Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th Century I.Introduction
1. The Historical Background.
2. The literary overview.
（1） The Enlightenment.
（2） The rise of English novels.
When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favour.
（3） Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.
（4） Satiric literature.
（5） Sentimentalism
II.Neo-classicism. （a general description）
1. Alexander Pope
（1）Life:
a.Catholic family;
b.ill health;
c.taught himself by reading and translating;
d.friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.
（2）three groups of poems:
e.An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;
f. The Rape of Lock;
g.Translation of two epics.
（3）His contribution:
h.the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;
i.satire.
（4） weakness: lack of imagination.
2. Addison and Steele
（1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.
（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele, 1711）
（3） Spectator Club.
（4） The significance of their essays.
a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” provide a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.
b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.
c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.
3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor.
（1）Life:
a.studies at Oxford;
b.made a living by writing and translating;
c.the great cham of literature.
（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.
（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.
III.Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.
1.Life:
（1）born in Ireland;
（2）studies at Trinity College;
（3）worked as a secretary;
（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;
（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.
2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.
3. Gulliver's Travels.
Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.
Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.
Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.
Part IV. Satire—mankind.
IV.English Novels of Realistic tradition.
1. The Rise of novels.
（1）Early forms: folk tale – fables – myths – epic – poetry – romances – fabliaux – novelle - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）
（2）The rise of the novel
a.picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spain and depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.
b.Sidney: Arcadia.
c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.
（plot and characterization and realism）
（3） novel and drama （17the century）
2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）
（1）Life:
a.business career;
b.writing career;
c.interested in politics.
（2） Robinson Cusoe.
a. the story.
b. the significance of the character.
c. the features of his novels.
d. the style of language.
3. Henry Fielding—novelist.
（1）Life:
a.unsuccessful dramatic career;
b.legal career; writing career.
（2） works.
（3） Tom Jones.
a.the plot;
b.characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;
c.significance.
（4） the theory of realism.
（5） the style of language.
V. Writers of Sentimentalism.
1. Introduction
2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）
（1）Life:
a.printer book seller;
b.letter writer.
（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.
a.the story
b.the significance
Pamela was a new thing in these ways:
a） It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.
b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.
c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.
3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.
A. Life:
a.born in Ireland;
b.a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;
c.bookseller;
d.the Literary Club;
e.a miserable life;
f. the most lovable character in English literature.
B. The Vicar of Wakefield.
a.story;
b.the signicance.
VI.English Drama of the 18th century
1. The decline of the drama
2. Richard Brinsley Sheriden
A. life.
B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.
C. significance of his plays.
a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.
b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.
c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.
d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays.
