JOHNSON AND JANE AUSTEN

THE AGE OF JOHNSON AND FIELDING (1740-1780) – The 18^th century is an age of great prose.  For nearly 50 years after the death of Pope, Johnson was the dominant figure in the literary life of the day. Poetry was in the second place in this century. In the closing years; a change took place in the character of its verse that gradually became more and more pronounced and finally led to the splendid outburst of romantic poetry at the dawn of the new century.

The 18^th century produced many number of Great novelists like Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Tobias George Smollett, Laurence Sterne etc. Letter and Memoir writers also flourished.  Along with novelist, historians too evolved in this Century. The art of the historians and the art of novelist are closely related. In both the cases a faculty for story –telling and a sense of characterisation are of high importance. The rise of women novelist is also in the list of credits to this century. From Aphra Behn to Jane Austen it is full of fresh ideas and mild characters of feminine Genius.

The Age that gave us the first dictionary, A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, written by Samuel Johnson and published on April 15 1755, is the influential dictionaries in the history of the English Language.

Richardson introduced sentimentality into English Fiction and popularised it for ever.  He is not only the first novelist of character but also the first novelist of feminine character. The novel Pamela is considered to begin the first great flowering to the English Novel.

In this 18^th century Jane Austen played a significant role in popularising the idea that readers could be interested in the everyday lives and emotions of characters who were not experiencing anything out of the ordinary.

 Arnold, said “the age of prose and reason, our excellent and indispensable 18^th Century.”

  (PROMPT: MY FAVOURITE ERA OF LITERATURE)

 (This blog post is prepared for Blog chatters Half- marathon August 2021)