Augustan drama refers to the plays of Great Britain in the early 18th
century, a subset of 18th-century Augustan literature. King George I
referred to himself as "Augustus," and the poets of the era took this
reference as apropos, as the literature of Rome during Augustus moved
from historical and didactic poetry to the poetry of highly finished
and sophisticated epics and satire. In poetry, the early 18th century
was an age of satire and public verse, and in prose, it was an age of
the developing novel. In drama, by contrast, it was an age in
transition between the highly witty and sexually playful Restoration
comedy, the pathetic she-tragedy of the turn of the century, and any
later plots of middle-class anxiety. The Augustan stage retreated from
the Restoration's focus on cuckoldry, marriage for fortune, and a life
of leisure. Instead, Augustan drama reflected questions the mercantile
class had about itself and what it meant to be gentry: what it meant
to be a good merchant, how to achieve wealth with morality, and the
proper role of those who serve.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustan_drama
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1099:
The First Crusade concluded with the Battle of Ascalon, and Fatimid
forces under Al-Afdal Shahanshah retreating to Egypt.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ascalon)
1121:
Forces led by David the Builder (pictured) decisively won the Battle
of Didgori, driving Ilghazi and the Seljuk Turks out of Georgia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_IV_of_Georgia)
1851:
Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his sewing machine.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Singer)
1877:
Asaph Hall discovered Deimos, the smaller of the two moons of Mars.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deimos_%28moon%29)
1953:
History of nuclear weapons: The first Soviet thermonuclear bomb, Joe
4, was detonated at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_atomic_bomb_project)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one
perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them
cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in
the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist." -- Erwin
Schrodinger
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erwin_Schrodinger)