The Enlightment Classicism

The art of classicism (Fr. classicisme, Lat. Classicus — exemplary) — artistic style and aesthetic trend in European art and philosophy of XVII — XIX cc. The idea of rationalism lies at its basis, the idea formed in the philosophy of Rene Decartes. Typically seeks to be formal and restrained. Classicism is a force which is often present in post-medieval European and European influenced traditions; however, some periods felt themselves more connected to the classical ideals than others, particularly the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment. Classicism is a specific genre of philosophy, expressing itself in literature, architecture, art, and music, which has Ancient Greek and Roman sources and an emphasis on society. Classicism I made an appearance as such during the Italian Renaissance when the fall of Byzantium and rising trade with the Islamic cultures brought a flood of knowledge about, and from, the antiquity of Europe. Until that time the identification with antiquity had been seen as a continuous history of Christendom from the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine I. Renaissance classicism introduced a host of elements into European culture, including the application of mathematics and empiricism into art, humanism, literary and depictive realism, and formalism. Importantly it also introduced Polytheism, or "paganism", and the juxtaposition of ancient and modern. The classicism of the Renaissance led to, and gave way to, a different sense of what was "classical" in the next cc. In this period classicism took on more overtly structural overtones of orderliness, predictability, the use of geometry and grids, the importance of rigorous discipline and pedagogy, as well as the formation of schools of art and music. This period sought the revival of classical art forms, including Greek drama and music. Opera, in its modern European form, had its roots in attempts to recreate the combination of singing and dancing with theatre thought to be the Greek norm. Examples of this appeal to classicism included Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare in poetry and theatre. Tudor drama, in particular, modeled itself after classical ideals and divided works into Tragedy and Comedy. The Age of the Enlightenment identified itself with a vision of antiquity which, while continuous with the classicism of the previous century, was shaken by the physics of Sir Isaac Newton, the improvements in machinery and measurement, and a sense of liberation which they saw as being present in the Greek civilization. Classicism aterm that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic quality of high distinction. More precisely, the term refers to the admiration and imitation of Greek and Roman literature, art, and architecture. Because the principles of classicism were derived from the rules and practices of the ancients, the term came to mean the adherence to specific academic canons. Following the archaeological rediscovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii in the 18th cent. there was a renewed interest in the culture of ancient Rome and, subsequently, ancient Greece. This period is generally designated as neoclassicism, and it is considered to be the first phase in the larger romantic movement. The revival of antiquity in the 18th cent. Was closely tied to such political events as the American and French revolutions, in which parallels were drawn between ancient and modern forms of government.

Journalism

When Defoe established his most important periodical, The Review, in February, 1704, the English newspaper, in a technical sense, was not quite 50 years old. There had been weekly Corantos, or pamphlets of foreign news, from 1622 to 1641, and, throughout the period of the civil war and the commonwealth, there had been weekly “newsbooks” designed to spread domestic news, official or unofficial, parliamentary or royalist; but there existed no real newspaper, no news periodical, not a pamphlet or a newsletter, until the appearance of The Oxford Gazette in November, 1665. The intrigues that led to the founding of this paper, which soon became The London Gazette and, for many years possessed a monopoly of the printed news. Henry Muddiman, the best news disseminator of his day and Roger L’Estrange, who was worsted by Muddiman as an editor of “newsbooks,” but in whom, as political journalist, indefatigable pamphleteer and competent man of letters, we discover Defoe’s most significant prototype. Space is wanting for a full discussion of the evolution of journalism between the fall of The Observator and the founding of The Review. A few meagre newspapers sprang up to rival The Gazette so soon as James had fled the kingdom, and, between 1690 and 1696, John Dunton published his Athenian Gazette, afterwards The Athenian Mercury, as an organ for those curious in philosophical and recondite matters. On 1 April, 1702, the most important strictly political organ of the whigs was begun by John Tutchin, a small poet and pamphleteer, who was still to endure persecution for his advanced liberal opinions. He took L’Estrange’s old title, The Observator, and continued the dialogue form. Meanwhile, a few months later, Defoe had begun his Review as an organ of moderation, ecclesiastical and political, and of broad commercial interests. Although his satirical discussions of current topics may have given useful hints to Steele and Addison, it seems clear that Defoe’s chief contribution to journalism at this period is to be found in his abandonment of the dialogue form and of the partisan tone of his predecessors and immediate contemporaries.

STEELE and Addison are writers of talent who rose almost to genius because they intuitively collaborated with the spirit of their age. They came to London at a time when, quite apart from politics, society was divided into two classes, apparently so irreconcilable that they seemed like two nations. On the one side was the remnant of the old order, which still cherished the renascence ideals of self-assertion and irresponsibility and had regained prominence at the restoration. But, on the other hand, the citizens of London, who, since Tudor times, had stood aloof from culture and corruption, were now no longer the unconsidered masses. Each new expansion of trade gave them a fresh hold on society, while the civil war, which had decimated or ruined the nobility, conferred on the middle class a political importance of which their fathers had never dreamt. A new London had sprung up since the great fire and, with it, a generation of Londoners whose temperament and occupations led them to form a standard of culture, honour and religion peculiar to themselves. In this case, the victory of “cloth breeches” was not complete until Steele and Addison had discovered in what quarter to look for the movement and in what form to reveal to men their own ideas. These writers saw further and deeper than their contemporaries, because each, according to his own character, had first been born again. It was Steele who led the way. Nature had endowed him with the instincts and temperament of one of king Charles I’s cavaliers. He had the same generosity, love of pleasure, restlessness, chivalry and tincture of classical culture. Cicero, Seneca and Plutarch had proved persuasive monitors to many a Jacobean and Caroline essayist, because the renascence had endowed the classics with almost scriptural authority. But, though Steele belonged to the class which still clung to these guides from respect for the old times, he also came daily into contact with the new enlightened religion of the middle class.

