Augustan Age: this term is use to indicate the writers of 18th century under Hannover.

 After Queen Anne succeeded George I. In this period emerge the role of Prime Minister (be-
cause king didn’t know English). The first prime minister was Sir Robert Walpole. In this
period prospered manufacturing, commerce and agriculture.
 George II: period of wars = Anglo-Spanish war (commerce monopoly in North-America);
War of Austrian Succession (England support Austria Against France and Spain); 7 Years
War (decided who should control North-America and India).
 Economic Background: Agricolture (metod were still backward but were introduced new
crop or experiment); Industries (the important were the cloth industries); Commerce (was
divited into Slave Trade and Colonial Trade).
 Social Background: Were open literary clubs like Coffee Houses, which became the real
centre of social life. The most important was Lloyd’s Coffee House. The middle class grow-
ing in power and prestige. Unequal distribution of wealth. Born a new concept of the family.
Woman began to go to school or became journalist.
Prose: can be divited into journalism (first periodical news paper); Essay writing (start with Ad-
dison and Steel, Theme philosophy); Satire (polemics between Tories and Whigs); Novel (produced
many original achievement.
 Literary production.
Influation of 3 models : classics( Homer and Cato), English precursor( Shakespeare and
Milton ) and French ( the most important because start a new method of writing poems).
Language became order, clear and precise ( simple to understand). Realism : the main tend-
ence of the time was realism. We can talk of a sort of triumph of prose ( journalism) , the
poetry became witty but artificial and also the best expression of the time is the ballad with
the ballad opera and sentimental comedy .
Poetry : Divided in philosophical poetry with moral function and Mock-heroic poem which talks
about every day life in an heroic way.
 Pope : studied classics and Italian and French authors . with swift and Gay founded the
“scriblerus club” whose main object was to pillory and criticize all literary incompetence.
Pope wrote pastoral poetry, didattic and philosophical ones ( an essay on men which talks
about the man’s relation with God , society , happiness and himself), the mock-heroic poetry
(the rape of the Lock) but also the translation of the Greeck.
Themes : pope wrote on public themes, and enhances Augustan virtutes ( order, reason,
nature, morality). He belived in intellectual poetry. He written in heroic couplets and was
the first English poet that make a living by writing.
The rape of the lock : Robert, the son of a catholic landowner, had cut off a lock of miss Ar-
abella Fermor’s hair, causing a quarrel between the 2 families. Pope, invited by his friend,
wrote a Mock –heroic poem in which Arabella Fermor and his family are finally reconciled
to Robert when the lock floats to heaven and becomes a new star.

Mock-heroic-poem : a literary work which parodied epic poetry by applying epic formulas and
heroic style.
 Gay : Jonh Gay was born in Dublin and attended the local grammar school, but hadn’t uni-
versity education. He made friends with Pope and Arbuthnot , with whom he founded the
“scriblerus club”,
The Beggar’s Opera: this is his masterpiece and one of the most original plays of the time.
The “opera” opens with a short dialog between a Bellar ( the author) and a player, introdu-
cing future events. The main character is Macheath , a generous men loved bu Polly. This
girl was the douther of Peachum, the boss of a criminal gang ( and also a police spy). The 2
 lovers decided to marry but when Peachum knew it he made arrested Macheath, who es-
caped from prison. The play ends with a dance and a song.
The satirical purpose : this is to denounce the moral degradation of society and to attack
Walpole. In the passage studied we see the moment in which Mss and Mr Peachum have
just discovered of their daughter ’s marriage.
Satire: it's a way used by writers to depict the dark side of human nature by making it explicit and by omitting any
direct comment upon the events. Techniques used by writers who use a satire way to describe:
 Irony: writers say the opposite of what they really mean

 Parallelism: it's generally used. Satire isn't directly evoked, but rather represented by means of a metaphor

 Neutrality: it's only apparent. The more detailed and the more reliable the reader appears, the more effective
and entertaining the satire will be for him

 Exaggeration : the author pushes a metaphor to the extreme of absurdity

 Swift’s Life: He was born in Ireland of English parents. He became a priest and left Dublin
for England to reside in the household of Sir William Temple and he tried a career in poli-
tics, but it wasn't very positive. His ecclesiastical career wasn't very successful, in fact he
only became Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. His life wasn't a happy one, he was
lonely and frustrated in his ambitions, and this disillusionment was probably one of the rea-
sons of his pessimism and hatred towards mankind. These feelings probably explain why his
vision of human kind in his literary works is so sad and pessimistic. He wrote satirical works
against political corruption, and especially against the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
He spent the last part of his life in Ireland, where he became a sort of national hero because
of his pamphlets in defense of the Irish. His final years were spent in lethargy because of an
illness that caused the loss of his mental powers.

