Introduction to Neoclassicism
After the Renaissance--a period of
exploration and expansiveness--came a reaction in the direction of
order and restraint. Generally speaking, this reaction developed in
France in the mid-seventeenth century and in England thirty years
later; and it dominated European literature until the last part of
the eighteenth century.
The New Restraint
Writers turned from inventing new
words to regularizing vocabulary and grammar. Complex, boldly
metaphorical language, such as Shakespeare used in his major
tragedies, is clarified and simplified--using fewer and more
conventional figures of speech. Mystery and obscurity are
considered symptoms of incompetence rather than signs of grandeur.
The ideal style is lucid, polished, and precisely appropriate to
the genre of a work and the social position of its characters.
Tragedy and high comedy, for example, use the language of
cultivated people and maintain a well-bred tone. The crude humor of
the gravediggers in Hamlet or the pulling out of
Gloucester's eyes in King Lear would no longer be admitted
in tragedy. Structure, like tone, becomes more simple and unified.
In contrast to Shakespeare's plays, those of neoclassical
playwrights such as Racine and Moliere develop a single plot line
and are strictly limited in time and place (often, like Moliere's
The Misanthrope and Tartuffe, to a single setting and
a single day's time).
Influence of the Classics
The period is called
neoclassical because its writers looked back to the ideals
and art forms of classical times, emphasizing even more than their
Renaissance predecessors the classical ideals of order and rational
control. Such simply constructed but perfect works as the Parthenon
and Sophocles' Antigone, such achievements as the peace and
order established by the Roman Empire (and celebrated in Book VI of
Vergil's Aeneid), suggest what neoclassical writers saw in
the classical world. Their respect for the past led them to be
conservative both in art and politics. Always aware of the
conventions appropriate to each genre, they modeled their works on
classical masterpieces and heeded the "rules" thought to be laid
down by classical critics. In political and social affairs, too,
they were guided by the wisdom of the past: traditional
institutions had, at least, survived the test of time. No more than
their medieval and Renaissance predecessors did neoclassical
thinkers share our modern assumption that change means progress,
since they believed that human nature is imperfect, human
achievements are necessarily limited, and therefore human aims
should be sensibly limited as well. It was better to set a moderate
goal, whether in art or society, and achieve it well, than to
strive for an infinite ideal and fail. Reasonable Philinte in
The Misanthrope does not get angry at people's injustice,
because he accepts human nature as imperfect.
Neoclassical Assumptions and Their Implications
Neoclassical thinkers could use the
past as a guide for the present because they assumed that human
nature was constant--essentially the same regardless of time and
place. Art, they believed, should express this essential nature:
"Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations
of general nature" (Samuel Johnson). An individual character was
valuable for what he or she revealed of universal human nature. Of
course, all great art has this sort of significance--Johnson made
his statement about Shakespeare. But neoclassical artists more
consciously emphasized common human characteristics over individual
differences, as we see in the type-named characters of Moliere.
If human nature has remained
constant over the centuries, it is unlikely that any startling new
discoveries will be made. Hence neoclassical artists did not strive
to be original so much as to express old truths in a newly
effective way. As Alexander Pope, one of their greatest poets,
wrote: "True wit is nature to advantage dressed, / What oft was
thought, but ne'er so well expressed." Neoclassical writers aimed
to articulate general truth rather than unique vision, to
communicate to others more than to express themselves.
Social Themes
Neoclassical writers saw themselves,
as well as their readers and characters, above all as members of
society. Social institutions might be foolish or corrupt--indeed,
given the intrinsic limitations of human nature, they probably
were--but the individual who rebelled against custom or asserted
his superiority to humankind was, like Alceste in The
Misanthrope, presented as presumptuous and absurd. While
Renaissance writers were sometimes fascinated by rebels, and later
Romantic artists often glorified them, neoclassical artists
expected people to conform to established social norms. For
individual opinion was far less likely to be true than was the
consensus of society, developed over time and embodied in custom
and tradition. As the rules for proper writing should be followed,
so should the rules for civilized conduct in society. Neither
Moliere nor Jane Austen advocate blind following of convention, yet
both insist that good manners are important as a manifestation of
self-control and consideration for others.
The Age of Reason
The classical ideals of order and
moderation which inspired this period, its realistically limited
aspirations, and its emphasis on the common sense of society rather
than individual imagination, could all be characterized as
rational. And, indeed, it is often known as the Age of Reason.
Reason had traditionally been assumed to be the highest mental
faculty, but in this period many thinkers considered it a
sufficient guide in all areas. Both religious belief and morality
were grounded on reason: revelation and grace were de-emphasized,
and morality consisted of acting rightly to one's fellow beings on
this earth. John Locke, the most influential philosopher of the
age, analyzed logically how our minds function (1690), argued for
religious toleration (1689), and maintained that government is
justified not by divine right but by a "social contract" that is
broken if the people's natural rights are not respected.
As reason should guide human
individuals and societies, it should also direct artistic creation.
Neoclassical art is not meant to seem a spontaneous outpouring of
emotion or imagination. Emotion appears, of course; but it is
consciously controlled. A work of art should be logically organized
and should advocate rational norms. The Misanthrope, for example,
is focused on its theme more consistently than are any of
Shakespeare's plays. Its hero and his society are judged according
to their conformity or lack of conformity to Reason, and its ideal,
voiced by Philinte, is the reasonable one of the golden mean. The
cool rationality and control characteristic of neoclassical art
fostered wit, equally evident in the regular couplets of Moliere
and the balanced sentences of Austen.
Sharp and brilliant wit, produced
within the clearly defined ideals of neoclassical art, and focused
on people in their social context, make this perhaps the world's
greatest age of comedy and satire.
Adapted from A Guide to the Study of
Literature: A Companion Text for Core Studies 6, Landmarks of
Literature, ©English Department, Brooklyn College.
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