376 0 obj Women in the Restoration Theatre Student guest page by Melody Anderson and Ian Drinkwater, University of Massachusetts Boston With the reopening of the theatres after the Restoration, women were for the first time allowed to act on the stage. endobj Eduard Kynaston Is there anything this woman didn't do? 0000004370 00000 n On 11 October 1659 the writer John Evelyn wrote in his diary: “The army now turned out parliament. endobj He is, by far, the most important literary figure of the period. The prevalence of rape and other compromising situations further objectified women performers as sexual objects. Even Samuel Pepys, who had a series of illicit sexual liaisons himself, was taken aback at the brazen way the king would leave Barbara Villiers’ apartments in the morning and walk back to his queen in the palace. 0000000976 00000 n 371 0 obj <> Usage data cannot currently be displayed. endobj Sedley got into trouble – as did all the rakes- but that is not the point. 0000010604 00000 n In all, Charles’s illegitimate offspring included six dukes and one earl. University of Massachusetts President's Office | After her father had died in prison where he was kept to pay his debt. h�b```b``I``e`�}� Ȁ �l�,/� S��iƦ���'$e���cU`en�nIX$��`�B���&�F�QOXhp/�\��Ԭ�x�@���BjQ�+�R�FM]��,j��$ �� 4�]k����ŏ_&���%O��祐�v����We�B�z��ϊjz��潅Y�S�-��n㟥��8{{O�z�I��+���f?~{KX��w�D늫�-xg���J�;h��E��DwW�����,�hR��]��R�y�M�gg���/dY��uL��{�agE�=�–w�0b�k��[�f���7 �~A�`��'f��{�Z��]���ר� 褂��@'�}]�vK�G�J��{����ڞ/=?�qۙk��r���e#�ָ��-Q��W>��+-)��H$����;5�3x��I�h}��l�Һ��]3��h�}"W�ZW�o��(����Ul�F@ W���e�m��}qi�;�5̒y�� ��y��-�؞�Z�a߃Ce��E;��n��r�o���+�!�f���U����V�z� ���Էi�oM阵�g����e� ����ւD�J�[ր����; ���� � h]�텤��lOƦ'^�B�Ϻn�� 0000003156 00000 n The year of Charles II’s restoration saw sudden, profound and permanent changes at every level of society, from the ruling classes down to the level of the most humble servant. Under Charles II, it was not only conducted in public, but on a massive scale. William Wycherley spent part of his life in France, and ended up being super-influenced by French literature (and probably was a member of the Big Wig Fan Club). The scripts of the older plays were also changed to seize opportunities that female performers created. This is another comedy whose plot revolves around all sorts of romantic entanglements. 0000003938 00000 n One wrestling match in St James’s Park in 1667 between the men of the West Country and those of the North was for the purse of £1,000 in addition to all the bets placed on the outcome. 0000005527 00000 n In terms of sheer impact on the ordinary people of England, Charles II's restoration in 1660 is eclipsed only by the events of 1066, writes Ian Mortimer... Dynasties and dates – are they really that important? However, In Jonathan Swift “A Modest Proposal” he satirizes Irish politicians, the maniacal ambition of the wealthy, English tyranny and the squalid living conditions Irish citizens were living in. Chapters consider major literary genres, including poetry, fiction, drama, travel writing, histories, essays, and political writing, as well as topics such as globalization, colonialism, feminism, economics, families, sexualities, aging, and war. With immediate effect the House of Lords was reinstated. Although Cromwell didn’t ban music, it was removed from churches. endobj Procrastination paid off for Willy, and now he's considered most of the important playwrights in Restoration literature. You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches". 378 0 obj All this prohibition ended with the king’s return. Adam, Eve, Satan, God, and Christ are all characters in this poem. <>/Border[0 0 0]/Rect[510.324 617.094 549.0 629.106]/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> Hmm. In Restorations times marriage was a bit more complicated. Feudal rights due to the crown were extinguished in return for an annual payment of £100,000. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Nell got her break from a lover by the name of Duncan or Dungan. The Restoration Period - Research and Writing Further Research: 1. One important contribution he made was the popularization of the Heroic Couplet in English poetry. of your Kindle email address below. An even more scandalous development was the proliferation of rape scenes, which became a prominent feature of English tragedies during the late seventeenth century. The radical changes of the Restoration could be seen even before Charles set foot back on English soil. The very use of a capital P in that sentence denotes the difference: parliament had reinvented itself as more than just ‘a parliament’ – a meeting of representatives held at the king’s behest. It also brought about a variety of changes to the theatre. The re-opening of the theatres in 1660 after public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime signalled a renaissance of English drama. Congreve's work fell out of favor soon after this play was performed. The Country Wife is Restoration comedy at its most scandalous. 