Examine
the factors which contributed to the rise of Neo-Classicism in English literature.
After Ben Jonson
literary activity in England suffered a serious setback. Between Jonson and
Dryden there is hardly any critic worth the name. The energy of the people was
spent up in the religious and political controversies of the day, controversies
which culminated in the civil war and the beheading of the English king.
Literature and literary criticism are peace time activities, and times of
tension and conflict are inimical to art and culture. With the Restoration of Charles II to
the throne in 1660 peace was established in the country, and once again the
climate was favourable for productive activity. The Renaissance impulse, which
had resulted in such a rich flowering of literature in the Elizabethan era, had
already exhausted itself out. Now the sensuous and romantic Italian influence
was replaced by the French influence. Thus began the era of Neo-classicism which was to reign supreme in England for the next
over hundred years. 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.
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. George
Sherburne in his Literary History of England defines
Neo-classicism as, “a veneration for the Roman classics, thought, and way of
life”, and 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 practised 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.
Its Rise:
Causes
There are various
reasons for the rise of Neo-classicism in the second half of the 17th century.
