An overview of Neo-classical ageName: Raval Mital M. Roll no: 26Year: 2016 2018M.A.Sem: 1Enrolment no: 2069108429170026Paper no: (2) The Neo-classical LiteraturePresentation topic: An overview of Neo-classical ageSubmited to: Parth Bhatt Smt.S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.Bhavnagar University

Introduction The age is known as classical

age or age of reason.Neoclassical literature is

characterized by order, accuracy and structure.

It is a period of Enlightenment.Literature of the age is

concerned with human nature, supremacy of reason.

Unity in the works of all writers.

The age wished to understand not to imagine.

Definition of Neo-classical ageThe 18th century in English literature has been called

the neo-classical age, Augustan age and the age of reason.

The term “the Augustan age” comes from the self conscious imitation of the original Augustan writers, Virgil and Horace by many of the writers of the period.

Specifically, the Neo-classical age was the period after the pest oration era of the death of Alexander Pope.

The major writer of the age were Pope and Johnson, Dryden in poetry and Jonathan swift and Joseph Addition in prose.

Neo-classical period ended in 1798 when Wordsworth published the Romantic ‘Lyrical Ballads”.

Characteristics of Neoclassical Literature

Neo-classical literature is characterized by order, accuracy, and structure.

In direct opposition to Renaissance attitudes, where man was see as basically good, the Neo-classical writers portrayed man as inherently flawed.

They emphasized restraint, self control and common sense.

This was a time when conservatism flourished in both politics and literature.

Some popular types of literature in Neo-classical age

Parody

Essays

Letters Fables

Satire

Melodrama

Three stagesNeo-classical period of literature can divided

into three part.The Restoration period

The Augustan period

The age of Johnson

The Restoration of king Charles II to the English throne in 1660 after a long period of puritan domination in England brought a new change in English literature. Previously closed theaters were opened again. New group of writers began to write plays.

Restoration literature continued to appeal to heroic ideals of love and honor, particularly on stage, in heroic tragedy.

The Restoration period (1660-1700)

Famous writer John Dryden John Milton Sir William Temple John Locke Samuel Pepys Jean Racine Jean Baptiste

The Augustan period (1700-1750)

It is called Augustan because people was think like Augusts Caesar.

This period is marked by the imitation of Virgil and Horace’s literature in English letters.

Famous writer

Alexander pope Jonathan swift Joseph Addison Francis Marie

The Age of Johnson (1750-90)This period marks the transition

toward the upcoming Romanticism through the period is still largely Neo-classical.

Much was happening around the world politically, such as both the American and French Revolutions.

This time marked a transition in English literature from the structure and formality of the Neo-classical writers to the emotional, ungoverned writings of the Romantics.

Famous writer Samuel Johnson Edward Gibbon George Crabbe Robert Burns William Cowper Thomas Paine Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin

ConclusionThe neo-classical era in literature br0ught a

sense of decorum and stability to writes There were rules to be carefully followed

and there was structure to be uphold.

Thank yo

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