“Features of Neoclassic Poetry”
Alexander Pope and John Dryden’s Writings of late 17th to 18th century referred to as neoclassical literature. Neoclassic structure emerged from Greek and Roman literature and is a new form of classic. This literature is quiet efficiently designed by using Regular meter, proficient use of strenuous figurative devices and anxiously controlled rhyme. We find such form of work mostly in Greek and Latin poetry.
Conveniently, the Neoclassic period can be divided into three relatively lucid parts: firstly the Restoration Age (1660-1700), in which Milton, Bunyan, and Dryden influenced dominantly; secondly the Augustan Age (1700-1750), in which Pope was the prominent central poetic figure, others like Defoe, Smollett, Fielding, and Richardson were presiding over the sophistication of the novel; and finally the Age of Johnson(1750-1798), which, while it was subjugated and characterized by the mind and personality of the instinctive Dr. Samuel Johnson, whose sympathies were with the fading Augustan past, saw the beginnings of a new understanding and appreciation of the work of Shakespeare, developed by Sterne and others, of the novel of sensibility, and the emergence of the Gothic school — attitudes which, in the context of the development of a cult of Nature, the influence of German romantic concepts, religious proclivities like the rise of Methodism, and political events like the American and French revolutions — established the intellectual and emotional foundations of English Romanticism. (Victorian Web July)
Neoclassical Poets
English poets from 1660 to 1798 are genuinely known as neo-classical poets because they had a great respect honor for classical writers and imitated much from them. preset rules, ...
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...e individual that can be distinguished as rational. We recognize it as the Age of Reason. Reason can be accustomed to be the highest mental faculty, but according to many thinkers it was a complete guide covering all areas. Religious belief and morality were based on grounds.
Neoclassical Assumptions and Their Implications
According to neoclassic theorists human nature is constant, it never changes with the change in time and place thus past is a good guide for them to work on. Art, they believed, should express this essential nature: "Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature" (Samuel Johnson). An individual is the role model for judging and analyzing human nature. Thus neoclassical artists more effectively emphasized on basic human characteristics over individual differences as it is shown in the character of Molie.
In the late eighteenth century arose in literature a period of social, political and religious confusion, the Romantic Movement, a movement that emphasized the emotional and the personal in reaction to classical values of order and objectivity. English poets like William Blake or Percy Bysshe Shelley seen themselves with the capacity of not only write about usual life, but also of man’s ultimate fate in an uncertain world. Furthermore, they all declared their belief in the natural goodness of man and his future. Mary Shelley is a good example, since she questioned the redemption through the union of the human consciousness with the supernatural. Even though this movement was well known, none of the British writers in fact acknowledged belonging to it; “.”1 But the main theme of assignment is the narrative voice in this Romantic works. The narrator is the person chosen by the author to tell the story to the readers. Traditionally, the person who narrated the tale was the author. But this was changing; the concept of unreliable narrator was starting to get used to provide the story with an atmosphere of suspense.
The Restoration Period (1660-1700) was a period of social, political and philosophical turmoil, which laid the foundation for future centuries. This period was marked by an advance in colonization and trade and by the birth of the Whig and Tory parties. In poetry, works of Alexander Pope and Anne Finch and a number of other poets distinguishes the Restoration. But, there are several objections from these poets; one particular opposition occurs between Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and Anne Finch.
Everett, Nicholas From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamiltong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.
Raffel, Burton. and Alexandra H. Olsen Poems and Prose from the Old English, (Yale University Press)Robert Bjork and John Niles,
Imagine waking up with no coffee, no bathroom with a shower and toilet, no gas powered light to turn on in your home, and no electronics to kill some time. This is how the Romantic and Enlightenment period lived life every day. However, one will see there is a vast difference between the two periods. In the play Phaedra by Jean Racine, we see a glimpse of the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment period is mostly known as the “Age of reason.” Inevitably Phaedra is seen as the desperate tragic hero who is the cause for everyone’s misery. Tintern Abbey is written by poet William Wordsworth. One will see a more imaginative, natural beautiful side of the Romantic period, which is filled with emotion. After reading the two periods and contrasting them, one will see the characteristics and qualities of the Enlightenment period appeals more to society and helps shape each individual. As seen in the Romantic period an individual’s escape to nature for the closer well-being of Christ.
G. Ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period. New York: Norton, 2000. Barth, Robert J. Romanticism and transcendence: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and the Religious Imagination. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003.
In the literary `movements' of neo-classicism and romanticism, Voltaire's Candide and Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther represent the literary age in which they were written. In the following composition, textual evidence will be provided to demonstrate how each book accurately represents either the neo-classicism age or the romanticism age. Candide and The Sorrows of Young Werther will be examined separately, and then examined together. After, a discussion about how each age seems to view the nature of man and the significance of moral and spiritual values will be presented. Also, a personal interpretation of the conclusion of each book will be given. Lastly, quotes and examples will be given to show which of the two literary ages offers more to the reader.
Ferguson, Carol. "LECTURE: THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE ROMANTIC ERA." The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Web. 18 Aug. 2010. .
Otis Wheeler describes how the surge in sentimental dramas was a direct reaction to the coarse comedies of the Restoration wherein man was depicted as ridiculous and nonsensical. In contrast “the drama of sensibility” was a display of the infinite promise of man. In this way the beginnings of the Cult of Sensibility is inextricably linked to the birth of Romanticism, yet where Romanticism preferred the superfluous and exaggerated the Cult of Sensibility preferred the delicate, softer emotions that would bring people together in harmony. As such it is fair to say that although these two styles were borne of a similar distaste for the neoclassical, they developed into very different types of drama. Romanticism created antagonistic protagonists, such as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.
"Neoclassicism." A Guide to the Study of Literature: A Companion Text for Core Studies. Comp. English Department Brooklyn College. 6th ed. Landmarks of Literature. Brooklyn College. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
Bodrogean, Adina. "Enlightenment Ideas Reflected In The English Literature Of The Time." Scientific Journal Of Humanistic Studies 5.9 (2013): 64-66. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
The Age of Enlightenment was characterized by the reign of reason. Enlightenment thinkers believed in the supremacy of reason above all other human faculties, and in the perfectibility of man and therefore society. Scientific understanding and the pursuit of knowledge were key pursuits in this time. Materialism was emphasized as an overt rejection of the superstition of the Middle Ages. The ideals of the Enlightenment were rationality, objectivism, and the “enlightened” society based on pragmatism.
Reisman, Rosemary M. C, and Robert L. Snyder. Romantic Poets. 4th ed. Ipswich, Mass: Salem
Rationality from the Latin ‘rationari’ meaning to ‘think’ or ‘calculate’ is a significant concept in Western philosophy born out of the Enlightenment. During the 17th and 18th centuries many philosophers began to emphasise the use of reason as the best method of learning objective truth. Pioneers in this field include Descartes and Locke.
Art transcends language, and provides a depiction of cultural ideologies, fashion, and ideals in a way texts from the time period can not. Rococo, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism were all indicators of a changing time in which economics, politics, and culture were altered. The transition between each gauges the severity of the change depending on how extremely each differs from its predecessor. While the most extreme occurred between the Rococo movement and the Neoclassical, the transition between the Neoclassicism and Romanticism signified a less severe but still influential change in society. A document from a citizen criticizing art during the time of both the Romantic movement and Neoclassical movement would aid in describing public opinion of the two, and the change in popularity dependent on the classes or perception of the time period. Another document from a commoner on nationalism may have also expanded the perspective of how nationalism was prominent during the time, and how this was reflected in art. All of the movements continue to influence modern art. Rococo inspires artists in depicting the wealth gap, Neoclassicism continues to be used in architecture especially relating to government buildings, and principles of Romanticism are still used in idealized landscape paintings or other imaginative