Genre studies Unit- II AGE OF AUGUSTAN

 Unit-II

AGE OF AUGUSTAN

Introduction

• The term “Augustan” applies to the literature and art of the early 18th century.

• A period of literary excellence like that of the period of Augustus Caesar. 

• Queen Anne was bed ridden due to her miscarriages, so the ministers gained power.

• Formation of Great Britain by the Act of Union 1707.

• A time of agricultural revolution that led to rise of towns and cities; Rise of industries.

• In 1710 the Statute of Anne or the First Copyright law was passed that led to less plagiarism.

The Hanoverian Succession (1714-1837)

• This was a time of stabilization, tolerance and moderation. 

• The Whigs and Tories were alternately dominant.

• George I, II, III, IV and William IV were the 

Hanoverian monarchs.

• The rulers wanted stability so classical values were established through their political choices.

• Neoclassical writers came into being in the period. Ended with the succession of Queen Elizabeth.

Conditions of Literary Production 

• The Stage Licensing Act 1737 established dramatic censorship.

• Writing became a business that lead to the rise of hack writers; Grubstreet hacks emerged.

• A time of clubs and coffee houses, led to the formation of public sphere. Jurgen Habermas talked about the theory 

of public sphere.

• Flowering of art, culture and literature.

• Science emerged as the study of nature to know God. Literature emerged in order to know people and their lives.

• Periodicals and novels came into being so that people could know more about peoples’ lives.

Clubs and Coffeehouses 

 Kit-Kat Club: Members were predominantly Whigs. Important members were Robert 

Walpole the prime minister, William Congreve, John Vanbrugh Joseph Addison, Richard Steele and Jacob Tonson.

➢ The Scriblerus Club: Members were Tories. They attacked “false taste” and modern learning. Important members were Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift John Arbuthnot, John Gay and Thomas Parnell. Their literary aims were called Scriblerianism, were followed in works like Dunciad, Gulliver’s Travels etc.

Bluestockings Society: A group of intellectual, literary minded women.Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Carter, Hester Chapone, Mary Delaney and Hannah More were the members of the club. Samuel Richardson was greatly influenced by them.

➢ Samuel Richardson’s Circle: A group of 

Richardson’s fans in which women were active members like Sarah Fielding, Charlotte Lennox, Frances Sheridan etc.

Dr. Johnson’s Circle: Originally 9 members and it grew to 35 members over the years. Joshua Reynolds a portraitist and first President of the Royal Academy of Arts, Oliver Goldsmith, David Garrick, Adam Smith, R B Sheridan, Edmund Burke and James Boswell Johnson's biographer 

were the members.

• All these club members were the torch bearers of Augustan age and Neoclassicism.