THE RESTORATION(1660-1798)
*Augustan Age
*Neoclassicism
*Enlightenment
*The Age of John Dryden
^JOHN DRYDEN
*occasional poet he composed poems for particular occasion: to commemorate important public events- not personal
*he was kind of commentator as a poet
-“Heroic Stanzas” -written after Cornwell's death
-“Astrea Redux” - written after coronation of Charles II
-“Annus Mirabilis”-glorifying Londoners for courage during Great Fire of London
-“Alexander's Feast” subtitled:”The power of Music”
*his best poem it's an Ode
#ODE- in Greek means song, ode was meant to be sung, it's a lyric poem of some length . The main features are elaborate stanza structure, a marked formality, stateliness in tone and style, lofty sentiments and thoughts. 1st ode was composed by Sappho- a Greek poet, also composed by: John Milton, Pindar, Horace
*written in honor St Cecilia's Day, composed for the day of festival music 22nd November
*harmonia mundi and musica humana- a moral power of music to move souls
-“Absalom and Achitophel”
*political satire in verse
* it deals with political cases connected to the successor to the throne-> King Charles didn't have kinds, he had a brother, but he was Catholic, King had a son who was illegitimate, people wanted to see his son protestant on throne rather than his brother
*Dryden couldn't write about the problem directly and openly, that's why he introduced Biblical disguise, Biblical cover:
*Absalom was biblical figure, he rebelled against his own father King David
*Achitophel also biblical figure, he was King David's advisor, who betrayed his king and associated with Absalom,
~RELIGIOUS POEMS by J.D.
-“Religio Laici” poem which present religious believe
-“The Hind and the Panther”
*he composed it after he converted to Catholicism
*it's an allegory Hind-> Catholic Church and Panther-> Anglican Church
*Hind->wild, soft, pure innocence,
*Panther-> aggressive
~PLAYWRIGHT
*he composed tragedies and comedies
*he fallowed classical rules
-“All for Love”
*tragic story of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, he observed classic characters, created figures which were more lie monuments
-“Marriage a'la Mode”
*a witty comedy
*Dryden was more free in his comedies because comedies were at the bottom of the classical hierarchy
*story of 2 couples who change partners
^SAMUEL BUTLER
*hated Puritans, he couldn't publish anything during their power
-“HUDIBRAS”- a satire in verse, directed against the Puritans, it was to mock them.
#SATIRE- it was invented by Romans, classical authors: Seneka, Petronius, the literary meaning means MEDLEY , usually it was a poem but also work in prose, which aim was to ridicule human vices, weaknesses or follies
*Hudibras is a satire of Burlesque type, in Burlesque author debases a serious subject/problem by low or comical treatment of it.
*titled hero is a Puritan squire and he goes to Civil War with his attendant- Ralph
*Puritans are compared to drunk men, and their religion is called “Dame Religion”
*King liked that satire and rewarded Butler with a great amount of money
*Hudibras was a proper name taken from “The Fairy Queen” by Edmund Spencer
*Butler took this name from Spencer's poem to show the contrast between the True Virtues and the
Vices of Puritans,
*because “The Fairy Queen” is an allegory the knights move to a fantastic world, the aim was to show that Puritans belong to the fantasy world and they have nothing to do with the real world.
PROSE:
^JOHN BUNYAN
*deeply religious, he joined Puritans during Civil War
*he joined Baptists- new protestant church created after reformation, they were persecuted during the Restoration
*Bunyan spent 12 years in prison, during that time he wrote:
-“The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to That Church is to come”
*very important work, on one side it's religious category, showing the life of a wise Christian and advising him how to get salvation, on the other side this work can be regarded as a prototype of the novel, with a great amount of realism in observation of men behavior
*There is a good deal of realistic observation of men
*Characters bear allegorical names but they are not abstract, they point to concrete human virtues and vices famillar to all, eg. Sloth, Prudence, Help
*There is a Casuality, a logical way of action
*Everything is recorded in a simple, plain English language, it can be easily understood by ordinary people
*This work is thought to be the first novel
*plot: titled pilgrim called Christian lives in the City of Destruction, he has a vision, Evangelist who advices him to leave the city and go on a long dangerous trip to the Celestial City, he asks his family to go with him but they refuse, his neighbor Pliable joined him
*they rich 1st obstacle-> The Slough of Despond and his friend lives him
*Christian manages to go through and he meets Wiseman who advices him to go shortcut, but it was a trick and he returns to the right track, The Hill of Difficulty he meets there 3 men Sloth-> advice him not to go on top of hill, he stays in a hut and sleep-> he lives there role which allows him to enter paradise, he meets Satan as a monster he need to fight with animal he is wounded but he won. He meets Faithful and they go to the city of Vantigo Fair where King Beelzebub rule. They defy the king and Faithful dies, Christian continue the trip and he has a new friend Hopeful, they are in prison Doubting Castle, Christian is desperate he wants to commit a suicide but Hopeful rescue him, the runaway and they reach the Celestial City, they need to cross the river- which symbolize that they leave their humanity and enter the paradise with pure souls.
DRAMA:
*was bound by classical rules, by decorum
*the number of characters was limited
*characters only nobleman
*speeches highly artificial
*it was not popular
^Comedy of manners
*the aim was to laugh at social manners of contemporary people
*heroes were engage in flirting and intrigues, they were interested in financial rewards
*characteristic feature is that heroines were equal with men
*it's a game of love
*other characteristic feature: names revealing characters
*comedies were written in a brilliant prose, that is deft, allusive, witty
*the rest comedies are great art but of a prevented kind example:
-“The Way Of The World” William Congreve
*characters: Fainall- rich wife and attractive lover
Mirabell-single, handsome man, flirts with girls
-“Marriage of a Mode” John Dryden, -“The Country Wife” William Wycherley etc
THE RESTORATION(1660-1798)
^JOHN DRYDEN
ODE:
-“Alexander's Feast”
-“Absalom and Achitophel”
^SAMUEL BUTLER
SATIRE:
-“HUDIBRAS”-
^JOHN BUNYAN
-“The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to That Church is to come”
DRAMA:
^Comedy of manners