UNDERSTANDING THE LITERARY PATTERNS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND

Himanshi 0017 Miranda House University Of Delhi

Thus god and nature fixed the general frame And bade self love and social be the same

The understanding of eighteenth century in literature is different from the understanding attained by us as young students of history, sociology or political science. Before attempting to understand the literary patterns in the Eighteenth century, we must first attempt to comprehend the idea of Literature as it emerged and prevailed in the mentioned period. Each century, or Age in Literature, is thought to be governed by a pattern of thoughts, ideologies and norms which develop due to the social, political and to an extent, the geographical patterns of the area in focus. When we focus on England, it is quite interesting to note that the ideologies, norms and thoughts of the demagogue change or alter after every hundred years. However, it would not be justified if we compartmentalize and allocate some particular genres to a time period. Thus, we must focus on everything-from the end to the start- to understand and know why a particular period was producing what it was producing. Literature developed as a way of expression of the self only during the age of the Romantics who propagated the idea of knowing oneself. The contemporary perception of literature as the outlet of emotions, desires and wishes often suppressed or unexpressed arose towards the end of the eighteenth century with a section of poets who came to be known as Pre Romantics who shall be discussed later in the course of the paper. This idea became the definition only later- when the individual tried to distance himself from the harsh realities offered by the society around him and instead, attempted to move inwards. As is noted by Terry Eagleton in his essay The Rise of English, the eighteenth century literature was a body of valued writing which was primarily governed by ideology, social structures and political motives. In other words, a piece of writing which adhered to the demands of the upper, privileged class was counted as literature while a street ballad, folk song or a womans writing was considered to be junk or grub street writing. Literature was not seen as a source of pleasure. Rather, a written piece had to be an upholder of social values, ideologies and sometimes, also didactic in order to chastise, ridicule, criticise or praise certain aspects of social existence. This can be one of the main reasons as to why the eighteenth century Literary Canon mainly consists of satirists, preachers or poets who concerned themselves not with the

individual but with the whole social structure in which they existed. However, we, as scholars, must take into account the parallel experiments which were happening with pen and paper within the domestic and the public realm. Pen and paper became the swords of the marginalised. Though the institutions of the class based system of governance and patriarchal setup of the society prevented these writings from acquiring any special preference with the demagogue, they continued to prevail and subtly question the authority exercised by the canon over the people- the mass. The eighteenth century has often been seen as an Age of Revolution. This characterisation is justified to an extent because it is during this period of time that people actually sought to break out from the confines of the imposed social boundaries. America and France were witnessing the growth of the middle class which overthrew the colonialist and feudal regimes, thus creating an environment of change, rebellion and mutiny. In Britain too, a wide occurrence of militant protests by middle class were reported as a protest against the brutal power of the English government. Alongside, the proliferation of coffee houses gave a chance to the emerging writers, women and the daily workers to come up and debate on the political policies, social practices or to simply talk and share their own thoughts. This transgression of the private into the public revolutionised not only the literary scene of the period, it also brought about a change in the way an individual positioned himherself in the larger political, social and intellectual circles. During the Renaissance, the I came into focus. It is only in the eighteenth century that this I found expression and voice. Also, the I no more remained only the bourgeoisie or the aristocracy. The housewife, the industrial worker, who were otherwise marginalised, now began to write, interact, think, debate and also, dream of bringing about a change. Writing and reading shifted from being a simple activity for refreshment and pleasure to a serious business with invention of the printing press. The spread of books allowed the masses to abolish or abandon the traditional controls on personnel. By the end of the century, printing and writing became a distinct activity- pursue out of interest as well as commercial motives. This proliferation of printing units led to an emergence of a culture which encouraged literary scholarship and acknowledgment of the prowess of the written word. The Eighteenth Century has always been considered a long century when we analyse it within the framework of literature. Literary scholars have argued that this period actually begins in 1688 and ends in 1789, the year of French

