THE NEOCLASSICAL AGE

 The Neo classical age

Thinking activity

This blog is particularly based on the Neo classical age, and this is the task of thinking activity given by kavisha ma'am.

Introduction -

The main neoclassical movement coincided with the 18 th century age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century.

Neo classicism in English literature refers to a movement which flourished  between 1660 and 1798. This term refers to a style that is based on , but different form, the classic structures of the Roman and Greek writers of old. "Neo" means 'new', so  that the term literally means the "old classic",However, neoclassicism was a unique  style with its own themes and works.

Neoclassicism started in 1660 when the Stuarts returned  to the throne  and the Enlightenment was in full  swing. when the predominant style, artists like  Daniel Defoe and Samuel  Johnson flourished. Basically Neoclassicism  began after the Renaissance. whereas the Renaissance focused on lifting the individual and making people larger than life and limitless in their potential, Neo classicism  placed the  individual in the context of society.

The Neoclassical era divided  into three general eras -

(1) The Restoration period-

(2) The Augustan period-

(3) The age of   Johnson -

(1) The restoration period

The first period in the Neoclassical period was the Restoration period. The name comes from the restoration of the monarchy after the return of Charles 2 after Oliver Cromwell's commonwealth.

Restoration literature is the English literature written during the historical period of English restoration, which corresponds to the last years of Stuart reign in England, Scotland, Wales, and ireland.

 (2) The Augustan period-

The Augustan period was named after the Roman empire Augustan. The name gives credit to his drive to bring order and prosperity to the Roman empire.

The augustan age was also marked by the evolution of satirical verse, the development of the novel, and the use of melodrama over political satire. 

(3) The age of Johnson-

The age of Johnson is named after Samuel Johnson, one of the most prominent artists during this time. He wrote "The dictionary of the English language"  between 1745 and 1755.

The age of johnson also referred to as the age of sensibility, this is the period in english literature that ranged from the middle of the eighteenth century until 1798.  At the  ending of this age the romantic period arrived in 1798.

Question-1

- Write about 18th century women poets.

In 18th century there were many women poets like Charlotte smith, Phillis wheatley , Mary barber, Mary leapon, Anna seward, lady mary chudleigh , Elizabeth singer Rowe, Anne finch , Countess of Winchilsea , mary masters, Anne yearsley, elizabeth carter, lady mary wortley montagu, mary collier, hannah more, and many more…

I would like to write about charlotte smith, phillis wheatley, mary barber, anne seward.

Charlotte smith-

Charlotte Smith was born on 4 may 1749 and died on 28 october  1806. She was an English novelist and poet of the school of sensibility whose elegiac sonnets (1784) contributed to the revival of the form in England.

Smith left her husband and began writing to support their children. Her struggles for legal independence as a woman after her poetry, novels and autobiographical prefaces. Her novels such as Desmond and the old hunor house praised the ideals of the french revolution.

Charlotte went to join king's bench prison in 1783 where she wrote her first collection of poetry called Electric sonnets. The poems were a great success.

 Phillis wheatley-

Phillis wheatley peters also spelled phyllis and wealthy, she was born in 1753 and died on 5 december, 1784. She was an American author who is considered the first African - American author of a published book of poetry. Born in west africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to north america, where she was bought by the wheatley family of boston.

The publication in London of her poems on various subjects, religious and moral on september 1, 1773 brought her fame bothin England and American colonies.

Some scholars had generally believed that an elegiac poem, on the death of that celebrated divine, and eminent servant of jesus christ, the reverend and learned george whitefield..(1770) was wheatley's first published poem.

Mary barber-

Mary Barber was born in 1685 and died in 1755. She was an Irish poet, was a member of swifts circle, she has been described as a domestic , small scale, early eighteenth century poet of charm and intelligence, but also an incisive often satirical commentator on social and gender issues.

Barber's parents are not known, she married Jonathan Barber, a woolen draper in capel street , Dublin, with whom she had nine children, four of whom survived to adulthood.

" the windows address"(dublin, 1728)

" a tale being an addition to gays fables"(dublin, 1728) these are her works.

Anne seward- 

Anne Seward was born on 12 december 1742 and died on 25 march 1809. She was an english romantic poet, also called the swan of lichfield. She benefited from her fathers progressive views on female education.

She began to write poetry early with encouragement from her father, a published poet, but against the wishes of her mother her verses, which date frome at least 1759 include elegies and sonnets and a verse novel, louisa (1784), of which five editions were published. However, she did not publish her first poem until 1780, at the age of 38. Sewards many letters and other writings have been called "commonplace".

Question- 2

Portrayal of humans in neo classical novels.

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.

Man had found himself in the long struggle for personal liberty, now he turned to the task of discovering his neighbor, of finding in whig and tory, in catholic and protestant, in anglican and dissenter, the same general human characteristics that he found in himself.

Neo classical poets constantly stress the need for man to recognize his imitations, not to aspire beyond his reach or entertain exaggerated ambitions.

 

As pope puts it:

" know then thyself, presume not good to scan 

The proper study of mankind is man."

           - Alexander pope (essay on man)

Question- 3

Tom jones moll flanders as picaresque novels.

          Tom jones as a picaresque novel

         - June 29, 2021 by somnath sarkar

The picaresque novel is a tale of adventures or misadventures of a picaro which means a 'rogue' or 'knave'. It originated in Spain in the sixteenth century as a reaction against the romance of chivalry. Lazrillo de tormes and guzman de alfarache are the earliest of the spanish picaresque novels.

Defoe's moll flankers are in the picaresque tradition. It is the story of the adventures of a dissolute woman. She is the heroine of the novel. Some critiva do not accept moll flanders as a picaresque novel on the grounds that the crimes of the protagonist are rooted in the dynamics of economic individualism.

Robinson Crusoe is also rejected as a picaresque novel on similar grounds.

The chief characteristic of the picaresque novel.

They are Picaro and his adventures, frome these emerge other characteristics. In order that a person is a picaro he should be of dubious parentage  like the protagonists of 'tom jones' and great expectations.' he should be restless by nature so that he may keep on moving from place to place frome country to country.

-The picaresque character.

Character of the novel is amply reflected after Tom's expulsion from Allworth house. He goes to briaton. He meets the soldiers on the way to bristol. He accompanies them in order to become a soldier himself. Tom's adventures begin.

In short, tom jones has a lot of picaresque elements, but in many respects it does not follow the picaresque tradition. Its hero is not a rogue. He is a kind, generous and sensitive person. He is a man of helping attitude. The aim of the novelist is definitely moral. Thus it can be said that though Tom Jones has a lot of elements of a picaresque novel, it is not a regular picaresque novel.

Thank you.