A Brief Introduction to Eighteenth Century and its Literature
The eighteenth century is a period of great literary works. The period is sometimes referred to as the Augustan age, a term meant to imply a comparison or similarity with the literary brilliance of Rome under Emperor Augustus (27 B.C. - 14 A.D.) when Virgil, Horace, and Ovid flourished. Augustus Caesar's reign saw new social stability and peace, and, as a result, a great number of productions in literature and the visual arts. Britain during this time period also enjoyed extended periods of civil peace that stood in sharp contrast to the bloody and long civil and international conflicts that lasted throughout the 17th century. Furthermore, as the rising middle classes increasingly sought both education and leisure entertainment, the marketplace for artistic production increased dramatically.
It is said that the seeds of modern western European society began to be laid in the eighteenth century. The Restoration period was characterized by confidence, energy, and vitality. The eighteenth century cooled down some of the excesses of this period and added its own brand of confidence and a belief in progress. The period is characterized by its looking back to the classical age for its inspiration in literature. Classical models began to exert a grip on literature. This inclination towards the classical was beneficial for the initial period as it furnished a force for discipline, but this ultimately grew and became a stronghold, which was eventually broken by the force of the Romantic Movement.
The age of Renaissance was an age of spiritual and material expansion. For the first time, Englishmen came to realize their solidarity as a nation. Released suddenly from the Continental struggles, especially from the dread of Spanish supremacy, they found an outlet for their excited emotions in drama and song. Loyalty to Elizabeth became an article of faith. The English began to take pride and delight in their country's past. This spirit is reflected in the works of Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare. But, by the middle of the seventeenth century, a change began to come over this spirit of English literature. The emotional fervor of the Renaissance was too high-pitched to last for long. In the early years of the seventeenth century, the splendid exuberance had degenerated into extravagance and violence. The lofty idealism of the Elizabethan days was growing attenuated. Great minds like Bacon and Milton anticipated the dawn of fresh interest in their writings. People were getting more and more interested in civic and political matters. Though Shakespeare and Ben Jonson stood aloof from the political problems of the period, great writers like Milton turned into active politicians. The change was gradually taking place, but, it was not fully realized until the Restoration Period.
The literature of the Restoration period covers a time span from Charles's recovery of the throne to the years until the expulsion of James II in 1688 or until the death of John Dryden in 1700. The literature of the Restoration was characterized by wit and elegance influenced by French classical taste. This period pertained to traditional values and 'wit. The Diary of Samuel Pepys written by Samuel Pepys and A Journal of the Plague Years by Daniel Defoe are just a few examples of literary works from the Restoration Period. The Diary of Samuel Pepys is also an example of journalistic fiction. In the excerpts from Pepys' diary, he shows the historical background and culture of the period. The reader is able to understand the values and ethics of the time through the description detailed by Samuel Pepys and the reader is also exposed to the life of a man in the 1660s. A Journal of the Plague Years is an example of historical fiction. Defoe uses a wide range of vivid descriptions including verisimilitudes and imagery, to give the reader a realistic feel of what took place through the eyes of a witness. This literary time period also included works from John Dryden, who used elegance and cleverness in his writings. This period ended about 1700 and enabled a new age of literature.
Increasingly during the seventeenth century were men's thoughts directed to problems of civic and national life. The wild speculative interests and imaginative fervor of the Renaissance gave place to a practical application of these ideas to actual existence. The literature of the period also became involved with the problems of practical politics. The enthusiasm was for affairs rather than for ideas. The salient features of literature of the new age were:
(i) The triumph of classical ideal - this was a natural result of the Renaissance.
(ii) The Romantic spirit – a study of Greek and Roman classics had aroused the Romantic spirit.
(iii) Likings for classical style – not only the substance but also the methods or style of the old writers attracted the literary figures of the period.
The spirit of classicism was fostered and encouraged by the political needs of the age. During the period France, whose writers were exceptionally inclined toward classical ideals, exerted a profound influence upon the literature of Europe. The influence upon England was especially marked for political reasons. Much of Charles' exile has been spent in France. He developed a special interest in French literature of the period. When he returned to England he did his best to enforce the ideals he saw there, actuating English literature.
The new spirit is critical and analytic rather than creative and sympathetic. It brings the intellect rather than the poetic imagination into play. The change was better adapted for a kind of literature which aimed especially at clearness, conciseness, and concentrated force. The object of the leading writers of the time was to avoid extravagance and emotionalism. In many cases, they did so successfully as to suppress altogether the emotional and basic qualities of great poetry. But, their method found congenial expression in satire.
