The Restoration & The 18th Century

1660-1800

Why is it called the Restoration?

• Charles II becomes king after 10 years of parliamentary rule under Oliver Cromwell

• All changes made under Cromwell are voided

• Return of the Anglican Church• Return of aristocracy as “high point” of

existence• Return of religious persecution of all non-

Anglicans

OTHER NAMES

• Enlightenment• Age of Reason• NeoClassical Period• Augustan Age

It was a return to ideals first presented by the ancient Greeks and Romans.

KEY EVENTS• 1666 – Great London Fire• 1685-1688 – Reign of James II

tries to reestablish Catholic church• 1688-1689 – Bloodless Revolution

succession of Protestant rulers William & Mary• 1695 – Penal Laws

deprives Irish Catholics of rights• 1707 – England, Wales & Scotland become Great Britain• 1714 – George I becomes king, cannot speak English• 1760 – George III becomes king, loses American colonies• 1775 – American Revolution begins• 1789 – French Revolution begins• 1799 – Rosetta Stone discovered

Napolean becomes emperor of France

SOCIETY

• RICH Lived lavishlyHeavily ornamented clothing, rich

fabricsHeavy makeup (men/women)High, fancily dressed wigs (men/women)High heels (men/women)Spent time attending parties, theatre, &

ballsBeginning of resort cities - Bath

Images of clothing from Restoration perios

Women’s clothing from Restoration period

Resort City of Bath

SOCIETY

• POORLived in dirty, overcrowded

slumsPoor sanitationDisease-riddenSpent much time in debtor’s

prisonVictims of alcoholism

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Night (18th century) by William Hogarth

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Night (18th century) by William Hogarth

Images of the poor

SCIENCE

• Sir Isaac Newtonpublished Mathematical Principles of

Natural Philosophy• Robert Hooke

contributed to astronomy, biology, physics & chemistry

• Lady Mary Wortley Montagueintroduces inoculations for smallpox

• Robert Boyle began modern study of chemistry

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Sir Isaac Newton

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Sir Isaac Newton

INVENTIONS

• Cheddar Cheese• Gas streetlights• Address Directory• Lightning Rod

RELIGION

• Persecution of all non-Anglicansbegan mass immigration to other

countries for religious freedom• Deists

new religious ideologybelieved the world was a giant,

perfect mechanism, created by God, and then left to run on its own

LITERATURE - DRAMA

• Very popular amongst the upper class• Females finally allowed on stage• Comedy of Manners

reflected life of the rich and leisure classes

• Heroic Dramasmelodramatic plays, with exaggerateddialogue, emotional outbursts andstereotypical characters

PLAYWRIGHTS• Moliere (French)

The Misanthrope, The Imaginary Invalid• Jean Racine (French)

Andromaque• Pierre Cornielle (French)

Cid• John Dryden

All for Love• William Wycherly

The Country Wife• William Congreve

The Way of the World• George Farquhar

The Beaux Strategem

WycherlyFarquhar

Dryden

Racine

Moliere

Congreve

Cornielle

LITERATURE - PROSE

• Writing became a scienceno more ornate metaphors, a la

Shakespeareshorter sentences

• Essayists and journalists wrote for the middle-class

addressed political matterswanted social reformestablished newspapers – The Tatler

& The Spectator

WRITERS

• Samuel Pepysdiary of English life

• Olaudah Equianopublishes his autobiography of his days

as a slave• Mary Wollstencraft

publishes “Vindication of the Rights of Women” mother of Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

• Samuel Johnsonpublishes first dictionary

Wollestonecraft

Equiano Johnson Pepys

LITERATURE - POETRY

• Neoclassicalappealed to intellect and reasonwitty, filled with classical

allusionsused to celebrate, mourn, or

ridiculefollowed strict rules of form

POETS

• Alexander Popealso wrote satire & epigrams

• William Wordsworth• Samuel Taylor Coleridge• Phyllis Wheatley

1st African-American female to be published

Coleridge

Wheatley

Wordsworth

Pope

LITERATURE – SATIRE

• Ridicules human weakness, vice or folly in order to gain social reform

SATIRISTS

• Alexander PopeThe Rape of the Lock

• Jonathan SwiftGulliver’s Travels“A Modest Proposal”

• VoltaireCandide

LITERATURE - NOVEL

• Came into being in the 18th century and were immediately popular

told stories of the middle classgave a view of the emotions of

the characters

• Epistolary Novelsnovel written in letter form

NOVELISTS

• Daniel DefoeRobinson Crusoe

• Aphra Behnfirst female novelistOroonoko – anti-slavery novel