18th Century Literature: Neo-classicism 9

• The 18th century, particularly the early part known as the Augustan period, experienced political stability that fostered Neo-classical genres in literature.
• Satire, exemplified by Swift, and elegy, exemplified by Gray, became prominent literary forms.
• Restraint, clarity, regularity, and good sense characterized the writing style of the era.

Censorship and Print

• Print censorship existed, with "libel" lawsuits possible after publication if false information was concluded.
• Periodicals, newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets flourished as modes of communication.
• The period marked a shift towards prose, with the rise of the novel, essay, criticism, biography, and history.

Rise of the Novel

• Novels were diverse, lacked a fixed form or style, and precedents existed across Europe.
• Poetry regained popularity in the mid-18th century.
• A new simplicity of style emerged, favoring a more down-to-earth approach compared to Elizabethans, Metaphysicals, and Milton.
• Longer narrative poems with steady forms and rhymes became common.
• "Graveyard" or "churchyard" poets foreshadowed Gothic literature and Romanticism through gloomy, melancholic meditations on mortality; lyrical explorations centered around the ordinary.

John Milton

• John Milton (1660s) was an educated defender of the Republic, a Protestant, and a radical thinker who advocated for religious freedom, divorce, and opposed censorship.
• He was even imprisoned for his liberal ideas.
• His work can be compared to the King James Bible in various elements.

Paradise Lost

• Milton's Paradise Lost is an epic poem intended to be the ultimate epic, focusing on a domestic couple rather than solely on characters like Satan or God.
• The poem reflects on England.
• Milton used the tradition set by Homer, Virgil, and Spenser: poems that celebrate the achievements of heroic figures through continuous narratives.
• Milton defined rhyme and meter as "modern bondage"

Paradise Lost - Stylistic Features

• Paradise Lost employs blank verse (unrhymed), which may symbolize political freedom, and features long enjambments.
• The poem starts in medias res and invokes the Muse, following classical epic conventions.

Jonathan Swift

• Jonathan Swift (1726) was an Anglo-Irish transitional figure associated with the Anglican Church of Ireland and the Tory party.
• Known for his misanthropy, expressed through sarcasm and irony, he produced journalism, essays, novels, and poetry.

Gulliver's Travels

• Gulliver's Travels is a lengthy prose satire that explores human vanity through an imaginary voyage.
• The novel, initially published anonymously, functions on levels accessible to both children and adults (story vs. politics).

Gulliver's Travels - Four Parts

• Part I (Lilliput): Features tiny people who are treacherous and violent, representing England.
• Part II (Brobdingnag): Showcases giants who are humane and enlightened, contrasting with England.
• Part III (Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg): Mocks abstract reason, science, politics, and economics.
• Part IV (Houyhnhnms and Yahoos): Presents horses (Houyhnhnms) embodying reason and social affections, while humans (Yahoos) represent base appetites, passions, and selfishness.

Thomas Gray

• Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751) focuses on nature and common people.

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard - Style

• The poem blends Latin and English syntax within rhyming quatrains (abab).
• It transitions from representing landscape to praising ordinary people and aspects of life, emphasizing death as an equalizer.