BA

Sem – 3 English (Core/Elective) – 201

Ques. Literary Characteristics of the Age of Dryden.
Ans.
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (1660-1700)
Three historical events deeply influenced the literary movements of the time: the Restoration of
the year 1660; the Roman Catholic controversy that raged during the latter half of Charles II’s reign; and
the Revolution of the year 1688. The Restoration of Charles II brought about a revolution in English
literature. The Restoration encouraged a light-heartedness that often became immoral and indecent. This
tendency is prominent in the writing of the time, especially in the comedies. Secondly, the strength of the
religious-political passions of the time is reflected in the current literature. The famous poem of Dryden,
Absalom and Achitophel, is an outstanding example of a kind of poem that flourished during those troubled
years. And finally, the revolution. James succeeded to the throne in 1685; but so soon did he reveal his
Roman Catholic prejudices that he was rejected in three years and was replaced by Protestant monarchs.
Henceforth religious passions reduce in intensity; and the literature of the succeeding years tends to
emphasize the political rather than the religious side of public affairs.
THE NEW CLASSICISM:
By the year 1660 Elizabethan romanticism had all but spent itself. Of the great figures of the earlier
era only one survived, John Milton. And he had still to write Paradise Lost; but in everything Milton was of
the past. At the Restoration he retired and worked in obscurity, and his great poem reveals no signs of the
time in which his later years were cast.
At the Restoration the break with the past was almost absolute. It involved English literature in the
deepest degree; subject and style took on a new spirit and outlook; a different attitude and aim. Hence the
post-Restoration period is often set up as the contrary and antithesis of the previous Elizabethan age. It is
called classical, as opposed to the Elizabethan romanticism. Though the contrast between the two epochs
need not be over-emphasized, yet the differences are very great. Let us see in what respects the new spirit
is shown.
1. Imitation of the Ancients. Lacking the genius of the Elizabethans, the authors of the time turned to the
great classical writers, in particular to the Latin writers, for guidance and inspiration. This habit, quite
noticeable during the time of Dryden, deepened and hardened during the succeeding era of Pope so much
that the latter laid down as a final test of excellence;
Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem;
To copy Nature is to copy them.
2. Imitation of the French. Charles II had spent most of his years of exile in France, and when he
returned to England he brought with him new admiration for French literature. In particular the effects of
this penetrated very deeply into the drama, especially into comedy, the most copious literary product of
the Restoration. Of French comedy the great Moliere was the outstanding exponent, and his influence was
very great. In the more formal tragedy French and classical models were combined to produce a new type
called the heroic play. The type is well represented by Dryden's Tyrannic Love.
3. The 'Correct' School. The Elizabethans too had drawn upon the ancients, but they used their gains
freely and joyously, bending the work of the classical authors to their own wills. The imitative work of the
new school was of a frigid and limited quality. The school of Dryden was reluctant to alter; the age of Pope
abandoned freedom altogether. Pope puts it thus;
Those Rules of old discovered, not devised,
Are Nature still, but Nature methodised.
Thus they evolved a number of 'rules', which can usefully be summarized in the command, "Be
correct". 'Correctness' means avoidance of enthusiasm; moderate opinions moderately expressed, strict
care and accuracy in poetical technique; and humble imitation of the style of the Latin classics.
Dryden did not attain altogether to this ideal. Pope and his immediate successors called him
"copious", thus hinting at a lack of care and an unrestrained vigour that were survivals of an earlier
manhood. Yet Dryden has the new tendency very clearly marked. To him Dr. Johnson first applied the
epithet "Augustan", saying that Dryden did to English literature what Augustus did to Rome, which he
"found of brick and left of marble". Dryden is the first great exponent of the new ideas that were to
dominate our literature till the end of the eighteenth century.


BA Sem – 3 English (Core/Elective) – 201
Ques. Literary Characteristics of the Age of Pope
Ans.
THE PREDOMINANCE OF PROSE:
The age of Pope intensified the movement that, as we have seen, began after the Restoration. The
drift away from the poetry of passion was more pronounced than ever, the ideals of 'wit' and `common
sense' were more zealously pursued, and the lyrical note was almost unheard. In its place we find in
poetry the overmastering desire for neatness and lucidity, for edge and point in style, and for correctness
in technique. These aims received expression in the devotion to the heroic couplet, the perfect medium for
the purpose. In this type of poetry the supreme master is Pope; apart from him the age produced no great
poet. On the other hand, the other great names of the period—Swift, Addison, Steele, Defoe are those of
prose-writers primarily, and prose-writers of a very high quality.
Some other outstanding conditions of the age remain to be considered. Most of them, it will be
noticed, help to give prose its dominating position.
1. Political Writing. It is noticeable that the rise of the two political parties, accompanied by an increased
sharpness of political passion. This development gave a fresh importance to men of literary ability, for
both parties competed for the assistance of their pens, bribed the authors with places and pensions (or
promises of them), and admitted them more or less deeply into their counsels. In previous ages authors
had had to depend on their patrons or upon the length of their subscription lists; they now acquired
independence and an importance that turned the heads of some of them. Hardly a writer of the time is free
from the Political bias. After being a Whig, Swift became a powerful Tory; Addison was a moderate Whig;
Steele was Whig and Tory in turn. It was indeed the Golden Age of political pamphleteering, and the
writers made the most of it.
2. The Clubs and Coffee-houses. Politicians are necessarily extrovert, and the increased activity in
politics led to a great addition to the number of political clubs and coffee-houses, which became the
centres of fashionable and public life. In the first number of The Tatler Steele announces as a matter of
course that the activities of his new journal will be based upon the clubs. All accounts of Gallantry,
Pleasure and Entertainment shall be under the article of White's Chocolate-House; Poetry under that of
Will’s Coffee-House; Learning under the title of Grecian; Foreign and Domestic News you will have from
Saint James' Coffee-House”. These coffee-houses became the 'clearing-houses' for literary business, and
from them branched purely literary associations such as the famous Scriblerus and Kit-Cat clubs, those
haunts of the fashionable writers which figure so prominently in the writings of the period.
3. Periodical Writing. It was clear that the struggle for political mastery led both factions do issue a
swarm of Examiners, Guardians, Freeholders, and similar publications. These journals were run by a band
of vigorous and shallow prose-writers, who in their differing degrees of excellence represent almost a new
type in English literature.
4. The New Publishing Houses. The interest in politics, and probably the decline in the drama, caused a
great increase in the size of the reading public. In its turn this aroused the activities of a number of men
who became the forerunners of the modern publishing houses. Such were Edmund Curll, Jacob Tonson,
and John Dunton. These men employed numbers of needy writers, who produced the translations,
adaptations and other popular works of the time. It is unwise to judge a publisher by what authors say of
him, but the universal condemnation levelled against Curll. Such publishers compel the belief that they
were a breed of scoundrels who preyed upon authors and public, and remarkably, upon one another. The
miserable race of hack-writers— bitterly attacked by Pope in The Dunciad.
5. The New Morality. The immorality of the Restoration, which had been almost entirely a Court
phenomenon and was largely the reaction against extreme Puritanism, soon spent itself. The natural
process of time was hastened by opinion in high quarters. William III was a severe moralist, and Anne, his
successor, was of the character. Thus a new tone was seen in the writing of the time and a new attitude to
life and morals. Addison, in an early number of The Spectator, puts the new fashion in his own admirable
way:
"I shall endeavour to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality."
Another development of the same spirit is seen in the revised opinion of women, who are treated
with new respect and dignity. Much coarseness is still to be felt, especially in satirical writing, in which
Swift, for instance, can be quite hateful; but the general upward tendency is undoubtedly there.