GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The essence of the Enlightenment: education, learning, science, improvement

18th c.- time of peace and prosperity, industrialisation, stability, order

Queen Anne, the House of Hannover

The Act of Union between England and Scotland (1707)

Whigs and Tories

increasing role of the Parliament

Terminology:
● the 18th c.
● the Augustan Age (43 BC-18 AD; the Golden Age of Latin Literature: Orvil and
Vergil/ “classical period” in the literature of any nation/ in British lit this period
concerns only poets and essayists)
● the Age of Reason (reason > imagination; reason = truth)
● the Enlightenment (light, illumination with knowledge and reason/ light in the 18th
c.: the subject of scientific examination/ a common motif; symbol of experience,
knowledge, education, and civilisation)

emergence of the novel (that is why novelists are not considered classical)

Newton- Enlightenment’s hero

Benjamin Martin, The Young Gentleman & Lady’s Philosophy (1759)

metaphorical light and darkness (the light is best seen in the dark)
understanding requires experience
untrained mind = darkness
knowledge, understanding = light

Major attitudes and ideas:

● secularisation of values and thought- moving away from religious doctrines and
spirituality
 ● deism- the whole creation is revelation of the mind and intent of the Creator, who set
the world going but does not interfere in it; the world is harmonious, perfect, thus it
must have been created by a higher being
● rationality- faith in reason
● empiricism- human knowledge is based on and derives from experience

John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1869)

mind = white paper (tabula rasa)- it can be inscribed with experience gained with
senses, the most important one being vision

order: politics, Nature/universe (the Great Chain of Being/ system/ machine),

intellectual life (science as a rational and empirical pursuit), social life, architecture,
language, and literature (“sobering up” of literary senses; preoccupation with form)

British Enlightenment
philosophy: John Locke (17th c.), David Hume, Adam Smith (the founding father of
capitalism)
science: Sir Isaac Newton (17th/18th c.), Joseph Priestley
literature:
poetry: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift
prose (essay, satire): Joseph Addison, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson
fiction (the novel- a new phenomenon): Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry
Fielding

The Age of Improvement (looking into the future): knowledge, education,

development, progress, improvement (better understanding, society, and behaviour),
morality

IMPROVEMENT: JOURNALISM

Cultural and literary life in the 18th c.

● semi-public and social character
● growth of literacy (development of trade; middle class became more educated and
prosperous so they have more free time)
● circulating libraries
● for men: coffee-houses (free conversation purpose; exchanging ideas; all classes
could enter, debate on any subject (democratic feel), societies, and gentlemen’s
clubs (gender-exclusive)
● for women: salons and The Bluestocking Society (intellectual society, often
considered suspicious and satirised by men)

The rise of journalism

The development of the press;
pamphlets
newspapers
periodicals (today’s magazines; high journalism requiring “good pens”)- papers
issued regularly which do not publish news but rather opinion pieces, e.g. essays discussing
moral, social, fashion, and political affairs
Sir Richard Steele, The Tatler (1709-1711)

Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, The Spectator (1711-1712)- published
six times a week; each issue contained one essay
 periodical essays- brief papers on manners, fashion, literature, and morality
addressed to the middle-class reading public

means of reaching a broad audience and of propagating the new ideas in science,
literature, and social issues

the aims of periodicals: improving manners, shaping moral values, shaping taste,
communicating new ideas, diffusing knowledge, transforming society

essay- a brief paper, usually written in prose, in which the author expresses their
views on a given subject while providing arguments and examples

Summary:
● improvement of society
● scientific education
● aesthetic/cultural education
● contribution to literary criticism and theory
● development of the elegant prose style (transparent, clear, utilitarian, focused on the
communication)

THE 18TH C. SATIRE

satire- work in which the author comments on the current issues and expresses their
discontent by ridiculing various vices and follies using sarcasm and irony
satirist- someone who expresses a concern for the state of their country and
ridicules what is wrong by using aggressive language
Satire and improvement:
● interest in Man and society
● the examination of human nature and society for the sake and benefit of man and
society, their improvement
● satire as another vehicle of improvement

the 18th c. as the Golden Age of Satire

Satire. Origin, earlier periods

the antiquity (Greek and Roman lit)
English pre-18th c. satires:
the middle ages: Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Langland’s Piers Plowman, or
genres such as the fabliau
the renaissance: verse satire: e.g. some poems by Wyatt or Donne, prose satire:
e.g. More’s Utopia, dramatic satire: satiric elements in the plays of Shakespeare and
Johnson
the Restoration period: dramatic satire: comedies of manner, verse satire: e.g.
Samuel Butler’s Hudibras

The Scriblerus Club

London
1713-1714
Members: Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Dr John Artbuthnot, and
others
Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus (1741)- the original goal of the club; a satirical
journal
 the club discussed various issues and criticised dunces and false learning

Satire. Some characteristics

● a form of reaction
● expression of discontent
● awareness of the standard (the sense of what is right increasing in the 18th c.)
● sense of vocation (mission)
● topicality (immersion in the present, focus on the current issues)
● reaction as the purpose (engaging the audience; shock value)
● limits of satire: they are often misunderstood; they do not engage with “absolute evil”;
they are created in a specific context, thus, they have a short shelf-life because
readers can no longer relate to some of the past issues; the satirist are painting out
the problems but do not offer solutions

Dramatic satire- the combination of the visual, aural, and verbal elements of ridicule

The 18th c.: John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera (1728)

Italian opera (contemporary fashion)
a parody of opera (mismatch between high art of opera and low characters)
contains ballads and gritty language
compares the privileged to the low (their values and behaviours)
the burlesque of the opera form
focus on the London low life
a social and periodical satire

