RESTORATION PERIOD

WHEN DID THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD END AND THE RESTORATION PERIOD BEGIN?

A NUMBER OF DATES COULD BE USED TO HALLMARK THE CHANGE.

THE RESTORATION 1625-1798

Charles II (r. 1625-1649)

1625: JAMES I, ELIZABETH I’S SUCCESSOR, DIES AND CHARLES I, HIS SON, INHERITS

THE THRONE

1642

THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR• Charles I’s clashes with Parliament led

to revolt and his execution in 1649.

• England is left without a monarch for almost a decade

• The Puritan Oliver Cromwell and Parliament ruled until Cromwell’s death in 1658, but his policies had alienated much of the country.

THE RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY 1660• Tired of the wars and contention of the past 20

years, Parliament invited Charles II back from exile in France

• Charles brought back with him a love of fashion, the arts, and reopened theaters.

• Allowed people to celebrate holidays.(All forbidden under Puritan rule)

MONARCHY OF ENGLAND RESTORED AFTER YEARS OF HARSH PARLIAMENTARY DICTATORSHIP

* FRENCH INFLUENCE* DIVINE RIGHT* CATHOLIC

LONDON DISASTERS:1664: PLAGUE OUTBREAK KILLS THOUSANDS

1666: The Great Fire

MORE TROUBLE

• James II succeeded Charles II in 1685.

• 1685: James II, Charles II’s brother, becomes king

• A devout Catholic, James clashed with Parliament over religion.

* ALIENATES VIRTUALLY EVERY POLITICALLY AND MILITARILY SIGNIFICANT SEGMENT OF ENGLISH SOCIETY

* ATTEMPTS TO CATHOLICIZE THE ARMY AND THE GOVERNMENT

* PACKS PARLIAMENT WITH SUPPORTERS, BUT THE FINAL STRAW…

HE HAD A SON THAT WOULDBE RAISED CATHOLIC!

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

• In 1688 Parliament invited Mary, the protestant daughter of the king and her husband, William of Orange, to rule jointly.

• James II fled to France. No blood was shed and there was much rejoicing.

LIMITING ROYAL POWER

• In 1689 Parliament passed a Bill of Rights, limiting the power of the monarchy

• In succeeding years, a cabinet of ministers led by the Prime Minister would gradually begin to rule England.

SOCIAL TRENDS

• As agricultural practices improved, towns and cities grew because less workers were needed on farms.

• Industrialization and inventions after 1750 led to growth of large factories in cities and increased wealth.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT--THE AGE OF REASON• “How” questions replaced “Why” questions about nature, the human body, and the universe.

• Most philosophers and scientists remained very religious.

• View of God changed, with Deism becoming widely accepted among intellectuals.

• Superstitions concerning natural phenomena were dispelled.

The Enlightenment--The Age of Reason

• Edmund Halley predicted the path of comets and when they would occur.

• By the end of this era progress, for many, was equated with misery.

The Enlightenment--The Age of Reason

• Some began to lose faith in man’s ability to solve every problem with reason.

THIS IS ALSO THE PERIOD OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (GO YANKEES!);

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (CIE LA GUERRE!);

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION(DRIVE THOSE POOR FARMERS OFF THEIR LAND!);

AND….

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

(STOMP THE WORKING CLASSES INTO THE MUD ANDPOLLUTE EVERYTHING!)

Cough, Cough.

HENCE, ANOTHER NAME FREQUENTLY GIVEN TO THIS TIME PERIOD IS THE AGE OF…..

• The style was witty, sophisticated, and self-conscious.

Writing of the Restoration

• There was a fondness for satire.

• Aphorisms—short statements that express a viewpoint or truth—were popular.

Samuel Johnson

METAPHYSICAL POETRY

•Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the natural world.

• It is the study of being and reality. • It asks fundamental questions such as: “Is there a God?” and “What is man’s place in the universe?”

•This study also includes questions of space, time, causality, existence, and possibility.

Definition of “metaphysical”: concerned with abstract thought or

subjects, as existence, causality, or truth

designating or pertaining to the poetry of an early group of 17th-century English poets, notably John Donne, whose characteristic style is highly intellectual and philosophical and features intensive use of ingenious conceits and turns of wit

Metaphysical poetry was written in the 17th century by British poets. •These poets did not term themselves “metaphysical poets,” the name came much later as Samuel Johnson attempted to classify the type of poetry that came from this period.

What is a metaphysical poem? Metaphysical poetry is concerned with

the whole experience of man, but the intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets means that the poetry is about the profound areas of experience especially - about love, romantic and sensual; about man's relationship with God - the eternal perspective, and, to a less extent, about pleasure, learning and art.

concerned with the whole experience of man poetry is about the profound areas of

experience especially - about love, romantic and sensual about man's relationship with God the eternal perspective to a less extent, about pleasure, learning and

art.

Metaphysical poems are lyric poems. They are brief but intense meditations,

characterized by striking use of wit, irony and wordplay.

Beneath the formal structure (of rhyme, meter, and stanza) is the underlying (and often hardly less formal) structure of the poem's argument.

Note: that there may be two (or more) kinds of arguments in a poem.

LOOKING AT THE POEMS’ ARGUMENTS Looking at the poets' technique should,

perhaps, begin with a consideration of argument.

In a way all of the poems have an argument, but it is interesting or striking in some more than others.

Conceit A conceit is an extended,

elaborate metaphor. An extended metaphor is a metaphor that carries on through the entirety of the poem.

Metaphysical Conceit A metaphysical conceit is a conceit

where the objects of comparison have no apparent connection. For example, in George Herbert’s poem Praise, he compares God’s generosity to a bottle full of endless tears. Another example is John Donne’s poem The Flea.

So what exactly is a “conceit”? An elaborate, exaggerated

metaphor, usually strained or far-fetched in nature, comparing two incredibly dissimilar things.

When the stanza of a poem contains a conceit, the stanza itself can be called a “conceit,” as with the octet in Donne’s Holy Sonnet #6.

IMAGERY You can also consider the

imagery used by the poets. Do NOT become bogged down in discussion of single images

Consider, rather, the whole range of sources of imagery each uses.