Was There Fantasy in Classicism?
Now the freedom of writers are limited only by their imagination. But during the era of classicism, authors had to follow certain rules. Of course, it was impossible to clearly define the boundaries of the era, but it is believed that classicism began in the 17th century, and decline — in the first quarter of the 19th century.
The founder of classicism, an artistic style that obeyed the rules of three unities: time, place and action, was considered by the French poet, Fransois de Malerba. The rules also determined the genres: high (tragedy, historical genre) and low (comedy, genre). Mulherbe considered these rules acceptable in order to shorten the duration of the play: now they last no more than a day (in Shakespeare’s plays, the action could take several months), and a limited number of characters allowed the reader to quickly remember the main characters. The requirement for only one place for plot development contributed to the rigor and clarity of the work construction.
Depending on the chosen direction, the author must build the composition of the entire work. Mixing of genres, styles and narrative language was not allowed. As a rule, works of the highest genres (for example, “Felitsa” by Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin) reflect state or historical events, monarchs, generals, aristocrats, as well as gods and heroes of antiquity became the main characters. Lower genres (for example, «Brigadier» by Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin) showed the life of ordinary people.
The goal of classicism was to educate the feelings of nobility within a person. It is based on the principle of rationalism. The authors relied on ancient art. It was considered a good form to represent the interests of the state, not the person, and the goodie should make a choice exclusively in favor of reason.
One of the most famous writers of classicism in Europe was Moliere. His comedy play “Tartuffe“, or “The Deceiver” is still staged in theaters around the world. The playwright raised moral and ethical issues and followed the principle of «teaching while entertaining», so his comedies began to be classified as works of the high genre. “Tartuffe” fulfilled the rules of three unities, which were obligatory for classicism. The events described in the first act took place in the house of Orgon over the course of a day, they narrated the conflict between Mrs. Pernel and her relatives:
Ms. Pernel: But because this whole house is hateful to me And your insolence is no longer strong enough. They don’t put me in a penny, they contradict me every word. Truly, nothing is sacred to them! Everyone is arguing, everyone is yelling, there is no respect in anyone. Yes, this is not a family, but an insane asylum!
Classicism appeared in Russian literature later. Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir, Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky became his founders in Russia. The main conflict in the works occurs between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, and the plot is based on a love triangle. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor” was written in the era of late classicism — in 1781 — and corresponded to the rule of three unities. The actions of the play took place in the village of Prostakovs for two days, the main idea of the work was that it was necessary to properly educate the young generation, teach them to work and constantly improve, so as not to be like Mitrofanushka. The era of classicism was one of the stages in the development of world literature.
Was it important? Certainly. Classicism sought to awaken the best qualities in people, teach them endurance and patience. Denis Diderot saw marriage as the ennobling of people, which improves society as a whole. This is exactly what the heroine Julia from the novel “Julia, or the New Eloise” by Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought, who advised to marry for fear that a celibate life leads to temptation.
The writers and moralists of the 17th and early 18th centuries believed that children should be raised at any age and that there would be no progress without parental intervention. The theory that the child inherits the innate and acquired traits of the parents were repeated since the times of Aristotle to Roger Bacon. Now the predictability of human nature has become a lever for controlling its own development.
There will be no future without the experience of past generations. Freedom comes only after surviving the phase of restrictions. For literature, this phase was classicism. After that, the rules were more liberal, and now the time has come when the author can write as they want, without worrying of being bounded by restrictions.
text by Tatiana Kushchenko
translated by Victoria Bikashova
