THE AGE OF POPE (1700-1750)

General Characteristics of the Age
[The period of English history from 1700 to 1798, commonly referred to as the Pseudo-classical or Neo-classical age, may conveniently be divided into two; The early half from 1700-1740, may be called the Age of Pope, for Pope was the leading poet and man of letters of the period, the later half of the century from 1740-1798 may be called the Age of Dr. Johnson, for Dr. Johnson was its leading literary figure. During this time first Queen Anne and then the three Grorges ruled over England. Matthew Arnold refers to the period as, "Our admirable and indispensable 18th century", for the age saw the rise of the social Essay and the Novel, and the development of the modern prose style. As druing the Restoration Era, in this age also, the French influence pre-dominated and neoclassicism be­came more rigid and stringent.
Political and Religious Strife
Saintsbury refers to the age as The Peace of the Augustans. How­ever, the epithet is rather misleading, for this peace was rather superficial and apparent. It was in reality an era of tensions, of great stress and strains—rural and urban tensions, tensions between the Puritans and the courtly upper classes, and fierce political and civil strife.
The rise of the two political parties, the Whig and the Tory, goes back to the reign of Charles I. But in the early 18th century, the party spirit was more rampant than ever before. Everyone was either a whig or a tory. Political debates often took on a hostile turn, much heat was generated, personal abuses were hurled and private characters assailed. Even woman took an active part in these political debates. Addison tried his best to humanise the age, and calm political passions through his articles in the Spectator. Both parties tried to secure the help of men of literary ability, and the authors now acquired an importance and an influence which they had never enjoyed before. Gradually, they became independent of the patronage of the rich and powerful. "It was the golden age of political pamphleteering and the writers made the most of it". (Albert). The Puritans looked down upon the upper classes as immoral, and the courtiers called the puritans hypocrites.
The Coffee-houses: Their Significance
Politicians are gregarious by nature, and the increased activity in politics led to a great addition to the number of political clubs and coffee­houses, which became the centre of fashionable and public life. These coffee-houses were entirely dominated by the party. People gathered there to show their 'wit, discuss the news of the day, and forecast the fall of one, and the rise of another. A whig will never go to a tory coffee-house and vice versa. Swift once declared that this party spirit infected even the cats and dogs. It was natural that it should infect literature also. "Books were seldom judged", says John Dennis, "on their merits, the praise or blame being generally awarded according to the political principles of their authors." An impartial literary journal did not exist in the Age. These coffee houses gave rise to purely literary associations such as the famous Scriblenis and Kit-Cat clubs. They were the popular haunts of fashionable writers, and they figure so prominently in the writings of the period. As the press was frequently used to hurl abuses at personal or political adversaries, the rise of satire was the natural result.
Vices of the age: Driaking and Gambling
Another result of the popularity of coffee-house and clubs was an increase in such vices as drinking and gambling. Even the Secretary of State, Horace Walpole, was drunk at all times, and Bolingbroke is said to have been a, 'four bottle man'. Even Pope, whose health did not permit him to drink, often posed as a rake, and is said to have hastened his end by drunkenness. Every section of society was infected with the "devil drunkenness". Gambling, too, was widespread and was a passion with all classes of people. This vice is exhibited on a national scale by the South Sea Company, in which Pope also invested. When the bubble burst, thousands were ruined. Even ladies of rank and position gambled, and the card-games of whist and quadrille were their favourites. In "The Rape of the Lock' Pope devotes his special attention to the game of Ombre.
The Barbarity of the Age
During the first half of -the 18th century, England was in many respects uncivilsed. Roads were dangerous and infected with robbers, so that it was unsafe to go out after dark. The police and the watch were inefficient and helpless. Men of letters were often attacked and beaten by the poets or politicians when they had criticised or vilified. Pope, too was threatened by Ambrose Phillips with a rod, which was hung up for his chastisement outside Button's coffee-house. At a later period, when his satires had stirred up a nest of hornest, the poet was in the habit of carrying pistols, and taking a dog for his companion when walking out at 1\vickenham.
Women: Their Low Status
Ladies were often entangled in matrimony by force or trickery. Sham marriages by sham clergymen were frequent, and gave rise to many evils. Girls of beauty or fortune were often abducted and married by force. Marriages of a more lawful kind were generally conducted on business principles. They were settled and arranged by parents or guardians, who were guided soley by profit motive.
Ladies were treated with scant respect and their social status in general was low. They were addressed in a tone of gallantry, as if they were totally devoid of understanding. Often compliments paid even to unmarried girls were indecent, and looked like love-making. The French lead was followed in matters of fashion, and all sorts of French fopperies, cometics, rouges, pomades, and other articles of dress were popular, nay, the craze of the age. Much of the time of these frivolous ladies of the day was taken by their toilet and the adjustment of their hair. The little follies and frivolities of the fair sex find a vivid expression, often satirical, in the literature of the age. The Rape of the Lock is an epitome of female vanity and frivolity. They were generally treated as little children, pretty triflers, better fitted to amuse men than to elevate them. Lord Chesterfield in his famous. "Letter to his Son", advises him to humour them like little children, but never to consult them or trust them in serious matters. They must be flattered for "No flattery is either too high or too law for them. They will greedily swallow the highest and gratefully accept the lowest." Even Addison treats them like inferior beings, devoid of all commonsense, and dwells upon their foibles, on their dress, and on the thousand little artifices practised by them. The frivolity of women is a theme on which the writers of the day harp constantly.
The Immorality of the Age
It was an age of immorality and corruption. The politicians were corrupt and entirely unprincipled. There was discord and degradation in political life, and double-dealing on the part of statesmen was the order of the day. Bolingbroke and Walpole had an absolute contempt for all prin­ciples. There was a strong profession of morality in words, but in conduct the most open immorality prevailed. Ladies swore dreadfully and shock­ingly. Even women of rank received gentlemen visitors in their bedrooms. They were also addicted to drinking and gambling. Victor Hugo satirises their immorality when he writes," the wife bolts our her husband. She shuts herself in Eden with Satan, Adam is left outside."
Merits of the Age
(1) The Spirit of Tolerance. But there is a brighter side, too, to the picture. If the period had prominent vices, it had also distinguished merits. The age of Pope was also a period of stabilisation, tolerance, and the growth of wealth and prosperity. The age witnessed the emergence of constitutional monarchy in England, and the supremacy of Parliament. It witnessed the rise of the rich middle class to political power and importance. The powers and rights of the King were further curtailed, and the Parliament became the real ruler of the country. The evils of the apporaching Industrial Relvolution were not yet felt, and the country was still free from class- consciousness and classstruggle. If there was less refinement, there was less of hardship fi ,r the lower sections of society, and less of competition. There was less of dissatisfaction too. It was a period of comfortable aristocratic rule in which the middle classes, specially the rich merchant class, cooperated with the aristocratic rulers. Says Legouis in this connection: "The upper middle classes associate themselves with the nobility in the exercise of power, a more extensive section of the nation participates in political influence. It was an age of tolerance, moderation, and common sense, which, in cultured circles, at least, sought to refine manners and introduce into life the rule of sweet reasonableness. The Church also pursued a middle way, and religious life was free from strife and fanaticism. "This middle way of control and reason, and the distrust of "enthusiasm", are faithfidly reflected in the literature of the period" (Albert).
(2) The Upward Tendency. The rising middle class gradually exer­cised a sobering and moderating influence on the manners and morals of the people. They had a feeling for social discipline, for tradition, for order and balance. The rich merchants were no longer looked down upon as ill-mannered upstarts to be cheated by rakes and gallants, but fast acquired a new prestige and dignity. They had an instinctive respect for moral laws and wanted to live in an atmosphere of moral influence. "Just as in the Restoration period," say R. C. Churchill, "there was a strong reaction against puritanism so also in the Augustan Age there was a violent reaction against the debauchery and immorality of the Restoration." Collier had already carried his crusade against immorality in the theatre. There was a general movement against immorality, and in certain domains of public life, the moral proprieties began to be more faithfully observed. William III was a severe moralist and Queen Anne was of the same character. A new tone was soon to be observed in the writing of the times, and a new attitude to life and morals. Literature became more and more didactic. This movement was taken up by Steele and Addison who endeavoured, "to enliven morality with wit, and temper wit with morality". The women soon began to be treated with a new respect and dignity. Much coarseness, much immorality and corruption was still there, but the general upward tendency was also there.
