Topics so far –
Now –
14. The Age of Classicism
Next –
15. The Transition Age
16. The Romantic Age
The Age of Classicism – 1702 to 1740
The literary
career of Pope forms the axis of this age. One might therefore consider it as
roughly ending a few years before his death, about 1740. From 1702 to 1740
there reigns the relative unity of a literary age. Its general traits originate
in those of the Restoration, which they continue, accentuate and also in
reaction modify.
The Classical School of Poetry: Pope
Alexander Pope was, like Dryden after 1685,
a Catholic, and therefore an outsider in the Protestant-dominated society of
the early eighteenth century. The two men were, however, of totally different
generations and background. Pope was 12 when Dryden died, and was suffering
from the spinal disease which left him deformed and sickly for the rest of his life.
Pope had, in common with Dryden,
considerable success in translating Greek and Latin classics – especially Homer
– into English, and also prepared a noted, if flawed, edition of Shakespeare,
in 1725. But he never engaged in serious political, philosophical, and
religious debate on the scale that Dryden achieved. Perhaps because of his poor
health, Pope was something of a recluse, but he was very involved in high
society, and took sides on most of the political issues of his day. His satires
are full of savage invective against real or imagined enemies. Pope’s sphere
was social and intellectual. The Rape of the Lock (1712–14), written when he was in his mid-twenties, is the
essence of the mock heroic. It makes a family quarrel, over a lock of hair, into
the subject of a playful poem full of paradoxes and witty observations on the
self-regarding world it depicts, as the stolen lock is transported to the heavens
to become a new star. ‘Fair tresses man’s imperial race insnare’ makes
Belinda’s hair an
attractive trap for all
mankind – a linking of the trivial with the apparently serious, which is Pope’s
most frequent device in puncturing his targets’ self-importance.
The Dunciad (1726,
expanded in 1743) is Pope’s best-known satire. It is again mock heroic in
style, and, like Dryden’s MacFlecknoe some fifty years before, it is an
attack on the author’s literary rivals, critics, and enemies. Pope groups them
together as the general enemy ‘Dulness’, which gradually takes over the world,
and reduces it to chaos and darkness.
Pope’s intentions in his writing were wide-ranging.
His Moral Essays from the 1730s, his An Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot (1735),
his An Essay on Man (1733–34), and the early Essay on Criticism (1711)
explore the whole question of man’s place in the universe, and his moral and
social responsibilities in the world.
A little learning is a dangerous thing. (Essay
on Criticism)
True wit is nature to advantage dressed,
What oft was thought but ne’er so well
expressed.
(Essay on Criticism)
True ease in writing comes from art, not
chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to
dance.
’Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense.
(Essay on
Criticism)
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
(An Essay on
Man)
The Imitations of Horace (1733–38)
raises issues of political neutrality, partisanship and moral satire, and as
such are a key text of the Augustan age. The conclusion of An Essay on Man,
‘Whatever is, is right’, may seem sadly banal; but a great many of Pope’s lines
are among the most memorable and quotable from English poetry. His technical
ability and wit, although firmly based in the neoclassical spirit of the time,
raised Pope’s achievement to considerable heights.
Pope in Literary Context
Pope and Neoclassicism: Pope, particularly in An Essay on Criticism and ‘‘Epistle to Arbuthnot,’’ contributed to neoclassicism, or
the resurgence in ancient ideals in art and literature—particularly the ideals
of ancient Greece and Rome. For Pope, the core truth is whatever has lasted
longest across many generations of readers; thus we should look to ancient
literature for truth. In the epics of Homer, for example, the ethics of
heroism, loyalty, and leadership are as true now as they were then. In
addition, the balanced and symmetrical structures of classical literature and
architecture represent values of reason and coherence that Pope says should
remain central to all modern arts.
