Elements of LiteratureElements of Literature

Sixth CourseSixth Course

Literature of BritainLiterature of Britain

Pages 466-484Pages 466-484

Charles II (1660-1685) James II (1685-1688) William III and Mary II (1689-1694) William III (1694-1702) Anne (1702-1714) George I (1714-1727) George II (1727-1760) George III (1760-1820)

Kings and Queens(1660-1800)

Restoration=Restoration

of the Monarchy

23 April 1660, Westminster Abbey

After years of war, the son of Charles I was brought back from exile in France to become King Charles II “The Savior”

Charles II (1660-1685)

Theatre patents Court circle No heirs Numerous

mistresses Succession crisis Founder of the

Royal Society Patron of the arts

The “Age of Reason” and “Enlightenment”

People began to ask…

“Why?”And

“What does it mean?”

A Possible Explanation…

People began to look to Science and Mathematics to explain that had been “unexplainable.”

Example: Edmond Halley took the terror our of “celestial phenomena” when he figured the dates that his comet would be seen.

Birth of Modern English Prose

King Charles II chartered a group of Philosophers:

The Royal Society of London for the Promotion of Natural Knowledge

The members called of a kind of writing that was precise, exact, and not decorated with all of the elaborate metaphors or odd

allusions.Say what you mean!!!

New Writing Motto…

QualityNot

Quantity

Alexander Pope

Essay on Man (a long poem)

“Whatever is...is right.”

Philosophy of the time:

“In the best of all possible worlds,…all

is for the best.”

Voltaire: French Writer

Voltaire ridiculed (made

fun of) Essay on Man in his

novel…

Candide

DeismA new (science influenced) religion:

“The world is as perfect as a mechanism, which God had built and left to run on its own.”

Religious PersecutionKing Charles II Restored the

Anglican Church as

The Church of England

The name "Anglican" means "of England“

• The Anglican Church evolved as part of the Roman church

• The English church is independent of its government.

• 1662-Enforced use of the “Book of Common Prayer”

• Granted Divorce • There is no central

administration of the Anglican Church.

• There is no Pope or President or chief executive

Theatre Is Back!!! Under Puritan power,

theatres were closed for over 20 years.

Charles repealed the ban and patronized companies of actors.

Women began to act!

Theatre is opened to the ordinary person.

Satire: Attacks on Immorality

and Bad TasteSatire: 1: a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn

2: trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly

Journalism: We have a job for you!

Journalist: Reformers of public manners and morals

As the middle class grew, journalists-and the reforms they advocated-became increasingly important.

Public Poetry Poetry became

something that was public and no longer private.

Elegies became popular as poetry for funerals.

The elegies said the best things the poet could think (even if they didn’t know the person the elegies was about).

James II (1685-1688) Zealous Catholic Forced to flee Jacobite

descendants: the Pretender, the Young Pretender (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”—1745)

William III & Mary II (1689-1702)

First and only joint monarchs

Mary: daughter of James II; died in 1694

William: Dutch descendant of Charles I through daughter, Louisa (Charles and James’s sister)

William reigns alone until 1702

Wars with the French

Queen Anne (1702-1714)

Little interest in the theatre or poetry

A builder of churches

17 pregnancies, 5 children, but none lived to adulthood

The Georgian Era (1714-1789)

George I (1714-1727) Non-English speaking

No interest in English culture

Rarely even resided in England

Absence created a “power vacuum”

George II (1727-1760)

George III (1760-1820)

First “English” king of Hanover

Patron of the arts Personal library

became the core of the British Library

Dawn of a new era: Romanticism