Individual Author Context Flashcards
1
Q
John Milton
A
1608-1674
- English
- Served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth under Cromwell (signed Charles I’s death warrant)
- Fiercely defended freedom of speech
- Suspicious of Roman Catholicism and religion more broadly
- Key work: Paradise Lost (1667)
2
Q
Lucy Hutchinson
A
1620-1681
- English translator, poet and biographer
- First person to translate the complete text of Lucretius’ De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things)
- Wrote a biography of her husband which explored the lives of Puritans during the Civil War
- Poetry: her Elegies mourned the death of her husband, whilst commenting on the English political structure following the Restoration
3
Q
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle
A
c. 1623-1674
- English aristocrat, connected with the British and French monarchy
- Published under her own name
- Writings took the form of poetical fiction, moral instruction, philosophical opinion, dialogue, discourses and poetical romances
- Published extensively in natural philosophy and early modern science
- Her utopian romance, The Blazing World, is one of the earliest examples of science fiction
- Key work: Poems and Fancies (1653)
4
Q
John Bunyan
A
1628-1688
- English writer and Puritan preacher
- 42 works, most of which were essentially expanded sermons
- Key work: The Pilgrim’s Progress (Christian allegory written during Bunyan’s twelve year imprisonment following the Restoration which reduced religious freedom)
5
Q
John Dryden
A
1631-1700
- English
- First ever Poet Laureate (1668)
- Important in the development of literary criticism
- Opposed Glorious Revolution
- Key works: Mac Flecknoe (satire), An Essay of Dramatick Poesie (a dialogue in which four characters debate the merits of classical, French and English drama), Marriage à la Mode (a Restoration Comedy which was very popular)
6
Q
John Locke
A
1632-1704
- English philosopher and physician, one of the most influential British Enlightenment thinkers
- Known as the ‘Father of Liberalism’
- Empiricism: we are born without innate knowledge, and can only know what we experience (‘tabula rasa’ - at birth the mind is a blank state)
- Theory of the Mind: first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness
7
Q
Sir George Etherege
A
c. 1634-1691
- English dramatist
- One of the “big five” in Restoration comedy, who invented the comedy of manners and led the way to the achievements of Congreve and Sheridan
- Key works: The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter (1676)
8
Q
Aphra Behn
A
1640-1689
- English playwright, poet and fiction writer
- One of the first women to earn a living by writing
- Monarchist, who dedicated to the restored Charles II (apparently worked as a spy for him!)
- Supported the Tories
- Key works: The Rover, Oroonoko
9
Q
William Wycherley
A
1641-1716
- English dramatist
- Wrote Restoration Comedies
- Fluctuated between Protestantism and Catholicism throughout his life
- According to Wiki “Pleasure and the stage were his only interests” haha :))))
- Key works: The Country Wife
10
Q
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
A
1647-1680
- English poet and courtier at Charles II’s Restoration court
- Embodied the Restoration reaction against the moral uprightness of the preceding Puritan era (essentially he was something of a rake/libertine)
- Friends with Aphra Behn
- Described by Andrew Marvell as ‘the best English satirist’
- Key work: A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind (a scathing denunciation of rationalism and optimism that contrasts human perfidy with animal wisdom)
11
Q
Daniel Defoe
A
1660-1731
- English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy (!!)
