Important Writers from the Enlightenment

Alexander Pope was born at the time of the Glorious Revolution in England. As a boy he could read Latin, Greek, French and Italian. His writing gave “insight into human nature” and “dealt with the problem of good and evil in society”. Some of his most famous works are Essay on Criticism, Essay on Man, and The Rape of the Lock. Through his satire and criticism he challenged the accepted ideas of his time government and human nature. He was a master of the Heroic couplet; An Essay on Criticism is an example of one of Pope’s heroic couplet poems. It is a poem about his opinions on literature. Like other writers of the Enlightenment he appreciated classical writers like Homer and Aristotle. (Clark, Cody)

Daniel Defoe is said to have written the first English novel. The novel was Robinson Crusoe, a story about a shipwrecked sailor on an island. The story was a “comment both on the human need for society and the equally powerful impulse for solitude”. Not only was Robinson Crusoe extremely popular, it helped to make novels a popular thing in England. He wrote a lot of other novels because of the success of Robinson Crusoe. Defoe wrote more novels, but none of them were as popular as Robinson Crusoe was; sometimes he would put Crusoe in his titles to get people interested, even though they had little to do with Crusoe. Other than novels, he wrote pamphlets on political issues. Even though he really only had one popular novel, his writing set English fiction in a new direction. Some of his other works got him into trouble; one time he was put in jail for his satire of the Tory party. (“Daniel Defoe”)

John Dryden was a very important figure of literature in the last part of the seventeenth century. His work helped to make writing an acceptable profession in England. He was appointed poet laureate in 1668. He wrote satirical poetry on political issues; they were very powerful and got his point across. Many writers wished they could write like him; Matthew Arnold said “Here at last we have the true English prose, a prose such as we would all gladly use if only we knew how.”  He translated classical writers, like a lot of other writers at the time. He was also a playwright; he wrote some of his plays in free verse, which was unusual during the time period. (“John Dryden”, Trevor-Roper)

John Milton is famous for his epic poem Paradise Lost. Because of Paradise Lost, written by dictation after he became blind, he is considered one of the greatest writers ever. Many words that he made up to use in Paradise Lost are now a common part of our language. Milton used his work to discuss many of his unusual religious ideas and liked to use images and references from the Old Testament, as well as from ancient mythology, to comment on the politics of his time. He supported republics and deeply regretted the failure of the Cromwell government he had supported. Oliver Cromwell appointed him Secretary of Foreign Tongues and he wrote many pamphlets of propaganda and reasons for a republican government. This was unusual at the time because all of the European governments were monarchies. Milton’s poetic style influenced many writers after his death. (Thorpe, Trevor-Roper)

Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer who published political satires and pamphlets. The most famous was Gulliver’s Travels, an account of a shipwrecked man’s adventures in four different lands that commented on the worst aspects of human nature and government. Some of the words he made up in the book are still used today, like Lilliputian, which means small. He is also famous for A Modest Proposal, a satire, in which he says that the government can fix their hunger problems by eating babies. Swift was active in the English Tory party and had a first hand knowledge of government. He was also friends with other writers of the time, particularly Pope, and like them believed in a “government to serve the people”. (Quintana, “Jonathan Swift”)