|
Literary Overview
The 18th century English literature, according to the development of
Enlightenment, can be mainly divided into three periods. The first period
was from the Glorious Revolution to the end of the 1730s, which was
characterized by neo-Classicism. This period saw the forming of the
principles of the new tendency of the Enlightenment. With Pope as the
leading figure, the moderate group, who put great hopes on the age,
dominated this period of time. A new genre—essay was developed and matured
by Addison and Steele. The period also aroused the great figures Defoe who
wrote realistic fiction and Swift the great satirist who pushed the
literature of satire to its peak. The second period lasted from 1740s to
1750s. Most of the works published in this period were realistic novels
written by Richardson, Fielding and Smollett. As the harsher of the struggle
between bourgeoisie and workers, a more critical view toward the existing
social conditions appeared. But there was still hope of getting better in
the future. The last period covered the rest decades of 18th century, which
characterized by the decline of the Enlightenment. In this period, the new
literary tendencies: Sentimentalism and Pre-Romanticism appeared as the
protest to social injustice. Most of the Sentimentalism writers were in the
field of poetry, such as Edward Young and Thomas Gray. Pre-Romanticism
manifested itself chiefly in poetry. William Blake and Robert Burns were
belonged to this Family.
|
