Oliver Goldsmith  Neoclassical

Info

- most versatile writer of Johnson circle

- achieved excellence in four important genres: periodical essay, novel, drama (satirical comedy), and formal poem of serious reflection

Works

- The Deserted Village - best known work; melancholic nostalgia

- example of simple English rural life

- Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe - traced decay of literature to dull academics in schools and to decline of literacy patronage by aristocracy

- The Citizen of the World - external, rational perspective from which to satirize English social behavior

- The Vicar of Wakefield

- She Stoops to Conquer - attempts to revive Restoration comedy of manners

Terms

- satirical comedy

- comedy of manners - witty, often licentious satirical comedy popular during reign of Charles II

- sentimental comedy - highly emotionalized and moralized comedy designed to arouse benevolent feelings

-sentimentalism - 18th century reaction against neoclassicism; aim to arouse humane feelings through pathos

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.