The 18th century, as has already been stated earlier, is a period of great literary works. The styles are different throughout the period, but the unity of the work is still present. Much of this period focused on public and general themes, until the Pre-Romantic era when literary works began to focus on personal expression.
In literary history, the first half of the 18th century is known as the Age of the Pope. In this age, the writers expressed the views of the public and were restrained from writing about personal topics or expressions. In the Age of the Pope or the Neoclassical Age, most of the literary themes were of social, political, and moral life. The Rape of the Lock and Epigrams by Alexander Pope, and “A Modest Proposal” and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift are some examples from the Age of Pope or the Neoclassical age. Most of the literary works in this period used satirical styles to express concern for society. 'Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux', from The Rape of the Lock shows an example of pathos, a satirical device used in this age of literature. Jonathan Swift also uses satire in Gulliver's Travels to mock the Parliament, and in “A Modest Proposal” he writes about eating children as a solution to a socio-economic problem. After the writings, literature began to focus on private expressions rather than public thoughts and emotions.
The Age of Johnson or the Pre-romantic era was sho ous ways. Characteristics of the age included ballads, a new taste for ruins, Gothic castles and tales of mystery, and secret societies interested in magic. Pre-Romantics wrote about a mood in which the inner world of wonder and strange feelings led to private thoughts and emotions. Selected Poems by William Blake and the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray are some examples of Pre-Romantic literature. Both of these literary works focused on the self, rather than on the society or the public, which was the beginning of the Romantic Period.
During the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment emerged as a social, philosophical, political, and literary movement that espoused rational thought and methodical observation of the world. The term “Enlightenment” refers to the belief by the movement's contributors that they were leaving behind the dark ignorance and blind belief that characterized the past. The free-thinking writers of the period sought to evaluate and understand life by way of scientific observation and critical reasoning rather than through uncritically accepted religion, tradition, and social conventions.
There were other factors in the age that influenced the writers. Pope was the first writer other than a dramatist to make a living out of his writing. He did this through the sale of his translations of the classics, rather than his own original writing. The importance of this for the critic is that authors such as Pope were no longer writing their poetry for reading out loud to a close circle of friends, but to be read by all who could afford a copy of the book. Pope's poetry is personal and impassioned, but the classical importance of form is central to his work. The eighteenth century tends to direct its attention in the literature toward society, not inwards into the nature of the individual.
Eighteenth-century produced many gifted writers and various types of literary works. Nevertheless, many of the publications that appeared during the era do share certain, identifiable qualities. Authors like Jonathan Swift tend to use forms and content that relate back to those used by Roman authors during the golden age of Augustus, especially Swift's book, Gulliver's Travels. Both the form and content of the Augustan verse typically emphasize rationality, consistency, restraint, discipline, and logic. Augustan poets use traditional forms to explore clearly defined "general truths": their focuses were generally on form and the correct way to act. For: example Pope's, The Rape of the Lock, was done the classically traditional way and his poetry was a demonstration of the orderly and logical arrangement of the Augustans. The task of the Augustan poet, therefore, was to create poetry that had classical elegance, and balance. The heroic couplet (rhymed iambic pentameter) was one of the most popular verse forms of this era. Its regularity enabled the poet to demonstrate his or her skill in fulfilling the formal demands of rhyme and syllables in surprising and witty ways. The poet's skill and the reader's pleasure lay in the creative fulfillment of the demands of the form. During this time period satire was remarkably immense. The great writers of the period like Swift and Pope were quite superior at using satire. Their underlying theme was to take daily activities and make them into an adventure, using satire.
Literature became more and more available to people during the 18th century due to the new invention, the Goodman press. Newspapers were very popular because they were cheap and they contained a lot of information. Most literature was non-fiction, it was not based on the imagination of the author. The aim of writings of the time was to instruct and enlighten, and most of all, get people to think. It was believed that reason and fact show life as it is, while imagination and non-fiction tell how people hope or fear reality to be. It was thought at the time that God had created man in His image, therefore people had a share of his powers. In other words, by painting, writing, and practicing one's intellectual powers, the artist or scholar was fulfilling divine purposes. The goal was to capture the pride, spirit, and creativity of the ancient Greeks and by that to satisfy and please God. Also, the admiration of the human race was part of Enlightenment thought.
