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Methodized Art: Neoclassical Theory and Formal Verse Satire
Abstract
No direct connection has been made in recent critical works on eighteenth-century literature between the dominant literary tendency of the age and one of the most important and popular genres of eighteenth-century poetic practice—formal verse satire. The present study is an attempt to establish this correlation between eighteenth-century literary theory and practice. The purpose of this dissertation, then, is two-fold: to isolate and identify those particular aspects of neoclassical critical theory that influenced the writing of formal verse satire in the eighteenth century, and, to analyze certain select verse satires that are both important and representative of the literary, and particularly, poetic practice of the age. The present study, therefore, involves three aspects: an analysis of specific rules of neoclassical criticism, such as the emphasis on "didacticism" and "decorum," and interpretation of key terms such as "nature," "wit," "imitation"; the application of these rules to select verse satires written in the classical tradition from Rochester to Byron (in whom, it is suggested, the waning influence of Augustan satiric technique could be found), and, finally, an evaluation of the eighteenth-century satiric tradition in light of contemporary poetic theory. Accordingly, the Introduction establishes and analyzes the connection between specific tenets of neoclassical criticism and their interpretation and incorporation by Dryden in his Discourse on Satire. The subsequent chapters on Rochester, Dryden, Pope, Johnson and Byron evaluate their respective satires in light of both classical satiric technique--such as the "praise-and-blame" bipartite structure and the role of the satirist--and the influence of neoclassical poetics on these satires. The conclusion summarizes the introductory material and the analyses of the respective satires to suggest that the hitherto overlooked link between neoclassical poetic theory and practice of formal verse satire in the eighteenth century is more than tenuous; that, in fact, these satirists were consciously incorporating some of the tenets of prevailing poetic theory into the classical satiric tradition to write what Dryden in his Discourse calls "modern" satires.
Subject Area
British and Irish literature
Recommended Citation
Krishnan, R. S, "Methodized Art: Neoclassical Theory and Formal Verse Satire" (1981). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8124515.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8124515