Part A

1. The restoration period is known variously as the age of enlightenment, the age of
sensibility, the neoclassical age, the Augustan age or the long 18th century.

2. The name restoration comes from the crowning of Charles II, which marks the restoring
of the traditional English Monarchical form of government following a short period of rule
by a handful of republican governments.

3. In the restoration period we see the rise of two political parties. They were the Whigs
and the Tories. The Whigs were opposing and Tories were supporting the King.

4. In 1688, James II was replaced by William of Orange in a coup that was almost entirely
peaceful and is known in history as the Glorious revolution.

5. Religious controversy was going on during the restoration period. It was bitter. The
protestants and Catholics were face to face. The nation was predominantly protestant.
The Catholics were being punished.

6. The Royal society of London was founded on 28 November 1660, it was granted a royal
charter by King Charles II as "The Royal Society". It is the oldest national scientific
institution in the world. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its
benefits, recognising excellence in science, supporting outstanding science and many
more.

7. Comedy of manners, witty, cerebral form of dramatic comedy that depicts and often
satirises the manners and affectations of a contemporary society.

8. A heroic couplet is two lines of a verse that rhyme. The heroic couplet in English
literature was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the middle ages.

9. The de-Latinisation of English prose around after the restoration age meant the
simplification and modernisation of English prose. It also implied the bringing nearer of
written language to the spoken language. In short we can say the English language
changed from Antiquity to Modernity.
10. The term neoclassicism is a combination of two words neo and classic. The word neo
has been derived from the greek word neos, which means young or new, while the word
classic, according to the Webster dictionary refers to the style and works of the ancient
authors of Greece and Rome.

11. England entered the slave trade in 1660, though Portugal and Spain had indulged in it
for a long time. Other people and races began to be seen as primitives and therefore,
suitable to be slaves to the superior European races.

12. Quakers, also called Friends, belong to a historically Christian denomination known
formally as the religious society of Friends or Friends church. Members of the various
Quaker movements are generally United by their belief in the ability of each human
being to experientially access the light within.

Part B

13. > People welcomed Charles II as their king as they were all suffering from the strict rules
of Oliver Cromwell.
> Oliver Cromwell executed Charles I in the British civil war and started the
commonwealth Republic rule.
> During the period, accusations started emerging and people of England wanted
Monarchy back.
> Charles II who went to exile after his father's death returned in 1660 and gained
governance over 3 lands.

14. > The enlightenment refers to the rise and growth of modern rational and scientific
thought in Europe from the final years of the 17th century through the 18th century.
> The enlightenment was marked by a rigorous mathematical and scientific approach.
Experimentation and logic were given more importance.
> The discovery of races around the world helped Europeans to rationalise and classify
human beings along a scale. This marked the rise of Ethnography.
> Classification and tables were central to the process of organising knowledge about
people, nature and the world.

15. > London became the centre of England and commercial enterprise banking and the arts
began to be concentrated in the city. There was a large scale migration job seekers into
the city.
> It was also suffering from poverty and the disrupted social order of the age can be
understood from the works of William Hogarth.
> A coffee house culture took people out of drawing rooms into the streets. Men sipped
coffee and discussed current events, politics and literature and those meetings ended up
in long lasting influential relationships and friendships in English literature.
> There was a very strong class consciousness among people. Men were gentlemen
 and women were ladies because if their class and gender.

16. > Neoclassicism is the rebirth and restoration of classism. It is the movement in the
history of English literature, which laid immense emphasis on revival of the classical
spirit dying the period between 1660-1750.
> This was a time of comfortableness I. England. People met at coffee houses to talk
about politics among other topics or try a new chocolate beverage. It was also the
beginning of British tradition of drinking afternoon tea.
> Neoclassical writers followed the footpaths of the writers of the period of Augustus that
included Horace, Virgil and Ovid. Authors believed that social needs are more important
than individual needs.

17. Characteristics of Neoclassical poetry.

> Rationalism
Rationalism is the most essential feature of neoclassical poetry. Neoclassical poetry is a
reaction against The Renaissance style of poetry. It is a unique outcome of intellect, not
fancy and imagination. Unlike romantic poetry, which is entirely the result of sentiments
of the poet, neoclassical poetry is a simulated, fabricated and stereotypical type of
poetry. In romantic poetry, sentiments play a vital role in the writing of poetry, while in
neoclassical poetry; recent and intellect are dominant elements. the neoclassical poets
made an effort to disregard imagination, emotion and feelings, while composing their
poetry. That is a reason; that poetry may be branded as artificial and synthetic.
Neoclassical poets always love to make use of scholarly allusions in their poetry.

> Realism
Realism is the hallmark of neoclassical poetry. the neoclassical poets, unlike romantic
poets, were not living in their own world of imagination. They were hard realists and they
presented the true picture of the society. They didn't turn their eyes from the harsh
realities of life. They were keen observers and dwelled upon what they experienced with
their open eyes in their poetry. These poets were not escapists like romantic poets, who
turned their back to the harsh realities of life and tried to escape from them with the help
of the plight of imagination. Neoclassical poets were men of action and practically lived
in the midst of people.

