What are some Restoration period features,

important writers and their works?

Ans-The period from 1660 to 1700 is named as the Restoration period or the Age of Dryden.
Dryden was the representative writer of this period. In 1660 King Charles II was brought to the
throne. The people of England were suffering from tension due to strict rule of Cromwell. Thus
the nation welcomed the Restoration of Charles II. This Restoration brought about a revolutionary
change in social life and literature. The following characteristics distinguish this period:
[1] THE RESTORATION: During this period gravity, spiritual zeal, moral earnestness and
decorum were thrown to winds. The king was a thorough debauch. He had a number of mistresses.
He was surrounded by corrupt courtiers. Corruption was rampant in all walks of life.

[2] Religious and Political Quarrels: In the Restoration period we see the rise of two political
parties. They were the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs were opposing and the Tories were
supporting the king. The rise of these parties gave a fresh importance to men of literary ability.
Both the parties supported them. The religious controversy was also going on. It was very bitter.
The Protestant and the Catholics were face to face. The nation was predominately Protestant. The
Catholics were being punished. Dryden’s 'Absalom and Achitophel' reflects these religious and
political conflicts of the day.

[3] The Revolution: Charles' brother James II ascended the throne in 1685. He tried to establish
Catholicism in the country. He became unpopular very soon. The entire nation rose against him.
He lost his seat due to the bloodless revolution of 1688. The Restoration, the controversies and the
revolution of 1688 deeply influenced the literature of the age.

[4] Rise of Neo-Classicism: During the Restoration period a new literary movement started. It is
known as Neo-Classical movement. This reflected the mood of the century. Reason occupied an
important place. The writers of this period agreed upon the rules and principles. Rules and literary
conventions became more important than the seriousness of subject matter. The writers expressed
superficial manners and customs of the aristocratic and urban society. They did not pry into
mysteries of human mind and heart. The new epoch is the antithesis of the previous Elizabethan
age. It is called classical.

[5] Imitation of the Ancients: The authors of this period turned to the great classical writers. Thus
grew the neo-classical school of poetry. The neoclassicists imitated the rules and ignored the
importance of subject matter. They could not delve deep into human emotions. These things can
be noticed in the age Dryden and Pope.

[6] Imitation of the French:- King Charles II and his companions had spent the period of exile in
France. They demanded that poetry and drama should follow the style to which they had become
accustomed in France The influence of France counted for much. Charles II and his companions
demanded that poetry and drama should follow the French style. Now began the so-called period
of French influence. Pascal, Racine, Boileau and other French writers were imitated blindly. The
French influence is seen in the Restoration comedy of manners of Dryden, Wycherly and
Congreve. This French influence is also responsible for the growth of opera.

7.Realism and Formalism: Restoration literature is realistic. It was very much concerned with life
in London, and with details of dress, fashions and manners The writers of the Restoration age
reacted against the romanticism of Elizabethan age. They developed realism to a marked degree.
The early Restoration writers presented the realistic picture of a corrupt court and society. They
emphasised vices rather than virtues. They gave us coarse, low plays without moral significance.
They saw only the externals of man, his body and appetites. They did not see his soul and his
ideals. The writers of the age followed formalism of style. They aimed at achieving directness and
simplicity of expression.

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8. Correctness and Appropriateness The work of the authors of the Restoration period was
imitative and of limited quality. Since they lacked creativity and flight of imagination, they
abandoned freedom altogether and slavishly followed the rules. The new tendency, which reached
its climax in the Age of Pope, is very clearly marked in the literature of the Restoration period. To
Dryden Dr. Johnson applied the term ―Augustan‖, saying that Dryden did to English literature
what Augustus did to home, which he found ―of brick and left of marble.‖ Dryden was the first
representative of the new ideas that were to dominate English literature till the end of the eighteenth
century.

Leading Authors: Dryden was the representative poet of this age. His Absalom and Achitophel
and Mac Flecknoe are very popular satires. Samuel Butler and John Oldham are also famous for
their satires. John Dryden, John Bunyan, Hobbes, Locke, Temple etc. were eminent prose writers
of this age. Congreve, Etherege and Whycherly were the eminent writers of comedy of manners

Thus the Restoration age has great importance in the literary history of England. This age offered
leading authors like Dryden and Congreve whose contribution to the literature is memorable.