The Pre-Romantic period was characterized by a growing appreciation for nature, a focus on emotion and sentimentality through the literature of sensibility, and early interests in humanitarian reform movements. Writers during this time began exploring themes of death, mutability, and melancholy in nature through the Graveyard School of poetry. Additionally, there was a growing democratic attitude and faith in the inherent goodness of human beings.

1. Lic. Gabriela A. Llaneza

2. Characteristics of Neo-
Classicism Return to the perceived “purity” of the arts of
Rome.
 Model the “ideal” of the ancient Greek arts
and, to a lesser, extent, 16c Renaissance
classicism.
 A conviction that there is a permanent,
universal way things are (and should be), which
obviously entails fundamental political and
ethical commitments.
 Sometimes considered anti-modern or even
reactionary.

4. Robert
Adam
Scottish architect
& designer
Syon House
1760s
Syon House
The Red Salon

5. Claude Nicholas Ledoux
 Designed a
pavilion in 1771
for the Comtesse
du Barry at
Louveciennes.
 Designed a series of
city gates for Paris
(1785-1789).

6. Claude Nicholas Ledoux
Rotunde de la Villette, Paris

7. John Wood
“The Royal Crescent [Circus]” at Bath, England (1754).

8. The “Empire Style”: Charles
Percier &
Pierre François
Léonard Fontaine  Napoleon’s official
architects.
 They remade Paris
in the intimidating
opulence of Roman
imperial
architectural
style.

10. “Parnassus”
Anton Raphael Mengs, 1761
Mengs was the leading artist of early Neo-Classicism.

11. “The Oath of Brutus”
Gavin Hamilton, 1767
The oath was sworn as a promise of individual revenge
against a corrupt monarchy.

12. “The Apotheosis of Homer”
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1827
This assembly of great artists and writers of all ages gathered
to honor the ancient Greek poet before a classical temple.

13. La familia de
Felipe IV
Diego Velazquez
1656

15. 1. Mechanistic View of God, Nature, and the
Universe: Nature and the Universe were
considered somewhat as a marvelous machine,
organized and run according to precise laws, the
orderliness and precision of the universe ("Clock"
metaphor) reflecting the mind of God (a
rationalistic and deistic view of God).

16.  2. Pre-eminence of
Reason and Empirical
Knowledge: The ideas of
Locke (Essay Concerning
Human Understanding)
and other empirical
philosophers influenced
theories of cognition during
the Enlightenment.

17. 3. Appeal to Authority: Social order, conformity to
societal norms and institutions were highly valued;
conformity to the rules of society and to the rules of
literature were the fashion (hence the importance of
the authority exerted by Classical antiquity on the
literature and style of the Neoclassical period).

18.  Appreciation of Urban
Life: The importance of
human nature rather than
of physical nature was
stressed; coffee houses
and social groups were in
vogue rather than the
wonders of the natural
world.

19.  Moderation and a Distaste for
Extremes: Balance, taste,
harmony, and order in art,
architecture, and life in general
were the ideal.

20.  And yet beyond the veneer of "reasonableness and order"
there was a bawdiness and raucousness about the age,
especially among the aristocratic classes, that give the
period a particularly lusty, lively flavor and make our
appreciation of the satire all the more acute (read the
novels of Fielding and the plays of Aphra Behn).

21.  Style and form were influenced by Classical antiquity: This was an
age of extraordinary translations of Greek and Roman literature;
admiration for classical literature evinced itself in the many imitations of
classical writers (Pope's Horatian satires and parodies of Homer,
Johnson's imitations of Juvenal, etc.).
 2. Strict adherence to the rules of good writing: Proportion, grace,
unity, harmony were important ideals; obeying Aristotle's "unities" in
tragedy and following the conventions of any given genre were the
norm. Often, how something was said took precedence over what
was said, though the best writers, like Pope, achieved a balance
between style and meaning.

22.  The most popular verse type was the closed couplet,
and lesser poets sought to imitate the poetic diction of the
dominant writers like Pope.
 Satire (poetic and prose) flourished. Satire always thrives
when there is a static element in society, when there is
conformity; and a strong didactic flavor in the comedy was
the norm.

23.  5. Aside from the comedic tone, no single genre
seemed to dominate; rather a variety of literary types
thrived: the mock epic, the essay (this was an age of great
periodical writing), drama (comedy overshadowed the
somewhat lifeless and static tragedy), the novel, and
various poetic types such as odes, pastorals, and imitations
of the classical satires.

