1660 to 1800
From 1600 to 1800, England went through
turmoil
- Immigration to America
- American Revolution
- English Civil War
- Plagues/fire (people were desolate and
homeless)
By 1750s, England was beginning to calm and
transform
Neoclassical literature – modeled after
the classics/Latin (new classics)
Enlightenment – “How?” Instead of
“Why?”
Bring science into the equation (logic)
Deism – God set the world into motion,
and you have free choice; He doesn’t
intervene
Under King Charles II, the Anglican
Church became main Christian
religion; Christianity still strong;
Influential in politics as well;
Outlawed/Persecuted other religions
Under King Charles II, the Royal
Society of London was created to
answer questions about the universe;
Called for an exact, simple, and precise
writing style…birth of modern English
Writing became witty and satirical
(Jonathan Swift) due to moral corruption,
corrupt politics, and growing materialism
of the Industrial Revolution
Journalism (editorials) became popular
(Defoe) for reforming public manners and
morals
Poetry was carefully crafted and dressed
for the public (elegies, odes, and satires)
Novels were invented (Robinson Crusoe)
and were realistic/funny
Theater became popular again
(Puritans had closed most of them);
Female actors; witty, bawdy, and cynical
Glorious Revolution – James II took
throne in 1685 (Catholic); Fled to France
when he had a son; New Protestant rule
– Mary (James II’s daughter) /Wm of
Orange
Alexander Pope
Samuel Pepys
Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe
Samuel Johnson
James Boswell
Thomas Gray
Jonathan Swift
1667 – 1745
Principal prose writer of the 18th
Century
England’s greatest satirist
Obtained a master’s degree from Oxford
He wrote to improve the human
condition
An allegory about a man’s travels
around the universe and what he learns
about life
Satire of human nature; wrote about many
different varieties of human misbehaviors,
vices, and follies
Parody of the traveler’s writings during that
time period
Allegory of politics, religion,
history…everything is a symbol of something
else
Written as four adventures:
Lilliput/Brobdingnag
Laputa/Balnibarbi/Glubdubdrib
Luggnaggians/ Struldburgs
Houyhnhnyms/Yahoos
Lemuel Gulliver – surgeon who turns to ship
captain when his business goes bad; who
“imagines” that he travels to strange places in
the world
Mary Burton Gulliver – his wife
Satire – A story written to poke fun of
something to encourage change
Irony – Discrepancy between reality and
expectations
Verbal – contrast between what is said and what is
meant
Situational - contrast between what is expected
and what happens
Dramatic – contrast between what a character
knows and what the reader knows
Exaggeration - to overstate or magnify
Hyperbole – to make an extreme exaggeration
Understatement – restrained statement
Litote – extreme understatement; opposite of
hyperbole
Sarcasm – irony that is cruel or cutting
Parody – to imitate or make fun of
Symbol – Something that represents
something else
Simile – a comparison using “like” or “as”
Pun – a play on words