The New Class of Readers
There was rapid expansion in the field of education. New schools were opened in their hundreds. The result was a change in the character of the reading public. Education filtered down wards, and hence there arose a new class of readers consisting of traders, manufacturers and even domestic servants. This change in the character of the reading public was accompanied by a change in the patrons of literature. The book-seller or publisher was the new patron of literature, and he exercised a far reaching influence on literature and literary trends.
The influence of the views of philosophers, like Locke and Hobbes, is seen in the emphasis on "reason", "decorum", 'good-sense", order and balance in the social life of the age. This growing need for order and balance is also reflected, as we shall see in the next section, in the literature of the period.
The Later Half: An Age of Reaction
The later half of the 18th century is an age of reaction, an age of transition, an age in which there is a marked conflict between the old and the new. The men of Pope's time had reacted against the immorality of the Restoration era and the excesses of the metaphysicals. They made reason and good sense their guides, developed a rigid formalism, distrusted emo­tion and enthusiasm, so that the atmosphere of their life and writing became hard and dry. In the age of Dr. Jonson, we find that there is a reaction against the self-complacency, the artificiality, the formalism and intellec­tuality of the previous age. There is renaissance of feeling an awakening to the wonder and mystery of the world around. "The emotions, long regressed, were now reinstated and all life was modified in consequence" (Hudson).
Religion and the Rise of Feeling
This renaissance of feeling is best illustrated in the case of religion. In the age of Pope Religion had been formal, utilitarian and un-spiritual. "In the great Evangelistic revival, led be Wesley and Whitfield, the old formality was swept away, the utilitarianism abandoned, and a "mighty tide of spiritual energy poured into the church and among the masses of people". The preachers no longer tried to convince by appealing to the reason, rather they tried to move by appealing to the emotions. They no longer cared for propriety and correctness; rather they preached with impassioned tones and gestures. The sentimentalism of the age takes various forms. It is reflected in the novels of Richardson and Laurence Sterne. It is seen in the revived love of Nature, and of those who live in the lap of nature. The Gothic novel or the novel of terror is yet another form of this sensibility.
The Emergence of the Middle Class
Another important feature of the age is the emergence of the middle class which gradually gained in importance in politics, in life, and in society. Says Legouis, "The authority of aristocracy is not indeed negatived or destroyed, but permeated, modified and continually made more supple, by the bourgeois elements", which now mingle with it. The middle class increasingly shares in social power and gradually corrects and modifies the character and temper of the aristocracy. As a result, social life gradually becomes moral. This class comprises largely of rich merchants, businessmen and industrialists. There is an immense growth in the wealth and prosperity of the nation. The increase in wealth and comfort coincides with a general uplift in the standards of the human intellect. Research and creative activity are stimulated.
The Humanitarian Spirit
A natural consequence of the rise of sensibility is the widening and deepening of sympathy with all living beings. Man now becomes more humane. This humanitarianism of the age is reflected in the frequency and vigour of the protests which were made against the brutality and callousness of society.
The Rise of Democracy
All this resulted in the rapid growth of the democratic spirit. Stress was laid on the essential qualities of man as man and not on his birth and breeding. People became increasingly familiar with the notions of liberty, equality and fraternity. They claimed their rights, and protested against the countless absurdities and evils of existing social order. As yet there was no upheaval: everything was apparently clam and settled. But beneath the surface, social and political unrest was growing. Says E. Albert, in this connection, "New ideas were germinating; new forces were gathering strength; and the Revolution, when it did come in 1789, was only the climax to a long and deeply diffused unrest." The writings of Rousseau and other makers of the French Revolution fired all Europe with revolutionary ideas, and stirred literature to the depths.
Literary Characteristics of the Age
The political and social changes, which exhibit the supremacy of good sense, rationality and avoidance of enthusiasm, left an indelible influence on the literature of the Age of Pope. Summing up the characteristics of the literature of this period, Hudson remarks: "The same temper marks the literature of the age, which exhibits a similar coldness and want of feeling, and a similar tendency towards shallowness in thought and formality in expression. It is a literature of intelligence (though of intelligence which rarely goes much beneath the surface of things), of wit, and of fancy, not a literature of emotion, passion, or creative energy; and in it spontaneity and simplicity are sacrificed to the dominant mania of elegance and correctness." The main literal) characteristics of this age are given below:
1. An Age of Prose and Reason: Now for the first time we must chronicle the triumph of English prose. A multitude of practical interests, which we have already discussed, arising from the new social and political conditions demanded expression, not simply in books, but more especially in pamphlets, magazines and newspapers. Poetry was inadequate for such a task. Hence prose developed rapidly and excellently. Indeed, poetry itself became prosaic, as it was not used for creative works of imagination, but for essays, satires and criticism— for exactly the same practical ends as was prose. The graceful elegance of Addison's essays, the terse vigour of Swift's satires, the artistic finish of Fielding's novels, the sonorous eloquence of Gibbon's history and of Burke's orations—these have no parallel in the literary history of the eighteenth century. The poetry of the first half, as represented by the work of Pope, is polished and witty but it lacks fire, fine feeling, enthusiasm and imaginative appeal. In short, it interests us as a study of life but fails to delight or inspire us. Matthew Arnold rightly calls the eighteenth century "an age of prose". The literature of the period is prosaic in spirit, it "exhibits a similar coldness and want of coldness, and similar tendency towards shallowness in thought and formality in expression." According to W. H. Hudson, "it is a literature of intelligence (though of intelligence which rarely goes much beneath the surface of things), of wit, and of fancy, not a literature of emotion, passion or creative energy; and in it spontaneity and simplicity are sacrificed to the dominant mania for elegance and correctness. This is true even of poetry, which seldom travelled beyond the interests of that narrow world of the "Town", by which men's outlook was commonly circumscribed, and finding its public in the coffee house and drawing room, drew for its substance upon the politics and discussions of the hour. Such poetry, however clever, was necessarily more or less fugitive; it lacked inevitably the depth and grasp of essential things which alone assure permanence in literature; and the quest for refinement in style resulted too often in stilted affectations and frigid conventionalism."
2. Satire: The prevalance of satire, which resulted from the unfortunate union of politics with literature, is an important literary characteristic of this age. Nearly every writer of the first half of the eighteenth century was used and rewarded by Whigs or Tories for satirising their enemies and for advancing their special political interests. Pope was a singular exception in this regard but he nevertheless followed the prose writers in using satire too largely in his poetry. W. J. Long writes: "Now satire —that is, a literary work which searches out the faults of men or institutions in order to hold them up to ridicule—is at best a destructive kind of criticism. A satirist is like a labourer who clears away the ruins and rubbish of an old house before the architect and builders begin on a new and beautiful structure. The work may sometime be necessary, but it rarely arouses our enthusiasm. While the satires of Pope, Swift and Addison are doubtlessly the best in our language, we hardly place them with our great literature, which is always constructive in spirit; and we have the feeling that all these men were capable of better things than they ever wrote."
