Restoration Period: Historical Background

Historical Background

 

During the Interregnum, Cromwell and his cronies had strict rules and censorship in place to limit any publications made in England. What resulted was a domination of Puritanical literature, religious tracts and pamphlets. Because they could not publish works deemed “controversial” without being punished by the government, many English writers continued to produce works in secret and waited until the overthrow of Cromwell’s regime to publish. Likewise, the Puritans had been against staged performances, and the strong theatrical tradition of the Elizabethan era had come to an end. The theaters were closed, putting actors and playwrights out of work.  ​

 

The result was a relative gap in the English literary tradition. Only religious tracts, odes and poetry that was approved by government censors was allowed through. Meanwhile, the king and his court had developed a taste abroad for the theater of Spain and France as well  

Nell Gwyn was one of the first English actresses and one of two known actresses who was a mistress to Charles II. She bore him at least two children.as the literary traditions of those countries. The prosaic debates of the emerging philosophical group called the rationalists was also at the forefront of the European courts, making Charles II more tolerant of writers who questioned religion.

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When he returned in 1660, one of Charles II’s first moves was to reopen the theaters and grant several letters patent to theater owners and managers. He also created the position of poet laureate who was responsible not only for creating poetry at large but for writing odes each year on the king’s birthday. As the king was a well-known lover of arts and literature, he sponsored the Royal Society which allowed both courtiers and commoners to produce work through royal patronage. Charles II particularly loved the theater - and several actresses. For the first time, women were being allowed to trod the stage in England. ​

 

The Restoration proved to be an unique era in English literature as it was basically starting from scratch. The momentum of the Elizabethan and Jacobean days had been lost, so literary minds were having almost having to completely start over in terms of the literary tradition. Some writers attempted to recover and continue producing works similar to those during the Jacobean period as if there had not been a nearly 20 year interruption while others decided to explore new types of literature such as satire, parody, skeptical inquiry, journalism, scientific writing and a more prosaic style of writing imported from France. ​