Thinking Activity- Puritan and Restoration Age of Literature

This Blog is written in response to the Thinking Activity on The Puritan and The Restoration Period of Literature given by Dilip Barad sir at the Department of English, MKBU 

The Puritan and Restoration Age of English Literature

The Puritan and Restoration Age of English literature is the name given to a period in the history of English literature that begins around 1600 and ends in 1700. These two literary eras are often referred to as the third stage of the Renaissance. It was an exciting time for writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, and others interested in producing works of literature.

The Puritan Age of English Literature

 The Puritan age began with the execution of King James I’s favorite advisor in 1619 and ended with his successor’s ascent to the throne in 1660.The Puritan age was a period of great intellectual vigor and religious zeal. The leaders of this movement became known as Puritans because they sought to “purify” Church practices and beliefs from what they considered to be unscriptural or idolatrous elements. Their focus was on personal piety, Bible study, reading, meditation, self-examination, repentance from sin, mortification of fleshly appetites such as pride and envy, confession of faith before fellow believers -- all things so foreign to our modern tastes that even their name sounds odd today!

There are three main characteristics in Puritan literature:

 (1) Division in every aspects:

In the Previous age of Queen Elizabeth, she maintained public order and united various divisions of religion and society and all acted united. However in the time of the Puritan Period The kings were the enemies of the people, the monarchy was cruel. People were struggling for religious and political liberty. The literature was also divided by the spirit and the support of various political groups.  

(2) Lost youthfulness and was gloomy

The previous age of Elizabethan was inspiring and was filled with youth and hope and vitality, but the Puritan age was full of sadness and gloom, the old standards started to fade and it was full of pessimism.

(3) Lack of romantic aspect and artificiality

 Puritan literature lacked the romantic aspects of Elizabethan literature. Even the lyrics and love poems did not come as utterances of a heart, rather it became somewhat artificial.

Major Writers and Influential Books from the Puritan Era

The Puritan Era of English Literature produced many authors and works that are still read today. John Bunyan wrote one of the most famous works of English literature, 'The Pilgrim’s Progress', in the latter half of this period. The author of this allegory about a Christian’s journey through life was imprisoned for 10 years for preaching without a license. John Milton, one of England’s greatest poets, wrote 'Paradise Lost' and 'Paradise Regained', Samson Agonistes, and other important works in this era. Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, wrote about his life in London in the late 1660s and early 1670s in a series of brilliant and lively entries. In this period, Thomas Hobbes wrote a famous treatise on government and society, 'Leviathan', and Sir Isaac Newton published his discoveries in mathematics and physics.

The Restoration Age of English Literature

 The Restoration age began when England’s new king restored Anglican services and ended with his death (and final restoration) in 1685. The Restoration Age of English Literature is named for the Restoration of the monarchy and the Church of England, after a civil war and Interregnum in the mid-17th century. It is often considered to represent a shift from the "Puritan Age" or "Age of Puritanism" in England. The Restoration was a time of economic and cultural growth for the English-speaking world. The Great Plague of London has long been credited as marking the end of the gloomy isolationism of the Puritan era and beginning of the more optimistic Restoration era, when England again became a major sea power, and literature once again became a major art form.

Literary characteristic restoration age

French influence

The restrictions of Puritan were gone from England and With the restoration of Charles 2nd came the influence of French literature. The poetry and Drama were highly influenced by French literature. However, the drama of the age was not the same as the renaissance.

New tendency

Dryden the great writer of the age drew the outline for new formation of literature and other writers followed him. There were two new tendency that came up in this period that were

Realism and formalism

Realism

 In realism was the representation of men as exactly as they are. They described vices rather than morels and virtues. They only explored the outlook of men and society and not the inner self.

Formalism

In the Elizabethan and Puritan period writers used the laud Latin and allusion language, but the restoration writer opposed form that and they reduced the unnecessary words and used clear-cut language. They emphasize reasoning more than romanticism.

Heroic couplet

In the restoration period Walter first used the heroic couplet, the two line of iambic pentameter that rhyme together. Then Walter and Dryden used it frequently and it became a fashion of that time in literature.

Major Writers and Influential Books from the Restoration Era

The Restoration Era of English Literature produced many well-known authors and works. Restoration literature is characterized by its elegance, wit, and sophistication. Restoration playwrights produced a number of comedies and tragedies that are still performed today. Some of the most famous comic dramatists of this period were John Dryden, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Aphra Behn. . Jonathan Swift, an Anglican priest and satirist, wrote 'Gulliver’s Travels' in this era. In the Restoration era, Edward Gibbon published 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire', and Sir Isaac Newton published his major discoveries.