Schools and movements

                                                UNIT II
                                    SCHOOLS AND MOVEMENTS
The Age of Johnson (1745-1798)
In the period of Dr. Johnson, profound changes took place in the spirit of English society.
People of age wanted something more natural and spontaneous in thought and language. People
were quickened into fresh activity by the renaissance of the feelings. This was an important fact
in the history of this period of transition. The emotions, long repressed, were reinstated. We see
this in the case of religion. In Pope’s time, contemporary society had been unspiritual. In the
great evangelistic revival led by Wesley and Whitefield, the old formality was swept away and a
mighty tide of spiritual energy poured into the church and among the masses of the people. The
evangelists made their appeal directly to the emotional nature. Handel’s “Messiah” foretold the
coming change. The spread of the humanitarian spirit quickens the rapid growth of democracy.
People were familiar with the notions of liberty, equality and the rights of man. French writer
Rousseau’s slogan ‘Back to Nature’ sent a strange thrill through the whole European World.
There was revolution in literature too. There was a steady triumph of the new. It marked out the
main lines of its evolution.

Dr. Johnson
Johnson was the greatest English man of letters between Pope and Wordsworth. He was
born in Lichfield in 1709. His father was a book seller. He was always sick. He was a pessimist.
He did some translation for a Birmingham publisher. He married a widow twenty years elder to
him. He had a companion by name David Garrick, who was the greatest actor of his time. During
the first few years, he produced The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) and a tragedy called Irene
(1749), About 1090 papers were contributed to ‘ ‘The Idler” (1758 to 1760). The periodical
“Rambler” appeared on Tuesdays and Saturdays. A significant development in the later half of
the 18th century was the creation of the “Magazine”. It was an anthology of interesting and
significant material which had already appeared in recent newspapers and periodicals. One such
magazine was Edward Cave’s monthly “The Gentleman’s Magazine”, ‘The Magazine” was in
course of time more and more devoted to the criticism of books. Dr. Johnson had the scholar’s
pride as well as the scholar’s accuracy. He wanted to say, what he had to say, in the best possible
words. He wanted to convey his meaning exactly and correctly to his readers. An inexact word never escaped. Sincerity became the leading feature of his writing. Dr. Johnson was occupied for
eight years by an immense task “A Dictionary of English Language”. In his dictionary, he not
only defined the words but also illustrate his definitions by quotations taken from the whole
range of English Literature. His work laid foundation for English lexicography, “The Dictionary”
made him independent. He received a pension of £ 300 a year. He became the acknowledged
Dictator. Smollett called him, “The Great charm’ of literature. In his club, he was surrounded by
Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds the great painter, Bukr, Garrick and Boswell. He published his
didactic tale, Rasselas in 1759, an edition of Shakespeare in 1765. He died in 1784 and was
burned in Westminster abbey. Macaulay said, “The memory of other authors is kept alive by
their works but the memory of Johnson keeps many of his works alive. He lives in the pages of
his biography by his hero-worshipping friend, James Boswell. He was great both as a critic of
literature and as a critic of life. “Life”, he declared, “is progress from want to want, not from
enjoyment to enjoyment. Throughout his life he made a most heroic fight against the melancholy
which was the cause of his ill-health. The steady courage of his manhood pervades his work. The
essence of his teaching is that we should face the facts or existence honestly. The Vanity of
Human Wishes and Rassales show that he was saved from utter hopelessness by his strong
religious faith. As a prose writer, Dr. Johnson is known for his “Preface to his Dictionary”. His
style, though vigorous and direct, is too heavy and learned and is called ‘ ‘Johnsonese”. He used
big words which require the mouth of a giant to pronounce them. His works have great strength,
nobility and dignity.

Burke (1729-1797)
Burke was the most important member of Johnson’s circle. He was a member of the
Parliament for thirty years and as such he made his mark as the most forceful and effective orator
of his times. A man of vast knowledge, he was the greatest political philosopher that ever spoke
in the English Parliament. Burke’s chief contributions to literature are the speeches and writings
of his public career. The earliest of them were Thoughts on the Present Discontent (1770). In this
work Burke advocated the principle of limited monarchy which had been established in England
since the Glorious Revolution in 1688, when James II was made to quit the throne, and William
of Orange was invited by the Parliament to become the king of England with limited powers.
When the American colonies revolted against England, and the English government was trying
to suppress that revolt, Burke vehemently advocated the cause of American independence. In that connection he delivered two famous speeches in Parliament. On American Taxation(1774)
and On Conciliation with America, in which are embodied true statesmanship and political
wisdom. The greatest speeches of Burke were, however, delivered in connection with the French
Revolution, which were published as The Reflections on the French Revolution (1790). Here
Burke shows himself as prejudiced against the ideals of the Revolution, and at time he becomes
immoderate and indulges in exaggerations. But from the point of view of style and literary merit
the reflections stand higher, because they brought out the poetry of Burke’s nature. His last
speeches delivered in connection with the impeachment of Warren Hastings for the atrocities he
committed in India, show Burke as the champion of justice and a determined foe of corruption,
highhandedness and cruelty. The political speeches and writings of Burke belong to the sphere of
literature of a high order because of their universality. Though he dealt in them with events
which happened during his day, he gave expression to ideas and impulses which were true not
for one age but for all times. In the second place they occupy an honourable place in English
literature on account of excellence of their style. The prose of Burke is full of fire and
enthusiasm, yet supremely logical; eloquent and yet restrained; fearless and yet orderly; steered
by every popular movement and yet dealing with fundamental principles of politics and
philosophy. Burke’s style, in short, is restrained, philosophical, dignified, obedient to law and
order, free from exaggeration and pedantry as well as from vulgarity and superficiality.

The Revival of Romance
In the revival of romance the letter writer Horace Walpole should be mentioned. He took
up medievalism. He bought a small house or villakin, near Twickenham and transformed it into
a miniature Gothic castle. He installed with great satisfaction his collection of curiosities, art,
treasures and stilts of armour and the statue which bleeds at the nose. Byron called the novel’
‘The first romance in the language”. Clara Reeve’s Old English is a Gothic story. Ann Radiffe
wrote Romance of the Forest. Mathew Gregory Lewis wrote Ambrosio or The Monk. The
novelists, in the age of Johnson, returned to the romantic middle ages.