Historical Background
second half of the 18th century: Age of Reason’ gave way to an ‘Age of Sentiment’
writers: Richardson and Rousseau
but many writers, especially prose writers, were still propnents of reason and commonsense
no longer usefulness of sentiment -> delicate enjoyment of one's own emotional thrills
led by John Wesley and his brother Charles
last wave of missionary evangelisation in an already Christian country; and will be imortant ideological tenet in 19th century
adresses especially working class, but also middle class
stood on the side of reformation but disclaimed Calvin’s theory of predestination
emotional 'conversion' and its reassertion of the importance of the individual soul fitted the general temper of the age
led to an increased sense of social responsibility for the underprivileged, interest in reform of prison, anti-slavery
but Industrial Revolution and capitalism: replacement of slaves by wage labourers; producers needed consumers
relative prosperity in home
intense conflict between France and Britain in New World, India and Europe
enterprising Englishmen: British Empire as by-product of trade (e. g. East India Company) and buisness
1763: Treaty of Paris: ended the global conflict between Great Britain and France, resulting in France ceding vast North American territory to Britain, in order to keep their Caribbean sugar islands
1788: first settlements in the east coast of Australia
India was gratually coming under English control
1757 Robert Clive defeatet French in control of trading posts in India
1773 Regulating Act: reatifies the Corwn#s direct interference in Idian affairs
triangular slave trade was well established
1776: British colonies in New World declared their independence -> war with Britian -> acknowledging American Independence in 1783
1789 French Revolution -> war, most nations leagued against France
English thinkers and politicans took sides; many discussions about causes, consequences
Agricultural enclosures (the landowners replacing the small farms cultivated on the 'open-field' system by pasture land for sheep and evicting farmers)
enclosure movement
caused emigration to colonies and towns: rapidly developing bc o technical innovations
Watt’s improvement of steam engine -> development in mills; steam pumps used in mines; cotton mills and woollen industry increased towards large factories in 19th century
Adam Smith’s major work The Wealth o Nations: first expression of theory of free trade and market economy
Literary characteristics
Shift in Emphasis
e. g. Edward Young, mainly poems; pre-romantic; enormous influence on the Continent
Tradional Views
fear o being object of satire because a lack of commonsense
avoided being “fantastic”
wrote about realistic matters of daily life
already in the preceding age: truth, reason, natur against the absolute authority of Ancients
as the Age of Enlightment advanced: people began to insist on the impossivility of absolute standards and believe in change, progress, novelty
tenedency to neglet Horace and classical literary genre -> revival of interest in English models as Spenser, Milton, Shakespeare
writers felt freer in expressing personal moods, such as hypochondria, melancholy self-indulgence, obsessive awareness of lurking death
death, graveyards, night, sickness became favourite topics
e. g. Youngs poetry
Benevolism: mood of an eager and generous soul pouring itself out for the improvement of the human lot (humanitarian sentimentalism)
highest achievement for artists was originality
Genius > Learning
Edward Young’s essay: Conjectures on Original Composition
claims: poet must be free in his use of images and his shaping of ideas; no rules hamper his originality
turning from Greece and Rome -> Medival Age, Scandinavian and Germanic lore, Welsh and Irish stories
taste for oriental exoticism
taste in description of landscape and rural daily life
less dependent in manner and form on classical models and genre, but no rebellion against classics: shift was largely unconscious
increased emphasis on emotion and originality -> shift towards Romanticism
some major writers still fervent classicists: Hume, Gibbon, Burke, Johnson
Dr. (Samuel) Johnson
among first professional writers in England
started as employed by booksellers in miscellaneous writings (verschiedene Schriftstücke)
demonstrated that a writer could achieve economic and social status as a result of his own literary efforts
began his life in poverty and with great personal disadvantages of physical awkwardness, poor sight, and a tendency to severe depression
at 50: most famous man of letters in English society
1764 founded Literary Club included Joshua Reynolds (painter) Edminf Burke (political thinker and stetesman), David Garrick (actor), Oliver Goldsmith, James Boswell (wrote Samuel Johnson’s biography)
Toryism and devotion for Church and Chirstianity were based on profound pessimism
conservatisms is sort of defense against despair (Verzweiflung)
famous hypochondriac
but he’s no bigoted Tory: he denounced colonialism, against slavery
toast to a company: "Here's to the next insurrection (Aufruhr) of the Negroes in the West Indies!"
