18th Century Literature Essay

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18th Century Literature &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The 18th century is a period of great literary works. The styles are different throughout the period, but the unity of the work is still present. Much of this period focused on public and general themes, until the Pre- Romantic era when literary works began to focus upon personal expression. 18th century literature can be broken down into three main parts: the Restoration, the Age of Pope, and Pre-Romantics. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The literature of the Restoration period covers a time span from Charles's recovery of the throne to the years until the expulsion of James II in 1688 or until the death of John Dryden in 1700. The literature of the Restoration was characterized by…show more content…
This literary time period also included works from John Dryden, who used elegance and cleverness in his writings. This period ended about 1700, and enabled a new age of literature. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In literary history, the first half of the 18th century is known as the Age of the Pope. In this age, the writers expressed views of the public and restrained from writing personal topics or expressions. In the Age of the Pope or the Neoclassical Age, most of the literary themes were of social, political, and moral life. The Rape of the Lock and Epigrams by Alexander Pope, and &quot;A Modest Proposal&quot; and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift are some examples from the Age of Pope or the Neoclassical age. Most of the literary works in this period used satirical styles to express a concern in society. &quot;Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux&quot;, from The Rape of the Lock shows an example of pathos a satirical device used in this age of literature. Jonathan Swift also uses satire in Gulliver's Travels to mock the Parliament, and in &quot;Modest Proposal&quot; he writes about eating children as a solution to a socioeconomic problem. After the writings, literature began to focus on private expressions rather than public thoughts and emotions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Age of Johnson or the Pre-romantic era was shown in various ways. Characteristics of the age included ballads, a new taste for ruins, Gothic castles
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