Essay Sample on Neoclassical Conventions

Introduction

Neoclassical drama is a concept of drama that mainly originated through the writings of about 15th century where Italian scholars dominated the stage during the 17th and the 18th centuries. Besides, France neoclassical theorists played a critical role in the return of new values in literature and conventions developed from classical Greek drama. The main aspect of these developments was the significance of the Poetics of Aristotle. However, the period indicated an important connection of historical developments especially from other periods such as a medieval and classical period. In this regard, the authors during this new era borrowed numerous artistic styles and features from the older generation of classical, renaissance, and medieval drama. Some of the writers as well as artisans during this period included Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and John Dryden who were particularly influenced by the classical period. In this regard, it is important to analyze how the neoclassical writers were influenced by the older generation of classical, renaissance, and medieval drama by using illustrations from Moliere's The Misanthrope and Aphra Behn's The Rover.

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Firstly, the neoclassical period writers advocated for the classical Greek drama, which was common during the earlier ancient times especially in the classical period. The authors ascribed the writings to the traditional developments by Aristotle. For example, Dryden championed the classical principles during this period to inspire the writings. In this regard, the law of writing was redefined to the lively imitation of nature. This is demonstrated by Moliere's in his writings especially The Misanthrope where he shows the need for the comedic career for the rhythmic lines (Moliere and Laun 10). In this regard, the manner in which he developed his plays showed evolution by adapting the commedia dell' arte techniques that were used in the classical and medieval periods. Moliere was inspired by developed and he believed that there was a need to analyze the developments by creating a new need for the new generation. In this regard, although the drama he created together with other neoclassical period actors show new classics and art, they embraced ancient societies and culture.

Artists in the neoclassical period also employed the use of a regular structure such as the use of enjambment while making unexpected rhyming which was common during the Renaissance period. It should be noted that it is the regular structure and the additional mimics that made the developments of this period to last before the decline following the introduction of the novels. However, writers like Moliere made use of the moralistic and mock-epics in the drama which borrowed from the Homer's The Odyssey and The Illiad. It should be noted that playlists deployed the French language in the cultural development during this period which played a critical role in the evaluation of neoclassical plays. As demonstrated in the Moliere's The Misanthrope, the play starts auspiciously showing a high typical satiric mode of the dramatic representation that was common in France in the earlier periods. In this regard, it is certain to indicate that neoclassical writers were immensely influenced by the traditional theatre of classical, medieval, and renaissance period.

Aprah Benhs the rover includes aspects which shows the aspects of classical, medieval and renaissance drama which were present in the 17th century. One of such an aspect is the feature where the bodies look active and move convincingly, a feature which is found in the classical period. In classical drama, the characters perform their scenes with great vigor and exhibit a convincing movement. For example, in scene one, Florinda is seen acting with great vigor as she explains to Hellena of her love to Belvile. Another aspect in the rover is the use of full clothes; an aspect applied in the medieval art. In most cases, the characters in this play are seen wearing full clothes which cover their bodies from neck to the toes. This is evident by looking at the clothing exhibited by Florinda and Hellena in scene one. The clothes represent the ethics at this period where the society subjected the people to dress decently, and nudity was not tolerated. Also, the use of staging which assumes a street nature shows the aspects of medieval drama in this play. At this time, the stage was set in the streets, and this set had a disadvantage as it limited the movement of characters. In this case, the scenes were made short as they accommodated few people on stage. Such disadvantages led to the development of renaissance theatres.

From the play the rover, it is evident that the play assumes a presentational theatre. In this case, it does not display the notion that the audience is not in a real theatre. Most of the modern theatres try to include special features such as the lighting which tries to set a perfect stage tricking the audience to thinking that the drama is being performed in a real environment. However, this play uses minimal features and does not strive to achieve perfection as seen in modern plays. Another feature which shows the aspects of classical drama is the use of fewer than three actors in the stage. It should be noted that the plays incorporated large actor movements during the plays. In this case, the performers were presented with a large space to display their actions without any hindrance. In the play the rover, most of the scenes have a maximum of three actors who exit after the scene to give room for the actors in the next scene.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the neoclassical writers and artists demonstrate characteristics of drama that embraced from the traditional periods and traditional theatre of classical, medieval, and renaissance period. This is demonstrated particularly by Moliere's The Misanthrope and Aphra Behn's The Rover in their writings that show the inspiration of works by Aristotle and Homer among other ancient Greek writers. A neoclassical period dominated in the 18th century but the authors showed inspiration from the earlier periods to develop a decorum as well as a rigorous adherence to the classical unities. As noted in the analysis, the classicism of these artworks showed a philosophy of order, balance as well as simplicity which was borrowed from the Greek traditions before the inspiration to the English, Roman, and French classical movements. In this regard, it can be noted that the neoclassical period demonstrated the classics of Rome and Greek to the development of French theatre which needed drastic reforms. Ideas such as verisimilitude although having been established and affirmed during this period, they were particularly inspired by the classical movement arts. Various authors were even attacked for failing to showcase their neoclassical demonstration which made them adopt measures from the traditional periods to make the required literary figures.

Works Cited

Behn, Aphra, and Anne Russell. The Rover, Or, the Banished Cavaliers. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press, 2000. Print.

Moliere, and Laun H. Van. The Misanthrope. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.