Comic Satire: Pope used his great knowledge of and respect for classical
literature to write mock-epics that poked fun at the elite. Essentially Pope
believed the upper class possessed an exaggerated sense of its own importance. He
also made fun of hack writers, comparing their shoddy work with timeless
stories of the past. Pope is credited for proclaiming, ‘‘Praise undeserved is
satire in disguise.’’
Pope and Proverbs: Pope’s style and personal philosophies have become part of the
English language. For example, ‘‘A little learning is a dang’rous thing’’ comes
from An Essay on
Criticism, as
does ‘‘To err is human, to forgive, divine.’’ Other well-known sayings from An Essay on Criticism include ‘‘For fools rush in where angels
fear to tread’’ and ‘‘Hope springs eternal.’’
Literary Criticism:-
At ev’ry word a reputation dies
(Alexander Pope, The
Rape of the Lock)
Criticism, or writing about books and their
authors, is as old as writing itself. It is thus hardly surprising that the
century which saw the greatest expansion in writing and reading should also see
the arrival of the professional critic. Critical essays on theory and form,
such as Dryden’s Of Dramatic Poesy (1668), or satirical views of the
literary world, such as Swift’s The Battle of the Books (1697; published
1704 – the battle is between ancient and modern, or between classical and
contemporary literature), draw lines between older and newer styles and modes
of writing. This is criticism as an aid to the definition and aims of
literature. Under the influence of the French writer Nicholas Boileau’s Art
Poétique (1674), criticism in the Augustan age established canons of taste and
defined principles of composition and criticism.
This mix of scientific rigour and
subjective reaction has remained constant through succeeding generations. Criticism changes
almost as much as literature varies, if more slowly, but it can exert very
strong influences. And no critic is ever right, at least for any longer than
the critical fashion lasts. What is of interest is how much critical writing is
of continuing value and influence.
The Criticism of Manners:
Satire, Comedy, Memoirs – Ambrose Philips, Mary Wortley Montagu, John Arbuthnot, Swift
Ambrose Philips: He
was a friend of Pope until his Pastorals
appeared with Pope's in Tonson's Miscellany (1709).
Stung by the praise lavished on Philips, the latter published a skilfully
satirical 'eulogy' of his poems which mercilessly exposed their shortcomings.
The quarrel which followed led Pope to immortalize Philips in The Dunciad and
others of his works. Philips obtained several posts under the Government, and
passed a happy and prosperous life. He wrote three tragedies, the best of which
is The Distressed Mother (1712). He produced a fair amount of prose for the
periodicals, and his miscellaneous verse, of a light and agreeable kind, was
popular in its day. His poetry was called 'namby-pamby,' from his Christian
name; and the word has survived in its general application.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Famous in her day for her masculine force of character, was the
eldest daughter of the Duke of Kingston. In 1712 she married Edward Wortley
Montagu, and moved in the highest literary and social circles. In 1716 her
husband was appointed ambassador at Constantinople, and while she was in the
East she corresponded regularly with many friends, both literary and personal.
She is the precursor of the great letter-writers of the later portion of the
century. Her Letters are written shrewdly and sensibly, often with a frankness that
is a little staggering. She had a vivid interest in her world, and she can
communicate her interest to her reader.
John Arbuthnot: He became acquainted with Pope and Swift. His writings are chiefly political, and
include the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus (1709), which, though published (1741) in the works of Pope,
is thought to be his; The History of John Bull (1712 or 1713), ridiculing the war-policy of the Whigs; and The Art of Political Lying (1712).
Arbuthnot writes with wit and vivacity,
and with many pointed allusions. At his best he somewhat resembles Swift,
though he lacks the great devouring flame of the latter's personality.
Jonathan Swift: Swift is the foremost prose satirist in the
English language. His greatest satire, Gulliver’s
Travels (1726), is alternately described as an
attack on humanity and a clear-eyed assessment of human strengths and
weaknesses. In addition to his work as a satirist, Swift was also an
accomplished minor poet, a master of political journalism, a prominent
political figure, and one of the most distinguished leaders of the Anglican
church in Ireland. For these reasons he is considered one of the representative
figures of his age.
