Mrs. Cumberland

The monarchy was restored under Charles II (1660) after: The conflict between the king and

Parliament culminated in the English Civil Wars ( 1642-51)

The execution of Charles I (1649) The austere Commonwealth period under

Oliver Cromwell (1649-60)

Charles I Charles II

The limitations of royal power and the rights of the citizen were made clearer by the Bill of Rights of 1689

By the mid 18th century, England was effectively a constitutional monarchy with a system of government run by a Prime Minister and his cabinet

Tories Whigs

The right to vote ( franchise) was limited to property owners and the system was open to abuse

Favored by many toward the end of the 18th century, but their minds were changed by the course of the French Revolution after 1789 The outbreak of war between France and

Britain in 1793 demanded patriotism

The spokesman of the aristocratic Tory government of the period said that the English must treasure and support this ‘little platoon’ of England, and thoughts of political reform at home were for the moment set aside.

Dreams that the French Revolution would lead to an era of enlightenment and better justice

He became disillusioned with politics In March 1798 he wrote: “I am of no party. It is true, I

think the present ministry weak and perhaps unprincipled men, but I could not with a safe conscience vote for their removal.’

By April 1798 fears of a French invasion led him to write in ‘Fears in Solitude’ that, with respect to France, “We have been too long Dupes of a deep delusion…”

He went on to bemoan the fact that, as a radical, he was branded an enemy of Britain by those in authority.

‘But native Briatain! Oh my mother isle!How shouldst thou prove aught else but dear and holyTo me, who from thy lakes and mountain-hills,Thy clouds, the quiet dales, thy rocks, and seas,Have drunk in all my intellectual life.All sweet sensations, all ennobling thoughts,All adoration of the God in nature,Whatever makes this mortal spirit feelThe joy and greatness of its future being?There lives nor form nor feeling in my soulUnborrowed from my country! Oh divineAnd beauteous island, thou hast been my soleAnd most magnificent temple, in the whichI walk with awe, and sing my stately songs,Loving the God that made me!’

Power in England passed into the hands of a right-wing Tory government which was hated and despised by most Romantics. Shelley’s attacks were forthright

His view of the state of the nation in 1819 was summed up in the Sonnet: England in 1819 and The Mask of Anarchy

In 1688 both political parties: Whigs/Tories combined to overthrow the Catholic King, James II They invited the Protestant Dutch

King, William of Orange to rule jointly with his wife Mary, James’s Protestant daughter.

William accepted both the throne and a Bill of rights (1689)

Recognized the authority of Parliament as representative of the will of the people, and that British monarchs no longer ruled by divine right Glorious Revolution ( No bloodshed)

Led to greater stability in Britain Served as the basis for expansion of trade and

territory abroad

Reflected an increasingly confident British people The ambitions of Louis XIV of France has

been contained by the victories of the Duke of Marlborough in the early 18th century

In the middle of the century the French challenge to British power in India was overcome by Robert Clive ( 1725-74) and in Canada by James Cook ( 1727-59)

Captain James Cook * 1728-79) explored the South Pacific and extended Brittania’s grasp to Australia and the Polynesian Islands

However, the American revolution and subsequent loss of American colonies in the later part of the century was very damaging to this emergent national pride.

Advances in science and developments in machinery during the 18th century foreshadowed the Industrial revolution, which rapidly gathered speed during the Romantic period.

In 1779, Abraham Darby ( 1750-91) completed the world’s first iron bridge, built across the River Severn in Shropshire

Thomas Telford ( 1757-1834) A Scottish engineer, who constructed

many canals, roads and bridges, and was a friend of the poet Robert Southey

Canals may appear to be a relatively slow means of transport by today’s standards, but they greatly increased the speed with which raw materials and manufactured goods could be transported from one part of the country to another.

Before the 18th century, those who could read were mainly gentry, clergymen, and educated professional people, and most of their leisure reading was poetry The early 18th century saw a large rise in the number of

people, mainly middle-class ladies, who had the time to read, and it was just at this time that the novel emerged to cater for what was soon to become a mass taste.

Daniel Defoe 91660-1731) is often regarded as the first novelist : Robinson Crusoe ( 1719) Moll Flanders ( 1722)

Fielding Samuel Richardson ( 1689-1761) Tobias Smollett ( 1721-71) Laurence Sterne ( 1713-68)

These became fashionable readings

By the end of the century the craze was for the Gothic novel

The domestic novels of Jane Austen ( 1775-1817) enjoyed limited popularity at the same time They may have influenced Scott, who admired

Austen and favorably reviewed Emma (1816) when he moved from writing poetry to novels he tended to create characters who, within a Romantic setting with Romantic ideas, have their idealism tested in the face of hard reality

Poetry held its place, but it was increasingly reserved for the status of an elevated form of writing that used a specialized language known as “poetic diction” Wordsworth introduced that poems could

be written in the language of ordinary people

Lyrical Ballads

Sold enough of their work to achieve commercial success

Buying books could be a costly business

The rise of circulating libraries from which books could be borrowed, allowed more and more people ready to access books