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Unit 5 The Neoclassical Period (1660—1798) l Key Words: Revolution and Restoration; Industrial Revolution; Puritan; Enlightenment; John Milton; Alexander Pope; Jonathan Swift； Daniel Defoe; Robert Burns, William Blake l Target: This unit introduces the literary history of Neoclassical Period, which was divided into two periods in literature: one is Puritan and Restoration; the other is the Age of Reasons. At the same time, the important figures of this period are to be presented together with their works. l Study Points: 1. Historical Background; 2. John Milton; 3. John Dryden; 4. Jonathan Swift; 5. Daniel Defoe 6. Blake and Burns l Time Span: 3 weeks Part 1 Puritan and Restoration Period (1660—1700) Chapter I Historical Background 1. Monopoly 1) During the Tudor dynasty (1485—1603) the English bourgeoisie lived in harmony with the crown. 2) At the end of Elizabeth’s reign, there already had been some conflicts. 3) During James I (1603—1625) and Charles I, more and more quarrels 4) In 1629, Charles I dissolved the parliament and ruled the country with an absolute government for 11 years. 5) Two camps: parliamentary and Royalists civil war broke out in 1642 and lasted till 1649. Under his leading, Monarchy was abolished. England was declared a commonwealth, i.e. a republic. 3. The Split within the Revolutionary Camp The big Bourgeoisie (Presbyterians 长老会) The middle Bourgeoisie (Independents 独立派) The Petty Bourgeoisie (the Levellers 平均派) 4. Restoration 1) After the death of Cromwell, the parliament recalled Charles II to England in 1660. 2) White terror: many republicans were put to death. The big bourgeoisie was more afraid of the people’s revolution than of the king’s reaction. In 1688, the bourgeoisie expelled James II and invited William, Prince of Orange, from Holland to be king of England. Since then, constitutional monarchy has been established. Chapter II Puritan Literature 1. John Milton 1) Life (Dec., 1608--Nov. 8, 1674) a. John Milton was born in London. His father, a scrivener, was a puritan and a lover of music and literature. From boyhood Milton was a hard-working student. b. Cambridge Days When he was in Cambridge, he was nicknamed “the lady of the Christ’s” because of his personal beauty and the strictness of life. c. At Horton After he received his Master‘s Degree in 1632, Milton retired to his father’s country house at Horton and devoted himself for six years (1632—1638) to private study. And he prepared himself for the calling of a poet. d. Early Poems e. His Travel on the Continent In 1638, Milton set out for a tour on the Continent, meeting and winning the friendship of many artists and leading figures, including Galileo. In 1639, on hearing the break between the king and parliament, he came back to England and threw himself into the revolution voluntarily. 2) Works a. Essays (pamphlets) The Tenure of King and Magistrates The Declaration of Independence Pamphlets on Marriage “Incompatibility was sufficient cause and should be legal reason for divorce.” (far-sighted) His own unhappy marriage (1642) b. Paradise Lost After the restoration, Milton was immediately proposed for the list of regicides to be tried and executed. At last, he was saved by one of his friends, a member of parliament. After his release, he retired into silence and obscurity. Paradise Lost was finished in 1665. In Paradise Lost, there is full of inconsistency, i.e., at first, the poem was to justify the ways of god to men, but after reading it, one gets the impression that the main idea of the poem is a revolt against God’s authority. c. Samson Agonists 3) Summary ① revolutionary poet; ② great epic in English literature (Paradise Lost) ③ a master of blank verse; ④ great stylist: grand style; ⑤ his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression 2. Bunyan (1628—1688) The Pilgrim’s Progress ① religious allegory; ② simple language. 3. Metaphysical and Cavalier Poets 1) The works of metaphysical poets are characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form. John Donne (1572—1631) is the founder of the metaphysical School of poetry. 2) Cavalier poets are often knights and squires, who sided with the king against the parliament and Puritans. 4. Prose Chapter III Restoration Literature 1. The characteristic of Restoration Literature (1660—1688) are reaction and degeneration. 2. The drama, especially the comedy flourished. But became only an entertainment of the corrupted court. 3. John Dryden (1631—1700) He is the most distinguished literary figure of the Restoration Period: poet, playwright and critic. During this period of revolution and counter-revolution, he turned with the tide and always placed himself on the winning side. Dryden’s most famous prose composition is An Essay of Dramatic Poesy, which established his position as the leading critic of the day. In this prose, Dryden was concerned with the following issues: ① whether the traditional and classical classicism can be surpasses; ② which principle should we keep, the classical traditions or Shakespeare’s tradition, three unities; ③ in what way should a writer make his composition (John Dryden oppose blank verse and prefer heroic couplet); l John Dryden was the forerunner of classicism. Part 2 Age of Reasons —The 18th Century Literature (1700—1798) I. Historical Situation 1. After the “Glorious Revolution”, England became a constitutional Monarchy and then began the House of Hanover. 