In
England, Swift secured a position as secretary to Sir William Temple, a scholar
and former member of Parliament engaged in writing his memoirs. Except for two
trips to Ireland, Swift remained in Temple’s employ and lived at his home, Moor
Park, until Temple’s death in 1699. During this period, Swift read widely, was
introduced to many prominent individuals in Temple’s circle, and began a career
in the Anglican church, an ambition thwarted by Temple’s inaction in obtaining
Swift a promised preferment in the church.
Around
this time, he met Esther Johnson, stepdaughter of Temple’s steward. ‘‘Stella,’’
as Swift nicknamed her, became an intimate, lifelong confidante to Swift.
Despite rumors to the contrary, their relationship remained platonic; Swift’s
correspondence with he was later collected in The Journal to
Stella (1963).
Toward
the end of this period, Swift wrote his first great satires, A
Tale of a Tub and The Battle of
the Books. Both were completed by 1699 but were not published until 1704
under the title A Tale of a Tub, Written for the Universal
Improvement of Mankind, to which is Added an Account of a Battel between the
Antient and Modern Books in St. James’s Library. Framed by a history of the Christian church, A Tale satirized contemporary literary and scholarly pedants as well as
the dissenters and Roman Catholics who opposed the Anglican church, an
institution to which Swift would be devoted during his entire career.
The
Protestant control of England under Oliver Cromwell had resulted in an attempt
by the government to impose the stringent, unpopular beliefs of Puritanism on
the English populace. Swift detested such tyranny and sought to prevent it
through his writings. The
Battle of the Books was
written in defense of Temple. A controversial debate was being waged over the
respective merits of ancient versus modern learning, with Temple supporting the
position that the literature of the Greek and Roman civilizations was far
superior to any modern creations. Swift addressed Temple’s detractors with an
allegorical satire
that depicted the victory of those who supported the ancient texts. Although
inspired by topical controversies, both A Tale and The Battle are brilliant satires with many universal implications regarding
the nature and follies of aesthetics, religious belief, scholasticism, and education.
When
Temple died in 1699, Swift was left without position or prospects. He returned
to Ireland, where he occupied a series of church posts from 1699 to 1710.
During this period he wrote an increasing number of satirical essays on behalf
of the ruling Whig party, whose policies limiting the power of the crown and
increasing that of Parliament, as well as restricting Roman Catholics from
political office, Swift staunchly endorsed. In these pamphlets, Swift developed
the device that marked much of his later satire: using a literary persona to express
ironically absurd opinions. When the Whig administration fell in 1709, Swift
shifted his support to the Tory government, which, while supporting a strong
crown unlike the Whigs, adamantly supported the Anglican Church. For the next
five years, Swift served as the chief Tory political writer, editing the
journal The
Examiner and
composing political pamphlets, poetry, and prose. Swift’s change of party has
led some critics to characterize him as a cynical opportunist, but others
contend that his conversion reflected more of a change in the parties’ philosophies
than in Swift’s own views.
The
‘‘Travells’’ On
August 14, 1725, Jonathan Swift wrote to his friend Charles Ford: ‘‘I have
finished my Travells, and I am now transcribing them; they are admirable Things,
and will wonderfully mend the World.’’ Gulliver’s Travels challenged his readers’ smug assumptions about
the superiority of their political and social institutions as well as their
assurance that as rational animals they occupied a privileged position in the
world. Universally considered Swift’s greatest work of this period, Gulliver’s Travels (published as Travels into
Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts; by Lemuel Gulliver), depicts one man’s journeys to several strange
and unusual lands. Written over a period of several years, some scholars
believe that the novel had its origins during Swift’s years as a political
agitator, when he was part of a group of prominent Tory writers known as the
Scriblerus Club. The group, which included Alexander Pope, John Gay, and John
Arbuthnot, collaborated on several satires, including The Scriblerus Papers. They also planned a satire called The Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, which was to include several imaginary
voyages. Many believe that Gulliver’s
Travels was
inspired by this work. Although the novel was published anonymously, Swift’s
authorship was widely suspected. The book was an immediate success.