main representative of the late Augustan age (of classicism in this periode)
mainly prose writer
his prose expresses the essential directness of his mind
often uses abstract terms and plysyllabic words
rhythm of his sentences similar to Hume Gibbon and Bukre: grand and formal style, mark a general revulsion against the easy, fluent style (e. g. Addison)
less concerned to entertain, nor deal with detailed events of daily life
not remarkable,
typical classic poems, existalists and philosophical
poem London (1738): satire of degenerate sophistication, social injustice, crime and licence of London’s middle class
Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
reputation largely rests on his work as a scholar
Dictionary of the English Language (1755)
definitions often air his prejudices
definition of oats: "A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland, supports the people"
he started dictionary on his own and thought that he can just list all words of english language with their definitions
Edition of Shakespeare’s plays (1765)
interpretative and historical: means he didn’t stayed close to the text, because the texts were not from Shakespeare but mainly from his audience
reconstructed Shakespeares by analyzing the texts and making based guesses on what Shakespeare really wrote
preface and notes gave work its destinction
Life of the Poets (1779-81)
introduction to the works of English Poets as Milton, Gray, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Addison
was blind wo Milton’s talent, because he (Milton) used re-creation of Latinate idiom
opportunity for him to express his view of poetry and often of literature and life in general
moral essays
series entitled The Idler for The Weekly Gazette
philosophical romance Rasselas
concered on: how to cultivate a proper state of mind and on how best to employ their (his readers) time and their energies
moral ohilosophizing Oriental tale
called so bc traveling in exotic places
no novel, because characters don’t have deep personalities
parable (Gleichnis) in which representative figures discourse on the fundamentals of human conduct, regarded (in typically Augustan fashion) in the light of social relationships
obvious similarities with Voltaire’s Candide, but not really possibility to knew this work while writing his own
short reflectiv chapters, style often aphoiristic, tone morally serious, Christian stoicism
(recommend by prof haha)
Resselas leaves his native valley with his sister, her maid and sage Imlac in order to travel to Egypt for the search of true happiness
numerous encounters and adventures: face the crumbeling of all their illusions
educational journey: utopia can be nowhere found but they gain for self-knowledge
His was an age of conversation, of clubs and coffee houses, an age in which specialization of knowledge had not proceeded far enough to prevent intelligent men from expressing their ideas on whatever subject might be brought to their attention.
quotations that express his personality:
A man, sir, should keep his friendship in continual repair.
Let me smile with the wise and feed with the rich.
Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.
[When Boswell wanted to attend a Quaker meeting where a woman preached] Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog walking on his hind legs. It is not well done; but you are surprised to find it done at all.
Poetry
Augustan poets believed: “proper study of mankind is man”
augustan is referring to classical period
but throughout 18th century: strain of descriptive and meditative poetry with description of nature prompts (fordert auf zu) moral and philosophical reflections on the human situation
mixed poetry: descriptions of woods and meadows of rural England and reflections on the manners and morals of urban society
less heroic couplet; more reviving Miltonic tradition and Spenserian stanza
Miltonic tradition: use of blank verse and tendency to periphrasis and Latinism
Spenserian stanza: 9 iambic lines rhyming a b a b b c b c c
they gave way to a more personal expression of subjective emotions
scottish author
best representive of this tendency
The Seasons (1730) written in blank verse war one of the most popular poems
even when his style is sensibil, his moralizing and that the nature is a pretext for generalizations about man, makes him a man of his time and no pre-romantic!
