British Culture - User contributions [en]

Restoration Comedy

2009-07-20T12:35:00Z

Sarah-sue: /* Main Authors and Works */

Restoration Comedy is sometimes also referred to as ''artificial comedy'' or ''comedy of manners'', and earlier also as ''Old comedy''.
Usually restoration comedy is a term which is used for the kind of drama between the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the beginning of the sentimental comedy at the beginning of the 18th century.

== Comedy ==

A comedy is usually a play, written to amuse its audience, often by appealing to a sense of superiority above the depicted characters. It usally describes things which are much closer to everyday life and manners than those which are described in a tragedy. Consequently, it explores more common human failings and misbehaviour rather than the catastrophes which are typical for tragedies.
The ending is usally happy.

== The Restoration Comedy ==

Restoration comedies refer to the time of the Restoration or at least close to it. They mainly present "a society of elegance and stylishness"(Cuddon, 743).
In addition, they feature stereotypes of the period, such as ladies and gentlemen of fashion and rank, fops (= followers of fashion) and rakes (= male parts), gallants, and country bumpkins (= someone from the country) as well as social climbers.
The main topic is the complexity of sexual as well as of marital intrigue (the game of love so to say) and thus they often deal with adultery and cheating. The plots are often represented by using sophisticated repartee and the knowledge of the right behaviour and manners of the society.

The characters can often be divided according to two social groups. There are characters that belong to the young aristocrats. Those are usually able to behave according to the social norms, as they know them very well and understand how to manipulate them as well. The others group of characters are the social "upstarts" who come from the middle-class and try to belong to the upper-class but often fail and expose themselves by a series of blunders.

The main purpose of this comedies is to mock society. This could have caused negative as well as positive audience responses. If the play was successful, the audience laughed and left the theatres with a good feeling.

If we can say that the comedies somehow mirror society, some plays show rather a dark and sombre view. Some of the description of marriage are quite crushing. Even if the ends are happy and the man usually gets the woman in the end, we can find marriages and love affairs without love and that break with all the known traditions of the time.

== Main Authors and Works ==

* [[William Congreve]]
''The Double Dealer'' (1694)

''Love for Love'' (1695)

''The Way of the World'' (1700)

* [[George Etherege]]
''The Man of Mode'' (1676)

* [[George Farquhar]]
''The Recruiting Officer'' (1706)

''The Beaux' Stratagem''(1707)

* [[John Vanbrugh]]
''The Relapse'' (1697)

''The Provoked Wife'' (1697)

* [[William Wycherley]]
''[[The Country Wife]]'' (1672 or 1673)

''The Plain Dealer'' (1674)

== References ==

*Baldick, Chris. ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms''. Oxford: OUP, 1990.
*Cuddon, J.A. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory''. London: Penguin Books, 1999.

===Links===

* Game of Love: Restoration Comedy [http://classiclit.about.com/cs/articles/a/aa_restoration.htm]

Restoration Comedy

2009-07-20T12:33:37Z

Sarah-sue: /* Main Authors and Works */

Restoration Comedy is sometimes also referred to as ''artificial comedy'' or ''comedy of manners'', and earlier also as ''Old comedy''.
Usually restoration comedy is a term which is used for the kind of drama between the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the beginning of the sentimental comedy at the beginning of the 18th century.

== Comedy ==

A comedy is usually a play, written to amuse its audience, often by appealing to a sense of superiority above the depicted characters. It usally describes things which are much closer to everyday life and manners than those which are described in a tragedy. Consequently, it explores more common human failings and misbehaviour rather than the catastrophes which are typical for tragedies.
The ending is usally happy.

== The Restoration Comedy ==

Restoration comedies refer to the time of the Restoration or at least close to it. They mainly present "a society of elegance and stylishness"(Cuddon, 743).
In addition, they feature stereotypes of the period, such as ladies and gentlemen of fashion and rank, fops (= followers of fashion) and rakes (= male parts), gallants, and country bumpkins (= someone from the country) as well as social climbers.
The main topic is the complexity of sexual as well as of marital intrigue (the game of love so to say) and thus they often deal with adultery and cheating. The plots are often represented by using sophisticated repartee and the knowledge of the right behaviour and manners of the society.

The characters can often be divided according to two social groups. There are characters that belong to the young aristocrats. Those are usually able to behave according to the social norms, as they know them very well and understand how to manipulate them as well. The others group of characters are the social "upstarts" who come from the middle-class and try to belong to the upper-class but often fail and expose themselves by a series of blunders.

