Appunti sulla Augustan Age + DEFOE + SWIFT, Appunti di Inglese

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THE AUGUSTAN AGE 1714 - 1760 George I ● 1715: Jacobite rebellion → attempt to reinstate the Stuarts (failed) ● he was German and relied on a cabinet → didn’t care about Britain ● ministers became very important → whigs prevailed ● Sir Robert Walpole (whig) ○ rises to fame with the South Sea Bubble ■ the South Sea was a stock company which gained from slave trade and invested against national debt ■ the market clashed and Walpole saved the economic crisis ○ people though he was a financial genius ○ became the Prime Minister (Town House in Downing Street) ○ was against military conflicts and promoted trade ○ he was somehow corrupted George II ● he was more interested in Germany than in Britain ● last Jacobite rebellion ● William Pitt (PM) ○ was prone to armed conflicts ○ promoted trade and conquered colonies ● 3 international wars were fought ○ War of Jenkin’s Ear (1739) ■ Britain vs Spain ■ Britain wanted to trade with Spanish colonies ■ a Spanish man cut off the ear of a British man and it was seen as an insult = conflict ○ War of Austrian succession (1740-48) ■ Austria (+ France) vs Prussia (+ Britain) ■ hostilities between Britain and France over India and America ■ was fought also in the colonies ○ Seven Years War (1756-63) ■ Pitt was the de facto leader ■ was an extension of the previous war ■ France is defeated ■ UK gained power over Canada and India ■ raw materials started being imported from the colonies Social context ● improvement of industries → raw materials are imported from colonies ● journalists and writers were interested in politics (pamphleting) ● middle class rises → dominance in politics and society ● individualism ○ people saw themselves as different from their rank ○ novel concentrates on one character ○ marriage = self-fulfillment and personal happiness ● feminism ○ women’s feelings vs social expectations ○ women in coffee houses and part of the intellectual life ● urbanization → people moved to cities to find opportunities ● optimism ○ rejection of Hobbes’ doctrine ○ people are naturally good ○ personal happiness brings also the common good ● sentimentalism ○ tendency towards feelings and emotions instead of reason ○ german Empfindsamkeit ● primitivism → society is a corrupting force (Rousseau) ○ interest in primitive societies (Africa, America) ● methodism → common people were sinners and damned unless they accept salvation through faith Cultural and Literary context ● inspiration from the classics → give moral examples for the readers ● pre-romanticism → use classical forms to express feelings and grief ● nature → main theme ○ universal and permanent elements in human existence ○ ancients are impeccable interpreters of general truths ● satire → use of wit against fanaticism and innovation ● Johnson’s Dictionary → definitions + quotes from authors AUGUSTAN AGE: DRAMA 1717 - 1760 ● Society for the Reformation of Manners → vulgar and explicit concepts are banned ● 3 new forces shaping comedy ○ middle-class influence ■ middle-class tragedy → small scale drama of everyday life ■ moral life and money coexist ○ melodrama ■ be sad in a gradious way ■ ballad influence → repetition of songs ○ Italian Opera ■ plays are accompanied by the libretto ■ leading actors/actresses → prima donna ● spectacle → new kind of play, audience-oriented ○ script was minimal + uninteresting ○ money was spent on settings, costumes, lights… ○ rehearsal costs were cut ● quality of plays became very poor ● the opera was associated with Italy + Roman Catholicism → exoticism ○ catholicism provoked passions for what is forbidden ○ catholicism was associated with sin ○ corruption in the religious world was fascinating ● neutered men were made fun of → associated with the feminine world (were also called castrati and prima donna) ● a lot of satire was being produced ● 1737: Licensing Act → governments could censor all the plays that talked badly about the English government (unmodified until 1843) THE BEGGAR’S OPERA, John Gay (1728) ● story of a love triangle + political satire about Walpole ● spoken words are alternated with songs (sung in important moments) ● opera is an aristocratic genre, but is populated by beggars which behave as if they were aristocratic ● dynamic between Peachum and Macheath = Walpole and the South Sea Bubble ○ Walpole = Peachum → bigger criminal that goes unpunished ○ Macheath = responsible people who were turned into scapegoats ○ Walpole had cashed his shares prior to the crash = corrupted ● plot → 3 main characters ○ Macheath is a small-scale criminal, petty ○ Peachum is the bigger criminal ○ Polly Peachum is Peachum’s daughter, in love with Macheath ○ Lucy Lockit is in love with Macheath, daughter of the director of Newgate Prison ○ Peachum blames Macheath who ends ups in Newgate Prison THE RISE OF THE NOVEL Distinctiveness ● new form of writing ● no technical definition ● it’s the product of the times that were changing ● end of 18th century → term “novel” was established Realism ● there are defining characteristics ● realism was seen as the antonym of idealism ● portray all the varieties of human experience ○ realism → how they are presented, not the kind of life it presents Intellectual background ● rejection of the Middle Ages (romances) ● empiricism → knowledge comes from experience ● reality is based on individual experience ● there are no pre-established