General Characteristics of Neo-classical Age

Paper Name    :-  The Neo-Classical Literature

Name               :-  Avani N. Dave

Roll No.           :-  2

Semester         :- M.A 1

Topic               : - “General Characteristics of 
                                      Neo-classical Age”

Date                 :-  1/10/12

Year                :-  2012-2013

Submitted to   :- Heenaba Zala

                            Department of English,

                            Bhavnagar University.

Neoclassicism

The Meaning

     The word neoclassicism has derived from Greek “neos” means “new” and Latin “classicus” means “relating to ancient Greek or Latin principles of the forms of art.”  The neoclassicism was a movement against the too much use of individualism and imagination in literature as well as the violation of classical rules and regulations in literature. The followers of the classical literature tried to put the classical norms back in literary forms and other arts also.

Introduction to Neoclassicism

     After the Renaissance- a period of exploration and expansiveness came a reaction in the direction of order and restraint. Generally speaking, this reaction developed in France in the mid-seventeenth century and in England thirty years later. It dominated European literature until the last part of the eighteenth century.

General characteristics of Neo-Classical Age:-

The New Restraint

     Writers turned from inventing new words to regularizing vocabulary and grammar. Complex, boldly metaphorical language such as Shakespeare used in his major tragedies, is clarified and simplified-using fewer and more conventional figures of speech. Mystery and obscurity are no more important now. The ideal style is lucid, polished, and precisely appropriate to the genre of a work and the social position of its characters. Tragedy and high comedy, for example, use the language of cultivated people and maintain a well-bred tone. Structure, like tone, becomes more simple and unified. In contrast to Shakespeare’s plays, those of neoclassical playwrights such as Racine and Moliere develop a single plot line and are strictly limited in time and place.

Influence of the Classics      

     The period is called neoclassical because its writers looked back to the ideals and art forms of classical times, emphasizing even more than their Renaissance predecessors the classical ideals of order and rational control. Such simply constructed but perfect work works as the Parthenon and Sophocles’ Antigone, such achievements as the peace and order established by the Roman Empire and celebrated in Book VI of Vergil’s Aeneid suggest what neoclassical writers saw in the classical world. Their respect for the past led them to be conservative both in art and politics. Always aware of the conventions appropriate to each genre, they modeled their works on classical masterpieces and heeded the ‘rules’ thought to be laid down by classical critics. In political and social affairs, too, they were guided by the wisdom of the past; traditional institutions had, at least, survived the test of time. No more than their medieval and Renaissance predecessors did neoclassical thinkers share our modern assumption that change means progress, since they believed that human nature is imperfect, human achievements are necessarily limited, and therefore human aims should be sensibly limited as well. It was better to set a moderate goal, whether in art or society, and achieve it well, than to strive for an infinite ideal and fail. Reasonable Philinte in The Misanthrope does not get angry at people’s injustice, because he accepts human nature as imperfect.

Neoclassical Assumptions and Their Implications

     Neoclassical thinkers could use the past as a guide for the present because they assumed that human nature was constant-essentially the same regardless of time and place. Art, they believed, should express this essential nature: “Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representation of general nature.” (Samuel Johnson) An individual character was valuable for what he or she revealed of universal human nature. Of course, all great art has this sort of significance- Johnson made this statement about Shakespeare. But neoclassical artists more consciously emphasized common human characteristics over individual differences, as we see in the type-named characters of Moliere.

     If human nature has remained constant over the centuries, it is unlikely that any starting new discoveries will be made. Hence neoclassical artists did not strive to be original so much as to express old truths in a newly effective way. As Alexander Pope, one of their greatest poets, wrote: “True wit is nature to advantage dressed, what oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed.” Neoclassical writers aimed to articulate general truth rather than unique vision, to communicate to others more than to express themselves.

Social Themes

     Neoclassical writers saw themselves, as well as their readers and characters, above all as members of society. Social institutions might be foolish or corrupt-indeed, given the intrinsic limitations of human nature, they probably were –but the individual who rebelled against custom or asserted his superiority to humankind was like Alceste in The Misanthrope, presented as presumptuous and absurd. While Renaissance writers were sometimes fascinated by rebels, and later Romantic artists often glorified them, neoclassical artists expected people to conform to establish opinion was far less likely to be true than was far less likely to be true than was the consensus of society, developed overtime and embodied in custom and tradition. As the rules for proper writing should be followed, so should the rules for civilized conduct in society. Neither Moliere nor Jane Austen advocated blind following of convention, yet both insisted that good manners are important as a manifestation of self-control and consideration for others.

The Age of Reason

     The classical ideals of order and moderation which inspired this period, its realistically limited aspiration , and its emphasis on the common sense of society rather than individual imagination, could all be characterized as rational. And indeed, it is often known as the Age of Reason. Reason had traditionally been assumed to be the highest mental faculty, but in this period many thinkers considered it a sufficient guide in all areas. Both religious belief and morality were grounded on reason: revelation and grace were de-emphasized, and morality consisted of acting rightly to one’s fellow beings on this earth. John Locke, the most influential philosopher of the age, analyzed logically how our minds function, argued for religious toleration , and maintained that government is justified not by devein right but by a “social contract” that is broken if the people’s natural rights are not respected.