0000022618 00000 n Love for Love is a comedy about love and money. Following this, parliament proclaimed Charles king on 8 May and sent messengers to him inviting him to return. endobj �pD>�קq�3�� �6�[����{���A�n3ުӅ�ՖW��ge'LH� t�6�mR]�j�8��� �.���A>_����7V�V�ABЏ�>s[�B����l�2�U;^Xz��sϫ�B��︉ɴJ}ϋ��?S��c�}~=�(d[�pM��r�� 0 �HP <>/Border[0 0 0]/Rect[81.0 617.094 123.96 629.106]/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> Cromwell’s soldiers shot all the bears in London; fighting cocks had their necks wrung. A very helpful guide to further reading, included at the end of the volume, will assist scholars carrying forward the work of this collection. In 1650 the Commonwealth government had passed the Adultery Act, by which those found guilty could be sentenced to death. The advent of women actors opened up a world of titillation and scandal, appreciated by audiences from all levels of society; from merchants to nobles and even King Charles II himself. It ushered in England’s second great age of dramatic writing. John Dryden's mock epic poem Mac Flecknoe is a great example of Restoration satire. They have all his faults and only a small and occasional admixture of his strength and resource. In 1660, as the 20th century historian GM Trevelyan memorably observed, it was Parliament who summoned the king. 0000014000 00000 n 0000008633 00000 n Nevertheless, people continued to wager sums without caution. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. <>/Border[0 0 0]/Rect[243.264 226.194 374.172 238.206]/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> 0000000016 00000 n Nell and Rose also worked as street venders, which is where Nell learned to project and use her voice. Even if John Milton isn't our "conventional" Restoration writer, we can't talk about this period in literary history without talking about him. Another prevalent trope that arose from the introduction of women onto the stage was that of the “couch scene, ” in which an attractive actress was placed at center stage on asleep on a bed or couch in a state of partial undress. endobj Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service. A new standing army was set up – 1660 is the date from which we date the oldest regiments of the British Army – and feudal tenure was finally abolished. If 1660 saw a sea of change in the recreational pursuits of the wealthy, the same was true for those who were more interested in popular games and blood sports. The volumes of textiles imported from the orient, such as chintzes from India, increased. Sept. 30, 2020. We hope he found a new, old people-friendly hobby, like shuffleboard. The way we think of marriage nowadays and the way the general public thought of marriage in restoration times are different and in some ways, the same. Maybe some comedy themes are timeless? The contrast of the libidinous king and the previous government, which had until recently treated people such as him and his mistresses with the utmost severity, is astonishing. The official website for BBC History Magazine, BBC History Revealed and BBC World Histories Magazine. His play The Plain-Dealer is based on The Misanthrope by the French playwright Molière. The news that, instead of being hanged, an adulterer would again be punished with a spell of humiliation in a white sheet at the church door or in the marketplace was a blessed relief to those who had illicit affairs. H��T�n�0��W����|H29�����)�Cl���Ж���E�KO4|9CO"�������8 ��Y�&�l@��{ uh�!Lt^��T��8�5��E���d�Җ��I�Z�K�1��+3b� �D���H8�z\�K�b��m!E��4�V"$�X� �m؇��5>��x�u,-����Ǣ�����.�]����`t���۱�Y�G�/Oò��w^*1J�����o�]�[p�{u�b)F�����͚���}ʱ�8:�JQX���h�yOn����4�3��p�!�y��,�^��lNDS/Ѽ�;�J_�C|ޠ�����f���& HB��bӽ�ԝ�m�\�\s��_�iC� Restoration Comedy Restoration Comedy refers to English Comedies written during the Restoration period from 1660-1710. 0000029077 00000 n In the course of his show, Sedley declared to the crown of around 1,000 people that he had a powder such as would make all ‘women’ of the town run after him – except that he did not used the word ‘women’ but referred to them by their sexual organs. Foreign fashions were imported, adopted and cast aside within a year or so. The Restoration shows that dynasties and dates can have enormous significance. 