THE AGE OF REASON ‘The 18th century in England is generally regarded as a golden age, and it was called "Augustan" after the period of Romen history. It wa: an important moment in the making of modem England thanks to cultural innovation and public debate. There was a deliberate ssigction of extremism in all its forms: superstition, fanaticism, verbal violence. The virtues of politeness, moderation ané rationality were commonly praised. The main representative of this ideology was the third Earl of Shaftesbury, the philosopher of politeness. In his work "Characteristics of men, manners, opinions, times" he claimed that man has an innate sense of what in right and wrong, and that virtue lies in "good breeding" ", learning correct social behavior form childhood. The "Spectator" a newspaper founded by Joseph Addison. The "art of pleasing’ that is civility and moderation became new ideals linked to simplicity and emotional authenticity. This influenced the emerging of the figure of the gentleman. However, there was a counter-culture which developed a taste for manly sports such as boxing, racing and fox-hunting, which became important in rural social life. There was a growing tendency towards material gain, individual happiness and pleasure as the main objectives of life. In this period an increasing number of English women, who were particularly active in social and cultural life, they visited friends, attended the theaters and coffee houses, where they were no longer banned, . began a writing career (for example Aphra Behn) and influenced the rise of the novel as the most distinctive literary genre of the period. Many early novels were epistolary Generally there was a new view of the natural world: the thinkers rejecting the Calvinist belief preferred a new optimistic view of the natural world that saw it as benign and beautiful rather than decayed and corrupted by sin. Nature was seen as the complex system or set of divinely ordered and manifested principles in creation. The response to nature has changed, it hhas become emotional and moral. The “English garden’ was invented, a carefully planned space that expresses values such as freedom, simplicity and balance The new optimism and the belief that reason could improve society and discover new horizons encouraged explorationRESTORATION POETRY AND PROSE POETRY The Restoration was a period of innovation. The Metaphysical conceits were replaced by order and clarity as a result of the exercise of reason, The real world became the main object of interest. The trve spirit of Restoration poetry was satiric. John Dryden was the main poet. PROSE The rational tendencies were seen in the works of the rationalist philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, and in the scientific studies of Isaac Newton. Locke insisted that the prime and findamental source of human knowledge of the world outside was individual experience. Experience and reason could not be separated. Hobbes defended absolute monarchy in the belief that private individual selfishness had to be controlled by public force. Isaac Newton published his laws of motion and universal gravitation in his work. The new scientific attitude encouraged self-confidence and a belief in human progress. The Royal Society set up a. committee in 1664-65 to examine and ‘improve’ the English language. Important prose writers were John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys. RESTORATION DRAMA The restoration of the Stuart éynasty marked a reaction against Puritan morals, which had led to the closing down of the theatres. Theatre was made legal again in 1660 they were roofed and artificially lit with candles. The audience sat in the dark in galleries, on benches or even on boxes in the pit. The prices of performances varied, but were mainly expensive. The audience belonged to the upper classes, people used to go to the theatre not only to see comedies but also to meet other people and to feel fashionable. The best literary expression of Restoration Drama was the “comedy of manners”. The characters were more likely to be types than individuals. Anew type of male character was created: the “fop”, who was generally elegant, witty, but cynical. The heroine was witty and more interested in fashion than in morals. The plot was less important than atmosphere, dialogue and satire. The use of prose dialogue increased realism on the stage. The other realistic element was the theme of marriage, devoid of any feelings. The most important playwrights were William Wycherley and William CongreveASURVEY OF AUGUSTAN AGE. THE READ! PUBLIC The literature of the Augustan Age reflected the economic and intellectual progress of the period. It was characterised by an interest in reading as an occupational activity. It had been limited by the low level of literacy. Books were expencive and a luxury the lower classes couldn't afford. For them there were cheaper forms of printed materials like ballads. chapbooks, pamphlets and newspapers, where short stories and novels were published in setial form. Libraries led to an increase in the reading public, particularly among middle-and upper-class women, who had the luxury of leisuere time, PROSE ‘The growing importance of the middle classes had a strong influence on literature encouraging the rise of prose. Belief in the power of reason and the individuals trust in his own abilities found expression in the novel and in joumalism. These ideas were the basis of the