1

THE AUGUSTAN AGE

A.D 1702-1714 1714-1760

2

Emperor Augustus Oliver Goldsmith to

draw a parallel between the golden age of latin culture under emperor Augustus and the reign of Queen Ann

3

The new Augustan Age becomes identified with the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14), though the spirit of the age extends well beyond her death.

Augustan Age was characterized by the spirit of the Enlightenment.

John Locke Age of Reason

4

The Enlightenment contrasts with the darkness of

irrationality of the Middle Age.

Belief in progress, the power of reason.

For the Enlightenment thinkers all men are equal in respect

of their rationality and the tolerance and individual liberty

must be granted by the law. Enlightenment thinking that

tended to atheism was the bases of French Revolution. 

During the Augustan Age the wealth of the State, based on

trade with the colonies, increased dramatically and

Britain’s position as a world power was confirmed by the

victory in the Seven Years’ War against France, for the

supremacy in the colonies.

5

GEORGE I (1714-1727)When Queen Anne died without an heir, the parliament called the Duke of Hanover=> his mother was the granddaughter of king James I He became King with the title George IHe spoke no English (only German) and had to rely on the elected MPs to govern.Most MPs were Whigs=> they were the most powerfulThe Tories instead wanted the descendant of King James II to govern England. They were called Jacobites => Jacobus=James in Latin(they attempted two rebellions, 1715 and 1745, without success)

6

GEORGE II (1727-1760)His reign was marked by the presence and influence of Sir Horace Walpole. This one was a Whig supporter, who became the First Prime Minister and remained in power for more than 20 years.The King gave Walpole the house at 10 Downing Street. Walpole managed to govern England well and peacefully, but after 1726 his government was accused of corruption. He lost the election in 1742 and resigned his office.

7

GEORGE III (1760-1801)

His reign was marked by a series of military conflicts, the American War of Independence(1776) and the French Revolution.He suffered from mental illnesses later in his life.During his reign the Pitt family governed as Prime Ministers: William Pitt the Elder (1766-68) and William Pitt the Younger (1783-1801).

8

THE SOCIAL SITUATION

Britain was still a rural country and the life expectancy was low.

Middle Class or Middle Sort

Rise of a new working class as a result of a series of Enclosure Acts.

9

LIFE DURING THE AUGUSTAN AGE

A new reading public: the middle class. Connected to it are:The rise of Journalism & The rise of the Novel.

As a consequence of the advent of coffee from the colonies, clubs and coffee houses flourished in towns. They were intellectual and social centres for debates.

Satire became the major output.

10

EARLY NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES

Daily Courant in 1702, The Tatler (1709) and The Spectator (1711)

Daily Courant also gossips 2 years onlyThe Tatler (=Il chiacchierone) mainly

essays.The Spectator politics, literature art.The editors: Joseph Addison & Richard

Steele. Aimed at middle class readers!Circulated mainly in the new coffee-housesof the big cities.

11

Augustan authors

12

Richard Steele Tatler

Richard Steele with frequent contributions from his friend Joseph Addison, turns the relaxed and informal essay into a new journalistic art form. In 1711 Steele and Addison replace the Tatler with the daily Spectator. 

13

Alexander Pope The Augustan Age poetry was dominated by Pope. Became a master in the use of rhymed heroic

couplets (=verso alessandrino) for the purposes of satire.

Wide culture based on the study of the classics. Founded the Scriblerus Club with Swift and Gay.

In 1711 he shows his paces with the brilliant Essay on Criticism + the translation of Homer’s epic poems.

Mock –heroic Masterpiece: The Rape of the Lock(1714) = speaks of a trivial matter in the language and

style usually reserved for epic poems → the effect is comical.

14

THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

A nobleman cut a lock of hair from the head of Lady Arabella Fermor. This caused an argument between the two respective families and Pope, who was a friend of both of them wrote this poem to make them laugh and reconcile.

15

Jonathan Swift first makes his mark in 1704 with:The Battle of the Books A Tale of a Tub

These two tracts, respectively about literary theory and religious discord, reveal that there is a new prose writer on the scene with lethal satirical powers. 

16

DRAMA

It was infertile period for drama

John Gay (1685 – 1731): The Beggar’s Opera (1728): satire towards Italian opera

17

THE RISE OF THE NOVEL

The word comes from the Italian “novella” = a long prose narrative.

Period of experimentation → no dominant form

I. Defoe and the Realist NovelII. Swift and the Literature of the FantasticIII. Richardson and the Sentimental Novel/

Epistolary NovelIV. Fielding and the Comic NovelV. Sterne and the Experimental Novel.

18

DE-FOE AND THE REALIST NOVEL

Defoe’s works are written in the form of fictional autobiography or diary to make them more realistic.

The protagonist must struggle to overcome a series of misfortunes, using only his/her phisical or mental resources.

No psychological development of characters.

19

RONINSON CRUSOE

Inspired by the real story of Alxander Selkirk

Divided into 3 sections Hero of the middle class → values of hard

work, self improvement, belief in God’s providence.

Interpreted as a religious allegory → redemption from sins through hard work

Economic Allegory of merchant capitalism Imperialist allegory (more recently) → of

the British Colonizer who is convinced of hi superiority over the savage.

20

DANIEL DE-FOE

Born into a middle class family of Dissenters. Educated at a Dissenting Academy. Merchant and interest in politics. Journalist (correspondent) contribution to

contemporary newspaper: editorial & interview 1719 Robinson Crusoe a sailorman who

was deserted at an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean

1722 Moll Flanders → poor girl seduced by a rich man, forced to become a prostitute and a thief, managesi n the end to lead a respectable life, repenting for her sins..

21

SWIFT AND THE LITERATURE OF THE FANTASTIC

Gulliver’s Travels He used to criticize the political situation of

the time. Yet, first regarded as a children’s story and

only later appreciated for its satirical value.

About the experience of dr. Lemuel Gulliver, a ship doctor, in the dream countries of Liliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and Houyhnhnm. written in fluent, clean & simple language enforced the realism.

22

Samuel Johnson or Dr Johnson (1709 – 1784) known as the ‘literature dictator’ known from The Life of Johnson (biography), written by one of his followers James Boswell.

Besides his eccentric characteristics, he was also known as the first compiler of the most complete English dictionary: A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)