The Seasons
- composed of four poems: winter, spring, summer, autumn
- describes countryside at different times and introduces meditations on man
won European fame through: Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality (1742-45)
written in blank verse
moralizing and philosophizing work matching the taste of the age
new: concentration on death: macabre details, expressions of poignant grief
name for a tendency of poets their main object ist death
minor but popular genre
mournfully pensive poems on the nature of death
set in graveyards or inspired by nocturnal meditations
e. g. Young’s Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality (1742-45) or Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1750)
short and tragic life -> depression and madness
work illustrates tension between tradition and novelty
reacted against Augustan aphoristic didacticism
style is exclamatory rather then reflective and is full of deliberate archaisms and emotional apostrophes ("Oh thou...")
writes in heroic couplets and often uses form of the ode
believed in the importance of imagination
‘Ode on the Poetical Character’
works are combination of scholarship and imagination
interested in older English literature
sometimes fantastic, he got mad in the end
A Song to David (1763): overflowing and inspired respinsiveness to what is good
interest in temperament and habit of life, English folk ballads
wrotes poems on Celtic and Norse subjects
abandoned heroic couplet for greater rhetorical dressdom of Pindaric ode (most used in his poems)
combine highly stylized and ornate style with a note of strong sentiment
use of apostrophe and personification
apostrophe: Omissions (Auslassungen) in words or addressing a non-existent entity
in tradition of Thomson and Young: combined generalised descriptions, mediations and moralising
“Elegy Written in a Country Curchyard” (1750)
he also wrote sonnets, which were disregarded by classical poets
more about him at prose
“Gray and Collins show an interest in older English literature that is symptomatic not only of restlessness about Augustan taste but also of a curiosity about primitive poetry in general.”
all illustrate the tendency to break away from the control of reason and the imitation of classical writers and patterns
contributed to a revival of national poetry, free of classical influences
also turned back on Greco-Roman tradition and look on other literature
Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scottland (1760)
claimed that they were translated from the Gaelic and that the author was Ossian (also Oisin), but they were forgeries (Fälschungen)
the possibility of primitive epic was inconceivable to neo-classical minds like Johnson
collected old English and Scottish ballads mainly from the 15th century, edited them and published them as Reliques of Ancient English Poertry (1765)
simplicity of the ballads counteracted the artificial eloquence that the public was used to
committed suicide at 18
600 pages of pseudo-medieval verses
strong gift for literary mimicry (or forgery): most attributed to a 15th century Bristol monk Thomas Rowley
more than the others, he could free himself from the mannerism and poetic diction of his time and escaped into the imaginary world of Rowley's Bristol
became o rallying symbol for later romantic artists (Alfred de Vigny’s play Chatterton, 1835)
domesticity = Häuslichkeit
tendency to be subjective, use autobiographical material and celebrate domestic topics
Calvinist
descriptions of nature, but no philosophizing about the abstract concept of nature
nature was for him an escape from moral and the curse of depravity (Fluch der Verderbtheit)
female and black writers were at that time quite popular
largely contributed to the shift in sensitivity in late 18th century
she wrote about everyday topics in everyday language, like her poem “Washing-Day” (1773)
poetry was particulary thriving in Scotland, often using local form
i. e. Thomson or MacPherson, Allan Ramsay
stands in a long line of “makers” who used Lowland Scots as a poetic language from the Middle Ages
domestic emotions, but relationships are his subject, rural daily life
exposed hypocrisies of townspeople, religions, statecraft
became a national symbol for Scotsmen: “Burns night” on 25th January
(1757-1827)
visionary artist; fueled by revolutionary ideals
remained faithful to his ideal of human freedom
concernes about slaves and plantation system, colonised people and women
combined his poems with pictorial engraving that displayed the poetic theme
developed his own symbolism and mythology
strain of protest against tyranny and opression, plea for freedom, faith in imagination, fascination with the supernatural
broke away from cultral patterns his time and turned to occult traditions
i. e. gnostic teaching, Jewish Cabala, ideas from Swendenborg (swedish scientist)
he also wrote some prophetic books
Prose
people were fond of conversations and meeting in clubs: letter-writing suit perfect of conversing with absent friends
love for truth and human curiosity were discussed in letters, which make them interesting for historical studies
most famous biography: Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson (1791) by James Boswell
Olaudah Equiano
former slave who wrote his autobiography at the age of 44: The Intersting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself (1789)
