Small Points to make about 18th Century & Restoration

• 1660-1785 (The Restoration refers to the re-unification of the United Kingdom's three countries under Charles II -- England, Ireland and Scotland)

• satire: purposefully mocking or ironic outlook at society, etc. For a more thorough definition, gulp, Wikipedia gives a good definition! (However, for historical info, etc. Wikipedia is still not an accurate source. For definitions, it can be a good place.)

• Satire is the dominant mode of literary expression through 1740 and continues to have a vital presence even now!

• Literature & the public sphere: domestic tourism and travel, theatre, coffeehouses (think: archaic Starbucks), shift of life more and more to cities (urban center). Also, philosophical questions about human nature and proper behavior in civil society become public debates; community spaces where codes of politeness govern interactions.

• Men and women shared the public sphere!
• Book industry is at a boom with the higher literacy rates from 17th century's start...
• Again, women and labor-class writers start to appear, as do non-white authors...
• Explorations in fields of Science & Nature:Literature of this era is thematically drawn to investigating of fundamental ideas of cognition (how we think), sense, and understanding the larger world (the Americas, the "other"/exotic)
• Politics (from Norton): "Tories were associated with landed wealth, Anglicanism, and the monarchy, and Whigs were associated with trade, commerce, low-church dissenters, and progressive reform. The question of proper authority was key to both."
• From the many political, royal upheavals, individuals debate (and write about) the rights of individuals, and where power should be centered/controlled.