PAPER NO.105 (A) HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM 1350-1900

TOPIC: CHIEF CHARACTERISITC OF NOE-CLASSICAL ARA

NAME : PANDYA MAYURI.M

ROLL NO:25

ENROLL NO:4069206420210023

EMAIL ID: pandyamayuri0610@gmail.com

BATCH-2021-2023

SUBMITTED TO: S.B.GARDI DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH MAHARAJA KRISHNAKUMARSIHNJI BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

 

CHIEF CHARACTERISITC OF NOE-CLASSICAL ARA

 

Introduction

Neoclassical literature has been written in a period where social order was undergoing a tremendous change. In the so-called Enlightenment Period, people believed that natural passions aren’t necessarily good; natural passions must be subordinated to social needs and be strictly controlled.

Authors believed that reason was the primary basis of authority. They believed that social needs are more important than individual needs. It is quite on contrary to its preceding age, in which emphasis was laid on individualism rather than the socialism.

Characteristics

Influence of Materialism

When Pope declares the limits of man, he also sets, by implications, the limits for the 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 Renaissance, Platonism and Christian Humanism, we find in the Neoclassical 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 were 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, his and his contemporaries’ treatment was ideal and utopian. But the treatment of Neoclassical writers was practical rather than utopian.

Imitation of Classics

One of the most important features of the Neoclassical literature is the imitation of the classics of ancient Greek and Roman literature.

Although the Renaissance writers had imitated the classics, whereas Renaissance writers mere derived inspirations from the classics rather than copying the models of the past, the Neoclassical writers strictly adhered to the authority of their models. Thus Neoclassical literature can be called as ‘Traditional’.

The Neoclassical writers like Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Johnson were convinced that excellence and perfection in the literary art have been attained by the Roman writers of antiquity, thus they can only copy the models of perfection and excellence.

Concept of Nature

The concept of nature was also an important characteristic of the Neoclassical 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 Neoclassical writers thought of human nature also was something static and standard, which is the same in all men and remains the same at all times. Thus their view of nature as well as of man, world, and genre was static and standard.

Concept of Man

The Neoclassical literature considers man as a limited being, having limited power. A large number of satires and works of the period attack the man for his pride and advise him to remain content with his limited power of knowledge. Thus man in Neoclassical literature remains a being of limited means and power.

Literary Forms

Among the Neoclassical forms of literature, the most famous were the 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.

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 Neoclassical age compared to those of Shakespeare plays are of single plot-line and are strictly limited in time and place.

 

Age of Reason

Neoclassical Period is often called 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. In literature also, the reason is predominant in the Neoclassical age. Emotions and imaginations are also present but in a controlled way.

 

Major writer

Alexander Pope

John Dryden

Jonathan Swift

Joseph Addison

Samuel Johnson

Thomas Gray

Oliver Goldsmith

William Cowper

Robert Burns

William Blake

Daniel  Defoe

Major characteristics:

 

 

Neoclassical Period in English Literature

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.

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.

Important works such as Burke’s, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas on the Sublime and Beautiful, Johnson’s, The Rambler, and Goldsmith’s, The Vicar of Wakefield are still read.

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.

Conclusion

The Neoclassical Period in literature brought a sense of decorum and stability to writers. There were rules to be carefully followed. It was a time of careful moral appearance, though appearances were more valued than honesty. However, some of England’s most brilliant literature can be credited to this era.

Resources:

https://englishsummery.com