Understanding 18th Century British Literature

Main Idea

To truly understand the literature produced in the eighteenth century England one must understand the influence of the English social class, how class affects English society, and how society affected English literature.  

English Society 

 Entering into the eighteenth-century, England's most significant characteristic was the change in power from the upper class and the new middle class. The leading contributor to this change came from the large increase of people that could read and write. Social classes were no longer separated by only the high society being able to read and write, but now more common people became literate. 

This new middle class would prove to be an essential time for literature, as the middle class emerged with a hunger for literature, and with the growth of middle-class people could afford to educate themselves and obtain different books and other literature besides just the standard bible.

The influence that social class had over eighteenth-century English literature is important to understand, as it can give the reader a better understanding of why something was being written.  

Class versus Society

 The way that social class influenced the society in eighteenth-century England is just as essential to what the social class represented. Social class in society determines every aspect of a person's life in eighteenth-century England.

The aristocrats at the top, followed by the middle class that aimed to one day be at the top, and then the lower class that was still just trying to survive.

Unfortunately, the lower-class gap between the middle and higher class became larger and made the ability to grow even more difficult. With only, the ability to read their bible the lower class remained in the same position they had been for centuries. 

 As the lower social class primarily worked hard labor jobs in factories the middle and upper class managed and owned the business.  With new factory jobs being made available by the upper and middle class the lower class began to migrate from the rural area in hopes to find better opportunities. This transformation of the city would have a lasting effect on society as a city lifestyle became more common. However, as the lower class was happy with simply find a job the upper and middle class could both make a large amount of money through various different industries. Through these opportunities, the upper class increased their already massive wealth and the middle class gained the power of wealth.

 The knowledge of the relationship between these three classes are essential to understanding the literature that would be written about them and more importantly why very little was written about the lower class.   

Societies and English Literature

Once one can understand what social class was in England during the eighteenth- century and how society was affected by the different social classes then understanding how society affected the literature will become clearer. Writers such as Addison, Pope, and Locke would begin to write newspapers, essays, poetry, and novels as writing became an incredible source for entertainment. Essays such as The Spectator by Addison received a large follow and remained very popular for the two years that it was published. 

The more they read the more they found that they needed a place to discuss what they were reading, thus became the coffee house.

The coffee house quickly became part of society's culture during the eighteenth-century. People would gather and discuss the latest issue of different newspaper articles or other literature while drinking coffee.

These settings became extremely popular and important as the middle class was still adjusting to their new social class and becoming more familiar with being a part of a higher social class. This adjustment would prove to create some resentment from both classes and their different ideas about different issues. This atmosphere was essentially important as it represented a place that literature would become intertwined with the social class within a society. 

 It is important to understand the significance of the social change concerning literature as it was the literature that truly made the coffee-house what they were and why they were so popular. 

Understanding

To fully understand the literature, one must understand the motivations behind these writing. To understand the motivation from this period and what influenced them one must first understand the English social class and the importance of the upper, middle, and lower classes. Why the connection between class and society is significant and how society can affect literature. The knowledge of the various backgrounds of England is essential to understanding the literature that was created throughout the era.