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    Introduction To The Neo-Classical Age

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    Kavisha Alagiya
    Refer to the following presentation to briefly understand the political and literary sphere of the Neo-Classical Age.

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    Introduction To The Neo-Classical Age

    Uploaded by

    Kavisha Alagiya
    2K views13 pages
    Refer to the following presentation to briefly understand the political and literary sphere of the Neo-Classical Age.

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    Introduction to the Neo-Classical Age

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Refer to the following presentation to briefly understand the political and literary sphere of the Neo-Classical Age.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    2K views13 pages

    Introduction To The Neo-Classical Age

    Uploaded by

    Kavisha Alagiya
    Refer to the following presentation to briefly understand the political and literary sphere of the Neo-Classical Age.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    of 13

    Introduction to

    The Neo-Classical Age


    Prepared by-
    Kavisha Alagiya
    Neoclassical Age is typically divided into three
    periods:

    the Restoration Age (1660-1700),


    the Augustan Age (1700-1750), and
    the Age of Johnson / The Age of Transition(1750-
    1798).
    William J. Long (The Augustan Age) – (1700-1800)
    Edward Albert (Age of Pope) - (1700- 1750)
    Neo-Classical Age
     The Augustan Period
     The 18th Century
     The Age of Enlightenment
     The Age of Prose
     The Age of Reason
     The Transition Period
     Age of Satire
    Neo-Classical Age
    Neo-Classical
     Some writers modelled their writing on
    classical especially, Greek and Roman
    New Classic Literature.
     Revival of classical values and insistence
    Ancient, great on English values
    a new or revived  Strict adherence to the decorum of human
    form of Outstanding nature
    “Class”
     The general laws governing man and the
    Refined and world that are true source of knowledge-
    elegant that is “Nature”
    art produced in  Appropriateness in plot, characterization,
    antiquity meter, language.

    Idealism
    “Learn hence for ancient rules a
    just esteem;
    To copy nature is to copy them”
    -Alexander Pope
    (An Essay on Criticism)
    Augustan Age
     Time of Literary excellence
     Reminisces of the Augustus Caesar in Rome
     The term ‘Augustan Age’ comes from the self-conscious imitation
    of the original Augustan writers Virgil (Aeneid), Horace (The
    Iliad, The Odyssey). Ovid (Metamorphoses)
     The poets who translated and imitated Greek and Latin verses in
    measured rationalized elegant verses. Pope produced versions of
    two Homeric epics: The Iliad and the Odyssey
    The Age of Enlightenment
     Enlightenment – philosophical movement
     Age reflected the influence of the Enlightenment philosophers and writers like
    Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau or Denis Diderot in giving more importance to
    reason, order, liberty and science.
     Enlightenment is the project to make the world more of a home for human beings –
    through the use of reason
    “Enlightenment is man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage”
    - Immanuel Kant
     The Enlightenment is characterized by the belief of natural goodness of man: man
    is perfectible, it is the idea of progress obtained through the use of reason.
     The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human
    happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence
    of senses, and ideals such as liberty, progress.
    The Age of Enlightenment
     Thomas Hobbes wrote “Leviathan”
     In England, an English philosopher and physician John Locke,
    commonly known as the “Father of Liberalism” wrote
    “Essay concerning Human Understanding”
    describing the mind of birth as a blank slate filled later through
    experience.
     The later Enlightenment period is characterized by the
    appearance of romantic sentiments in art and literature ans is
    labeled the Age of Sensibility.
    The Age of Enlightenment
     The enlightenment writers denounced the supernatural ideas,
    they were progressive from the writers of previous periods.
     Exploration, individualism, scientific endeavor were forced which
    turned into the development in industries, witnessing the
    emergence of modern world.
     Skepticism in Church or King led to the questioning of all
    traditional and rooted views and beliefs.
     Scientific revolution took place (Sir Isaac Newton, Kepler,
    Galileo) [from geocentric theory to heliocentric theory]
    The Age of Prose and Reason
     Matthew Arnold, the great poet and critic of Victorian Age, in his essay “The
    study of Poetry” sums up the 18th century in English Literature as
    “The Age of Prose and Reason, our excellent and indispensable 18th
    century”
     Classicists consider literature as a tool to teach and reform the society rather
    than to delight. They insist on teaching moral lessons to readers.
     The writers emphasized on Divine power – harmony, order, correctness and
    application of reason.
     Formalist period – (importance to form over content) Dryden, Pope used
    heroic couplet
     Importance to Poetic diction
    The Age of Satire
     Satire is a literary technique in which behaviours or institutions are ridiculed
    for the purpose of improving society. What sets satire apart from other
    forms of social and political protest is humour. Satirists use irony and
    exaggeration to poke fun at human faults and foolishness in order to correct
    human behaviour.
     “The eighteenth century was dominated by satiric poetry, prose, and drama.
    Satirists, as guardians of the culture, sought to protect their highly
    developed civilization from corruption by attacking hypocrisy, arrogance,
    greed, vanity, and stupidity”
     “In England, ‘this golden age’ of satire included Alexander Pope and
    Jonathan Swift.
    The Age of Transition (1850-1898)
     The second half of the eighteenth century is known as a transitional period. It was
    an era of change from pseudo-classicism to romanticism. The decline of party spirit
    and the democratic upsurge exercised great influence both on life and literature.
     Decline of Party Feud: The rivalry between the Whigs and Tories still continued
    but it had lost its previous bitterness. This naturally led to a considerable decline of
    the activity in political pamphleteering. The poets and satirists ceased to be
    statesmen. The institution of literary patronage gradually crumbled during this
    period. Men of letters learnt to depend entirely on their public.
     Influence of the French Revolution: During the second half of the eighteenth
    century new ideas were germinating and new forces were gathering strength. The
    French Revolution of 1789 was only the climax of a long and deeply diffused unrest.
    Revolutionary ideas gave birth to democratic and humanitarian feelings. And it
    influenced literature greatly.
    References
     Albert, Edward. History of English Literature. Ed. James Alfred Stone.
    Harrap, 1979. 10 July 2022.
     Daiches, David. A Critical History of English Litearture. Vol. 2. Allied
    Publishers, 1969. 2 vols. PDF. 10 July 2022.
     Long, William J. English Literature - Its History and Its Significance
    for the Life of the English-Speaking World. Delhi: AITBS Publishes
    India, 2016. Book. 10 July 2022.
     Vallath, Kalyani. A Bird's eye view of British and American Literature.
    Trivandrum: Bodhi Tree Books, 2018. Paperback. 10 July 2022.

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