24. 1660 TO 1790
RESTORATION PERIOD (1660 to 1700)
• Samuel Pepys, John Wilmot, John Dryden, John
Lock
THE AUGUSTAN AGE (1700 to 1750)
• Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Addison and
Steel, Daniel Defoe
Pre- Romanticism: THE AGE OF JOHNSON
(1750 to 1790)
• Robert Burns, Thomas Gray, Samuel Johnson

25. Restoration Comedy
Journal
Satire
Mock epic
Essays
TASK: Find the meaning of these terms and their main characteristics

26.  “ A Literary manner which blends a critical attitude
with humour and wit to the end that human
institutions and humanity may be improved. “
 It works to make vice laughable and/or
reprehensible and thus bring social pressure on
those who still engage in wrongdoing.
 Satire is often implicit and assumes readers who
can pick up on its moral clues. It is not a sermon.
 If it does attack some by name, rather than hoping
to reform these persons, it seeks to warn the public
against approving of them

27.  It combines irony (saying one thing and
meaning the opposite) / sarcasm (nastiness
without any necessary intend to improve) and
a purpose of exposing and discrediting vice
and folly.
 Persona: Assumed character
 Method:
• bad as bad
• Bad as mediocre
• Bad as good
• Mediocre as bad
• Mediocre as good
• Good as bad
TASK: Why do you think satire was an
appropriate and popular style at the
time?
What could be the dangers of
taking a satiric text at face value?

28.  Task 1: Check the definition, characteristics and purpose of
the genre in your booklet
 Task 2: Can you think of a reason why essays were popular
among writers at this period?

30.  English libertine , a friend
of King Charles II, and the
writer of much satirical
and bawdy poetry.
 In 1667 he married
Elizabeth Malet, a witty
heiress whom he had
attempted to abduct two
years earlier.
 In 1674, Rochester wrote
A Satyr on Charles II,
which criticised the King
for being obsessed with

32. "Master Genre Craftsman, Father of English Criticism, and
First Modern Prose Stylist"
 There are two important characteristics about Dryden to
remember:
1. he was a superb genre writer in an age of wonderfully versatile writers
(Dryden excelled at panegyric, tragedy, comedy, satire, lyric poetry,
translation, and prose criticism), and
2. he devised a dialectical approach to literary exposition--what he
called his "double view"--that was also reflected in his personal attitudes
and experiences.

33.  "Annus Mirabilis" - a poem describing the extraordinary events of 1665/66,
the year of the plague, the Great Fire, and war with Holland.
 "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" - illustrates Dryden's dialectical approach,
where four scholars argue the merits of French and English drama (one of
the earliest efforts of literary criticism in British literature). Dryden's ideas
about the merits of Shakespeare, Chaucer, and his distinction between "Wit"
and "Fancy" are among the important ideas in the piece. Dryden's clear,
lucid prose style marks a turning point in British prose as well, a
breaking away from convoluted baroque prose in favor of a direct, clean
prose style, essentially modern.
 "Absalom and Achitophel" - a brilliant piece of satire in the style of
Oldham, an attack on Shaftsbury and other Whigs involved in the Titus
Oates debacle.

34.  "MacFlecknoe" - satirical poem aimed at Dryden's literary enemies,
chief of whom was the poet Shadwell.
 "Religio Laici" - Dryden's defense of the Church of England against
Calvinism.
 "The Hind and the Panther" - Dryden's defense of Catholicism (after
Catholic King James II's ascension and Dryden's own adoption of
Catholicism).
 "Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687" - written in honor of the patron
saint of music, the poem is one of Dryden's finest examples of lyric
verse and demonstrates his ability to blend style and meaning, which
Pope so admired.

35. Killigrew and his company setting up shop at Drury
Lane and Davenant at Lincoln's Inn Field
In1682 the two companies merged.
 The rabble now went to the Red Bull to guffaw at
the melodrama and buffo comedy, while the upper
classes enjoyed Davenant and Killigrew's
productions. Yet even these supposed
"sophisticated" audiences were known for their rowdy
and boisterous ways.

36. 1. proscenium arch to separate the audience from the actors
(perhaps a necessity considering the boisterous audiences)
2. introduction of actresses to the theatre. Nell Gwyn,
Anne Oldfield, Anne Reeve, and Elizabeth Berry were
some of the more famous, while
3. Thomas Betterton and Colley Cibber became two of the
greatest actor/playwrights.
4. Tragedy was marked by its bombast, exotic settings,
complex plots, and use of couplet verse (Dryden's All for
Love is perhaps the best example).
5. Comedy was more successful, indeed one of the brightest
genres of the age.