2. The Industrial Revolution Ø 1675 built National Observatory in Greenwich; Ø 1720 Steam engine began to be used; Ø 1770 Walter improved steam engine, and then it was widely used. 3. The Enclosure Movement The Enclosure Movement began in the 15th century and completed in the 18th century. The majority of peasants were ruined and driven off their land. They went to the cities and became workers who owned nothing but labour and had to work long hours for low wages. (Proletariat) Ø Landlords: patrons of artists or writer; Ø New nobility: make money through commerce; Ø Squire: lead a leisure life; Ø Proletariat: workers. 4. The Enlightenment (intellectual movement) Ø Characteristics: reason and reasoning Ø The basic difference between: Europe: cleared the minds of men for the coming revolution; England: cleared away the feudal ideas and built up bourgeois ideology. Ø The stages of English Enlightenment: ① 1688—1730s classicism (neo-classicism) ② 1740—1750 (peak; realistic novels) ③Remaining years of 18th century: sentimentalism (pre-romanticism) II. The Classical Scholl The classicists modeled themselves on Greek and Latin authors, and tried to control liberation creation by some fixed laws and rules drawn from Greek and Latin works. ① Drama: Rhymed couplet instead of blank verse. The three unities of time, place and action; Regularity in construction; Presentation of types rather than individuals. ② Poetry: Lyric, epic, didactic, satiric or dramatic ③ Prose: precise, direct and flexible 1. Addison & Steele 1) Steele & The Talter Richard Steele (1672—1729) was born in Dublin, in the same year as Addison and was educated with him at the same school, went to Oxford together. Steele was impulsive and affectionate. He did all kinds of jobs joyously. In 1709, he started a paper The Tatler, which continued to appear three times a week until 2 January, 1711. Steele wrote in a conversation style on many topics. He wrote under the pseudonym of “Isaac Bicker-Staff” to educate people. He frequently use the expression of correspondence he received or pretended to receive. (epistolary novel) 2) Addison & The Spectator Joseph Addison (1672—1719) cold and reserved. His life can be divided between political duties and literature. Between 1709 and 1711 he contributed a number of papers to The Tatle. In 1711-1712, he collaborated with Steele in publishing The Spectator. The most striking features of the paper are character sketches. (forerunner of novel writing) The purpose of the paper is to build up Bourgeois ideology system and make social reform. l Bourgeois’s ideology: moderation, reason, self-control, civility, refinement and good taste. 3) Summary: ① new code of social morality for rising bourgeois; ② true picture of the social life of 18th century England; ③ forerunners of modern English novel writing. 2. Alexander Pope Ø Life Alexander Pope (1688—1744), the most important English poet in the first half of the 18th century. He was a Roman catholic and he was weak and deformed because of a severe illness when he was 12, so he received little school education, and he taught himself. When he was only 22, his poem Essay on Criticism was published and from then on he was looked up as a great master of verse in England and in Europe. Ø Works ① Essay on Criticism (1711) This is a didactic poem written in heroic couplets. It was considered as a declaration of classicism. In which he wrote that poem composition needs natural genius. And we should learn some knowledge of art’s principle and study classical writers’ works and draw from them to write. ② The Rape of the Lock (Satirized the triviality and silliness of high society); ③ Pope’s Homer (done in heroic couplet) and Shakespeare . ④ Essay on Man (1732—1734) It is a philosophical poem in heroic couplets. It consists of 4 letters. The first letter treat of the nature and state of man with respect to universe; the second, individual; the third, society; the fourth, happiness. Ø Summary Alexander Pope was a master in the art of poetry. He was so perfect in heroic couplets that no one has been able to approach him. Pope is the most important representative of the English classical poetry. He was at his best in satire and epigram. But his satire was not always just, often caused by personal grudge. 3 Jonathan Swift (a transitional figure) Ø Life Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1667. His father died before he was born, his mother was poor. He studied at Trinity College and was often at war with the college authorities. When he left university, he had to live in the house of a distant relative and to be a private secretary. There, he was bad-treated and spent ten years. He never forgot his bitter experience. When he became famous, he used his great influence to help every young man of talent. Swift had afflicted from his earliest youth with a brain disease which caused him intense pain. Owing to this disorder he could not marry. Finally, his disease ended in madness and he died in utter misery in 1745. Ø Works ① A Tale of a Tub It is written in the form of a parable (fable). In the story, the “coat” symbolizes the bible and the old man’s three sons symbolize different branches of Christianity. ② The Battle of the Books It is an unfinished work. In this book, “bee” symbolizes the writers of classical school while “spider” symbolizes the writers of modern school. ③ Gulliver’s Travels This novel was made up of 4 parts: a. Liliput (小人国) satirizes the Tories and Whigs; b. Brobdingnag (大人国)：laugh at the strutting and bowing of English Lords and ladies; c. Flying Island and the Island of Sorcerers: Satirizes philosophers and projectors; d. A country where horses were possessed of reason and were the governing class, while the yahoos, though in the shape of men were brute beats. ④ Pamphlets The Drapier’s Letters (布商的信) A Modest Proposal (一个温和的建议) This pamphlet is a classical work of English prose. 