forms Plots ● not taken from past literature, mythology or history ● individual experiences of the protagonist Characters ● no symbolic names → normal names (Tom Jones) ● subject = bourgeois man and his problems ● struggle for survival or social success Time ● has a chronological order ● time is clearly stated Space ● specific references to cities, places… ● actual physical environment (no transcendent) Narrative technique ● writer was omnipresent ● 3rd person narrator / 1st person narrator Types of novels ● realistic novel → realistic descriptions ● utopian novel → imaginary nations to satirize English society ● epistolary novel → through letters exchanged between characters ● picaresque novel → young hero vs tyrannical masters and misfortunes ● anti-novel → disorder of the human mind Reaction of the reading public ● reading public changed and demanded a new genre ● number of readers was not high (but the perception was a lot) ● libraries were created → books were too expensive ● new categories started to read and be more educated ○ women → had a lot of spare time ■ seen as corrupting, but was better than theater/shopping ○ domestic servants → lived in rich people’s houses ■ had access to books, light and free time ● Pamela (Richardson) ○ she was a woman + domestic servant ○ she uses her wit to become more independent(ish) ● people read for pleasure → style wasn’t important ● periodicals influenced novels (less sophisticated) The literary market ● booksellers became important ● decline of literary patronage ● speed and copiousness became economic virtues for novelists ● democratic access to authorship → everyone could become an author ● Defoe + Richardson represented the middle class and were representatives of it DANIEL DEFOE 1660 - 1731 Life ● was born in 1660 in London ● he was a Presbyterian dissenter (usually persecuted) ● he witnessed 3 tragedies ○ Great Plague ○ Great Fire of London ○ his mother’s death ● first years of his career → journalism, pamphlets, satire ● last years of his career → novels ● he changed his political affiliations many times ○ he was a spy both for the whigs and the tories ● died in 1731 persecuted from his creditors Robinson Crusoe (1719) ● Robinson Crusoe is the representation of the active middle class ● he rebuilds the same kind of society that existed in England ● diary → written for himself, not for future readers ● spiritual autobiography → find comfort in the Bible and God ● the island is the ideal place for Robinson to demonstrate that he deserves to be saved by God ● self-made man (God is the prime cause, the individual shapes his life) ● he is in a colonial mindset → doesn’t integrate in the island’s system, but wants to dominate it FREE WILL PREDESTINATION Catholic idea Puritan idea goal-oriented, active behavior (to make money) money is a sign that God loves you and you are predestined to be saved → Crusoe is a Puritan that believes in free will Moll Flanders (1722) ● picaresque novel → years of misfortunes + happy ending ● Moll Flanders is one of the first female protagonists ● fictional autobiography ● struggle for social success ROBINSON CRUSOE MOLL FLANDERS flat character round character has well-developed religious beliefs has moral feelings physically isolated socially isolated tries to get closer to God step-by-step begins her life as a sinner and ends with repentance and religious awareness A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) ● report on the Great Plague ● it’s very realistic, precise and detailed ● fictional historical novel → focuses on the narrator’s feelings Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724) ● apparent autobiography → upper-class lady who falls into financial misfortunes ● reverse spiritual autobiography (rich>poor, not poor>rich) ● many popular elements ○ stereotypes ○ exoticism = sinfulness ○ thirst for revenge JONATHAN SWIFT 1667 - 1745 Life ● he was born in Dublin in 1667 ● he became secretary of a Whig statesman ● he had many intense and obsessive relationships (never married) ● 1704: The Battle of the Books ○ merits of ancient and modern literature ○ mocked modern scholarship ● 1704: A Tale of a Tub ○ about the contending religious parties ● he was ordained Anglican priest (write + educate himself) ● opposition to Whig government ● defended Ireland and the Church ● wrote a lot of pamphlets denouncing the injustices in Ireland ● 1726: Gulliver’s Travels ● he died in 1745 (decay of mental faculties) A controversial writer ● was labeled as a man with a morbid attitude ● he was seriously concerned with politics and society ● he was a conservative ● he defined himself as a hater of man ● reason should be used properly ○ too much reason = unreasonable = paradox IRONY highlights the differences between expectation and reality SARCASM irony, but meaner and used to mock PARODY exaggeration of concepts to show their potential consequences SATIRE parody, but meaner and made to attack someone ● Juvenalian satire = evil + morally wrong ● Horatian satire = more lighthearted and foolish The day of Judgment He is half asleep and an horrid vision happens. Graves open up and dead bodies exit their graves. A series of natural elements happen. Humanity is uncertain about its future and is waiting for the Day of Judgment. He describes humankind that is blinded by nature, learning and reason. Humankind has offended multiple sects and official religions. He is happy that humankind has come to an end.