Many scholars have explored Delarivier Manley’s The New Atalantis (1709) through the lens of Varronian or Lucianic satire. This essay, however, shifts focus to examine the elements of Juvenalian satiric nostalgia within Manley’s work. By analyzing Manley’s frame characters, the goddesses Astrea (Justice) and Virtue, as embodiments of Juvenalian satirists who critique humanity’s moral decay, I underscore their vehement attack at the contemporary depraved world alongside their nostalgic yearning for a past golden era characterized by higher moral standards and virtuous living. Extending from the Juvenalian satirist who longs for the admirable, glorious past and laments the loss of virtue in the present vicious age, Manley’s frame characters themselves represent such positive exemplary of the golden past, occupying the dual roles of the satirist and the high standards against which the satirists measure contemporary human depravity. Being “nostalgic” rather than “revolutionary,” Manley’s Juvenalian satirists aspire to reform the corrupt world and return to an idealized golden era in their memory, a time when people displayed enhanced virtue, chastity, and modesty.
* An earlier version of this essay was presented at the International Literature Conference on “Memory: The Captive & The Fugitive,” held at National Taipei University of Technology from October 21 to October 22, 2022. The author extends sincere gratitude to the conference participants for their valuable feedback, and especially to the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. Without their insightful suggestions and comments, this essay would not have reached its current form.
