The Augustan Age

A long period of peace began, referred to as the Augustan Age because of a strong analogy
with the relatively stable political climate which had characterised the reign of Augustus Caesar
after the turmoil of Rome's civil war.
The Whigs were in power uninterruptedly until 1783. They were supported not only by town
dwellers, but also by the great landowners who had seen taxation fall and economic benefits
rise. The principal political leader was Robert Walpole and it was during his long period of
government (1721-42) that a new model of cabinet was defined. Government began to be
characterised as an executive power guided by a leading figure (which later in the century was
codified as Prime Minister). The executive had to have a majority in Parliament and to outline
the policy of the state. The majority was based on personal relationships or alliances of
convenience rather than on any specific political strategy. However, what was evident was the
gradual movement of power away from the sovereign to the government and Parliament.
This was also the result of a series of weak kings who ruled at the beginning of the 18th century.
George I (1714-27), the son of Sophia, spoke only German, knowing neither the language nor
the customs of his British subjects. For this reason, the government began to meet without the
king and the role of the prime minister acquired increasing importance. During the reign of his
successor, George II (1727-60), Britain began to extend its colonial territories, taking advantage
of the fact that France was engaged in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven
Years' War. The Treaty of Paris (1763) marked the end of the French presence in North America
and left the East India Company in control of a large part of Asia.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Enlightenment
The 18th century is often referred to as
scientists had become dissatisfied with
the Age of the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason due to a new emphasis on reason, order,
empirical observation and rational thinking. By the end of the 17th century, many explanations
based on the notion of Nature as a reflection of God's will. A new conviction began to spread:
the belief that men could understand and explain the world only through scientific
observation, the collection of empirical data and the testing of hypotheses. A forerunner of this
idea was Isaac Newton, who experimented with gravity and motion in order to formulate
scientific explanations of natural events. In doing so, Newton demonstrated that the world is
regulated by forces that can be observed, classified, understood and explained in terms of 'laws.
The new emphasis on reason and
rationality was not limited to science.
Many philosophers put human experience (rather than authority) at thecentre of their
investigations for truth and meaning. They began to argue that all men were created equal and
haveinnate human rights, a view which later contributed to the French Revolution [> p. 214]. In
politics, John Locke's reflections on personal liberty and individual rights paved the way for the
American Revolution [> p. 212].
Journalism

Besides the novel, another new genre emerged in the 18th century: periodical journalism. The
17th century had witnessed an explosion of political writing and pamphlet literature which
contributed to stimulating readers' appetite for information and public cultural debate. The many
controversies (political, moral, religious) of the 17th century and the ongoing debates of the 18th
century had triggered an increased demand for information and public discussion. The new
reading public asked for news, information and entertainment. As a result, in the first half of the
18th century, a wide range of daily and weekly newspapers and journals were founded to satisfy
the demand for the circulation of ideas. The spread of newspapers was further encouraged by
the growing popularity of coffee houses. Coffee houses were public meeting places where
people from all walks of life could gather, chat, conduct business, share ideas and read
newspapers while enjoying the fashionable drink recently imported from Turkey: coffee. It is
estimated that by 1750 there were about 2,000 coffee houses in London.

The novel
5. How did the reading public change in the 18th century?
The 18th century is typically associated with the birth of the novel, a new form of fictional prose
which later became the primary form of popular entertainment. The rise of the novel is
traditionally ascribed to the growth and diversification of the reading public. During the 18th
century, the educated elite interested in classical letters no longer constituted the majority of
readers. In fact, the rise and expansion of the mercantile middle classes led to an increase in
the number of people who could read and who had money to spend on books, as well as leisure
time that could be devoted to reading. Among the most important English novelists of the time
were Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne and Aphra Behn.
THE REALISTIC NOVEL The new reading public (which was largely female and upper- or
middle-class) demanded realistic stories that reflected the lives and experiences of characters
they could identify with. They demanded books which depicted the new, mostly urban, lifestyle
of 18th-century Britain. As a result, authors did not seek inspiration from legends, or from
classical or mythological sources, but from the familiar, recognisable world of everyday
experience.
6. What are some of the 'narrative' advantages of writing a novel in the epistolary form?
EPISTOLARY NOVELS Many early novels were epistolary novels. This means they were
structured as a series of letters written by one or more characters. One of the advantages of this
form is that it allows both author and reader to delve into a character's intimate thoughts and
emotions. Moreover, the epistolary novel depicts events as they are immediately perceived by
characters, without interference from the narrator [> Study Tools, p. 5], thus conveying a feeling
of dramatic immediacy.
One of the earliest epistolary novels in England was Aphra Behn's Love Letters Between a
Nobleman and His Sister, published in three volumes between 1684 and 1687. Behn's work
drew on the 1682 scandal caused by Lady Henrietta Berkeley's love affair with her
brother-in-law Lord Grey, a scandal which had filled the pages of the popular press and had
been the subject of much contemporary gossip. It was, however, Samuel Richardson [› p. 192]
who brought the epistolary novel to popularity with his Pamela (1740) [› p. 193] and Clarissa
(1748).
Epistolary novels were popular abroad as well: Jean-Jacques Rousseau used the epistolary
form as the vehicle for his conception of marriage and education in La Nouvelle Héloïse (1761);
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774) became a world-famous
symbol of romantic despair; Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782) is
considered a work of astonishing psychological depth and insight. Some years later, Ugo
Foscolo's Le Ultime Lettere di Jacopo Ortis (1802) used historical, fictional and autobiographical
events to describe the amorous and political disappointments of a young and tormented
protagonist.
PICARESQUE NOVELS A picaresque novel typically describes the adventures of the
protagonist as he or she wanders from one adventure to another. It is usually in the form of
first-person narrative and episodic in structure, thus resembling the structure of the medieval
chivalric romance, yet with a realistic, rather than fantastic, setting. The picaresque novel
originated in Spain with Lazarillo de Tormes (1554) attributed to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. In
England, elements of the picaresque novel can be found in Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders (1722)
[› Digital Book], and in Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749).
FEMALE NOVELISTS As the novel rose to prominence, female authors became crucial
contributors to the new literary scene, even if they have been ignored by literary historians up
until recent times. Besides Aphra Behn [› Digital Book], there were numerous other successful
female writes, for example Eliza Haywood and Fanny Burney. Eliza Haywood's Love in Excess
(1719) almost rivalled Robinson Crusoe in popularity. Haywood also directed The Female
Spectator, one of the first magazines specifically addressed to female readers [› Focus on,
p.176]. Fanny Burney's novel Evelina, or The History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World
recounts a young woman's entry into London society, providing a sharp and accurate depiction
of the contemporary London scene and reveals Burney's ability as a social commentator.