E X T E N S I O N THE MIDDLE CLASS In the 17th century a new social class was becoming important and powerful: the middle class1. Traders2, merchants, bankers3 and other professional men were part of this new class. Its values were practical: money and prosperity were very important but also order, reason, discipline and common sense4. Daniel Defoe became a rich London merchant. He said that trade is the richness of the world. The members of this new social class usually met at the public coffee-houses, which were similar to clubs. They were the centre of social life. Here people went to meet friends, discuss the news5 but also to talk about business6 and to drink coffee, the new drink from the Middle East colonies. Coffee became popular after 1652 (the year in which it was introduced in Britain). Also tea, the new drink from India, became popular. Education7 and also manners8 became very important for middleclass people. In fact, they wanted to be elegant and refined9 like the aristocracy. To improve their social status, rich merchants often married their children into aristocratic families. Journalism, satire and the novel were the three new characteristic aspects of the prose of this age. It was called the Age of Reason. A London coffee-house of the 1660 s. 1. middle class: social class which includes professional and business people. 2. traders: people who buy and sell things as a job. 3. bankers: people who have a bank. 4. common sense: the ability to think about things in a practical way and make the right decisions. 5. news: information about what has happened recently. 6. business: commerce. 7. education: the process of teaching and learning at school. 8. manners: the way that is considered polite/kind behaviour towards other people. 9. refined: cultured, educated, polite. 36