Neoclassicism I

Objective
In this lesson, you will analyze the political history of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century
England and the impact of the time period on neoclassic writers.

Political and Social Changes of the Early Eighteenth

Century
After the death of Queen Elizabeth, James VI ruled for twenty years. His reign was followed
rule
by that of Charles I. Then, there was ten years of Puritan ____________ under Oliver
Cromwell.

restoration
1660 was the beginning of a time known as the ________________________.

Expansion of the Empire

unified
In 1707, under Queen Anne’s rule, England and Scotland _____________________ under one Parliament to
form the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The poem “Rule, Britannia,” by James Thomson, captured the
day
feeling of the ____________. pride
The first six lines of the poem embody this newfound _______________ (in
Britain).

Political Changes
In the eighteenth century, the death of Queen Anne, the first last of the Stuart line, left
Britons without a clear successor to the throne.
act
Parliament foresaw this problem and passed the __________ of Settlement. This act secured the
members
succession of the crown to Protestant ______________________ of the House of Hanover.

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Societal Changes
The rise of Parliament reflected a change in British society: it became more less rigid
than it had been in the past.

Increased prosperity throughout Great Britain

afford
→ meant more people could _____________________ to go to school.
→ meant that many who could not afford to go to school attained some degree of
literacy
____________________ due to the Protestant emphasis on teaching literacy to the lower classes.
wide
→ led to the print boom, which resulted in the ______________ availability of affordable reading
materials.
equal
→ led to feeling that British culture, language, and works of art were _________________ to that of the
French, the Spanish, and even the ancient Romans and Greeks.

Philosophical Change: The Enlightenment [video]

Thomas Hobbes believed that an individual the monarch has absolute power, whereas John Locke
and Adam Smith believed that an individual the monarch has the power to define rights.

In The Wealth of Nations, philosopher Adam Smith stated that there is no need for a nation state
free
(government) to meddle in the ______________ market.

Development of the English Dictionary

Increased literacy created some problems:
➢ Some scholars worried that an increasingly democratic (equal) use of the English language put it in
danger
_________________, due to the fact that poorly educated people corrupted the language.
correct
➢ There was no authority on the “_________________________” way to use or spell words.

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Samuel Johnson
critic
Samuel Johnson was a poet, an essayist, a literary _________________, and a lexicographer (author
or editor of a dictionary).
an authorative dictionary to catalog the english language
What did Samuel Johnson want to write? ________________________________________________________
After its publication in 1755, Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language became the
authorative
___________________________ English dictionary. It remained the English authority for about
150
__________ years, until the Oxford English Dictionary became the new standard.

Reading Neoclassical Literature

Complete the chart based on information from the tutorial.

Characteristics of Neoclassical Literature

common forms essays, personal memoirs, early novels
prose style clear, concise, rational, skeptical, well-organized, satirical

poetic style strongly rhythmic, witty, featuring classical allusions

influences the Enlightenment, classical Greek and Roman forms

response to strict Puritan values, changing social hierarchy, broader readership

In the eighteenth century, Great Britain saw these significant changes:

• expanded international influence • unprecedented population growth
• the rise of the house of comons and the prime minister • increased literacy
• the rise of the merchant and middle class • the emergence of publishing standards and
dictionaries

John Dryden
politics
Dryden’s poems documented the tumultuous _______________________ of the late seventeenth century.

couplet
His poems often featured the heroic ______________________, rhyming couplets in
iambic
__________________ verses
pentameter. His satirical ____________________ paved the way for the
infamous wit of Alexander Pope.

sound
Dryden was one of the first English writers to capture the _________________ diction
and _____________________
of how people actually spoke.

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Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
arts
o loved the _______________, sciences, and culture.
social
o was a fixture of the London ________________ scene.
o served as head of the Royal Society, a group of scholars and aristocrats who discussed
science
____________________.
amazing
o was a diarist (one who keeps a diary), who recorded his daily life with _____________________ candor
(honesty).

Summary
What led to the neoclassicism movement?
a reaction against the sensuous and frivolously decorative Rococo style that had dominated European
art from the 1720s on

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