Shaping the English character Bartholomew Dandridge, A Lady reading Belinda beside a fountain, 1745. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven Shaping the English character Performer - Culture & Literature Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2012

1. The first Hanoverian king Queen Anne (1702–1714) had succeeded her brother-in-law, William III, and her sister Mary. After her death, her cousin, the Duke of Hanover, became King George I. During his reign: the powers of the monarchy diminished; Ministers met without the King in the cabinet led by the Prime Minister; the actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister. George I, c. 1714 Performer - Culture&Literature

2. The House of Hanover Performer - Culture&Literature

3. 1707: The Act of Union It abolished the Scottish Parliament It gave the Scots a proportion of the seats at Westminster The Act of Union became official during Queen Anne’s reign The majority of Scots accepted their new role in a kingdom united under the title Great Britain. A renewal of Scottish nationalism must await the 20th century. Performer - Culture&Literature

4. The Whigs and the Tories Descendants Parliamentarians Supported by the wealthy and commercial classes Fought for  commercial development  a vigorous foreign policy  religious toleration The Whigs The first political parties in Britain Descendants Royalists Supported by the Church of England the landowners Fought for the divine right of the king The Tories Performer - Culture&Literature

5. A golden age The 18th-century key concepts were: political stability; individualism; liberal thought and free will; optimism; reason and common sense; desire for balance, symmetry, refinement. Performer - Culture&Literature

6. The reading public The increase of the reading public in the Augustan Age was due to The growing importance of the middle class The individual’s trust in his own abilities The practice of reason and self-analysis Most readers were middle-class women They used to borrow books from circulating libraries Coffee-houses allowed the circulation of news, opinions Performer - Culture&Literature

6. The reading public Coffee-houses were attended by fashionable and artistic people; became gathering points where people exchanged ideas and gossip; let public opinion and journalism evolve; were exclusively attended by men. Performer - Culture&Literature

The interest of middle-class people in literature gave rise to 6. The reading public The interest of middle-class people in literature gave rise to journalism the novel ‘The Tatler’and‘The Spectator’the first English newspapers Their style  simple, lively Their aim  didactic where the belief in the power of reason and the individual’s trust in his own abilities found expression Le frecce dovrebbero partire entrambe dal box azzurro: ristrutturare la slide Assolutamente sì! Performer - Culture&Literature

7. The novelist The spokesman of the middle class. The fathers of the English novel: Daniel Defoe the realistic novel Samuel Richardson the sentimental novel Henry Fielding the mock-epic novel Jonathan Swift the satirical novel Performer - Culture&Literature

8. The novelist’s aim To be understood widely He wrote in a simple way. Realism not only linked to the life presented, but to the way it was shown. Speed and copiousness His most important economic virtues since it was the bookseller and not the patron who rewarded him. Performer - Culture&Literature

9. The characters A bourgeois, self-made, self-reliant man The hero The mouthpiece of the author The reader is expected to sympathise with him have contemporary names and surnames Robinson Crusoe They struggle for survival or social success All the characters Performer - Culture&Literature

‘I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York’ 10. The setting Chronological sequence of events. References to particular times of the year or of the day. ‘I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York’ Robinson Crusoe Specific references to names of countries, towns and streets. Detailed descriptions of interiors to make the narrative more realistic. Performer - Culture&Literature

11. The narrative technique 1ST-PERSON NARRATOR 3RD-PERSON NARRATOR PATTERN Daniel Defoe Fictional autobiographies Samuel Richardson Letters exchanged between the main characters Henry Fielding The mock-epic style Performer - Culture&Literature

12. Themes Real life. Everything that could alter a social status. The sense of reward and punishment linked to the Puritan ethics of the middle class. Performer - Culture&Literature