The English Restoration between Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

Hobbes (1588-1679) & Locke (1632-1704)

Two major philosophical works can be seen to frame the socio-political context of English Restoration theatre: Hobbes' Leviathan (1651) and Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690).

Hobbes, writing in the midst of the Puritan interregnum, argues that a just society is produced by a benevolent absolute monarch, who uses rational principles to defend the natural rights of the people. Locke, writing in the immediate aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, argues that the natural rights of humanity are best protected by representative constitutional government. Over the course of the 40 years that historians typically identify as the period of English Restoration theatre (1660-1700), England begins to undergo a fundamental shift from absolutist monarchy to a bourgeois capitalist society under parliamentary rule. This will have major and subtle effects on the plays written during this time and the theatrical institutions in which they are performed.

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A few key dates:

By 1600 Indoor playhouses were being built. Burbage’s Blackfriar’s theatre, where Shakespeare’s troupe performed in the Winter.

1603 James I empowered the master of revels to license play publication, making dramatic literature a state-regulated business too.

1625 James I dies. Charles I assumes the throne. He is a great patron of court masques, which are written by Ben Jonson and many of the leading playwrights. Making use of Inigo Jones’ designs based on perspective scenery and Italian design.

1632 William Prynne’s Histriomastix, a polemic against the stage and the wiles of women. He is sent to the Tower, becomes a martyr to the Puritan cause.

1642 Civil War breaks out between the Monarchy and the Puritans. The public theatres close.

1649 Puritans prevail under Oliver Cromwell. Charles I executed on the steps of Parliament, after being taken through his court theatre where masques had been staged. The English aristocracy flees to France, where they learn a bit about French neoclassical theatre.

1660 Chalres II returns to London and puts the Puritan regicides to death. Theatres re-opened. Actresses appear on the English stage for the first time. Charles gives grants to Thomas Killigrew to establish the King’s Company and to William Davenant to establish the Duke’s Company.

1665 The Great Plague

1666 The Great Fire of London

1685 Charles II dies. He converts from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicisim on his death-bed. King James II ascends the throne, openly practicing Roman Catholicism and promoting religious toleration. Opponents see this as the first step towards abolishing the Anglican Church and turning England Catholic, like Mary Queen of Scots had intended.

1686-7 James II starts appointing only Catholics to military, academic and government jobs.

1688 Glorious revolution. English nobles secretly invite William of Orange (Dutch leader) and Mary to take the throne. He is a militant protestant. James II flees England.

1690 James II is defeated in battle by William in the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland. James dies in exile in France. Democratic reforms advanced giving increased power to Parliament. Increasing democratization of professional theatre, which becomes increasingly commercial and subject to market forces. Absolutist monopolies over theatre decline, clearing the way for the rise of bourgeois theatre.

1694 Bank of England established. Capitalism begins to replace aristocratic patronage.

1700 Congreve’s The Way of the World, usually cited as the end of the Restoration period theatre.