this period began in the second half of the 17th century it was warmly welcomed by the British who believed in the divine origins of the monarchy and was less severe than the previous Puritan way of life when charles ii came into power he dissolved the Parliament and didn't use it for the remainder of his reign the Parliament was brought back in 1689 with the Bill of Rights Britain's foreign policy then became directed towards protecting and increasing commercial interests abroad in the 18th century the early stages of the restoration period were known for two key events
the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London in 1665 and 1666 respectively the first being crowned resulted in parliamentary monarchy in Britain as he spoke German and had no knowledge of British customs after the Seven Years War and the consequent Treaty of Paris Britain gained new territories in Africa Canada North America and the Caribbean Britain also took control of territories in India that France had been controlling and later took control of the Indian landmass when they lost the American War of Independence Britain assured in this new era with major advances in architecture and science
with the rise of the middle class neoclassicism became a popular literary device the authors often used sharp satire to criticize the class system the middle class and the aristocracy began to merge because of similar interests women began to achieve a more central role literary salons were used as important meeting places to discuss literature and politics of words began to increase in the 18th century due to the large circulation of newspapers news opinions gossip and science was now at the fingertips of the public it was also decided that it would be best to develop a standard
language as Italian and French had Samuel Johnson began work on this in 1746 and in 1755 the dictionary was completed poets of the Augustan age often used mock heroic as a literary device sydney poetry this was treating something of the least importance with a great importance and was a scathing satire of the Society of the time Samuel Johnson and Alexander Pope often used this device realism became a popular aspect of many novels of the time novels began to deal with ordinary people and depicted events in plain and factual language they became popular among the commercial
middle-class who yearned for relatable characters and ordinary experiences Daniel Defoe's Robinson Caruso is a popular work of this category other popular novel genres of the time included epistolary novels which depicted the exchange of letters the sentimental novel that focused on emotions rather than plot the picaresque novel which focused on a young reckless protagonist on the road you
