Political and Social Landscape of the Restoration
Political and Social Changes
The Restoration of 1660 wasn't just a change of government. It was a cultural reset. When Charles II returned from exile to reclaim the throne, he ended nearly two decades of Puritan rule under the Commonwealth. The strict moral codes that had defined English public life loosened almost overnight, and the effects rippled through every corner of society.
Theaters reopened after being shut down by the Puritans, and with them came a wave of comedies and satires that reflected the new social freedoms. Censorship relaxed, and writers could explore topics that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier.
Society took a more secular turn. Religious themes didn't vanish from literature, but they lost their dominance. Writers shifted toward wit, humor, and social commentary as their primary tools.
- Coffee houses became the intellectual hubs of the era. Writers, politicians, and thinkers gathered in them to debate ideas, and this culture directly fueled the rise of periodicals and essays like The Tatler and The Spectator.
- Scientific inquiry and empiricism gained serious momentum. The Royal Society, founded in 1660, promoted experimental science and attracted figures like Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton. This emphasis on observation and clarity influenced literary style too, pushing writers toward plainer, more precise prose.
Key Events and Figures
Several major events shaped the period and left clear marks on its literature:
- Great Plague of London (1665–1666) killed tens of thousands and brought themes of mortality and survival into sharp focus. Daniel Defoe later drew on this catastrophe in A Journal of the Plague Year (published 1722, but set during the plague).
- Great Fire of London (1666) destroyed much of the medieval city and sparked massive rebuilding efforts, including Christopher Wren's redesign of St. Paul's Cathedral.
- Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652–1674) fueled political and nationalist themes in writing. Andrew Marvell's The Character of Holland is one example of literature responding to these conflicts.
- Glorious Revolution (1688) replaced James II with William III and Mary II, establishing a constitutional monarchy that permanently limited royal power and strengthened Parliament.
Literary figures who defined the era:
- John Dryden became the first official Poet Laureate of England. He wrote influential plays, poems, and critical essays, and he dominated the literary scene for decades.
- Samuel Pepys kept a detailed diary from 1660 to 1669 that provides one of the richest firsthand accounts of Restoration life, covering everything from the plague to court gossip.
- Aphra Behn was the first professional female writer in English. Her work, including the prose narrative Oroonoko, helped pioneer the novel form and proved that women could earn a living through writing.
Political figures who shaped the period:
- King Charles II, nicknamed "The Merry Monarch," set the tone for the era with his hedonistic court and patronage of the arts.
- James II reigned briefly but lost the throne during the Glorious Revolution, largely because of his Catholic sympathies in a Protestant nation.
- William III and Mary II ruled jointly after the Glorious Revolution and accepted significant limits on royal authority, cementing Parliament's role in governance.
Literary Developments in the Restoration
Shift in Literary Tastes
Restoration literature broke sharply from what came before. The intense, inward-looking style of earlier decades gave way to writing that prized social observation, classical form, and accessibility.
Drama revived as the most visible literary change:
- Restoration comedy zeroed in on manners, wit, and social satire. These plays skewered upper-class behavior with sharp dialogue and risqué humor. William Wycherley's The Country Wife is a prime example.
- Heroic drama took the opposite approach, emphasizing grand themes, noble characters, and elevated language. John Dryden's All for Love, a retelling of the Antony and Cleopatra story, represents this mode well.
New poetic forms gained prominence:
- The heroic couplet, pairs of rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, became the dominant verse form of the period. Dryden popularized it, and it would remain central to English poetry well into the eighteenth century.
- The mock-epic used the grand conventions of epic poetry to satirize trivial subjects. Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is the most famous example, though it was published in the early 1700s and grew directly out of Restoration literary trends.
Prose evolved in several directions at once:
- Journalism and periodical essays emerged, shaped by coffee house culture. These writings developed a more direct, conversational prose style that reached a broader audience.
- Translation and adaptation of classical works surged. Dryden's translations of Virgil and Ovid brought ancient literature to English readers and set standards for literary translation.
- The novel as a literary form began to take shape. Aphra Behn's Oroonoko (1688) is often cited as an early prose narrative moving toward the novel, while Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) is frequently identified as one of the first true English novels.
Metaphysical poetry declined. The dense, intellectually knotted style of poets like John Donne fell out of favor, replaced by verse that valued clarity and polish. French literary criticism also exerted a strong influence during this period, encouraging English writers to follow classical rules of decorum and structure.