In literature this period is known as the Augustan age.

According to Hudson the epithet

Augustan‖ was applied as a term of high praise, because the Age of Augustus was the
golden age of Latin literature, so the Age of Pope was the golden age of English literature.
This epithet serves to bring out the analogy between the first half of the eighteenth
century and the Latin literature of the days of Virgil and Horace. In both cases writers
were largely dependent upon powerful patrons. In both case a critical spirit prevailed. In
both cases the literature produced by a thoroughly artificial society was a literature, not of
free creative effort and inspiration, but of self-conscious and deliberate art.‖ It is also
known as the classic age‖. Hudson writes: The epithet classic‖, we may take to denote,
first that the poets and critics of this age believed that the writers of classical antiquity
presented the best models and ultimate standards of literary taste, and secondly, in a
more general way, that, like these Latin writers, they had little faith in the promptings and
guidance of individual genius, and much in laws and rules imposed by the authority of the
past. Some remarkable political and social changes began to take place in England during
the closing years of William III and the accession of Queen Anne (1702). That had a great
impact on the development of literature during this period. The literature of this era was
partly new and partly a continuance of that of the Restoration.
The Augustan Age was also marked by the evolution of satirical verse, the development of
the novel, and the use of melodrama over political satire. The Augustan Age was also
noted for the changes in philosophical thought, for example, the formalization of
capitalism. The writing during this period was highly regulated and stylized, but the
borders of the movement are unclear. Meaning, scholars are undecided on when exactly it
begins and ends. But, the literature produced during the reign of Queen Anne, King
George I, and George II is considered part of the literary period. The period is also
sometimes known as the Age of Reason and the age of Neoclassicism. It was marked by a
new availability of books as prices fell and the trade of chapbooks and broadsheets.
Periodicals were also a new development. They included The Gentleman’s Magazine and
the London Magazine. Newspapers bloomed and spread throughout the country. Most of
the authors during this period wrote distinctly political texts. Even those who wrote plays
and poems were in some way politically active or funded by political sources. Authors also
spent time writing essays criticizing other literary works, making understanding the ins
and outs of some literary works difficult.

This age is mainly characterized by satire: those Augustans were totally into using irony,
humor and exaggeration to ridicule and expose people's (and society's) vices. In fact,
satire is one of the defining characteristics of Augustan literature. And we're not just
talking about one genre or style of writing: these writers were satirical in poetry, in prose,
in—well, they were satirical everywhere. The Augustans prided themselves on exposing
society's double standards, showing how superficial, not to mention contradictory, many
of the laws and values that governed English society were. During the Augustan age, print
technology developed by leaps and bounds.

But in the Augustan age, advances in print technology made it possible to print books
cheaply, and that meant that more and more books and other materials were printed and
available at much lower prices. At the same time, more and more people were becoming
literate and the development in print journalism totally had consequences for the
literature of the period. For example, the novels of the Augustan age (like Daniel
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe or Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels) often take on a journalistic
tone. They're narrated as "real-life" events, and sometimes, as in the case of Defoe's
novels, they're even inspired by real-life events. The journalistic style pretty much led to
the beginnings of realism in the novel as we know it.

Called the “father of the English novel” by Sir Walter Scott, Henry Fielding was one
of the most prominent novelist and playwright of the 18th century. He holds a
dominant position in the history of English literature. Though Fielding was not
actually the first English novelist, he was the first who approached the genre with a
fully worked out and well-articulated theory. Through his various works, he
established the tradition of a realism which was later presented in the portrayal of
contemporary society that dominated English fiction until the end of the 19th
century.

Fielding was known for his rich, earthly humour and satirical sense. Also, he is
remembered in history as a magistrate who found London’s first police force, called
the Bow Street Runners. As a response to his controversial writings in theatre, that
were mainly political satires, the government passed the Theatrical Licensing Act of
1737. Due to the passage of this act, political satires on the stage became virtually
impossible. However, Fielding never stopped writing and kept on producing works
anonymously.

Important Works:

Shamela (1741)
The original title of this work was 'An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela
Andrews'. It is a satirical burlesque novella first published under the name of Mr.
Conny Keyber. Though, Fielding never admitted to writing the work, but it is widely
considered to be his. It is a direct attack on the then-popular novel 'Pamela' (1740)
by Fielding's contemporary and rival Samuel Richardson and is composed, like
'Pamela', in epistolary form.

Amelia (1751)

It is a sentimental novel and follows the life of Amelia and Captain William Booth
after they are married. With various allusions to classical literature, 'Amelia'
focuses on the theme of marriage and feminine intelligence

Joseph Andrews (1742)

The book was the first published full-length novel of English. It was defined by
Fielding as a "comic epic poem in prose". The novel is the story of a pleasant and
cheerful footman's adventures on the road home from London with his friend and
mentor, the absent-minded parson Abraham Adams.