The Neoclassical Period

1. The Neoclassical Period The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 1625 - 1798

2. Key Historical Themes • Civil War and Revolutions • Struggles between the King and Parliament • Industrial and Agricultural revolutions boosted manufacturing and farming production • Revolutions in America and France showed that people could change their form of government

3. Historical Background • The Civil War and Restoration • Response to the Reformation • Charles I struggled with Parliament over political and religious authority, and in 1642 civil war broke out. • Cavaliers (the king’s supporters) • Roundheads (parliamentary supporters) • Charles I was defeated, captured, and tried by his “subjects” – he was beheaded in January 1649 • Cavaliers • Aristocrat • Long flowing hair and wigs • Elegant pose • Pro-Catholic • Believed in the divine right of kings • Roundheads • Lower than aristocrat • Short hair • Plain dress • Direct in manner • Puritan with strict religious beliefs • Believed in limits to king’s rule

4. What is the relationship between place and literature? • Key terms: city vs. country and the novel • Old London • Narrow, unpaved streets, and timber houses • The river Thames was the main thoroughfare – ferries were needed to connect the two banks of the river • In 1660, Charles II returned from exile and re-opened the theaters that the Puritans closed in 1642 – actresses were welcomed to the stage for the first time • 1664 the plague struck , the streets were filled with dead bodies • 1666 the great fire broke out • The Countryside • Transformed after London was rebuilt • Stagecoaches and canals were built for the purpose of business • The country replaced the city as the setting and subject for literature • The Novel • Pictured all types of characters in their wanderings • Represented the new mobility

5. How does literature shape or reflect society? • Key terms: separation and conduct • Separation • The religious conflicts of the Reformation led to the separation of church and state and a shift to a more secular world view • Conduct • Satire • How to behave became a key question in the world • Satire ridicules conduct that is not rational, that is out of proportion (spoof, lampoon) • “How-to” Genres • Literary essay teaching rational conduct • Religious belief was also part of the question of conduct

6. Close-up on Daily Life: What do you think?? from Rules for Children’s Behavior: At Church, at Home, at Table, in Company, in Discourse, at School, abroad, and among Boys…(1701) Proper Behavior for Children Sit not down in the presence of Superiors without bidding. Sing not nor hum in thy mouth while thou art in company. Play not wantonly like a Mimic with they Fingers or Feet Stand not wriggling with thy body hither and thither, but steady and upright. In coughing or sneezing make as little noise as possible. If thou cannot avoid yawning, shut thy Mouth with thine Hand or Handkerchief before it, turning thy Face aside. Laugh not aloud, but silently Smile upon occasion.

7. What is the relationship of the writer to tradition? • Key terms: tradition, intellect, and new forms • What effects did the Renaissance and Reformation have? • The Sonnet still remained, but its content moved from love to religion • Revival of The Epic (Virgil and Homer) – Milton’s Paradise Lost • Intellect • Samuel Johnson – 1746 he began to write The Dictionary of the English Language • Birth of the Encyclopedia Britannica (1768-1771) • New Forms • The Heroic Couplet – iambic pentameter lines linked in rhyming pairs • The Essay and the Novel • Met the demands of the new middle class audience with money to spend and time to fill • The Essay – secular sermon, made the reader understand and taught by example (Present day connection – newspaper columnists and television commentators) • The Novel – quasi-religious narratives – the life story of a man or a woman struggling to survive and to be virtuous in world that is hostile

9. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who Was Born In Newgate, and During a Life of Continu'd Variety For Threescore Years, Besides Her Childhood, Was Twelve Year a Whore, Five Times a Wife [Whereof Once To Her Own Brother], Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon In Virginia, At Last Grew Rich, Liv'd Honest, and Died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums.From the complete title of Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe written in 1722, what can you infer about this novel? Hint: Think about the novel as a new form of literature during this time.