Restoration Literature

RESTORATION LITERATURE
Restoration was a period of innovations. Now the verse was simple and an exercise of reason
because the problems of the real world and social events were the main objects of interest. Locke,
Hobbes and Newton influenced the prose genre with their philosophical works. Also theatres, that
were closed under the Puritan government, were opened again in 1660. They were roofed, lighted
with candles and they had movable scenery. In this period female actresses were finally introduced
in the plays. The audience belonged to aristocracy and wealthy classes. Theatres were also a place
to meet other people and to be fashionable. The “comedy of manners” was very popular: it amused
the audience by making fun of the manners and absurdities of elegant society. The “fop” was a new
type of male character: he was elegant, witty and cinical. Defoe and Richardson are considered the
fathers of the English novel. The 18th century novelist represented the middle class and his novels
were directed to the bourgeois public. The novelist wanted to write in a simple way in order to
reach a large number of readers. Speed and copiousness were very important economic virtues
because it was the bookseller who rewarded the writers. The sense of reward and punishment was
the message of the novel itself. The novelist wanted to be realistic and to talk about different human
experiences. The subject of the novel was always the bourgeois man and his problems, this
character was used to express the author’s way of thinking. The characters had also contemporary
names and surnames to be more realistic. The narrator was omniscient and the sequence of events
was generally chronological.
JOHN MILTON
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and a civil servant for the
Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal
convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political
turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international
renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica —written in condemnation of pre-
publication censorship—is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of free
speech and freedom of the press.
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten
books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into
twelve books with minor revisions. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and helped
solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. The poem concerns the
Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and
their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways
of God to men". One of the most imposing themes of John Milton‟s Paradise Lost is the depiction
of Satan as heroic. Embodying the classification of tragic hero, Satan has both made an error in
judgment and has been overcome by a tragic flaw that brought about a devastating calamity.
Moving onto Milton‟s second epic, Paradise Regained, presents a new problem for the reader as the
Satan that he became close to in Paradise Lost is non-existent. Satan is no longer depicted as a
tragic hero, but is portrayed as a malicious being who has no sign of ever having regretted his
actions or sentiments. Inrealizing his earlier erroneous depiction of Satan, Milton furthers the
correction of his error in Paradise Regained by exceeding the role of the Son of God. Milton
redefines his first presentation of a hero as he realizes what he, as a writer, was capable of in
Paradise Lost and how he must correct his own mistakes for the sake of the reader in Paradise
Regained
.
THE AUGUSTAN AGE
The 18th century was called the Augustan age because of its stability, power and diffusion of arts.
It was an age of traditionalism and materialism. The society was hierarchical and hereditary, but it
also supported individualism, self initiative and enrichment in economy. More people wanted to
have fun: sexuality was liberated and gratification was dissociated from sin. Anyway ladies had to
maintain their sense of virtue to be respectable. The readers were interested in real life and
sociability, politeness and the art of conversation were also considered important. A desire for
balance, symmetry and imitation of nature can be found in arts. During the Augustan age there
were a lot of genres and the number of readers grew thanks to the limited distribution of literacy.
The inhabitants of the countries were usually illiterate, while literacy was more common in towns.
The attendance in school was irregular and short because children had to work. The price of books
was also very expensive and there wasn’t enough light to read in the houses because of the window
tax. Anyway there were circulating libraries where books could be borrowed for a low price. The
importance of the middle class influenced the development of the prose genre. Poetry was regarded
as a mean to give social models of behaviour presented in a classical pattern. Satire and mock-
heroic verse were used to criticize reality using trivial subjects and an epic style to obtain a comic
effect. The interest of the middle class in literature, politics and society gave birth to journalism.
The Tatler was founded by Steele and its articles were written in a casual and controversial style.
After some time Addison and Steele founded together The Spectator that was published daily
except for Sundays. “Mr Spectator”, who represented the authors, belonged to an imaginary club
and commented the vices and the virtues of society. The style was simple and clear because it was
directed to the middle class.

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RESTORATION LITERATURE

THE AUGUSTAN AGE

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