When I dove into the introduction of The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century 1660-1785 volume of my Norton anthology, I was simultaneously amused by the sheer amount of political drama and the similarities between Whig/Tory conflicts and modern political party conflicts. Though “conservatism and liberalism did not exist as ideological labels in the period,” still, the basis of prevailing political debates of that era exist today, like finding the proper limits of government control (2180).
Even more interesting, though, was seeing the connections between this period and later ones, specifically the Romantic Era and the Victorian Era. Understand that period distinctions are largely arbitrary, as certain authors have birth/death dates in multiple periods and trends have been classified in hindsight, but typically the Romantic Era begins with the French Revolution in 1789 and Wordsworth and Coleridge launch Romantic writing in 1798 with Lyrical Ballads. Most historians begin the Victorian Era with the First Reform bill of 1832, and it continues until Queen Victoria’s death in 1901.
It might be easier to see the effects of this period on the Victorian Era, as opposed to the Romantics, for the major transitions that occurred after the restoration of the English crown to Charles II set the stage for a certain amount of political flexibility when dealing with Victorian issues. Progressive reforms passed under Victoria’s reign might not have been possible without Britain’s experiencing previous political turmoil. And, it should also be noted that the 1789 storming of the Bastille happened across only a narrow channel, and while Britain’s political leaders reacted with a certain amount of suspicion and paranoia, the country managed to keep the masses content enough to avoid a revolution like France’s.
An invaluable contribution to the Victorian Era was Watt’s steam engine, invented in 1775, which resulted in a global presence for Britain and the beginning of colonization. The steam engine is just one example, though, of the influx of new ideas and discoveries, both in science and religion (and their intersection). Pope, Swift, Hume, Berkeley, and Locke are just a few of the religious thinkers that the Restoration period produced, and they played with ideas of the extent of human knowledge, proposing that we should be more concerned with our actions in what we can know. Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1640) best evidences this attitude, when he writes “. . . to sit down in a quiet ignorance of those things which, upon examination, are found to be beyond the reach of our capacities . . . Our business here is not to know all things, but those which concern our conduct” (qtd. in Greenblatt 2184). This period also produced nearly opposite theology, like that promoted by the evangelicals John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield. All of these religious and philosophical musings seem to reappear in the Victorian Era, when Victoria’s empire results in questions about role, power, destiny, and class.
The volume of literature produced also grew exponentially in this period, and this created new literacy rates and a wider audience in England, which contributed to increased readership in both the Romantic and Victorian Eras. Furthermore, the novel emerged as a new and more popular way of writing, something that also resurfaced in the Victorian Era. The Restoration Era certainly affected the Romantic Era, but seemingly in a converse way, with Romantics attempting to throw off tradition. The Restoration Era brought about distinctions between high and low literature, but Romantic writers blurred that distinction, attempting to write for the “common man.” But, as the anthology points out, “even when they rebel against the work of Pope and Johnson and Gray, Romantic writers incorporate much of their language and values” (2204). The Romantic passion for liberty and equality and distrust of powerful institutions was a result of seeds planted in this era. Moreover, the Augustan focus on nature provided a foundation for the Romantic sublime. Wordsworth’s equation for good poetry–an experience with nature, which produces a powerful emotion, which then must be mulled over for an extended period–is very similar to the earlier 18th century acknowledgment of “nature as the universal and permanent elements in human experience” (2195). So, even though trends of writing and thought begun in the Restoration and 18th century reoccur more obviously in the Victorian Era, they undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the Romantic Era as well.
Most striking about the introduction to this era was just how hugely significant a role history plays in the formation of literature, even literature produce years later. I’ve already learned how literature produced in the 20th Century was a result of combinations of history and literature, as the Romantic and Victorian Eras mingled with the devastation of WWI and WWII. And, now I’m seeing the effects of political turmoil not only on early 18th century literature, but also on later 18th, 19th, and 20th century literature.
Life in Coffee Spoons 