3. The Classic Age: The Age of Pope is often named the Classic Age. Is it a classic age like those of Homer and Virgil? Or is it a classic age like those of Augustus and Dante? First, we should clearly understand the meaning of the word "classic". Generally speaking, the term "classic" refers to writers of the highest rank in any nation. It was first applied to the works of great Greek and Roman writers like Homer and Virgil. In English literature any writer who followed the simple, noble and inspiring method of these writers was said to have a classic style. Secondly, a period, marked by a number of celebrated writers who produce books, is called the classic period of a nation's literature. The reign of Augustus is the classic age of Rome; the age of Dante is the classic age of Italian literature; the age of Louis XIV is the French classic age; and the Age of Pope is not the classic age like those of Homer and Virgil. The writers of the Age of Pope disregarded the Elizabethan literary trends which are conspicuous for naturalness of style, without regard to rules, enthusiasm, romantic emotions, flight of imagination, vigour, freshness and fine feeling. The writers of the period under discussion demanded that their poetry should follow exact rules. In this respect they were influenced by French writers, especially by Boileau and Rafin, who insisted on precise rules of writing poetry. They professed to have discovered their rules in the classics of Horace and Aristotle. Dryden- and Pope pioneered the revival of classicism which conformed to rules established by the great writers of other nations and which ignored the creative vigour of writers, depth and high seriousness of subject matter and the vigour and freshness of expression. When in 1706 Walsh wrote to Pope: "The best of the modern poets in all languages are those that have nearest copied the ancients", he expressed concisely the principle of classicism. Pope elucidated this principle in the oft-quoted lines in The Essay on Criticism:
Those rules of old discover'd, nor devis'd,
Are Nature still, but Nature methodiz'd;
Nature, like Liberty is but restrain'd
By the same laws which first herself ordain'd
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem,
To copy Nature is to copy them.
Addison said: "Wit and fine writing" consist not so much "in advancing things that are new, as in things that are known, an agreeable turn."
The classical writers of the eighteenth century regarded the old English writers with contempt and indifference. They were guided by reason, good sense and wit; they wanted order and balance, and every kind of excess and irregularity was abhorrent to them. They were classics, because they claimed the formal classical qualities of moderation, tolerance and good sense. Summing the classicism of the Age of Pope, W. J. Long writes: "The general tendency of literature was to look at life critically, to emphasise intellect rather than imagination, the form rather than the content of a sentence. Writers strove to repress all emotion and enthusiasm, and to use only precise and elegant methods of expression. This is what is often meant by the "classicism" of the ages of Pope and Johnson. It refers to the critical, intellectual spirit of many writers, to the fine polish of the heroic couplets or the elegance of their prose, and not to any resemblance which their work bears to true classic literature. In a word, the classic movement had become pseudo-classic, i.e., false or sham classicism; and the term is now often used to designate a considerable part of eighteenth century literature. To avoid this critical difficulty we have adopted the term Augustan Age, a term chosen by the writers themselves, who saw in Pope, Addison, Swift, Johnson, and Burke the modern parallels to Horace, Virgil, Cicero, and all the brilliant company who made Roman literature famous in the days of Augustus."
Grierson in his famous book The Background of English Literature asserts that the hallmark of the ancient classical literature is a harmonious balance between form and substance. This harmonious balance of form and substance is disturbed in the Age of Pope. The writers of this period care for form, not for the weight of matter; they care only for manner, for artistic finish and polish, but not for genuine poetic inspiration. The content, thought and feeling, is subordinated to form.
Good sense is one of the central characteristics of the literature of this period. In the words of W. H. Hudson: "Good sense became the ideal of the time, and good sense meant a love of the reasonable and the useful, and a hatred of the extravagant, the mystical and the visionary."
4. Literature of the Town: The range of the literature of this period is strictly limited. It is a literature of the town and the fashionable upper circles of the city of London. Pope, Addison, Steele, Burke and all other writers of this period deal only with urban themes. Steele and Addison, though urban in outlook and temperament, show remarkable interest in the middle classes and, thus, broaden the scope of literature, which prior to them was strictly confined to fashionable and aristocratic circles. In the works of the middle class writers classicism shows itself slightly coloured by a moralizing and secretly sentimental intention.
POETRY
Main Characteristics of Poetry in the Age of Pope
"In poetry, the tradition continued of brilliant topical satire and of didactic poetry that frequently was more tedious than brilliant. Appeal was normally sought to what was variously called Reason, Nature, or Common Sense. Polish and elegance of form were of more importance than subtlety or originality of thought." So Moody and Lovett comment on the poetry of this period. Below are given the salient features of the poetry of the Age of Pope:
1. Poetry of Intelligence and Common Sense: The poetry of the adherents of the Augustans is the product of intelligence, good sense and reasonableness. It plays upon the surface of life and ignores the primary human emotions and feelings. It is realistic and unimaginative. It is didactic and satiric. It is a poetry of argument and criticism, of politics and personalities. The poetry of Pope the flawless example of all that is best in the poetry of this age.
2. Town Poetry: It is strictly confined to "town". The fashionable aristocratic society attracted the poets of this period. It ignores the humbler aspects of life and shows no real love of nature, landscape or Country things and people. It is a shallow, superficial poetry which neither inspires nor ennobles mankind. Its theme is unpoetic and its character is prosaic. It has no universal appeal. It eschews all emotions, enthusiasm, romantic inspiration, wide human sympathy which distinguish the works of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton, and the visionary idealism and strong religious faith of the Middle Ages.
3. Artificial and Conventional Style: The poets deftly cared for form and took all pains to polish and refine the poetic style. It "led to the establishment of a highly artificial and conventional style, which presently became stereotyped into a regular traditional poetic diction." Simplicity and naturalness of expression were sacrificed for the frequent use of classical embroidery, grandiloquent phrases, pompous circumlocutions. Plain and direct expressions were avoided even when the poets dealt with the commonplace matter. The plain and forceful expression like "God rest his soul" was expressed in bombastic and artificial phraseology "External blessings on his shade attend." It was against this "gaudiness and inane phraseology" that Wordsworth emphatically protested.
4. The Literary Forms: During this period the satiric and narrative forms of poetry flourished. The satiric type is common and of high quality. Pope's Dunciad is the best example of a personal satire. Satire tends to be lighter, brighter, and more cynical. It is spreading to other forms of verse besides the heroic couplet. We can observe it in the octosyllabic couplet in the poems of Swift, Prior and Gray. Epistolary form of satire, represented by Pope's Epistles of Horace Imitated, also developed during this period.
Narrative poetry is of considerable bulk, and contains some of the best productions of the age. Pope's translation of Homer is a good example of narrative poetry.
5. Dominance of the Heroic Couplet: Herioc couplet dominated in poetry. This metre produced a close, clear, and pointed style, as we shall note in the poetry of Pope. Its epigrammatic terseness provided a suitable medium of expression to the kind of poetry which was then popular. In the long run the heroic couplet outlived its utility as it "was bound to grow monotonous, and that it was too narrow and inflexible to be made the vehicle of high emotion or strong passion."
POETRY
1. Alexander Pope (1688-1744). Born in 1688, Pope wrote tolerable verse when he was twelve years old. He was the son of a London tradesman. His tiny and delicate physical constitution, and his faith in Roman Cathlicism greatly influenced his career as a poet. Due to his ill health he was privately educated, and could not cultivate the knowledge of the world of nature or of the world of human heart. By reason of the sweeping laws against the entrance of Catholics into public service, he was shut out from the ordinary career of Englishmen in Parliament, the Church, or the Army. So, he dedicated his whole life to literature. Other men of letters of his age had other engagements but he rose only to be a poet. W. J. Long remarks: "Swift was a clergeyman and politician, Addison was Secretary of State, other writers depended on patrons or politics or pensions for fame and a livelihood; but Pope was independent, and had no profession, but literature." Pope received very little school education, but he privately studied English books and picked up a smattering of the classics. He began to write poetry quite early. He records the fact with his usual vanity:
As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,
I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came.
Pope acknowledged Dryden as his poetic master, though much of his work was influenced by Boileau, the French poet and critic.
The publication of Essay on Criticism and The Rape of the Lock stormed him into popularity. His translations of Homer were so successful financially that he bought a Villa at Twickenham, on the Thames.