Part C

18. Features of Restoration age.

>The period from 1660 to 1700 is named as the Restoration period. In 1660 king
Charles II was brought to throne. The people of England were suffering from tension due
to the strict rule of Cromwell. Thus the nation welcomed the restoration of Charles II.

> The restoration: During this period gravity, spiritual zeal, moral earnestness and
decorum were thrown into winds. The king was a thorough debauch. He had a number
of mistresses. He was surrounded by corrupt courtiers. Corruption was rampant in all
walks of life.
 > Religious and political quarrels: The Whigs and the Tories were two political parties
that rose during this period. The Whigs opposed the king and Tories supported him. The
rise of these parties gave fresh importance to men of literary ability. Both the parties
supported them. The protestants and the Catholics were face to face. The nation was
predominantly protestant. The Catholics were being punished. Dryden's Absalom and
Acidophel reflects these religious and political conflicts of the day.

> Glorious Revolution: Charles's brother James II ascended the throne in 1685 and tried
to establish Catholicism in the country and faced major Backlash. He lost to the William
of Orange in what is popularly known as the Glorious revolution.

> Rise of Neoclassicism: Neoclassicism took birth replacing the mood of the age. It
combined the theories of the new age with that of the classical one. Writers agree on
rules and principles. They expressed superficial manners and customs of the Aristocratic
Urban age. The new epoch is the antithesis of the previous Elizabethan age.

> Imitation of the Ancients: Authors of this period turned to classical ancient writers and
this brought up neoclassical school of poetry. They blindly initiated rules and overlooked
the subject matter. It's noticed in the age of Dryden and Pope

> Imitation of the French: Charles II and his companions demanded that poetry and
drama should follow the French style. Now Began the so-called period of French
influence. Pascal, Racine, Boileau and other French writers were imitated blindly. The
French influence is seen in the restoration comedy of manners of Dryden, Wycherkg and
Congreve. This French influence is also responsible for the growth of Opera.

> Realism and Formalism: The writers of the Restoration age reacted against the
romanticism of Elizabethan age. They developed realism to a marked degree. The early
restoration writes presented the realistic picture of a corrupt court and society. They
emphasized vices rather than Virtues.

19. Features of Neoclassical age.

> Influence of Materialism

The Neo-classical age sees the dominance of Materialism and Empirical Science. The
ruling thought of the age is shaped by philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke,
and Joseph Butler. The philosophical empiricism of the age propagated through the
writings of Bacon, Hobbes and Locke were supported and strengthened by the
advancement of empirical science. Under the influence of empirical philosophy and
experimental science, writers of the age narrowed both their vision of man and view of
life. The affairs of men, their politics, their morals, and manners became the chief
concern. Although the concern with politics was present in the time of Shakespeare also,
his and his contemporaries’ treatment was ideal and utopian. But the treatment
of Neoclassical writers was practical rather than utopian.

>Imitation of Classics
One of the most important features of the Neoclassical literature is the imitation of the
classics of ancient Greek and Roman literature. Although the Renaissance writers had
imitated the classics, Renaissance writers’ merely derived inspirations from the classics
rather than copying the models of the past, but the Neoclassical writers strictly adhered
to the authority of their models. Thus Neoclassical literature can be called ‘Traditional’.
The Neoclassical writers like Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Johnson were convinced that
excellence and perfection in the literary art have been attained by the Roman writers of
antiquity, thus they can only copy the models of perfection and excellence.

>Concept of Nature
The concept of nature was also an important characteristic of the Neo-classical age. By
nature, they never meant the forest nature, but for them, nature meant the general
human nature. The general human nature was not what the ordinary men and women
felt and thought, but the standard view of human nature as held by Homer and Horace.
Like their static view of the world, the Neoclassical writers thought of human nature also
as something static and standard, which is the same in all men and remains the same at
all times. Thus their view of nature as well as of man, world, and genre was static and
standard.

>Concept of Man
The Neo-classical literature considers man as a limited being, having limited power. A
large number of satires and works of the period attack the man for his pride and advise
him to remain content with his limited power of knowledge. Thus man in Neo-classical
literature remains a being of limited means and power.

>Literary Forms
Among the Neo-classical forms of literature, the most famous were the essay, both in
verse and prose. While drama declined and almost disappeared during the later part of
the period, Novel made its beginnings. The literature of the age was mostly comic and
satiric. An important failure of the age was to produce tragedy.

>The New Restraint

Writers started inventing new words and regularizing vocabulary and grammar. Complex
bodily metaphysical language such as Shakespeare used in his major tragedies was
clarified and simplified. Moreover, the plays of Neo-classical age compared to those of
Shakespeare plays are of single plot-line and are strictly limited in time and place.

>Age of Reason
Neoclassical Period is often called the Age of Reason. Thinkers of this age considered
reason to be the highest mental faculty and sufficient guide in all areas. Both religious
beliefs and morality were grounded on reason. In literature also, the reason is
predominant in the Neoclassical age. Emotions and imaginations are also present but in
a controlled way.