Other
works of literature considered to be exemplars of scathing satire include:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), a novel by Mark Twain. Told through the eyes of an
innocent abroad, Twain’s greatest novel is an indictment of many entrenched
ideas and prejudices, particularly racism.
Catch-22 (1961), a novel by Joseph Heller. Considered one of the
greatest literary works of the twentieth century, this tale set during World
War II turns nearly every
moral
and logical convention on its head: ‘‘the only way to survive such an insane
system is to be insane oneself.’’
Babbitt (1922), a novel by Sinclair Lewis. Lewis’s first novel, it
quickly earned a place as a classic satire of American culture, particularly
middle-class conformity.
Advent of Middle Class Literature: Defoe, Steele and
Addison
Daniel Defoe: Defoe has been called the father of both
the novel and modern journalism. In his novels, Defoe combined elements of
spiritual autobiography, allegory, and so called ‘‘rogue biography’’ with
stylistic techniques including dialogue, setting, symbolism, characterization,
and, most importantly, irony to fashion some of the first realistic narratives
in English fiction. With this combination, Defoe popularized the novel among a
growing middleclass readership. In journalism, he pioneered the lead article,
investigative reporting, advice and gossip columns, letters to the editor,
human interest features, background articles, and foreign-news analysis.
Persecution, Plague, and Fire: Defoe was born sometime in 1660, the youngest of three children,
to James and Alice Foe in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate, just north of
the old center of London. The year 1660 also marked the restoration of the
monarchy in England. King Charles I had been executed in 1649, and the British
monarchy was abolished. The English king was considered head of the Anglican Church,
so the execution of Charles I had religious meaning as well.
In 1697
he published his first important work, Essay upon Projects, and four years later made his name known with his long poem The
True-Born Englishman,
his effort to counter a growing English xenophobia, or hatred of foreigners.
This poem, which satirized the prejudices of his fellow countrymen and called
the English a race of mongrels, sold more copies in a single day than any other
poem in English history. It was about this time that Daniel Foe began calling
himself Defoe. In 1702’s The Shortest Way with Dissenters, Defoe wrote
anonymously in the voice of those who would further limit the rights of
Dissenters, exaggerating their positions in an attempt to make them appear
absurd. Unfortunately, Defoe’s satire was grossly misunderstood.
Working
for Secretary of State Robert Harley for a fee of two hundred pounds a year,
Defoe founded the Review
of the Affairs of France, with Observations on Transactions at Home in 1704 and continued writing it for over
nine years. That the paper promoted Harley’s views—pro-Anglican,
anti-Dissenter, against foreign entanglements—did not seem to bother Defoe, who
had the ability to write from different perspectives. He produced the journal
two to three times per week for almost a decade, laying it to rest in June of
1713.
Robinson Crusoe: Defoe’s lasting fame for most readers lies with the book that he
published in 1719, The Life and Strange Surprising
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, better known to modern readers simply as Robinson Crusoe. Defoe had long been developing the tools
of his trade: point of view, dialogue, characterization, and a sense of scene.
Employing
the form of a travel biography, the work tells the story of a man marooned on a
Caribbean island. He quickly followed it with The Farther
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719)
and Serious Reflections during the Life and Surprising
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1720).
Like all
great creative works, Robinson
Crusoe lends itself
to myriad interpretations: as an allegorical representation of the British
Empire, an attack on economic individualism and capitalism, a further
installment in the author’s spiritual biography, and as a lightly veiled
allegory of Defoe’s own life. Most importantly, however, is the fact that the
novel was read widely by Defoe’s contemporaries in England. It was the first
work to become popular among the middle and even lower classes, who could
identify with Crusoe’s adventures.
