The neo-classical age

 The general characteristics of the Elizabethan age and neo- classical age

Introduction

This period is generally regarded as the greatest in the history of English Literature. Historically, we note in this age, the tremendous impetus received from the Renaissance from the reformation & from the exploration of the new world.

It was marked by a strong national spirit, by patriotism, by religious tolerance, by social content, by intellectual progress & by unbounded enthusiasm.

Such an age of thought, feeling & vigorous action, finds its best expression in the drama; & the wonderful development of the drama, culminating.

Though the age produced some of the excellent prose works, it is essentially an age of poetry; & the poetry is remarkable for its variety, its freshness, its youth & romantic feeling.

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. abundance of output

the elizabethan age was rich in literary productions of all kinds. singing is impossible when one’s hearts undeclared & at any moment one may be laid prostrate.

not till the accession of queen elizabeth, did a better state of things began to be. in the elizabethan age, pamphlets & treatises were freely written.

sometimes writers indulged in scurrilous abuses which were of personal character.

but on the whole, the output of the literature was very wide, & after the lean years of the preceding epoch, the prodigal issue of the elizabethan age is almost embarrassing.

3. the new romanticism

the romantic quest is, for the remote, the wonderful & the beautiful. all these desires were abundantly fed during the elizabethan age, which are the first & the greatest romantic epoch (period).

according to albert, “there was a daring & resolute spirit of adventure in literary as well as the other regions, & most important of these was an un-mistakable buoyancy & freshness in the strong wind of the spirit. it was the ardent youth of english literature & the achievement was worthy of it.”

4. 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.

no less popular were the translations in poetry. e.g. metamorphoses by arthur golding, arisoto orlando furioso by sir john harrington, tasso’s terusalom liberata by richard carew.

5. spirit of independence

in spite of borrowings from abroad, the authors of this age showed a spirit of independence & creativeness.

shakespeare borrowed freely, but by the alembic of his creative imaginations, he transformed the dross into gold.

spenser introduced the ‘spenserian stanza’, & from his works, we got the impression of inventiveness & intrepidity.

on the whole, the outlook of the writers during the age was broad & independent.

6. development of drama

during the elizabethan age, drama made a swift & wonderful leap into maturity. the drama reached the splendid perfection in the hands of shakespeare & ben jonson, though in the concluding part of the age, particularly in jacobean age, there was a decline of drama standards.

popularity of poetry

poetry enjoyed its hey-day during the elizabethan age. the whole of the age lived in a state of poetic fervour.

songs, lyrics & sonnets were produced in plenty, & england became nest of the singing birds. in versification, there was a marked improvement.

melody & pictorialism were introduced in poetry by spenser.

7. prose and novel

for the first time, prose rose to the position of first rate importance.

“even the development of poetical drama between 1579 a.d. -1629 a.d., is hardly more extraordinary than the sudden expansion of english prose & its adaptation to every kind of literary requirement.”

the dead weight of the latin & english prose acquired a tradition & universal application.

Main Difference – Neoclassicism vs Romanticism

Neoclassicism and romanticism are often considered to be opposing movements. The main difference between neoclassicism and romanticism is that neoclassicism emphasized on objectivity, order, and restraint whereas romanticism emphasized on imagination and emotion.

Neoclassicism:

 Neoclassicism lasted from about 1660 and 1798.

Romanticism:

Romanticism lasted from about1789 to 1832.

Emphasis

Neoclassicism:

 Neoclassicism emphasized on structure, restraint, and objectivity.

Romanticism:

Romanticism emphasized on imagination, emotion, and subjectivity.

Inspiration

Neoclassicism:

Neoclassicism drew its inspiration from Classical age (Greeks and Romans).

Romanticism:

 Romanticism drew its inspiration from Medieval and Baroque eras.

 Neoclassicism: 

Greek and Roman history, bravery, restraint, and courage were major themes in neoclassicism.

Romanticism: 

Nature, legends, and pastoral life were major themes in romanticism.

