This slide is about 18th Century English Literature

1. ENG301:18th Century Literature
(1700–1799)
WELCOME
Lecturer Fahim Ahmed Faisal
Department of English
Uttara University

2. 18th Century (Enlightment)
 The Age of Reason (anything could be achieved through the calm working
of the human mind)
 The Age of Classicism (in all the arts there was a fascination with Ancient
Greece and Rome
 The Age of Elegance (it displayed among the upper classes an elegant style
of life)
 General features: creative works show a sense of order and moderation;
authors display their cleverness, but not their heart and soul. Arguments in
prose are calm and logical; poems are carefully structured and often
contain classical allusions. Some writers satirize “elegant” society or
politics.
*allusion - a literary term regarding the use of an implied or indirect reference

3. Classical Age in English Literature
The Eighteenth Century is called the Classical Age in English
literature on account of three reasons.
In the first place, the term ‘classic’, refers in general, applies to
writers of the highest rank in any nation. This term was first
applied to the works of the great Greek and Roman writers, like
Homer and Virgil.
As the writers of the eighteenth century in England tried to
follow the simple and noble methods of the great ancient
writers, they began to be called Classical writers.

4. Pseudo-Classicism
As the eighteenth-century writers in England followed the
ancient classical writers only in their external performance,
and lacked their sublimate and grandeur, their classicism is
called pseudo-classicism i.e. a false or sham classicism.

5. 18th Century: Novel
Important feature of this age was the origin and development
of the novel. This new literary form, which gained great
popularity in the succeeding ages, and which at present holds
the prominent place, was fed and nourished by great masters
like Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Smollet and others who laid its
secure foundations.
The realism of the age and the development of an excellent
prose style greatly helped in the evolution of the novel during
the eighteenth century.

6. 18th Century: Drama
The eighteenth century
was deficient in drama,
because the old Puritanic
prejudice against the
theatre continued, and
the court also withdrew its
patronage.
Goldsmith and Sheridan
were the only writers who
produced plays having
literary merit.

7. 18th Century: Poetry
 It was the Classical school of poetry which dominated
the poetry of the Age of Pope.
 During this age the people were disgusted with the
profligacy and frivolity of the Restoration period, and
they insisted upon those elementary decencies of life
and conduct which were looked at with contempt by
the preceding generation.

8. 18th Century: Prose
Prose being the prominent medium of expression, the rules of
exactness, precision and clarity, which were insisted in the
writing of prose, also began to be applied to poetry.
It was demanded of the poet to say all that he had to say in a
plain simple and clear language. The result was that the
quality of suggestiveness which adds so much to the beauty
and worth of poetry was sadly lacking in the poetry of this
age. The meaning of poetry was all on the surface, and there
was nothing which required deep study and varied
interpretation.

9. Prominent Works of this Age
1. Jonathan Swift (1667–1745):
- Gulliver's Travels (1726)
- A Modest Proposal (1729)
2. Daniel Defoe (1660–1731):
- Robinson Crusoe (1719)
- Moll Flanders (1722)
3. Samuel Richardson (1689–1761):
- Pamela (1740)
- Clarissa (1748)
4. Henry Fielding (1707–1754):
- Tom Jones (1749)
- Joseph Andrews (1742)
5. Alexander Pope (1688–1744):
- The Rape of the Lock (1712)
- An Essay on Criticism (1711)
6. John Dryden (1631–1700):
- All for Love (1677)

10. Prominent Works of this Age
7. Samuel Johnson (1709–1784):
- A Dictionary of the English Language
(1755)
8. Mary Shelley (1797–1851):
- Frankenstein (1818)
9. Laurence Sterne (1713–1768):
- The Life and Opinions of Tristram
Shandy, Gentleman (1759–1767)
10. William Blake (1757–1827):
- Songs of Innocence and of Experience
(1789, 1794)
11. James Boswell (1740–1795):
- The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
12. Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774):
- The Vicar of Wakefield (1766)

11. Thank you!