The Stuart monarchs were restored to the throne of England in 1660 after having been deposed by the Puritans during the English Civil War. After the eighteen-year Puritan suppression of secular art, a flourishing of worldly literature, especially in drama, bloomed during this Restoration period (1660-c.1700).
During the interregnum (period between the reigns of the kings), before the Restoration, Puritans controlled England and censored its literature, leading to a brief halt to the development of secular plays and poetry, such as that represented by Shakespeare in the previous literary period, Early Modern English.
Restoration literature featured an explosion of creativity in secular or worldly English literature, including the works of Aphra Behn, the first widely published female author writing in English.
What are Representative Works of Restoration Literature?
After the eighteen-year ban on stage plays imposed by the Puritan government of England, theater lovers must have been thrilled at the restoration of King Charles II, and the return of fun. Like King Charles II himself, the literature of the Restoration period is a little wild, rather naughty, and quite witty.
What is a Restoration Comedy?
The Restoration period of English literature is most famous for the Restoration Comedy, a type of play that depended on battles of the sexes, marriage for money versus marriage for love, convoluted plots, and risque dialogue to make audiences laugh. John Dryden’s Marriage a la Mode, William Congreve’s The Way of the World, and Aphra Behn’s The Rover are all examples.
Other genres are well-represented during this period, of course, and must not be overlooked. For example, The Earl of Rochester wrote ribald and scandalous poetry, every bit as shocking as Restoration comedies. Perhaps more importantly for literary history, Aphra Behn also wrote the tragic Ooronoko, one of the first English novels, and certainly the first by a woman.
Representative Works of Restoration Literature
Aphra Behn’s The Rover and Oroonoko; William Congreve, The Way of the World; John Dryden’s Marriage a la Mode and Fables, Ancient and Modern; The Earl of Rochester’s poetry