3) Summary ① One of the greatest master of English prose (simple, clear and vigorous) ② a master satirist III. The English Novel 1. Defoe: Robinson Crusoe Ø Life Defoe (1660?—1731) was born in London. He was a merchant and traveled in Spain, Italy, France and Germany. He was in favour of the Constitutional Monarchy and opposed Tory Party. Defoe was a kind of Jack-of –all-trades. But he was great in two occupations: journalism and authorship. Ø Works ① Captain Singleton ② Moll Flanders ③ Colonel Jacque ④ Robinson Crusoe: self-reliance; man’s capacity; glory of man’s labour; colonization. 2. Richardson (epistolary novel) Ø Life: Samuel Richardson (1689—1761), the son of a joiner. He became a successful businessman and remained a master-printer throughout his life. He was good at letter-writing and story-telling. Ø Works: ① Pamela or Virtue Rewarded (美德的回报) u It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” acompliments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people. u Its intention was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction. u The first English psycho-analytical novel. ② Clarissa Harlowe –the best of Richardson’s novel 3. Henry Fielding Ø Life: Henry Fielding was born in 1707, in the family of a poor, retired general. He was educated at Eton and Leyden University in Holland. But his family was so poor that he was compelled to leave the university after a year and a half of studies. So he began to support himself from his very youth by writing for the stage. Ø Works ① Drama (political satire) Don Quixote in England The Historical Register for the Year 1736 ② Essays ③ Novel Joseph Andrews Jonathan Wild Tom Jones Amelia Tom Jones u uses the illegitimate child as the subject of the novel rebelling against corrupted moral system; u shows us a true picture of England; u praises good nature of lower people and criticizes hypocrisy and selfishness of higher class. IV. The 18th Drama and Sheridan 1. Licensing Act of 1737 (His. P209 Liu Binshan) 2. Garrick Era 3. Sheridan Ø Life: Sheridan (1751—1816), the most important English playwright of the 18th century, was born in Dublin. His father was an actor and his mother a novelist. In 1775, Sheridan’s first comedy The Rivals was produced. After it, he wrote several other plays, and the School for Scandal is his master piece. In 1776, he became the manager of Drury Lane Theater. In 1780 he became a Whig M. P. In 1809, the Drury Lane Theater was burned and he contracted many debts. He died in 1816. Ø Works ① The Rivals ② The School for Scandal This play, repudiating the high society for its vanity, greed and hypocrisy, has been regarded as the best English comedy since Shakespeare. V. Samuel Johnson & The Dictionary Ø Life: Samuel Johnson (1709—1784), lexicographer, critic and poet, was born in a poor family. After studying at Oxford for little more than a year, he was forced to leave the university by poverty. Johnson was a classicist. After he became well-known as a literary man, he founded the famous literary club. He died in 1784, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Ø Johnson’s Dictionary His dictionary marked the end of English writer’s reliance on the patronage of noble man for support. His letter to Lord Chesterfield was a model of classic prose and the writer’s declaration of independence. Ø Boswell’s Life of Johnson James Boswell (1740—1795) was a follower of Johnson and a member of his Literary Club. Life of Johnson written by Boswell is a classic of English biography. VI Goldsmith Ø Life: Goldsmith (1730—1774), an important writer of Johnson’s circle, was born in Ireland in a poor family. By nature he was very amiable but thoroughly unpractical. ”If he had but his flute, he could give that, and make the children happy. He could give away his blankets to the poor widow, and warm himself he best might in the features. His purse and his heart were everybody’s and his friends’ as mush as his own.” Ø Works ① Poems: The Traveller & The Deserted Village ② Novel: The Vicar of Wakefield ③ Comedies: The Good-Natured Man She Stoops to Conquer ④ Essay: The Citizen of the World He was one of the representative poets called “sentimentalist”. VII. Gibbon (historian) The Decline and Fall of Roman Emperor VIII. Sentimentalism & Pre-Romanticism Ø The characteristics of Romanticism l sensibility l primitivism l love of nature l interest in the past l mysticism l individualism l reaction against classicism IX. The 18th Poetry—The Pre-Romanticism Period Ø Burgeoning of Pre-Romanticism finds expression chiefly in the works of – Thomas Gray (1716~1771) with his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard;– Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) with his The Deserted Village;– William Cowper (1731-1800) with his The Task and short lyrics.