| Poem | Date | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Heroique Stanzas | 1659 | • Elegy for Oliver Cromwell • Before Restoration |
| Astraea Redux | 1660 | • Celebrates Restoration of Charles II • "Astraea" = goddess of justice • Praises return of monarchy |
| Annus Mirabilis | 1667 | • "Year of Wonders" (1666) • Great Fire of London • Naval victories over Dutch • Quatrains (4-line stanzas) |
| Absalom and Achitophel | 1681 | • Political satire (masterpiece) • Biblical allegory: - Absalom = Duke of Monmouth (Charles's illegitimate son) - Achitophel = Earl of Shaftesbury (Whig politician) - David = Charles II ("God's anointed") • Exclusion Crisis (attempt to exclude Catholic James from succession) • Source: Biblical (2 Samuel) • Famous quote: "Some truth there was, but dashed and brewed with lies" • Heroic couplets • Part II (1682) with Nahum Tate |
| Mac Flecknoe | 1682 | • Satire on Thomas Shadwell (rival poet) • Mock-heroic • Flecknoe (bad poet) crowns Shadwell heir • Influenced Pope's Dunciad |
| The Medal | 1682 | • Satire on Shaftesbury • Follow-up to Absalom & Achitophel |
| Religio Laici | 1682 | • "A Layman's Faith" • Defense of Anglicanism • Before conversion to Catholicism |
| The Hind and the Panther | 1687 | • Beast fable • Hind = Catholic Church • Panther = Anglican Church • Defense of Catholicism (after conversion) • 3 parts |
| "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham" | 1684 | • Elegy for fellow satirist • "Too little and too lately known" |
| "Alexander's Feast" | 1697 | • Ode for St. Cecilia's Day • Power of music theme • Pindaric ode |
| Play | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| All for Love | 1678 | • Dryden's best-known play • Tragedy (Antony & Cleopatra) • Blank verse (not rhymed couplets) • Observes unities • Based on Shakespeare but different approach |
| The Conquest of Granada | 1670-71 | • Heroic drama (2 parts) • Rhymed couplets • Almanzor (superhuman hero) |
| Aureng-Zebe | 1675 | • Last rhymed heroic play • Mughal India setting |
| Marriage à la Mode | 1672 | • Comedy • Double plot |
| The Indian Emperor | 1665 | • Heroic drama • Montezuma |
| Work | Date | Key Points |
|---|---|---|
| An Essay of Dramatic Poesy | 1668 | • Dialogue form (4 speakers) • Defends English drama vs. French • Neander = Dryden's voice • Discusses unities, rhyme in drama • Praises Shakespeare • French vs. English drama debate |
| Preface to Fables Ancient and Modern | 1700 | • Last work • Compares Chaucer & Ovid • Critical assessments |
| A Defence of An Essay of Dramatic Poesy | 1668 | • Reply to Sir Robert Howard |
| Poem | Date | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| An Essay on Criticism | 1711 | • Didactic poem (verse essay) • Written age 21 • Heroic couplets • Literary criticism in verse Famous quotes: • "A little learning is a dangerous thing" • "To err is human, to forgive divine" • "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" • "True wit is nature to advantage dressed" • "For fools admire, but men of sense approve" • Advice: Follow Nature, study ancients • On wit and judgment |
| The Rape of the Lock | 1712 (2 cantos) 1714 (5 cantos) | • Mock-epic masterpiece • Based on real incident (Lord Petre cut Arabella Fermor's hair) • Supernatural machinery: Rosicrucians (sylphs, gnomes, salamanders, nymphs) • Ariel: Sylph guardian • Betty: Belinda's maid • Shock: Belinda's lapdog • Baron: Cuts the lock • Epic conventions parodied • 5 cantos • Heroic couplets • Card game (Ombre) • Cave of Spleen |
| The Dunciad | 1728 (3 books) 1743 (4 books, Cibber) | • Mock-epic satire • Attack on dullness & bad writers • King of Dunces: - 1728: Lewis Theobald (Shakespeare editor) - 1743: Colley Cibber (Poet Laureate) • Goddess Dulness • Parodies epic (Aeneid) • Book IV (1743): darkest vision • "Dunce" = dull writer, pedant |