- Called trade his ‘beloved subject’ but became bankrupt several times in his life
- Helped to popularise the form of the novel
- Political, wrote tracts which got him in trouble with the authorities, spent some time in prison
- A Dissenter (against Catholicism), strong supporter of William of Orange (became his leading pamphleteer)
- An influential figure - intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his ideas
- Key Works: Robinson Crusoe (1719-1722) , Moll Flanders (1722), Roxana
12
Q
Jonathan Swift
A
1667-1745
- Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories, and then as an Irish patriot), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin
- Foremost prose satirist in English (his poetry is less well known)
- Member of the Scriblerus club
- Supported the Glorious Revolution (was Protestant and feared the return of Catholic monarchs)
- Described as “a Whig in politics and Tory in religion”
- Key works: A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver’s Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729)
13
Q
William Congreve
A
1670-1729
- English playwright and poet
- Comedy of manners/Restoration comedy
- Female roles were beginning to be played predominantly by women
- Minor figure in the Whig Party
- Key works: The Old Bachelor (1693), Love for Love (1695) The Way of the World (1700, failure at the time but seen as a masterpiece now)
14
Q
Anthony Ashley Cooper, third Earl of Shaftesbury
A
1671-1713
- English politician, philosopher and writer
- Philosophical work was limited to ethics, religion, and aesthetics where he highlighted the concept of the sublime as an aesthetic quality
- Advocated religious tolerance, seen as the founder of moral sense theory (distinctions between morality and immorality are discovered by emotional responses to experience)
- Church of England, but questioned some of its beliefs
- Key work: Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711) - he published a large collection of his writings
15
Q
Joseph Addison
A
1672-1719
- English essayist, poet, playwright and politician
- Contributed to Richard Steele’s The Tatler
- Then founded The Spectator with Steele
- Key works: Cato, a Tragedy (1712) - deals with conflicts such as individual liberty versus government tyranny, Republicanism versus Monarchism, logic versus emotion, and Cato’s personal struggle to retain his beliefs in the face of death
16
Q
George Farquhar
A
1678-1707
- Irish dramatist
- Involved in Restoration comedy
- Was an actor himself
- Key works: The Recruiting Officer (1706) and The Beaux’ Stratagem (1707)
17
Q
John Gay
A
1685-1732
- English poet and dramatist
- Member of the Scriblerus Club
- Against the Glorious Revolution, mocked London society for its Dutch mercantilism
- Not in favour of the current government, frequently mocked it
- Key works: The Beggar’s Opera (1728), a ballad opera in which Sir Robert Walpole was caricatured, Trivia (1716), The Shepherd’s Week (1714), a series of six pastorals drawn from English rustic life
18
Q
George Berkeley
A
1685-1753
- Irish philosopher
- Proposed the theory of “immaterialism” which denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that familiar objects like tables and chairs are only ideas in the minds of perceivers and, as a result, cannot exist without being perceived
- In opposition to thinkers like John Locke
- Key works: Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713)
19
Q
Lady Mary Wortey Montagu
A
1689-1762
- English aristocrat, letter writer and poet
- Wife of the British ambassador to Turkey and thus spent a lot of time there
- Introduced the smallpox inoculation to Britain
- Her writings address and challenge the hindering contemporary social attitudes towards women and their intellectual and social growth
- Did not intend to publish her poetry, but it circulated widely amongst members of her social circle
- Key works: Embassy Letters, Town Eclogues
20
Q
Alexander Pope
A
1688-1744
- English poet
- Member of the Scriblerus Club
- Largely self-educated due to restrictions on education for Catholics (he was negatively impacted by the 1673 Test Acts)
- Satirical and discursive poetry
- A Tory - his real target in the poem is the Whig politician Robert Walpole in the Dunciad
- Key works: The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism, as well as his translation of Homer
21
Q
Samuel Richardson
A
1689-1761
- English writer and printer
- Had a rivalry with Henry Fielding (they emulated each other’s styles)
- Printer and publisher for most of his life, writing his first novel at the age of 51
- His father wanted him to be a clergyman
- Instrumental in the progression of the novel form
- Key works: Pamela (1741), Clarissa (1748)
22
Q
James Thomson
A
1700-1748
- Scottish poet and playwright
- Key works: The Seasons (a lengthy blank verse poem, reflecting on the landscape of the countryside in four parts) and The Castle of Indolence, and the lyrics of “Rule, Britannia!”
23
Q
Henry Fielding
A
1707-1748
- English novelist and dramatist
- Known for his earthy humour and satirical prowess
- Key works: lots of plays (his political satires prompted the Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737 which censored such plays), Tom Jones (a comic novel), Shamela (1741)
24
Q
Samuel Johnson
A
1709-1784
- English poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer
- Devout Anglican
- Committed Tory
- Believed that the best poetry relied on contemporary language, and he disliked the use of decorative or purposefully archaic language
- Key works: early works: the biography ‘Life of Mr Richard Savage’, the poems ‘London’ and ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes’ (both satires of Juvenal), and the play ‘Irene’, middle works: A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), later works: essays, an influential annotated edition of The Plays of William Shakespeare, and the widely read tale The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, a collection of biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets
25
Q
David Hume
A
1711-1776
- Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist
- Influential ideas on philosophical empiricism, scepticism, and naturalism
- Argued against miracles and teleological arguments to prove the existence of God (controversial!)