1722–1724: In 1722, Defoe published Moll Flanders as well as Journal
of the Plague Year and
Colonel Jack. He was not content, however, with this
achievement, but interspersed the fiction with several nonfiction books of history
and social and religious manners. Another fictional biography, Moll Flanders is told by Moll herself to a rather
embarrassed editor who cleans up her language. In its pages, Defoe was able to
use the criminals and prostitutes he had rubbed shoulders with during his time
in hiding and in jail.
Colonel Jack, another biographical novel, is set in the
underworld of thieves and pickpockets, and traces Jack’s fortunes as he tries
to succeed through honest work. A Fortunate Mistress (1724), better known as Roxana, the last of Defoe’s novels, introduces
Defoe’s first introspective narrator, foreshadowing the psychological novels
that would someday follow. Many critics claim Roxana to
be Defoe’s most complex and artistic work, though it has not retained the same
popularity as has Robinson
Crusoe or Moll Flanders.
A Journal of the
Plague Year is a historical novel set during the London
Plague of 1665 and 1666. The novel is narrated by one ‘‘H. F.,’’ a man likely
modeled on he was born, but he suffered from gout and kidney stones. Defoe died
in hiding on April 26, 1731. Obituaries of the day spoke of Defoe’s varied
writing abilities and his promotion of civic and religious freedom, but none
mentioned that he was the author of either Robinson Crusoe or Moll
Flanders.
Rogue Biography: Not considered quite decent in its day, Moll
Flanders was nonetheless popular with the reading public.
As with Charles Dickens in his novel Oliver Twist, Defoe brings the criminal element vibrantly to life within its
pages. Its form is an extension of what was known as rogue biography. Naturalistic
novels such as E´mile Zola’s Nana (1880)
and Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (1900) opened up the possibilities of a critical evaluation of Moll
Flanders, just
as the relaxed moral standards of the 1960s made possible the republication of
John Cleland’s Fanny Hill (1749), which was influenced by Defoe’s work.
Precursor to the Gothic Novel: Journal of the
Plague Year developed new fictional ground that would
later be taken over by the gothic novel. Defoe’s prose style conveys a sense of
gripping immediacy; he frequently works with loose sentences that tend to
accumulate in the manner of breathless street gossip and unpremeditated
outcome, thus making his Journal
a compelling work of art that possesses, as
Anthony Burgess has noted, ‘‘the truth of the
conscientious and scrupulous historian, but its deeper truth belongs to the
creative imagination.’’ Along with Robinson Crusoe, Journal
of the Plague Year formed
a model for the exploitation of dramatic and sublime scenes in the novel,
effects that the gothic novel would later borrow to good effect.
Note: Robinson Crusoe is a meditation on the human condition and an argument for
challenging traditional notions about that condition. With this work, Defoe
applied and thereby popularized modern realism. Modern realism holds that truth
should be discovered at the individual level by verification of the senses.
The
following titles represent other modern realist works.
Candide (1759), a novel by Voltaire. This novel
parodies German philosopher Gottfried Leibnitz’s philosophy of optimism, which
states that since God created the world and God is perfect, everything in the
world is ultimately perfect.
Don Quixote (1605), a novel by Miguel de Cervantes. One of the great comic
figures of world literature, drawn with realist and humanist techniques, Don
Quixote is an idealistic but delusionary knight-errant with an illiterate but
loyal squire, Sancho Panza.
Peer Gynt (1867), a play by Henrik Ibsen. This play, originally a long
poem, pokes fun at then-emerging trends about getting back to nature and
simplicity and asks questions about the nature of identity; the main character longs
for freedom in a world that demands commitment.
Gulliver’s Travels (1726), a novel by Jonathan Swift. A political satire in the
form of an adventure, this novel examines the question of rationality being the
greatest human quality, versus humankind’s inborn urge to sin.
