Restoration Literature and Theatre

1. Introduction
2. Historical context and the understanding of the term “Restoration Literature”
3. The English poetry in the period of the Restoration
4. The English epic
5. Lyrics, pastoral poetry, translations
6. The Restoration of English prose
7. Philosophical writing
8. Religious writing
9. Journalism
10. The Development of drama and theatre during the Restoration
11. Conclusion
12. Bibliography
13. Introduction

In my essay I will discuss the period of the Restoration in English literature and theatre. First, I will define the literary term “Restoration Literature” using two different sources: the Encyclopaedia Britannica and internet Encyclopaedia Wikipedia. This will be dome in order to show different points of view on some aspects of the meaning of the term. Then, the changes the Restoration of the monarchy brought into literature will be shown in the historical context. The chapter about the historical context is very important in the paper, as it helps to understand the social background of the character of the fop in English comedy and the necessity of its appearance. The changes and innovations in the Restoration literature will be studied separately in poetry, prose and drama. The chapter the Development of drama and theatre during the Restoration will investigate English drama through the works of particular writers: William Wycherley’s `The Country Wife` (1675), and George

Etherege’s `The Man of Mode` (1676). And finally, in the conclusion the findings of the paper will be summarized. The goal of the paper is to study the Restoration literature and theatre using historical context and literary sources.

2. Historical context and the understanding of the term “Restoration Literature”

According to the definition given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Restoration literature is English literature written after the period of the Restoration of the monarchy. This Restoration took place in 1660 and followed another historical period – the Commonwealth. (Britannica) Other encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, provides with a more detailed definition of Restoration literature concerning its geographic frames, and historical time: “Restoration literature is the literature written in English during the period commonly referred to as the English Restoration (1660 – 1689), corresponding with the last years of the direct Stuart reign in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.” (Wikipedia)

All in all, Restoration literature was influenced by social and historical changes which occurred due to the Restoration of English monarchy and it is important for modern world because it brought up and shaped many literary forms known and widely used today, such as journalism, biography, novel, history etc. In general, the term “Restoration literature” is used to “denote the literature that began and flourished due to Charles II, whether that literature was the laudatory ode that gained a new life with restored aristocracy or the eschatological literature that showed an increasing despair among Puritans, or the literature of rapid communication and trade that followed in the wake of England’s mercantile empire.” (Wikipedia)

However, there is some controversy about the time boundaries of Restoration literature. A number of scientists insist that it should be bounded by the reign of Charles II (1660-1685), while others connect Restoration literature with the writings produced in the reign James II (1685-1688). (Britannica) Wikipedia points out, that Restoration literature may have different boundaries due to the differentiation of its genres. In this way, drama in “Restoration” lasts until 1700, while Restoration in poetry may end in1666. In prose restoration may last until 1688, when journalism and periodicals rose, or at least no longer than 1700, when the new forms grew stabilized.

Before the Restoration, the English literature had been dominated by the presence of official censorship and by Puritan literature. For example, some carnal and elaborate poems written by Puritan ministers of Oliver Cromwell were not published (e.g. “Mower” and “to His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marwell). At the same time, a number of poems published during the Restoration were produced in the period of the Interregnum. Thus, radically moralist standards and censorship caused the break in literary culture and created a gap in literary tradition at the time of the Interregnum. Moreover, during the period of the English Civil War poetry developed under the influence of Metaphysical Poetry written by John Donne, Richard Lovelance, and George Herbert. In drama late Elizabethan theatre traditions dominated and political plays became increasingly popular (for instance, Thomas Middleton). But, according to Wikipedia, “the Interregnum put a stop, or at least a caesura to these lines of influence and allowed a seemingly fresh start for all forms of literature after the Restoration.” (Wikipedia)

During the Interregnum, the royalist forces together with twenty-year-old Charles II went into exile abroad. A part of the royalists settled down in Holland and France, and also the convents installed by the royalist ladies offered safe heaven for travelling nobles and allies. The court-in-exile was established in The Hague temporary before moving to Paris for a more permanent lodging. Consequently, the royalists and the court-in-exile picked up continental cultural influences. Charles himself attended plays in France and later developed his taste for Spanish theatre. The nobles who lived in Holland learnt about mercantile exchange and the basics of the tolerant, rationalist prose debates, which were popular in Holland that period. For example, John Bramhall debated with Thomas Hobbes and later he “came into the Restored church as tolerant in practice as he was severe in argument.” (Wikipedia) Additionally, royalists in exile got an access to the Roman Catholic Church, its pageants, ceremonies and liturgy, as well as to Italian poetry.

