空格键英文自考英国文学chapter2

Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period

Neoclassical period:

is the one in English literature between the return of the Stuarts to the English shrone in

1660 and the full assertion of Romanticism which came with the publication of

Lyrical Ballads

by Wordsworth

and Coleridge in 1978.

It’s in fact a

turbulent

period:

A . Great political and social events were the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660

B. the Great Plague of 1665 which took 70,000 lives in London alone

C.

the

Great

London

Fire

which

destroyed

a

large

part

of

the

city,

leaving

two-thirds

of

the

population

homeless,

D. the Glorious Revolution in which King James II was replaced by his protestant daughter Mary and her

Dutch husband William, duke of Orange, in 1689, and so on.

There was constant strife between the monarch and the parliament, between the two big parties

—

the Tories and

Whigs

—

over

the

control

of

the

parliament

and

government,

between

opposing

religious

sects

such

as

the

Roman Catholicism, the Anglican Church and the Dissenters, between the ruling class and the laboring poor,

etc. in short, it was an age full of conflicts

and divergence of values.

Background:

the

eighteenth

century

saw

the

fast

development

of

England

as

a

nation.

Abroad,

a

vast

expansion of British colonies in North America, India, the West Indies, and a continuous increase of colonial

wealth and trade provided England with

a market

for which the small-scale hand production methods

of the

home industry were hardly adequate, towards the middle of the eighteenth century, England had become the

first powerful capitalist country in the world. The British bourgeois or middle class also grew rapidly. It was the

major force of the Revolution and was mainly composed of city people.

Literature

character:

in

the

field

of

literature,

the

Enlightenment

Movement

brought

about

a

revival

of

interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. According to the neoclassicists, all

forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers (Homer,

Virgil, Horace, Ovid, etc.) they believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and

accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. This belief led them to seek

proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human

beings, primarily as social animals. Thus a polite urbane, witty, and intellectual art developed.

Neoclassicists had some fixed laws and rules for almost every genre of literature. Prose should be precise,

direct, smooth and flexible. Poetry should be lyrical, epical, didactic, satiric or dramatic, and each class should

be guided by its own principles. Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets.

The neoclassical emphasis upon reason, intellect, wit and form was rebelled against or challenged by the

sentimentalists, and was, in due time, gradually replaced by Romanticism.

The neoclassical period witnessed the flourish of English poetry in the classical style from Restoration to

about the second half of the century. Much attention was given to the wit, form and art of poetry. Mock epic,

romance,

satire

and

epigram

were

popular

forms

adopted

by

poets

of

the

time.

Besides

the

elegant

poetic

structure

and

diction,

the

neoclassical

poetry

was

also

noted

for

its

seriousness

and

earnestness

in

tone

and

constant didacticism.

The mid-century was, however, predominated by a newly rising literary form

—

the modern English novel,

which gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people.

And

from

the

middle

to

the

end

of

the

century

there

was

an

apparent

shift

of

inerest

from

the

classic

literary

tradirion

to

originality

and

imagination,

from

society

to

individual,

from

the

didactic

to

the

confessional, inspirational and prophetical. Gothic novels were turned out profusely by both male and female.

In the theatrical world, Richard B. Sheridan was the leading figure among a host of playwrights.

His A

Modest Proposal

being generally regarded as the

best

model of satire, not

only of the period but

also

in

the

whole English literary history.

The main writers:

1.

John Bunyan: (1628-1688):

Works:

The Pilgrim’s Progree:

is the most successful religious allegory in the English language. Its purpose is

to urge people to abide by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their

own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils. It is not only about something spiritual but also bears much

relevance to the time. Its predominant metaphor---life is a journey ---is simple and familiar.

Grace

abounding

to

the

Chief

of

Sinners,

The

Life

and

Death

of

Mr.

Badman,

The

Holy

War,

The

pilgrim’s Progress

, Part II

Character(personal)

: Bunyan had a deep hatred for the corrupted, hypocritical rich who accumulated their

wealth “by hook and by crook.” As a stout Puritan, he had made a conscientious study of the Bible and firmly

believed in salvation through spiritual struggle.

Works

Character

:

his

style

was

modeled

after

that

of

the

English

Bible.

With

his

concrete

and

living

language and carefully observed and vividly presented details, he made it possible for the reader of the least

education to share the pleasure of reading his novel and to relive the experience of his characters.

