Page 59 - DENG402_HISTORY_OF_ENGLISH_LITERATURE

History of English Literature

Notes

Did u know? Dryden enjoyed the advantage of being able to bring his knowledge of the
drama of Spain and France to bear on his criticism of English dramatists.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. .................... was the dominant literary figure and influence of his age.
2. Dryden is believed to be the first person to posit that English sentences should not end in
preposition because it was against the rules of .................... .
3. The dates for .................... are a matter of convention, and they differ markedly form genre
to genre.
4. Dryden, Rochester, Buckingham and Dorset dominated verse, and all were attached to the
court of .................... .
5. John Dryden was born at .................... in 1631.

8.2 Glorious Revolution of 1688

The Glorious Revolution was when William of Orange took the English throne from James II in
1688. The event brought a permanent realignment of power within the English constitution. The
new co-monarchy of King William III and Queen Mary II accepted more constraints from Parliament
than previous monarchs had, and the new constitution created the expectation that future monarchs
would also remain constrained by Parliament. The new balance of power between parliament and
crown made the promises of the English government more credible, and credibility allowed the
government to reorganize its finances through a collection of changes called the Financial
Revolution. A more contentious argument is that the constitutional changes made property rights
more secure and thus promoted economic development.

8.2.1 Historical Overview

Tension between king and parliament ran deep throughout the seventeenth century. In the 1640s,
the dispute turned into civil war. The loser, Charles I, was beheaded in 1649; his sons, Charles and
James, fled to France; and the victorious Oliver Cromwell ruled England in the 1650s. Cromwell’s
death in 1659 created a political vacuum, so Parliament invited Charles I’s sons back from exile,
and the English monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II in 1660.

Tensions after the Restoration

The Restoration, however, did not settle the fundamental questions of power between king and
Parliament. Indeed, exile had exposed Charles I’s sons to the strong monarchical methods of Louis
XIV. Charles and James returned to Britain with expectations of an absolute monarchy justified by
the Divine Right of Kings, so tensions continued during the reigns of Charles II (1660-1685) and his
brother James II (1685-88). Table 8.1 lists many of the tensions and the positions favored by each
side. The compromise struck during the Restoration was that Charles II would control his succession,
that he would control his judiciary, and that he would have the power to collect traditional taxes.
In exchange, Charles II would remain Protestant and the imposition of additional taxes would
require Parliament’s approval.

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