| An Essay on Man | 1733-34 | • Philosophical poem (4 epistles) • Dedicated to Lord Bolingbroke • Heroic couplets Famous quotes: • "The proper study of mankind is Man" • "Hope springs eternal in the human breast" • "Whatever is, is right" • "Know then thyself, presume not God to scan" • "An honest man's the noblest work of God" • Optimistic philosophy • Great Chain of Being • Man's place in universe |
| Moral Essays | 1731-35 | • 4 epistles • On characters, women, wealth • "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot" (1735) - autobiography, defends satire |
| Pastorals | 1709 | • First published work • Written age 16 • 4 eclogues (seasons) |
| Windsor Forest | 1713 | • Topographical poem • Celebrates Peace of Utrecht |
| Eloisa to Abelard | 1717 | • Heroic epistle • Medieval lovers • Passionate verse letter |
| Translation | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Iliad | 1715-20 | • 6 volumes • Made Pope wealthy • Heroic couplets • Subscribers funded |
| Odyssey | 1725-26 | • Collaboration (Fenton & Broome helped) • Pope did 12 books, others 12 |
| Work | Date | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Gulliver's Travels | 1726 | • Satirical novel (4 parts/voyages) Part I: Lilliput (tiny people, 6 inches) • Political satire (Whigs vs. Tories) • Big-Endians vs. Little-Endians (religious disputes) • Gulliver = "Man-Mountain" Part II: Brobdingnag (giants, 60 feet) • Gulliver tiny in giant land • King criticizes European politics • "Most pernicious race of little odious vermin" Part III: Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, Japan • Laputa: Flying island (scientists, mathematicians) • Absurd experiments (extracting sunbeams from cucumbers) • Struldbruggs (Luggnagg): Immortals (exempt from natural death, but age miserably) • Grand Academy of Lagado (satire on Royal Society) Part IV: Houyhnhnms (rational horses) & Yahoos (bestial humans) • Darkest part • Houyhnhnms = reason, virtue • Yahoos = human vices • Gulliver rejects humanity • Full title: "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World" • Published anonymously |
| A Tale of a Tub | 1704 | • Religious satire • 3 brothers (Peter, Martin, Jack) • Peter = Roman Catholic • Martin = Anglican • Jack = Dissenter/Puritan • Father's will = Bible • Coats = Christian faith • Digressions |
| The Battle of the Books | 1704 | • Ancients vs. Moderns debate • Published with Tale of a Tub • Bee & Spider fable • Defends classical learning |
| A Modest Proposal | 1729 | • Savage satire • Irish poverty • Proposes eating babies (ironic) • "A young healthy child...is...a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food" • Attacks English exploitation of Ireland |
| Drapier's Letters | 1724 | • Irish patriotism • Against English coinage scheme • Pseudonym: M.B. Drapier • Made Swift Irish hero |
| Journal to Stella | 1710-13 | • Letters to Esther Johnson • Published posthumously • Personal, affectionate |
| "A Description of a City Shower" | 1710 | • Mock-georgic poem • London streets |
| "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" | 1731 | • Satirical self-epitaph • "Yet malice never was his aim" |
| Periodical | Editor(s) | Dates | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Tatler | Richard Steele (Addison contributed) | 1709-1711 | • 271 issues • Isaac Bickerstaff (persona) • Essays on manners, morals • 3 times per week |
| The Spectator | Addison & Steele | 1711-1712 (1714 revival) | • 555 issues • Mr. Spectator (narrator) • Spectator Club: - Sir Roger de Coverley (country squire) - Sir Andrew Freeport (merchant) - Will Honeycomb (man about town) - Captain Sentry - Clergyman • Daily • More serious than Tatler • "To enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality" |