Revolution. The period between these two years is often considered for close study of literary patterns which followed Renaissance. The reason for such choice of years can be attributed to the political movements which marked the years mentioned here. In 1688, the parliament of James II was deposed. The accession of throne by William, a protestant, made it difficult for Catholics to survive in that social setup. The supporters of the deposed king were crushed by force of arms in Scotland in 1689 after which James tried to establish a standing army. This marked the beginning of an era of Anglican orthodoxy and authoritarianism which, in turn, created a deep chasm between the Catholics and Protestants. On the other hand, Britain entered a series of disputes which were both within and outside the geographical boundaries. In 1688, Britain became a part of the Nine Years War which was then followed by its participation in the war of Spanish Succession in 1702. These wars had a huge impact upon the economic system of the country. Due to major involvement of the country in wars, capital as well as resources were utilised in huge amounts causing a shift in the primary nature of the economic system of Britain. This era witnessed the transition of the country from an agrarian mode of sustenance to a commercial, industrial and utilitarianism economy. In order to accumulate resources to sustain it, the empire funded expeditions in search of lands. The onset of the process of colonisation and imperialism led to emergence of Britain as the centre of economic growth, technological advancement and religious authority. The sudden rise in monetary gains by the empire encouraged many wealthy businessmen to invest their money and fund expeditions to the unknown lands. The growing commercialism received a fatal blow in 1720 with The South Sea Bubble which acted as the culmination of intense and inflated commercialism. The South Sea Company (1711) was an initiative by the Tory ministers of Queen Annes reign as an alternative to the Whig banks. This enterprise attracted huge investments from people, with its shares rising to ten times their value. However, in 17220, the bubble burst and the country was thrown into an absolute crisis. The economy turned upside down and Robert Walpole came into power. His policies uplifted the drowning economy. In 1720, Britain got its first prime minister which came to be seen as a moment of end of the monarchy and onset of the parliamentarian regime. It is important to note here that these political events cant be absolutely isolated from the individual. Such political events made it impossible for the common man to find solace in dissociation. Hence, Literature became one of the few enclaves where the fragmented individuals could celebrate their

creative values, alienate them self from History, refuse to accept it altogether and come up with an alternative ideology, political force to challenge the rational and empirical sensibility. The writer was driven back into the solitariness of the creative mind and the only escape which seemed possible was the reversal of the current state to attain a stage of utopia. In attaining this sense of reversal, individuals resorted to pen and paper instead of administrative offices, thus infusing power in the written word. The seventeenth century interested itself by talking about Religion and the individual. The notions of reason, nature and order were epitomized in Art. Art, henceforth, became a medium of political expression and social change and debate. In terms of form, metrical arrangements were used to portray the reality as well as critique it. Since Art now assumed a greater social and moral purpose, it was also seen as a mode f earning quick money and enjoying favours from the rich and the powerful. Samuel Johnson, for instance, never cleared his political stand. His poems consist of critique and applause for both the conservatives and the Whigs. The coming of print culture further encouraged commercialisation of Art which, in turn, allowed the common people to know, read and think. Art, henceforth, became a tool for maintaining order in the society. The writer of the eighteenth century had to choose his political preference or remain available to both sides. Many writers chose the latter. Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith and Horace Walpole were some of the poets who were known for their ambiguous stands and fluctuating loyalties. The writers were often paid to compose ballads and verses in honour of the patrons. Writers often used heroic couplet, sonnets, ballads, blank verses and also, rhyming pairs of pentameter lines with iambic rhythm to articulate their opinions which were decided by their wealthy patrons. Such a wide variety of genres allow us to term the century as an Age of Expression in Verse. The Eighteenth Century verse can be understood by segregating the written pieces according to their themes, writing styles, genres and sub-genres. The first phase The Age of Satire- can be seen as an amalgamation of the literary cultures of the seventeenth and the eighteenth century. This phase can be considered as that phase of transition where one can notice traces of change along with a constant attempt to retain the glorious past. Poets such as Dryden and Pope belong to this age. Often, the poets of this period looked back to the Classics- Juvenal, Virgil and other Greek Poets who defined Satire and Epic poetry. The constant attempt to invoke the memory of the Golden

