Literary and Political Landscape of 18th Century Britain
The 18th Century: Political and Literary Context
During the reign of Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, a renewal of tension embittered the political atmosphere. England, leading her allies Holland, Austria, and Bavaria, achieved victory in the War of the Spanish Succession against France and Spain. The hero of the war was John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. This conflict was largely a Whig war, supported by Whig Lords and the Whig merchants of London.
Three Georges occupied the throne during the rest of the 18th century. The Age of Queen Anne was initially an age of patronage. After her death, patronage declined, but after mid-century, booksellers became significant patrons of literature. Following the French Revolution, two opposing attitudes emerged in Britain, leading to significant social and political reactions.
Characteristics of Augustan Poetry
Augustan poetry was often criticized by 20th-century authors due to its normative, neoclassical, and reasonable style. The Augustan poet often lost contact with the common people, favoring clarity and elegance over imagination. Nevertheless, the Augustan emphasis on reason prevented writers from falling into the extremes of linguistic complexity and academicism.
The main aim of these poets was didactic and skeptical. They sought to follow Horace, who stated that teaching is more important than pleasure. Poetry during this period was viewed primarily as an educational tool, not an imaginative genre. An important form that flourished was the essay in verse, characterized by a fluent and rational style.
Alexander Pope: Social Criticism in Verse
Alexander Pope wrote primarily for a cultivated audience. His main verses often related to classic themes, frequently employing the mock-heroic poem form. His work serves as a strong example of social criticism; Pope famously mocked the social meetings and customs of the period. The most representative poetry form associated with him is the essay in verse, the most famous example being his work, An Essay on Man.
Jonathan Swift: Radical Critic of Human Nature
Jonathan Swift was the most radical critic of the Augustan faith in human nature. Although he adopted an elegant literary language, he broke with the stylistic notion of decorum. His most representative work was the novel Gulliver’s Travels.
The Rise of the Novel in the 18th Century
During this century, a new literary genre was born: The Novel. It drew its roots from several sources:
- Elizabethan short tales
- Spanish picaresque tradition
- French romance
- Exotic prose fictions (such as those by Aphra Behn)
- The classical epic
The novel had a close relationship with the cultural, social, and political elements of the period of its rise. The writers often considered the “fathers” of the novel were those who gave a strong moral position to the genre in the 18th century. The most representative novelists included:
- Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe)
- Samuel Richardson
- Henry Fielding
Sentimentalism and the Gothic Novel
In the second half of the 18th century, a growing tendency toward sentimentalism emerged among poets who concentrated on nature. These poets were often preoccupied with thoughts of death, exhibiting a morbid fascination with mortality, suicide, and the grave.
Towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the form of the novel that most flourished was the novel of romance and terror, known as the Gothic Novel.