The famous authors of the restoration period with their popular works are as below.
John Dryden
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John Dryden was considered as the king of restoration literature and one of the most prominent literary figure of that period. He worked as an English poet, critic, and playwright. He was born in the year 1631 in Northamptonshire
When King Charles II ascended the throne, John wrote a royalist panegyric for the appraisal and celebration of King Charles II. King was very pleased with his work and named him as Poet Laureate in 1688.
Dryden was very determined to achieve perfection in his works. He always liked to have symmetry, clarity, reasoning, and logic in all his literary works but sometimes he failed to achieve it as he had past traits of the Elizabethan times like fancy elements and imagination in his work. He sometimes mix-up tragedies and comedies.
Dryden also became popular as Father of English criticism. He brought the new concept of descriptive criticism which was about literary analysis. Dryden also initialized Historical criticism.
Dryden was also a dramatist and started his career in the same with Wild Gallant. He had made an immense contribution in popularizing the concept of Heroic couplet in English Poetry. Dryden also made efforts to establish satires as literary mode during this age. Some of the heroic plays written by Dryden are:
- The tyrranic love
- Conquest of Granada
- Aurengazebe
- Absalom and Achitophel
Other important works are:
- Mac Flecknoe
- Dramatic Poesie
- Marriage a la Mode
- All for Love
Samuel Butler
The popular and powerful satirist of restoration age was Samuel Butler. Hudibras was one of the prominent satirical work of Samuel. A touch of Puritanism was seen in his satire work. Hudibras consists of elements of mock heroism, irony, witty epigrams and buffoonery. His work includes:
- The Way of All Flesh
- Erewhon
- Ralpho
Samuel Butler
Abraham Cowley
Abraham Cowley was one of the literary figures in the field of writing essays. He was very good at writing personal essays. The subject of his essays was mostly based on morality. However, the length of his essays was comparatively small. He was one of the greatest literary figures in the area of essays.
Cowley also adopted the Pindaric Ode style to English Verse. The main charm of his works was some personal touch given by him that attracted most of his readers.
Most famous works of Abraham Cowley are:
- On myself
- The essays
- Davideis
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was a religious writer. He was a celebrated minister and a preacher along with being the author of the “The Pilgrim’s Progress” which a Puritan religious book. His works were mostly influenced by the bible. Some of his most popular writing are:
- Grace abounding
- The life and death of Mr. Badman
- The pilgrim’s progress
William Congreve
William Congreve was the most important Playwright of the Restoration period and a student of John Dryden. He became popular for his comedy of manners that catered its taste of the time like a bawdy and sexual innuendo. His comedies were written before he turned 30.
The most famous work of William is “Old Bachelor”. Which was highly successful. Some of his other prominent works are:
- Double dealer
- Love for love
- The way of the world
William Congreve
John Milton
John Milton was a literary genius in poetry but was an oddball of the Restoration Era. It was because he fixed his writings style to Puritanism and Republicanism when society and politics were moving away from them.
He produced some of the best and important works in English literature that can be considered as his crowning achievements. His work includes:
- Paradise Lost
- Paradise Regained
- Samson Agonistes
John Milton
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn was one of the first female women writers of the restoration age. She was also a spy who worked for the British Government. Behn was a Playwright, translator, poet and also a fiction writer of the restoration period.
Behn was very prolific in adapting plays, writing poetry and fiction, and also translating works from Latin and French. Her work mostly featured the homoerotic themes and same-sex love between men.
One of her most praised work is the poem “The Disappointment” where she wrote about the sexual encounter from women’s point of view about male impotence. Her other notable work was a short novel “Oroonoko” that features slavery, gender and race. Some of her other works are:
- The Rover
- The Fair Jilt
- On the Death of the Late Earl of Rochester
Aphra Behn
William Wycherley
An English dramatist of the restoration era who was influenced by the French Literature was William Wycherley. William was taking training as a lawyer but he was so obsessed with theatres that he started to write plays while he was supposed to study law. He was one of the most influential playwrights in the restoration literature.
William specialization was in Comedy of Manners. His major work includes:
- The Country Wife
- The Plain Dealer
- Love in Wood
- The Gentleman Dancing Master
William Wycherley