Pope died in 1744 and was buried at Twickenham.
Pope's Works. For the sake of convenience we may separate Pope's work into three periods:
(i) The First Period (1704-1713): This period is largely a period of experiment. Pope's Pastorals appeared in 1709. The characters and scenery are artificial, as they are based on classical models. The work is important as an experiment inverse technique. Pope handled the heroic couplet with great m`etrical skill, variation of speed and tone, and delicacy of touch.
An Essay in Criticism (1711) is also written in heroic couplet. It sums up the art of poetry as taught 'first by Horace, Boileau and other eighteenth century classicists. It is hardly a poem but a restatement of the code of the ancients. Pope perfects the heroic couplet by imparting to it conciseness and epigrammatic neatness which have given his remarks the permanence of proverbs; for example:
"A little learning is a dangerous thing."
"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
"To err is human, to forgive divine."
Windsor Forest (1713) is a pastoral in a familiar metre.
The Rape of the Lock, a masterpiece of its kind, was first published in 1712, and then published in an enlarged form in 1714. It was soon after its publication that Pope jumped to the foremost place in English letters. It was soon after this that Voltaire called him "the test poet of England, and, at present, of all the world." The occasion of the famous poem was trivial enough. A fop at the court of Queen Anne, Lord Petre, snipped a lock of hair from the abundant curls of a pretty maid of honour, named Arbella Fermor. The young lady resented it, and the two families were plunged into a quarrel which was the talk of London. Pope seized the occasion to construct a poem in which all the mannerisms of society are pictured in minutest detail and satirised with the most delicate wit.
The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic poem, in which the mockery arises from "the contrast between the sublimity of the style and what the eighteenth century called the meanness of the occasion." Pope's mock-heroic is still considered the best of its kind in the English language, and is still read and admired. It is a classic of drawing-room poetry.
It is modelled after Boileau's Le Lutrin, a satire on the French clergy; and La Secchia Rapita (stolen bucket) a famous Italian satire on the petty causes of the endless Italian wars. It is an authentic expression of the artificial life of the age—of its cards, parties, toilettes, lapdogs, tea drinking, snuff taking, and idle vanities. Edward Albert writes: "The poem combines with its humorous, epic treatment of the trivial theme a delicate fancy and a good deal of satire on the weaknesses of the fair sex and on society manners in general. For the most part, this satire is gentle and good humoured ...... "
The Rape of the Lock is not only a satire on society, it is also a witty parody of the heroic style in poetry. The introduction of the sylphs, who guard the lady's bed, wake her toilet, and attend her in public, makes it a witty parody of the heroic style in poetry, and imparts it warmth of fancy:
The busy sylphs surround their darling care,
These set the head, and those divide the hair,
Some fold the sleeve, while others plait the gown;
And Betty's praised for labours not her own.
The Rape of the Lock is remarkable for flawless poetic craftsman­ship, airy grace and sustained lightness of touch. Commenting on its admirable qualities, Rickett writes: "The satirical tone of the age, the frivolous aspect of feminity, is nowhere more exquisitely pictured than in this poem. It is the epic of triflings; a page torn from the petty, pleasure-seeking life of a fashionable beauty; the mise en scene, the toilet chamber and the card table. In short, the veritable apotheosis in literary guise of scent, patches and powder."
(ii) The Middle Period (1713-1725): This period is remarkable for translations from Homer. Pope translated the entire Iliad and half of the Odyssey; and the later work was finished by two Cambridge scholars, Elijah Fenton and William Broome. Pope's knowledge of Greek was inadequate, so he had to depend on Latin, French and English trans­lations. What distinguishes Pope's translation of Homer is that he "inter­preted Homer in the elegant, artificial language of his own age. Not only do his words follow literary fashions, but even the Homeric characteris­tics lose their strength and become fashionable men of the court."
In this period Pope also wrote Eloisa to Aberlard and the Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady.
(iii) The Last Period (1725-1740): During this period Pope wrote his masterly satires on the hack writers of Grub Street. The works of this period include To Lord Bathurst, Of the Use of Riches, Of the Knowledge and Characters of Men, Of the Characters of Women, and, the most famous of all, An Essay On Man, in which he discussed man's place in the universe. The purpose of the Essay is, in Pope's words, "to vindicate the ways of God to man." The vindication is perfectly accomplished in four poetical epistles concerning man's relations to universe, to himself, to society and to happiness. It abounds in quotable lines which are precise and epigrammatic; for example:
Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blest.
Know thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Satires and Epistles of Horace Imitated is a well known satire. The Prologue to these—the Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot—is specially valuable as the most frankly personal of all Pope's writings. It contains the famous character-study of Addison under the name of Atticus.
The Dunciad is a long and elaborate satire on "dunces"—the bad poets, pedants, and pretentious critics of Pope's day.
Pope as a Poet or Was Pope a Poet?
Pope is a controversial poet. There are some who regard him as one of the greatest poets of England and place him next to Shakespeare and Milton. In his own century he received the warmest praises. Swift, Addison and Werburton ranked him with the peers of song. Dr. Johnson was once asked whether Pope was a poet, he replied: "If Pope be not a poet, where is poetry to be found." He is a poet according to the eighteenth century poetic standards. He was not a poet, but a versifier in an age of prose. Pope had neither the imaginative power nor the depth of feeling without which great poetry is impossible. He was not a great thinker. His view of life was the narrow and shallow view so characteristic of his age. Matthew Arnold called Dryden and Pope the "classics of our prose." W. J. Long writes: "Pope is in many respects a unique figure. In the first place, he was for a generation "the poet" of a great nation.To be sure, poetry was limited in the early eighteenth century; there were few lyrics, little or no love poetry, no epics, no dramas or songs of nature worth considering; but in the narrow field of didactic and satiric verse Pope was the indisputed master. His influence dominated the poetry of his age, and many foreign writers, as well as the majority of English poets, looked to him as their model."
Undoubtedly, Pope's poetry has the limitations of his age. He was neither a singer nor a creative poet. He has few ennobling and soul-stirring thoughts which the great poets express with apparent uncon­sciousness. He could not soar into the unscalable realms of imagination and could not try deeper and deeper into the infinite mysteries of human heart. Like Wordsworth he could not appreciate the beauties of nature. His poetry is town poetry, strictly limited to the fashionable society of London. The human nature which Pope studies is the nature of the fashionable gallants and belles of the day. He could not write epic and drama, which are the grandest form of poetry. Neither in his style nor in his matter Pope could attain the grandeur and breadth of Shakespeare or Milton. He lacked their insight into eternal truths, their power of capturing into melody and metaphor some strain of the harmony of the universe. As a metrist, Pope is wholly restricted to the heroic couplet. Within the limitations mentioned above, Pope is a poet whose poetry embodies the spirit of the ages. Below are given the qualities which distinguish Pope's poetry:
(i) Criticism of the Age: Pope's poetry is a remarkably clear and adequate reflection of the spirit of the age in which he lived. There is hardly an ideal, a belief, a doubt, a fashion, a whim of Queen Anne's time, that is not neatly expressed in his poetry. Rickett writes: "The three poems in which Pope is emphatically the spokesman of his age are The Rape of the Lock, picturing its frivolities; Dunciad, unveiling its squalor; The Essay on Man, echoing its philosophy."
All the merits and demerits of the Age, which was an era of prose, are faithfully represented by the poetry of Pope. It was an "age of prose and reason" and even the poetry of the age was prosaic. A hard intellectuality and rationality, qualities proper to prose, mark the poetry of Pope. His themes too are prosaic— criticism; moral philosophy and satire. He is the most correct of English poets. Pope is the most complete representative of his age.
His age was a citified age. Pope realistically dealt with the life of the fashionable upper strata of London society. Pope's The Rape of the Lock was, in the words of J. R. Lowell, "a mirror in the drawing-room, but it gave back a faithful image of society, powered and rouged, to he sure, and intent on trifles, yet still as human in its own way as the heroes of Homer in theirs." Pope's presentation of contemporary life is not entire. It is incomplete, as he entirely ignores the lower sections of society, the life in the countryside and the life of the underworld.
