Paper No:105 History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900

This blog is part of an assignment for Sem 1 Paper No.105(A) History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900 assigned by Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MKBU.

Personal Information :-

Name: Khushi Rajeshbhai Rathod

Batch: M.A. (2023 - 2025)

Roll No: 18

Enrollment No: 5108230039

E-mail: khushirathod1863@gmail.com

Assignment Details :-

Semester: 1st 

Paper No:105(A)

Paper Code: 22396

Paper Name: History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900

Topic: Characteristics of 'Neo-classical Age'

Submitted to: Smt.S.B.Gardi, Department of English,MKBU

Que :- Characteristics of 'Neo Classical Age'.

Ans.

Table of Contents :-

- Introduction

- Information about the Neoclassical Age(1700 - 1800)

- Characteristics of Neo Classical Age:-

• Influence of Materialism
• Imitation of Classics
• Concept of Nature
• Concept of Man
• Literary Forms
• Neoclassical Drama
• The New Restraint
• Rationalism
• Age of Prose
• Age of Satire
• The age of Reason

- Conclusion

- Reference

🌺 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 contrary to its preceding age, in which emphasis was laid on individualism rather than socialism.

🌺 Information of Neo Classical Age ( 1700 - 1800) :-

The Neoclassical period is the time when people began to see the world in a different way. Rational thought and reason were introduced into religion, and were held in higher regard than earlier principles. The public started to reject the monarchy and turned to an elected government. It also introduced higher ideas in the arts, economics and literature. The first newspaper was born, (The Daily Courant – 1702) and literature in its widest sense, including the books, the newspaper and the magazine became the chief instruments of a nation’s progress. 

- Neoclassical literature was written during 1660-1798.

- Time of Formality and Artificially.

- This is also known as The Enlightenment Period.

- Neoclassical writers tried to imitate the style of the Roman and Greek.

- This age contains three parts.

- The Restoration Age (1660 - 1700)

- The Augustan Age (1700 - 1750)

- The Age of Johnson or The Transition Period (1750 - 1790)

🌺 Characteristics of Neo Classical Age :-

Neo-classical 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 are not necessarily good. They must be subordinated to social needs and be strictly controlled.The Enlightenment philosophers believed that there were natural laws to the universe and these laws could be discovered through rational thought.

-Neo classical literature is characterized by order, accuracy and structure

-Concerned with human nature and Supremacy of reason

 -Imitated the style of the Romans and Greeks and classics.

1) 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 the 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.

2) Imitation of Classics

One of the most important features of 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 merely 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.

3) Concept of Nature

The concept of nature was also an important characteristic of the neoclassical age. 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.

The neoclassical writers thought of human nature as static and standard.Like their static view of the world, the Neoclassical writers thought of human nature also as 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.

4) 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.

5) Literary Forms

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

6) Neoclassical Drama

Neoclassical drama falls into two phases-

- Restoration Drama (later 17th century)

- Sentimental Drama (18th century)

In the Restoration Age, drama arose in the form of Comedy of Manners. But in the second phase, it declined as the Elizabethan dramas like those of Shakespeare were reproduced and age itself did not produce drama. Thus the decline of drama happened.

7) The New Restraint

Writers started inventing new words and regularizing 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.

8) Rationalism

Rationalism, stressing out the importance of reason and observation, started the beginning of scientific thought and freed man from ignorance. Rationalism was the most essential feature of neoclassical poetry. Neoclassical poetry is a reaction against the Renaissance style of poetry and it is a unique outcome of intellect not of fancy or imagination.The neoclassical poets made an effort to disregard emotion, feeling and imagination and made reaction and intellect dominant in their poetry.

9) Age of Prose

It was an age of prose, reason and good sense. A large number of practical interests arising from the new social and political conditions demanded expression not simply in books but in pamphlets, magazines and newspapers. Poetry was inadequate for such a task. Hence prose developed rapidly and excellently. The variety and excellence of prose works and the development of prose style served to express clearly every human interest and emotion. These Are the chief literary glories of the 18th century.

10) Age of Satire

The predominance of satire is an important literary characteristic of this age. Satire is a literary work which searches out the faults of men and institutions in order to hold them up to ridicule – kind of criticism. A satirist is like a laborer who clears ruins and rubbish of an old house before an architect begins on a new and beautiful structure. The work may sometimes be necessary but it really arouses enthusiasm. Satires of the Pope were always constructive in spirit.

11) The age of Reason

This age stresses the rational trend of the period according to which reason and judgment should be the guiding principles for human activities. It saw the birth of a new literary movement : Neoclassicism or Rationalism.

It was believed that science and reason would have improved man’s condition, turning him into a social being, who would conform to the rules of civilized life. The most important ability of man is ‘Reason',which enables him not only to think but also to act correctly. Man is the only living creature who has the power of observation more than the power of feelings.Reason became the Criterion of everything. What could be justified by the reason was right and what could not be justified by reason was false and rejected.

Everything was regulated by reason and nature too. People were attracted by a“reasoned nature”. To follow nature meant to represent the world as it was or to obey the reason. The importance of reason influenced the literature of the time and English literary standards were formed. The artistic creation like science had to follow exact roles and was to be based on reason.

🌺 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.

Reference :-

Characteristics of Neo Classical Age | PDF | Satire | Reason.” Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/document/515717501/Characteristics-of-Neo-Classical-Age. Accessed 25 November 2023.

“Neoclassical Period In English Literature: Characteristics & Themes • English Summary.” English Summary, https://englishsummary.com/lesson/neoclassical-period-in-english-literature/. Accessed 25 November 2023.

Words :- 1605

Images :- 4