From Jacobean to Restoration – English – UGC NET – Notes

Important Years: Social, Political and Literary Events (1603–1702)

The Beginning of the Stuart Era:

• 1603 — Death of Elizabeth I; accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England (Beginning of the Stuart Dynasty).

• 1611 — Publication of the King James Bible.

• 1613 — The Globe Theatre burned.

• 1614 — The Globe Theatre rebuilt.

• 1616 — Death of William Shakespeare.

• 1621 — John Donne appointed Dean of St. Paul’s.

• 1622 — First regular English journal, “Weekly News”, published by Archer and Nicholas.

• 1625 — Death of James I; accession of Charles I.

Puritan Age and the Civil War:

• 1641 — Rise of Puritanism as a dominant political and religious force.

• 1642 — Beginning of the English Civil War; theatres closed.

• 1649 — Execution of Charles I (Establishment of the Commonwealth).

• 1653 — Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector.

• 1658 — Death of Oliver Cromwell.

The Restoration Period:

• 1660 — Beginning of the Restoration; accession of Charles II.

  • Samuel Pepys begins his Diary.

  • Theatres reopened.

  • Foundation of the Royal Society of London.

• 1662 — First Charter of the Royal Society; restoration of the Church of England.

• 1665 — The Second Great Plague.

• 1666 — The Great Fire of London.

The Glorious Revolution and After:

• 1685 — James II succeeds Charles II; Monmouth’s Rebellion.

• 1688 — James II flees; the Glorious Revolution.

• 1689 — Accession of William III and Mary II.

• 1694 — Death of Mary II.

• 1702 — Death of William III.

Jacobean, Caroline & Early Restoration Writers and their Works

John Donne (1573–1631) – Leader of the Metaphysical Poets:

Major Poems:

• The Canonization

• The Anniversary

• Go and Catch a Falling Star

• Death Be Not Proud

• Songs and Sonnets

• A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

• The Sun Rising

• The Extasie

• A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy’s Day

Prose Works:

• The Pseudomartyr (1610)

• Ignatius His Conclave (1611)

• Devotions (1614)

• Sermons

• Death’s Duel (1630)

Cyril Tourneur (1575–1626):

• The Revenger’s Tragedy

• The Atheist’s Tragedy

Thomas Heywood (1575–1650):

• A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603)

• The English Traveller (1633)

• The Captives (1624)

• The Royal King and the Loyal Subject (1602)

John Marston (1575–1634):

• Antonio and Mellida (1599)

• Antonio’s Revenge (1602)

• The Malcontent

Robert Burton (1577–1640):

• The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

John Fletcher (1579–1625):

• The Faithful Shepherdess

In Collaboration with Francis Beaumont (1584–1616):

• Philaster (1611)

• The Maid’s Tragedy (1610)

• A King and No King (1611)

• The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607)

John Webster (1580–1632):

• The White Devil (1613)

• The Duchess of Malfi (1614)

• The Devil’s Law Case (1623)

Philip Massinger (1583–1640):

• A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1633)

• The City Madam (1632)

• The Duke of Milan (1623)

• The Roman Actor

• The Maid of Honour

John Ford (1586–1639):

• ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (1633)

• The Broken Heart (1633)

• The Lover’s Melancholy (1628)

• Perkin Warbeck (1634)

• The Witch of Edmonton (1621) (with Dekker & Rowley)

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679):

• Leviathan (1651)

Robert Herrick (1591–1674) – Cavalier Poet:

• Hesperides (1648)

• Noble Numbers (1647)

• To Anthea

• To Julia

• Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May

• Cherry Ripe

Izaak Walton (1593–1683):

• The Compleat Angler (1653)

George Herbert (1593–1633) – Metaphysical Poet:

• The Temple (1633)

• The Altar

• Easter Wings

• The Collar

• The Pulley

• The Country Parson

Thomas Carew (1598–1639) – Cavalier Poet:

