The 18th Century--Age of Reason

The most striking quality of the 18th century was its optimism. It was a time that celebrated the excellence of the human mind. All creation was believed open to scrutiny. Even the descriptive historical titles of the period express the spirit of improvement and progress. Many people of the time thought they were passing through a golden period similar to that of the Roman emperor Augustus. For this reason the name "Augustan" was given to the early 18th century. The century has also been called the Age of Enlightenment. Many writers of the era used ancient Greek and Roman authors as models of style. Hence the period in literature is often described as neoclassic.

Merchants and tradesmen achieved tremendous economic power at this time. Scientific discoveries were encouraged. Many important inventions--for example, the spinning jenny, the power loom, and the steam engine--brought about an industrial society. Cities grew in size, and London began to assume its present position as a great industrial and commercial center. In addition to a comfortable life, the members of the middle class demanded a respectable, moralistic art that was controlled by common sense. They reacted in protest to the aristocratic immoralities in much of the Restoration literature.

 

Addison, Steele, and Defoe

The modern essay began in two periodicals, The Tatler (1709-11), founded by Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), and The Spectator (1711-12), founded by Steele and Joseph Addison (1672-1719). The kindly and witty essays by these men appealed to the middle class in the coffeehouses rather than to the nobility in their palaces. The aim of The Spectator, Addison said, was "...to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality." Steele and Addison's essays are still models of clear, informal writing. (See also Addison; Steele.)

Most people think of Daniel Defoe (1661?-1731) only as the author of 'Robinson Crusoe' (1719); but when Defoe wrote that novel, he had already lived a life full enough for three ordinary mortals. Defoe was first of all a journalist, with an eye for a news story. Single-handedly he produced a newspaper, The Review (1704-13), which was an important ancestor of modern newspapers. The list of Defoe's writings runs to more than 400 titles. In all of them, articles and books, is the kind of writing that Defoe recommended to others--a "plain and homely style." Even the great novels of his last years, 'Moll Flanders' (1722) and 'Robinson Crusoe', read like a modern reporter's account of events. (See also Defoe.)

 

Swift--Scornful Prose Genius

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is one of the great prose writers of all time. Although born in Ireland, Swift always said that he was an Englishman. His defense of the Irish people against the tyranny of the English government, however, was whole-hearted. As much as he may have disliked Ireland, he disliked injustice and tyranny more. In a bitter pamphlet, 'A Modest Proposal' (1729), he ironically suggested that the Irish babies be specially fattened for profitable sale as meat, since the English were eating the Irish people anyhow, by heavy taxation.

Swift's masterpiece is 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726). It is a satire on human folly and stupidity. Swift said that he wrote it to vex the world rather than to divert it. Most people, however, are so delightfully entertained by the tiny Lilliputians and by the huge Brobdingnagians that they do not bother much with Swift's bitter satire on human pettiness or crudity. No one has ever written English prose with greater sharpness and economy than Swift. His literary style has all the 18th-century virtues at their best. (See also Swift.)

 

Satire in Pope's Poetry

The genius of Alexander Pope (1688-1744) lay in satirical poetry. He said that he wanted to "shoot folly as it flies,/ And catch the manners living as they rise." 'The Dunciad' (1728) lists the stupid writers and men of England by name as dunces. These "dunces" proceeded to attack Pope in kind.

Pope excelled in his ability to coin unforgettable phrases. Such lines as "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" or "damn with faint praise" illustrate why Pope is the most quoted poet in English literature except for Shakespeare.

One of his lighter, though still satirical, poems is 'The Rape of the Lock' (1712). It mockingly describes a furious fight between two families when a young man snips off a lock of the beautiful Belinda's hair. Pope wrote in heroic couplets, a technique in which he has been unsurpassed. In thought and form he carried 18th-century reason and order to its highest peak. (See also Pope, Alexander.)

 

New Voices in Poetry

James Thomson (1700-48) was another major poet of the period. In his simplicity and love of nature he foreshadowed Romanticism. Edward Young (1683-1765) wrote 'The Complaint: or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality' (1742-45), which put in practice his ideas about the personal quality of poetry. Robert Blair (1699-1746) wrote one important poem, 'The Grave' (1743), which advanced the "graveyard school" of poetry. William Collins (1721-59) was not a popular success in his lifetime, but his 'Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland' (published posthumously, in 1788) clearly marked a turn to the wild and irregular as proper subjects for poetry.