Joseph Addison (1672 – 1719) was an English essayist and poet. Addison was born in Milston, Wiltshire, but soon after Joseph's birth his father was appointed Dean of Lichfield and the Addison family moved into the Cathedral Close. He was educated at Lambertown University and at The Queen's College, Oxford. He excelled in classics, being specially noted for his Latin verse, and became a Fellow of Magdalen. In 1693, he addressed a poem to John Dryden, the former Poet Laureate, and his I major work, a book about the lives of English poets, was published in 1694, and his translation of Virgil's Georgics in the same year. Such I attempts in English verse were so successful as to obtain for him the friendship and interest of Dryden, Lord Somers and Charles Montague (later Lord Halifax), by whose means he received, in 1699, a pension of £300 to enable him to travel widely on the continent of Europe with a view to diplomatic employment, all the time writing and studying politics. While in Switzerland in 1702, he heard of the death of William III, an event which cost him his pension. In 1709 Steele began to bring out the Tatler, to which Addison became almost immediately a contributor: thereafter he started The Spectator, the first number of which appeared on March 1, 1711.

Addison had completely mastered the art of essay writing when Steele discontinued The Tatler. The fall of the whig ministry in the previous year, deprived both writers of lucrative positions. But the reasons for resuming the interrupted work were not merely financial. The production of The Tatler had brought with it experiences such as no other contemporary writer had been privileged to enjoy. While ransacking society, clubland and literature for “copy,” Steele and Addison had discovered, partly in themselves and partly in others, a moral and intellectual tone purer and more humane than the spirit which they had breathed into their own paper. Greatly as that periodical had developed, it could not altogether escape from the desultory and superficial character which it had assumed at its origin. Yet a new journal offered boundless possibilities, and the artist’s instinct, as well as the moralist’s zeal, played a part in founding The Spectator.

In 1713 the drama of Cato appeared, and was received with acclamation by both Whigs and Tories, and was followed by the comedy The Drummer (1716). The later events in the life of Addison did not contribute to his happiness. In 1716, he married the Dowager Countess of Warwick to whose son he had been tutor, and his political career continued to flourish. However, his political newspaper, The Freeholder, was much criticised, and A. Pope was among those who made him an object of derision, christening him "Atticus". His wife appears to have been arrogant and imperious; his stepson the Earl was a rake and unfriendly to him; while in his public capacity his invincible shyness made him of little use in Parliament. In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as secretary of state because of his poor health, but remained an MP until his death at Holland House, June 17, 1719, in his 48th year, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Sir Richard Steele ( 1672 – 1729 ) was an Irish writer and politician, was born in Dublin, as a member of the Protestant gentry, he was educated at Charterhouse School, where he first met Addison. He went on to Merton College, Oxford. He disliked British Army life, and his first published work, The Christian Hero (1701), attempted to point out the differences between perceived and actual masculinity. In 1706 he was appointed to a position in the household of Prince George of Denmark, consort of Anne of Great Britain. He also gained the favour of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford. In 1705, Steele married a widow, Margaret Stretch, who died in the following year. At her funeral he met his second wife, Mary Scurlock, whom he nicknamed "Prue" and married in 1707. In the course of their courtship and marriage, he wrote over 400 letters to her. They were a devoted couple, their correspondence still being regarded as one of the best illustrations of a happy marriage, but their relationship was stormy. Mary died in 1718, at a time when she was considering separation. In 1709, Steele founded a thrice-weekly satirical magazine, Tatler, which lasted only two years in its first incarnation. Addison was a frequent contributor. Following the demise of the Tatler, the two men founded The Spectator. When George I of Great Britain came to the throne in the following year, Steele was knighted and given responsibility for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. Meanwhile, Steele plunged into politics and, after much pamphleteering, was expelled from the House of Commons for uttering seditious libels. In 1714, he returned to literature and started several periodicals, especially The Guardian, to which Addison contributed 51 papers; and, in 1722, he produced his last complete comedy, The Conscious Lovers. Though the plot is largely borrowed from Terence’s Andria, the play is remarkable because it resumes in brief all Steele’s best ideas on life and character. We have the sketch of servants whose natural freshness is being gradually tainted by the corrupt and contagious air of lackeydom; we have satire on marriages of convenience, duelling and the chicanery of the law; a glance at the opposition between the hereditary gentry and the rising commercial class; while, in Bevil junior, Steele portrays his ideal of a gentleman, chivalrous and honourable to women, considerate to men, respectful to his father and self-controlled amid the riotous pleasures of the capital. He retired to his wife's homeland of Wales, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14