Why is the 18th century considered the dullest period of English literature? Why do so many people who are otherwise intelligent and learned get filtered so hard by its great works?

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Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:33:07 2020 No.16645065 [Reply] [Original]

Why is the 18th century considered the dullest period of English literature? Why do so many people who are otherwise intelligent and learned get filtered so hard by its great works?

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:34:52 2020 No.16645076 >>16645065 Cause sensibility novels suck ass

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:37:36 2020 No.16645090

It is a great period that is unfortunately overshadowed by the Romantics. The vitality of Romanticism and the allure of the personalities involved is much easier to sell to young people than the very political and satirical productions of Swift, Pope and Sterne.

Sterne should be introduced to High School students, they would love him if sufficiently explained.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:39:38 2020 No.16645104 Because satire is trash

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:41:01 2020 No.16645109 >>16645065 how do I into 18th century lit? every time I try I get filtered by the vocabulary and syntax : (

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:45:40 2020 No.16645131 >>16645109 Gulliver's Travels.

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:48:17 2020 No.16645146
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>>16645109
Gulliver's Travels is a good first pick, as the satire is pretty broadly accessible to the modern reader and the language itself shouldn't be too challenging (relatively speaking). Pope is good too for poetry- the Rape of the Lock is fun and not as dense as his other stuff. I also highly recommend Boswell's Life of Johnson, even though it isn't fiction. It gives you great insight into the world of the 18th century- the politics, culture, literature, and some of the personalities, which I think makes reading everything else much easier and more fun (this applies to the Romantics, too, who are strongly influenced by and to some degree rebelling against the influence of men like Johnson). It's quite long, though, so you may want to read some abridged version if you aren't sure if you'll enjoy it.

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 15:48:24 2020 No.16645148

>>16645104
Satire is an ever present feature of art. Anything that represents it's material with an implicit or explicit opportunity for laughter is approaching satire. Even the most stony writers approach it occasionally. You may as well object to depictions of scenes in kitchens.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 18:21:19 2020 No.16646175 >>16645076 Kys faggot.

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/lit/ - Literature