37.  Restoration Comedy of Manners (with its fops, giddy girls,
naughty married ladies, and crisp, witty dialogue and
repartee) evolved from the Elizabethan Comedy of
Humours (with its characters frequently representing
dominant vices and virtues).
• Dryden (Marriage a la Mode),
• Sir George Etherege (Man of Mode or Sir Fopling Flutter and
She Would If She Could),
• William Wycherley (The Country Wife),
• William Congreve (The Way of the World),
• Aphra Behn (The Rover and The Feigned Courtesan), who is
credited as being the first professional woman of letters.

38.  As the next century commenced, the comedies evinced a
growing tendency toward sentimentality. It revealed a
mellowing of the repartee and razor sharp wit of Restoration
Comedy
• Colley Cibber (Love's Last Shift),
• Richard Steele (Conscious Lovers),
• Susanna Centlivre (whose The Busybody far outstripped the success of
either the comedies of Wycherley or Congreve and became a staple in
David Garrick's repertoire).
• Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer)
• Sheridan (School for Scandal and The Rivals)
• spirited satire in John Gay's Beggar's Opera exhibited the musical
comedy talents of the age (Gay used London street ballads in order to
mock Italian opera, then the rage among the "cultural elite" of London).

39.  "Master Satirist and Prose
Stylist”
 One of the foremost Anglo-
Irish writers, Swift had two
great passions in his life:
conservative Tory politics
and the Anglican Church.
He aimed his satire at the
enemies of both.

40.  "A Tale of a Tub" - Swift's rendition of the Great Schism: the
separating of the Church into Catholic, Calvinist, and Lutheran
factions, represented in the three brothers; the work also targets
and pokes fun at the bevy of London literary wits.
 "Battle of the Books" - Swift's critical entry in the argument
over who is better, ancient or modern writers.
 Journal to Stella - Swift's observations on London life and
politics, written in letter form for the edification and
entertainment of Swift's life-long, dear friend Esther Johnson.

41. Gulliver's Travels - Swift's magnum opus in four
parts, a prose satire of British life and society
"The Drapier Papers" and "A Modest Proposal" -
satirical essays critical of British policy toward the
Irish.
The Examiner - Swift's Tory periodical, in which much
of his best poetry and prose satire was featured.

42.  “Quintessential Neoclassical Poet, or
the Wicked Wasp of Twickenham"
 Leader of the Scriblerus Club along
with Arbuthnot, Gay, St. John and
Harley
 "Half the fun of writing is in the
polishing!"
 Poetic arbiter of his age, influencing
poetic diction during the whole of the
second half of the century.

43. Master of the couplet, who used a series of
techniques to add variety and freshness to the form:
• Chiasm
• Zeugma
• Montaging
• Puns
• Enjambment
• Compressed syntax, etc.
Check the meaning of these
technical devices in a
Literary dictionary and get
examples to share with the
class

44.  "An Essay on Criticism" - verse literary criticism, closely
linked with Swift's "Tale of a Tub" and "Battle of the Books" in
its denigration of the self-sufficiency and pride of the
"False Wits" of English verse. Pope's aesthetic ideals of
moderation and the complementation of style and meaning
are his most important critical ideas.
 "Essay on Man" - Pope's ethical poem which was to serve
as introduction to the Moral Essays. "Essay on Man" reveals
the influence of Hesiod, Milton, and such contemporary
philosophers as Leibnitz. Abstract reason and pride are
denigrated; political and social order are shown as reflections
of Universal order.

45.  "Rape of the Lock" - mock epic and occasional poem,
written upon the event of Arabella Fermor's losing her
"lock of hair" to Lord Petre.
 Along with "To a Lady," second of the Moral Essays,
this poem is both playful and slightly misogynistic, a
characteristic fairly typical of the age. The technical skill
evinced in the poem is of an extraordinary quality.

46.  The Dunciad - in the style of Dyrden's "MacFlecknoe" and
highly influenced by Milton and Homer, this is Pope's magnum
opus attacking the false wits of his age--specifically in the final
revision of the poem Colley Cibber, actor, playwright, and (as
Pope was want to call) prince of the "Realm of Dulness" and
"Monarch of the Dunces." Containing an abundance of topical
satire, The Dunciad was a much reworked and expanded book,
polished and refined from its first printing in 1728 to its final
printing in 1741.
 "Eloisa to Abelard" - an extraordinarily beautiful love poem
based on the medieval legend of two ill-fated lovers and
inspired by Ovid's Heroides.