• The Rapture

• Ask Me No More

• He That Loves a Rosy Cheek

• Poems (1640)

Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682):

• Religio Medici (1642)

• Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646)

• Hydriotaphia: Urn Burial (1658)

• The Garden of Cyrus (1658)

Edmund Waller (1605–1687):

• Go, Lovely Rose

• Panegyrics on Cromwell

Thomas Fuller (1608–1661):

• The History of the Holy War (1639)

• The Church History of Britain (1655)

• The Worthies of England (1662)

John Milton (1608–1674) – Greatest Poet of the Puritan Age:

Early Poems:

• Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity (1629)

• L’Allegro (1632)

• Il Penseroso (1632)

• Comus (1634)

• Lycidas (1637)

Prose Works:

• Areopagitica (1644)

• Of Education (1644)

• The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates

• Political Tracts and Pamphlets in support of Parliament

Major Epics:

• Paradise Lost (1667)

• Paradise Regained (1671)

• Samson Agonistes (1671)

Sir John Suckling (1609–1642) – Cavalier Poet:

• Ballad upon a Wedding

• Why So Pale and Wan, Fond Lover?

• Session of the Poets

• To Mistress Cicely Crofts

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon (1609–1674):

• The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England (1704)

Samuel Butler (1612–1680):

• Hudibras (1663–78)

Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667):

• The Liberty of Prophesying (1647)

• Holy Living (1650)

• Holy Dying (1651)

• Ductor Dubitantium

Richard Crashaw (1613–1649) – Metaphysical Poet:

• Steps to the Temple (1646)

• Carmen Deo Nostro (1652)

• The Flaming Heart

• The Infant Martyrs

Richard Baxter (1615–1691):

• The Saints’ Everlasting Rest

Sir John Denham (1615–1669):

• Cooper’s Hill

Richard Lovelace (1618–1657) – Cavalier Poet:

• To Lucasta, Going to the Wars (1649)

• To Althea, from Prison

Abraham Cowley (1618–1667):

• The Mistress (1647)

• The Davideis (1656)

• Pindarique Odes

Andrew Marvell (1621–1678) – Metaphysical & Political Poet:

• To His Coy Mistress

• An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland

• The Garden

• The Definition of Love

• Appleton House

Henry Vaughan (1621–1695) – Metaphysical Poet:

• Silex Scintillans (1650)

• The Retreat

• The World

John Bunyan (1628–1688):

• Grace Abounding (1666)

• The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678)

• The Holy War

Sir William Temple (1628–1699):

• Memoirs (1691)

• Letters (1700)

John Tillotson (1630–1694):

• Sermons

John Locke (1632–1704):

• Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)

• Two Treatises of Government

• Thoughts on Education

John Dryden (1631–1700) – Leader of the Restoration Age:

Major Poems & Satires:

• Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

• Mac Flecknoe

• The Medal

• Religio Laici (1682)

• The Hind and the Panther (1687)

• Alexander’s Feast (1697)

• Annus Mirabilis (1667)

Drama:

• All for Love (1678)

• The Conquest of Granada (1669–70)

• Aurengzebe (1675)

• The Indian Emperor (1665)

Criticism:

• Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668)

• Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire

Lord Halifax (1633–1695):

• The Character of a Trimmer

• Advice to a Daughter

Thomas Traherne (1634–1674):

• Centuries of Meditations

• The Wonder

Restoration Comedy:

George Etherege (1635–1691):

• The Man of Mode

William Wycherley (1640–1715):

• The Country Wife (1675)

• The Plain Dealer (1676)

John Crowne (1640–1703):

• Sir Courtly Nice (1685)

Thomas Shadwell (1642–1692):

• The Squire of Alsatia (1688)

Nathaniel Lee (1649–1692):

• The Rival Queens (1677)

Thomas Otway (1651–1685):

• Venice Preserved (1682)

• The Orphan (1680)

Sir John Vanbrugh (1664–1726):

