Restoration period:

Restoration literature is the English literature written during the historical period commonly
referred to as the English Restoration (1660–1689), which corresponds to the last years of
Stuart reign in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. In general, the term is used to denote
roughly homogenous styles of literature that centre on a celebration of or reaction to the
restored court of Charles II. It is a literature that includes extremes, for it encompasses both
Paradise Lost and the Earl of Rochester's Sodom, the high-spirited sexual comedy of The
Country Wife and the moral wisdom of The Pilgrim's Progress. It saw Locke's Treatises of
Government, the founding of the Royal Society, the experiments and holy meditations of
Robert Boyle, the hysterical attacks on theatres from Jeremy Collier, and the pioneering of
literary criticism from John Dryden and John Dennis. The period witnessed news become a
commodity, the essay develop into a periodical art form, and the beginnings of textual
criticism.
The dates for Restoration literature are a matter of convention, and they differ markedly from
genre to genre. Thus, the "Restoration" in drama may last until 1700, while in poetry it may
last only until 1666 (see 1666 in poetry) and the annus mirabilis; and in prose it might end in
1688, with the increasing tensions over succession and the corresponding rise in journalism
and periodicals, or not until 1700, when those periodicals grew more stabilized. In general,
scholars use the term "Restoration" to denote the literature that began and flourished under
Charles II, whether that literature was the laudatory ode that gained a new life with restored
aristocracy, the eschatological literature that showed an increasing despair among Puritans, or
the literature of rapid communication and trade that followed in the wake of England's
mercantile empire.

1. There are three historical events which influenced the life& literature of the
age of Dryden. (1) The restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660.
(2) The religious & political controversies and Popish Plot. (3) The Golden
Revolution of the year 1688.
2. The Restoration of Charles II brought revolutionin English literature.The
Puritan regime of Oliver Cromwell hadbeen too severe.It had suppressed too
many natural pleasures.Now, released from restraint, society abandonedthe
decencies of life and reverence for lowitself, and plunged into excesses more
unnaturalthan had been the restrains of Puritanism.
3. It seems as if “England lay sick of a fever”. The king was athorough rake
( man who lives immoral life) had a numberof mistresses and numerous
illegitimate children.This immorality and levity (humorous attitude) of the ageis
reflected in its literature, specially in the Drama.The plays of Dryden, the most
representative poet of theperiod, reflect this immorality and coarseness of life in
anample measure.
4. Of the king and his followers it is difficult to writetemperately. (Self
restraintly).Most of the dramatic literature of the time is atrocious(terrible) and
we can understand it only as we rememberthe character of the court & society
for which it waswritten. Unspeakably (terribly) vile( extremely disgusting)in his
private life, the king had no positive patriotism, nosense of responsibility to his
country for even his publicacts.He gave high offices to blackguards(rascal,
scoundrel)stole from the exchequer (country’s or person’s supply ofmoney) like
a common thief, played off Catholics andProtestants against each other,
disregarding his pledges (Solemn promise) to both similar, broke his solemn
treatywith Dutch & with his own ministers, and betrayed hiscountry for French
money to spend on his own pleasures.
5. The great Plague & Fire that followed were popularlyregarded as suitable
punishments for the sins of profligate& selfish king. Practically the whole
London was burnt andcountless died of plague, thousands fled from London
tocountryside.While London was burning and the people weresuffering, the
king and his nobles kept up theircelebrations. They roamed the streets abducting
andseducing the women of peace loving citizens.
6. Another important feature of the era is the bitterness ofpolitical& religious
passions. The age witnessed the rise ofthe two political parties, The Whigs &
The Tories.The Whigs who sought to limit the royal power in theinterests of the
people and the parliament.The Tories, who supported the ‘Divine Right’ theory
of kingThe religious controversies were even more bitter. Thesupporters of
Puritans were persecuted (victimized). Thenation was predominantly Protestant,
and the Catholicslabored under a number of disabilities. They weresuspected,
had to pay taxes, and were not allowed to holdany office under the Clown. This
intense hatred for theCatholicscolors all the writings of the time.
7. The religion of the king himself was suspected, and hisbrother James was
declared a Papist a roam Catholic. AsCharles II had no legitimate child and heir,
it was certainthat his brother James, a Catholic, would succeed to
thethrone.Therefore the attempts were made to exclude him from thethrone and
to replace him by the Duke of Monmouth, thefavorite, though illegitimate, son
of Charles II. Thiscontroversy directly led to the so called Popish Plot swornto
Titus Oates.
8. James II ascended to the throne in 1685. By variousintrigues and underhand
means he tried to establishCatholism in the country. By his misrule he made
himselfentirely unpopular within four years. The nation as a wholerose against
him.The bloodless Revolution of 1688, which called theProtestant William and
Mary of Orange to thethrone, indicates that the country was restored once
againto health and sanity after the fever of immorality andcorruption from
which it had suffered since theRestorations.
