AUGUSTAN AGE
The first half of the 18th century is often referred to as the ‘Augustan Age’. This indicates a society modelled on ancient Rome under the Emperor Augustus.
The British ruling class looked upon themselves|as as the true heirs of the Roman Empire, and the British Parliament as a modern counterpart of the Roman Senate, and on their overseas colonies as an empire that was comparable with that of ancient Rome.
Neoclassicism became a way of life.The great Augustan artists also shared a belief in reason as capable of imposing some order on a chaotic world.
They were critical of the middle class, with its bad taste and cult of money, and of the corruption of the aristocracy and the political parties.
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 the middle class gradually merged with the aristocracy.
There was no violent conflict between the two classes as in the French Revolution.
The interests of both classes were the same, with a Protestant, Puritan, morality, a religious belief in work and a strong sense of the importance of the family.
Clubs and coffeehouses were also important for the middle-class.
People went to coffeehouses to meet each other, discuss current events, and write.
The Augustans saw Nature as the rational principle guiding the universe. Nature and the classics were thought to be the same thing and were considered superior to modern ideas.
Mock- heroic and satirical poetry exposed the follies and abuses of contemporary society. Alexander Pope (1648-1744)was the greatest satirical poet of his age. He gained fame with The Rape of the Lock (1712), a mock-heroic poem in which a trivial accident (a young lord cuts off a lock of a young noble lady’s hair) is sung in epic language and tone.
A subject of the least importance is treated as if it were of the greatest importance, to ridicule English aristocracy.