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Unit 8: The Restoration Period or Beginning of Neoclassicism (Dryden's Contribution, Glorious Revolution of 1688)

Unit 8: The Restoration Period or Beginning of Notes

Neoclassicism (Dryden's Contribution,
Glorious Revolution of 1688)

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
8.1 Dryden’s Contribution
8.2 Glorious Revolution of 1688
8.2.1 Historical Overview
8.2.2 Treaty of Dover
8.2.3 James II
8.2.4 William of Orange
8.2.5 New Constitution
8.2.6 Constitutional Credibility
8.2.7 Fiscal Credibility
8.2.8 Financial Consequences
8.3 Summary
8.4 Keywords
8.5 Review Questions
8.6 Further Readings

Objectives
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
Define dryden’s contribution.
Describe james II and william of orange.
Explain constitutional credibility and fiscal credibility.
Define financial consequences.

Introduction
Restoration literature is the English literature written during the historical period commonly
referred to as the English Restoration (1660–1689), which corresponds to the last years of the direct
Stuart reign in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. In general, the term is used to denote
roughly homogeneous styles of literature that center on a celebration of or reaction to the restored
court of Charles II. It is a literature that includes extremes, for it encompasses both Paradise Lost
and the Earl of Rochester’s Sodom, the high-spirited sexual comedy of “The Country Wife” and the
moral wisdom of “The Pilgrim’s Progress”. It saw Locke’s Treatises of Government, the founding
of the Royal Society, the experiments and holy meditations of Robert Boyle, the hysterical attacks
on theaters from Jeremy Collier, and the pioneering of literary criticism from John Dryden and
John Dennis. The period witnessed news become a commodity, the essay develop into a periodical
art form, and the beginnings of textual criticism.
The dates for Restoration literature are a matter of convention, and they differ markedly from
genre to genre. Thus, the “Restoration” in drama may last until 1700, while in poetry it may last
only until 1666 (see 1666 in poetry) and the annus mirabilis; and in prose it might end in 1688, with
the increasing tensions over succession and the corresponding rise in journalism and periodicals,
or not until 1700, when those periodicals grew more stabilized. In general, scholars use the term

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