Ø Their poems, like the chorus of awakening birds from the cold winter of Classicism suggested the dawn of another day. Ø Two other poets of the same age suggested the sunrise: – Robert Burns, a ploughman, who spoke straight from the heart of the primitive emotions of the race;– William Blake, the mystic.1. Thomas Gray (1716-1771)Ø Life: Thomas Gray, the author of the famous Elegy, is the most scholarly and well-balanced of all the early romantic poets and the most outstanding of the minor poets of the mid-18th century.• born in London, educated first at Eton and then at Cambridge.• He spent two years (1739-41) on a grand tour of the European Continent with his friend Horace Walpole, and returned to Cambridge to take his degree.• After graduation he continued to live at Cambridge.Ø Works • About 1742 he began the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, which was finished in 1750 and proved to be a great success.• The popularity of the Elegy led to the general recognition of Gray as the foremost poet of his day and to the offer of the poet laureateship, which he declined.• He was then appointed professor at Cambridge. This post he retained till his death. Gray's other poems include Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat (an elegy on Walpole) and The Bard.• As a scholar, Gray was familiar with all the intellectual interest of his age, and his work had much of the precision and polish of the classical school. His early poems belonged to the literary tradition of neoclassicism.• But he shared also the reawakened interest in nature, in common men, and in medieval culture, so his later work was generally romantic both in style and in spirit.• He also fell under the influence of sentimentalism. His poetry reveals two suggestive things:– first, the appearance of that melancholy which characterizes the poetry of Romanticism;– second, the study of nature, not for its own beauty or truth, but rather as a suitable background for the play of human emotions. His response to nature lacks that sense of its organic unity with human to be found in Wordsworth.• Gray's poetic output was small, but his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard was given high praise by literary historians and critics almost unanimously. This Elegy was regarded as the acme of graveyard poetry, and Gray as the best poet in the "Graveyard School".2. Robert Burns (1759-1796)Robert Burns was not only one of the most celebrated Scottish poets, the national poet of Scotland, but also one of the greatest song writers in the world.Ø Life: • From his earliest days Burns suffered from the extreme poverty of the Scottish peasants. He was born in a small cottage, the son of a poor peasant or cotter".• At 13, he was doing a peasant's full day's labour; at 16, he was chief labourer in his family and a masterhand at the plough.• This hard life enabled him to have a deep understanding and a strong sympathy towards the poor and the oppressed, and made him a poet of the peasants, a singer of the common people.• Burns had only three years of schooling, but he managed to squeeze some time for reading, in spite of the back-breaking toil all the year round. He was a feverish reader in English literature, taught himself to speak French and learned a little Latin.• In his family, both his mother and aunt could sing very well and had a large command of the Scottish folk songs. They often sang to him when he was a little boy, thus fostering his love for songs and poetry. While working in the fields, he used to sing to himself, composing new songs in his mind to the old popular Scottish tunes that he knew.• In this way he wrote his poems, which were circulated in manuscripts among the peasants.• Burns was also an enthusiastic collector of Scottish folk songs, and he spent the last 12 years of his life doing this.• After his father's death in 1784, Burns resolved to go abroad in search of a living. In order to get money for the journey, he got together some of his poems and had them published (1786), with the title Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, which was caught up in a wave of excitement and took all the Scotland by storm.• It brought him to Edinburgh, where he became very popular. The second edition of his poems brought him ￡500 and enabled him to settle down on a small farm.• In 1789, he was appointed exciseman(收税官) with a small salary. The last few years of his life were a sad story, though illuminated occasionally by his splendid lyric genius. His out-spoken support for the French Revolution both in conversation and in verse brought him into conflict with the authorities and nearly cost him his place. A long illness cut short the life of this great peasant poet. He died in 1796, only 36 years old.Ø Robert’s Works: • Among his best known political, patriotic, satirical and longer poems are:– The Tree of Liberty, which voiced his approval of the French Revolution;– A Man's a Man for A'That, which expressed his democratic ideals and passionate desire for social equality;– Scots Wha Hae, which showed his strong patriotism and his hatred for tyranny and oppression;– Holy Willie's Prayer, which was a satire on religious hypocrisy and pretentious piety;– The Cotter's Saturday Night, which showed his respect for honest poverty;– The Twa Dogs, which recorded a conversation between a rich man's dog and a poor man's dog , discussing the comparative happiness of the lives of their masters, and the conclusion was “Rejoie’d they were na men but dogs.”• The most touching and musical are his short lyrics, which vary from affectionate light-heartedness to moving pathos, from tender sadness to burning passion, from simple dignity to heated love for one’s native place, such as– Ae Fond Kiss– A Red, Red Rose– Highland Mary– John Anderson– My Jo, My Heart's in the Highlands, and many others.