The Neoclassical Era

 Thinking activity assigned by vaidehi ma'am.

 

(1.)  Compare the general characteristics of the Elizabethan age and Neoclassical age.

Ans.

 ∆   Elizabethan age :

•  Introduction :-

              The age of Queen Elizabeth comprising the latter half of the 16th century is the golden age in the history of the English people. It was an age in free from religious persecution, from fear of poverty and starvation and from the fear of foreign invasion. It was an era of social, political and religious peace. It was also an era of great adventure, travel and discovery. It was the golden age of literature, an age in which the Renaissance could come to full flowering. The reign of Queen Elizabeth proved to be a rich flowering season for literature.

* Characteristics :

(1.) Revival of Interest in Greek Literature :-

The ardent revival in the study of Greek literature brought a dazzling light into many dark places of interest. The new classical influences were a great benefit. They tempered & polished the earlier rudeness of English Literature.

(2.) Reformation :-

The England Bible was Anglican Church became a reality. The reformation awakened the spiritual nature of people and independent enquiry in greater moral earnestness.

(3.) Translations in Elizabethan Age:-

The Elizabethan age witnessed translation into English of several important foreign books. Many translations were as popular as the original works.

Sir Thomas North translated Plutarch’s Lives & John Florio translated Montaigne’s Essais.

(4.) Social and political peace :-

Queen Elizabeth wise policy of moderation resulted in social and political peace. She was a true child of the Renaissance.

(5.) Prose :-

For the first time in the history of English literature, prose was of first-rate importance. The heavy burden of the Latin was disappearing while English prose gained a tradition & universal application. Rapid development during this period was almost inevitable.

(6.) New Romanticism :-

Elizabethan romantic quest is, for the magnificent & the beautiful. Elizabethan age is the first & the greatest period of romanticism. All these kind of desires were amply fulfilled by this age.

∆  Neoclassical age :

 • Introduction :- 

Neoclassical literature has been written in a period where social order was undergoing a tremendous change. 

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 :

(1.) Influence of Materialism :-

After the Renaissance, Platonism and Christian Humanism, we find in the Neoclassical age, the dominance of Materialism and 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.But the treatment of Neoclassical writers was practical rather than utopian.

(2.) 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.Thus their view of nature as well as of man, world, and genre was static and standard.

(3.) 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.

(4.) The New Restraint :-

Writers started new words and regularising vocabulary and grammar. Complex bodily metaphysical language such as Shakespeare used in his major tragedies was clarified and simplified.The plays of Neoclassical age compared to those of Shakespeare plays are of single plot-line and are strictly limited in time and place.

(5.) 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. Emotions and imaginations are also present but in a controlled way.

(2.) Who is your favourite writer and the favourite text from the Neoclassical age? How is he/she different from the writers of  Elizabethan age and Romantic age ?

Ans.:- 

       My favourite writer is Samuel Johnson. My favourite text is "The Rape of the lock" by Alexander pope.

Samuel Johnson, a prominent figure in the 18th century,differ from both age Elizabethan age and Romantic age.

The Elizabethan writers focused on the humanism and complex characters. 

while the romantic writers emphaiszed emotions, nature and individualism.

Johnson works like the dictionary and essay, often revolved around moral and social commentary,the changing values of the enlightenment era. So he different from the writers of the both ages.

(3.) Share your presentation presented in the class. Attech it with your blog.

Ans. I am share my presentation presented in the class. Attech it with my blog.👇👇👇

JOSEPH ADDISON _20230810_150500_0000.pptx from KhushiRathod39

(4.) Describe any one thing about this age which you look upto.

Ans.  

        The Neoclassical age is its focus on moral lessons and didacticism in literature. Many works from this era aimed to instruct and educate readers by presenting stories with clear moral messages. This was often seen as a way to elevate the moral standards of society through literature.

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