The Mature and Late Enlightenment. S. Richardson, H. Fielding, L. Sterne.

                            LITERATURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT(18th century)

  The 17^th century was one of the most stormy periods of English history. The growing tensions between the new bourgeoisie and the old forces of feudalism brought about the English Revolution, or the Civil War, in the 1640—1660s. As a result of the revolution the king was dethroned and beheaded, and England was proclaimed a republic. Though very soon the monarchy was restored, the position of the bourgeosie changed, it obtained more political power.

The 18^th century saw Great Britain rapidly growing into a capitalist country. It was an age of intensive industrial development. New mills and manufactures appeared one after another. Small towns grew into large cities. The industrial revolution began: new machinery was invented that turned Britain into the first capitalist power of the world. While in France the bourgeoisie was just beginning its struggle against feudalism, the English bourgeoisie had already become part of the ruling class. The 18^th century was also remarkable for the development of science and culture. Isaac Newton's discoveries in the field of physics, Adam Smith's economic theories, the philosophical ideas of Hobbes, Locke and others enriched the materialistic thought and sowed in people's minds a belief in man's intellectual powers. It was in this period that English painting began to develop too: portrait painting reached its peak in the works of William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds as well as Thomas Gainsborough, who was equally good at landscape and portraits. In spite of the progress of industry and culture in England, the majority of the people were still very ignorant. One of the most important problems that faced the country was that of education.

The 17^th and 18^th centuries are known in the history of European culture as the period of Enlightenment. The Enlighteners defended the interests of the common people — craftsmen, tradesmen and peasants. Their criticism was directed against social inequality and religious hypocrisy as well as the immorality of the aristocracy. The central philosophical problem of the Enlightenment was that of man and his nature. The Enlighteners believed in reason as well as in man's inborn goodness. They rejected the religious idea of the original sin. Vice, they thought, was due to the miserable conditions of life which could be changed by means of reason. They also believed in the great educational power of art and considered it their duty to enlighten people, to help them see the roots of evil and the means of social reform.

The English Enlighteners were not unanimous in their views. Some of them spoke in defence of the existing order, considering that a few reforms were enough to improve it. They were the moderates, represented in literature by Daniel Defoe, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele and Samuel Richardson. Others, the radicals, wanted more democracy in the running of the country. They defended the interests of the exploited masses. The most outstanding representatives of the radicals were Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard B. Sheridan.

In the period of Enlightenment the poetic forms of the Renaissance were replaced by prose. The didactic novel was born and became the leading genre of the period. Ordinary people, mostly representatives of the middle class, became the heroes of these novels. The characters, either good or bad, were accordingly, either rewarded or punished at the end of the novel. By these means the Enlighteners idealistically hoped to improve the morals of the people and of society in general.

The Enlightenment epoch in English literature may be divided into three periods:

I. Early Enlightenment (1688—1740). This period saw a flowering of journalism, which played an important part in the public life of the country. Numerous journals and newspapers which came into being at the beginning of the 18^th century not only acquainted their readers with the situation at home and abroad,
but also helped to shape people's views. Most popular were the satirical journals The Taller, The Spectator, and The Englishman edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. In their essays — short compositions in prose — these two writers touched on various problems of political, social and family life. The essays paved the way for the realistic novel which was brought into English literature by Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift.

This period also saw the work of an outstanding satirical poet Alexander Pope. His poems The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad and others were written in a classical manner, that is, they imitated the style of ancient Greek and Roman poets and were characterized by clarity and precision.

II. Mature Enlightenment (1740—1750).

The didactic social novel was born in this period. It was represented by the works of such writers as Samuel Richardson (Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded; Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady), Henry Fielding (The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling and other novels), and Tobias Smollett (The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker and other novels). Henry Fielding's works were the summit of the English Enlightenment prose. In The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling the hero, a charming, cheerful, kind-hearted man, has a number of adventures and meets with a lot of people from all walks of life. The novel is set in a poor country house, in an aristocratic mansion, in an inn, in a court-room, in a prison and in the London streets. This composition of the novel enabled the author to give an all-embracing picture of the 18 century England, to write "a comic epopee", as Fielding himself called his novel.