When Charles II returned from his exile and was installed on the English throne, the sense of novelty in literature increased due to the appearance of new literary forms and a sense of participation in wider European literature. Also, Charles reopened English theatres and established letters patent and mandates for those who would run the theatres. Two patents were given to William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew. As a result, drama was public in general, but necessarily had a topic of royal concern. Theatres had a reopened position of Poet Laureate and were charged with producing a number of old plays.

During the reign of Charles II, the poetry that was witty, highly and sexually wise was favoured. Charles was known as a philanderer, witty and as the one who had a wide outlook. He and the Duke of York sponsored natural philosophy, mathematics and investigations into nature and, consequently, spirited scepticism got the sanction of the court. Charles II became the sponsor of the Royal Society, the members of which were welcomed in the court. Additionally, having leant the lesson of exile, Charles was tolerant of political and religious dissenters and preferred keeping them from public office than persecuting or imprisoning them. As a result, the prose literature of dissent economics and political theory grew in number and became more available to people in the period of the Restoration.

On the whole, due to all the changes described above, English literary authors divided into two parts at the beginning of the Restoration. One part, being conservative in their minds, remained loyal to the old Jacobean literature and made attempts to recover it. The other part of authors absorbed the sense of novelty and following Gallic models elevated the literature of wit. For example, the literature of wit was brightly demonstrated in parody and satire. All in all, English literature acquired its particular feature of sceptical inquiry and the Gallicism laid the basis for Neo-classicism in English criticism and writing.

3. The English poetry in the period of the Restoration

In the period of the Restoration English poetry flourished. According to Wikipedia, “not only was poetry the most popular form of literature, but it was also the most significant form of literature, as poems affected political events and immediately reflected the times.” (Wikipedia) The age and the poetry of this age were dominated by the personality of the king, not by any single genius. Throughout the Restoration English poetry was enriched by new forms of ariel, lyric, epic and historical poem.

1. a) The English epic

Before the Restoration there had been no epic poem of national origins in England. William D’Avenant was the first poet who tried to supply this void. D’Avenant wrote Gondibert, where he achieved an epic length, and the poem was highly praised by Hobbes. However, Gondibert was criticized for many other drawbacks: it used the form of ballad and its rhythm scheme was called – “unflattering and unheroic”. (Wikipedia) On the whole, in the Prefaces to Gondibert the struggle for formal epic structure can be seen. Also, D’Avenant’s poem demonstrates “how the early Restoration saw themselves in relation to Classical literature.” (Wikipedia)

Another representative of the Restoration epic writers was John Milton. Although today Milton is studied separately from the literature of the Restoration, his Paradise Lost was published during the reign of Charles II. Paradise Lost was Milton’s endeavour to create the English epic. However, he wrote it in the form of blank verse and rejected the idea of English exceptionalism teaching his audience to take pride in Christianity rather than in Englishness.  Additionally, John Milton introduced the subject of King Arthur in the English epic and later the historical period of King Arthur as a matter of national funding was paid attention by Richard Blackmore, who wrote the poems: Prince Arthur and King Arthur.

Nevertheless, all the epic writers of the Restoration failed to produce what can be called national English epic. The poems of Richard Blackmore, for example, were too long and soporific. For writing such a slow poetry, the author became known as “Never-ending Blackmore”. (Wikipedia) The epic poems of Richard Blackmore were excoriated and gained little popularity. Additionally, Beowolf was not yet discovered in the period of the Restoration. As a result, the age of the Restoration ended without an English epic.