The people of eighteenth-century England sought unity and . stability in everything. They wanted to unify and stabilize life, government, and even perhaps their literature. The literary arena of the period is filled with many different types of devices and styles of literature. Still, the unity of the literary works of the age can be found in their focus on practical issues - social as well as political - that were shaping the lives of the people.
Eighteenth-century is also known as the Age of Reason for its emphasis on the intellectual aspects of man. An enormous amount of socially and politically related literary works was published during the period. But, mainly the focus of the literary works was man - man as a rational, reasonable creature in both civilized societies and in a state of nature. The spirit of Deism, or, "the belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomená, and giving no supernatural revelation” was very dominant among the writers and philosophers. Hence the writers of the age tried to explore the nature of mankind itself. The prominent writers of the age like Pope and Swift as well as the philosophers like Hobbes and Locke nurtured a rational view of the world. Pope saw man as a rational creature living in a civilized society. He also believed in the limit of human beings. The idea that humans are not meant to know everything and that all understanding has a natural limit is also shown in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels”. In “The Social Contract” Rousseau, the great philosopher of the age advocated the idea that in an organic state, the community is greater than the individual, and that the state is a natural occurrence in which there is the proper place for human activity. Both Hobbes and Locke, though differing from each other, put forward their liberal view of the individual. They saw man as a naturally reasonable creature who lives in a naturally occurring state in a world that God has created and left to its own devices. Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele took the idea and, in collaboration, they also showed that the natural man is civilized, and therefore a gentleman. The articles concerning Sir Roger de Coverley show what civilized men of the time thought the ideal gentleman was: generous, pious, benevolent, succinct, sensible, and above all, a reasoned man.
These representative examples of 18th-century writers show that it was indeed an age of reason in which the proper study of mankind is Man”, as Pope says in his “An Essay on Man”. Though many of the writers were of differing political ideologies, they still broadly agreed that man had a nature, a disposition, that was naturally civilized, and that civility was a natural occurrence in nature.
The spirit of classicism was fostered and encouraged by the political needs of the age. During the period France, whose writers were exceptionally inclined toward classical ideals, exerted a profound influence upon the literature of Europe. The influence upon England was especially marked for political reasons. Much of Charles' exile has been spent in France. He developed a special interest in French literature of the period. When he returned to England he did his best to enforce the ideals he saw there, actuating English literature.
The new spirit is critical and analytic rather than creative and sympathetic. It brings the intellect rather than the poetic imagination into play. The change was better adapted for a kind of literature which aimed especially at clearness, conciseness, and concentrated force. The object of the leading writers of the time was to avoid extravagance and emotionalism. In many cases, they did so successfully as to suppress altogether the emotional and basic qualities of great poetry. But, their method found congenial expression in satire.
The 18th century, as has already been stated earlier, is a period of great literary works. The styles are different throughout the period, but the unity of the work is still present. Much of this period focused on public and general themes, until the Pre-Romantic era when literary works began to focus on personal expression.
In literary history, the first half of the 18th century is known as the Age of the Pope. In this age, the writers expressed the views of the public and were restrained from writing about personal topics or expressions. In the Age of the Pope or the Neoclassical Age, most of the literary themes were of social, political, and moral life. The Rape of the Lock and Epigrams by Alexander Pope, and “A Modest Proposal” and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift are some examples from the Age of Pope or the Neoclassical age. Most of the literary works in this period used satirical styles to express concern for society. 'Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux', from The Rape of the Lock shows an example of pathos, a satirical device used in this age of literature. Jonathan Swift also uses satire in Gulliver's Travels to mock the Parliament, and in “A Modest Proposal” he writes about eating children as a solution to a socio-economic problem. After the writings, literature began to focus on private expressions rather than public thoughts and emotions.
The Age of Johnson or the Pre-romantic era was sho ous ways. Characteristics of the age included ballads, a new taste for ruins, Gothic castles and tales of mystery, and secret societies interested in magic. Pre-Romantics wrote about a mood in which the inner world of wonder and strange feelings led to private thoughts and emotions. Selected Poems by William Blake and the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray are some examples of Pre-Romantic literature. Both of these literary works focused on the self, rather than on the society or the public, which was the beginning of the Romantic Period.
During the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment emerged as a social, philosophical, political, and literary movement that espoused rational thought and methodical observation of the world. The term “Enlightenment” refers to the belief by the movement's contributors that they were leaving behind the dark ignorance and blind belief that characterized the past. The free-thinking writers of the period sought to evaluate and understand life by way of scientific observation and critical reasoning rather than through uncritically accepted religion, tradition, and social conventions.
