Classicism

Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, “if we object to his restraint and compression we are simply objecting to the classicism of classic art.

A violent emphasis or a sudden acceleration of rhythmic movement would have destroyed those qualities of balance and completeness through which it retained until the present century its position of authority in the restricted repertoire of visual images.” Classicism, as Clark noted, implies a canon of widely accepted ideal forms, whether in the Western canon that he was examining in The Nude (1956), or the Chinese classics.

Classicism is a force which is often present in post-medieval European and European influenced traditions; however, some periods felt themselves more connected to the classical ideals than others, particularly the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment, and some classicizing movements in Modernism.

23 short Questions on Classicism

Q. 1. Define Classicism?
Ans. Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate.

Q. 2. How did Seneca be called a Classicist?
Ans. Seneca imitated the Greek tragedians. So she can be called a Classicist.

Q. 3. Which tradition influenced Roman Classicism?
Ans. For the Romans classicism was Greek influence.

Q. 4. In which period did France come under the strongest influence of Classicism?
Ans. Classicism was the strongest in France in the 17th and 18th century.

Q. 5. Who were the major French authors who followed Classical percepts?
Ans. Corneille, Racine, Molière, Voltaire, Boileau and La Fontaine were the major French authors who followed Classical percepts.

Q. 6. Who was Corneille?
Ans. Pierre Corneille (6 June 1606-1 October 1684) was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. He has been called “the founder of French tragedy” and produced plays for nearly forty years.

Theory of Humanism & 29 Important Questions

Q. 7. Name some major works by Pierre Corneille.
Ans. Mélite (1629), Clitandre (1630-31), la Veuve (1631), la Galerie du Palais (1631-32), La Place royale (1633-34), l’Illusion comique (1636), Médée (1635), le Cid (1637) are major works by Pierre Corneille.

Q. 8. Who was Racine?
Ans. Jean Racine, baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine (22 December 1639-21 April 1699), was a French dramatist, one of the “Big Three” of 17th century France (along with Molière and Corneille), and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition.

Q. 9. Name some major works by Racine.
Ans. La Thébaïde (1664), Alexandre le Grand (1665), Andromaque (1667), Les Plaideurs (1668), Britannicus (1669), Bérénice (1670), Bajazet (1672), Mithridate (1673), Iphigénie (1674), Phèdre (1677) are some major works by Racine.

Q.10. Who was Molière?
Ans. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, mostly known by his stage name Molière, (January 15, 1622 February 17, 1673) was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature.

Q.11. Name some major works by Molière.
Ans. Among Molière’s best-known works are Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope), L’École des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou L’Imposteur, (Tartuffe or theHypocrite), L’Avare ou L’École du mensonge (The Miser), Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).

Q.12. Who were the major English authors who followed the Classical rules and modes?
Ans. Ben Jonson, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Addison and Dr. Johnson were the major English authors who followed the Classical rules and modes.

Q.13. What do you understand by the term ‘Classic’?
Ans. A number of meanings may be distinguished by the term ‘classic’, but principally it means (a) of first rank of authority; (b) belonging to the literature or art of Greece and Rome; and (c) a writer or work of the first rank, and of generally acknowledged excellence.

Q.14. Who was Virgil?
Ans. Publius Vergilius Maro (also known by the Anglicised forms of his name as Virgil or Vergil) (October 15, 70 BC-September 21, 19 BC) was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the Aeneid-although several minor poems are also attributed to him.

Q.15. Name some major works by Virgil.
Ans. Virgil was best known for three major works-the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the.Georgics, and the Aeneid-although several minor poems are also attributed to him.

Q.16. Who was Boileau?
Ans. Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1 November 1636-13 March 1711) was a French poet and critic.

Q.17. Name some major works by Boileau.
Ans. Translation of Longinus’ On the Sublime, the satire, Sur les femmes, the ode, Sur la prise de Namur, the epistles, A mes vers and Sur l’amour de Dieu, and the satire Sur l’homme are some major works by Boileau.

Q.18. What do you understand be the term ‘Classical’?

Ans. The adjective ‘classical usually applies to anything pertaining to Greece and Rome. Nearly always there is the implication of the ‘best’ a standard of excellence worthy of emulation. When applied to literature of order, harmony, proportion, balance, discripline etc.

Q.19. What do you understand by decorum?
Ans. Decorum (from the Latin: “right, proper”) was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory that was about the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject. The concept of decorum is also applied to prescribed limits of appropriate social behavior within set situations.

Q.20. What do you understand by Unities?
Ans. Unities, in drama, are the three principles derived by French classicists from Aristotle’s Poetics; they require a play to have a single action represented as occurring in a single place and within the course of a day. These principles were called, respectively, unity of action, unity of place, and unity of time.

Q.21. What do you understand by Classical rhetoric?
Ans. Classical rhetoric can be defined as the science of persuasion through the use of language, the discipline which studies the way a speech can be made more effective through the use of devices which can be identified, classified and learnt. It is therefore a practical discipline, a “technique”, as it is called by Aristotle.

Q.22. Mention any two exponents of classicism and name at least one work by each of them. (K.U.2010)
Ans. Two exponents of classicism are Pierre Corneille (Le Cid) and Jean Racine (Les Plaideurs).

Q.23. Name the textual source of the word ‘classic’ and name the author of the work.K.U.2014
Ans. The word classicus was used in a figurative sense by AulusGellius in Attic Nights.

JOIN ON FACEBOOK CLICK HERE