1. b) Lyrics, pastoral poetry, translations

Lyric poetry was not favoured by the Restoration writers. Moreover, the functions of lyric poetry (the expression of one’s feeling or mood, very often in the first person) were transferred to other literary forms. The Restoration poets learnt to express their mood and their points of view in the forms of odes, ariel verse, and pastoral poetry. It is significant, that during the reign of Charles II the individual sentiment and psychology were devaluated in favour of public philosophy and utterance. And, as a result, the lyric poetry was not much developed and existed only in one form of pastorals during the Restoration.

Formally, there was one rhyme scheme preferred by the Restoration writers. The poetry of all types was written in iambic pentameter. Though the rules of Neo-Classicism meant that authors should adopt Classical meters, as Wikipedia put it, “the rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter held a near monopoly.” (Wikipedia) Restoration authors highly appreciated the literary value of iambic pentameter. Dryden in “Preface to The Conquest of Grenada” wrote that rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter had “the right restraint and dignity for a lofty subject,” and thus “its rhyme allowed for a complete, coherent statement to be made.” (Dryden) Dryden paid much attention to what later critics called “decorum”: “the fitness of form to subject.” (Dryden) Dryden worked out his own solution how make the form fit the subject of a poem. He suggested using a closed couplet in iambic pentameter and minimizing the rate of enjambment. This form, according to Dryden, was suitable for heroic topics and was called the “heroic couplet”.

In contrast to the high verse of the “heroic couplet”, the same age developed all kinds of parody, for example, the mock-heroic couplet. Samuel Butler wrote his Hudibras using iambic tetrameter couplets with unusual rhymes, which became widely known as “Hudibrastic verse.” Later this form was primarily used for the purposes of satire in poetry by such prominent writers as Jonathan Swift.

All in all, the verse in the period of the Restoration was attached to the court of Charles and dominated by the following courtier poets: Rochester, Buckingham, Dryden, and Dorset. On the other hand, there were some outsiders, such as Aphra Behn, Matthew Prior, and Robert Gould. The poets of the court did not have a particular style, except their willingness to satirize, to show their sexual awareness, to demonstrate their wit. “Each of these poets wrote for the stage as well as the page.” (Wikipedia) Among those who were court outsiders, Aphra Behn was the brightest and widely known for her drama and poems. Irrespective that Behn was a commoner, she succeeded in court poetry, because she managed to be playful and honest about sexual desires. Aphra Behn was highly praised by her contemporaries and called “the first female professional author in England.” (Wikipedia)

4. The Restoration of English prose

In general, prose was influenced by Christian religious writing in the period of the Restoration. However, during the reign of Charles II two new genres, crucial for following ages, appeared: journalism and fiction. Religious writing often discussed economic and political topics, just as political and economic writing, in their turn, addressed or implied religion.

1. a) Philosophical writing

Mainly, the thinkers of the Restoration pondered on the actions of the Interregnum. Additionally, the works of philosophers of the age of the Restoration contained reconsideration of or references to the ancient philosophic ideas.

In 1667 Thomas Sprat wrote History of the Royal Society, where he set forth the goals of empirical science. He distinguished between subjective language and the language of science that had to clean, precise, spare and comprehensible. Another scientist, William Temple, worked on bucolic prose, where he praised contemplation, retirement, and direct observation of nature. And finally, the philosophic writing of the Restoration became crowned with the precious works of John Locke. Locke reflected on the basis of human understanding and on the ways of making sound decisions. Locke’s empiricism and scientific methods were demonstrated in Treatises on Government, which further inspired philosophers of revolution in America.

1. b) Religious writing

As it was mentioned above, the policy of Charles II was tolerant of religious dissenters. However, it was not true with the radical religious thinkers and their writings. For example, John Milton, who was a Puritan author, was forced to retire from public life. The authors of anti-monarchy works – Leveller, Quaker, Digger, Fifth Monarchist – were partially suppressed. As a result, many of those, who had served in the Interregnum lost their positions in the Restoration.