There were other factors in the age that influenced the writers. Pope was the first writer other than a dramatist to make a living out of his writing. He did this through the sale of his translations of the classics, rather than his own original writing. The importance of this for the critic is that authors such as Pope were no longer writing their poetry for reading out loud to a close circle of friends, but to be read by all who could afford a copy of the book. Pope's poetry is personal and impassioned, but the classical importance of form is central to his work. The eighteenth century tends to direct its attention in the literature toward society, not inwards into the nature of the individual.
Eighteenth-century produced many gifted writers and various types of literary works. Nevertheless, many of the publications that appeared during the era do share certain, identifiable qualities. Authors like Jonathan Swift tend to use forms and content that relate back to those used by Roman authors during the golden age of Augustus, especially Swift's book, Gulliver's Travels. Both the form and content of the Augustan verse typically emphasize rationality, consistency, restraint, discipline, and logic. Augustan poets use traditional forms to explore clearly defined "general truths": their focuses were generally on form and the correct way to act. For: example Pope's, The Rape of the Lock, was done the classically traditional way and his poetry was a demonstration of the orderly and logical arrangement of the Augustans. The task of the Augustan poet, therefore, was to create poetry that had classical elegance, and balance. The heroic couplet (rhymed iambic pentameter) was one of the most popular verse forms of this era. Its regularity enabled the poet to demonstrate his or her skill in fulfilling the formal demands of rhyme and syllables in surprising and witty ways. The poet's skill and the reader's pleasure lay in the creative fulfillment of the demands of the form. During this time period satire was remarkably immense. The great writers of the period like Swift and Pope were quite superior at using satire. Their underlying theme was to take daily activities and make them into an adventure, using satire.
Literature became more and more available to people during the 18th century due to the new invention, the Goodman press. Newspapers were very popular because they were cheap and they contained a lot of information. Most literature was non-fiction, it was not based on the imagination of the author. The aim of writings of the time was to instruct and enlighten, and most of all, get people to think. It was believed that reason and fact show life as it is, while imagination and non-fiction tell how people hope or fear reality to be. It was thought at the time that God had created man in His image, therefore people had a share of his powers. In other words, by painting, writing, and practicing one's intellectual powers, the artist or scholar was fulfilling divine purposes. The goal was to capture the pride, spirit, and creativity of the ancient Greeks and by that to satisfy and please God. Also, the admiration of the human race was part of Enlightenment thought.
The people of eighteenth-century England sought unity and . stability in everything. They wanted to unify and stabilize life, government, and even perhaps their literature. The literary arena of the period is filled with many different types of devices and styles of literature. Still, the unity of the literary works of the age can be found in their focus on practical issues - social as well as political - that were shaping the lives of the people.
Eighteenth-century is also known as the Age of Reason for its emphasis on the intellectual aspects of man. An enormous amount of socially and politically related literary works was published during the period. But, mainly the focus of the literary works was man - man as a rational, reasonable creature in both civilized societies and in a state of nature. The spirit of Deism, or, "the belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomená, and giving no supernatural revelation” was very dominant among the writers and philosophers. Hence the writers of the age tried to explore the nature of mankind itself. The prominent writers of the age like Pope and Swift as well as the philosophers like Hobbes and Locke nurtured a rational view of the world. Pope saw man as a rational creature living in a civilized society. He also believed in the limit of human beings. The idea that humans are not meant to know everything and that all understanding has a natural limit is also shown in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels”. In “The Social Contract” Rousseau, the great philosopher of the age advocated the idea that in an organic state, the community is greater than the individual, and that the state is a natural occurrence in which there is the proper place for human activity. Both Hobbes and Locke, though differing from each other, put forward their liberal view of the individual. They saw man as a naturally reasonable creature who lives in a naturally occurring state in a world that God has created and left to its own devices. Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele took the idea and, in collaboration, they also showed that the natural man is civilized, and therefore a gentleman. The articles concerning Sir Roger de Coverley show what civilized men of the time thought the ideal gentleman was: generous, pious, benevolent, succinct, sensible, and above all, a reasoned man.
These representative examples of 18th-century writers show that it was indeed an age of reason in which the proper study of mankind is Man”, as Pope says in his “An Essay on Man”. Though many of the writers were of differing political ideologies, they still broadly agreed that man had a nature, a disposition, that was naturally civilized, and that civility was a natural occurrence in nature.
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