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A COMPARISON AND CONTRAST BETWEEN THE LITERATURE OF THE

Page history last edited by Kübra 15 years, 9 months ago

   A COMPARISON AND CONTRAST BETWEEN THE LITERATURE OF THE              

RESTORATION AND ROMANTIC PERIODS IN TERMS OF THEMES

           Restoration Period starts from 1960, the year Charles II came to throne, and it lasted until 1789. This period can be characterized by reason, modernity, good taste and rationality.However, Romantic Period, which extending from 1789 until 1837, can be seen as a reaction to Restoration Period, and it emphasizes emotion and imagination over reason. It can be illustrated as attaching importance to passion, intuition, mystery, primitiveness and nature.

         The central themes in Restoration Period are political issues, urbanity, civilized society. Mac Flecknoe is a satire by John Dryden which was written as a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, who considers himself as heir of Ben Johnson. It involves wit and humour. The themes in Romantic Period are nature, individual and folktales that are consist of mystery and imagination. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem which deals with supernatural events and irrationality. Another poem which belongs to Romantic Period is “London” by Willam Blake. It depicts the situation of working class in cities with negative emotions and hopelessness. Nonetheless, A Modest Proposal (Restoration Period) by Jonathan Swift deals with the depressing situation of Ireland and impoverished people. It involves scenes from real life, scientific and economic facts, irony and sarcasm. His another work Gullver’s Travels, in which  he satires human nature, deals with morality, rationality, scientific, politic and economic issues.

       It is clear that the themes of Restoration Period, which is based on politics, satire and modernity, and Romantic Period, whose writings derive from folktales, contrast with each other.

                                                                                                                                         Kübra Acar

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References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Restoration

 

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