48.  Faith in the instinctive goodness of human
beings: Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of
Shaftesbury, "An Inquiry Concerning Virtue or
Merit"
 Faith in the relatively high moral and religious
value of sympathy or benevolence (School of
Sensibility): Steele, Careless Husband
(drama); Geo. Akenside, The Pleasures of
Imagination; Samuel Rogers, The Pleasures
of Memory; Richardson, Pamela; Stern,
Tristram Shandy.

49.  Accurate observation of nature, though
without mysticism, sometimes with the
suggestion that nature has a religious
significance
 Elegiac interest: in death, mutability,
mourning, melancholy (Graveyard School):
Blair’s "The Grave"; Gray’s "Elegy in a
Country Churchyard"
 Interest in humanitarian movements and
reforms (origin of labour standards, child
labour laws, slave trade, mental health, and
penal reform

50. Interest in kindness toward animals
A democratic attitude: insistence on the
rights and dignity of man, and on the
freedom of the individual socially and
politically
Attacks upon wrongs in the established
order or in conventional usages: political,
economic, social, or educational

51.  Interest in the state of nature: the "noble
savage" preference for the simple life of earlier
ages, primitive religions, folk-poetry.
 Interest in the medieval period as a age of
faith, chivalry, and poetry
 Attacks on Pope and other neo-classical
authors
 Revival or imitation of older forms of verse:
ballads, sonnets, blank verse, Spenserian
stanzas etc.

52. Use of local dialects and color
Translation or imitation of Oriental tales,
Scandinavian, or old Celtic tales or
literature
Development of the historical novel, the
Gothic school, and the School of Terror

53. Development of literary theories and
literary criticism, stressing the relatively
greater importance of the imaginative,
emotional, intuitive, free, individual, and
particular over the rational, formal, and
general.
Exaltation of Shakespeare, Spenser, and
Milton
Period of violent and Revolutionary spirit,

54.  The political and social stability resulted in deeper meditations
about the values of life
 Humane nature valued over pragmatism
 Deepening awareness of nature and the cycle of life and death
 Interest in melancholy and exotic subjects foreshadow the
coming age of Romanticism.
 The individual who would dominate the second half of the
century, Samuel Johnson, is as important a personality as writer.

56.  1755 Dictionary - set the standard for the art of
dictionary making, a mammoth achievement for a
single individual and a few Scottish assistants.
 1765 Edition of Shakespeare - a twenty-year
project that left English literature with improved
texts of the plays, excellent emendations with
critical commentary and information on
Shakespeare's sources.
 Lives of the Poets - a series of short biographies
written to accompany new printings of the poets'
works; among the best of the "lives" are
biographies of Cowley, Milton, Dryden and Pope.

57. Rasselas - written in the same year as
Voltaire's Candide (1759) and influenced by
the new literary popularity of such oriental
tales as The Arabian Nights,
 Rasselas is about a group of young people
searching for "the way to happiness," the
proverbial philosopher's stone; at the end of
their search, the young Abyssinian prince
Rasselas and his friends discover, like
Candide, they must "tend their own gardens"
(find happiness within). In the process of
their journey, however, Johnson has occasion
to offer some gentle satire on the ideas and

58.  "Caledonia's Bard"
 Rightful precursor to the
Romantic poets of the
next century, Burns was
one of those literary
phenomena who come
along at precisely the right
moment in history for fertile
blossoming.

59.  In a time that was increasingly beginning to appreciate both
the natural beauty of the physical world and the natural
genius of the individual poet, Burns appeared the incarnation
of all the Ossians, Rowleys, and Stephen Duck/"thresher"
poets, as he burst upon the literary scene with his homespun
Gaelic songs and natural, highly unique Scottish personality.
 Though he heralds the Romantics in his individualism,
appreciation for nature, and appeal to the common man,
Burns roots are firmly planted in Neoclassical soil: specifically
in his love of satire, brittle social commentary, and
emphasis in human nature rather than physical nature.

60.  "Holy Willie's Prayer" - a dramatic monologue of a
religious hypocrite, surpassed only by Browning's
"Soliloquy in a Spanish Cloister" a century later.

 "Tam O'Shanter" - a mock heroic narrative based on
a local legend in the vein of Washington Irving's
"Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

 "The Cotter's Saturday Night" - a piece of domestic
sentiment illustrating human relationships and rural
life.

 Lyric poems such as "Banks o' Doon," "Highland
Mary," "Red, Red Rose," "Auld Lang Syne," written in
remarkable dialect verse.

61. Source: Dr. Michael Austin and Dr.
Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt