Flocking from the Neoclassical Period to The Romantic Era

On the fly the class, we’ve covered in brief the key concept of Romanticism : Nature and the motor of the previous era, Neoclassical: Reason. What sparked my interest in doing some research on the transition from the Neoclassical Period to the Romantic Era was the need of understanding what triggered this reshape in poetry and art in general and also the differences between them. As to do so, I analyzed in depth the values, inspiration, subjects,  the target audience, etc as to have a big picture of the ideas behind both periods and how those sets of beliefs shape and construct poems and novels.

Before Romanticism flourished, Neoclassical literature had its momentum between 1660 and 1785.  The core of art in this time was reason and logic, dealing primarily with human being.  Humans were seen as a vital piece of the ‘’social’’ puzzle. Most of the writers in this era belonged to the upper-class, the aristocracy and their ‘’target audience’’ was people from the same social class. They were conformed with society. Grammar and vocabulary were of paramount importance in the process of writing a Neoclassical  poem or novel.  Furthermore, neoclassical writers praised the classical age. They were greatly influenced by this era, having that period as a vital source of inspiration for their poems or novels. What poets and writers from this era wanted to reflect on their pieces of writing was the values of order and solemnity as well as the moral and inspirational role that art plays in life. 

Another aspect of great importance is that by reading a neoclassical either poem or novel, the reader could see the mind of the character only throughout the ‘’eyes’’ of the poet. To put it into simple words, readers could see the mind of the character through the poet, what the reader grasp is the character and not the poet. In the case of the poems, they were well-structured in terms of stanzas and rhythm.

In marked contrast to the Neoclassical period, Romanticism had its heyday between 1790 and 1830. This era is strikingly different from the Neoclassical, it does not bear any resemblance to the previous period. The foci of romantic writers were self-experience, wildness and emotions , replacing human beings for nature as the subject matter. In stark contrast to the Neoclassical writers who  belonged to the aristocracy , the romantic poet or novelist was a common man and the target audience was common people. Therefore, the language used in the process of writing was simple. Neither grammar nor diction were given special attention. What’s more, the poems and novels from this time do not have a generic structure whatsoever since they were against structured literature, because it limits poetry. What is really important to bear in mind is that Romantic writers were not conformed with the social , political nor the economic background , they were rebels. What they wanted to reflect on their pieces of writing was the values of intuition, emotion and imagination. What is more, the cultivation of imagination started to blossom in this period. It was the cornerstone along with nature of this movement. Imagination is the gateway to the world of what might be. Another paramount aspect of this period is that by reading a romantic novel you could see the mind of the poet,  you could grasp the feelings, the ideas, the emotions behind the poet.

What triggered this transition from a more classical and conservative period, Neoclassical, to the Romantic Era, was that there was a spin on how poets wanted to express and understand the world they live in. Neoclassical writers used the classics as a source of inspiration. they wanted to maintain that heritage, but the Romantic writers did not want to do so. They wanted to branch out from that and find new ways of expressing themselves. Moreover, Neoclassical poets were conformed with the current social background, since they were part of the upper-class, whereas, the romantic poets were common people who were not privileged. My personal point of view  is that this transition was a way of airing the common people's grievances against the system.

‘’Farewell ungrateful traitor’’  by  John Dryden is a very good example of neoclassical literature. You can easily see the aspects aforementioned. In the case of Romantic poetry, i really liked how all the features of this period are presented in Keats’ poem ‘’ La belle Dame Sans Merci’’

Do you think these poems reflect the features of each of the periods? If not, which one would do so?

Can you see other features for each of the periods?

I found this 8-minutes video on youtube about the Neoclassical and Romantic Era. I think is part of a whole :)

Bibliography

Kliger, S. (1950). The Neo-classical view of old english poetry. (U. o. Press, Ed.)

Warren, A. The mask of Pope. 1946: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Bate, W. J. (1946). From Classic to Romantic. (H. U. Cambridge, Ed.)

Wellek, R. The Concept of "Romanticism" in Literary History. I. The Term "Romantic" and Its Derivatives. 1949: University of Oregon.