369 0 obj She often played breeches roles, dressing up in boys clothes and prancing around stage, showing off her legs. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman (or, in some jurisdictions, two people of the same sex) as partners in a relationship. … Perhaps most forcefully, this volume, with its abundant accounting of a range women’s contributions to nearly every genre and debate of the time, asks us how we might begin to articulate a field that will neither be erased nor defined by past erasures or those to come, but will be a field all its own. And yet, even amidst this exploitive sexuality, certain actresses garnered acclaim for their talents. Milton not only set out to write an epic that would rival those of classic writers like Homer and Virgil, he wanted to outdo them. As a result, shops were not allowed to close and church minsters were prevented from preaching on Christmas Day. By the end of the Restoration period in 1700, audiences were turning away from the "Comedies of Manners" that Congreve specialized in, and the author pretty much much gave up on theater toward the end of his life. Full text views reflects the number of PDF downloads, PDFs sent to Google Drive, Dropbox and Kindle and HTML full text views for chapters in this book. 0000023352 00000 n Like many works of the period, it focuses on the ins and outs of social life. Way to make Mata Hari look like a second-class wannabe, Aphra. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Political themes are a big part of John Dryden's writing. 372 0 obj John Dryden's mock epic poem Mac Flecknoe is a great example of Restoration satire. 0000002327 00000 n Whereas in the 1650s the interests of the Commonwealth had prevailed in public, from 1660 conspicuous consumption was allowed to let rip. We had now no government in the nation; all in confusion; no magistrate either owned or pretended but the soldiers, and they not agreed. All this was highly significant but it was really just the tip of the iceberg, for the Restoration had the most dramatic impact on ordinary people too. Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this book to your organisation's collection. 379 0 obj The puritan government of the interregnum had taken a stern view of moral crime, dealing with wrongdoers not in the church courts but in the secular country courts and assizes. More rigorously imposed were the laws against swearing (you could be fined for simply saying, “as God is my witness”), the opening of ale houses, and breaking the Sabbath. Catherine of Aragon: Spain’s Virgin queen? 101 Indigenous Women’s Writing in the Pre-Truth and Reconciliation Period Transitional Justice Review, Vol.1, Iss.2, 2013, 97-125 justice is used to “describe judicial and non-judicial mechanisms of accountability introduced in Book summary views reflect the number of visits to the book and chapter landing pages. This act itself was exceptional: previously no parliament could assemble unless it was summoned by the king. Check out these quotations on religious themes. 380 0 obj New commodities such as tea, coffee and chocolate were likewise shipped to England in much greater quantities as the urban and middle classes once more took aping the fashionable practices of the gentry and aristocracy. Queen Elizabeth the I saw to the prohibition of, The comedy of manners is a genre of comedy that became established on the English stage during the Restoration period. Moll and Nell would have been roughly the same age and played similar parts on stage. 0000007055 00000 n The Restoration shows that dynasties and dates can have enormous significance. There seems to be a problem, please try again. It tells the tale of an African prince, Oroonoko, who is captured as a slave and taken to Surinam in South America. 