2. Alexander Pope(1688-1744): He is the representative of the Enlightenment. Pope was one of the first to

introduce retionalism to England. For him the supreme value was order

—

cosmic order, political order,

social order, aesthetic order, and this emphasis on order found expression in all of his works. An Essay

on Criticism made him famous.

Main wroks:

An Essay on Criticism

make him famous as a great poet.

The Rape of the Lock

, a finest mock epic.

The Dunciad

, his best satiric work

An Essay on Man

Eloisa to Abelard

Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot

Translated Homer’s

Iliad

and

Odyseey

Personal

character:

Pope

was

the

greatest

poet

of

his

time.

He

strongly

advocated

neoclassicism,

emphasizing that literary works should be judged by classical rules of order, reason, logic, restrained emotion,

good taste and decorum. He worked painstakingly on his poems, developed a satiric, concise, smooth, graceful

and well-balanced style

and finally brought

to

its

last perfection the heroic couplet

Dryden had

successfully

used in his plays.

An

Essay

on

Criticism

:

it

is

a

didactic

poem

written

in

heroic

couplets.

It

consists

of

744

lines

and

is

divided

into

three

parts.

It

sums

up

the

art

of

poetry

as

upheld

and

practiced

by

the

ancients

like

Aristotle.

Horace, Boileau, etc. The poem,

as a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism, exerted great

influence on Pope

’

s contemporary writers in advocating the classical rules and popularizing the neoclassicist

tradition in England.

It’s written in a plain style, hardly containing any imag

ery or eloquence and therefore makes easy reading.

3. Daniel Defoe(1660-1731)

: his quick mind, abundant energy and never-failing enthusiasm always brought

him back on his feet after a fall. First wrote pamphlets on the current political issues.

Main works:

The Shortest Way with the Dissenters.

The True-born Englishman

The Review

Robinson Crusoe (most famous of his work, his masterpiece)

Captain Singleton

Moll Flanders

Colonel Jack

Roxana

A Journal of the Plague Year.

His works are the first literary works devoted to the study of problems of the lower-class people. In most of

his

works,

he

gave

his

praise

to

the

hard-working,

sturdy

middle

class

and

showed

his

sympathy

for

the

downtrodden, unfortunate poor.

His

works’s

character

:

His

sentences

are

sometimes

short,

crisp

and

plain,

and

sometimes

long

and

rambling, which leave on the reader an impression of casual narration. His language is smooth, easy, colloquial

and mostly vernacular. There is nothing artificial in his language: it is common English at its best.

4. Jonathan Swift(1667-1745)

:

success

as

a prose satirist.

He became not

only a popular clergyman, but

also a leader in the Irish resistance to the English oppression

Main Works:

A Tale of a Tub (satirist)

The Battle of the Books

Gulli

ver’s Travels

(his greatest satiric work)

A Modest Proposal (more powerful)

The Drapier’s Letters

Personal character

: he had a deep hatred for all the rich oppressors and a deep sympathy for all the poor and

oppressed. His understanding of human nature is profound. He is making the most devastating protest against

the inhuman exploitation and oppression of the Irish people by the English ruling class. In his opinion, human

nature is seriously and permanently flawed. To better human life, enlightenment is needed, but to redress it is

very hard. So, in his writings, although he intends not ot condemn but to reform and improve human nature and

human institutions, there is often an under or over tone of helplessness and indignation.

Language character

: his satire is usually masked by an outward gravity and an apparent

earnestness which

renders

his

satire

all

the

more

powerful.

He

is

one

of

the

greatest

masters

of

English

Prose,

He

is

almost

unsurpassed in the writing of simple, direct, precise prose. He defin

ed a good style as “proper words in proper

places”.

Clear,

simple,

concrete

diction,

uncomplicated

sentence

structure,

economy

and

conciseness

of

language mark all his writings--- essays, poems and novels.

Gulliver’s Travels

: Jonathan’s best fic

tional work. As a whole, the book is one of the most effective and

devastating

criticism

and

satires

of

all

aspects

in

the

then

English

and

European

life

—

socially,

politically,

religiously, philosophically, scientifically, anf morally.

Its social significance is great and its exploration into

human nature profound. Gulliver

’

s Travers is also an artistic masterpiece. In structure, the four parts make an

organic

whole,

with

each

contrived

upon

an

independent

structure,

and

yet

complementing

the

others

and

contributing to the central concern study of human nature and life.

5.

Henry

Fielding(1707-1754)

:

Is

the

most

successful

living

playwright

of

the

time.

His

plays

were

mostly

comedies and farces filled with political and social satire. Became editor of a paper called

The Champion

. As a