During the Restoration, Puritans had to adopt a new version of their religion, free from its harsh sides and extremes. Some of the Puritans, Fox and William Penn, wrote about pacifism and developed a new theology of love and peace. Puritans claimed that they can meet freely and act on local parishes. Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, where allegory is used to show the idea of personal salvation and life of true Christians. Bunyan focused his work on a person’s individual saint features that help to fight the temptations of mind and body.

Court-oriented religious prose, in its turn, comprised sermon collections and the literature of debate over the convocation.  In particular, Court-oriented religious prose includes: the Act of First Fruits and Fifths, the Act of Uniformity, the Test Act. One of the brightest representatives of court-oriented prose was Robert Boyle. Though Boyle was notable as a scientist, he wrote Meditations on God, which became immensely popular as a piece of devotional literature in the period of the Restoration and after it.

1. c) Journalism

During the Restoration, it became common to get news with the help of broadsheet publication. The early efforts at producing news sheets and periodicals were unsteady. Roger L’Estrange produced City Mercury and The News, but these efforts were not sustainable. A regular news paper appeared in 1667, when Henry Muddiman started the production of the London Gazette. The first periodical appeared due to the combination of sporadic essays with news in 1961. The first regular periodical was The Athenian Mercury published by John Dunton and the “Athenian Society”. The Athenian Mercury interacted with readers by receiving anonymous questions and sending printed answers. The questions of readers mainly composed the topics and the issues the journal dealt with and shed light on its pages. This made the journal popular and profitable.

5. The Development of drama and theatre during the Restoration

The Restoration of English drama is significant for creating a character of fop and putting it in the centre of attention of the audience. Moreover, fop became central in a play itself. Fop was the character who got the social attention because he was a focal point of dramatic action or speech. “But while the dramatic characterization of the fop requires that his attempts to garner this social attention be comically inept and grounded in the ludicrous, the fop’s ability to successfully monopolize and control the locus of attention within his social setting enables him to move from the periphery of the dramatic action and assume a key position within the social dynamics of the stage.” (Williams)

The world of stage reflected the world and the characters of the restoration society. Of course, the character of fop was taken from the real life, and the foppish features grotesquely shown on the stage in an exaggerated way imitated the behaviour of English nobility which had to adopt the changes brought by the Restoration. The goal of the fop of the stage was to meet social expectation and thus the fop had to adapt his performance to any scene he could be playing. Social life consists of different dramatic and ritualistic elements which dictate various roles to an individual. In order to represent the urban society of the Restoration, it was necessary to perform all the contemporary rituals which were associated with that witty society.

Even the smallest conversation or the greeting on the stage contained the ritualized elements and required the acknowledgement of the social role demanded by the situation. Eventually, social life gained more similarity with the stage, because one could become successful in society only by knowing and properly flowing all the rules of the ‘game’: “When the performance or representation of these social roles on stage is conducted in a manner that reflects society’s codes of normative behaviour, the performer is seen to be acting naturally; however, when those roles are performed with a self-conscious awareness of their dramatic nature beyond the codes of socially acceptable behaviour, then naturalness has been purposefully replaced with the artificial in the form of social theatricality.” (Williams)

Consequently, ritual became a fundamental component of social interaction and behaviour on the stage. Moreover, some rituals of the Restoration epoch seemed to be created for the stage performance: they required such careful attention to all the gestures and details that their public posturing made one’s behaviour almost artificial. Williams in his article The Centre of Attention: Theatricality and the Restoration Fop concluded that such artificial modes of courtship and polite conversation initiated the appearance of the fop and favoured the fop’s view on contemporary social roles. Deborah Payne added that in the period of the Restoration “social constraints prevented what we might dub ‘honest exchange'” and some social settings “preclude natural behaviour” (404-405). Thus, with the help of the rituals as the chief component of a play, the fop emphasized the conflict between natural behaviour and affected mannerism.