0000003420 00000 n Charles II oversaw its destruction almost overnight. To give an inkling of their antics, Pepys describes a notorious event in 1663, when Charles Sedley stripped and paraded naked on the balcony of a cook shop in London, reading from the scriptures and commenting on them blasphemously, and playing out “all the postures of lust and buggery that can be imagined”. Critics who thought this was going too far wrote tracts protesting the innocent of ‘Old Father Christmas’, who thus made his first appearance in English culture as a protest figure against puritanism. Please enter your number below. He also played a big part in establishing satire as an important literary mode during this period. People could once more also report their neighbours for moral offences such as bigamy, adultery and drunkenness and expect the wrongdoers to be summoned to the archdeaconry court. But when a sneaky woman cuts his hair, Samson finds himself in serious trouble. endstream endobj 0000004203 00000 n The Cambridge Companion to Women's Writing in the Romantic Period, Check if you have access via personal or institutional login, The Cambridge Companion to Women's Writing in the Romantic Period, Source: Jane Austen Society of North America News, Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics, Find out more about sending to your Kindle, 9 - Enlightenment feminism and the bluestocking legacy, 11 - Social, familial, and literary networks, 14 - National identities and regional affiliations, Book DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCO9781139061315. Restoration literature is the English literature written during the historical period commonly referred to as the English Restoration, which corresponds to the last years of Stuart reign in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Source: Studies in English Literature, 'For scholars of women’s writing and Romanticism, to see The Cambridge Companion to Women’s Writing in the Romantic Period is to feel that one has a veritable intellectual home. Find out more about sending content to . Parliament also passed legislation confirming the king’s promises. Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies UMass Amherst | These scenes were designed to sexualize even the purest of female characters, allowing them to retain their virtue while still appeasing the audience’s desire for sexuality. It ushered in England’s second great age of dramatic writing. Charles II may have been King of England, but John Dryden was King of Restoration literature. In tragedy, as in other departments of literature, the genius of Dryden overtops, on a general estimate, the productions of his lesser contemporaries, and, Basic biographical sketch, from life to death, including notable anecdotes, major life events as well as gaps or discrepancies in the historical record Mac Flecknoe is a classic work of the Restoration period. Restoration Comedy refers to English Comedies written during the Restoration period from 1660-1710. You can unsubscribe at any time. is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings Faith and religion are huge themes in John Milton's writing. 0000007575 00000 n Many people doubted that any other, When reading Eighteenth- Century literature it is clear that the concept of one’s privacy was non-existent, particularly in poetry. After that he drank the king’s health using the same glass. <<>> It's partly based on the play The Misanthrope by Molière, who was a French playwright that influenced a number of Restoration writers. Very quickly it became one of the country’s great magnets for horse-racing enthusiasts. Charles II: was the king too randy to rule? Thus the repeal of this legislation passed by the Commonwealth government was like a huge lifting of social oppression on those who lived ordinary lives. This brazenness marks another aspect of the watershed that was 1660, namely the rebelliousness of the rakes. The mark she has made on theatre is a large topic in this era. What the Beatles are to the British Invasion, Dryden is to Restoration Literature. There was no latitude for rakish behaviour in the 1650s. The English language is a complex form of communication, is said to have been one of the most interesting periods in the History of England. Alexander Pope, who was a very important figure in the Augustan literature movement (check out the Shmoop module on 18th century/Augustan literature), was influenced by Dryden's poem when he wrote his own very famous mock epic, "The Rape of the Lock.". Restoration literature, English literature written after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 following the period of the Commonwealth. But whereas Oliver had always enjoyed the support of the army, Richard had no military experience: he resigned the Protectorship in May 1659, creating a power vacuum. In general, the term is used to denote roughly homogenous styles of literature that centre on a celebration of or reaction to the restored court of Charles II. Whoa. It can be said that the English comedy of manners started with George Etherege, second would be William Congreve (Palmer 2). The poem not