• The Relapse (1696)

• The Provoked Wife (1697)

William Congreve (1670–1729):

• The Way of the World (1700)

• Love for Love (1695)

• The Mourning Bride (1697)

Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718):

• Tamerlane (1702)

• The Fair Penitent (1703)

George Farquhar (1678–1707):

• The Recruiting Officer (1706)

• The Beaux’ Stratagem (1707)

Other Important Works:

• Francis Quarles — The Religious Emblems

• Earl of Rochester — A Satire against Mankind (1675)

• Sir Isaac Newton — Principia (1687)

• James Harrington — Oceana (1656)

• William Chillingworth — The Religion of Protestants

• John Evelyn — Diary

• Samuel Pepys — Diary

Jacobean Era

• The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James VI and I (1567–1625), who ruled Scotland as James VI and inherited the English throne in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Caroline era, and denotes a distinctive style of architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, and literature that predominated during that time.
• The word “Jacobean” is derived from Jacobus, the Latin form of the name James. The practical—if not formal—unification of England and Scotland under one ruler was a development of first-order importance for both nations and shaped their future profoundly. Another crucial development was the foundation of the first British colonies in North America: Jamestown, Virginia (1607), Newfoundland (1610), and Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts (1620). These settlements laid the groundwork for future British expansion and the eventual formation of Canada and the United States of America.
• The most notorious event of James’s reign occurred on 5 November 1605, when a group of English Catholics—most famously Guy Fawkes—attempted to destroy the King and Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot at the Palace of Westminster. The conspiracy was uncovered, and the plotters were executed.
• The marriage of James’s daughter Princess Elizabeth to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, on 14 February 1613 had major political consequences. Their acceptance of the crowns of Bohemia in 1619 helped spark the Thirty Years’ War, one of Europe’s most devastating conflicts. James’s determination to avoid direct involvement in this continental war is often regarded as one of the more significant and positive aspects of his reign.
• Elizabeth and Frederick later became central figures in important intellectual circles, influencing Protestant and political thought. They are also the ancestors of all British monarchs since 1714 through their daughter, Sophia of Hanover, following the extinction of the Protestant line descending from Charles I with the death of Queen Anne.

The Contribution of the Post- Shakespearean Dramatists of the Jacobean Period

George Chapman (1559-1634)

• George Chapman is best known to the general reader through the striking tribute of John Keats in On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer and the eulogy of Algernon Charles Swinburne on his verse and comedies. Chapman was a true Elizabethan. He possessed the romantic exaltation of the Elizabethans and shared their stylistic audacity, emotional intensity, splendour, and, at times, obscurity. His writing is marked by magniloquence, impetuosity, and passionate declamation.
• Chapman wrote both tragedies and comedies, though his comedies are generally considered stronger than his tragedies. His best-known tragedies include Bussy D’Ambois (1598), The Revenge of Bussy D’Ambois (1608), Caesar and Pompey, and The Tragedy of Chabot. Bussy D’Ambois is deliberately shaped as a dramatic symbol of humanity confronted with universal moral conflict. The play explores profound philosophical questions about virtue and corruption, elevating it beyond mere moral exemplum into the realm of philosophical tragedy.
• This intellectual and emotional range links Chapman to William Shakespeare. In Bussy D’Ambois, Chapman dramatizes the ancient question of how a man endowed with reason, strength, and virtue can survive in a world corrupted by evil. His answer is deeply pessimistic: virtue cannot survive in a degenerate world. The tragedy reflects the dark spirit of the Jacobean era, marked by moral uncertainty and disillusionment. His later tragedies, Caesar and Pompey and The Tragedy of Chabot, continue his exploration of intense moral conflict, a central concern of the period.
• Chapman’s comedies include All Fools and The Gentleman Usher. Their value lies more in their romantic charm than in strong characterization. His finest comic achievement is Eastward Ho!, written in collaboration with John Marston.