Restoration Period 1660 1689 By Karim Atalla English

Restoration Period (1660 -1689) By Karim Atalla English 102

What is the Restoration Period? �Historical Context � The Restoration refers to the restored court of King Charles II after the Interregnum(1649 -1660) � The Interregnum was a period were England had a Puritan led republican form of government. �Puritans tried to impose their beliefs on the people and censorship was widespread �Theater was banned during Interregnum �After the death of Oliver Cromwell, England’s Lord Protector in 1658, the Stuart monarchy was eventually restored with the crowning of Charles II as King of England in 1660

King Charles II �Literature during the Restoration Period was highly influenced by the court of king Charles II � The court of King Charles II was known for wit, worldliness and womanizing � The literature was catered towards those tastes �Theaters were reopened � Restoration Comedy introduced know for it sexual explicitness � Women were allowed to act in theater

Restoration Literature Genres � Poetry � Key features � Preference of popular opinions and philosophy over personal expression � Dominant structure of rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter � Subjects of parody and satire � Notable poets � John Dryden, England’s first Poet Laureate, John Wilmot, 2 nd Earl of Rochester, and Aphra Behn, England’s first professional female writer � Significant example � Absalom and Achitophel (Dryden) – A biblical allegory of contemporary politics

Restoration Literature Genres � Prose � Key features � Philosophical and Political writing The founding of the Royal Society, and the belief that “science is Protestant: its reasons and explanations had to be comprehensible to all. ” Journalism Introduction of professional periodical journalism in England Emergence of the novel as a literary form � Notable authors � Thomas Sprat, John Locke, Aphra Behn � Significant examples � Two Treatises of Government (Locke) � The History of the Royal Society (Sprat) � Oroonoco (Behn)

Restoration Literature Genres � Theatre � Key features � Heroic Drama Featuring strong, masculine heroes Idealized versions of the King � Tragedies Featuring tragic, sympathetic heroines Strong roles for female performers now able to act professionally Female roles no longer played by boys or young men � Comedy Satirical, witty, intellectual Often sexually explicit or suggestive � Notable playwrights � John Dryden, William Wycherley, George Etherege � Significant examples � The Conquest of Granada (Dryden), The Country Wife (Wycherley), Man of Mode (Etherege)