 Swift’s Style: His style was that of an embittered moralist, who denounced English corrup-
tion and misgovernment but who didn't propose a solution to the problems. His language is
not very easy to understand because he had to cover his attacks under metaphors or to hide
names, places and situations under unusual and difficult names. His books show a profound
disgust of mankind who was considered by him full of miseries and folly.

 A Modest Proposal: It’s an ironical attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy method" for
converting the starving children of Ireland into "useful members of the Commonwealth."
The author found a way to turn this problem into its own solution. His proposal, in effect, is
to fatten up these poor children and feed them to Ireland's rich and important people. His
conclusion is that his project is the more suitable ever proposed, and it will undoubtly solve
Ireland's complex social, political, and economic problems.

Journalism: in England spred with difficulty because the political situation and the restriction im-
posed on printing (stampa). Everything printed was in fact subject by censorship. A great impulse
for censorship was given by the abolition of censorship in 1695. Born a lot of new journal and the 2
most important were “The Tatler” and “The Spectator”.
 The Tatler: began by Richard Steel who publish a news paper which would contain not only
news paper not only news about politics, but also fashion, enterteniment, and gossip from
clubs and coffee houses; was publish 3 times a week and after was replaced by Spectator.
 The Spectator: it tried to populate learning and to revive in people the interest in ancient
classics and in English classics (like Milton and Spencer). It became famous because: was
publish everyday; coincided with the rise of the middle class; it was simple to be under-
stood. The main character was Mr. Spectator who observed the society and express com-
ments and option in a very simple style.
  Joseph Addison : he was born in 1672 and was educated in London and in oxford. We sup-
ported the Wighs having some important roles. He was literary fame with some poems and 3
plays, the best of which is Cato. Very important was his contributions to “the Tailer” and
“the Spectator”.
 Party patches : this is from the spectator and it’s an essay. It talks about ladies who showed
their political preferences by putting patches, on the right or on the left of their foreheads .

 Richard Steel: - LIFE- supported the Whigs and was elected member if Parliament; with
Addison co-edit “The Tatler” and “The Spectator”.
 Alexander Selkirk: The article was published by Richard Steel in “The Englishman” (un
giornale) and is about Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who joined an expedition to the
South Sea. After a quarrel with his captain, he asked to be put ashore on a island where he
remained for 5 years. Steel, after personally meeting him, published this article and after,
Defoe used some of this material for hi work (Robinson Crusoe).
The novel : the world “novel” is derived from the latin “novus”(new) and the Italian “novella”,
meaning a prose fiction which was original and reported recent event or “news”. The first modern
novel was born in Spain and is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, but only in the 18th century it
developed as a literary genre, especially in England.
Main factors that determined the rise of the modern novel in this country are :
 The influence of “philosophical realism ", (started with Locke) that focused attention on the
individual.
 The influence of Protestantism,which also focused on the individual.
 The growth of the reading public and women readers.
 The growing demand for novels after the creation of circulatin libraries.
There are 4 main kinds :
 Realistic novel.
 Bourgeois novel.
 Comic epic novel
 Anti-novel

Daniel Defoe: - LIFE- Born in London and his father refuse to record (registrar) his sons’s birth in
the parish register, so we didn’t know exactly he was born. He at first became a merchant and travel
in Europe. Defoe took part in rebellion against James II and after joined the army of William of Or-
ange. When Queen Anne took the throne he published a satirical pamphlet in defence of Dissenters
andso he was fined and imprisoned for 6 month. Became also a secret agent, supporting either To-
ries or Whigs. When he was 60 years old became a novelist (to justify his work, he decided to write
true stories which contained a moral lesson). - STYLE - He wrote in the form of a diary or autobi-
ography, in first person singular to increase verisimilitude. There wasn’t a real plot, but a sequence
of events. There was only a single character, who fight against misfortunes on count on self-reliance
for survival.
 Robinson Crusoe: the book is based on a real event, the experience of Alexander Selkirk.
The story can be divited into 3 part: At first talks about the life of the main character, so that
he was a seaman anda tha t one day, during an expediotion in Africa, he is shipwrecked on a
remote island; the second part talks about the life on the island (28 years, 2 months and 19
days) during which he keep a journal; the third part talks about the return in Europe.
 A journal of the Plague year: the book talks about the bubonia plague in London of 1658;
Defoe start to write the book when broke out the plague in France again. The autor imagined
a person that kept a journal of all the events that took place in London during the plague.
The narrative is written in first person singular, the book closes with the initial of H and F,
which may stand for Henry Foe, Defoe’s son. He had based his book on the memories of the
few old survivors in London, the style was realistic.