Thinking Activity: Neo Classical Age

 Compare  the general characteristics of the Elizabethan Age and Neo Classical Age :

 Hello readers!

 I am Bhavna Sosa, a student of the department of English,MKBU. This blog is the part of my classroom activity that is given by our madam Vaidehi Hariyani ma'am.

Different Between Elizabethan Age and Neo Classical Age:

Elizabethan Age:

Introduction:

The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth 1st reign (1558-1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia was first used in 1572  and often thereafter to mark the Elizabethan Age as a Renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals international expansion,and naval triumph over the hated Spanish foe.

In terms of the entire century. Joh Guy, argues that " England was economically healthier, more expensive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time thousand years.

Neo Classical Age:

Introduction:

The Neo Classical Age is  also called the Augustan age, age of Johnson age and Restoration age. It was between 1616 to 1798.

             - Restoration period

             - Augustan period 

             - Age of Johnson

 Dryden,pope and Johnson were the literary figures of this age.

Neo Classical name itself suggests that classics the literature is. But something new the writer of this age are following classic. Writer means of ancients but with newness. 

Political summary of the period:

Elizabethan Age:

                                  Queen Elizabeth 1st

Queen Elizabeth 1st was sovereign of England, meaning she had upmost authority and rule, compared to the monarchy today. Elizabethan government operated on a hierarchical system. Elizabethan's believed that God has appointed the monarch and she had the power and status to grant jobs to those below her.

 In Milton's word, we suddenly see England.                                     

         " A noble and puissant nation, rousing herself,                          like a strong man after sleep,and shaking her                                                invicible locks."

Neo Classical Age:

 After the Enlightenment got the ball rolling on interest in classical civilization, Neo Classical really took off in the late 18th century as artists consciously emulated Classical techniques and subjects. But, the popularity of Neo Classical art was maintained because of new political factors that emerged. Notably, revolution. In 1776, 13 British colonies in North America signed a declaration of independence, sparking the revolutionary War. In 1789, the people of Paris broke into rebellion against the king ,starting the French Revolution.

Literary development of the age:

Development in Elizabethan Age:

 During the Elizabethan Age tragedy and comedy developed. The  Renaissance gave rise to a growing interest in man as presented in Classical drama, which had examples of both comedy and tragedy. It is the period marking the transition from the mediaeval to the modern world.

1. Poetry  :

Elizabethan poetry is notable for any features, including the sonnet form, blank verse, the use of classical material,and double entendres.  The proper Elizabethan literary age began in 1579, before that year. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey made their poetic  contributions.

2. Prose :

The Elizabethan had a genius for poetry and drama but their prose is often intolerable. They enriched the language by adding to its vocabulary many new words and phrases. But some of their prose is heavy, pompous and undisciplined. This pomp and their indiscipline.

3. Drama :

Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, England reached the heights of its glory and turned for literature to give immortal expression to the new national self consciousness. From the Greek the elizabethan's acquired a human nature which overwhelmed the pedantries of Latin culture.

Religious period of the drama: 

Miracle plays : In France the name miracle was given to any play representing the lives of saints. The Early miracle plays in England were of two class; first given at Christmas, and the second at Easter.

The moral period of the Drama:

Mystery play: mystere ( Franch)  plays represented scenes from the life of Christ. In the morality plays the characters were allegorical personages,- life, death, repentance,goodness, love and virtues and vice.

The Artistic period of the drama :

The final stage in the development of the English drama. The artists  drama may have purpose, no less than the Miracle plays, but the motive is always subordinate to the chief end representing life itself. The first true play in English,the comedy"Ralph Royster Doyster.

Development in the Neo Classical Age :

The main Neo Classical movement coincided with the 18th century  Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, literary competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the 21st century.

Neo Classicism in France :

During the high tide of the  Rococo's  popularity in pars, townhouses and public buildings in the city had continued to be constructed with restrained facades, and many of the elements of these structures had their origins in the Classicism to the Renaissance. In the later years of Louis 15s reign,an increased severity and gravity became the rule in many of the royal projects undertaken in Paris as the new ,more historically informed  Neo Classicism spread through Europe.

Neo Classicism in England :

While Italian and French contributions to the classical revival were considerable it was in England that the new style developed most decidedly. During the course of the eighteenth century, England exercised a powerful influence over intellectual life and fashions throughout Europe.

Classical influence :

England offered one of Europe's most receptive climates for the development of Neo Classicism for a variety of reasons. It's Baroque architecture, crafted by figures like Christopher Wren and John Vanbrugh, had included many important classical elements, while the suave elegance of the Rococo had made few inroads into English palaces and houses. Thus, as English designers tried to recapture an archaeologically correct Classicism in the second half of the eighteenth century they had less ground to cover than many of their continuental counterparts.

Conclusion : 

To summing up the question we can say that both age has rapid change in so many forms. Elizabethan age is the beginning of the Renaissance in the English literature while Neo Classical followed the rules and regulation,both ages are quite different each other. The Elizabethan Age represent the freshness of each and every  field while neoclassical.

Write in brief about writer :

Alexander pope :

The English poet Alexander pope is regarded as one of the finest poets and satirists of the Augustan period and one of the major influences on the English literature in this time and after

Early years :

                "A little learning is a dangerous thing,

                 Drink deep, or  taste not the pierian spring;

                There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

                and  drinking largely sobers us  again."

                                                      

Alexander pope was born on May 21,1688, in London, England, to Alexander and Edith pope. His Roman Catholic father was a linen merchant. His family moved out of London and settled in Binfield in Windsor Forest around 1700, Pope had little formal schooling. He educated himself through extensive studying and reading, especially poetry.

Although pope was healthy and plump in his infancy,he became severely ill later in his childhood. Which resulted in a slightly disfigured body- he never grew taller than 4 feet and 6 inches. He suffered from curvature of the spine, which required him to wear a stiff canvas brace. He had constant headaches. His physical appearance, frequently ridiculed by his enemies, undoubtedly gave an edge to pope's satire, but he was always warmhearted and generous  in his affection for his many friends.

Early poems :

Alexander pope was precocious as a child and attracted the notic of a noted bookseller who published his  Pastoral (1709). By this time pope was already at work on his more ambitious Essay on Criticism (1711) designed to create a  rebirth of the contemporary literary scene.

The Rape of the Lock (1712) immediately made pope famous as a poet. It was a long humorous poem in the classical style. Instead of treating the subject of heroic deeds, though, the poem was about the attempt of a young man to get a lock of hair from his beloved's head. It was based on a true evet that happened to people he knew - several other poems were published by 1717, the date of first collected edition of pope's works.

Thank you !!!

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