The Age of Restoration Drama - Themes of the Restoration Age - Characteristics of Restoration Drama - Famous Writers of Restoration Drama - BS English Subject introduction of Literature History of English Literature Semester 1 Punjab University

Outlines of Restoration Drama 

• Background of Restoration Drama
• Themes of the Restoration Age
• Characteristics of Restoration Drama
• The Heroic Tragedy of Restoration Age
• Characteristics of Heroic Tragedy Drama
• Characteristics of Comedy of Manners 
• Role of Ben Jonson in Comedy of Manners 
• The Restoration comedy Influences 
• Famous Writers of Restoration Drama
• Conclusion

Background of Restoration Drama

King Charles II's restoration in 1660 to the throne of England brought about a fresh shift in English literature. Closed theatres have previously been reopened. New groups of authors started to create plays.
During the restoration era, we also saw some progress in prose work. John Dryden published an essay on dramatic poetry, his scholarly effort. Dryden contrasts British drama with French drama in this book. He highlights the limits of French theatre and believes that English drama is better than French drama. He wrote it in a straightforward, fair, and balanced manner. His reputation as a critic is significant too.

John Bunyan authored two books, The Pilgrims' Progress, and The Holy War. The first metaphorical tale depicts the hard trip to the city of Christian. Her greatest metaphor is 'life is travel.' Some phrases and languages have been taken from this book and are widely used in everyday speech, such as Vanity Fair, Slough of Despond, and Mr. Great Heart. In the second book, he recounted his own civil war experience. Bunyan is a straightforward and simple example of writing prose.

The writing of John Locke likewise was plain, serious, and unorned, but it lacked balance in its phrases, which charms Bunyan's style. But Locke's essay on human comprehension is one of English philosophy's most important works. It was a new way of thinking, not just in England but in other European nations.
The renowned journal of Samuel Pepys is also regarded prose. Until 1852, his journal could not be read because it had been written in hidden signs. It gives an image of the social life of that time and details certain events of that time. His diary is very interesting and colorful. It presents itself as a hero.

Themes of the Restoration Age

• Moderation
• Realism 
• Reason 
• Marriage 
• Game of love
• Social conflicts 
• Political Conflict
• Politics
• Faith
• Rejection of Puritanism
• Social Conventions

Characteristics of Restoration Drama

• During the Puritan Age, theatres were shuttered. 
• During the Restauration Age, new plays and performances were reopened, which were distinct from the previous ones.
• The indoor theatres were significantly smaller than that of the Elizabethan theatres. 
• They had no platform, but there had a picture frame stage with various scenes. 
• The illumination was artificial and the performers were entering from the side.
• The audience was from the middle and high classes. Most of the elements of the restoration drama are still visible today.
• The popularity of the restoration plays depended on the odd arrangements, unusual storylines, and dramatic language.
• There was just commercial rather than the creative element of producing theatre.
• Earlier Elizabethan works such as King Lear had a joyful conclusion.
• The theatres with a leaning stage were given the form of horseshoes, encouraging more people to watch the play.

The Heroic Tragedy of Restoration Age

The tragedy of restoration is also called the Heroic tragedy. The impact of French romance and theatre resulted initially in the shape of the heroic play. With respect to Restauration Tragedy, the classical formal element already existed with Ben Johnson, with heroic elements, frequently in Fletcher and Massinger, and even in Shakespeare. Coriolanus in Tamburlaine is a character of heroic tragedy. Viola's a heroic lady Viola's a heroic lady. 

Characteristics of Heroic Tragedy Drama

The tragedy of restoration is fictitious. Its feelings are unreal. According to Dobree the crazy concepts of courage, the ridiculous conceptions of the unthinkable love of Tragedy.  Restauration —does not represent reality. It focuses on the struggle between love and honor. John Dryden was the Heroic Tragedy's main writer. His notable dramas are Tyrannic Love, Granada Conquest, and Love All. Dryden has a hero of superhuman abilities and superhuman principles, an extraordinary heroine of grace and devotion, an inner struggle in the mind of many characters between both love and honor, and a passionate and dramatic tale of combat and martial passion. All For Love is this period's best tragedy. Thomas Otway was another playwright. He authored Venice Preserved, , Don Carlos, The Orphan, and Alcibiades.