| The Guardian | Steele | 1713 | • 175 issues • Addison contributed |
| Work | Type |
|---|---|
| Cato | Tragedy (1713) - Roman stoic, blank verse, popular |
| Campaign | Poem (1705) - celebrates Marlborough's victory at Blenheim |
| "Spectator" essays on Paradise Lost | Literary criticism (1712) - 18 essays, praised Milton |
| Play | Details |
|---|---|
| The Conscious Lovers | Sentimental comedy (1722) |
| The Lying Lover | Comedy (1703) |
| Work | Date | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary of the English Language | 1755 | • First major English dictionary • 9 years of work • 40,000+ words • Literary quotations for definitions • Witty definitions (e.g., lexicographer: "harmless drudge") • Dedicated to Lord Chesterfield (after initial snub) |
| The Rambler | 1750-52 | • Periodical (208 essays) • Twice weekly • Moral essays • Heavy, Latinate style • Johnson wrote almost all |
| The Idler | 1758-60 | • Periodical (103 essays) • Weekly • Lighter than Rambler |
| Rasselas (The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia) | 1759 | • Philosophical romance/novel • Written in one week (to pay mother's funeral) • Happy Valley (Edenic prison) • Rasselas escapes, seeks happiness • Imlac (wise guide) • Theme: "Choice of Life" • Pessimistic conclusion: happiness elusive |
| Preface to Shakespeare | 1765 | • Critical masterpiece • Defended Shakespeare's disregard of unities • "Shakespeare is above all writers" • Praised variety, truth to nature • Edition of Shakespeare's plays |
| Lives of the English Poets | 1779-81 | • 52 biographies (prefaces to poetry collection) • Critical & biographical • Major Lives: Milton, Dryden, Pope, Addison, Swift • Judicious criticism • Personal opinions (disliked Milton's politics) |
| "London" | 1738 | • Satire (imitation of Juvenal) • Urban corruption • Heroic couplets |
| "The Vanity of Human Wishes" | 1749 | • Satire (imitation of Juvenal) • Moral poem • "Let observation with extensive view / Survey mankind from China to Peru" • Stoic resignation |
| Work | Date | Type & Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| The Vicar of Wakefield | 1766 | • Novel • Dr. Primrose (vicar/narrator) • Family misfortunes • Sentimental, moral • Happy ending |
| The Deserted Village | 1770 | • Poem • Rural depopulation • Nostalgia for "Sweet Auburn" • "Ill fares the land" • Enclosure movement critique • Heroic couplets |
| She Stoops to Conquer | 1773 | • Comedy • Plot: Young Marlow mistakes country house for inn • Kate Hardcastle "stoops" (pretends servant) to win Marlow • Tony Lumpkin (comic character) • Subtitle: "The Mistakes of a Night" • Anti-sentimental comedy |
| The Good-Natur'd Man | 1768 | • Comedy • Less successful than She Stoops |
| The Citizen of the World | 1762 | • Periodical essays • Editor: Goldsmith • Chinese philosopher (Lien Chi Altangi) comments on England • Satirical perspective |
| "The Traveller" | 1764 | • Poem • Philosophical survey of Europe • Dedicated to brother |
| Novel | Date | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Robinson Crusoe | 1719 | • First major English novel (often claimed) • Based on Alexander Selkirk (real castaway) • Island: off Venezuela coast • 28 years stranded • Friday (native companion) • Sequels: - The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) - Serious Reflections (1720) • Realistic detail • Economic man, Puritan values |
| Moll Flanders | 1722 | • Picaresque • Female criminal/prostitute • Born in Newgate Prison • 5 marriages |
| Roxana | 1724 | • Courtesan's life • "The Fortunate Mistress" |