In The Country Wife, William Wycherley attempted to make some innovation in the character of the fop. The fop is not only the one who occupied the central position on the stage, but he is jealous of the attention of the other ‘actors’ of the social setting. Sparkish introduces Harcourt to Alithea in the way that, according to W. Gerald Marshall, is a “dramatic improvisation in which he creates his own little stage” (417) In the scene when Harcourt became a spectator of the fop’s display of his prospective wife, Sparkish, as Williams noted, was “playing the part of the nonchalant “wit” much in the same vein as his previous performance as the “poet’s rival” at the play-house.” (Williams)

The role paying of Sparkish in The Country Wife is seen by the audience of the stage and the audience in general as insincere. Both the audiences did not approve it. This becomes obvious when Harcourt refuses to perform the role of fellow “wit”, assigned to him by Sparkish. Though at first it may seem that Sparkish succeeds in his social performance, his inability to have sincere feelings and to see the sincerity in others, for example real admiration with which Harcourt praises Alithea, sets the ground for the fop’s comic failure at the end of the play. And this failure is inevitable, because, “Sparkish is too concerned with his public performance to realize that his attempt to control social space, although it garnered him some temporary social attention, also magnified his laughable social ineptitude.” (Williams)

In Man of Mode, authored by Etherege, the fop also tries to position himself in the centre in order to occupy the attention in a social space. The fop narrated by Etherege attempts to achieve with the help of his ability of dominating any conversation. Before the first entrance of Fopling, some characters Dorimant, Lady Townley, Emilia Medley, and Bellinda argue about reputation and jealousy. In general, the discussion of the group seems consistently balanced and interactive. No voice dominates the conversation of all the characters.

But when Sir Fopling enters, the dynamics of the scene changes and the fop sets himself in the centre of the conversation. Fopling kisses the hands of Lady Townley, then he speaks to Dorimant turning Lady Townley and Medley into an audience for his exaggerated greetings. The only thing which makes Fopling stop his talking to Dorimant is a possibility that he has broken the rules of etiquette and has not greeted Emilia. Fopling says “A thousand pardons Madam” (3.2. 196), and shifts from Dorimant to Emilia. Another formal “Forgive me sir in this embarra of civilities” (3.2. 209-210) addressed to Dorimant is aimed to show fop’s apology concerning the thing that Fopling hasn’t yet noticed Medley.

It is notable that the mere entrance of Fopling in the play signals his domination of the following conversations.  The fop uses his formal apologies as the tricks to change the direction of the conversation of the group.  After Fopling’s entrance all other characters speak only when they are addressed or asked by the fop. The pattern of the dialogue is constructed in such a way, that only one character at time replies to what the fop has said. All the commentary of the conversation is directed to the person of the fop, and it becomes obvious the Fopling has already got the centre of  the public attention on the stage and has overshadowed other witty characters, for instance Dorimant.

When the conversation turns to the garniture of Fopling, he gains the complete control of the social group surrounding him, because the topic directly refers to his precious personality: Lady Town.- The suit. Sir. Fopling – Barroy. Emilia.- The garniture. Sir Fopling- Le Gras- Medley.- The shoes! Sir Fopling- Piccar! Dorimant.- The periwig! Sir Foling.- Chedreux. Lady Town and Emilia.- The gloves! Sir Fopling.- Oregerii! (3.2. 250-259) Williams characterizes this scene as the one where all ‘wit’ characters emphatically, in a playful manner, list fashion accessories of Fopling, and “the enthusiasm illustrates an almost game-like atmosphere to the exchange in which Fopling relishes his role as both a player in the game as well as the field of play itself.” (Williams)

The conflict between mannerism and natural behavior was stressed in the play in many ways. In the conversation between Harriet and Busy, the artificial behaviour is divided into a  men’s one and women’s one, depending on the tasks and social purposes. Certainly, women pretend, and deceive men in order to charm and get married with one of them. The more admirers a women has, the better chances are for soon and successful marriage. The same concerns men. The stakes of the game are very high – personal happiness and social success, – so both men and women use all means to achieve the purpose:

Harriet. Her [Lady Dapper’s] powdering, painting, and her patching never fail in public to draw the tongues and eyes of all the men upon her.