• a. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect. Many of his best poems are wonderful adaptation and imitation of crude lyrics made by forgotten Scottish singers.• b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity. The language he employs is for the most part simple, and full of expression.• c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect often used the simplest metres and those in which he shows the greatest skill are of a light, quick movement.• d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom, his fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny, and his ironic phrasing and sarcastic thrusts at the hypocrisy and egoism of the ruling class and the clergy.• In all his poems, whether on love, nature, politics, religion, or on the life of the common folk, he always shows his affection and closeness to the people as well as to his homeland, Scotland. He was in all things an unashamed patriot.• Burns has become something of a national symbol for Scotsmen all over the world. He is the best poet Scotland has ever had. His poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature.• After a century of cold and formal poetry, the poetry of neo-classicism, relieved only by Gray, Cowper, and other minor poets, the fresh inspired songs of Burns went straight to the heart like the music of returning birds in the spring time.• They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humour, pathos, the response to nature, all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day the day of Romanticism.• In some way, however, his poetry was slightly different from that of the Romantics. His poetry is eminently social: people in their relationships are his subject, not, as with the Romantics, the poets themselves. His vivid portrayal of country life is based on experience, not, as in school, on observation.• Because Burns embodies the new spirit of Romanticism, critics give him a high place in history and because his songs go straight to the heart, he is the poet of the common people.3. William Blake (1757-1827)No poet in the 18th century who wrote before the publication of Lyrical Ballads broke so completely with neoclassicism, as did William Blake. Had he achieved anything of the fame of Burns, he might have ushered in the Romantic Movement him self for his principles were at variance with everything the Age of Reason approved.Ø Life: • His life, however, was uneventful, and his mystical turn of thought alienated a possible audience. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that Blake was rediscovered. Until then his poetical works were completely ignored. In our own time he has been increasingly acknowledged as a poet equal to the best of the Romantics.• Blake was born in London, the son of an Irish hosier(袜商、针织品商).• His only formal education was at the Royal Academy of Art.• Later he was apprenticed to an engraver. He was an artist at the age of ten and a poet at twelve.• When still a boy, Blake found himself at home among the Elizabethans. His earliest poems are limpid and fresh, like the songs of the Elizabethans. These were published by his friends in 1783 as Poetical Sketches.• Many of them are lovely and natural, not in the least affected by the so-called "elegant formalism" of the school of Pope.Ø Blake’s Works: • Blake’s most important poetic works are– Songs of Innocence (1789),– Songs of Experience (1794).• These lyrics are naive but strong in diction and mysterious in content. The two books are in marked contrast to each other, "showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul."• The bulk of his writing is contained in the prophetic books, in which he evolved a new type of allegory with characters named by his own invention and representing psychological or spiritual forces, including– The French Revolution (1791),– America (1793), Europe (1794),– Vala (1797),– Milton (1803),– Jerusalem (1804-20)• His principal prose work was The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.Ø Major Features of Blake’s Works: • a. In his works we can find Blake's sympathy with the French Revolution, his hatred for 18th century conformity and social in situation, his attitude of revolt against authority, and his strong protest against restrictive codes.• b. His earlier poems have the clarity of a sun-lit spring, the simplicity of a child's vocabulary, the connotation of the innocence of the spirit and the beauty of wonderful imagery.• c. But his later poems, especially the poems in his prophetic books are mystical and difficult to understand. There are marvelous flashes of imagery illuminating profound truths, but the elaborately fabricated mythology is often too obscure to follow.• d. Blake's poetry is an odd mixture of simplicity with profundity, and innocence with experience. He also had the incomparable gift of expressing the profoundest ideas in the simplest language.Nowadays, Blake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.Reference Books: 1. Liu Bingshan: A Short History of English Literature, Zhenzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House,2000 2. Wu Weiren: History and Anthology of English Literature, Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998 3. 李正栓，李翠葶：《英国文学学习指南》，北京：清华大学出版社，2002 4. 万 莉，陈范霞：《英美文学选读》，北京：光明日报社，2001.
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