La Restaurazione, il primo XVIII secolo e la letteratura pre-Romantica

QUESTO PERIODO, A LIVELLO ARTISTICO/LETTERARIO, SI PUO SUDDIVIDERE IN 2:

1) 1660 – 1740 THE PERIOD OF THE RESTORATION

2) 1740- 1785 PRE-ROMANTIC PERIOD

1) RESTORATION AND EARLY XVIIITH CENTURY LITERATURE (1660-1740)

→

Literature = source of pleasure + it has a didactic aim learning + pleasure

The language doesn’t have to be particularly complicated (because it has to teach something! => ideal of “ELENGANT

→

SEMOLICITY” The language must be simple, because it has to transmit messages to the reader, but at the same time

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it must be elegant and soft (no dialects!) => VS 17 century metaphysical concepts. This will be the style of

Wordsworth in particular. He does not like the neoclassic language because it is manneristic. It’s not natural.

→

NEOCLASSICISM the values are those of the Classic period (harmony, balance/stability, order)

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MIMESIS art as representation of external nature, which is an image of human internal nature! The harmony that

men have to reach. →

FIXED GENRE CATEGORIES this idea reflects the stability and precision of this period. Every genre has its own style

and language.

→

WIT/FANCY individual ability to invent images (arguzia, metaphors). Creative use of language.

POETRY → →

UT PICTURA POESIS Horace, “Ars Poetica” => poetry as painting it must allow the reader to see what’s written

(pittura verbale). The most important authors who use this kind of poetry are:

- John Dryden (1631 – 1700) art = instructive + elegant simplicity (elegant, rich but clear)

- Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) the most important exponent of this period of the satiric poem and mock epic

CREATIVE PROSE →

Development of a new genre => THE NOVEL Rise of the bourgeois novel (aspects which involve the middle class)

→ → →

“Oronooko”, Behn hybrid of romance and novel (component romantic/romanzata) we move toward the novel

themes: honor, heroism, all characteristics which are more noble than bourgeois (MA ci stiamo avvicinando a quel tipo).

FACTUAL FICTION => fact & fiction -> ex “Robinson Crusoe”, it speaks about the story of a man (in which almost anyone

could identify) + elements of fiction => ILLUSION OF REALITY (la storia potrebbe essere in qualche modo vera). Ciò che c’è

dietro a questa storia fantastica è un uomo Borghese, che riflette aspetti reali!. CONCRETE LANGUAGE + ILLUSION OF

REALITY! →

First theorisation on fiction Clare Reeve (“The progress of romance through times, countries and manners”). She

distinguished between romance and novel:

a) ROMANCE = heroic fable, which treats of fabulous people and things. Idealization of the hero.

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b) NOVEL = picture of real life illusion of reality, verisimilitude!

Father of the novel = Daniel Defoe:

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- 1 person narratives (ex Robinson)

- Identification hero/heroine – reader (mainly middle-class)

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- Illusion of reality novel = “a perfect lie”

The counterpart => “Gulliver’s travels” by J.Swift => pessimistic vision of the bourgeois world! Allegorical novel : he uses

the allegory to talk about the reality and criticize the bourgeois world. His tought:

- He was against man’s hubris (=desiderio dell’uomo di andare oltre I limiti, cosa che invece Defoe celebra)

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- He criticizes men’s ambitions Gulliver, at the end of his travels, isn’t even able to live with men!

PESSIMISM! Vision of men as primitives.

THEATRE

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1660 Reopening of theatres. They became bigger and more articulated. They also became a place of meeting.

Two main companies prevailed (PATENTED/LICENSED COMPANIES) = Davenant’s and Killiegrew’s.

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Women became actress, also for main parts. Aphra Behn = 1 professional woman playwright.

Genres (all influenced by the French theatre):

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- THE TRAGEDY models= Corneille, Racine. Different types: in blank verse, neoclassical, heroic.

→

- THE COMEDY model = Molière. Different types: comedy of manners, sex comedy, sentimental comedy.

What’s important = the protagonist’s wit.

- HYBRID GENRES:

• Ballad Opera (prose comedy + songs)

• Pantomime

• Farce (very short representation, used as interlude at the beginning or end of a soirée). Impo: Fielding (his

plays contained satiric and critical elements, which do not pleased the government very much).

 1737 LICENSING ACT, by Robert Walpole => reaction to Fielding’s satirical plays. It gives the licence only to 3

theatre:

➢ Licensed/patented theatres (Drury Lane and Covent Garden), the only allowed to perform spoken drama ( =

tragedies ecc..)

➢ Theatre of Haymarket (egli ottiene il permesso per rappresentare il teatro popolare)