(ii) Pope: An Incomparable Artist: Pope was an incomparable versifier, if not a poet, and craftsman in the eighteenth century. He had a meticulous sense of the exact word in the exact place. Rickett writes: "No one can dress up a commonplace sentiment or humorous thoughts in finer clothes than he, but there is no hint in his work of high imagination, of subtle fancy, no sense of mystery, no romance, no depth of feeling, no greatness of impulse." Pope's poetic art is the finest specimen of neoclassic conception of "correctness". His is the true art which conceals art. Well might he say:
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance.
W. H. Hudson also remarks: "He was within his limits, a marvelously clever and adroit literary craftsman, and the neat, compact, antithetic, and epigrammatic style of writing which was the classical ideal, assumed perfection in his hands.
Pope's admirable craftsmanship is best seen in the excellent use of the heroic couplet, which was first used by Chaucer. Dryden too used it with great skill and force but it was Pope who imparted immaculate artistic excellence to it. Pope's couplet is characterised by correctness and finish. He used couplet for varied modes of expression. The range of Pope's couplet can be seen by a comparison of The Rape of the Lock with the Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. Edward Albert remarks: "The latter is typical of his later work. Its epigrammatic pungency, often the result of a skilful use of antithetical balance, shows us Pope's couplet in all its strength, clearness, and point. For this kind of poetry it has never been equalled."
Pope is not to be reckoned with the great poets of English literature, he was at any rate incomparable craftsman, a delightful wit and an excellent versifier.
Other Poets of the Period
Matthew Prior's (1664-1721) first work is a parody of Dryden's The Hind and the Panther, entitled The Town and Country Mouse (1687). It was written in collaboration with Charles Montagu. His other works are Alma, or The Progress of the Mind (1718) and Solomon on the Vanity of the World (1718). Alma is an imitation of Butler's Hudibras and Solomon is written in heroic couplet. Prior's longer poems lack in strength, power and passion. Prior's reputation rests on his shorter pieces which are The Chameleon, The Thief and the Cordelier, and a number of poems, To Chole.
John Gay (1685-1732) is best remembered for his Fables (1727), which is colloquial, easy, octosyllabic, and The Beggar's Opera (1728), which is a famous play. It contains some pretty songs and much genuine but boisterous humour. Gay's chief poetic works are The Rural Sports (1713), written in the heroic couplet, The Shepherd's Week (1714), What d' Ye Call It (1715), a pastoral farce, and Trivia or The Art of Walking the Streets of London (1716), a witty parody of the heroic style. Gay mirrors the manners and outward show of his age.
Edward Young (1683-1765) wrote varied kind of poetry. His Last Day (1714) and The Force of Religion (1714) are moralizings written in the heroic couplet. The Love of Fame (1725-28) shows an advance in the use of the heroic couplet. He is remembered for The Complaint or Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality (1742), which is written in the blank verse. It was occasioned by the death of his wife. It is a lengthy poem of sententious reflection and shows considerable technical skill in the management of the blank verse, but it is handicapped by a stilted, theatrical phraseology. It anticipates the "Churchyard School" of poetry.
Samuel Garth's (1661-1719) The Dispensary (1699) is a satire on the Society of Apothecaries. It is written in the couplet.
William Somerville (1675-1742) wrote The Chase, a gloomy and sombre poem, imitating the 'Churchyard School' of poetry.
Lady Winchilsea (1661-1720) stood to some extent for the new spirit. Some of her poems are The Spleen (1701), a Pindaric Ode, The Prodigy (1706); and Miscellany Poems (1713), containing, A Nocturnal Reverie. She had the gift of producing smooth and melodious verse, and had a discerning eye for the beauties of nature. Wordsworth singled her out as a remarkable poet: "Now it is remarkable that, excepting the Nocturnal Reverie of Lady Winchilsea, and a passage or two' in the Windsor Forest of Pope, the poetry intervening between the publication of the Paradise Lost and The Seasons does not contain a single new image of external nature."
Thomas Parnell (1679-1718) made a notable break with the trends of the eighteenth century poetry. His best work is contained in The Hermit which reminds the reader of The Deserted Village. He shows skill as a versifier, and he has a genuine regard for nature.
PROSE
The Age of Pope, as we have already discussed, is the age of prose in the real sense. The prose of Bacon, Jonson, S. T. Browne, Burton and Milton is the prose of an age of poetry; but "the prose of the new age is far better adapted to an age richer in philosophic and political speculation than to peotry; in the art of critical exposition and journalistic realism than in work of creative imagination." (Rickett). Dryden is the first great pioneer of modern prose. His ease, force, vigour, clearness and intellectuality imparted a really true prosaic character to his writings. Dryden's Essay On Dramatic Poesy was undoubtedly "a model of the new prose".
The Periodical Essay was the peculiar product of the eighteenth century. It was called "periodical" because it was not published in book form like other types of essays, as the essays of Bacon, but it was published in journals and magazines which appeared periodically. It had an inherent social purpose. It aimed at improving the manners and morals of the people and, hence, it is also termed as the "social essay". Defining the periodical essay, William Hazlitt remarks: "It makes us familiar with the world of men and women, records their actions, assigns their motives, exhibits their whims, characterises their pursuits in all their singular and endless variety, ridicules their absurdities, exposes their inconsistencies, "holds the mirror up to nature", and shows the very age and body of the time, its form and pressure; takes minutes of our dress, airs, looks, words, thoughts and actions, shows us what we are and we are not; plays the whole game of human life over before us, and by making us enlightened Spectators of its many coloured scenes, enables us, if possible, to become tolerably reasonable agents in the area in which we have to perform a part."
We have already discussed that the increasing interest in the political affairs, the establishment of clubs and coffee houses, and the new printing houses contributed to the development of prose in the eighteenth century. Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Sir Richard Steele and Joseph Addison are the four great writers of the periodical essay in the age of Pope.
1. Daniel Defoe (1661-1731). As a pioneer in journalism as well as in the novel Defoe enjoys an important place in English literature. The germs of the periodical essay are found in Defoe's Review, which at first appeared weekly, then twice, and later thrice a week. Its main aim was to acquaint the English people with the thoughts of Defoe on international politics and on commerce. The Review comes nearer the periodical essay proper in the section called the Mercure Scandale or Advice From the Scandalous Club, which is further described as being "a weekly history of Nonsense, Impertinence, Vice and Debauchery." Before the Review was a year old this section became a monthly supplement. Later, it was separated from the main portion and distinguished by the title of The Little Review. Thus, in the Review, the element of news ousts gossip and moral criticism. Defoe contribute, vigorous essays on the vices and follies of society, on the minor morals, and sometimes on the great virtues and vices. Defoe's papers lack in human touches and lightness of touch which distinguish Steele and Addison. The Review came to an end in 1712. Defoe also contributed copiously to Mist's Journal and Applebee's Journal.
Defoe was a born journalist and pamphleteer who wrote with remarkable facility, command and effect on an infinite variety of subjects. He had the keenest sense of what the public wanted. He was avowedly a moral and social reformer, and aimed at correcting and teaching his age. Defoe's papers are noticeable for their clear, lucid and vigorous style. He is, indeed, a great pioneer of the periodical essay, and he influenced The Tatler and The Spectator.
