1. John Dryden
An assigned class :-
‘Restoration literature’ for
B. A[major]
Gauhati University.
4/17/2012 3:48:10 PM
By Indranil Sarkar
Associate professor in english
Assam/india
1 4/17/2012

2. King Charles I was beheaded
by the so called
Parliamentarians led by Oliver
Cromwell in 1649. Cromwell
regime, whatsoever, made the
English people disgusted and
as such Charles II, the son of
Charles I was brought back to
the throne in 1660.This is
called ‘Restoration of
Monarchy’ in British History.
s
* King Charles II, the monarch who restored his
father’s monarchy. {1660-1685}
* [source: Wikipedia]
* NB. The resource is free to all users.
2 4/17/2012

3. 1.What is meant by ‘Restoration’ in
British history?
•Ans. Historically, the period in between
1660 and 1700 is called the Restoration
period. The term ‘Restoration’ refers to the
restoration of the Crown by King Charles II,
the son of Charles I. King Charles I was
beheaded by the so called parliamentarians
under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell
in1649.But, the Cromwell regime made the
British people disgusted and Charles II was
crowned to the throne in 1660. This re-
establishment of British Monarchy is called
‘Restoration’ . The restoration period in
English literature is counted from 1660 to
1700, although King Charles I died in 1685.
The Restoration age was quite opposite to
Cromwell regime. Charles II was a man of
progressive thoughts. His French
upbringing generated a rational mind in
him. He reopened the ‘Theatres’ which were
closed by Cromwell supposing to be the
breeding place of immorality. Under the
patronage of Charles I, who himself was a
man of flamboyant nature, the English
started imitating the French culture. Royal
Society was established to encourage
3 Natural Sciences. 4/17/2012

4. Q. What are the special features of ‘Restoration Comedies’?
Ans. Restoration literature tossed between the two extremes, for it encompassed both Paradise Lost
and the Earl of Rochester's Sodom; the high-spirited sexual comedy of The Country Wife and the
moral wisdom of The Pilgrim's Progress. Unprecedented intellectual and creativity activities cast their
indelible imprint on English soil at this time. Locke's Treatises of Government, the inception of the
Royal Society, the experiments and holy meditations of Robert Boyle, the hysterical attacks on
theatres from Jeremy Collier, and the pioneering of literary criticism from John Dryden and John
Dennis had seen light during this period. News became a commodity and the essay emerged as a
periodical and literary art form. Textual criticism and commercial entrepreneurship like stock market
got their birth under the patronage of Charles II.
Picture of Charles II [Below]
King Charles II
4 4/17/2012

5. Q . How did the restoration
affect literature? Or,
Q. What are some of the new
ii. yahoo an styles of writing during the
Restoration time period in England
Ans. Many new literary devices or techniques like novel, biography,
travelogue, history and short story were developed or practiced by
the litterateurs during this time. Pamphlets---both political and
literary, overcrowded the literary horizon of Restoration England.
Poets like John Dryden produced some immortal poems indeed;
Refit. .
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Restoration_liter
but, the main thing that to be mentioned with regards were the
…n bawdy or immoral comedies of the time which were called ‘comedies
of Manners’. George Etherege, Thomas Shadwell, William
Wycherley, John Vanbrugh, William Congreve, and George
Farquhar were the notable authors who exceled in this genre and
played the role of social reformers through their minute observation
and rational outlook.
John Dryden,
representative
poet and writer of
precise,
exact and simple
prose.
5 4/17/2012

6. Refinement meets burlesque in William Wycherley, The Country
Restoration comedy. In this Wife: "O Lord, I'll have some
scene from George Etherege's china too. Good Master Horner,
Love in a Tub, musicians and don't think to give other people
china, and me none. Come in
well-bred ladies surround a man with me too."
who is wearing a tub because he
has lost his trousers
Love in a Tab
William
Wycherley
In
1675
6 4/17/2012

7. British Royalty:
Queen Elizabeth I (left)
James I (middle)
Charles I (right)
7 4/17/2012

8. Oliver Cromwell (left)
King Charles II (right)
8 4/17/2012

9. Elizabeth Barry, the
tragic actress of Restoration
9 4/17/2012

10. William & Queen Mary [left]
Debtor’s prison [right]
10 4/17/2012

11. Restoration
Playhouse
11 4/17/2012

12. Q. What is a she-tragedy?
The term She-Tragedy was coined by Nicholas Rowe in 1714 in order to
furnish a clear nomenclature to his tragedy ‘The Fair Penitent’ against the
general trend of tragedies of the time. This short time (nearly 50 years) voyage
of a special type of English tragedy is memorable for various reasons. These
tragedies focused the unjust sufferings of virtuous and innocent women of the
time. Thomas Otway’s ‘The Orphan’ (1680), John Bank’s Virtues Betrayed or
Anna Bullen (1682), Thomas Southerner's ‘The Fatal Marriage(1694) and
Nicholas Rowe’s The Fair Penitent (1703) and Lady Jane Grey (1715) are the
most prominent tragedies of this genre.
She-Tragedies were a reaction against the Heroic tragedies of Restoration
period. The heroes of heroic tragedies were aggressive, powerful and
dominating. These heroes were self- centered and having no compassion
for the people in general and women in particular. Gradually, there took
place a shift of focus from heroic to pathetic sentiments. The mentioned
writers tried to focus the opposite side of the society .Their attempt in this
regard, got success with the help of a number of tragic heroines,
especially Elizabeth Barry.
RESTORATION
Stage performances
12 4/17/2012

13. The SOCIETY Where adjectives became impotent to portray the immorality and profaneness!
13 4/17/2012

14. The great satirists
i. Alexander Pope ii. Dr. Samuel Johnson iii. John Dryden
14 4/17/2012

15. 1.The great journalists
joseph Addison &Richard Steele
2. The Spectator---first published in July6,1828.
15 4/17/2012

16. Thomas Sprat
Front cover of Thomas Sprat’s History of the Royal society. [1667]
16 4/17/2012

17. Dr. Samuel Johnson
Dr. Johnson wrote the first dictionary of English
language[1755]
17 4/17/2012

18. Aphra Benn,
the first
professional female
English novelist
Oxford Playhouse
production of ‘The Way
of the World’[2004]
18 4/17/2012

19. References &
Courtesies:-
i. History of English literature by Dr.
S.C. Mundra & Dr. J.N.Mundra
ii.www.enotes.com
Pictures & documents are collected
from Wikipedia, the free online
encyclopedia permitted to be used
by all for non-profit academic
purposes.
Earl of
Rochester, the
Restoration Rake
19 4/17/2012