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THE RESTORATION AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Neoclassicism

Characteristics

Genre

John Dryden as a Critic

Characteristics of Neoclassic Literature

Subjectivity

Feelings

Allusion

Didacticism

Poetic Diction

Lyrics

Subject: What makes a play "a just and lively imitation" of human nature in action?

The term Neoclassicism is a combination of two words: Neo and Classic. The term Neoclassicism is a combination of two words: Neo and Classic. The word neo has been derived from a Greek word neos, which means young or new, while the word classic refers to the style and works of the ancient authors of Greece and Rome. To combine these words, we get the meaning of Neoclassicism as the rebirth and restoration of Classicism. Hence, Neoclassicism is the movement in the history of English literature, which laid immense emphasis on revival of the classical spirit during the period between 1680 and 1750 in the age of Pope and Dryden.

Two types of "bad" English poets:

1. the poets who "perpetually pay us with clenches upon words and a certain clownish kind of raillery" (bad metaphysicals?).

2. he who " affects plainness to cover his want of imagination" (bad Puritans?).

Conduct literature is a kind of writing meant to instruct young people on their behavior and teach them about society. The genre flourished in the 16th century and often focused on women. How should a lady act? was the question of the day. Conduct literature influenced 17th, 18th and 19th century novelists like Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen.

Neoclassical characteristics include order, logic, restraint, accuracy, and correctness. Neoclassical Literature was in direct opposition to its predecessor, the Renaissance period. In contrast to the Renaissance, Neoclassicism saw man as inherently flawed; whereas in the Renaissance man was basically good.Neoclassical writers emphasized restraint and self control. This was a time when conservatism flourished in literature.

In the late seventeenth century, critics reviled Shakespeare for his disregard for decorum and his seemingly careless attitudes regarding the mixing of genres.

is a single source for understanding neoclassical attitudes toward dramatic art.

They measure progress by comparing ancient arts with modern, focusing specifically on the art of drama (or "dramatic poesy"). The four men debate a series of three topics: (1) the relative merit of classical drama (upheld by Crites) vs. modern drama (championed by Eugenius); (2) whether French drama, as Lisideius maintains, is better than English drama (supported by Neander, who famously calls Shakespeare "the greatest soul, ancient or modern"); and (3) whether plays in rhyme are an improvement upon blank verse drama--a proposition that Neander, despite having defended the Elizabethans, now advances against the skeptical Crites.

"Virgil and Horace, the severest writers of the severest age, have made frequent use of the hardest metaphors and of the strongest hyperboles; and in this case the best authority is the best argument, for generally to have pleased, and through all ages, must bear the force of universal tradition" (2130).

In painting

The English Language

Religion of the Time

Human Nature

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.

• Deism was a new religion during this time, it was the idea that god exists on only rational grounds, without dependence on any religious texts. Deists believe that God shaped the world, then stepped back and did not get in the way.

Classical Music

George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759)

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