Characteristics Of Neoclassicism
Neoclassical literature was written between 1660 and 1798. This period is broken down into three parts: the Restoration, the Augustan, and the Age of Johnson.
Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks.
Thus the combination of the terms ‘neo,’ which means ‘new,’ and ‘classical,’ as in the day of the Roman and Greek classics. This was also the era of The Enlightenment, which emphasized logic and reason.
Neoclassical literature is characterized by order, accuracy, and structure. In direct opposition to Renaissance attitudes, where man was seen as basically good, the Neoclassical writers portrayed man as inherently flawed.
They emphasized restraint, self-control, and common sense. This was a time when conservatism flourished in both politics and literature.
As for the Characteristics of Neoclassical Poetry, they believed that “nature” was the true model and standard of writing. This “nature” of the Augustans, however, was not the wild, spiritual nature the romantic poets would later idealize, but nature as derived from classical theory: a rational providential design.
In addition to “nature” there were other characteristics of the literature at the time: Rationalism, Scholarly Allusions, Didacticism, Realism, Adherence to Classical Rules, Heroic Couplet, No Passionate Lyricism, Objectivity, Poetic Diction, Wit, rationality and decorum.
Wit, rationality, and decorum, which sums up most of the characteristics in a brief overview, moreover, like most cultural movements, neoclassicism was only labelled and defined retrospectively, yet there was no self-styled group, no rulebook.
However, Pope, in his poetical Essay, identified and exemplified fundamental neoclassical principles, such as wit, rationality and literary decorum (elegant harmony of style and content):
Expression is the dress of thought, and still
Appears more decent as more suitable… (Part 2, ll. 320–21)
’Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,
The sound must seem an Echo to the sense… (ll. 366–67)
True Wit is Nature to advantage dress’d,
What oft was thought but ne’er so well express’d. (ll. 299–300)
