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U45 - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Non-conformist religious upbringing
        
        Lived through major historical events
        
        Varied professions & failed businesses
        
        Piooner of the novel & across genres
        
        Pseudonyms
        
        Born in London into a middle-class Protestant Dissenter family, who rejected the authority of the Church of England. Dissenters were excluded from many aspects of social life, and he was educated at a Dissenting academy rather than at Oxford or Cambridge. Later, he was jailed & sentenced to the pillory (a public form of humilliation) for his most famous political pamhlet: The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1702).
        
        Defoe's grew up during tumultuous times, witnessing in first hand the Great Plague of London (1665), which he survived, and the Great Fire of London (1666), both of which left deep impressions on him. Later he wrote A Journal of the Plague Year (1722).
        
        Defoe wasn't just a writer. He was also a merchant, political pamphleteer, journalist & spy. After completing his education, he went into trade, engaging in various businesses & traveling widely across Europe. Despite his entrepreneurial spirit, he faced several business failures and went bankrupt multiple times, struggling with poverty throughout his life.
        
        Defoe is most famous for being a pioneer of the modern novel with Robinson Crusoe (1719), considered one of the first English novels & a massive success. But actually he wrote across genres, including works on crime (Moll Flanders), natural disasters (~), economics (A Plan of the English Commerce), and even religious (~) and political issues (The True Born Englishman).
        
        Defoe used numerous pseudonyms throughout his career. He wrote under at least 198 different names, allowing him to write on controversial topics without personal repercussions.
        
        The True-Born Englishman (1701)
        
        The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1702)
        
        Robinson Crusoe (1719)
        
        Moll Flanders (1722)
        
        A Journal of the Plague Year (1722)
        
        Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724)
        
        A Plan of the English Commerce (1728)
        
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      - (1660-1731)
    - - (1667-1745)
      - Dual identity & orphan
        
        Clergyman & politically active
        
        Wrote under pseudonyms
        
        Born in Dublin (Ireland) to English parents. Swift’s father died before he was born, and his mother moved back to England shortly after his birth, being raised by his uncle. This dual national identity & his early sense of abandonment played a crucial role throughout his life.
        
        Though he is famous as a satirist & writer, Swift's primary career was in the Church of Ireland. He became a clergyman largely because his ambitions for a political career were frustated, but he remained politically active. His satirical works often criticized English exploitation of Ireland, most notably in A Modest Proposal (1729), where he suggested that the Irish poor might alleviate their suffering by selling their children as food.
        
        Throughout his career, Swift wrote under various pseudonyms. He used these aliases to publish his sharp, often controversial satirical pamphlets, which allowed him to avoid direct consequences.
        
        A Tale of a Tub (1704)
        
        Gulliver's Travels (1726)
        
        A Modest Proposal (1729)
        
        Gulliver's Travels
        
        Swift’s most famous work, Gulliver’s Travels, is a satirical adventure novel that critiques human nature, society, and government through the travels of Lemuel Gulliver to various fictional lands.
        
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  - - - (1689-1761)
      - Limited education & gifted
        
        Printer apprentice & publisher
        
        Late start as novelist
        
        Epistolary novel pioneer
        
        Born to a modest family, Richardson received only a basic education. However, he was naturally gifted in writing & storytelling from a young age. As a young man, he was often asked by friends & neighbors to write letters for them, thanks to his skill with words. This experience later informed his decision to use letter-writing as the structure/format that would define his novels.
        
        At the age of 17, Richardson was apprenticed to a London printer. For 7 years, he gained a thorough understanding of the publishing industry and learned to manage the technical & business aspects of printing. Then he became a successful publisher. He set up his own printing business, publishing works by leading authors of the time, and gaining considerable wealth.
        
        Richardson began his career as a writer relatively late in life, publishing his first novel, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, at the age of 51. Richardson had been commissioned to compile a letter-writing manual that would offer moral guidance & help readers improve their correspondence. This project became the seed for his first novel, Pamela (1740), marking his transition into writing fiction.
        
        Richardson is often credited with pioneering the epistolary novel format, in which the story is entirely told through letters. This format /style gives readers direct access to the inner thoughts & emotions of its characters, thus becoming the first novels to focus on the psychological & emotional development of a character. Readers get to see Pamela & Clarissa's moral dilemmas, fears, and hopes in detail, creating a sense of connection with them.
        
        Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740)
        
        Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady (1748)
        
        The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1754)
        
        Pamela
        
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        Clarissa
        
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    - - (1707-1754)
      - Playwright & Satirist
        
        Rivalry with Samuel Richardson
        
        Founder of the modern Comic novel
        
        In his early career, Fielding gained fame as a playwright. He wrote over 25 plays, many of which were satires that critiqued political corruption & society. His political satires, especially those aimed at Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, led to the passage of the Licensing Act of 1737, which effectively censored the theater and ended his career as a playwright.
        
        Fielding had a notable literary rivalry with Samuel Richardson. After Richardson published Pamela (1740), Fielding wrote Shamela (1741), a parody that mocked what he saw as the moral hypocrisy and sentimentality of Pamela.
        
        Fielding is considered one of the founders of the modern comic novel. Fielding's witty narrative voice and his ability to balance comedy with serious moral themes were groundbreaking, as seen in Joseph Andrews (1742) & Tom Jones (1749).
        
        His sister, Sarah Fielding, was also a successful writer & contributed to the rise of the novel as the writer of the first novel in English language aimed at children: The Governess, or The Little Female Academy (1749).
        
        Shamela (1741)
        
        Joseph Andrews (1742)
        
        Tom Jones (1749)
        
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  - - - Smollett brought the picaresque novel into English literature. Also, his sharp social satire & realism with a focus on the lower classes helped to establish the novel as a tool for social critique, influecing later writers like Charles Dickens.
        
        The Adventures of Roderick Random
        
        1st Picaresque novel
        
        Sharp social critique
        
        A classic example of the picaresque genre. Picaresque novels are episodic in nature, offering a series of loosely connected adventures featuring a rogue or "picaro" as the protagonist. It follows the misadventures of Roderick Random, an illegitimate Scottish boy, who navigates through society's ups & downs with cunning & wit.
        
        It is known for its biting satire of 18th-century British society. Smollett criticizes various institutions & class hierarchies, and exposes corruption, hypocrisy & greed, painting a grim picture of how the vulnerable are often exploited by those in power.
        
        (1748)
    - - Sterne's narrative innovation pushed the boundaries of what a novel could be, paving the way for later modernist & postmodernist authors who experimented with form, such as James Joyce & Virginia Woolf.
        
        Tristram Shandy
        
        (1759-1767)
        
        Non-linear narrative
        
        Use of meta-narrative
        
        Unconventional narrative techniques
        
        It is famous for its digressive & fragmented narrative structure. It frequently jumps between different events, often abandoning the main plot in favor of long digressions.
        
        It was revolutionary for its use of meta-narrative, breaking the fourth wall. Sterne frequently addresses the reader directly, making the narrator, Tristram, highly self-aware. He comments on the writing process & engages in a playful relationship with the audience, thus manipulating their expectations.
        
        Sterne challenged the reader's expectations of how a book should look by means of unconventional narrative techniques such as blank pages, black pages & erratic chapter structures. This innovative use of typography has been hailed as a precursor to modernist & postmodernist literature.
    - - The Vicar of Wakefield
        
        (1766)
        
        1st Domestic novel
        
        More accessible & popular
        
        It is one of the earliest examples of the domestic novel, focusing on the lives of ordinary middle-class families. Rather than grand adventures or aristocratic intrigue, Goldsmith showed how the everyday struggles of a humble family could be the subject of serious literature. This shift toward realism & focus on family life influenced later writers in Victorian England like Jane Austen & Charles Dickens.
        
        Goldsmith's clear & straightforward storytelling contrasted with the more episodic or experimental forms of the novel that were popular at the time. This helped solidify the novel as an accessible form of entertainment & moral instruction for a broad audience.
- - - - James II > Mary II & William III
        
        the Glorious Revolution (1688)
        
        the Bill of Rights (1689)
        
        the Act of Settlement (1701)
        
        the Act of Union (1707)
        
        Queen Ann's reign (1702-14)
        
        In 1685, James II became King of England & Ireland, and, simultaneously, he was James VII of Scotland. His Catholicism created significant religious tensions in a predominantly Protestant nation, which eventually lead to the Glorious Revolution of 1688: fearing a Catholic dynasty after the birth of James's son in that year, a group of English nobles invited William of Orange, a Protestant and husband of James's daughter Mary, to invade England. Thus, James II was replaced by his protestant daughter, Mary II, and her husband, William of Orange (William III).
        
        When they became joint monarchs, they agreed to the Bill of Rights (1689), which limited the powers of the monarchy and established the constitutional monarchy that endures in the UK to this day, which fundamentally shifted the balance of power in favor of Parliament. Given the fact that William & Mary had no surviving children, the Act of Settlement (1701) was passed to ensure that only Protestants could ascend the throne.
        
