THE AGE OF TRANSITION (1740-1800)
HISTORYCAL BACKGROUND 1.Decline of the Party Feud.: The contest between the Whigs and the Tories still continues, but it is hardly of the previous bitterness. The chief reason for this change is found in the weakness of the Tory party. In the middle of century the whigs had hardly any opposition. 2.Commercial and Imperial Expansion : Under the pacific management of the great Whig minister Walpole, and owing to the successful wars of his successors, the eighteenth century saw an immense growth in the wealth and importance of the British Empire. 3. The French revolution : During the century new ideas were germinating; new forces were gathering strength; and the Revolution. Liberty, equity and fraternity were the wach words of French revolution. Features of the age 1. The Double Tendency : Two movements can be clearly observedin the writing of the time. (i)The allegiance to the old order of classicism. (ii) The search after the new order of Romanticism. 2. T