Age of Augustus points towards the pertinent sense of disagreement of these poets. The countryside, the urban space, the market place and the domestic sphere now became the degenerate and decadent spaces and no more remained the perfect space for an individual. The poems of this period were governed by a strong sense of scorn, anger and mockery. Some of the poems of the period, like Drydens MacFlecknoe and Alexander Popes The Rape of The Lock today stand as the representatives of the sense of disdain held by the old towards the new or the Emerging. This tussle between the glorious past and the modern present penetrated the literary ideology and one can notice the harsh criticism of the emerging townships and the decadence brought thereafter. According to Middleton Murry, true satire implies condemnation of society by reference to an ideal. The subject for a satirist was often the man who pretended, appeared or even believed himself to be pious or rich or a person of high position while actually being an interloper. Locke described a character in satire as someone whose main aim is to attract the primary attention of his readers to the moral consequences and value of his actions. In a satire, the writer focussed on the moment of the action and the impact of that action upon the individual and the society. For instance, in Gullivers Travels, though the book traces the journey of the protagonist through various lands, Swift does not make an attempt to acquaint his readers with the psychic growth of the character nor are we taken into the recesses of the mind. We, as readers, find ourselves at a safe distance from the interior of the character. Instead, we see how his experiences alter his behaviour with his family and friends. Gulliver isolates himself from his family and peer group after his return from the Huonyhmhmh land. We see his social position changing, his relationships changing but are not allowed to delve into the deeper caverns of his mind and existence. The Age of Satire acted as a foundation for the speculative, introspecting and the solitary individual, who possibly felt alienated and disconnected from the society. Satire aimed to juxtapose the ideal and the flawed in order to critique moral degeneration and decadence. The constant emphasis on the follies of the mankind by the philosophers, preachers and administrators of the eighteenth century gave birth to a generation of people who had a dismal take on the present. The city space emerged as a problematic sphere where ambitions, pride and the commercial motives of the people shadowed the feeling of solidarity and companionship shared by their ancestors. Literary scholars have often christened this phase as the Pre-Romantic Phase. This name, obviously, emerged later, after the literary wave of Romanticism had enamoured England

with its aim to establish a world outside the boundaries of commercial and industrial manoeuvres of the new age. The Pre-Romantics were governed by a sense of alienation, often arising out of melancholy and solitude. There was a fall in the use of Satire as a mode of expression for the sense of disconnection felt by the poets. The aim was to move from the outside towards the peace resting within the self. However, it was very difficult to isolate oneself from any kind of political association. For instance, though Thomas Gray was a recluse by choice Melancholy marked him for her own- it was very difficult for him to stay out of the limelight and not be approached for writing elegies or odes for patrons and the aristocrats. The extensive commercialisation put an impetus upon these poets to retreat towards the countryside and an increasing interest in the lifestyle, problems, festivities and the culture of the countryside. The rural became the new locale, followed by an emergence f the school of writing which dealt with the introspective, thinking and the brooding side of the man who found solace in the lap of nature. The idea of evoking the memory of nature fascinated the imagination of the eighteenth century man who now felt the urge to break away from the traditions imposed upon him by the conventions of the society, the interest of the aristocracy and the compelling needs of existence. The nascent idea of finding companion in the comforting silence of the nature became one of the major ideas of the Romantic poetry. The concept of nature being the ultimate consolation and companion that emerged during the period which came to be rightly known as PreRomantic poetry, thus became one of the starting point for the romantic movement which aimed to explore the beauty as well as the sublimate aspect of nature. It becomes imperative to observe that verse was the preferred choice of the eighteenth century writer, publisher, reader and a critic. Novels or prose had not emerged as a possible genre where one could combine aesthetics and opinions without involving any kind of obscenity. Samuel Johnson was quite vocal about his dislike for the novel: They(Novels) are the entertainment of minds unfurnished with ideas and therefore easily susceptible of impressions. Also, it would be quite unjustified to limit the understanding of literature of the eighteenth century to just the politically inspired poems and ballads. The age also saw the interest of the emerging writers in erotica. For instance, John Clelands Memories of A Woman of Pleasure(1749) actually talks about the sexual desires of a woman- in public. The title of the book is also suggestive of the