Defoe's Contribution to Fiction. Defoe's works in fiction were produced in the later part of his life. His fictional works include Robinson Crusoe (1719), Duncan Campbell, Memoirs of a Cavalier, Captain Singleton (1720), Moll Flanders, A Journal of the Plague Year, Colonel Jacque (1722) and Roxana (1724) and A New Voyage Round the World (1725). Defoe's works of fiction are called "fictitious biographies." Leslie Stephen calls them "history minus the facts". The entire gamut of his fictional work is biographical and he made no attempt towards the organisation of materials into a systematic plot. However, as a pioneer of English novel he made the following contribution:
(i) The Realistic Imagination: Defoe was the first to impart the illusion of reality to the imaginative subject, which was hitherto despised by the story-tellers. Hudson writes: " ..... since it was his object at all times to give his inventions the semblance and air of truth, his stories are told as if they were stories of real life, in the plain, matter-of-fact, business-like way appropriate to stories of actual life, and with a studious avoidance of everything suggestive of artifice. Hence, the extraordinary minute realism which is recognised as an outstanding feature of his fiction."
(ii) Power of Detail: Defoe knew the art of narrating details effectively. The detail is lucidly given. It is not oppressively technical. It is clear, orderly and sufficient. He never overdoes his detail, or exceeds is power. For instance, in Roxana he stops short in his narrative and observes artfully, she "fell into well-deserved misery". Nowhere is the Power of detail better used than in The History of the Plague Year. Edward Albert remarks: "At its best, as in the finest parts of Robinson Crusoe, his writing has a realism that is rarely approached by the most ardent of modern realists. This is achieved by Defoe's grasp of details and his unerring sense of their supreme literary value, a swift and resolute narrative method, and aplain and matter-of-fact style that inevitably lays incredulity asleep. To the development of the novel Defoe's contribution is priceless.
(iii) His Interest in Contemporary Life: Defoe had a compre­hensive knowledge of the varied aspects of human nature. He portrayed realistically pirates and pickpockets, and loose women. He is rightly called "the mouthpiece of the commercial middle class of his day." His interest in contemporary life is reproduced in Robinson Crusoe.
(iv) Style: Defoe's style is unpolished, but has a vigorous, homely raciness and a colloquial vocabulary which suits his purpose. His style is unadorned, his sentences are loosely constructed and he shows great attention to the minutest details.
Defoe's fictional works "form the transition, however, from the slight tale and the romance of the Elizabethan time to the finished navel of Richardson and Fielding."
2. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). Swift was "the most original prose writer of his time— the man of genius among many men of talent." But his connection with the periodical essay is very slight. He wrote a few papers for The Tatler and The Spectator. The Journal to Stella was written in the years 1710-1713. It is an excellent commentary on contemporary characters and political events. Swift's Drapier's Letters (1724), a model of political harangue and of popular argument, roused an unthinking English public and gained him popularity in Ireland, the country he hated. He also contributed to Sheriden's Dublin periodical The Intelligencer.
Swift was not by nature an essayist. He was not endowded with a genial humour, humane outlook and an impassioned approach to life. His humour was far too grim and sardonic. He could not deal fairly either with the major morals or minor morals. It is only rarely that he shows the gifts of the periodical essayist as in "Account of the Death of Mr. Partridge" and "Meditation upon a Broomstick". Hugh Walker points out that Swift's "intellect was too massive for the essay, and we look for the real Swift on the larger canvas of Gulliver or. A Tale of A Tub.
Swift's Satires. The Battle of Books (1704) and A Tale of A Tub (1704) take rank among the finest prose satires in English literature. The theme of the former is the dispute between ancient and modern authors, and the latter is a satire on the Dissenters, the Papists, and even the Church of England. He himself said that "the aim of the book was to reconcile divinity with wit, but the wit is so pungent and the satire so terrific that the general impression left is that of utter irreverence in the handling of sacred things." The style of A Tale is terse, and has a sustained vigour, pace and colourfulness which Swift did not equal in his later works.
In 1726, Swift's inventive genius, his fierce satire, and his cruel indignation with life, were well shown in Gulliver's Travels. The voyage 03, Lilliput and Brobdingnag satirised the politics and manners of England and Europe; that to Laputa mocked the philosophers; and the last, lc), the country of the Houyhnhnms, lacerated and defiled the whole body 0' humanity. It was not written from only literary motive, but rather as an outlet for the author's own bitterness against fate and human society.
Swift deftly used all the known stylistic devices, allegory, digression, fable, irony etc. as instruments of his satire. He knew that satire conveyed indirectly is more effective than the direct one. He hides the real meaning of his tales beneath the garb of allegory. The Tale of A Tub, The Battle of Books and The Gulliver's Travels are famous satires in the form of allegory.
Swift's Style. Swift's style is terse, lucid, simple, direct, vigorous and suggestive. He deftly uses proper words in proper place, and carefully avoids the use of big, bombastic and high sounding words. Hudson observes: "As a master of simple, direct, colloquial style — a style as far as possible removed from the ornate and the rhetorical — he has few rivals and no superiors."
Swift's prose is convincing and powerful. W. J. Long remarks: "Directness, simplicity, vigour, mark every page. ....keeping his object steadily before him, he drives straight on to the end, with a convincing power that has never been surpassed in our language. Even in his most grotesque creations, the reader never loses the sense of reality, of being present as an eyewitness of the most impossible events, so powerful and convincing is Swift's prose."
Swift writes "the plainest of plain style". This makes him one of the most forceful writers in the history of English literature. "He was born to write great prose as Milton was born to compose epic poetry."
3. Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729). Steele, an original genius, founded The Taller on April 12, 1709. It was inspired by Defoe's The Review. It is the first of the long line of eighteenth century periodical essays. Expounding the purpose of The Tatler he wrote to Maynwaring: "The general purpose of this paper is to expose the false arts of life, to pull off the disguises of cunning, vanity and affectations, and to recommend general simplicity in our dress, our discourse, and our behaviour." Its scope was comprehensive. It contained accounts of gallantry, pleasure and entertainment, poetry, learning, foreign and domestic news. Steele treated of everything that was going on in the town. He paints as a social humorist the whole age of Queen Anne— the political and literary diputes, the fine gentlemen and ladies, the characters of men, the humours of society, the new book, the new play; we live in the very streets and drawing-rooms of Old London.
The Tatler appeared three times a week. At the beginning it was Practically written by Steele alone. Steele wrote under the pseudonym of Mr. Bickerstaff which he borrowed from Swift. Addison also began to contribute to The Taller, and occasionally other writers also contributed essays on the new social life of England. The Tatler became immensely Popular but it was discontinued on Jan. 2, 1711. Steele had contributed one hundred and seventy papers to it when it came to an end.
Steele was the originator of The Tatler and joined with Addison in creating The Spectator in 1711. The new paper appeared daily. In The Tatler Addison had been an occasional, and latterly a frequent contributor; in The Spectator they were coadjustors from the start. Steele being an original genius suggested the idea of the Spectator and his club. The human figure of the spectator, surrounded by his club of representatives of various grades and classes of society, was an immense improvement on The Tatler's crude machinery of the coffee houses, and its shadowy figure of Bickerstaff. Herein consists the superiority of The Spectator. The Spectator would lose its charm without Sir Roger, Sir Andrew, Will Heneycomb and the Spectat himself. The former is a collection of disconnected essays, but there isor a sort of unity in the latter due to the presence of these characters. W. J. Long remarks: "It is often impossible in The Tatler essays to separate the work of two men; but the majority of critics hold that the more original parts, the characters, the thought, the overflowing kindliness, are largely Steele's creation; while to Addison fell the work of polishing and perfecting the essays, and of adding that touch of humour which made them the most welcome literary visitors that England had ever received."
Steele's papers have sincerity, frankness and genuine autobio­graphical touches. Commenting on the co-authorship of Steele and Addison, Rickett writes: "Addison and Steele were admirably suited as co-craftsmen, for each could give what the other lacked. Steele brought to his work a wide experience of life, generous sympathies, and a sunny humour; Addison brought a wide experience of literature, a polished style, and just a pleasant tang of acidity in his humour. Both were moralists at heart, with much the same outlook on the society of their day. Yet there were sufficient differences in temperament and in gifts to be of real service, in giving breadth and diversity to the work they accomplished."
