paper -5 assignment

Name :- Aditi Vala

Ma Sem :- 01

Batch :- 2020-2022

Paper no. :- 105 [ The History of English Literature]

Topic :- Difference between Puritan and Restoration Period

Roll no. :- 01

Enrollment no. :- 3069206420200018

Email id :- valaaditi203@gmail.com

Submitted to :- Smt. S.B.Gardi Department of English, MKBU

Difference Between puritan and restoration period :

Introduction :

                           Around 1670, a group of moderate Restoration puritans published extended explanations of their movement at a particularly tense and pregnant time, when the recently erected, unstable barriers between the institutional Church of England and puritanism were under extreme pressure. Their efforts are important and revealing for their analyses of Restoration puritanism's contemporary situation and its historical roots. These publications, however, have received little scholarly attention. Restoration scholars tend to use the term 'puritan' in a static even perfunctory way that bears little resemblance to the self-conscious, fluid approach of historians of earlier puritanism. This usage also bears little resemblance to how Restoration puritans understood themselves. A close examination of these treatises helps to locate Restoration puritanism as the latest evolution of a century-old movement and helps to evaluate and refine the analytical frameworks within which historians attempt to make sense of that movement.       

Puritan Age – 1620 to 1660:

                        The first half time period of the 17th century is considered as Puritan age. During this period Puritanism was dominating force. This time period is also famous with the name, Age of Milton. He was the greatest poet during this period. King James was ruling during the Puritan period. Puritan age is considered as the renaissance of the moral sense of the man. The main aim of the Puritan age was:

• To facilitate religious freedom.

• Full civil liberty

Puritans want the purity of life. During this period, church and court were highly criticized and this lead to the civil war and Charles I was beheaded.

Writing Style :

                   Puritan writing style was plain. Writers used simple sentences and not ornamented language. There was less usage of Metaphors and simile in the literary works.

                   Use of symbols was popular during that time. It creates a strong impact on the audience. Symbols help in delivering the truth about God in an easy manner. Religious poems have a role in this period. They are considered important. John Donne was one of the most famous religious poets of this age.

                    Puritans believed that fictional elements in the work of art should be limited. They perceive literary work as a religious practice rather than any piece of entertainment. The literary work of Puritans was all about spirituality. They talk about pilgrims and journey. They tried to motivate society by creating the allusion of an ideal state.

Realism in poetry :

Earlier forms of love poetry were Petrarchan. One can see the platonic form of love in earlier forms of poetry but Puritan love poetry was based on realism. Women were not seen as a Goddess but a human with flesh and blood. 

A touch of Epic elements :

        Milton was the one who brought the essence of epic in this age. His paradise lost books were the famous epics of that time period. Spenser’s Fairy Queene was a romantic epic. These epics were way too much different than the classical epics of Homer and Virgil.

The emergence of Metaphysical School :

                    Meta means beyond and Physical means physical reality. Poems in this genre concerned with the nature of the thing rather than physicality.

The trend of sonnets :

                Poets largely used sonnets during Puritan age. Sonnets were popular because it was largely written during Elizabethan age.  

The Restoration Period -1660 to 1785 :

                    The restoration period began when King Charles II came to the English throne. It started in the year 1660 and lasted till 1785.  The period is known as restoration because monarchy was restored in England.  During the restoration period English, Irish and Scottish monarchy was restored. This period denotes the event of restoration of the monarchy and new political establishment. During the reign of King Charles II there was an increase in commercial and global trade for Britain. Education was also expanded during this period, middle classes and lower classes were also included for education.

Religion and Politics during the restoration period :

             The restoration period brought good news for English theatre. Theatres were closed during Cromwell’s puritan period. When Charles II back to the throne, he ordered the re-opening of theatres and the churches as well.

• Charles II parliament was stuffed with Anti catholic cabinet, he himself was conformed to Anglicanism but had sympathy towards Catholics. Due to this, you will find him at odds to his own parliament.