fact that the conventional silence maintained by the society over the issue of a womans sexuality was now diminishing. However, the silence so broken was not an initiative of a woman herself- giving rise to the element of subjectivity that ought to have governed the narrative. Nevertheless, the book definitely opened up the avenue for discussion on something previously forbidden. Gradually, the period of unromantic and plausible fictions supported the oriental tales, thus widening the sphere of interest as well as the vision of the European reader who had till now just read about the difficult life led in the Oriental lands. Eventually, Novel came to be associated with the deep caverns of the mind, the development of the character and the exploration psychological and emotional aspect of human existence. The genre of novel led to a creation of a generation of heroes who found paradise by pitting themselves against the vices of the mankind. The whole idea of a man against the barbaric mankind was influenced and governed by certain philosophies of the time which attempted to understand, predict and explore the personality of the mankind, the prospect of improvement and the relation between the sublimate aspect of nature and the gullible nature of the man. Locke, Hobbes, Newton, Rousseau and Earl of Shaftesbury were some of the famous scholars who attempted to expand the area of study of philosopher as well as the artist when it came to Man as the subject. Newtons discovery of Gravity revolutionised the domain of not only physics but also how science became an internal part of religion. Science did not emerge as the force against nature but as a tool to understand its mystery. Scholars like Hobbes and Rousseau came up with two different theories about the primary nature of man. Rousseau saw the theory of innate sin as a doctrine to justify tyranny and cynicism. He argued that vices should be cured instead of being thought upon. He blamed the wide chasm between the common man and the learned for breaking the order of the society. He saw society as an organic whole. He laid emphasis upon academics and how the coming together of arts and science can be a source of luxury and effeminacy. He further propagated the idea by saying that the academics and the universities were responsible for general human welfare and promotion of virtue. He also argued that man trust the Voice of Within more than the false leadership of intelligentsia. Hobbes, on the other hand, understood man as a wolfish creature who is tamed by the rigid social hierarchy of authoritarian government. In Jonathan Swifts Gulliver Travels, the voice of the author criticizes, opposes and pits itself against the voice of the narrator which becomes the representative of the entire mankind. The journey of the protagonist in the novel can be understood as the eventual journey taken

by a human in his life- from ignorance to realisation. The knowledge of ones own self , then becomes the final destination which a human wishes to achieve. Gulliver, for instance, in the beginning of the book, comes across as a manipulative character with a high sense of arrogance and pride regarding his country and his own self. However, by the end of the book, in his encounter with the Huoynhnms, he comes face to face with the savage nature of the ma, personified in the novel as Yahoos. The striking resemblance between Gulliver and the Yahoos succeeds in bringing Gulliver closer to his basic nature as a man- the animal. The text, in itself, is heavily loaded with the Hobbsian idea of human existence. The fact that Gulliver isolates himself, turns into a misanthrope and by the end of the novel, becomes an image of a maniac who cannot make sense of this world shows that Gulliver is given no chance to amend himself or improve upon his vices. Rather, he is banished by the autonomous author into permanent isolation. The authorial voice, then, transforms into a warning for the reader- should he become proud and be possessed by vices of any kind, he should be condemned to eternal isolation and abandonment. The Rousseautic understanding of mankind was adopted later by the Romantics, who aimed to redeem the man from his sins by seeking refuge in nature. The whole idea to understand the mankind became a serious pre-occupation of the eighteenth century. The scholars attempted to understand the relationship that lay between the man and the social structures, man and beauty and man and his own mind. The philosophies so propagated continued to influence the writings of the time- from pamphlets to novels to poetry. The Eighteenth century, is in its own way, a very marvellous age. It is almost the beginning point for the studies in understanding the mankind along with being an age where reason was not evil and God was not just one. Adam was the new God- who wrote his own story. It is this nascent individualism which catapulted into something greater in the nineteenth and the twentieth century. The coming of the new age could not erode the solid foundation of interrogating behaviour of the eighteenth century man in England. Thus, the eighteenth century can be taken to be the age of sensibility, reason, questioning, science and beauty all in one.