18th-Non-Poetry+Movements

Restoration & 18th Century Non-Poetry Movements



The period between 1660 and 1785 in England saw major transformations to the literature of the time, offering fresh ways of thinking about human relationships; more specifically individual relationships with each other and nature. These alterations to literature ultimately shaped the world to its current state.

Middle-class tastes were reflected in the growth of periodicals and newspapers, the best of which were the Tatler and the Spectator produced by Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele. The novels of Daniel Defoe, the first modern novels in English, owe much to the techniques of journalism. They also illustrate the virtues of merchant adventure vital to the rising middle class. Indeed, the novel was to become the literary form most responsive to middle-class needs and interests.

Beginning with the Restoration in 1660, English non-poetry experienced a movement toward "Enlightenment" that lasted until the late eighteenth century. Sometimes called the Age of Reason, Enlightenment emphasized the importance of reason, progress, and liberty and explored themes of social upheaval, reversals of personal status, political satire, geographical exploration and the comparison between the supposed natural state of man and the supposed civilized state of man. Major Enlightenment British writers include Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and most notably Alexander Pope, who was best known for "Essay on Criticism" (1711), "Rape of the Lock" (1712-1714), and "Ode for Music on St. Cecilia's Day. Jonathan Swift also defined this literary era in due part of his many works; "The Conduct of the Allies" (1711), "The Public Spirit of the Whigs" (1714), and his masterpiece " //Gulliver's Travels"// (1726).

The Enlightenment Movement wound down near the 1740s with the deaths of Pope and Swift (1744 and 1745, respectively). It is a literary epoch that featured the rapid development of the novel, an explosion in satire, the mutation of drama from political satire into melodrama. The chronological anchors of the era are generally vague, largely since the label's origin in contemporary 18th century criticism has made it a shorthand designation for a somewhat nebulous age of satire. This new Augustan period exhibited exceptionally bold political writings in all genres, with the satires of the age marked by an arch, ironic pose, full of nuance, and a superficial air of dignified calm that hid sharp criticisms beneath.

Voyages for the purpose of scientific and geographic discovery demonstrate the material and cultural importance of trade and exploration to Britons. Here the reader may contrast extracts from James Cook's private journals from the voyage of the Endeavour (1768–1771) with the polished-for-publication work of Cook's protégé George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World 1791–1795 (1798). Piracy's threat to British naval traffic is represented too in the figure of Blackbeard, as depicted in A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724) by "Captain Charles Johnson." Similarly, English readers' growing sense of the importance of individual liberty produced a fearful fascination in captivity narratives, such as that written by Joseph Pitts: A True and Faithful Account of the Religion and Manners of the Mohammetans (1704).



 In 1700 William Congreve's play The Way of the World is a good example of the sophistication of theatrical thinking during this period, with complex subplots and characters intended as ironic parodies of common stereotypes.

In 1703 Nicholas Rowe's domestic drama The Fair Penitent, an adaptation of Massinger and Field's Fatal Dowry, was pronounced by Dr Johnson to be one of the most pleasing tragedies in the language. Also in 1703, Sir Richard Steele's comedy 'The Tender Husband achieved some success.

In 1704 Jonathan Swift published A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books and John Dennis published his Grounds of Criticism in Poetry. The Battle of the Books begins with a reference to the use of a glass (which, in those days, would mean either a mirror or a magnifying glass) as a comparison to the use of satire. Swift is, in this, very much the child of his age, thinking in terms of science and satire at one and the same time. He was one of the first English novelists and also a political campaigner. His satirical writing springs from a body of liberal thought which produced not only books but also political pamphlets for public distribution. Swift's writing represents the new, the different and the modern attempting to change the world by parodying the ancient and incumbent.

Neoclassicism was also spurred during this time period as a literary movement, inspired by the rediscovery of classical works of ancient Greece and Rome that emphasized balance, restraint, and order. Neoclassicism roughly coincided with the Enlightenment, which espoused reason over passion. Notable neoclassical writers include Edmund Burke, John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift, which overlapped in other genres.

Cites:

Hackett, Louis (1992). "[|The age of Enlightenment]". Retrieved 2008-01-18.

Hooker, Richard (1996). "[|The European Enlightenment]". Retrieved 2008-01-18.

James Van Horn Melton, //The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe// (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 4.

Steven Shapin and SImon Schaffer, //Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life// (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985), 5, 56, 57.

Bloom, Edward and Bloom, Lillian (editors). "Addison the Dramatist" in Joseph Addison and Richard Steele: The Critical Heritage. Routledge, 1995.

Munns, Jessica. "Theatrical culture I: politics and theatre" in //The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1650-1740// Ed. Steven Zwicker. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.