In the short span of four years in which Addison and Steele worked together the periodical essay was established as one of the most important forms of literature, and the literary magazine won its place as the expression of the social life of the nation.
4. Joseph Addison (1672-1719). Macaulay summed up Addison's greatness as a writer in the following words: "Such a mark of national respect was due to the unsullied statesman, to the accomplished scholar, to the man of pure English eloquence, to the consummate painter of life and manners. It was due, above all, to the great satirist who alone knew how to use ridicule without abusing it, who, without inflicting a wound, effected a great social reform, and who reconciled wit with virtue after a long and disastrous separation, during which wit had been led astray by profligacy and virtue by fanaticism." This remarkable eulogy brings to light the memorable contribution of Addison to life and literature. He was a great social critic and reformer who brought about a revolutionary change in the quality of life in contemporary England through his contributions to The Spectator, a periodical which he founded in collaboration with Sir Richard Steele. Addison's memorable contribution is summed up below:
(i) Social Criticism: In The Spectator Addison appears as a consummate painter of contemporary life and manners. He was, indeed, an informed observer, a judicious critic of manners and characters, Addison aimed at social reformation, at establishing a rational standard of conduct in morals, manners, art and literature. His task was to recover the people out of that desperate state of vice and folly into which the age had fallen. He had brought philosophy "out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea tables and in coffee houses." It was his task "to enliven morality with wit and to temper wit with morality." In order to create a rational standard of conduct he had to influence public opinion. So, Addison's opinion which, in spite of its durable solidity seems, like the great Gothic Cathedrals, to absorb into itself the individuality of the architect."
Addison was the reconciler of hostile parties and the founder of public opinion. Two ideals of conduct guided the Court and the Puritans. The Puritans, averse to all the pleasure of sense, and intolerant of the most harmless of natural instincts, had oppressed the nation with a religious despotism. The nation groaning under the yoke, brought back its banished monarch, but soon was shocked to find sensual pleasure exalted into a worship and impiety into a creed. The two parties—the Court and the Puritans — maintained a truceless conflict of opinion. As a reconciler of parties Addison exposed the excesses of both. This harsh antagonism of sentiment is humorously illustrated by the excellent Sir Roger, who is made to moralise the stupidity of party spirit. He good-humouredly presents the courtiers and sophisticated gentlemen with a grace and charm of manner so that they might understand that true religion was not opposed to good breeding. To this class in particular he addressed his papers "On Devotion", "On Prayer", "On Faith", "On Temporal and External Happiness". On the other hand, he brought his raillery to bear upon the super solemnity of the trading and professional classes, in whom the spirit of Puritanism was most prevalent. It was for the benefit of this class that he wrote his three essays on Cheerfulness, in which the gloom of the Puritan creed is corrected by argument founded on natural religion.
The court after the Restoration was for the moment the sole school for the manners, and the dramatists only reflected on the stage the inverted ideas which were accepted in court as the standard of good breeding. All sentiments founded on reverence for religion or the family, or honourable industry were banished from the drama because they were unacceptable at the court. Addison saw that these unnatural creations of the theatre were the product of the corruption of society, and that it was man, not institutions that needed reform. Addison exposes the ridiculous principle of the fashionable comedy by a simple statement of fact. "Cuckoldom," says Ire, "is the basis of most of our plays ...... Our English writers are frequently severe upon this innocent, happy creature, commonly known by the name of a cuckold, as the ancient comic writers were upon on eating parasite or a vainglorious soldier." Addison's penetrating wit, founded as it was on truth and reason, was appreciated by the fashionable world. Dormant and Sir Fopling Flutter felt ashamed of themselves. The cuckold disappeared from the stage. In society itself marriage no longer appeared ridiculous. Addison remarked: "I am glad to find, in particular, my discourses on marriage have been well received." He corrected the shameless licence and shallowness of restoration manners.
In the field of politics Addison perceived the absurdity of the party system. He regarded it as the parent of hypocrisy and self-deception. The stand of the Spectator was "I never espoused any party with violence, and am resolved to observe an exact neutrality between the Whigs and Tories." Sir Roger De Coverly "often closes his narrative with reflection on the mischief that parties do in the country." The spectator observes: "The influence is very fatal, both to men's morals and to their under­standings; it sinks the virtue of a nation, and not only so, but destroys even commonsense."
Addison also exposed the trifles which engaged the attention of fashionable women. He ironically laughed at the follies and foibles of ladies. Wifely extravagances were rebuked; giggling damsels in church were reproved, the feminine violence in party politics was ridiculed. Addison writes: "The toilet is their great scene of business and the right enjoyment of their hair the principal enjoyment of their lives. ..... This I say is the state of ordinary woman: though I know there are multitudes of those of a more elevated life and conversation that move in an exalted sphere of knowledge and virtue, that join all the beauties of mind to the ornament of dress, and inspire a kind of awe and respect, as well as of love into their male beholders. I hope to increase the number of these by publishing this daily paper ..... and divert the minds of the female readers from greater trifles."
Addison's social criticism contains all the materials for the modern novel of social life.
There is an inherent moral purpose in Addison's social criticism. The purpose of The Spectator was to enliven morality with wit and to temper wit with morality. Macaulay says about Addison: "So effectually did he report on vice and the mockery which had recently been directed against virtue that since his time the open violation of decency has always been considered amongst us a sure mark of a fool." In all things Addison advocated moderation and tolerance, and was the enemy of enthusiasm.
(ii) Addison's Humour and Satire: Addison is a genial humorist. His humour is humane, serene and impartial, and reflects the nobility of his temperament. He had a keen sense of the ludicrous. He knew how to use ridicule without abusing it. He was the gentle satirist "who hit no unfair blow, the kind of judge who castigated only in smiling." Addison good-humouredly exposed only minor lapses and small sins against society. The feeling with which he looked on most of his erring companions was one of benevolence, slightly tinctured with contempt. He had the unique sense of the ludicrous, of awakening that sense in others, and of drawing mirth from incidents which occur everyday, and from little peculiarities of temper and manner, such as we find in every man.
Addison's power of ridiculing keenly without malignity is of course best shown in his character of Sir Roger De Coverly whose delightful simplicity of mind is made the medium of much good-natured satire on the manners of the Tory country gentleman of the period. The mixture of fashionable contempt for book learning blended with shrewd mother-wit is well represented in the character of Will Honeycomb who had the discretion to go out of his depth and had often a certain way of making his real ignorance appear a seeming one. Commenting on Addison's humour Macaulay writes: "The mirth of Addison is consistent with tender compassion for all that is frail, and with profound reverence for all that is sublime. Nothing great, nothing amiable, no moral duty, no doctrine of natural or revealed religion, has ever been associated by Addison with any degrading idea ...... But of Addison, it may be confidently affirmed that he has blackened no man's character, nay, that it would be difficult to find in all volumes which he has left us a single taunt which can be called ungenerous or unkind."
(iii) Addison's Prose Style: "Addison may be said," writes Courthope, "to have almost created and wholly perfected English prose as an instrument for the expression of social thought." He took features of his style from almost all his predecessors. He assumed the character of essayist, moralist, philosopher and critic, but he blended them altogether in his new capacity of journalist. Rickett writes about his style: "If we compare Addison's prose with the prose of Milton or Hooker or Bacon, we shall realise the delightful plasticity, the delightful nuances of mood and fancy for which Addison finds expression.... In The Tatler and The Spectator we have the beginning of that genial intimacy of the writer with the reader, which was to find so rare a following at a later time in Elia, in Hazlitt, and in Thackeray."
Addison's style is noticeable for neatness and lucidity of expression. He represents in this manner "our indispensable eighteenth century". His lucidity is partly due to the absence of profound, difficult or complex thought. Courthope calls it "that perfection of well-bread ease which arises from a complete understanding between author and his audience."