Characteristics of Comedy of Manners 

Restauration Comedy is also called Comedy of Manners. These plays represented a response against puritanism and sexual restriction. Designed romances, sex, wedding, and adultery have been handled with cynicism, worldly wit, and a sense of humor. The characters certainly paid a great deal to the brokers, witnesses, and men of the city as well as to fashion women, residents, spouses, and rural females.

Role of Ben Jonson in Comedy of Manners 

The Comedy of Manners mirrors Ben Jonson's writings. That's realistic. The basic objective of this comedy is to expose the ways of the higher classes of society. They are shown with unemotional honesty. The polished aristocratic society it portrays is trendy. It does reveal "follies literally," but these are the follies of educated gentleman rather than "low people." Everything is rude and nasty.

It portrays a tiny universe with a unique area.   The public gardens, elegant clubs, pubs, and drawing chambers of the Aristocracy and the luxury elites of the period offer its background. Sex is handled quite frankly. The personal connection between men and women is his primary topic. The people of the day saw love as a completely personal issue, marriage as a societal achievement.

The Restoration comedy Influences 

The Restoration comedy was influenced by French and local elements. It was inspired by the indigenous tradition which lasted before the theatre closure in 1642. It was also inspired by continental authors, Moliere and Spaniard in particular. It accurately represented the loutish short life of the era. There was a spiritual community that led to an interest in French humor. Moliere provided great ideas for stories and superb instances of comic characterization to the English playwright.

Famous Writers of '' Restoration Drama''

William Congreve:

Congreve once channeled the humor in its own way. He authored few comedies: 

• The Old Bachelor
• The World Way
• 'The 'Way of the World

These were the flower of the comedy of Restauration. The storyline of comedy is well constructed and love moments between Mirabelle and Millamant are dealt with great delicacy and tenderness. It constantly improves the building and grasping of characters with each play. However, he demonstrated his potential for height and conversation from the very beginning. Congreve addresses a significant issue of sexual interactions via a range of people and events across the globe. He displays the age's loves and plots and sexual hypocrisies, yet between Millament and Mirabelle there is genuine love. The next scenario displays his wife and his logical love and marital mentality. The power of freshly created English writing is also found here.

Sir John Vanbrugh 

Vanbrugh and Farquhar kept some of the spiritual restoration comedy of manners following Congreve alive. Mostly three comedies were written by Vanbrugh:

• The Relapse
• The Provoked Wife
• The Confederacy

Vanbrugh's plays lack Congreve's beauty and grace but are full of energy and brilliant humor. His works are excellent in structure, portrayal, and dialogue and he has a pure talent for comical situations.

George Farquhar (1678-1707):

Farquhar created seven plays with the stamp of his cheerful and humorous nature. His greatest work is in his final two plays:

• The Recruiting Officer
• The Beaux Stratagem 

The final spiritually unfailing play is his personal and three open-air atmospheres, which gives him a unique position in the drama of the restoration.

Sir George Etherege 

Sir George Etherege was a playwright from England. He has left three comedies;

• Love in the Tub
• The Comical Revenge
• The Man of Mode

It addresses a certain kind of individuals who appear to live the surfing act of life. The discourse is full of Etherege's talk about morality rather than method. His plays have no social critique inherent in Moliere's humor. Historically, he is significant since he helped establish the restoration comic style.

William Wycherley 

Wycherley turns in a refreshing unique kind the comedy of plot and style. His famous work is based on his four comedies, 

• Love in a Wood
• The Gentlemen Dancing Master
• The Country Wife
• The Plain Dealer. 

Wycherley strikes the reader with the pure spirit of language and characterization intensity. He possesses Johnson's first satirical power. "The plain dealer" mood is that of the puritan and not the Restoration comedy of ways.

Conclusion

It must be acknowledged, however, that the society in which the Restoration comedy reflected itself was a hopeless idealist. If we criticize the Restauration Court society, the dramatists of that time cannot be condemned. In these comedies, there is an atmosphere of carelessness and wickedness which beyond the limits of humanity and good taste. But these plays have the ability to extend and this gift has been especially refreshing in the face of increasing emotional and moral activity. All literary lovers have a lasting attraction in the great wit, the clever conversation, and the funny languages it produces. More on Classical comedy must not be examined in the light of current ideas but in the spirit of the time in which they have been produced. The comedies restore their pictures of gallants and beauties true to life to a genuine portrayal of their society.