• The king was morally corrupt and so the public. He had many mistresses and illicit relationships.

• Charles II had no legitimate heir. James (brother of Charles) was the next one who could possibly take over the throne. Parliament was not in favor of James and forced Charles II to exclude his brother from the line of succession.

• Exclusion crisis resulted in the formation of two political parties, Tories, they are in favor of the king, and the second one is Whigs, they opposed Charles II.

• The whole nation under the king was corrupt. Protestants were on the rise at that time and Catholics were dominated by them.

        James II came to the throne in 1685 and dispensed the test act.

Literary Trends Of Restoration period :

   

             English literature was written during the restoration period known as English restoration literature. The writers of this age were completely out of moral sense and seriousness. English literature was highly influenced by French literature. Boileau’s essay, comedies of Moliere were taken as inspiration y the writers of this Era. One can easily see the change in the literature of this age. From fancy to wit and from poetry to prose, this shift in literary preference was also changed due to the political atmosphere during that time. Satire and wit got more popular than fancy and love. One more category of literature add to this was pamphlet literature. John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys were two renowned diarists of that age.

The drama got popular during the restoration period. Two forms of drama got great recognition. One is Heroic play and the other is Restoration of the comedy of manner.

Writing style:

                       Puritan writing style was plain. Writers used simple sentences and not ornamented language. There was less usage of Metaphors and simile in the literary works.

Use of symbols was popular during that time. It creates a strong impact on the audience. Symbols help in delivering the truth about God in an easy manner. Religious poems have a role in this period. They are considered important. John Donne was one of the most famous religious poets of this age.

Puritans believed that fictional elements in the work of art should be limited. They perceive literary work as a religious practice rather than any piece of entertainment. The literary work of Puritans was all about spirituality. They talk about pilgrims and journey. They tried to motivate society by creating the allusion of an ideal state.

Realism in the poetry:

           Earlier forms of love poetry were Petrarchan. One can see the platonic form of love in earlier forms of poetry but Puritan love poetry was based on realism. Women were not seen as a Goddess but a human with flesh and blood. 

A touch of epic elements: 

                  Milton was the one who brought the essence of epic in this age. His paradise lost books were the famous epics of that time period. Spenser’s Fairy Queene was a romantic epic. These epics were way too much different than the classical epics of Homer and Virgil.

The emergence of Metaphysical School :

                   Meta means beyond and Physical means physical reality. Poems in this genre concerned with the nature of the thing rather than physicality.

The trend of sonnets:

                          Poets largely used sonnets during Puritan age. Sonnets were popular    because it was largely written during Elizabethan age.  

The Restoration Period -1660 to 1785 :

                          The restoration period began when King Charles II came to the English throne. It started in the year 1660 and lasted till 1785.  The period is known as restoration because monarchy was restored in England.  During the restoration period English, Irish and Scottish monarchy was restored. This period denotes the event of restoration of the monarchy and new political establishment. During the reign of King Charles II there was an increase in commercial and global trade for Britain. Education was also expanded during this period, middle classes and lower classes were also included for education.

Religion and Politics during the restoration period :

               The restoration period brought good news for English theatre. Theatres were closed during Cromwell’s puritan period. When Charles II back to the throne, he ordered the re-opening of theatres and the churches as well.

Charles II parliament was stuffed with Anti catholic cabinet, he himself was conformed to Anglicanism but had sympathy towards Catholics. Due to this, you will find him at odds to his own parliament.

The king was morally corrupt and so the public. He had many mistresses and illicit relationships.

Charles II had no legitimate heir. James (brother of Charles) was the next one who could possibly take over the throne. Parliament was not in favor of James and forced Charles II to exclude his brother from the line of succession.

Exclusion crisis resulted in the formation of two political parties, Tories, they are in favor of the king, and the second one is Whigs, they opposed Charles II.

The whole nation under the king was corrupt. Protestants were on the rise at that time and Catholics were dominated by them.

James II came to the throne in 1685 and dispensed the test act.

