My immediate response to Neo-Classical/Restoration literature is one of great curiosity because of the circumstances that fueled the writers associated with this time period. Neo-Classical literature was a response to the major social and political changes England was experiencing. In the writings is the evidence of an artistic and intellectual release that could be expressed after the restoration of the English Monarchy with Charles II, which also lends the name to the literary period. Various types of literature emerged from the Restoration period of literature ranging from religious, risque, and my personal favorite, satirical. Authors such as John Dryden expressed their opinions with satires such as Mac Flecknoe in which he targets his once friend Thomas Shadwell. A master of wit, Dryden mixes crude "fat jokes" with allusions to classic literature such as the Aenid, to insult his once friend. Nor let thy mountain belly make pretence Of likene...
