18th and 19th Century Literature: Rape of the Lock and Lady of Shalott
Thesis: The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were times of major change for the British Empire. A monarchy restored, a city destroyed, colonies lost, technology gained, civil unrest, parliamentary reform, trains, a queen, and a lot of social change. The frequent shifts in social, political, and economical status were welcomed by some, but made most fearful. This essay will examine these changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively, and then look at how these shifts affected the literature of the time, using the examples of Alexander Pope and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
On Literature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were times of major change for the British Empire. A monarchy restored, a city destroyed, colonies lost, technology gained, civil unrest, parliamentary reform, trains, a queen, and a lot of social change. The frequent shifts in social, political, and economical status were welcomed by some, but made most fearful. This essay will examine these changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively, and then look at how these shifts affected the literature of the time, using the examples of Alexander Pope and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
1 Eighteenth Century
Eighteenth century British literature is usually thought of as beginning in 1660, when the monarchy was restored to the throne. But in order to understand why this was such a change, it is necessary to go all the way back to the rule of Charles I in 1642. He struggled for power against Parliament for years, finally leading him to dissolve it only one month after it had been in session. Some saw this as tyranny, others as the divine right of the King, and the country was torn between supporters of the monarchy and those who believed in the rights of Parliament, and that is what led to the English Civil War. Eventually Charles I lost and was supposed to agree to a constitutional monarchy, but he fought again,
On Literature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were times of major change for the British Empire. A monarchy restored, a city destroyed, colonies lost, technology gained, civil unrest, parliamentary reform, trains, a queen, and a lot of social change. The frequent shifts in social, political, and economical status were welcomed by some, but made most fearful. This essay will examine these changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively, and then look at how these shifts affected the literature of the time, using the examples of Alexander Pope and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
1 Eighteenth Century
Eighteenth century British literature is usually thought of as beginning in 1660, when the monarchy was restored to the throne. But in order to understand why this was such a change, it is necessary to go all the way back to the rule of Charles I in 1642. He struggled for power against Parliament for years, finally leading him to dissolve it only one month after it had been in session. Some saw this as tyranny, others as the divine right of the King, and the country was torn between supporters of the monarchy and those who believed in the rights of Parliament, and that is what led to the English Civil War. Eventually Charles I lost and was supposed to agree to a constitutional monarchy, but he fought again,