only influenced Dryden's contemporaries, but those who came after him. Not only was he a prolific writer who worked in a bunch of different genres including poetry, drama, and prose, but also he set the bar in terms of literary standards for the period. <> Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Most extraordinarily, Cromwell had forbidden people from celebrating Christmas (believing it to be mere superstition). One of the new king’s first sporting activities after his accession was to reopen Newmarket, which Cromwell had left in ruins. It's a play full of sexual intrigue and sex jokes and, well, just a whole bunch of people being very naughty. John Milton was a bit of an oddball during the Restoration age. That sounds kind of like comedy today. <>/Border[0 0 0]/Rect[123.813 133.341 265.743 142.35]/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> The Globe was demolished and tenements built on the site. Although we don't know too much about Behn's own life story, it's possible that she herself had spent some time in Surinam after it became a British colony. It is difficult to point to any great social changes that were due to the death of the monarch between 1066 and 1553, for example. 0000002901 00000 n By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. It had established its own legitimacy, which it then confirmed in an Act to which Charles II assented. People were not permitted to eat mince pies, plum porridge or brawn in December , or decorate their houses with boughs of holly and ivy, or sing carols or pass around the wassail bowl, or give children and servants treats in boxes (hence ‘Boxing Day’). Through the satirizing, Swift hides his inner feelings about the Age of Enlightenment and the exploitation of Ireland. Delve into The Plain-Dealer here. The year 1660 is something of a continental shelf in its changes, in that the new regime had a profound effect on everyone socially, in their everyday lives, as well as politically. xref So often the death of one king and the accession of his successor, while unsettling at the time, had little impact on the daily lives of the ordinary people. Barbara became his principal concubine for the next few years. 368 34 Previously, female roles had been performed by young boys. Check out the novel here. 368 0 obj It involves a romantic triangle between Valentine, his father Sir Sampson, and the woman they both fall in love with: Angelica. A maidservant found mending her dress on a Sunday was reported to the authorities and placed in the stocks in the rain as a punishment. Aphra Behn's Comedy of Manners The Rover was a huge hit when it was first performed in 1677. The play is so impressive because it reflects Dryden's versatility as a Restoration author. Charles I’s execution in 1649 allowed Oliver Cromwell to reform the government and continue the puritan agenda that parliament had started to introduce in the early 1640s. Henceforth, manorial lords no longer held their land from the king but instead owned it freehold. 401 0 obj However, another dynastic date, 1660, stands out as perhaps second only to 1066 in its impact on the people of England. Blog. 0000013820 00000 n ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply. Generally drunken and offensive libertines, they were scandalous and satirical in equal measure. These were: to pardon all those who had committed crimes against him and his father during the Civil Wars and Cromwell’s republic (except those who had signed Charles I’s death warrant); to honour all sales and purchases of land in that time; to tolerate people of all religious faiths; and to give the army its back-pay, and recommission the troops in the service of the crown. At the center of the play is Horner, a man who pretends that he's impotent so that he can have affairs with married women. The most immediate impact was an increased interest by the public in the London playhouses. Dr. Lebra confirms,“ From the depictions of female deities in the myths and the numerous women rulers…it can be assumed that … As with sports, gambling, games and season festivities, so too it was with music and the theatre. Restoration comedy is notorious for its sexual licentiousness, a quality encouraged by Charles II personally and by the rakish aristocratic ethos of his court. Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. %PDF-1.7 %���� The deaths of Edward VI (1553) and Mary I (1558) significantly affected the religious – and thus the social – condition of the realm. Political themes are a big part of John Dryden's writing. That itself was much more than a new face on the coins and a new head wearing the crown. The structure of the Church of England that had existed prior to the Commonwealth (the period in which Cromwell had ruled England as a republic) was restored, and so were the ministers who had been ousted from their livings. Due to the suppression during the Restoration Period, Swift through his satirizing secretly advises for Ireland’s self-determination as it essential to prevent starvation and drastic situations, Restoration tragedy It wasn't enough for him to write about larger-than-life warriors and epic battles, as his Greek and Roman predecessors had done. In the past, writers of plays would refrain from describing the appearance of female characters. Authors of the middle ages, the early modern period, and the restoration and 18th century translate the discrepancies of english linguistics, religion, thematics, and views on women in their literature. The return of the king and his brother, the Duke of York, who both acted as patrons of drama and gave their names to the new London theatre companies, was a hugely significant change. The return of the episcopal hierarchy brought with it the re-establishment of church courts. … the collection succeeds in achieving Looser's editorial goal: to emphasize the range of reasons - literary, historical, and social - that we append to Romantic-era women's writings. o�s���p���-�n.��ޒoB��i�"�z��w���DI�X����ح)�"���c���؞�5��mC�ZPU++�@��m�uKD!��С��B���t�\�Z�����m In his March 7th, 1666/67 entry, Samuel Pepys compared the two actresses, indicating that Moll was the better dancer and had more attractive legs. No doubt about it; Dryden is your first stop for Restoration-y goodness. Besides being one of the coolest people ever, she's also one of the most important writers of the Restoration period… oh yeah, and she wrote across different genres. That's because he stuck to his Puritanism and Republicanism at a time when politics and society were turning away from both. 0000002161 00000 n In it we find the usual themes of romance, trickery and a focus on social class and social hypocrisy. H��T�j�@}�W�q�J� L n�/p�� � �������}���9:3DPK��7n?��=܏����GL�v\���H�c�P9�~o�I`��@.�ʭ�%��u�� Rt�D��g�]c�g��Y�;~�#��� B`G����%-�@�%�wM��R�j户�I^n��'�@�%QC�m���P����ok)X��01��A��{���d�@��jn\���Qc�3�B��+�/�tt��������:�w�M:6P]�_o� ;���{C The demise of the last Saxon king at Hastings in 1066 was quickly followed by the introduction of Norman governance and the redistribution of large swatches of England to foreign lords. The volume shows how gender intersected with other aspects of identity and with cultural concerns that then shaped the work of authors, critics, and readers. William Congreve's Love for Love is a classic of Restoration comedy. Oliver Cromwell had died in September 1658, leaving his son Richard as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. startxref Ready for some fun? 0000006064 00000 n ‘A welcome addition to the excellent Cambridge Companions series, this collection of clearly written essays is both interesting and informative, and fills a scholarly void.’, 'These essays make clear that Austen can be read - and re-read - productively within the communities of women writers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. H��T�n�0��+xL/���CK@0`�Ρ�B?P4N�H 'm�ˇe�M��"k����0"�A}��4s~Fԟ ��qJEפ��qx��B�����"�V��Ӈ�i�j� �c����=�R_���Y~�%�-��������-�GqM����vzɠ#p[��x��[M����r@�� ȵ���{�,���k��!����*!b+�w���=ʩl �ԑ���aI#Y�g�8b�� �j�D����F���jK��={$�7W2� �%�1��6���KEZAI^b5�-���������’�� �',�h9K��ö]8�km�J/��-�2���5�>]���8"ޖ�m�Ѐ��,�}����:Ŕ��-θ�� If you subscribe to BBC History Magazine Print or Digital Editions then you can unlock 10 years’ worth of archived history material fully searchable by Topic, Location, Period and Person. Well then jump right into the play here. Theatre goers also enjoyed seeing women in “breeches roles” in which a female character disguised herself as a man by  wearing tight pants that exposed their legs. Orange Girls also acted as liaisons between audience members and actresses, running back stage to deliver messages for later rendezvous. As for the theatres, these had all been closed in 1642. Eduard “Ned” Kynaston achieved fame as the last of the boy-actors portraying women on the stage. Placing Women in History Perhaps it would be useful to refer to this level of work as "transitional women's his- tory," seeing it as an inevitable step in the development of new criteria and concepts.

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