THE NEOCLASSICAL

CRITICISM
JOHN DRYDEN & ALEXANDER POPE

Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism

refers to a broad tendency in literature and art

enduring from the early seventeenth century until around
1750.
It comprised a return to the classical models, literary styles,
and values of ancient Greek and Roman authors.
The neoclassicists reacted sharply against what they
perceived to be the stylistic excess, superfluous
ornamentation, and linguistic over-sophistication of some
Renaissance writers.

The neoclassicists reacted against this idealistic tendency in

Renaissance poetics.
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Neoclassicism

Unlike Renaissance critics, the neoclassicists were less

ambiguous in their emphasis upon the classical values of
objectivity, impersonality, rationality, decorum, balance,
harmony, proportion, and moderation.

The neoclassical writers reaffirmed literary composition as a

rational and rule-bound process, requiring a great deal of
craft, labour, and study.

They tended to insist on the separation of poetry and prose,

the purity of each genre, and the hierarchy of genres.
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Neoclassicism

Unlike Aristotle, the neoclassicists generally placed the epic

above tragedy.

The typical meters and verse forms of the neoclassical poets

were the alexandrine in France and the heroic couplet in
England.

Much neoclassical thought was marked by a recognition of

human finitude.

Neoclassical Concepts:
Imitation

Two of the concepts central to neoclassical literary theory

and practice were imitation and nature, which were
intimately related.
Imitation has two senses in the neoclassical criticism
In one sense, it refers to the external world and, primarily, of
human action.
This sense was a reaffirmation of the ideals of objectivity and
impersonality.
It also referred to the imitation of classical models, especially
of Homer and Vergil.
These two aspects of imitation were often identified with the
concept of Nature
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Neoclassical Concepts:
Nature

The concept of Nature had a number of senses.

In one sense, it referred to the harmonious and hierarchical order of
the universe, including the various social and political hierarchies
within the world.
In this vast scheme of nature, everything had its proper and
appointed place.
It also referred to human nature: to what was central, timeless, and
universal in human experience.
Nature had a deep moral significance, comprehending the modes
of action that were permissible and excluding certain actions as
unnatural.

Neoclassical Concepts:
Nature
The neoclassical vision of nature was very different
from the meanings later given to it by the
Romantics.
The neoclassical writers saw the ancients as having
already expressed the fundamental laws of nature.
Hence, modern writers should follow the path of
imitation already paved by the ancients.

Neoclassicism in England
The main streams of English neoclassical criticism
were most pronounced by
John Dryden
Alexander Pope

John Dryden

Samuel Johnson termed Dryden the father of English

criticism,
He affirmed that modern English prose begins with Drydens
Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668).
Drydens critical work was extensive, treating of various
genres such as epic, tragedy, comedy and dramatic theory,
satire, the relative virtues of ancient and modern writers, as
well as the nature of poetry and translation.
Dryden was also a poet, dramatist, and translator.

John Dryden

Drydens Essay of Dramatic Poesy is written as a series of

debates on drama.
Theses debates are conducted by four speakers Eugenius,
Crites, Lisideius, and Neander.
The speakers have conventionally been identified with four
of Drydens contemporaries, with Neander (new man)
representing Dryden himself.

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John Dryden

Dryden attempted to strike a compromise between the claims

of ancient authority and the needs of the modern writer.
This compromise includes four main debates, concerning:
The Moderns vs. the Ancients
the classical unities, of time, place, and action;
The French vs. English Theatre concerning the rigid classical
distinction between various genres, such as tragedy and comedy;
The Use of rhyme in drama.

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1st Issue: The Moderns Vs. The Ancients

The

first issue of debate concerns the relationship of the

Moderns with the Ancients:
Should the moderns imitate the Ancients closely
Can they surpass them?

One

man argues that the moderns are but ill copiers of the
Ancients.
our merits are their merits; our faults are our own.
Another says we have improved art, because we have two
sources to imitate:
Nature and the Ancients, while they had only nature.
All

agree that the Ancients are to be honored and heeded.

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2 Issue: The Three Unities

nd

The

four men consider the three unities of time, place, and

action.
The unities were derived from statements made by Aristotle
and Horace.
They were actually codified by such French neoclassicists.
The unity of time: stage time must mimic real time as closely as
possible; no more than twelve hours.
The unity of place: action on the stage should be confined to a single
space; it should not leap from city to city or locale to locale.
The unity of action, there should be one main plot that is not
complicated by the interweaving of subplots.

