The Neoclassical Period

The Neoclassical Period

References

• Neoclassical Literature: Definition, Characteristics & Movement. Retrieved from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/neoclassical-literature-definition-characteristics-movement.html#transcriptHeader
• Neoclassical Era. Retrieved From: http://neoclassical-poetry.bloomyebooks.com/p/the-age.html

Famous writers

Three stages

Samuel Johson:

Poetic, critic, and author of fiction. Johnson wielded considerable influence over this period with his works that focused on neoclassical aesthetic. Johnson and his fellow placed great emphasis on the values of enlightenment which stressed the importance of using knowledge, not faith and superstition, to enlighten others, and lead to expansion of many social, economic, and cultural areas.

3. Age of Sensibility or Age of Johnson (1744-1785)

Writers of this age focused on the qualities of intellect, reason, balance, and order. Besides to be marked by works that focused more directly on anti-classical features of old ballads and new bardic poetry.

Famous writers

Three stages

Famous writers

Three Stages

John Milton:

He was a very ambitions man who wanted to write something remarkable which would bring glory to his own country. In order to fulfill this great aim, he wrote Paradise Lost, which is comparable to almost all the great epic of classical.

Jhon Dryden:

He was the dominating figure of the Restoration period, and he made his mark in the fields of poetry, drama and prose.

The poetry of Dryden can be divided under three heads: Political satires, Doctrinal Poems and Fables. His most known work is ABSOLEM & ACHITOPHEL.

2. Augustan Period (1700-1745)

The term of Augustan age comes from the self-conscious imitation of the original Augustan writers, Virgil & Horace.

The works in this period exhibit qualities of order, clarity, and stylistic decorum.

The most famous works were Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift and Rape of Lock by Alexander Pope.

Alexander Pope:

Was the most significant figure in poetry during the Augustan period.

Pope and other authors, wondered about which should be the proper subjects and nature of the poetic expression.

It was common to find in their satires, the use of rhymed heroic couplets

1. The restoration Period (1660-1700)

It was so-named because King Charles 1 had been beheaded and the monarchy "restored" the order.

Restoration Literature appeal to heroic ideals of love and honor, particularly on the stage, in heroic tragedy.

The Enlightenment

Characteristics of Neoclassical Literature

Neoclassical Era

Characteristics of Neoclassical Literature

• Is characterized by order, accuracy, and structure.
• The Neoclassical writers portrayed man as inherently flawed. They emphasized restraint, self-control, and common sense.
• This was a time when conservatism flourished in both politics and literature.

Some popular types of literature included:

• Parody
• Essays
• Satire
• Letters
• Fables
• Melodrama, and
• Rhyming with couplets

• This was a time of comfortableness in England.
• It was the beginning of the British tradition of drinking tea.
• And it was the starting point of the middle class, and because of that, more people were literate.

Emphasized logic and reason

Neoclasssical Literature

Neoclassical Literature

Definition

This period of time is divided into three parts:

Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks. Thus the combination:

NEO= NEW

CLASSICAL: as in the day of the Roman and Greek classics.

Written between 1660 and 1798