Sir Richard Steele: Steele wrote some prose comedies, the best of which are The Funeral (1701), The Lying Lover (1703),
The Tender Husband (1705), and The
Conscious Lovers (1722). They follow in general scheme
the Restoration comedies, but are without the grossness and impudence of their
models. Indeed, Steele's one importance as a dramatist rests on his foundation
of the sentimental comedy, avowedly moral and pious in aim and tone. In places
his plays are lively, and reflect much of Steele's amiability of temper. His Essays. (It
is as a miscellaneous essayist that Steele finds his place in literature.
He was a man fertile in ideas, but he
lacked the application that is always so necessary to carry those ideas to
fruition Thus he often sowed in order that other men might reap. He started The Tatler in
1709, The Spectator in 1711, and several other short-lived periodicals, such as The Guardian (1713),
The Englishman (1713), The
Reader (1714), and The Plebeian (1719).
After the rupture with Addison the loss of the latter's steadying
influence was acutely felt, and nothing that Steele attempted had any
stability.
JOSEPH ADDISON: He
obtained a travelling scholarship of three hundred pounds a year, and saw much
of Europe under favourable conditions. Then the misfortunes of the Whigs in
1703 reduced him to poverty. In 1704, it is said at the instigation of the
leaders of the Whigs, he wrote the poem The
Campaign, praising the war policy of the Whigs in
general and the worthiness of Marlborough in particular. This poem brought him fame and fortune. He obtained many official appointments and pensions, married
a dowager countess (1716), and became a Secretary of State (1717). Two years
later he died, at the early age of forty-seven.
His Drama: Addison was lucky in his greatest dramatic effort, just as
he was lucky in his longest poem. In 1713 he produced the tragedy of Cato, part
of which had been in manuscript as early as 1703. It is of little merit, and
shows that Addison, whatever his other qualities may be, is no dramatist. It is
written in laborious blank verse, in which wooden characters declaim long, dull
speeches. But it caught the ear of the political parties, both of which in the
course of the play saw pithy references to the inflamed passions of the time.
The play had the remarkable run of twenty nights, and was revived with much success.
Addison also attempted an opera, Rosamond
(1707), which was a failure; and the
prose comedy of The Drummer (1715) is said, with some reason, to be his also. If it is,
it adds nothing to his reputation.
His Prose. (several political pamphlets are ascribed to Addison, but
as a pamphleteer he is not impressive. He lacked the directness of Swift, whose
pen was a terror to his opponents. It is in fact almost entirely as an essayist
that Addison is justly famed) (These essays began almost casually. On April 12,
1709, Steele published the first number of The
Tatler, a periodical that was to appear thrice
weekly. Addison, who was a school and college friend of Steele, saw and liked
the new publication, and offered his services as a contributor. His offer was
accepted, and his first contribution, a semi-political one, appeared in No. 18.
Henceforward Addison wrote regularly for the paper, contributing about 42
numbers, which may be compared with Steele's share of about 188. The Tatler finished
in January 1711; then in March of the same year Steele began The Spectator, which
was issued daily.
In March 1713 Addison assisted Steele
with The Guardian, which' Steele began. It was only a moderate success, and
terminated after 175 numbers, Addison contributing 51 In all, we thus have
from Addison's pen nearly four hundred essays, which are of nearly uniform
length, of almost unvarying excellence of style, and of a wide diversity of
subject. They are a faithful reflection of the life of the time viewed with an
aloof and dispassionate observation. He set out to be a mild censor of the
morals of the age, and most of his compositions deal with topical
subjects--fashions, head-dresses, practical jokes, polite conversation. His
aim was to point out "those vices which are too trivial for the chastisement
of the law, and too fantastical for the cognizance of the pulpit.... All agreed
that I should be at liberty to carry the war into what quarters I pleased;
provided I continued to combat with criminals in a body, and to assault the
vice without hurting the person."
