The Restoration Period & The Age of Enlightenment by Joceline Rodriguez

The Restoration Period started with the crowning of King Charles II in ended with the removal of King William III in essentially known as “restoring” the old way of English monarchical form of government

History ✤ The English Civil War from was a civil war between the people of England that wanted to change their government from a more traditional form of government to a more Republican government that involved the people ✤ The Civil War ended with the beheading of King Charles I in 1649 ✤ from , England was controlled by various forms of government that was not monarchical ✤ in 1660, Charles II was crowned King once again and “restored” England’s parliamentary rule

The Glorious Revolution ✤ marked the end of the Restoration Period in 1688 ✤ Charles II died in 1685 and the throne was given to James II (his brother) since Charles did not have any kids himself. ✤ But William III, who had a say in the parliament, took away his power after feeling that Charles II would not move England in the right direction. ✤ In 1688, James II was overthrown officially ✤ In 1689, William III put himself on the English thrown, along with his wife Mary, and they reigned England until their deaths

The Age of Enlightenment 1700’s ✤ took place throughout the 18th Century ✤ also known as the “Augustan Age”, “Neoclassicism” or “Age of Reason” ✤ inspired by 17th century philosophers and physicians like Sir Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and John Locke ✤ a period dominated by logic, reason, and scientific approaches to religious, social, political, and economic issues

The Enlightenment Continued… -many felt that it meant progress and perfection -people started to see more potential in democracy and freedom rather than Popes and Kings -it was a period that celebrated ideas

Effects on Literature ✤ Restoration Comedy -before restoration, literature was more “humble and spiritual themed” -after restoration, more risqué and sexual context came into play ✤ Restoration Poetry -first half of 17th century focused more on religious texts -second half of the century focused more on the powerful potential of humans to improve the world they live in and to help one’s self being, more inspirational ✤ Return of the theatre -theatres were closed for 18 years around the time of England’s civil war by religious and political leaders who thought they were sinful. -Charles II loved dramas and quickly brought back theatres (made popular in the Shakespearean era)

More Effects on Literature ✤ Prose & Fiction -a lot of writing stopped being written in verses and started to be written in a paragraph-like structure -the help of advanced printing made it easier for books to be made and understood -the first forms of novels were said to be created in this era -before, literature consisted mostly of short stories, poetry, plays, and so on ✤ Birth of Journalism -people started to learn about current events through newspaper like materials, instead of a single square sheet with information -literacy rates went higher causing more people to be informed about what is going on around the world

Famous Writers of the Era ✤ Alexander Pope ✤ Jonathan Swift ✤ John Dryden ✤ Joseph Addison

Thank You :) –Joceline Rodriguez