"1690s" - 1 õppematerjal

EXAM - English literature 2

Sir Charles Sedley: Song Dryden: 14. Restoration drama (Dryden, Etheridge, Wycherley, Congreve) Theatres closed in Civil War, resumed in altered society of Restoration, florishing after Puritan regime. Most famous: unsentimental or „hard” comedies of John Dryden, William Wycherley, and George Etheredge. Reflect atmosphere at court, celebrate an aristocratic macho lifestyle of constant sexual intrigue and conquest. Sharp drop in quality and quanitity in 1680s, in 1690s again William Congreve’s „Love for Love” and „The Way of the World”. Were softer and more middle-class, different from earlier aristocratic extravaganza, aimed wider audience. Strong middle-class element, to women, war between sexes from intrigue into marriage, marital relations. Sexual explicitness encouraged by Charles II and by the rakish aristocrathic ethos of his court. Socially diverse audience