Addison took great care to select words from a rich stock and was careful not to weary his readers by repetition of the same sound. He laboriously polished and balanced his phrases until the rhythm was perfect, and the air of good breeding successfully caught. Addison aimed deliberately at beauty of execution, and treated the pedestrian form with as much respect as though it had been verse. He used homely expressions when they suited his purpose. In grave passages like "The Vision of Mirza" or "The Reflections in Westminster Abbey" his diction is naturally more ornate.
Addison used metaphors to impart clarity to his style. He said: "A noble metaphor when it is placed to an advantage, casts a kind glory round it, and darts a lustre through the whole sentence." A good example of a simple metaphor finely used is "it is very unhappy for a man to be born in such stormy and tempestuous season."
According to Dr. Johnson Addison's prose "is the model of the middle style, on great subjects not formal, on light occasions not grovelling, pure without scrupulosity, and exact without elaborate elaboration, always equable and always easy without glowing words or pointed sentences." His style is never obscure or unmelodious. It was a perfect model of style. Dr. Johnson writes: "Whoever wishes to attain an English style familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison."
Contribution of The Spectator to the Development of Novel
The Spectator has been rightly called the forerunner of novel. There was no novelist in the age of Pope. Richardson, Smollet, Sterne and Fielding, known as the four wheels of novel, were in their infancy. At such a time appeared The Spectator which contains all the elements of social comedy, except a harmonious plot. The material for the novels of manner or the social comedy is found in The Coverly Papers, with the exception of the continuity of scheme. The events are such as occur every day. But "such events can hardly be said to form a plot, yet they are related with such truth, such grace, such wit, such humour, such pathos, such knowledge of the human heart, such knowledge of the ways of the world, that they charm us on the hundredth perusal. We have not least doubt that if Addison had written a novel, on an extensive plan, it would have been superior to any that we possess. As it is, he is entitled, not only as the greatest of English essayists, but as the forerunner of the great English novelist.
Addison and Steele show a sure sense of characterisation in The Spectator, which is essential for the novel. The characters are named and individualised. The character of Sir Roger, which is artistically delineated, is both type and individual. His dominating presence in The Coverly Papers imparts a sort of unity, which became an important element in the eighteenth century novel. Courthope remarks: "Sir Roger De Coverly, with his simplicity, his high sense of honour, and his old world reminiscences, reflects the typical country gentleman of the best kind." Other characters too are nicely portrayed and represent various segments of contemporary society. Will Honeycomb is a middle-aged beau; Sir Andrew Freeport a city merchant; Captain Sentry a soldier; and Mr. Spectator a shy, reticent person, who bears a resemblance to Addison himself.
The Spectator, as we have discussed, contains a vivid and realistic picture of contemporary society in its entirety. Addison and Steele exposed both minor and major lapses in society with a view to reforming it. Social criticism, coupled with moral edification and reform is one of the main elements in the art of novel writing, and we find a consistent and comprehensive criticism of contemporary society for the first time in The Spectator.
According to Raleigh the great novelist must be essentially a humorist,' just as a great romancer must be essentially a poet. The Spectator is suffused with kind and generous humour.
There are many incidents in The Coverly Papers which contain the germs of the future novel. The incidents in the papers entitled "Sir Roger's Ancestors", "On Ghosts and Apparitions" and many others can be cited for the sake of illustration. "No one can read this, or the multitude of scenes in The Spectator as vividly conceived and described without perceiving what a novelist English literature would have in Addison had the times been ripe for the novel." These papers not only trained the taste of the public in the direction of novel, but increased the number also of the public.
Edward Albert remarks: "If Addison had pinned The Coverly Papers together with a stronger plot; if, insisted of only referring to the widow who had stolen the Knight's affections, he had introduced some important female characters, we should have had the first regular novel in our tongue. As it is, this essay series brings us within measurable distance of the genuine eighteenth century novel."
Addison and Steele: A Comparative Study
Addison and Steele were admirably suited as co-craftsmen, for each could give what the other lacked. Rickett writes: "Steele brought to his work a wide experience of life, generous sympathies, and a sunny humour; Addison brought a wide experience of literature, a polished style, and just a pleasant tang of acidity in his humour. Both were moralists at heart, with much the same outlook on the society of their day." Despite many similarities, there were sufficient differences in temperament and literary gifts.
Steele was passionate and full of animal spirits. He was impulsive and given to sensual pleasures. Steele had a vein of romanticism in him. Addison was rational, reserved and dignified, classical and balanced.
Steele was more original and inventive. Without Addison he framed the plan of The Tatler; without Addison, he sketched the outline of the character of Sir Roger De Coverly, and the plan of the Spectator Club. Addison contributed more papers to The Spectator, and they were thought to be of much higher merit. This has created an impression that Addison was superior to Steele. Undoubtedly, he is superior to Steele. Hugh Walker remarks: "He is far more finished Writer, more correct, more scholarly, more subtly humorous. Steele's style is like his life, as Thackeray said, full of faults and careless blunders, and redeemed, like that, by his sweet and compassionate nature." It was Thackeray too who pointed out the great service done by Steele in his reverence for the pieties of the home, his revect for women and his love of children. Here he is certainly a better moralist than Addison. ..... There is such a thing as bare in writing, as well as style, and Steele at his best is as much superior to Addison in the former quality as he is inferior in the later."
Steele's papers are remarkable for frankness which makes them extremely attractive. He is habitually autobiographical. He is doubtless all the more sincere because frequently his self-revelation is unconscious. He also tells the facts of his life and reveals the feelings of his heart. It is startling to find him filling a gap in The Tatler with letters which he had written to his own wife. Addison is reserved and does not tell much about his life.
Summing up the comparative study of Addison and Steele, Edward Albert remarks: "Steele's working alliance with Addison was so close and so constant that the comparison between them is also inevitable. Of the two writers, some critics assert that Steele is worthier. His humour is broader and less restrained than Addison's, with a native, pathetic touch that is reminiscent of Goldsmith. His pathos is more attractive and humane. But Steele's very virtues are only his weaknesses sublimed; they are emotional, not intellectual, of the heart and not of the head. He is incapable of irony, he lacks penetration and power; and much of his moralising is cheap and obvious. He lacks Addison's care and smoothly polite, ironic insight; he is heedless, incautious in style, and inconsequent in method. And so, in the final estimate, as great artist he fails."
5. Other Prose Writers of the Period: John Arbuthnot (1667-1735) is remembered for his political writings, which include the moirs of Martinus Scriblerus (1709); The History of John Bull (1712 or 1Me 713) and The Art of Political Lying. Lord Bolingbroke (1678-1751) wrote on politics and philosophy in an agreeable, lucid and vigorous style. His works include Letter to Sir William Wyndham, A Letter on the Spirit of Patriotism and The Idea of a Patriot King. George Berkeley (1685-1753) wrote with much charm on a diversity of scientific, philosophical and metaphysical subjects. His famous books are The Principles of Human Knowledge, Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous and Akiphron or The Minute Philosopher. He has deftly expressed philosophical ideas in language of literary distinction. Joseph Butler (1692-1752) also belongs to the special literature of philosophy and theology. He is remembered for his Analogy of Religion.
DRAMA
The drama of Pope's age is almost a blank. The days of the brilliant and exotic flower of Restoration comedy were over, and nothing of any merit took its place. Addison's Cato is the only noteworthy work in the field of tragedy. It was an attempt to introduce to the English stage the decorous and rhetorical drama of the French school. Steele's The Constant Lover is so overweighted with ethical purpose as to be, in spite of occasional humour, insipid and dull. Steele's comedy does not amuse, it preaches. So, he became the founder of that highly genteel, didactic and vapid kind of play which is known as Senmental Comedy, and which became popular in the age of Johnson George Lillo (1693-1739) established a "domestic drama" or form of tragedy, the characters and incidents of which were to be taken from common life instead of from romance or history. His famous works are London Merchant and Fatal Curiosity.