Thomas Gray (1716-71) was probably the most typical man of letters of the period. He was a scholar of ancient languages, a letter writer, and a critic as well as a poet. His 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' (1751) is a collection of 18th-century commonplaces expressing concern for lowly folk.

George Crabbe (1754-1832) was the last poet of the century who used the couplet in didactic poetry. His political and social satire 'The Village' (1783) is a realistic appraisal of country life in his times. William Cowper (1731-1800) exemplifies the strange decay of the spirit in the 18th century. He was given to extreme, morbid sensibilities. 'The Task' (1785) is a falsely cheerful poem of a man who feels himself to be condemned. (See also Cowper.)

 

Start of the Modern Novel

The 20th century can be grateful to the 18th for developing the novel (see Novel). Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) wrote the first modern novel--that is, one with a fairly well-planned plot, with suspense and climax, and with some attempt to understand the minds and hearts of the characters. This important novel, 'Pamela' (1740), is made up of letters from Pamela Andrews. She tells of her unhappy attempts to get a husband, but the book ends happily.

Henry Fielding (1707-54) was amused by 'Pamela' and parodied it in 'Joseph Andrews' (1742), which purports to be the story of Pamela's brother. Seven years later he wrote 'Tom Jones' (1749), one of the greatest novels in English literature. It tells the story of a young foundling who is driven from his adopted home, wanders to London, and eventually, for all his suffering, wins his lady. The picture of English life, both in the country and in the city, is brilliantly drawn. The humor of the book is delightful.

The first novel by Tobias Smollett (1721-71) was 'Roderick Random' (1748). Although it is a striking collection of adventures, it lacks the good plot of 'Tom Jones'. Smollett's best work is 'Humphry Clinker' (1771). It tells, by means of letters, the story of a trip by the Bramble family across England, from Bath to London, and up into Scotland. The eccentric characters have many comic experiences.

Laurence Sterne (1713-68) wrote 'A Sentimental Journey' (1768) partly in answer to a travel book written in ill temper by Smollett. Sterne's greatest book is 'Tristram Shandy' (1760-67), a topsy-turvy collection of episodes with little organization but a wealth of 18th-century humor.

 

Johnson and His Circle

If the 18th century made much of elegance and good manners, it also made much of honesty and common sense. These useful virtues were personified by Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84), the leading literary figure of the century.

He wrote some sensible but uninspired poetry ('The Vanity of Human Wishes', 1749). His novel, 'Rasselas' (1759), is equally sensible and equally dull. His masterpiece is 'A Dictionary of the English Language' (1755). Johnson's common sense is shown in the clear definitions of words. He made some mistakes, however. A woman asked him why he defined "pastern" as "the knee of a horse." Johnson answered, "Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance."

Johnson is immortal not only for what he wrote but also for his forceful personality and his wonderful conversation. This has been recorded by James Boswell (1740-95) in 'The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.' (1791), the greatest of English biographies. Boswell had a keen eye for significant detail and a proper reverence for his subject. He noted all of Johnson's peculiarities--his rolling walk, his twitching face, his horrible table manners, his rudeness to stupid people--but he also saw his subject's sturdy common sense and his honesty. (See also Boswell; Johnson, Samuel.)

Johnson and others organized the Literary Club in 1764. The club gathered together the most celebrated artists of the time. The great orator Edmund Burke (1729-97) and the great historian Edward Gibbon (1737-94) were members. Another member was Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74). He wrote one of the best plays ('She Stoops to Conquer', 1773), one of the best poems ('The Deserted Village', 1770), and one of the best novels ('The Vicar of Wakefield', 1766) of the latter half of the 18th century. Johnson said of his versatile friend: "[He] touched nothing that he did not adorn." (See also Goldsmith.)

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), orator and political figure, was also a writer of comedies of manners which lampooned social affectations and pretentiousness. His masterpiece, 'The School for Scandal' (1777), features malicious gossips with such revealing names as Sir Benjamin Backbite, Lady Sneerwell, and Mrs. Candour.

For another of his clever plays, 'The Rivals' (1775), Sheridan invented the unforgettable Mrs. Malaprop, whose name remains to this day the designation for a person who misuses words. In one memorable speech she says, "if I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue and a nice derangement of epitaphs."