What was the 18th century best known for?

The Eighteenth Century (1701-1800) was a period marked by significant progress in science, commerce and trade. It was also a century of political upheaval with the new political ideas of the Enlightenment culminating in the American and French Revolutions.

How was English written in the 18th century?

In eighteenth-century writing, sentence construction involved periodic and complex sentences, often diluting the subject, verb, object pattern to which we are so accustomed. Eighteenth-century writing also poses a fairly different orthography[the system of spelling and letters] than does present-day English.

What are the main features of 18th century British prose?

The 18th-century literature was characterised by the spirit of realism and romantic features like enthusiasm, passion, imaginations etc. declined in this period. Reason, intellect, correctness, satirical spirit etc. were the main characteristics of 18th-century literature.

What are the main features of literature in the 18th-century?

The Age emphasized rationalism, intellect, logic and wit. It was opposed to excessive emotionalism, sentimentalism, enthusiasm and even imagination. The principle which got the highest widest recognition during the 18th century was the Pope’s ‘Nature’.

What is 18th-century British literature?

European literature of the 18th century refers to literature (poetry, drama, satire, and novels) produced in Europe during this period. Subgenres of the novel during the 18th century were the epistolary novel, the sentimental novel, histories, the gothic novel and the libertine novel.

What era was 18th century?

In Europe, the eighteenth century was a period of intellectual, social, and political ferment. This time is often referred to as the Age of Enlightenment, for it was in the 18th century that the ideas of the previous 100 years were implemented on a broad scale.

Why did English novel rise in 18th century?

The 18th century marked the period where novels were distributed on a large scale, and a certain level of demand arose among English readers. This demand is also due to people’s desire for reading about everyday events, events which went on to shape the lives and actions of fictional characters.

What are the major characteristics of 18th-century literature *?

The Age emphasized rationalism, intellect, logic and wit. It was opposed to excessive emotionalism, sentimentalism, enthusiasm and even imagination. The principle which got the highest widest recognition during the 18th century was the Pope’s ‘Nature’. It was not the ‘nature’ of Romantics but it was ‘human nature’.

Why is eighteenth-century writing so different from modern English writing?

Eighteenth-century writing also poses a fairly different orthography[the system of spelling and letters] than does present-day English. The unusual spelling construction in conjunction with–what we would call–“random” word capitalization is a distraction to those struggling through an eighteenth-century work like Joseph Andrews, for example.

What was life like in the 18th century in England?

There were two very different lifestyles in 18th-century England: that of the rich and that of the poor. With the Industrial Revolution, which started in the middle of the century, came new machinery that saved time and made some people very wealthy. The rich were getting richer and the poor, poorer.

Why was there a demand for novels in the 18th century?

The 18th century marked the period where novels were distributed on a large scale, and a certain level of demand arose among English readers. This demand is also due to people’s desire for reading about everyday events, events which went on to shape the lives and actions of fictional characters.

How would you learn to speak English from the 1700s?

Fortunately, English spoken in the 1700s is quite similar to what is spoken today. You’re not really learning a new language, you’re just picking up a few quirks. Model your pronunciation after a subtle, class-neutral London accent.