Name : Ramiz M. Solanki
Course
Name : M.A ENGLISH
Semester : 1
Roll
No : 34
Paper
no : 02 (The Neo-Classical
Literature)
Batch : 2017-2019
Enrollment
No : 2069108420180051
Submitted
to : Smt. S. B. Gardi Dept of
English Bhavnagar University.
Subject : The Neo-Classical Age/Literature
Introduction
Neoclassical literature was written between 1660 and
1798. This time period is
broken down into three parts:
(1) The
Restoration period,
(2) The
Augustan period, and
(3) The Age of Johnson.
Understanding the Neoclassical era helps us better
understand its literature. This was a time of comfortableness in England.
People would meet at coffee houses to chat about politics, among other topics,
and sometimes drink a new, warm beverage made of chocolate! It was also the beginning
of the British tradition of drinking afternoon tea. And it was the starting
point of the middle class, and because of that, more people were literate.
People were very interested in
appearances, but not necessarily in being genuine. Men and women commonly wore
wigs, and being clever and witty was in vogue. Having good manners and doing
the right thing, particularly in public, was essential. It was a time, too, of
British political upheaval as eight monarchs took the throne.
Writers of the
Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks. Thus
the combination of the terms 'neo,' which means 'new,' and 'classical,' as in
the day of the Roman and Greek classics. This was also the era of The
Enlightenment, which emphasized logic and reason. It was preceded by The
Renaissance and followed by the Romantic era. In fact, the Neoclassical period
ended in 1798 when Wordsworth published the Romantic 'Lyrical Ballads'.
Prominent Literary
Figures of The Neo-Classical Age
John Milton (1608 - 1674)
John Dryden (1631 - 1700)
Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744)
Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745)
Daniel Defoe (1660 - 1731)
Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
John Dryden (1631 - 1700)
Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744)
Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745)
Daniel Defoe (1660 - 1731)
Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
Stages of The Age
The Restoration
Period (1660-1700)
After the beheading of King Charles I, the monarchy was
'restored', and so this period got the name 'restoration'. A new era had dawned
with epic works such as Paradise Lost and Areopagitica by Milton and Sodom by
Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. It also saw a new age of both sexual comedy and
wisdom, with works such as The Country Wife and The Pilgrim's Progress
respectively. While writers like Richard Blackmore wrote King Arthur, it also
saw critics like Jeremy Collier, John Dryden, and John Dennis who gave a new
direction to understand literature and theater.
Poetry too was revamped and saw the beginning of rhyme
schemes. The iambic pentameter was one of the popular forms of poetry,
preferred by the poets and the listeners. Odes and pastorals became the new
means for exchanging ideas.
The poems were mostly realistic and satirical, in which,
John Dryden reigned supreme. He further divided poetry into three heads, that
of fables, political satire, and doctrinal poems. You will not find any
spiritual bias, moral highness, or philosophy in these poems, which became the signature
style of the Restoration Era.
Augustan Age
(1700-1745)
The Augustan Age took its name from the Roman Emperor
Augustus, whose monarchy brought stability in the social and political
environment. It is during his reign, that epic writers such as Ovid, Horace,
Virgil, etc., flourished.
Writers such as Pope, Dryden, Daniel Defoe, Swift, and Addison were the major contributors to this era. Dryden's attempts at satiric verse were highly admired by many generations. This era was also called the Age of Pope due to his noteworthy contributions.
Writers such as Pope, Dryden, Daniel Defoe, Swift, and Addison were the major contributors to this era. Dryden's attempts at satiric verse were highly admired by many generations. This era was also called the Age of Pope due to his noteworthy contributions.
Age of Johnson
(1745-1785)
This era made its way into the literary world by stepping
out of the shadows of its previous age. Shakespearean literature found
appreciation during this era. It brought forth the Gothic school of literature.
Qualities like balance, reason, and intellect were the main focus of this era.
Hence, this age is also called the Age of Sensibility.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) gave a massive literary contribution, which till date is a great boon to one an all. And that is the Dictionary of the English Language, which was first published in the year 1755. Though many similar books were used prior to this book, the dictionary in particular was the one that was most popularly used and admired, right until the printing of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1928.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) gave a massive literary contribution, which till date is a great boon to one an all. And that is the Dictionary of the English Language, which was first published in the year 1755. Though many similar books were used prior to this book, the dictionary in particular was the one that was most popularly used and admired, right until the printing of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1928.
