When was the Neoclassical Period (Age of Reason; The Enlightenment)
roughly from 1660 to 1798
When was the Restoration Period
1660-1700
When was the Augustan Age
1700-1750
When was the Age of Johnson
1750-1798
Six lit characteristics of the Neoclassical Period?
- Strong attraction to traditionalism and distrust of radical innovations
- Lit. is art that requires innate talent, study and practice
- Correct and moderate passions
- Emphasis placed on widely shared experiences, thoughts, feelings and tastes
- Character is limited, must set attainable goals
- The literary salon
Three utilities of French Rationalization for the drama
- Action: everything coherent and whole
- Time: one day only
- Place: all action in on place
Four rules of Decorum
- Tragedy: elevated speech, characters of high rank, unhappy endings
- Comedy: Colloquial style, middle or low class characters, happy endings
- Propriety in characterization: kings should act like kings, beggars like beggars
- No horrors on stage: nothing that cannot be convincingly created
Definition of existentialism
philosophy centered on individual existence as unique and unrepeatable, hence rejecting the past for present existence and its unique dilemmas
First of six aspects of existentialism
- Existence before essence: all individuals are unique in ever new circumstances, in which they must act on their desperate choices; through their choices and acts, they create their unique existence, their individual essence
Second of six aspects of existentialism
- Importance of Reason: the existentialist sees reason as powerless until merged with the irrational to make humans whole
Third of six aspects of existentialism
- Alienations: scientific rationalism and a collective industrial materialism have alienated humans from God, nature, society, and self; humans are out of touch with God, nature, others, and thus, themselves
Fourth of six aspects of existentialism
- Anxiety: humans make choices in fear and trembling, only hoping their choices are right where moral laws contradict each other or fade altogether; frequently, the choice is for the exception to the rule, because each existence is unique, each circumstance exceptional
Fifth of six aspects of existentialism
- Nothingness or Nihilism: the dilemma of doubt and dread that wishes for death but cannot die
The sixth of six aspects of existentialism
- Awful Freedom: humans have an awesome and awful freedom; humans must move from black to nothingness to a moral void where they choose for themselves as if choosing for all
Definition of Psychological Realism
Concentration on the reality of perception, of mind and inner life as opposed to outward action
Who wrote Tartuffe
Moliere
Who wrote The Guest
Camus
Who wrote Death in Venice
Mann