| A Journal of the Plague Year | 1722 | • Pseudo-documentary • Great Plague (1665) • Realistic account (Defoe was child then) |
| Novel | Date | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Pamela | 1740 | • Epistolary novel (letters) • Subtitle: "Virtue Rewarded" • Servant girl resists master's advances • Mr. B. eventually marries her • Sentimental • Huge success |
| Clarissa | 1748 | • Epistolary (longest novel in English, 1 million words) • Clarissa Harlowe vs. Lovelace (rake) • Tragic: Clarissa raped, dies • Psychological depth • 7 volumes |
| Sir Charles Grandison | 1753 | • "Good man" protagonist • Conduct novel |
| Work | Key Facts |
|---|---|
| Joseph Andrews | • 1742 • Parody of Pamela (Joseph = Pamela's brother) • Resists Lady Booby • Parson Adams (quixotic figure) • Preface: Novel defined as "comic epic poem in prose" • Source of Ridiculous: Affectation (vanity or hypocrisy) |
| Tom Jones | • 1749 • Masterpiece • Foundling hero (good-hearted, imprudent) • Sophia Western (heroine) • Squire Allworthy • Complex plot • 18 books • Narrator intrusive, witty |
| Amelia | • 1751 • Domestic novel • More serious tone |
| Shamela | • 1741 • Parody of Pamela • Anonymous (Fielding) • Pamela as hypocrite |
| Novel | Details |
|---|---|
| Roderick Random | 1748 - Picaresque, adventures, navy |
| Peregrine Pickle | 1751 - Picaresque, satire |
| Humphry Clinker | 1771 - Epistolary, travel narrative, best work |
| Work | Key Facts |
|---|---|
| Tristram Shandy | • 1759-67 (9 volumes) • Experimental, digressive • Full title: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman • Unfinished (though 9 vols published) • Narrator: Tristram • Uncle Toby (eccentric) • Parson Yorick • Black page, blank page, marbled page • Stream of consciousness precursor • Shandean = digressive, whimsical |
| A Sentimental Journey | • 1768 • Parson Yorick travels France/Italy • Unfinished (ends mid-sentence) |
| Playwright | Play | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| William Congreve (1670-1729) | The Way of the World (1700) | • Masterpiece of Restoration comedy • Millamant & Mirabell (witty lovers) • "Proviso scene" (marriage conditions) • Fainall, Mrs. Marwood (villains) • Complex plot • Brilliant dialogue |
| Love for Love (1695) | • Comedy • More successful initially than Way of the World | |
| William Wycherley (1641-1716) | The Country Wife (1675) | • Horner (pretends impotent to seduce wives) • Margery Pinchwife (naive country wife) • "China scene" • Sexual comedy |
| George Etherege (1636-1692) | The Man of Mode (1676) | • Dorimant (rake hero) • Fashionable life • Witty repartee |
| Aphra Behn (1640-1689) | The Rover (1677) | • First professional woman playwright • Cavaliers in exile • Witty heroine (Hellena) |
| Colley Cibber (1671-1757) | Love's Last Shift | • Subtitle: "The Fool in Fashion" • Sentimental comedy • Poet Laureate (attacked by Pope) |
| Category | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Famous Lines | "God's anointed" | Charles II (Absalom & Achitophel, Dryden) |
| "Proper study of mankind is Man" | Essay on Man (Pope) | |
| "Some truth there was..." | Absalom & Achitophel (Dryden) | |
| "No man is an island" | Donne (but 17th C, included for reference) | |
| First Works | First Major English Dictionary | Johnson (1755) |
| First Major English Novel | Robinson Crusoe (Defoe, 1719) - disputed | |
| First Professional Woman Playwright | Aphra Behn | |
| Dates | Restoration | 1660 (Charles II returns) |
| Popish Plot | 1678 | |
| Robinson Crusoe | 1719 | |
| Johnson's Dictionary | 1755 | |
| Dedications | Essay on Man | Lord Bolingbroke |
| Johnson's Dictionary | Lord Chesterfield (after snub) | |
| Absalom & Achitophel | Political allegory (no dedication) |