Philosophy and Mysticism: Berkeley & Shaftesbury
George Berkeley: Having taken holy orders, he went to London (1713), and
became acquainted with Swift and other wits. He was a man of noble and
charitable mind, and interested himself in many worthy schemes. He was
appointed a dean, and then was made Bishop of Cloyne in 1734. He was a man of
great and enterprising mind, and wrote with much charm on a diversity of
scientific, philosophical, and metaphysical subjects.
Among his books are The Principles of Human Knowledge, a notable effort
in the study of the human mind that appeared in 1710, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713), and Alciphron,
or The Minute Philosopher (1732). He is
among the first, both in time and in quality, of the English philosophers who
have dressed their ideas in language of literary distinction. He writes with
delightful ease, disdaining ornament or affectation, and his command of gentle
irony is capable and sure.
Anthony Ashley Cooper, third Earl of Shaftesbury, is another
example of the aristocratic dilettante
man of letters. He had little taste for
the politics of the time, and aspired to be famous as a great writer. He
travelled much, and died at Naples in 1713. His books are written with great
care and exactitude, and are pleasant and lucid without being particularly
striking. His Characteristics of Men, Manners,
Opinions, and Times (1711), though it contains nothing very
original or profound, suited the taste of the time and was widely popular.
Poetry: Lady Winchilsea, Watts
Lady Winchilsea (1661-1720). Born in Hampshire, the daughter of Sir William Kingsmill,
Anne, Countess of Winchilsea, passed most of her life in London, where she became
acquainted with Pope and other literary notables. Some of her poems, which were
of importance in their day, are The
Spleen (1701), a Pindaric ode; The Prodigy (1706);
and Miscellany Poems (1713), containing A
Nocturnal Reverie. Wordsworth says, "Now it is
remarkable that, excepting the Nocturnal
Reverie of Lady Winchilsea, and a passage or
two in the Windsor Forest of Pope, the poetry intervening between the publication of
the Paradise Lost and The
Seasons does not contain a single new image of
external nature." This statement is perhaps an exaggeration, but there is no
doubt that Lady Winchilsea had the gift of producing smooth and melodious
verse, and she had a discerning eye for the beauties of nature. They were,
however, the beauties of a garden, rather than those of the wilds.
Isaac Watts (1674–1784): Watts was an English songwriter who penned over
seven hundred hymns. He is popularly known as the "Father of English
Hymnody.”
Doctrinal Classicism: Johnson
Samuel Johnson
(1709-84) Perhaps the best-known and most often-quoted English writer
after William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson ranks as England’s major literary
figure of the second half of the eighteenth century. He is remembered as a
witty conversationalist who dominated the literary scene of London and the man
immortalized by James Boswell in The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791). He was known in his day as the ‘‘Great Cham (sovereign or
monarch) of Literature.’’
His Life, Johnson has a faithful chronicler in Boswell, whose Life of Samuel Johnson makes us intimate with its subject to a degree rare in
literature. But even the prying zeal of Boswell could not extort many facts
regarding the great man's early life. From the obscure position of a
publisher's hack he became a poet of some note by the publication of London (1738),
which was noticed by Pope; his Dictionary
(1747-55) advanced his fame; then
somewhat incomprehensibly he appears in the limelight as one of the literary
dictators of London, surrounded by a circle of brilliant men.
His Poetry. He wrote little poetry, and none of it, though it has much
merit, can be called first-class. His first poem, London (1738),
written in the heroic couplet, is of great and sombre power. It depicts the
vanities and the sins of city life viewed from the depressing standpoint of an
embittered and penurious poet. His only other longish poem is The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749). The poem, in imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal,
transfers to the activities of mankind in general the gloomy convictions raised
ten years earlier by the spectacle of London.
