Restoration versus Romantic

Background Restoration Period: Age of Reason   King Charles II restored to throne  England and Scotland were united as Great Britain by the 1707 Act of Union  Commercial prosperity and global trade Romantic Period   Literary movement that developed because of the social influences of the time: revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, and oppression and poverty of workers.

Background, cont’d RESTORATION  Literacy expanded to include middle classes and even some of the poor  Social ideas emerged: politeness, liberty and rights, sentiment, and sympathy  Re-opening of English theaters…women included  Church and state were tight (Test Act of 1673)had to take sacrament in Anglican church or suffer consequences ROMANTIC  George III from the House of Hanover, was not a capable king and was declared mentally insane in His son, George, took over until 1820 (when the king died).  Larger cities were suffering from crime, poor sanitation, and harsh criminal justice system (e.g. hanging for theft, thrown in jail for nonpayment of bills), slave trade in India

Background, cont’d Restoration  Charles II had no legitimate heir and people didn’t want his brother James because he was a Catholic  Two parties formed again because Charles II dissolved Parliament…the Tories (supported king..cons) and Whigs (opposed king…lib)  Meanwhile, James had a son and Protestants began to worry…Mary and William on the scene (Glorious Rev) Romantic  Threat of war from France. Napoleon Bonaparte gained much power, but overextended himself by trying to invade Russia. Finally lost at the Battle of Waterloo in  IR: Laissez-faire method of conducting business…no government intervention was not good for workers  Long hours, child labor, safety in the factory

RESTORATION  Charles II approved the Royal Society for London for the Improving of Natural Knowledge (the scientific method and dispersal of knowledge)  Natural history: collection and description of nature; Natural philosophy: what happens in nature; and Natural religion: study of nature as a book written by God.  The modern scientist did not yet exist in this time period  Importance was placed on the private, individual life (e.g. diaries, letters, and the novel) Regarding literature movement:  Shift from faith in reason to faith in the senses, feelings, and imagination.  Shift in urban society to interest in rural and natural  Shift from public, impersonal poetry to subjective poetry  From scientific and mundane to the mysterious, the gothic, and exotic  Romantics felt that many of the ills of society were a result of urbanization.  Romantics were attracted to rebellion and revolution, human rights, freedom from oppression, individualism