parody and satire in Swift and Fielding’ novels. Defoe and Richardson combined religious and secular interests in their works. In the field of criticism, Samuel Johnson was a major figure: his greatest achievement was The Dictionary of the English Language (1755). POETRY Breaking away from Metaphysical poetry, the poet saw his role as on of providing social poetry with models of refined behaviour. A classical pattern was adopted where poems didn't express the poet's personal feeling and even dissent was written with detachment. Mock heroic poems, in particular, dealt with a trivial subject in the heroic style of an epic, achieving a comic effect. The principles expounded by the Latin poet Horace in his Ars Poetica greatly influenced Augustan poets. They used poetic diction: standard phrases and periphrases for everyday object, apostrophe, invension and personification as well as Latinised words and costructionsTHE RISE OFTHE NOVEL THE FATHER OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL Daniel Defoe and Samuel Richardson are generally regarded as the fathers of the English novel. The 1 8th-century novelist was the spokesman of the middle class; the novel was concemed with everything that could affect social status and it was mainly directed toa bourgeois public. THE WRITER’S [AM The novelist was the spokesman of the middle class. The plots taken from history, legend and mythology - were abandoned, The writer's primary aim was no longer to satisfy the standards of patrons but to write in a simple way to be understood by everyone. even by less educated readers. Also the most they wrote the most they earned. ‘THE MESSAGE OF THE NOVEL The rise of journalism influenced the style of the novel. The story was particularly appealing to the practical-minded tradesman. The message of the novel we the sense of reward and punishment, that was related to the Puritan ethics of the middle classes, with some hints at social justice can be found in Defoe. ‘THE NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE ‘The writer was omnipresent. He chose either the third-person narrator, who was omniscient and never abandoned his characters, or the first-person nanrator, who was the main character in the story. A chronological sequence of events that was generally adopted by the novelists ‘There are References to particular times of the year or of the day. THESETTING Time and place were considered two different aspects of the seme reality. In previous fiction the idea of place had been vague and fragmentary; but in the new novels, specific references tonames of streets and towns, together with detailed descriptions of interiors, helped render the narrative even more realistic. THE CHARACTERS ‘The writer aimed at realism: he tries to portay different human experiences. The subject of the novel was always the “bourgeois man” and his problems. He was a well-defined charact and the hero of the narrative All the characters struggles either for survival or social success and they could be divided in 1. people wio believe in reason (Robinson Crusoe) 2. those who cannot control their passions and subordinate reason to their desire (Moll Flanders). To the characters were given contemporary names and sumames was something new and reinforce the impression of realism.TYPES OF NOVEL ‘The 18th-century novel developed different sub-genres + The realistic novel (Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe) focuses on realistic descriptions of time and place. + The utopian novel (Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels) shows imaginary nations with strange new societies and peoples employed to satirize contemporary English society. + The epistolary novel (Samuel Richardson's Pamela) is told through letters exchanged between different characters «+ The Picaresque Novel(HenryFielding sTomJones)is episodic in structure: it concems the adventures of a young hero who has to deal with tyrannical masters and misfortunes but generally manages to escape these situations by using his wit. + The anti-novel (Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy) shows that the orderly narratives of events have little relation to the disorder of the human mind, which is not linked to @ logical sequence of events.DANIEL DEFOE LIFE AND WORKS Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 into a family of Dissenters, and he was educated in 1 of its best academies, ‘Newington Green” Defoe working as an apprentice and went into business on his own He suffered two bankruptcies and started to write in Whig papers ‘Asa journalist his greatest achievement was The Review, but he became a famous and well-paid intellectual by writing political essays The queen arrested and imprisoned him because she didn’t Ike his critical attitude When he was about 60, he started to write novels and in 1719 he published the first, Robinson Crusoe, followed by > Captain Singleton > Moll Flanders > Colonel Jack > Roxana (the lest one) He died in 1731 He had adynamic life DANIEL DEFOE’S NOVEL Defoeis considered the father of the realistic English novel Hes 2 bourgeois man who wants to put in his stories the lifestyle of his social class in fact he writes autobiographies pretending to be true stories, full of biographical details and memories. The novel consists of: > aretrospective first-person narrations > aseties of episodes put together by the presence ofa single hero, challenged to survive alone relying on his own strength