Literary Trends Of Restoration period :

       English literature was written during the restoration period known as English restoration literature. The writers of this age were completely out of moral sense and seriousness. English literature was highly influenced by French literature. Boileau’s essay, comedies of Moliere were taken as inspiration y the writers of this Era. One can easily see the change in the literature of this age. From fancy to wit and from poetry to prose, this shift in literary preference was also changed due to the political atmosphere during that time. Satire and wit got more popular than fancy and love. One more category of literature add to this was pamphlet literature. John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys were two renowned diarists of that age.

The drama got popular during the restoration period. Two forms of drama got great recognition. One is Heroic play and the other is Restoration of the comedy of manners.

Heroic plays:

             During restoration age, heroic plays were in trend. Heroic plays are often called as heroic tragedies. These plays present characters with superhuman qualities, they are larger than life and have noble virtues. These plays have a strong portrayal of themes like love, honour, and courage. The writing style of the heroic tragedy was also like epics, i.e. they were written in heroic couplets. They imitate the style of epics and depict love and valor as the main theme. The plot involved the destiny of an empire.

Though Dryden was more popular for Heroic drama, it was Sir William D’ Avenant who brought this style during the restoration period. He was the one who wrote the first heroic drama, ‘The Siege of Rhodes’.

Dryden’s first heroic drama was ‘The first Indian queen’ along with joint efforts of Robert Howard

Restoration comedy of manners :

         Restoration comedy of manners plays is satires. They satirized the mannerisms, behavior, and ideas of the elite class. Comedy of manners is a depiction of relations of men and women of aristocratic society. These plays include a portrayal of wit, sexual dialogues, sensual innuendos, and rakish behavior.

Comedy of manners of restoration period was influenced by the Ben Johnson’s comedy of humours. English society was in need of new form in entertainment they were earlier starved due to the banned theaters during Puritan age. Restoration comedy of manners is full of sexual dialogues and morally corrupt characters. Earlier these were completely banned. The main dramatist who wrote a comedy of manners were, William Congreve, George Etherege, and Aphra Behn.

Restoration comedy was like a mirror of the upper-class society. It shows a society where Bourgeoisie has a main role and females finding new liberty. Comedy of manners was considered as immoral due to consistent attack on the sanctity of marital bond and growing preference for free love to fulfill sexual needs. Most of the writers were openly writing and portraying promiscuous scenes in the drama which considered a corruption of morality. Such an open display of sexual frankness and openness resulted in the criticism of Restoration comedy.

Beginning of Neoclassicism:

                  When we talk about the literature of the Restoration period, one can see an abrupt change from old standards. It was similar to the way society broke the chains of puritanism. Writers went back into the ancient Greek literature, taking inspiration from the epics.

Imitating the Ancient work:

             To get guidance and inspiration, writers started following the classical writers. Specifically, Latin writer’s influence could be easily seen over the writers of restoration age.

Influence from the French :

                         The literature of the Restoration period was highly dominated by French culture. The reason for French influence was that Charles II and most of the writers had spent their time in France. When they arrived in England, they brought French culture and ideas with them. As discussed earlier, you can see indecency and coarseness of French literature into the Comedy of manners.

The restoration was an age of reasons and prose :

            

                    This was the time period when prose evolved and found its place in England. This age was an age of reasons. Imagination was left behind and now people were becoming more practical and logical. The growth of science and reasoning, religious discontent and political controversies are the reason behind the rise of prose.

Conclusion :

              In short, the things related to the literature, about the writing styles and popular themes used in literary work during that time. After that, there is a description of the next age that is a restoration period. It began when Charles II came to the throne and monarchy came back to England. One can clearly see a big difference between Puritan age and Restoration age. The difference could be seen in the religious activities and political scenario of that time. Puritans were the supporters of Catholics whereas during restoration time, logical reasoning, scientific discoveries lead to the questioning of Catholic preaching.Literature was also got affected by political and religious scenarios. 

                           __________