     As reason should guide human individuals and societies, it should also direct artistic creation. Neoclassical art is not meant to seem a spontaneous outpouring of emotion or imagination. Emotion appears, of course; but it is consciously controlled. A work of art should be logically organized and should advocate rational norms. The Misanthrope, for example, is focused on its theme more consistently than are any of Shakespeare’s plays. Its hero and his society are judged according to their conformity or lack of conformity to reason, and its ideal, voiced by Philinte, is the reasonable one of the golden mean. The cool rationality and control characteristic of neoclassical art fostered wit, equally evident in the regular couplets of Moliere and the balanced sentence of Austen.

Sharp and brilliant wit produced within the clearly defined ideals of neoclassical art, and focused on people in their social context make this perhaps the world’s greatest age of comedy and satire.

 Neo-classical Criticism: Its Two Phases 

At the beginning of this era stands John Dryden and at the end of it there is Dr. Samuel Johnson. In its first phase, i.e. during the Restoration age (1660—1700) which is presided over by John Dryden, Neo-classicism is liberal and moderate; in its second phase, i.e. dur­ing first six or seven decades of the 18th century it becomes more and more narrow, slavish, and stringent. Pope, Addison and then Dr. Johnson are the leading critics of this second phase. 

Neo-classicism: Nature and Definition       

This school of criticism is called variously as New-classical, Pseudo-classical, Augustan, or loosely, even the classical school of criticism. It is called 'Augustan' because the writers of this time considered that their age was as brilliant and glorious in literature as the Age of King Augustus Caesar of Rome, an age which produced such brilliant figures, as Horace, Virgil, Longinus and Quintilian. Atkins defines it as the classic system of France evolved during the reign of Louis XIV, an adaptation, rather than an exact copy of original Greek classics. In other words, Neo-classicism implies a respect for the rules and principles of Aristotle and other Greek and Roman critics as interpreted and modified first by the Italian critics, and then by the French critics of the reign of Louis XIV. It is also known as Pseudo-classicism for Aristotle was often misinterpreted and much that he had never said was grafted upon him. Thus the unities of time and place which he had hardly mentioned were derived from him and made into essential ‘rules' for dramatic writing. There were also significant departures from him as, for example, when the Neo-classics preferred epic to tragedy. Sir Philip Sidney also had great respect for Aristotle and other French critics, but he never practised what he preached. Ben Jonson both preached and practiced classicism but he too did not follow the rules slavishly. He believed in using his own eyes and ears. Truth lies open all around and one needs only eyes to see it. Both of them admired Greek literature but that was all. It was only during the late 17th and early 18th centuries that Neo classicism came to have a complete hold over the English mind and spirit. 

It’s Rise: Causes 

There are various reasons for the rise of Neo-classicism in the second half of the 17th century. The excesses of the Metaphysical —the followers of Donne—naturally led to a revolt in favour of order, balance and sanity in literature. Their extravagant hyperboles, far-fetched and violent similes and metaphors, and ‘conceits’ elaborated to a fantastic extent, prepared the ground for neo-classicism with its emphasis on 'correctness' and 'decorum'. Then there was the predominance of French influence, the most potent factor in the rise of neo-classicism. Charles II and his courtiers returned from France imbued with French culture and the French respect for rules and the French theory and practice of literature. Say Wimsatt and Brooks, “In the Frenchified courtly literary circles of Restoration England, the most effective outside influence was contemporary French classicism...

Neo-classicism: Its Value and Contribution 

The rigid neo-classical adherence to ‘rules’ and authority has a tendency to suppress genius, and so neo-classicism has been much frowned upon since the rise of romanticism in the last decades of the 18th century. However, Neo-classicism has its own merits and Matthew Arnold was right in calling it an “admirable and indispensable” age. Neo-classicism discourages erratic genius and as R.A. Scott-James points out, “The neo-classical critics added much that is essential to "culture”, and fixed all the important truisms without which we can hardly begin today to discuss the art of literature.” Emphasizing the value of this school of criticism Atkins writes, "In the long development of literary criticism in England the period covered by the second half of the 17th century and the century that followed is one of the first importance. It is a phase that represents on integral and indispensable chapter in English critical history, an advance on the performance of the Renaissance period, and a preparation leading up to the achievements of the 19th Century: and in it a host of fresh influences were brought to bear from various quarters, making the story one of many complications that calls for detailed and careful inquiry." 

Conclusion

                       Thus, We can say that such characteristics were there during 18^th century which were reflect by play, drama, novel, poetry and other literary arts. Reflection of society and behavior of contemporary time.