His Prose. (Johnson's claims to be called a first-rate writer must rest
on his prose. His earliest work appeared in Cave's The Gentleman's Magazine, between the years 1738 and 1744. For this periodical he
wrote (1741-44) imaginary Parliamentary debates, based on the mere skeletons of
facts which he could obtain without attending the House, and elaborated by his
own invention) and embellished with his own vigorous style. In 1744 appeared The Life of Savage, his penurious poet friend, who had recently died in gaol. It
was later incorporated in The Lives
of the Poets and throws much light on Johnson's
early hardships and struggles. Greater schemes were now contemplated, but his
first move towards his edition of Shakespeare came to nothing owing to the
impending appearance of Warburton's edition.
Then, (1747, he began work on his Dictionary of the English Language). This was his greatest contribution to scholarship. It has its
weaknesses: it was a poor guide to pronunciation; the etymology was sometimes inaccurate;
some quotations lacked dates and references; some definitions
were incorrect, some prejudiced, some verbose.
He wrote Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759), in order to pay for his mother's funeral. It was
meant to be a philosophical novel, but it is really a number of Rambler essays,
strung together through the personality of an inquiring young prince called
Rasselas. It is hardly a novel at all; the tale carries little interest, the
characters are rudimentary, and there are many long, dull discussions. In
the book, however, there are many shrewd comments and much of Johnson's sombre
clarity of vision. During this period (1758-60) he was contributing a series of
papers, under the title of The
Idler, to the Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette. They were lighter in touch and shorter than those of The Rambler.
(Then came Johnson's second truly great
work--his fine edition of Shakespeare,
published in 1765. Based on a wide
reading in Elizabethan literature, the edition offered nothing new in the way
of method, but aimed at the restoration of the original, text wherever
possible) and the clearing away of the jungle of fanciful conjecture which had led
to its corruption.
Johnson's Preface to his Shakespeare is a
landmark, not only in Shakespearian scholarship, but in English criticism as a
whole. It established firmly his belief that "there is always an appear
open from criticism to nature."
His A
Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775),
a travel book, shows the faculty of narrative, and contains passages of great
skill. His last work of any consequence was The
Lives of the Poets (1777-81), planned as a series of
introductions to the works of fifty-two poets. In Johnson's hands the
introductions, half biographical, half critical, grew beyond their proposed
size, and they are now regarded as criticism of great and permanent values.)
The poets dealt with are those of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the
period which Johnson found most congenial. He is best when truly in sympathy
with his subject, as in the lives of Dryden and Pope, and, though personal
antipathies distort his judgments of Milton and Gray, there can be no doubt of his
intention to try to be just.
Note:-
Johnson
often used satire to critique modern social and political conditions and to
point out the weaknesses in human nature. Here are some other well-known
satirical works:
Gulliver’s Travels (1726), a novel by Jonathan Swift. This novel satirizes the
foibles of the human condition through a parody of travel writing.
The Devil’s Dictionary (1911), a nonfiction work by Ambrose Bierce. This book gives
reinterpretations of English words and terms that are meant to satirize political
doubletalk.
The Simpsons (1989–), an animated television series created by Matt Groening.
This television show satirizes American culture and society through a parody of
middle-class family life.
Mark Akenside (1721-70). Akenside was born at Newcastle, studied medicine at
Edinburgh, and graduated at Leyden in 1744. He started practice at Northampton,
but did not succeed. Later he had more success in London. He was a well-known
character, and is said to have been caricatured by Smollett in Peregrine Pickle. His
best political poem is his An
Epistle to Curio (1744), which contains some brilliant invective
against Pulteney. His best-known book is The
Pleasures of the Imagination (1744),
a long and rambling blank-verse poem.
Next –
The Age of Transition
The Romantic Age
Sources
English Literature by Edward
Albert [Revised by J. A. Stone]
History of English Literature,
by Legouis and Cazamian
The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain
and Ireland, by Ronald Carter and John McRae
Gale’s Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature
Image: Minardia.Wordpress.Com
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