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3rd Issue: the French vs. English theatre

Dryden

also undertakes an influential assessment of the

English dramatic tradition.
The four men compare and contrast the French and English
theatre:
Most French plays follow the unities, most British plays do not.
French plays are more unified and decorous; British plays more lively
(e.g., Shakespeare breaks all the unities).
For

Dryden, British drama is better because:

Though it respects the Ancients, it is not afraid to part from them

when necessary and to create their own archetypes and their own
literary traditions.
As against the neoclassical virtues of French drama, Neander urges
the virtues of English tragi-comedy, thereby overturning nearly all of
the ancient prescriptions concerning purity of genre, decorum, and
unity of plot.
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4th Issue: The Use of Rhyme in Drama

In the final debate, concerning rhyme, Dryden suggests that

blank verse and rhyme are equally artificial.
Dryden commends rhyme for the delight it produces.
For Dryden, delight is the chief end of poetry as only
instructs as it delights.
Dryden still regards poetry as essentially a rational activity,
with an ethical and epistemological responsibility.

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Alexander Pope (16881744)

Popes An Essay on Criticism (1711) is perhaps the clearest

statement of neoclassical principles in any language.
It expresses a world view which synthesizes elements of a
Roman Catholic outlook with classical aesthetic principles
and with deism.
An Essay on Criticism is written in verse, in the tradition of
Horaces Ars poetica.
Pope here not only delineates the scope and nature of good
literary criticism, but redefines classical virtues in terms of
nature and wit, as necessary to both poetry and
criticism.

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Popes Concepts of Nature & Wit

Popes sense of Nature has many facets.

On a cosmic level, Nature signifies the providential order of the world
and the universe, a hierarchy in which each entity has its proper
assigned place [Great Chain of Being]
Nature can also refer to what is normal, central, and universal in
human experience, encompassing the spheres of morality and
knowledge, the rules of proper moral conduct as well as the archetypal
patterns of human reason.
Popes equates the classical literary and critical traditions with nature,
and to sketch a redefined outline of literary history from classical times
to his own era.
Pope insists that the rules of nature were merely discovered, not
invented, by the ancients.
Popes advice, for both critic and poet, is clear: Learn hence for
Ancient Rules a just Esteem; / To copy Nature is to copy Them.
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Popes Concepts of Nature & Wit

Popes Concept of Wit

The word wit in Popes time could refer in general to intelligence;
It also meant wit in the modern sense of cleverness, as expressed in
figures of speech and especially in discerning unanticipated similarities
between different entities.

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The Proper Role of the Critic

Pope points out that both the best poetry and the best
criticism are divinely inspired.
He sees the endeavour of criticism as a noble one.
The critic must be conversant with every aspect of the author
whom he is examining.
Pope insists that the critic bases his interpretation on the
authors intention.
The critic has to recognize the overall unity of a work, and
thereby to avoid falling into partial assessments based on the
authors use of poetic conceits, ornamented language, meters,
as well as judgments which are biased toward either archaic
or modern styles or based on the reputations of given writers.
The critic needs to possess a moral sensibility, as well as a
sense of balance and proportion.

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The Proper Role of the Critic

For Pope, the qualities of a good critic are primarily

attributes of humanity or moral sensibility rather than
aesthetic qualities.
The only aesthetic quality that the critic needs is taste.
Popes central advice to both poet and critic is to follow
Nature.
The features attributed to Nature include permanence or
timelessness and universality.
Nature is a force which expresses the power of the divine of
expressing the order, harmony, and beauty of Gods creation.
Nature provides the eternal and archetypal standard against
which art must be measured.
The critics task here is to recognize the superiority of great
wit.

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The Proper Role of the Poet

The poet task is twofold:

He has to find the expression that will most truly convey nature.
He has to ensure that the substance he is expressing is indeed a
natural insight or thought.
What the poet must express is a universal truth which we will instantly
recognize as such.
Pope urged organic unity and wholeness.
For Pope, the expression or style must be suited to the subject matter
and meaning.
Pope advises both poet and critic to avoid extremes.
According to him, those who go to excess in any direction display
great pride or little sense.

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