THE AUGUSTAN AGE

letteratura inglese

THE AUGUSTAN AGE

The eighteenth century was the age of reason, the age of the "ENLIGHTEMENT".

It was an age that rejected imagination and romanticism: it was the triumph of reason,order and rationality.

The middle class was rising (in 1964 there was the founation of the bank of England) and they aimed at increasing ther wealth and their culture.the first cofee houses opened: here people met for business trasactions but also to talk about the news.

"the tatler" and "the spectator" were firs published: they were the first newspaper. The main aim of the "The Spectator" was " the enliven morality with wit and to temper wit with morality" that is to say to entertain and instruct at the same time. The new rising middle classes lacked a classifical education and needed to be informed, to become gentlemen with good mammers and tastes, self control of emotions, to increase their knowledge and culture. The style was therefore simple and straightforward.

The novel became the most common form of fiction. The novel is fictitious: it narrates about imaginary events and characters although representative of real life.

The 18 th century novelist was the spokesman of the middle classe: he wrote in a simple way to be understood by the less educated readers. The story has to appeal the practical minded tradesman: the subject is always the middle class man and his problems; the characters strugle for survival or social success. They are divided into two groups:

the ones who believe in reason

the ones who can't control then passion.

To reinfree the sense of realism they always have a contemorany name and surname. Daniel Defoe is the father of the english novel.