XThe Seventeenth Century, Part II.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of 2021 scholarship on seventeenth-century English literature and thought, focusing on general literary studies, Restoration drama, John Dryden, and key prose figures including Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, John Bunyan, and Samuel Pepys. It highlights major contributions such as Matthew C. Augustine's biography of Andrew Marvell, extensive analyses of Restoration comedy through the Restoration Comedy Project database, and new interpretations of Hobbes's political philosophy and Locke's intellectual legacy, including recently discovered manuscripts. The article also surveys critical work on Bunyan's religious writings and their reception, as well as studies of Pepys's literary and cultural engagements. Throughout, the scholarship reflects diverse methodological approaches and situates these early modern figures within broader historical, political, and cultural contexts.