The main purpose of this comedies is to mock society. This could have caused negative as well as positive audience responses. If the play was successful, the audience laughed and left the theatres with a good feeling.

If we can say that the comedies somehow mirror society, some plays show rather a dark and sombre view. Some of the description of marriage are quite crushing. Even if the ends are happy and the man usually gets the woman in the end, we can find marriages and love affairs without love and that break with all the known traditions of the time.

== Main Authors and Works ==

* [[William Congreve]]
''The Double Dealer'' (1694)

''Love for Love'' (1695)

''The Way of the World'' (1700)

* [[George Etheredge]]
''The Man of Mode'' (1676)

* [[George Farquhar]]
''The Recruiting Officer'' (1706)

''The Beaux' Stratagem''(1707)

* [[John Vanbrugh]]
''The Relapse'' (1697)

''The Provoked Wife'' (1697)

* [[William Wycherley]]
''[[The Country Wife]]'' (1672 or 1673)

''The Plain Dealer'' (1674)

== References ==

*Baldick, Chris. ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms''. Oxford: OUP, 1990.
*Cuddon, J.A. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory''. London: Penguin Books, 1999.

===Links===

* Game of Love: Restoration Comedy [http://classiclit.about.com/cs/articles/a/aa_restoration.htm]

Queen's House, Greenwich

2009-07-18T15:31:00Z

Sarah-sue:

Designed by [[Inigo Jones]] for [[Anne of Denmark]] – wife of [[James I]]. It was built between 1616 and 1635 - situated in Greenwich, London.
Between 1613 and 1615 Jones had spent three years in Italy where he studied Roman and Renaissance architecture. It was Jones’ first important commission and the first fully neo-classical building seen in England introducing [[Palladianism]] to the country(although probably not directly influenced by a building designed by Palladio).

In April 1618 the work on the House stopped because Queen Anne became ill – she actually died the following year.
In 1629 the construction of the House restarted when James’ son [[Charles I]] gave Greenwich to his wife Henrietta Maria (daughter of Henry IV of France) – the Queen’s House was structurally completed in 1635.
Leading European painters such as Jordaens and Orasio Gentileschi were commissioned to provide decorative ceiling panels and other art works.
The original use of the House was short – only seven years – until the Civil War broke out in 1642. After Charles' execution in 1649 and the declaration of a Commonwealth, the House became an official government residence. There were just three ceilings and some wall decorations which were not completely destroyed during this time. The interior on the other hand did not survive in its original way at all.
After his [[restoration]] to the throne (1660) [[Charles II]] refitted the House for Henrietta Maria’s temporary use in 1662, before she moved to Somerset House. He added two upper ‘bridge’ rooms to east and west over the road – this gave the House a new shape (square-shaped).
In the 18th century the House continued to be used for various Royal residential purposes.
The House survived as an official building and became the Royal Naval Asylum, a charity caring for and educating the orphan children of seamen, from 1806. In 1933 the Royal Hospital School moved to Holbrook, Suffolk. Then the House was first restored to become the new National Maritime Museum, created by Act of Parliament in 1934 and opened in 1937.
The House was further restored between 1986 and 1999, and is now largely used to display the Museum’s substantial collection of marine paintings and portraits.

Sources:

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/about/history/queens-house/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_House

The Country Wife

2009-07-13T09:34:31Z

Sarah-sue: Created page with '“The Country Wife” was written by William Wycherley in 1675 and is said to be one of the most popular plays of Restoration comedy. Furthermore, it is supposed to be based…'

“The Country Wife” was written by [[William Wycherley]] in 1675 and is said to be one of the most popular plays of Restoration comedy. Furthermore, it is supposed to be based on a play by the French writer Molière called “L’École des femmes” (“The School for Wives”, 1662) as Wycherly used some of Molière’s techniques of French drama. On the other hand Molière’s play can hardly be recognized, since Wycherley transformed it.

In January 1675 “The Country Wife” was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The play itself had a good start, although some scenes and Horner’s trick about his false impotence caused offence by some of the audience. After its good start the play run till its last performance in 1753 – then it was banished from stage for about 171 years until its reproduction in 1924.

During the years of banishment there was a play existing which was based on Wycherley’s “The Country Wife”. It was David Garrick’s “The Country Girl” in which Margery is represented as a virgin and Horner as a romantic lover – this production thus represented a harmless version of the original.

Nowadays the original version of “The Country Wife” is one of the stage favourites again, while Garrick’s version of the play is almost completely forgotten.