Tone

Neoclassicism:

 Neoclassical writers used a calm, rational tone.

Romanticism: 

Romantic writers used a spontaneous, sometimes moody tone.

Writers

Neoclassicism: 

John Milton, Alexander Pope, Voltaire, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe are some well-known neoclassic writers.

Romanticism: 

William Wordsworth, John Keats, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walter Scott, Percy Bysshe Shelley are some well-known writers of this movement.

1

What is neo-classicism?

Neoclassicism is a movement in literature that drew inspiration from the classical age. The writers of this period tried to imitate the style of Greeks and Romans. This movement, which was a reaction against the renaissance, lasted from about 1660 and 1798. John Milton, Alexander Pope, Voltaire, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe are some well-known neoclassic writers. Parody, essays, satire, novels and poetry are some popular genres in this movement.

Neoclassicism was based on classical themes and forms. Structure, restraint, simplicity, decorum, order, logic, and objectivity were the main features of neoclassical literature. These were classical virtues which neoclassical writers admired and attempted to imitate. In his “An Essay on Criticism”, Alexander Pope describes the benefits of order and restraint as follows.

“Tis more to guide than spur the Muse’s Steed;

Restrain his Fury, than provoke his Speed;

The winged Courser, like a gen’rous Horse,

Shows most true Mettle when you check his Course”

This movement can be typically divided into three periods:

The Restoration Age (1660 to 1700): This period marks the British King’s restoration to the throne. It is marked by Classical influence.

The Augustan Age (1700 to 1750): The Augustans believed that their period was similar to that of Augustus Ceaser in Rome, which was a period of tranquility and stability. 

The Age of Johnson (1750 to 1798): Also called the Age of Transition, this stage was marked by the upcoming Romantic ideals and influence and slow transition from neoclassical ideals to romantic ones. 

Characteristics of Neoclassical age

Rationalism

Rationalism is the most essential feature of neoclassical poetry. Neoclassical poets viewed reason as the mainspring of learning, knowledge and inspiration for their poetry. Neoclassical poetry is a reaction against the renaissance style of poetry. It is a unique outcome of intellect, not fancy and imagination. Unlike romantic poetry, which is entirely the result of sentiments of the poet, neoclassical poetry is a simulated, fabricated and stereotypical type of poetry. In romantic poetry, sentiments play a vital role in writing of poetry, while in neoclassical poetry; reason and intellect are dominant elements. You might have heard about Coleridge and Wordsworth, who wrote poetry thoroughly at the impulse of their imagination. They didn’t lay emphasis on reason to compose poetry. The neoclassical poets made an effort to disregard imagination, emotion and feelings, while composing their poetry. That is the reason; their poetry may be branded as artificial and synthetic. 

Scholarly Allusions

The neoclassical poets always loved to make use of scholarly allusions in their poetry. As they were all highly educated and well-versed in various fields of studies, they knew a lot about religious, biblical and classical literature. Allusions helped them to convey their message to their readers effectively and easily. That is why; their poetry is brimming with plentiful allusions to classical writers i.e., Virgil, Horace and Homer. They desired to write in the manner of their classical masters. Look at the following examples taken from Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope.

                            Didacticism

Neoclassical poets rebelled against the romantic nature of poetry of the Renaissance Period. Romantic poets loved to compose poetry just for the sake of poetry like John Keats. They tried hard to sidestep morality and didacticism in their poetry. Their foremost purpose was to give vent to their feelings. On the other hand, the neoclassical poets laid stress significantly on the didactic purpose of poetry. They endeavoured hard to fix the teething troubles of humanity through the magical power of poetry. The neoclassical poets were chiefly concerned with the didactic aspects of their poetry. That is the reason; most of the neoclassical poetry is replete with didacticism to a great deal. Consider the following lines taken from Alexander Pope’s poem An Essay on Man, which is absolutely an excellent example in this regard.