ROBINSON CRUSOE PLOT Robinson Crusoe wes born in York in 1632, and at the age of 19, decides to leave his home to travel ‘around the world > imhis frst voyage went to Guinea and then back to England > inmhis second voyage he was captured by Moorish pirates, but later was rescued by a Portuguese ship and brought to Brazil During this journey he ic shipwrecked on 2 desert island where he will remain for 28 years and writes a diary where he racords his experiences After 12 yaars of solitude he finds some human kanes and fleshleft by cannibals, but they escape. and leave one of their captives, whom he calls Friday > together they freed two of their prisoners The novel ends with Robinson's return to England, and his discovery of the plantation in Brazil ‘made him richSPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY ‘This work is full of religious references > the hero reads the Bible to find comfort in difficult times and pray to be saved > he sees God in everything anc keeps a diary to record events to see God in them ‘© Defoe deals with an important theme: the interior conflict between economic and spiritual motivation >for example, puritans consider their work as a task given by God THE ISLAND + Defoe choose the Island because it's the best place for Robinson to prove his qualities to himself and to God, and thanks him he learns how to shane his destiny with his actions->his stay to the Island is seen as a change to dominate the nature CHARACTERS ‘+ Robinson is a restless hero who rejects the model provided by his femily and travels the world > on the island he creates prototype of English society based on hard work, individualism and productivity material ‘© Friday is the first native character portrayed in English literature. > when Robinson rescues him, teaches him the word "master" western culture © howto read the Bible STYLE * Theimpression of reality is given by the first-person narration with detailed descriptions, especially of the objects that Robinson finds on the island, important to survive JONATHAN SWIFT LIFE AND WORK ‘* Jonathan Swift was born in 1667 in Dublin; with his family, went to England and became secretary to Sir William Temple, who encouraged him to write his first satire. > Among his best satires were: > The battle of the books (1704), about the merits of ancient and modem literature > ATale ofa Tub (1704), about the contending religious parties, the superstition of the Catholics and the faneticism of the Dissidents. + In 1694 Swift returned in Ireland, where he was eppointed Dean of Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1713. > He lived in Dublin for the next thirty years in opposition to the Whig government in London, defending Ireland with pamphlets thet denouncing the injustices he fas suffered. Like > The Drapier’s Letters (4724-25), in which Drapier proposed a new coinage that would increase poverty in Ireland. > 1n1726 he published his masterpiece "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World” known as Gulliver's’ Travels. ‘+ Swift's later years were marked by the decay of his mental faculties; died in 1745JONATHAN SWIFT AS A WRITER 4 Swift is considered a controversial writar interested in politic (his political attitude was conservative) and to society. + He chose irony, satire anc parody 10 express himself, with a simple and concrete style-pcreete amusement stimulate the readers interpretation (for example: Gulliver’s travel hac been read as a tale of children but through a deener reading) ‘He uses the first-person narration and the descriptions are full of details GULLIVER’S TRAVELS: PLOT «The nevel consists of 4 books 4 settings > book 1 >Gulliver sails from Bristol and the first stop is the land of Lilliput, where he falls asleep. Gulliver gradually learns language and costumes of the Liliputians (very small people), end gains the favor of the king. After several fun experiences he returns to England > book 2 2Gulliver salls for India but finds himselt In Brobalngnag (Alaska) where the natives are giants that make him feel very “small” and he becomes the king's pet,carried around in a cage, that one day is lifted up by a huge bird and falls in the middle of the ocean. He's rescued by a ship and returns to England. Y Inboth worlds, Gulliver has to use his > the third voyage isto the island of Laputa where the author satirizies the scientific community in England > the last voyage isto the land of Houyhnhinhms, governed by harses that criticise humanity tp survive THE CHARACTER OF GULLIVER * Gulliveris the typical European middle-class man who, when he experienced other worlds, changed his perspective and put in doubt the values of his society thet he considers limited. In the end, after the last voyage, its transformation is complete and can’t no longer take part in European sotiety->friends-> family * Animportant theme is the voyage and the contact with the “other” that makes us realise that our beliefs are just point of view, not absolute truths DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ROBINSON AND GULLIVER 1. Defoe's works are realistic; Swift's works are fantastic and adventurous 2. Robinsch subdues Friday, he ls a colonizer; Instead Gulliver Is colonizec, accepts other cultures and leams them. 3. Robinson isa flat chorecter (.e. does not change his way of being); Gulliver is @ round character (because the experiences that he livas make him mature and grow. 4. In both cases the voyage is @ good experience