Neo-Classical Age

 

Neo-Classical Age (1660 – 1785)

The writers of this age broke the trends of the Elizabethan age and started a new style of writing. Elizabethan writers were highly imaginative and spontaneous but the neo-classical or the writers of the neo-classical age became highly intellectual and reason based. The writer of that age practiced a logical, argumentative writing style. Neo-Classical writing is full of intellectual rather than emotion.

The Neo-Classical Age is divided into three main periods which are given below.

1. 1660 – 1700: The Restoration
2. 1700 – 1745: The Augustan Age (Age of pope)
3. 1745 – 1785: The age of sensibility or Age of Johnson.

Major writers of the Neo-Classical Age.

1. John Dryden (1631 – 1700)

He is the representative figure of the Neo-Classical age. Dryden was the greatest poet and supreme satirist of the Neo-Classical Age. He is successful in his heroic tragedies. He cultivated the blank verse tragedies. His major works are All for love, The essay on Dramatic poesy, Alexander’s Feast, etc.

2. William Congreve (1670 – 1729)

William Congreve is the supreme master of the comedy of manners. He wrote all his dramas before he was thirty. The Old Bachelor, The Double Dealer, and Love for Love are his major works. he is the greatest comedy writer of this period.

3. John Bunyan (1628 – 1688)

Bunyan wrote over sixty books. He was a religious man with great respect for the Bible. His books include The Pilgrim’s Progress, Grace Abounding, Holy war, etc. He wrote realistic novels in simple and vivid language depicting the picture of lower-class people.

This age has the following characteristics.

• Emphasis was laid on correctness.
• The restoration of drama.
• Imitation of the classical way of writing.
• Objectivity, and detachment on the part of the writer.
• Appeal to the intellect rather than as in satire.
• Age of prose.
• Description of the urban civilization and the higher or aristocratic or rich class.