly contradicts the view of Catholic
and Protestant religions. The philosophers were
particularly incensed by the Roman Catholic Church, which
they perceived as too restrictive and dominant.
 The period is marked by the rise of Deism, intellectual
backlash against earlier Puritanism and American’s
revolution against England.
THEMES: Deism
 As deists, the philosophers were uninterested
in life after death. They maintained that
people should spend their time and energy
improving this life, and they advocated
pursuing worldly happiness and contentment.
Diderot addresses these ideas in the
Encyclopedia, and they are implied in the
Preamble to the Declaration of Independence,
which states that among a person’s
unalienable rights are ‘‘life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.’’
STYLE: Rhetoric
 Over the course of the Enlightenment, there existed
two clearly opposing schools of thought concerning
rhetoric. The traditions of the Renaissance, largely
influenced by the works of Peter Ramus, held over
into the early part of the movement. Ramus attacked
Aristotle’s view that rhetoric and dialect should be
integrated, indicating that, though they may have
been used in conjunction in the past, they should be
disengaged. Ramus advocated a linear style, bereft of
embellishment, so that scientific and philosophical
writings might be better representations of truth. This
straightforward approach adhered naturally to the
rational thought and methodical observation
promoted by the Enlightenment. However, while this
rhetorical convention was becoming less popular,
another was quickly gaining ground.
STYLE: Rhetoric
 Near the end of the Enlightenment, the
Belletristic Movement was in full swing. Works
such as Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres
(1783), by Hugh Blair, and Philosophy of
Rhetoric (1776), by George Campbell, were
published. Both authors embraced the idea of
using eloquence, beauty, and emotion to allow
one to communicate, with the most advantage,
to his or her audience. The word belletristic
comes from belles-lettres (French for literature),
which is literature that is appreciated not just
for its content but for its beauty as well.
STYLE: Satire
 Although there are few stylistic consistencies
among works of this age, the fiction of the period is
almost always satirical. Satire is an indirect way of
commenting on social or political issues. Satire
reveals how people and things are not what they
seem on the surface, and readers can often identify
what aspect of society is being ridiculed. Satire
allowed the philosophers to get some of their
writing past government censors despite its harsh
criticism of the status quo. The number of censors
increased in France during the Enlightenment
because of the radical new ideas being put forth.
When writers used satire, however, censors either
missed the point of the writing or were unable to
make a convincing case for suppressing it.
STYLE: Satire
 Satire also served as a witty way to criticize.
Enlightenment writers were often clever and
sarcastic, and their work tended to attract an
intelligent readership. A common satirical
technique was to create a character that was a
stranger to a country. Because the character is
naive and unfamiliar with the local society, the
character may be confused by that society or
find fault with it. These characters were
generally ignorant or silly, making their
faultfinding seem equally ignorant or silly. The
satiric irony, however, is that the character is
the author’s mouthpiece for pointing out the
absurd and unjust in his society
Characteristics of the Age
 With people generally looking more closely at the part they
played in society, the main themes of the Neoclassical
period were restraint and order. Each person was expected
to do what was “proper” and to show that he or she had
good taste, the idea being that, given the flawed nature of
mankind, putting some limits on what someone said or did
was better than trying and failing at the outrageous. It
became very important to prove that someone had a decent
level of intelligence. Writers often used their works not only
to express rules about etiquette and decorum, but also to
demonstrate brilliant skills of wit. Other characteristics of the
age include:
 Imitation of classical form
 Artificial and aristocratic society
 Sophisticated behaviour
 Style is polite, urbane, and witty
 Instructive and entertaining
 Restraint in passion and personal expression
 Ideals: order, logic, accuracy, "correctness," decorum
Popular Genre
 The emphasis on order, reason, etiquette and wit
made certain styles of literature more popular than
others. Diaries, essays, letters and first person
narratives were extremely successful, because they
concentrated on what a single person thought or
accomplished, which was in line with the
Neoclassical idea of analyzing and reforming a
person’s social role. Moral fables were a favorite, as
well, as were parodies and burlesques. Novels in
various styles developed rapidly, becoming a main
entertainment for women in the home. The rhymed
couplet — specifically, the heroic couplet —
dominated poetry, and in the theater, audiences
flocked to sentimental comedies, comedies of
manners and heroic dramas.
Representative Writers
 One of the most influential Neoclassical writers
was John Milton (1608 - 1674), author of the epic
poem, Paradise Lost. Much of his work reflects
the political issues England and other countries
faced. John Drydon (1631 - 1700), also called
“Glorious John,” was also a major force during
Restoration, working on both plays and poetry to
such a degree that the entire first section of the
period sometimes is called “the Age of Drydon.”
Two of his most famous works are 
To My Lord Chancellor and Marriage a la Mode.
Representative Writers
 Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744) was an
Augustan poet. He made money
translating major works, such as The
Iliad, but soon established himself with
his own pieces. His Pastorals and An
Essay on Criticism are probably the best
known of his writings, and scholars
recognize him for his command of the
heroic couplet.
 For satire, the champion of the period
was Johnathon Swift (1667 - 1745).
Although he wrote both poetry
and prose, he is best known for the
latter. Many of his works were originally
published under pseudonyms, including
M.B. Dapier and Isaac Bickerstaff. He is
the author of the well-known
novel, Gulliver’s Travels.
 Along with Samuel Richardson, Daniel Defoe
(1660 - 1731) was one of the leading
pioneers in the development of the English
novel. He is notable not only for the content
of his works, but also because of the sheer
number of them — some experts say at
least 500 different pamphlets, books and
other writings are Defoe’s. Perhaps the one
out of all of these that people still know well
today is Robinson Crusoe. His political
writings brought trouble at times, with Defoe
even spending some time in prison.
 Experts usually see Samuel Johnson
(1709 - 1784) as the last great writer of
the Neoclassical period in literature. His
major contribution is A Dictionary of the
English Language, which people used for
well over a century. Although the Oxford
English Dictionary eventually replaced it,
Johnson's dictionary was a major
accomplishment in the development and
standardization of English.