'''Plot'''

The plot of Wycherley’s “The Country Wife” consists of three intertwining story lines:

1. The first plot is also the one that interlinks all three plots. It is the one in which Horner pretends to be impotent. His Quack helps him to spread this rumour – he therefore successfully manages to convince the society of his false impotence. The goal of this rumour is that Horner is able to meet other men’s wives, since he is now known as being harmless (not able to seduce and have sex anymore). But in reality this is just a trick to seduce all those married women. Horner’s dishonesty is already represented in his telling name which means that he “puts horns on” the women’s husbands.
In the end Horner manages to have sex with a lot of respectable women in town.

2. The second story line narrates about the life of Mr. Pinchwife and his wife Margery, who just moved from the country into town. Mr. Pinchwife married her with the hope that she will not cheat on him as he expects a woman from town to do.
But as said before, the story lines are intertwined and Horner himself functions as the link between the plots. He is actually the one who teaches Margery about the facts of upper-class life, seduction and illegitimate sex.
This story line is also a good example for a humorous feature often used in Restoration comedies since it pictures the contrast between country and town.

3. The last plot is about Sparkish and how he loses his fiancée Alithea, who is Mr. Pinchwife’s sister. Sparkish actually allows one of his friends – Harcourt – to court his fiancée, because he is more interested in his appearance as a wit than in being a faithful lover.
In the beginning Alithea does not want to meet Harcourt who is seriously in love with her, even though she discovers that Sparkish is rather in love with her money than with her – this fact is still not reason enough for her to break the engagement.
But then Sparkish is led on the wrong track and believes that his fiancée is one of Horner’s lovers and therefore breaks the engagement himself. Alithea and Harcourt are thus free to marry each other, while Sparkish ends up all by himself and by his richness.

Source:

Three Restoration Comedies. London: Penguin Classics, 1986.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature
http://oxford-britishliterature.com/entry?entry=t198.e0503#head1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Country_Wife

Queen's House, Greenwich

2009-06-25T19:24:08Z

Sarah-sue:

In 1616 [[Anne]] of Denmark – wife of King [[James I]] of England – commissioned the architect [[Inigo Jones]] to design the Queen’s House, which is located in Greenwich, London, England.
Jones had recently spent three years (1613-1615) in Italy where he studied Roman and Renaissance architecture. It was Jones’ first important commission and the first fully Classical building seen in England.
Jones is credited with the introduction of [[Palladianism]] with the construction of the Queen’s House. Although it is generally said that its style is Palladian regarding the mathematical constraints, it is likely that the prime model for the H-shaped plan was the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano by Giuliano da Sangallo.

In April 1618 the work on the House stopped because Queen Anne became ill – she actually died the following year.
In 1629 the building of the House restarted when James’ son [[Charles I]] gave Greenwich to his wife Henrietta Maria (daughter of Henry IV of France) – the Queen’s House was structurally completed in 1635.
Jordaens, Orasio Gentileschi and other leading European painters were commissioned to provide decorative ceiling panels and other art works.
The original use of the House was short – only seven years – because it was shattered, when the Civil War broke out in 1642.
Furthermore the Commonwealth seized and dispersed Charles’ property, when he was beheaded in 1649. Consequently, the House lost his treasures and became an official government residence – it somehow still survived. Only three ceilings and some wall decorations survived in part during this time, but no interior remains in its original state.

Then after his restoration to the throne (1660) [[Charles II]] refitted the House for Henrietta Maria’s temporary use in 1662, before she moved to Somerset House. He added two upper ‘bridge’ rooms to east and west over the road – this gave the House a square-shape rather than the former H-shape.
In the 18th century the House continued to be used for various Royal ‘grace-and-favour’ residential purposes.
Although the House survived as an official building, it became the Royal Naval Asylum, a charity caring for and educating the orphan children of seamen, from 1806. In 1933 the Royal Hospital School moved to Holbrook, Suffolk. Then the House was first restored to become the new National Maritime Museum, created by Act of Parliament in 1934 and opened in 1937.
The House was further restored between 1986 and 1999, and is now largely used to display the Museum’s substantial collection of marine paintings and portraits.

