THE RESTORATION

After Cromwells death monarchy was restored. Charles Is son came back from exile
and became king Charles II. Two political parties were founded, the Tories and the
Whigs. The Tories supported the church and king, while the Whigs supported the
parliament.
In 1662 the royal society of London received the kings patronal; part of the royal
societys function was to advise the government on problems which demanded
scientific explanation. The R.S. reflected a fundamental attitude of the period,
rationalism. During Charles IIs reign London was struck by two great calamities:
1)an outbreak of the plague in 1665 2) in 1666 the great fire which destroyed most of
the city.
During his reign, James II threatened the interest of both parties by his attempts to
replace Anglicanism and undermine Parliaments authority; the 2 parties invited Mary
II to return from Holland and take the throne. William and Mary were offered the
throne by parliament in the Bill of Rights, for the first time creating contract between
a monarch and parliament. In 1689 the toleration act granted freedom of worship to
protestant dissenters.
During Annes reign England was involved in the war of The Spanish Succession: the
treaty of Utrecht granted it the virtual monopoly of the slave trade.
With the act of union Scotland lost its own Parliament but in its administrative and
legal system remained distinct from England. The relations between Ireland and
England had always been tempestuous: during the restoration a series of punitive
laws destroyed Irish economy.
LITERATURE DURING THE RESTORATION
Restoration prose writers were determined to use prose as a vehicle of reason; the
most important philosophers during the restoration were Hobbes and Locke: for
Hobbes the only solution was to control people by imposing a strong state under a
single sovereign while Lockes view of human nature is much more optimistic. His
essay concerning human understanding marked the beginning of english empiricism.
The abolition of puritan inspired laws led to a more decadent artistic and cultural
climate for the upper classes. The emphasis moved from tragedy to social comedy
because of its exaggerated characterizations of the manners, modes and morals of
upper-class society.
A remarkable difference from renaissance drama was the type of audience the
comedy of manners was addressed to: restoration plays were generally restricted to
people of fashion and refinement from the upper class; another difference regarded
the numerous change in stage design and in the acting profession itself
The house of Stuart (restored)
Charles II (1660-85) -> James II (1685-88) -> William III and Mary II (1689-1702) ->

Anne (1702-14)