<p>In the 17th century, the English political landscape became split between the parliamentarians and the royalists. This was a period of great social and political upheaval: King Charles I was executed after refusing to share power with the elected members of Parliament, and the monarchy was dispelled and then restored. After William II of Holland took over as King of England in 1688, a new constitution was drafted, making the crown accountable to Parliament. As the 18th century dawned, parliamentarian Whigs were ascendant. At the time Johnson wrote “London,” Robert Walpole, the leader of the Whigs, became the de facto Prime Minister of England. Not everyone was happy with constitutional monarchy. The royalist Tories, sidelined as Whig power grew, began accusing the Whigs of promoting foreign interests over those of England, since they had helped a Dutch king ascend the English throne. Additionally, the Whigs were seen as partisan opportunists, promoting sycophants and in league with new money and the urban elite, buoyed by the first stirrings of the Industrial Revolution. While increased parliamentary involvement did theoretically mean more participatory rule, in practice the system lent itself to corruption. The Tories, including the deeply conservative Johnson and consisting primarily of landowning old-money nobility, touted their connection to the countryside and cast themselves as patriots supporting British values.

Historical context: Walpole, Whigs, and Tories

Literary context: Neoclassicism, the Augustan Age, and Juvenal’s Third Satire

Values & Ideas

Books on Justice & Injustice

Literary Area of Study

British Literature

Challenging Authority

History: World

European History

Emotions & Behavior

Grief

Society

Nation & Nationalism

Order & Chaos

Government & Business

Politics & Government

Power

Genres

Satire

Life & Time

The Past

Samuel Johnson

Adult

Poem

Fiction

Guide

Study Guide

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Overview

Get ready to explore London and its meaning. Our full analysis and study guide provides an even deeper dive with character analysis and quotes explained to help you discover the complexity and beauty of this book.

London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal

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