William Hogarth, A Scene from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ VI (1751)- the audience is
close to the play; the line between life and art and the high and the low is blurred

William Hogarth, Beer Street (1751)- a satirical depiction of London society (the
rich vs. the poor)
 William Hogarth, Gin Lane (1751)- a satire of drunkenness among lower classes
and critique of the social institutions, e.g. the Church
 pictorial/visual satire: Mary Darly’s comic strips

Satire in verse:
● Alexander Pope
● Jonathan Swift
● John Gay
● Samuel Johnson
● Daniel Defore

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)- a poet, translator, and satirist

“An Essay on Criticism” (1741)
“The Rape of the Lock” (1712, 1714) !
“An Essay on Man” (1733-34)
“The Dunciad” (1728, 1743) !

“The Rape of the Lock” (1712, 1714)

social satire (directed towards individuals)
mock-epic (sublime language, heroes, and grand scale applied to something trivial)
written in heroic couplets
war between sexes
a trivial incident blown out of proportion

“The Dunciad” (1728, 1743)

Dunciad = Iliad + dunces
aggressive and bitter tone
describes the reign of a goddess called Dullness
an attack on untalented writers (hacks)
a personal attack on the Pope’s critics
 Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)- a satirist and clergyman, interested in political
journalism

Satire in verse:
“The Lady’s Dressing Room” (1722)
“Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift” (1731-32)

Satire in prose:
Gulliver’s Travels (1726), full title: The Travels into Several Remote Nations of the
World. In Four Parts By Lemuel Gulliver.
A Modest Proposal (1729), full title: A Modest Proposal for Preparing the Children
of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or the Country, and for
Making Them Beneficial for the Public

satire = education + entertainment

Topics/objects of 18th c. satire:

● politics
● religion
● science
● physiology, scatology
● society
● manners and attitudes
● ideals
● individuals
● literature

Major satirical techniques:

● contrast/juxtaposition
● distortion
● mock-epic
● imitation
● parody
● paradox
● allusion

Types of satire
a) Horatian satire
fondness of classical masters
points out human vices and follies and tries to correct them
gentle, humorous tone
forgiving
b) Juvenalian satire
focuses on the corruption of human nature and institutions
aggressive, indignant, and bitter tone
unforgiving
e.g. Swift’s satires
 THE 18TH C.: THE NOVEL

Robinson Crusoe- the first English novel

Long title attempting to interest the audience

Preface to Robinson Crusoe

● ordinary, middle-class protagonist (a new type of hero)
● instruction for the readers on how to read the novel
● a promise of a lesson
● no author name on the tile page, just the mention of the editor (keeping the
appearance of a real story, denial of fictitiousness)

Novel
● a modern term (early 19th c.)
● prose
● a fictitious narrative
● some degree of realism
● “considerable” length

Earlier forms of fiction, e.g. romance (17th c.)

Romance emerged from epic and includes some epic conventions:

● elevated language
● extravagant, often noble heroes
● focus on love and adventures
● remote and exotic settings
● exciting and heroic events
● mysterious and supernatural experiences
● does not have to be realistic! (critical difference between the 17th c. romances and
18th c. novels; idealised escapism vs. realism)
● emphasis on extraordinariness

there is no clear moment of the birth of the novel (various influences and
circumstances)

Some literary influences:

● journalism (interest in contemporary, private, daily life; topicality; style: transparency
of language, attention to detail, not very “literary”, easy to read)
● parallel literary forms such as autobiographies, diaries, personal memoirs (interest in
others’ lives; biographies of criminals became bestsellers)
● letters (a common practice -> the epistolary novel- the novel in which narration is
conducted entirely by letters)
● travel writings (detail-oriented language)

Other influences
● religious (Puritans being against fiction -> attempts to disguise fictitious narratives as
truth’ Puritan introspection, looking for Providence in various events)
● economic (capitalism; modern men trying to improve their economic and social status
as characters; emphasis on the need for self-reliance)
● social (growing importance of middle-class- better education and more leisure time ->
more readers)
 ● cultural (diversification- decentralisation/democratisation of culture; books becoming
a commodity; commercial writing)

Convention/narrative frame: first person singular narration (authentic, believable; a

sense of intimacy; confessional tone)

Daniel Defore (1689-1761)- a tradesman, intelligence agent, poet, novelist,

pamphleteer, and journalist
Robinson Crusoe (1719)
Moll Flanders (1722)
A Journal of the Plague Year (1722)

Samuel Richardson (1689-1761)- a printer and novelist

Familiar Letters on Important Occasions (1741)
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1741)
Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady (1747-48)

Henry Fielding- a jurist, magistrate, playwright, satirist, and novelist

Shamela (1741)- a parody of Pamela, a satire
The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr.
Abraham Adams (1742)
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)

Laurence Sterne (1713-68)- a clergyman and novelist

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759-67)- almost “anti-novel”, playing
with conventions
A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768)

Female novelists:
● Aphra Behn, Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, Oroonoko
● Eliza Haywood, Love Excess, Fantomina, or Love in a Maze
● Charlotte Lennox, The Female Question
● Frances Burney, Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the
World

variety of forms and topics of novels

Some characteristics features of the 18th c. novel:

● formal realism
● rejection of traditional plots (no inspiration from previously existing works such as
classical sources; originality)
● setting: now or the relatively recent past
● characterisation, social individual identity and history
● particularity, familiarity, believability
● individualism, subjectivity
● coherence and unity of design: philosophy, ideology