kidnapped from his African (Igbo) village, West Indies, Virginia planter, present for some guy, after ten years of enslavement he worked as a seaman and could afford to bought his freedom
growth because of the belief that human affairs can best be investigated by calm and rational inquiry, curiosity about human motives, behaviour and instituions
David Hume (1711-1776)
deconstructed the notions of optimism, divine providence and miracles
history as a storehouse of facts that would helpl philosophers to understand human nature more than a-priori theorising
Hume shows in his philosophy how the thought process is based on irrational associations of ideas
for him habit and emotion play a more important part than reason in forming our outlook
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)
had no general theory, but was interested in general principles of causation and movement
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
politician
living in any society implies limits, oblifations and duties that cannot be gainsaid (widersprochen) by abstract principle
exposed colonial practices of East Indian Company, stood to the rights of Irland, power of the Parliament, independence ot the American colonies
antirevolutionary liberal, who advocated patience and consiliation (Versöhnung)
Adam Smith (1723-1790)
often hailed as the founder of modern economy
Inquiry into the Natur and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776): writes about liberal capitalism
but also wrote about the role of sympathy, was aware of the element of self-interest regulating human behaviour
study of people and their manners and morals
focus on emotions and sentiments, already found in Richardson's works, became more general
Laurence Sterne (1713-1768)
most importan Novelist of this time
strange character, lived in a high emotional state of frenzy, drinking and joking with his friends and making fun of the writers of the time
completly new concept of form in fiction: no story to tell, neglected continuity or progress in the plot, aimed at variety and surprise, cultivated the art of digression (Abschweifungen)
novels were meant to give a coherent picture of the world
Tristram ist not born till vol. IV of the series and never gets beyond childhood
rambling and eccentric patchwork of anecdotes, digressions, reflections, jests, parodies, and dialogues centering on the character and opinions of Walter Shandy and the narrator's Uncle Toby
other characters are introduced to provide humorous or sentimental incidents
book is full of asterisks, blanks and a variety of typographical tricks and eccentricities including pages that are solid black, entirely blank, or marbled
chapters vary in length from several pages to a single short sentence
for Sterne reality is immensely varied, complex and essentially subjective
Main differences from contemporary writers:
Past exists in present consciousness
it conditions our present and present can only be understood by reference to the past
rejected chronological order for his material
realised that time of experience is not the same as clock-time
View of man
was inspired by Locke’s law about association of ideas and images in man’s mind
showed that the process is irration: past experiences and the subconscious erupt and govern man's associations of ideas and make him jump in time and in topics in an apparently incoherent way
reality was therefore subjective and depending on individual’s perception
also his characters are not revealed by their actions but by their associations of ideas
Sterne leads us not futher in their adventures, but deeper in their minds
view of narrator
while Fielding’s and Richardson’s narrators were conscious, Sterne’s narrator is an author trying to cope with difficulty of rendering the complexity of life (he fictionalised the narrator)
every man lives in a world of his own and interprets the reality based on his private train of ideas and associations (individual consciousness)
Sterne calls the character’s mental habits or private obsessions as “hobby horses”
accordingly the characters are misunderstanding each other in his stories which causes comic situations
everyone ist prisoner of his inner world. since people can not communicate rationally they need fellow feeling (Mitgefühl) to make contact with other persons. they need sentimental to escape from the prison of the private self
Read the passages from p. 99 on
Yorick’s travels
different for Tristram Shandy: more elegant, no more freuquently obscene allusions
“sentimental” in titel he explained in a letter; it stands for love to the world and other humans
ability to feel oneselg into someone else’s situation
it’s not about the travel itself (famous buildings, picturesque scenes) but about the emotions inside of the character and the people he meets -> it’s an inside approach
different to Smollett’s text, because Sterne’s protagonist laughs about everything
Sterne is the most original 18th-century novelist. He is modern in
his presentation of reality as subjective,
his view of individual consciousness,
the importance he gives to the unconscious and the subconscious (hobby horses),
his sense of the absurdity and of the futility of man's attempts to communicate rationally,
his attitude to time,
his tone: his irony is not the bitterly destructive one which Swift used as a moral instrument.
Sentimentalism started with Richardson
best-known instance of dentimental novel = Die Leiden des jugen Werthers (1774)
The Man of Feeling (1771) by Henry Meckensie
hero embodies notion of sympathy
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774)
Irish writer, tradionalist, dramatist (previous period), poet (of sentimentalism), wrote essays as well
(expelled from college für receiving male and female friends in his room)
The Vicar of Wakefield (1766)
not sentimental!!
mixture of irony, humour, sentiment
simple-minded novel about innocence and worldliness (Weltlichkeit)
protagonist: Dr. Primrose, a man who combines learning with innocence and finding great happiness in domesticy
lead by accidents (typical for sentimental texts) and the bad in the world to various misfortunes
but he reacts with gentle resignation; only once does he curse the villains
happy end
extreme misfortune followed by rapid resitution = folk element
so sentimentalists because character is never beaten down, he’s a simple character
Goldsmith’s style:
no coldness of aristocratic manner
heaviness of diction and balanced formality in sentence structure (so unlike Johnson)
he’s the blend of sense and sensibility, because he was too sympathetic to be an satirist and too hardheaded to be a sentimentalist
cruel passons and supernatural terrors, often medieval setting as haunted castle
examples: Castle of Otranto of Horace Walpole, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliff, Frankenstein by Mary Gowin-Shelley
form of escapism; rescure readers from boredom of daily life
in tradition of Fielding and Smollett
Frances (Franny) Burney (1752-1840)
always portrayed young girl’s impressions on social world, mistakes in society
most popular: Evelina or The History of a Young Girl’s Entrance into the World (1778)
propaganda for social and economic changes, promote new ideas about equality of women and men
liberty, anarchy, justice
William Godwin: Caleb Williams (1794)
themed power for injustice legally granted to the privileged classes and attacks the exploitation of the lower classes
The Inquiry concering Political Justice (1793)
exam question
mostly dedicated to prose writing
no remarkable classical poems here
but some interesting poets, but no classicism
in classic there was less interest in local literature
themes of romanticism began to appear
interest in local poems and literature
nature, countryside: but not as made of god; but actual landscapes
soublidity?
feelings, sens of being sad, infused into philosophical reflections in poems
Edward Young’s essay Conjectures on Original Composition
defend the idea of being original
Literary Criticism!! over all chapters
most frequent question on exam
fear of being misunderstood as being dumb
Dryden (other period), Young
the battle of the books by dryden
e. g. Dr. Johnson
essays about writing that turning back on classicism
Dr. Johnson
no titles of his work, but what he mainly stood for
main representatives
triangle of writers: Dryden, Pope and Dr. Johnson
what is different between them?
Dr. Johnson was not mainly a poet or dramatists: he wrote poems but not important, and those poems were classical
Dryden and Pope were poets (and dramatists?)
Shakespeare
Dr. Johnson interpreted Shakespeares textes to make reasonable guesses what Shakespeare really wrote and what was just based on the audience
especially quarter 1 and 2 were often different in the existing versions
folio?
journalism
Dr. Johnson: periodical essays count under journalism
reason
dr. johnson was so sceptical (that human are rational)
read passage from Dr. Johnson’s parable Rasselas
some guy said that he wanted to be another animal that human bc they believe that they would be rational
rodgester? (other period) also skeptical about reason
Swift also secptical of
S. 93: lecture 01.12. aka Poetry in second half of 18 th century
development of poetry: second half of 18th century new development, began to express theirselfs and name some characteristic
imagination: Collins, Smart, Young (wrote even an essay about imagination)
past: percy, Macpherson, chatterton
approach to nature: interest in the countryside, esp. Thomson, Cowper
domestic approach as expressed in lyric poems, using everyday language: Barbauld, Burns (sometimes scottish terms)
political approach: Blake, Cowper, Goldsmith, Burns
why and in which way it is different from other classical works
Blake: not only interested in liberty as a theme, he also wrote very liberally
he was very religious, he invented his own religion
greater developments will be relevant in exam
compare Blake and Milton (oppose)
very religious both
one century later Blake
both approached freedom but in a very different way
Milton was puritan, he served in commonwealth in government (strict morality) but free of monarchy
Blake nothing that cut his freedom like
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