Source:

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/about/history/queens-house/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_House

William Laud

2009-06-21T17:23:34Z

Sarah-sue: /* William Laud */

William Laud was born in Reading on October 7, 1573, as the only son of William Laud, a clothier. Laud was educated at the Reading Grammar School. From there he went on to St. John’s College, Oxford, in 1589. He graduated B.A. in 1594, M.A. in 1598 and D.D. in 1608. In 1601 he was first ordained a deacon and later that year a priest.
In 1608 he also entered the service of Richard Neile, bishop of Rochester – Laud was made Neile’s chaplain. Furthermore, Laud was elected president of St. John’s in 1611.
From 1611 he was a royal chaplain and came to notice of King [[James I]]. He also became Duke Buckingham’s chaplain and confidant during his years of power. Laud also became a very dominant voice concerning church policies and appointments. In 1627 Laud became privy councillor and then in 1628 the bishop of London.
He was a combatant of the Puritan clergy and thought of the Anglican Church as a branch of the universal church. Therefore he devoted himself to enforce a form of service strictly according to the ''Book of Common Prayer''. In connection to this, new ceremonials as bowing when mentioning the name of Jesus were imposed. Moreover, churches were repaired and beautified.
During his combat against the Puritan clergy, he tried to eliminate the Puritans from important position within the church – he worked closely with [[Charles I]], whose politics he strongly supported.
When he became chancellor in Oxford in 1629, he introduced new reforms and new endowments to improve the university. He also stamped out Calvinism to make Oxford a royalist stronghold. The university also functioned as a training ground for Laudian religion.
In 1633, Laud became archbishop of Canterbury on the death of George Abbott. Hence, he held the highest churchly office in the Anglican Church – probably also because of the support of Duke Buckingham, who was the first minister of the king. Consequently, he continued his combat against the Puritans – for instance, he mutilated and imprisoned Puritan propagandist such as William Prynne. His tyranny caused to some extend violent opposition – not only from the Puritan’s movement.
Laud’s only constant ally was Thomas Wentworth, who was lord deputy of Ireland from 1637 onwards and who later became the earl of Strafford.
Later, by 1637, the attempts by [[Charles I]] and Laud to establish Anglican forms of worship in Scotland provoked severe resistance there. That is why in 1639 the [[Second Bishops’ Wars]] began.
In December of 1640 the [[Long Parliament]] accused Laud of high treason and thus imprisoned him. His actual trial did not begin before 1644. Then on January 10, 1645, Laud was beheaded.

Sources:

Smith, George. The Dictionary of National Biography. London, 1882.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/332198/William-Laud

William Laud

2009-06-21T17:22:48Z

Sarah-sue:

==William Laud==

William Laud was born in Reading on October 7, 1573, as the only son of William Laud, a clothier. Laud was educated at the Reading Grammar School. From there he went on to St. John’s College, Oxford, in 1589. He graduated B.A. in 1594, M.A. in 1598 and D.D. in 1608. In 1601 he was first ordained a deacon and later that year a priest.
In 1608 he also entered the service of Richard Neile, bishop of Rochester – Laud was made Neile’s chaplain. Furthermore, Laud was elected president of St. John’s in 1611.
From 1611 he was a royal chaplain and came to notice of King [[James I]]. He also became Duke Buckingham’s chaplain and confidant during his years of power. Laud also became a very dominant voice concerning church policies and appointments. In 1627 Laud became privy councillor and then in 1628 the bishop of London.
He was a combatant of the Puritan clergy and thought of the Anglican Church as a branch of the universal church. Therefore he devoted himself to enforce a form of service strictly according to the ''Book of Common Prayer''. In connection to this, new ceremonials as bowing when mentioning the name of Jesus were imposed. Moreover, churches were repaired and beautified.
During his combat against the Puritan clergy, he tried to eliminate the Puritans from important position within the church – he worked closely with [[Charles I]], whose politics he strongly supported.
When he became chancellor in Oxford in 1629, he introduced new reforms and new endowments to improve the university. He also stamped out Calvinism to make Oxford a royalist stronghold. The university also functioned as a training ground for Laudian religion.
In 1633, Laud became archbishop of Canterbury on the death of George Abbott. Hence, he held the highest churchly office in the Anglican Church – probably also because of the support of Duke Buckingham, who was the first minister of the king. Consequently, he continued his combat against the Puritans – for instance, he mutilated and imprisoned Puritan propagandist such as William Prynne. His tyranny caused to some extend violent opposition – not only from the Puritan’s movement.
Laud’s only constant ally was Thomas Wentworth, who was lord deputy of Ireland from 1637 onwards and who later became the earl of Strafford.
Later, by 1637, the attempts by [[Charles I]] and Laud to establish Anglican forms of worship in Scotland provoked severe resistance there. That is why in 1639 the [[Second Bishops’ Wars]] began.
In December of 1640 the [[Long Parliament]] accused Laud of high treason and thus imprisoned him. His actual trial did not begin before 1644. Then on January 10, 1645, Laud was beheaded.

Sources:

Smith, George. The Dictionary of National Biography. London, 1882.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/332198/William-Laud