Nikki Akraminejad

NEOCLASSICAL ERA

Historical ContextAge of EnlightenmentLiterary ContextSamuel JohnsonAlexander Pope

NEOCLASSICISM ERA

The Neoclassical period covers 1660-1785.

It is divided into 3 subperiods:

1-The Restoration (1660-1700)

2-The Augustan Age/Age of Pope (1700-1745)

3-The Age of Sensibility/Age of Johnson (1745-1785)

Takes its name from the restoration of the Charles II to the English throne in

1660, at the end of the commonwealth.

THE RESTORATION

1660-1700

people called themselves Augustans, after the Roman Emperor Augustus (27 BC-AD-14), who

stabilized and expanded the Roman Empire.

The men of the 18th century looked upon their Puritan and cavalier forefathers as barbarians and upon themselves as the first civilized Englishmen

THE AUGUSTAN AGE

1700-1745

• Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), poet, critic, and author of fiction

• His works focused on Neoclassical aesthetics (the study of natural and artistic beauty with an eye on the great classical writers).

• Placed great emphasis on the values of the Enlightenment: Using knowledge, not faith and superstition Led to the expansion of many social, economic, and cultural

areas including astronomy, politics, and medicine.

THE AGE OF SENSIBILITY/AGE OF

JOHNSON

1745-1785

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

ENLIGHTENMENT

• A movement of intellectuals• Began in eighteenth century Europe • Its center was in France• Had its primary goal as using reason to reform science

and advance knowledge. • It opposed abusive, intolerant practices that took place

in the church and state• Was set in motion by philosophers such as Isaac

Newton, Pierre Bayle and John Locke.

The Age of Enlightenment 1688 - 1798

Rise of the Middle Class,

Significant rise in literacy,

Rise of the newspaper and journalism,

The return of the public theatre, and

The birth of the novel.

  In This Age…

THE FIRST MONARCH OF RESTORATION

The first monarch of the

period is Charles II. He

professed to support the

Church of England but was

secretly Roman Catholic

After the religious Puritan revolution, most Britons were terrified of another religious takeover of government

the rumors about Charles’ Catholicism >>

fears of a Catholic conspiracy >>

the 1680 Bill of Exclusion and the 1700 Act of Settlement >>

It permanently prohibited a Catholic from taking the throne of England

The Glorious Revolution or the Bloodless Revolution

James II inherited his brother’s throne >>

imposing Catholic tolerance and Catholic ministers on England >>

the government rebelled >>imported James’ Protestant

son-in-law, William, from Holland >>

William and Mary took the throne in the "glorious revolution" of 1688

*Literary Context

*Literature was characterized by a highly increased questioning of religion and a rise in empiricism.

*Relied on the classic styles of the ancient Greeks and Romans

*Largely a response to the previous chaos of the Renaissance

*Dramatic Shift

This period in literature, was largely a response to the Renaissance.

*Renaissance: Roman Catholic Church >> primary source of information.

*Neoclassic: People focused on invention and experimentation, using science to explain the world around them.

*Common Genres

*Novel

*Diary

*Essay

*Satire

*Poetry

*Poetry

*The content of Neoclassical poetry was an imitation or revision of classical works

*It was important for Neoclassical authors to focus on generalities as opposed to specifics

*Poets had to adhere strictly to the meter and rhyme of the specific type of verse

*Wit, irony and satire were common contents in poetry

Alexander Pope

A translator, poet, wit and satirist

Was born in London in 1688

Pope is the only important writer of his generation

Alexander Pope

Major Poems

1. An Essay on Criticism2. An Essay on Man3. Celia4. Summer5. Couplets on Witetc.

Pope's "Essay on Criticism" is a didactic poem in heroic couplets, begun as early as 1705, and published, anonymously, in 1711.

Essay on Criticism

The poetic essay was a relatively new genre, and the "Essay" itself was Pope's most ambitious work to that time.

It was in part an attempt on Pope's part to identify and refine his own positions as poet and critic.

Essay on Criticism

In this poem one meets the key words of Neoclassical criticism: wit, nature, ancients, rules, genius.

Essay on Criticism

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill

Appear in writing or in judging ill;But of the two less dangerous is th'offence

To tire our patience than mislead our sense:

Some few in that, but numbers err in this;Ten censure wrong for one who writes

amiss;A fool might once himself alone expose;Now one in verse makes many more in

prose.

The poem starts with a discussion of the rules of taste which should govern poetry, and which enable a critic to make sound critical judgments.

He concludes that the rules of the ancients are in fact identical with the rules of Nature.