- Believed that passions rather than reason govern human behaviour
- A sentimentalist, who held that ethics are based on emotion or sentiment rather than abstract moral principle
- Denied that humans have an actual conception of the self
26
Q
Laurence Sterne
A
1713-1768
- Irish novelist and Anglican clergyman
- At 46, he turned his parishes over to a curate and devoted himself to writing
- Struggled with illness throughout writing
- 1762, took a trip to France (which forms part of Tristram)
- Key works: Tristram Shandy (1759-1767), A Sentimental Journey (1768), lots of sermons and memoirs
27
Q
Thomas Gray
A
1716-1771
- English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Pembroke College
- Extremely self-critical
- Published only 13 poems during his lifetime despite being very popular
- Declined the position of Poet Laureate
- His writing is considered to be pre-Romantic in its appreciation of nature and Gothic elements
- Key works: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1745-50), Ode on the Spring (1742), The Bard: A Pindaric Ode (1755-57)
28
Q
William Collins
A
1721-1759
- English poet
- Similar to Thomas Gray
- Lyrical odes mark a turn away from the Augustan poetry of Pope’s generation and a turn towards the Romantic era
- Key works: Persian Eclogues, Odes on Several Descriptive and Allegorical Subjects (1747) - strong emotional descriptions and personal relationship to the subject allowed by the ode form (which was not in favour at the time he was writing)
29
Q
Tobias Smollett
A
1721-1771
- Scottish poet and author
- Wrote mostly picaresque novels (which depict the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt society)
- Key works: The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771)
30
Q
Mary Leapor
A
1722-1746
- English poet
- Labouring-class (worked as a housemaid for most of her life)
- Cutting and incisive poems on the position of women in society, class structures and the process of writing itself
- Strongly influenced by Pope
- Key works: An Essay on Woman, Crumble-Hall, Dorinda at her Glass
31
Q
Christopher Smart
A
1722-1771
- English poet
- High church Anglican
- Major contributor to popular magazines - The Midwife and The Student
- His his father-in-law, John Newbery, locked him away in a mental asylum for many years over Smart’s supposed religious “mania”
- Explores the idea that words and language connect the poet to divine revelation, presenting God as the “great poet” who used language in order to create the universe
- Key works: A Song to David and Jubilate Agno (primarily a religious poet)
32
Q
Adam Smith
A
1723-1790
- Scottish economist, philosopher, key figure of the Scottish Enlightenment
- ‘The Father of Capitalism’
- Laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory
- Discussed the concepts of division of labour and how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity
- Key works: The Wealth of Nations (1776), considered the first modern work of economics
33
Q
Edmund Burke
A
1729-1797
- Irish statesman and philosopher
- Whig MP
- Supported Catholic emancipation
- Key works: A Vindication of Natural Society (argued for the importance of manners and religious institutions for the moral stability and good of the state), Reflections on the Revolution in France (expressed his staunch opposition to the French Revolution)
34
Q
Thomas Percy
A
1729-1811
- Chaplain to Charles III, then became a bishop
- He collated poems, rather than actually writing himself (although he did heavily edit some of the ballads in his collection)
- Key works: Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one works most responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that was a significant part of the Romantic movement
35
Q
Oliver Goldsmith
A
1728-1774
- Irish novelist, playwright and poet
- Example of the revival of laughing comedy over the sentimental comedy seen as dominant on the English stage at the time
- Drew on the comedy of manners style popular during Restoration comedy
- Key works: novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and plays The Good-Natur’d Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773)
36
Q
William Cowper
A
1731-1800
- English poet and hymnodist
- Changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside
- Seen as a forerunner to Romantic poetry
- Wrote a number of anti-slavery poems as well
Key works: The Snail (1730) Yardley Oak, The Negro’s Complain (1788)
37
Q
James Macpherson
A
1736-1796
- Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician
- Important influence on the Romantic movement (deep appreciation of natural beauty and the melancholy tenderness of its treatment of the ancient legend in Ossian)
- Key works: “translation” of the Ossian cycle of epic poems
38
Q
Edward Gibbon
A
1737-1794
- English historian, writer and Member of Parliament
- Key work: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788), known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its polemical criticism of organised religion
