The Background

Dr. Shobana Kumar

Assistant Professor
Dept of English
Political Ages and Literary Movements
• The Neoclassical Age followed the Age of
Renaissance – Which included the
Elizabethan, Jacobean and Commonwealth
periods
• NA included ages, including The Restoration
(1660–1700), The Augustan Age (1700–1745),
and The Age of Sensibility (1745–1785).
 Political Ages and Literary Movements
• The Restoration Age predecessors - William Congreve
and John Dryden - Restoration comedies (comedies
of manner).
• Satire, too, became quite popular, as evidenced by
the success of Samuel Butler. John Bunyan, and John
Locke.
• The Augustan Age was the time of Alexander Pope
and Jonathan Swift whose works were characterised
by bold political criticism full of satire written in
nuanced styles and genres
 Political Ages and Literary Movements
• As a literary epoch it featured the rapid development of
the novel, an explosion in satire, the mutation
of drama from political satire into melodrama and an
evolution toward poetry of personal exploration.
• Politically, it was an age increasingly dominated
by empiricism, marked by the evolution of mercantilism as a
formal philosophy, the development of capitalism and the
triumph of trade.
 Who was Alexander Pope?
• Pope (1688–1744) was a
central figure in the
Neoclassical movement of
the early 18th century
•  perfected the rhymed
couplet form turning it to
satiric and philosophical
purposes
 Who was Alexander Pope?
•  The Rape of the Lock (a mock epic
-1714) derides elite society, while An
Essay on Criticism (1711) and An Essay
on Man (1733–34) articulate many of
the central tenets of 18th-century
aesthetic and moral philosophy.
• noted for his involvement in public
feuds with the writers and publishers
of low-end Grub Street, which led him
to write The Dunciad (1728), a
scathing account of England’s cultural
decline.
 Who was Alexander Pope?
•   also remembered as the first full-time professional
English writer, having supported himself largely on
subscription fees for his popular translations of Homer
and his edition of the works of William Shakespeare.
• a major cultural figure of the 18th century - fell out of
favor in the Romantic era and was re-read with revived
interest in the modern period.
 The Quiet Life
• HAPPY the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
                In his own ground.
  
• Whose herds with milk, whose fields
with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him
shade,
                In winter fire.
 The Quiet Life
• Blest who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
               Quiet by day,
  
• Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixt, sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does
please
                With meditation.
 The Quiet Life
• Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a
stone
                Tell where I lie.
• History of England Explained in 12 Minutes
• https://youtu.be/43jQ3voZJhw
• NEOCLASSICAL ERA OVERVIEW // history in
cartoons
• https://youtu.be/V0Mp3EoIqqc

Lucy Worsley’s Documentaries