True Art, in other words, imitates Nature

Only God, can appreciate the harmony of the universe, but the intelligent and educated critic can appreciate poetic harmonies which echo those in nature.

Because his intellect and his reason are limited, he finds it helpful or necessary to employ rules which are interpretations of the ancient principles of nature to guide him

in "The Essay on Criticism" Pope is frequently concerned with "wit"

the tone is straight-forward and conversational. It is a discussion of what good critics should do; however, in reading it one gains much wisdom on the qualities poets should strive for in their own work.

In Part I of “An Essay on Criticism,” Pope notes the lack of “true taste” in critics, stating:

“’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none / Go just alike, yet each believes his own.” Pope advocates knowing one’s own artistic limits:“Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet, / and mark that point where sense and dullness meet.”

Essay on Criticism

He stresses the order in nature and the value of the work of the “Ancients” of Greece, but also states that not all good work can be explained by rules:

“Some beauties yet, no precepts can declare, / for there’s happiness as well as care.”  

In Part II, Pope lists the mistakes that critics make, as well as the defects in poems that some critics shortsightedly praise. He advocates looking at a whole piece of work, instead of being influenced by some of its showier or faulty parts:

“As men of breeding, sometimes men of wit, / T’ avoid great errors, must the less commit.”

Essay on Criticism

He advises against too much ornamentation in writing, and against fancy style that communicates little of merit. In his description of versification, his lines act out the effects of clumsy writing:

“And ten low words oft creep in one dull line,” and “A needless Alexandrine ends the song, / that, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.”

In Part III, Pope characterizes the good critic and praises the great critics of the past. He discusses what critics should do, holding up the “Ancients” as models, including Aristotle (the “Stagirite”) who was respected by the lawless poets:

“Poets, a race long unconfin’d and free, / Still fond and proud of savage liberty, / Receiv’d his laws; and stood convinc’d ‘twas fit, / Who conquer’d nature, should preside o’er wit.”

Essay on Criticism

The final section of the poem discusses the moral qualities and virtues essential in the ideal critic, who is also the ideal man — and who, Pope laments, no longer exists in the degenerate world of the early eighteenth century.

Samuel Johnson

Sam

uel J

ohns

on• Johnson was a poet, biographer,

lexicographer, and an essayist on criticism and morals

• Major author of the third period of Neoclassicism, age of Johnson.

• Ending the Age of Johnson, the Romantic Period arrived in 1798 with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Johnson wrote poetry throughout his life, from the time he was a schoolboy until eight days before his death.

They were composed in Latin and Greek as well as English.

His works include a verse drama, some longer serious poems, several prologues, many translations, and much light occasional poetry.S

amuel

Jo

hnso

n

Johnson is the last important

critic of the Neoclassicism.

In his time, pre-Romantic ideas

were more widely accepted than

Neoclassicism.

Johnson is usually less dictatorial

and more heterogeneous than

Pope in his declaration of the

Neoclassical values. Sam

uel

Jo

hnso

n

• One of Johnson’s most lasting legacies is his Dictionary of the English Language (1755).

• While this huge undertaking of Johnson’s was neither the first dictionary in existence, nor exceptionally unique, it was the most used and admired until the appearance of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1928.

One of Johnson’s most passionately held beliefs was that the language of the people should be used in literature, and that a writer should avoid using grammar and vocabulary that did not appeal to the common reader.

THE END

References• Abrams, M. (n.d.). A Glossary of Literary Terms.• Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition. (n.d.).• Retrieved from Texas A&M University Commerce: http://faculty.tamuc.edu/• Age of Enlightenment. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment• An Essay on Criticism (1711). (n.d.). Retrieved from oetry Foundation:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/essay/237826• Cody, D. (n.d.). Alexander Pope's "Essay on Criticism": An Introduction. Retrieved from The

Victorian Web: http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/pope/eoc.html• Introduction to Neoclassicism. (n.d.). Retrieved from Brooklyn College:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/neocl.html• Malgaretti, K. B. (n.d.). Focus on English and American Literature.• Neoclassical Literature: Definition, Characteristics & Movement. (n.d.). Retrieved from

Education Portal: http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/neoclassical-literature-definition-characteristics-movement.html#lesson

• Neoclassicism: An Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Victorian Webpage: http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/nc/ncintro.html

• Samuel Johnson. (n.d.). Retrieved from University of Zaragoza: http://www.unizar.es/departamentos/filologia_inglesa/garciala/hypercritica/04.Neoclassical/Neoclassical.4.4.html

• What Is Neoclassical Literature? (n.d.). Retrieved from wise Geek: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-neoclassical-literature.htm

• What is the Age of Johnson. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wise Geek: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-age-of-johnson.htm