        In 1707, the Act of Union was signed, uniting the kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single kingdom called Great Britain and Anne Stuart, the younger sister of Mary II, became the first monarch of Great Britain after this union (1702-1714). Her reign saw growing parliamentary power and the rise of party politics.
      - the beginning of
      - & Great Britain
    - - At the beginning of the 18th c., the parliament grew stronger & it became a Cabinet System, with the appearance of the first prime minister in the history of Great Britain: Robert Walpole. There were two main political parties opposed: the Whigs or liberals, representing the emerging social classes (traders, etc.) and the Tories or conservatives, representing the aristocracy, the clergy & the landowners. The middle classes were firmly established in this period and so the Whig party dominated the century.
      - the beginning of
      - & the 1st prime minister
  - - - Transport Revolution
        
        Roads became up to 10 times faster to travel thanks to a nation-wide Turnpike System.
        
        Canals became drastically more efficent for transporting heavy goods (coal, iron & raw materials).
        
        Railways drastically transformed the transportation of goods & people, making extensive travel possible for all social classes, thus allowing the the shift from the countryside into the town & integrating isolated regions into the national economy.
        
        Steamships, possible thanks to the development of the steam enginge, revolutionized maritime transport, being used for both domestic & international trade.
        
        significant advancements in infrastructure & transportation technology
      - Although the Industrial Revolution gained significant momentum towards the end of the 18th c. (1760-1820), its roots were planted earlier with technological innovations in several industries, such as transport, agriculture, raw materials, energy sources, etc.
      - Agricultural Revolution
        
        The end of Feudalism by 1700 (where peasants were obligated to provide labor/pay rents in exchange for the right to work the land), allowed peasants more autonomy.
        
        Increased agricultural productivity/efficiency led to lower food prices, so families could purchase manufactured goods, thus stimulating industrial growth so as to meet consumer demand.
        
        The introduction of the four-field crop rotation system as well as new crops (turnips & clover), which allowed for year-round cultivation & improved soil fertility. Not to mention selective breeding.
      - Technological Revolution
        
        The steam engine, which began to be used in coalmining, coal being the country's main source of energy, became economically profitable thanks to Thoman Newcomen, and was later adopted in other industries in the form of steam locomotives & steamships.
        
        The factory system managed to centralize production and led to the division of labor, where tasks were divided into small mechanical processes, allowed for mass production.
        
        Textile industry innovations such as the flying shuttle, the spinning jenny & the power loom made Britain the world's largest cotton manufacturer & exporter.
        
        New basic materials & energy sources appeared (e.g. iron & steel, coal, steam power, electricity, petroleum & internal combustion).
  - - - Population rose rapidly thanks in part to improvements in agriculture. Also the age of marriage went down and so women had more childbearing years. Birth rates went up and death rates went down. From to start to the end of the 18th c., the population of England more than doubled (from 5M to 9M).
        
        Rapid urbanization transformed cities like London, Manchester, Birmingham & Liverpool, as people migrated from rural areas to urban centers in search of work.
        
        Overcrowding brought about harsh conditions & everyday problems in the new industrial societies, which were mostly suffered by the lower classes: lack of hygiene, street waste, pollution, unhealthy living conditions, housing problems, poverty & growing tensions btw the workers & business owners.
    - - The Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that emphasized the use of reason & the scientific method to understand the world, brought about rapid scientific & philosophical advancement. Figures such as John Locke (political theory on government & democracy), Francis Bacon (father of the scientific method), David Hume (skepticism, empiricism & inductive reasoning) & Isaac Newton (father of modern physics).
      - the Englightment
        /the Age of Reason
    - - Professionalization of literature
        
        The rise of an increasingly literate middle class provided a broader reading public & a demand for books, newspapers & magazines. Simultaneously, technological innovations in printing & the growth of the publishing industry led to the expansion of the book market, which created new opportunities for writers & gave way to the professionalization of literature.
        
        In earlier centuries, many writers relied on patronage from aristocrats or monarchs to support their work, but now they could sell their works directly to the public through publishers, which allowed them more creative freedom. Periodicals & journalism became a key way to engage in political, social & cultural debates while providing a steady income for many writers, which resulted in the figure of the modern author as we know it today.
      - Rise of the novel
        
        While literature had previously been dominated by poetry & drama, the novel emerged as a major literary form in the 18th c. It reflected the concerns, tastes & interests of an expanding middle class: themes like social mobility, morality & domestic life were particularly popular among women, who were often excluded from formal education, staying & engrossing the reading public. There was a new audience for fiction & realism, focusing on individual experience & the characters' inner life.