9. In the literature of the Restoration we note a suddenbreaking away from old
standards, just as society brokeaway from the restrains of Puritanism.Many
literary men had been driven out of England withCharles and his court.On their
return they renounced old ideals and demandedthat English poetry & drama
should follow the style towhich they had become accustomed in the gayety of
Paris.We read with astonishment in Peppy’s Diary (1660 – 1669)that he has
been o see a play called Midsummer Night’sDream, but that he will never go
again to hearShakespeare, ‘for it is the most insipid (dull, unexciting)ridiculous
play that ever I saw in my life”.
10. Since Shakespeare and the Elizabethanswere no longer interesting, literary
menbegan to imitate the French writers, withwhose works they had just grown
familiar;and here begins so – called period of Frenchinfluence.
11. One has only to consider for a moment theFrench writers of thisperiod,
Pascal, Bossuet, Fenelon, Malherbe, Corneille, Racine, Moliere – all
thatbrilliant company which makes the reignof Louis 14th the Elizabethan age
of Frenchliterature,- to see how far astray (awayfrom the proper path) the early
writers ofthe Restoration went in their wretchedimitation.
12. When a man take another for hismodel, he should copy virtues not vices;but
unfortunately many English writersreversed the rule, copying the vices
ofFrenchcomedy without any of its wit ordelicacy .The poems of Rochester, the
plays ofDryden, Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquhar, all popular in
their days, aremostly unreadable.
13. Milton’s “Songs of Belial, flown withinsolence (rudeness) and wine”, is a
goodexpression of the vile (arrogant) characterof the court writers and of the
Londontheaters for thirty years following theRestoration.
14. Such work can never satisfy a people, whenJeremy Collier, in 1698
published a vigorousattack upon the evil plays and the playwrightsof the day, all
London, tired of the coarsenessand excesses of the Restoration, joined
theliterary revolution, and the corrupt drama wasdriven from the stage.
15. With the final rejection of the Restorationdrama we reach a crisis in the
history ofour literature. The old Elizabethanspirit, with its patriotism, its
creativevigor, its love of romance, and the Puritanspirit with its moral
earnestness andindividualism, were both things of thepast; and at first there was
nothing to taketheir places.
16. Dryden, the greatest writer of the age, voiced ageneral complaint when he
said that in hisprose and poetry he was “drawing the outlines”of a new art, but
had no teacher to instructhim.But literature is a progressive art, and soon
thewriters of the age developed two markedtendencies of their own,- The
tendency toRealism, and the Tendency to that preciseness& elegance of
expression which marks ourliterature for the next hundred years.
Secondtendency is Formalism.
17. In realism – that is, the representation ofmen exactly as they are, the
expression ofthe plain, unvarnished (factual, exact)truth without regard to ideals
or romance –the tendency was at first thoroughly bad.The early Restoration
writers sought topaint realistic pictures of a corrupt courtand society, and as we
have suggested, theyemphasized vices, rather than virtues, andgave us coarse,
low plays without interestor moral significance.
18. Like Hobbes, they saw only the externals ofman, his body and appetites,
( desire forfood) not his soul and its ideals; andso, like most realities, they
resemble a manlost in the woods, who wanders aimlesslyaround in circles,
seeing the confusingtrees but never the whole forest, and whoseldom thinks of
climbing the nearest highhill to get his bearings.
19. The second tendency of the age wastowards directness and simplicity
ofexpression, and to this excellent ourliterature is greatly indebted. In both
theElizabethan and the Puritan ages thegeneral tendency of writer was
towardsextravagance of thought and language.Sentences were often involved,
and loadedwith Latin quotations and classicalallusions.
20. The Restoration writers opposed this vigorously. From Francethey brought
back the tendency to regard rather thanromantic fancy, and to use short, clean
cut sentences withoutan unnecessary word. We see this French influence in
theRoyal Society which had for one of its objects the reform ofEnglish prose by
getting rid of its “swelling of style”, andwhich bound all its members to use “a
close, naked, naturalway of speaking ……. As near to mathematical plainness
asthey can”. Dryden accepted this excellent rule for hisprose, and adopted the
heroic couplet, as the next bestthing, for the greater part of his poetry. As he
tells us himself, And this unpolished rugged verse I chose As fittest for
discourse, and nearest prose.
21. Another thing which the reader will notewith interest in Restoration
literature isthe adoption of the heroic couplet; that istwo iambic pentameter
lines which rimetogether, as the most suitable form ofpoetry.Waller who began
to use it in 1623, isgenerally regarded as the father of thecouplet, for he is the
first poet to use itconsistently in the bulk of his poetry.
22. These four things, the tendency to vulgarrealism in the drama, a general
formalismwhich came from following set rules, thedevelopment of a simpler
and more directprose style, and the prevalence of the heroiccouplet in poetry are
the main characteristicsof Restoration Literature. They are allexemplified
(demonstrate) in the work of oneman, John Dryden.