Age of Reason Authors
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14 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Pepys | famous for his diary (no intention of ever being published), secretary of admiralty in navy, eyesight eventually failed, during Great Fire of London-restored previously weakened Royal Navy as a major sea power, falsely accused of treason + released by Charles II |
| Pope | suffered constant physical pain b/c of TB of the spine, grew to height of only 4 ft 6 inches, raised as a Roman Catholic, limited physical activity-writing was sole career, translated Homer's Illiad and Oddessy, member of the Scriblerus Club (devoted to satire), "wasp of twickenham" (small, satire was sharp + stinging), used aphorisms, epigrams, heroic couplets |
| Addison | collaborated w/ Steele on periodical The Spectator, Oxford, supporter of Whig Party, tried to bring philosophy into everyday life (coffeehouses); sought to improve manners and morals of audience; wanted to "enliven morality with wit and temper wit with morality " Create a middle road between piousness (sermon) and gaudiness |
| Lord Chesterfield | Philip Stanhope, ignored by father, raised and educated by grandmother, imitated French manners and culture; statesman, diplomat, secretary of state, patron of the arts, gave financial assistance to many struggling writers, wrote letters to son/godson for 30 yrs |
| Lady Mary Wortley Montagu | acquaintance with many literary figures, first work was essay in The Spectator; eloped w/ ambassador of Turkey, wrote more than 50 letters describing Turkish culture while in Constantinople, almost 900 letters--revealed the life of women |
| Defoe | Moll Flanders, Robison Crusoe, merchant who went bankrupt, wrote many political pamphlets, devout Presbyterian, public drank to his health and threw flowers at him instead of rotten fruit; he was the voice of the people |
| Swift (Sympson) | Greatest Satirst in the English Language, born in Dublin, Anglican priest, political writer for Whigs (published satire anonymously--people recognized his style); fled to Ireland when Whigs came into power (went from Whig to Torrie), Pen name: RICHARD SYMPSON, appointed dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, MISANTHROPE: hatred of human kind, mental decline, used fortune to build mental hospital |
| Wollstonecraft | lived impoverished lifestyle because of her abusive and alcoholic father, questioned attitudes about women, translator for journal, started a girls school at 22, it didn't work but introduced her to the writing world;lived in France and learned the ideas of revolution-fell in love with an American and had an illegitimate child- wrote an article to support her child, wrote letters to legitamate daughter Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), then died of infection |
| Johnson | contracted scrofula-left him with a disfigured face and impaired vision and hearing. forced to leave Oxford because he couldn't afford tuition, walked to London to seek a career in writing. famous for his dictionary, Shakespearean work, biographies. Started periodical trade: THE RAMBLER and the IDLER (mr. sober), sent to debtor's prison but given pension |
| Boswell | stalker of Samuel Johnson, developed a famous friendship, born in Scotland, loved London, studied law, recorded Johnson's words and behavior w/ astonishing detail, objective and seen as "World's Greatest Biographer" |
| Gray | link between Age of Reason and Romanticism (melancholy, absolute love of nature), transition-ary writer. didn't care about society and politics, declined to be poet laureate, prof. @ Cambridge, frail, one of 12 children to survive past infancy. friends w/ Horace Walpole, son of Britian's most prominent Whig leader. inspired by death of friend |
| Burney | (d'Arblay) an avid reader, greatly influenced Jane Austen. Accepted political position of the court of King George III. Visit to France became an exile for d'Arblay when the country became engaged in war. published her father's memoirs |
| Vigee-Lebrun | self taught portrait painter, 13 when father died and had to support family, 24 when she did her first portrait of Marie Antoinette, 800 paintings, observer of human nature |
| Richard Steele | published The Spectator |
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