Heroic Couplet

Heroic couplet is another hallmark of neoclassical poetry. The neoclassical poets were primarily responsible for reputation of heroic couplets in the history of English literature. They were the champions of heroic couplet. No poet, in the history of English literature, can compete with the mastery of neoclassical poets in handling heroic couplet. They excelled each and every poet in this regard. Chaucer was the first poet, who employed heroic couplet in his poetry. Though many renowned poets of the world tried their hands on heroic couplet, yet Dryden and Pope are the only poets, who outdid everyone in this regard. They are considered as the real masters of heroic couplet. What is most important about these two poets is that they polished the heroic couplet, corrected it, made it regular, more flexible and a polished medium of poetic expression. It is said that Dryden wrote almost thirty thousand heroic couplets. His poems like Absalam and Achitophel, Mac Flecnoe and The Medal are all in heroic couplets.

Jonathan Swift

Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.

Anglo-Irish poet, satirist, essayist, and political pamphleteer Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland. He spent much of his early adult life in England before returning to Dublin to serve as Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin for the last 30 years of his life. It was this later stage when he would write most of his greatest works. Best known as the author of,

 A Modest Proposal (1729)

Gulliver’s Travels (1726)

 A Tale Of A Tub (1704)

Swift is widely acknowledged as the greatest prose satirist in the history of English literature. swift’s poetry has a relationship either by interconnections with, or by reactions against, the poetry of his contemporaries and predecessors. he was probably influenced, in particular, by the restoration writers john wilmot, earl of rochester and samuel butler may have picked up pointers from the renaissance poets john donne and sir philip sidney. beside these minor borrowings of his contemporaries, his debts are almost negligible. in the augustan age, an era which did not necessarily value originality above other virtues, his poetic contribution was strikingly original.

In reading swift’s poems, one is first impressed with their apparent spareness of allusion and poetic device. anyone can tell that a particular poem is powerful or tender or vital or fierce, but literary criticism seems inadequate to explain why. a few recent critics have carefully studied his use of allusion and image, but with only partial success. it still seems justified to conclude that swift’s straightforward poetic style seldom calls for close analysis, his allusions seldom bring a whole literary past back to life, and his images are not very interesting in themselves. in general, swift’s verses read faster than john dryden’s or alexander pope’s, with much less ornamentation and masked wit. he apparently intends to sweep the reader along by the logic of the argument to the several conclusions he puts forth. he seems to expect that the reader will appreciate the implications of the argument as a whole, after one full and rapid reading. for swift’s readers, the couplet will not revolve slowly upon itself, exhibiting intricate patterns and fixing complex relationships between fictive worlds and contemporary life.

the poems are not always as spare in reality as swift would have his readers believe, but he seems deliberately to induce in them an unwillingness to look closely at the poems for evidence of technical expertise. he does this in part by working rather obviously against some poetic conventions, in part by saying openly that he rejects poetic cant, and in part by presenting himself—in many of his poems—as a perfectly straightforward man, incapable of a poet’s deviousness. by these strategies, he directs attention away from his handling of imagery and meter, even in those instances where he has been technically ingenious. for the most part, however, the impression of spareness is quite correct; and if judged by the sole criterion of technical density, then he would have to be judged an insignificant poet. but technical density is a poetic virtue only as it simulates and accompanies subtlety of thought. one could argue that swift’s poems create a density of another kind: that “the day of judgement,” for example, initiates a subtle process of thought that takes place after, rather than during, the reading of the poem, at a time when the mind is more or less detached from the printed page. one could argue as well that swift makes up in power what he lacks in density: that the strength of the impression created by his directness gives an impetus to prolonged meditation of a very high quality. on these grounds, valuing swift for what he really is and does, one must judge him a major figure in poetry as well as prose.

swift suffered a stroke in 1742, leaving him unable to speak. he died three years later, and was buried at st. patrick’s cathedral, dublin.

By. Vachchhalata Joshi

vachchhalatajoshi.14@gmail.com

Words - 2308

Paragraph - 88