The neoclassical period

The Neoclassical Period = Age of Reason= Enlightenment

· The period is called neoclassical because its writers looked back to the ideals and art forms of classical times, emphasizing even more than their Renaissance predecessors the classical ideals of order and rational control.

· The Age of Enlightenment has been crucial for developments and advances in human rights, education, and modern democracy.

· One of the principal objectives of the Age of Enlightenment was to rebel against the authorities.

· The philosophers and artists insisted that the individual use reason and logic instead of accepting what the Monarchy (King), law, and the Church presented as truth.

The Neoclassical Period 1660-1798

· 1660- 1700 The Restoration = Age of Dryden

· 1700-1745 The Augustan Age = Age of Pope

· 1745-1798 The Age of Sensibility = Age of Johnson

The Restoration = the Age of Dryden 1660- 1700

· This period takes its name from the restoration of the monarchy (Charles II) to the English throne and the triumph of reason and tolerance over religious and political passion.

· Writing should be well structured, emotion should be controlled, and emphasize qualities like wit. This is in sharp contrast to the high seriousness and sobriety of the earlier Puritan regime.

· The theaters came back to vigorous life after the revocation of the ban placed on them by the Puritans, and new dramatists therefore appeared.

John Dryden identified himself with official opinion and regards himself as the chronicler of the age.

The Augustan Age 1700-1745

· This period takes its name from the original Roman Augustan Age (27 B.C.-14 A.D.), which the leading

writers of this period greatly admired its figures. The new Augustans drew parallels between the two

ages, and deliberately imitated their literary forms and subjects, their emphasis on social concerns,

and their ideals of moderation, decorum, and urbanity.

Alexander Pope 1700-1745 Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is the greatest poet of this period.

The Age of Sensibility = the Age of Johnson 1745-1798

· The man whose personality seems to dominate the whole of the Age of Sensibility is Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784).

· He was a kind of literary ruler, giving judgments on books and authors like a god. Late in life he wrote his Lives of the Poets (1779-81) with decision and clear expression.

· His own writings are less important than what he said, and a record of his conversations has been preserved in the Life of Johnson (1791).

· His name as a scholar will live chiefly because of his Dictionary of the English Language (1755).

· Here are a few of Johnson’s statements: It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives.

Literature

• Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks.
• Thus, it was 'neo,' which means 'new,' and 'classical,' as in the day of the Roman and Greek classics.
• This was the era of the Enlightenment, of logic, and of reason. It was preceded by the Renaissance and followed by the Romantic Era.
• Neoclassical literature is characterized by order, accuracy, and structure. In direct opposition to Renaissance attitudes, where man was seen as basically good, the Neoclassical writers portrayed man as inherently flawed.
• They emphasized 'restraint,' self-control, and common sense.
• This was a time when conservatism flourished in both politics and literature.
• Some popular types of literature included: parody, essays, satire, letters, fables, melodrama, and rhyming with couplets.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1953