English 12 / Unit 3: The Enlightenment and Satire
3.1 The Age of Reason
Notes
The Enlightenment (late 1600s through the 1700s) stressed reason, science, order and individual rights. In English literature this period is often called the Neoclassical or Augustan age, because writers admired the order and polish of ancient Rome.
- Thinkers such as John Locke argued that people have natural rights and that knowledge comes from experience.
- Writers valued wit, balance, clarity and common sense, and often wrote to improve society.
- Coffeehouses, newspapers and pamphlets created a wider reading public.
- Literature of the time often used satire to expose folly.
Practice
Which value was most important to Enlightenment writers?
The Age of Reason favored logic, balance and clarity.
Why is the 1700s literary period called Augustan or Neoclassical?
Neoclassical writers imitated classical models, especially Roman ones.
A pamphlet in a 1700s coffeehouse criticizes the government's wasteful spending using clever mockery. This reflects which trend?
Pamphlets and coffeehouses carried witty social criticism to many readers.
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