He also elaborated a theory of the novel. In the introductory chapters to the eighteen parts of The History of Tom Jones he put forward the main requirements of a novel: to imitate life, to show the variety of human nature, to expose the causes of man's vices and to indicate ways of overcoming them.

III. Late Enlightenment (Sentimentalism) (1750—1790).
The writers of this period, like the Enlighteners of the first two, expressed the democratic bourgeois tendencies of their time. They also tried to find a way out of the difficulties of the existing order. However, while their predecessors believed in the force of intellect, they considered feelings (or sentiments) most important. The principal representatives of sentimentalism in the genre of the novel were Oliver Goldsmith (The Vicar of Wakefield) and Lawrence Sterne (Tristram Shandy, The Sentimental Journey) and in drama — Richard Sheridan (School for Scandal and other plays). The poetry of Robert Bums belongs to this period, too.

                             LITERATURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT

The epoch of the 18th century is usually called the epoch of Enlightenment. It means that the writers, philosophers, etc. Wanted to enlighten people, so they did their best to educate them. The writers and philosophers showed the vices of society and gave the ideal to be followed. The Enlightenment was the time when the novel as a genre was bom. Adventure, satirical, family novels became the most popular genre of the time. The most famous novelists of that time are the following ones: Daniel Defoe (1660-1731); Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Samuel Richardson (1689 1761): Henry Fielding (1707-1754); Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) and others.Daniel Defoe is considered to be the father of the English realistic novel. He wrote mainly adventure, picaresque novels. Jonathan Swift is a famous satirist, whose traditions of satirical writing were followed by a great number of writers all over the world.

Samuel Richardson is considered to be the creator of the family psychological novel. Among his most famous novels are the following ones: "Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded (1740) - this book was written when the author was already 50 years old. The novel was written in the form of letters which were printed one after the other. When the letters began to appear the ladies of the time were excited. They did not need the old stories about far-away princesses: they could read about the feelings of an English girl, Pamela Andrews. It is a simple stop of a good girl who receives the rewards of virtue. As the novel came out in letters (supposed to be from Pamela), the ladies could try to persuade Richardson to let Pamela do what they wanted ("Oh, Mr. Richardson, please, don't let her die" and so on.). This story tells about Pamela who was a maid. Her master wanted to seduce her but she did not yield. As a result, the master fell in love with her and proposed to her. So here is the reward for her virtue. "Clarissa: or the History of a Young Lady" (1747-1748) - Ais novel is Richardson best one This book is often called the first tragic novel. This is a story of a young iady. Clarissa Harlowe, whose severe father wants to marry her against her will. So she decides to elope with her beloved. Lovelace. But then Lovelace betrays her and after all she dies an early death

This novel is almost eight times longer than an ordinary modem novel. But the book was widely read in England and abroad in Richardson's days. Both the novels, "Pamela" and "Clarissa" are written in the epistle form.

Henry Fielding is the father of the English social novel. "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" (1749) is considered to be Fielding's best work. This is a social and family novel and gives a broad panorama of the life at that time. It is a combination of the traditional picaresque novel and many innovations (such as the first person narration, etc.). Tom Jones is a boy, found at the house of Mr. Allworthy. He is brought up there with love and kindness. Then he falls in love with the beautiful Sophia, the daughter of Squire Western. He does several other things that Mr. Allworthy does not like and as a result he is driven out of the house. In London Tom has manv various adventures and finally he meets Sophia there. So all ends well.

Laurence Sterne is considered to be the father of the European sentimentahsm. Besides sometimes Steme was a parodist on the novels of other enlightenmenters. "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. Gentleman" (1760-1767) – this a very eccentric novel with long or short chapters, chapters written in English, French and Latin, with dots instead of words in the chapters, and with the main character only 5 years old at the end of the novel The book contains many funny personages. The plot of the novel is inconsistent. "A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, by Mr. Yorick" (1768) - this was a novel that introduced some novelty into literature: here Mr. Yorick's feelings and thoughts are dealt with. It was a step towards psychology. And in a way Steme anticipated the literature of the beginning of the 20th century with its modernism and the stream of conscience technique modernists had.