英国文学简史 4新古典主义(18世纪)

六、

The Neoclassical Period

（

18

th

century

）

Definitions of literary terms

1) The Enlightenment Movement

progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France & swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. The movement was

a

furtherance

of

the

Renaissance

of

the

15th

&

16th

centuries.

Its

purpose

was

to

enlighten

the

whole

world

with

the

light

of

modem

philosophical & artistic ideas. The enlighteners celebrated reason or rationality, equality & science. They called for a reference to order,

reason

&

rules

&

advocated

universal

education.

Famous

among

the

great

enlighteners

in

England

were

those

great

writers

like

John

Dryden, Alexander pope & so on.

The

18th- century

England

is

known

as

the

Age

of

Enlightenment

or

the

Age

of

Reason.

The

Enlightenment

Movement

was

a

2) Neoclassicism

In

England,

neoclassicism

is

initiated

by

John

Dryden,

culminated

in

Alexander

Pope

and

continued

by

Samuel

Johnson. It was a reaction against the fire of passions that blazed in the later Renaissance. It found its literary artistic

model in the classical literature of ancient Greek and Latin authors, such as Homer, Virgil, Horace. The neoclassicists

have

their

artistic

ideas:

order,

logic,

symmetry,

restraint,

accuracy,

good

taste,

good

sense,

decorum

and

so

on.

In

drama, they follow the Three Unities closely.

1

、

Richard Steele(1672-1729) and Joseph Addison(1672-1719)

The Tatler The Spectator

(the earliest periodicals)

2

、

Samuel Johnson< /p>

（

1709-1784

）

Samuel Johnson, commonly called Dr. Johnson, was one of the greatest figures of 18th-century English literature. He was

the last great

neoclassicist

enlightener

in

the

late

18th

century.

He

had

a

hand

in

all

the

different

branches

of

literary

activities.

He

was

a

poet,

dramatist, prose romancer, biographer, essayist, critic, lexicographer & publicist.

His major works :

poems:

, &

a romance:

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia

a tragedy:

Irene

hundreds of essays in the two periodicals

:The Rambler & The Idler;

English dictionary

:A Dictionary of the English Language

英国传记文学双星

：

Life of Johnson

by James Boswell

The Life of Charlotte Bronte

by Elizabeth Cleghon Gaskell

3

、

Alexander pope< /p>

（

1688-1744

）

poet

Pope is one of the fore-most satirists in world literature as well as

a great poet

. Pope's mock-heroic poem

The Rape of the Lock

is one

of

the

finest

examples

of

English

comic

verse.

As

a

representative

of

the

Enlightenment

,

Pope

was

one

of

the

first

to

introduce

rationalism

to England. He was the greatest poet of his time.

His major works

1). The Rape of the Lock

A

delightful

burlesque

of

epic

poetry,

it

ridicules

the

manners

of

the

English

nobility.

The

poem

is

based on an actual incident in which a young nobleman stole a lock of a lady's hair.

2) An Essay on Criticism

His

first

important

work,

An

Essay

on

Criticism

was

a

long

didactic

poem

in

heroic

couplets.

In

this

work,

he

reflected

the

neo-classical spirit of the times by advocating good taste, common sense & the adherence to classical rules in writing & criticism. The

whole poem is written in a plain style, hardly containing any imagery or eloquence &therefore makes easy reading.

3

）

The Dunciad

1

Generally considered Pope's best satiric work,

The Dunciad

goes deep in meaning & works at many levels. Its satire is directed at

Dullness in general, & in the course of it all the literary

men of the age. Poets mainly

who had made Pope's enemies, are held up to

ridicule. But the poem is not confined to personal attack. Dullness as reflected in the corruptness of government, social morals, education

& even religion, is expertly exposed & satirized.

二、

English Realistic Novel

The Realistic Novel:

The

mid- century

was,

however,

predominated

by

a

newly

rising

literary

form,

the

modern

English

novel,

which,

contrary

to

the

traditional

romance

of

aristocrats,

gives

a

realistic

presentation

of

life

of

the

common

English

people.

This-the

most

significant

phenomenon in the history of the development of English literature in the eighteenth century - is a natural product of the Industrial

Revolution & a symbol of the growing importance & strength of the English of the growing importance & strength of the English

middle class, Among the pioneers were Daniel Defoe ,Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Tobias George Smollett,

& Oliver Goldsmith.

1

、

Daniel Defoe(1660-1731)

He acquired a pure naked English

—

smooth, easy, almost colloquial. Yet never coarse. He loved short, crisp, plain sentences. There is

nothing artificial in his language; it is really common English.

作品：

1

）

P amphlet

:

The Trueborn Englishman

—

A Satire.

(It contained a caustic exposure of the aristocracy

and the tyranny of the church.)

2)

Novels:

Robinson Crusoe

(

The character of Robinson Crusoe is representative of the English bourgeoisie at

the earlier stage of its development.

);

Captain Singleton; Moll Flanders; Colonel Jacque

2

、

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

He is an

Irish.

Swift is one of the greatest

masters of English prose

. His language is simple, clear and vigorous. He said,

“

Proper

words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style.

”

Swift is a

master of satirist,

and his irony is deadly. But his satire is

shown in his

Modest Proposal.

masked by an outward gravity,

and an apparent calmness conceals his bitter irony. This

makes his satire all the

more powerful, as

作品：

1

）

Two stories

:

A Tale of a Tub; The Battle of the Books

(The two stories made him well-known as a

satirist.

)

2)

Novel:

Gulliver

’

s Travels

3)

Pamphlets

:

The Drapier

’

s

Letters; A

Modest Proposal

(Swift

’

s pamphlets in Ireland form a very

important part of his works.)

3

、

Samuel Richardson(1689-1761)

His main achievement as a novelist lies in his technique to show characters as personalities.

Psychological analysis.

作品：

Pamela

(The story is a told in a series of letters from the heroine, Pamela Andrews.

书信体小说

);

Clarissa; Sir Charles Grandison.

Pamela

was a new thing in three ways:

Firstly,

it

discarded

the

“

improbable

and

marvellous

”

accomplishment

of

the

former

heroic

romances,

and

pictured the life and love of ordinary people.

Secondly, its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.

Thirdly,

it

described

not

only

the

sayings

and

doings

of

the

characters

but

also

their

secret

thoughts

and

feelings. It was, in fact,

the first English psycho- analytical novel.

4

、

Henry Fielding(1707-1754)

1)

简介：

As a novelist, Fielding is very great. He is the

founder of the English

realistic novel

and sets up the theory of realism in literary.

“

Nature herself,

”

i.e., the exact observation and study of real life, was the basis of Fielding

’

s work. Byron, in a famous phrase, called

Fielding

“

the prose Homer of Human Nature

”

. Fielding established once for all the form of the modern novel. His importance in the

2