Why did sonnets decline in popularity during the Restoration Era ?

A sonnet is a one-stanza poem of fourteen lines which is written in iambic pentameter. It was invented by Petrarch, an Italian poet, in the 1400s but gained immense popularity in England under William Shakespeare. The reason for the sonnet's popularity can also help us to explain why it declined in favour during the Restoration: the sonnet came to be associated with love and courtship. In Shakespeare's era, for example, Sir Walter Raleigh flattered Queen...

A sonnet is a one-stanza poem of fourteen lines which is written in iambic pentameter. It was invented by Petrarch, an Italian poet, in the 1400s but gained immense popularity in England under William Shakespeare. The reason for the sonnet's popularity can also help us to explain why it declined in favour during the Restoration: the sonnet came to be associated with love and courtship. In Shakespeare's era, for example, Sir Walter Raleigh flattered Queen Elizabeth by writing sonnets to her. In fact, Elizabeth's royal court was a place of chivalry and romance in which the sonnet flourished and was regarded as the most appropriate way to voice these feelings. 

In contrast, the Restoration Era, which began in 1660, was a time of great social and political upheaval - not for expressing love. This period produced great epics and was well-known for its lyric poetry, where the author expresses his feelings directly to the reader. Thus, the days of the chivalrous court and romantic feeling were long since over and the sonnet simply seemed irrelevant to the people of England.