Characteristics
of The Neo-Classical Age.
1. Influence of Materialism
When Pope declares the limits of man, he also sets, by
implications, the limits for artist:
“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of mankind is man!”
But Pope echoes only dominant philosophical thoughts here. After
the Renaissnce, Platonism and Christian Humanism, we find in the
Neo-classical age, the dominance of Materialism and Empirical Science.The ruling
thought of the age is shaped by philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and
Joseph Butler.
The philosophical empiricism of the age propagated through the
writings of Bacon, Hobbes and Locke was supported and strengthened by the
advancement of empirical science.Under the influence of empirical philosophy
and experimental science, writers of the age narrowed both their vision of man
and view of life.
The affairs of men, their politics, their morals and manners
became the chief concern. Although the concern with politics was present in the
time of Shakespeare also, but his and his contemporaries’ treatment
was ideal and utopian.But the treatment of Neoclassical writers was practical
rather than utopian.
2. Imitation of Classics
One of the most important features of the Neoclassical
literature is the imitation of the classics of ancient Greek and Roman
literatures.Although the Renaissance writers had imitated the classics, but
whereas Renaissance writers mere derived inspirations from the classics rather
the copying the models of the past, the Neoclassical writers strictly adhered
to the authority of their models.The Neo-classical writers like Dryden, Pope,
Swift and Johnson were convinced that excellence and perfection in literary art
has been attained by the Roman writers of antiquity, thus they can only copy
the models of perfection and excellence.
3. Concept of Nature
The concept of nature was also an important characteristic of
Neo-classical age. By nature, they never meant the forest nature, but for them
nature meant the general human nature.The general human nature was not what the
ordinary men and women felt and thought, but the standard view of human nature
as held by Homer and Horace.
Like their static view of the world, the Neo-classical writers
thought of human nature also was something static and standard, which is the
same in all men and remains the same at all the times.Thus their view of nature
as well as of man, world and genre was static and standard.
4. Concept of Man
The Neo-classical literature considers man as a limited being,
having limited power.A large number of satires and works of the period attack
man for his pride and advise him to remain content with his limited power of
knowledge.
5. Literary Forms
Among the Neo-classical forms of literature, the most famous was
essay, both in verse and prose.While drama declined and almost
disappeared during the later part of the period, Novel made its beginnings.The
literature of the age was mostly comic and satiric. An important failure of the
age was to produce tragedy.
6. Neoclassical Drama
Neo-classical drama falls into two phases-
In the Restoration Age, drama rose in the form of Comedy of Manners.But in the second phase, it
declined as the Elizabethan dramas like
those of Shakespeare were reproduced and age itself did not produce drama.
7. The New Restraint
Writers started inventing new words and regularising vocabulary
and grammar. Complex bodily metaphysical language such as Shakespeare used in
his major tragedies was clarified and simplified.Moreover the plays of
Neo-classical age compared to those of Shakespeare plays are of single
plot-line and are strictly limited in time and place.
8. Age of Reason
Neo-classical age is often called as the Age of
Reason. Thinkers of this age considered reason to be the highest
mental faculty and sufficient guide in all areas.Both religious beliefs and
morality were grounded on reason.
Major Literary Figures
of The Age.
John Milton (1608 - 1674)
John Milton was an
English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and
civil servant for the Commonwealth
of England under Oliver Cromwell. He
wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for
his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667),
written in blank verse.
Milton's
poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and
self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day.
Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international renown
within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644),
written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship, is among history's most influential and
impassioned defences of free speech and freedom
of the press.
John Milton’s best
known works are Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and doctrine
and Discipline of Divorce.
John Dryden (1631 - 1700)
John Dryden was an
English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668.He is seen
as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to
such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of
Dryden. Walter Scott called him
"Glorious John".
John Dryden’s best known
works are An Essay of Dramatick Poesie, The Wild Gallant and The Indian Queen.
Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744)
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century
English poet. He is best known for his satirical verse and for his translation
of Homer, and he is also
famous for his use of the heroic couplet. He is the second-most
frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare.
Pope’s best known
works are Pastorals, An essay on Dramatic poesy and Messiah
Work Cited
Excellent work done by you. You have given perfect example of characteristics of Neo-classical age. very glad;to read just before a day of paper.Undoubtedly it will help me a lot in exam.
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