Busy. She is indeed a little too pretending.

Harriet. That women should set up for beauty as much in spite of nature as some men have done for wit! (3.1, 248)

In this dialogue only Busy notices that Lady Dapper is behaving unnaturally, while Harriet does not condemn it, saying that Lady Dapper has to do it for the sake of beauty, and men do the same to more clever.

In the second half of the play the fop becomes criticized by the wit characters. Dorimant says that Fopling is “brisk and insipid”, Medley finds “Pert and dull.” The fop attempted to fulfil his task and the characters understood the low value of mannerism and artificial rituals. In one of the scenes Dorimant said: “Forms and ceremonies, the only things that uphold quality and greatness, are now shamefully laid aside and neglected.” (4.1. 297) And this can be considered as the turning point in the play.

However, Emilia, does not condemn Fopling and even tries to defend him, “I’le lay my Life he passes for a Wit with many” (3.2. 291-292). It becomes obvious, that Fopling’s artificial manners and theatrical domination of the conversational space did not irritate Emilia. Unlike Emilia, other male characters had more personal reasons to dislike and condemn Fopling. All in all, Williams in his article concludes that “the more social space an artificial being like Fopling is able to control, the less opportunity the wittier and more “sincere” rakes have to manipulate that space for their own ends. As “Pert and dull” as he may be, Fopling’s command of social space threatens the more rakish and witty males, making them acutely aware of their own needs to control social space.” (Williams)

6. Conclusion

Thus, I have studied the epoch of the Restoration in literature and theatre. It was found out that the restoration filled the gap in literary and theatrical traditions caused by the Interregnum. Though, still there is controversy about the time boundaries of the Restoration, all the scientists agree that the Restoration started with the reign of Charles II, who brought with him European innovations and crucial changes into English literature and theatre. In poetry the forms of ariel, lyric, epic and historical poem appeared. English prose was enriched with fiction and journalism. The English drama and theatre got a new character – the fop, which reflected the changes in the society. The importance and centre role of the fop were illustrated using the following literary works: Man of Mode, authored by Etherege and The Country Wife, William Wycherley. I think that the topic ‘the Restoration literature and theatre’ is studied fully and the goal of the paper is achieved.

7. Bibliography
8. Dryden, John (originally published in 1670). Of Heroic Plays, an Essay (The preface to The Conquest of Granada), in The Works of John Dryden, Vol. 04 (of 18) from Project Gutenberg. Prepared from Walter Scott’s edition. Retrieved Jan 1, 2006
9. Dryden, John. Discourses on Satire and Epic Poetry, from Project Gutenberg, prepared from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition. This volume contains “A Discourse on the Original and Progress of Satire”, prefixed to The Satires of Juvenal, Translated (1692) and “A Discourse on Epic Poetry”, prefixed to the translation of Virgil’s Aeneid (1697). Retrieved Jan 1, 2006
10. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Restoration literature. Britannica Deluxe Edition, 2004, Britannica inc.
11. Etherege, George. The Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter. The Plays of Sir George Etherege. Ed. Michael Cordner. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1982.
12. Marshall, Gerald W. “Wycherley’s ‘Great Stage of Fools’: Madness and Theatricality in The Country Wife.” Studies in English Literature 29 (1989): 409-429.
13. Payne, Deborah. “Reading the Signs in The Country Wife.” Studies in English Literature 26 (1986): 403-419.
14. Restoration literature. Wikimedia. 21 December 2005. 1 Dec. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wki/Restoration_literature.html>
15. Williams Andrew P. The Centre of Attention: Theatricality and the Restoration Fop. Early Modern Literary Studies 4.3, 5.1-22, January, 1999, Jan 1, 2006 <http://purl.oclc.org/emls/04-3/willfop.html>.
16. Wycherley, William. The Country Wife. The Plays of William Wycherley. Ed. Peter Holland. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1981.