Scarica La Restaurazione e l'Età Augustea in Inghilterra e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE RESTORATION (1660-1714) Bills and Acts After the Glorious Revolution: - The Bill of Rights (1689) limited the power of the king - The Toleration Act (1689) aimed at introducing more religious tolerance - Acts of Settlement (1701) all future monarchs must be part of the Church of England After the Glorious Revolution William III and his wife Mary reigned jointly from 1689 to 1702. Rise of the political parties: Whigs (the representatives of middle-class) and Tories (the representatives of aristocracy and church) The Royal society (1660) The foundation of the royal society exerted a strong influence on the cultural life. Linear and realistic style contributed to creating a model of English prose for philosophers, historians, critics and essayists. The truth of scientific works had to be verified through experiments (empirical evidence) and not by reference to a dominant authority. - Verifying truth through experiment and not relying on tradition - Reforming English prose to make it clearer both in contents and language Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Drama After the abolition of the Puritan laws which had closed the theatres, there was a decadent backlash represented by the comedy of manners. Theatre the comedy of manners was the most important kind of play. Main representative: William Congreve (1670- 1729) a strong criticism of the upper class. His plays are characterised by a brilliant and witty dialogue THE AUGUSTAN AGE (1724-60) The Augustan Age was inspired by the fact that as a period it could be compared to the years 43BC- AC14 when the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar was in power. It was a remarkable age for literary productions of the great poets Ovid, and Virgil, which was also characters by order and stability. An intellectual spirit was spending through Europe, expressing a desire to overcome old superstitions. It reflected a new way of thinking in scientific and philosophical fields. George I (1714-1727) From the house of Hanover, he was German and unpopular as king because he showed little interest in England. Prime minister Robert Walpole had a great power. He was an efficient and popular politician. Despite his alleged political corruption, he contributed to the growth of the English economy. George II (1727-60) The successor to George I was George II who relied on his prime ministers, first Robert Walpole, then William Pitt. Social situation at the time Positive aspects: improvement of living conditions for many people Negative aspects: 1750 Enclosure Acts were passed. Open farmland that had been used freely by the people was enclosed and became the private property of the wealthy. Birth of a landless working class forced to move to the city when they lived in deplorable conditions. The literature context The Augustan Age The Augustan age is called the Age of Reason or Enlightenment • a desire to overcome old superstitions • A new way of thinking in scientific and philosophical fields • The aplication of rational methods The reading public there was an increase in a literate public, people who could read and write. They wanted to improve their education and required a new form of literature. The middle class felt a need to improve their education, for professional reasons
