How does Literature Reflects the Spirit of the Age?

Literature is often regarded as a mirror to society, reflecting the spirit of the age—the dominant attitudes, values, beliefs, and concerns of a particular period. Through its themes, characters, and narratives, literature encapsulates the intellectual, cultural, political, and social climate of its time. It is often said that history is the biography of a nation while literature is its autobiography. Truly speaking an author is as much a product of his society as his art is product of his own reaction to life. Literature reflects ‘zeitgeist’ or the time-spirit. Everyman, according to Goethe’s statement, is the citizen of his age as well as of his country. Literature as a whole grows and changes from generation to generation and obviously it is the rise, growth and decline of ideas, precepts and morals. Thus literature becomes a sort of sociological approach, a supplementary and commentary on history. As the pearl is the product of the oyster shell, literature is the product of the society. 

Historical and Cultural Context:

Every literary work is shaped by its historical context. Authors respond to the prevailing issues of their times, such as wars, revolutions, social change, and technological advancements. In the overview of Western critical thought we find both ancient and modern critics who directly relate the literature to the life and manners of the society. 

Way back into the 5th century B.C Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher and critic says that the nature of the universe is imitation and Plato compares poets to bad man, and calls them an imitator of an imitation. However, we can see the irony of the fact that Plato is not above using the power of poetry for his own ends. Plato definitely believes that poetry has power, and that power make people want to imitate what they saw in art. Aristotle, like Plato, sees Art as imitative, but, unlike Plato, sees it as imitating essence, rather than audience. Therefore, Art is actually higher on the chain than the empirical world, and elevates rather than lowers us. 

Longinus's On the Sublime is all about how to maximize transport or elevation since, according to Longinus that is the one true character is truth of great art. Read More Criticism  Sidney in his Apology For Poetry states that poetry blends the universal and the particular along with the capacity to inspire us to noble action. Arnold in his Essay in Criticism defines poetry, criticism and culture almost interchangeably. Poetry, to him, is at bottom a criticism of life’. Again, in Charles Dickens’s novels vividly portray the hardships of the Industrial Revolution and its impact on the working class. Similarly, the literature of the Enlightenment, like the works of Voltaire or Rousseau, reflect the growing importance of reason and individual rights.

Though the theories differ, more or less the texts of English literature must be analyzed as the larger story of English social life – the rise and mission of a nation. In fact it is true for all nations and continents. 

Social Issues and Movements: 

Literature often engages with the social issues and movements of the time, providing insight into the evolving concerns of a society. The best possible option of under standing the relationship between literature and society is the study of works of literature as social documents and as assumed pictures of social reality. The outline of social history can be documented through literary texts. Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales portrays the whole picture gallery of English society in the 14th century. The thirty odd pilgrims are the realistic picture of English social life. The Fairy Queene by Spenser is all about an allegorical dream. The aim and object of his great epic is didactic. The poem is inspired with the high seriousness and religions fervour of Puritanism. In his Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh Spenser says that the general end of his epic is to fashion a gentleman, or noble person, in virtuous and gentle discipline. All of the tragic heroes of Marlowe are the product of renaissance. Read More Criticism Dr. Faustus, Jew of Malta, Tamburlaine the great, Edward II are outburst of passion which is uncanny and bold. Notably, Dr. Faustus has the infinite passion after new learning of necromancy and infinite knowledge and power. Shakespeare in his plays, both comedy & tragedies, tries to reflect the Elizabethan audience. The Elizabethan female folk, the middle-class, the courtly life and its artificial pomp – everything is vivid in his plays. His famous play Hamlet contains a famous soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’ – which is most philosophical statement is the conflict between passion and reason. It is in fact, the very spirit of renaissance. Milton is one the other hand revolutionary both in content and in form. In his Paradise Lost we find Satan overwhelmed yet courageous, in Samson Agonistes resurrection courage. Again, the rise of feminist literature in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own or Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, reflects the changing role of women and the fight for gender equality.

Philosophical and Ideological Trends:

Literature reflects the philosophical undercurrents that dominate a particular era.  In the 19th century, for instance, Romantic literature celebrated individualism, emotion, and the natural world as a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the industrialization of society.The most representative spirit of Victorian period is its compromise – in religion, in morals and in social life. Tennyson, Arnold, Browning, Hardy are the great exponents of this age. In the novels of Dickens Thackeray and George Eliot we find the industrial England, its progress, it mirth and sorrows. The sweet little pool of domestic English is seen in Jane Austen too. Read More Criticism But the basic pre-occupation of this age is the doubt and uncertainty – Next, the modern age is more complex. It writes about the absurdity of life. The human conditions are largely incomprehensible and ridiculous in the writings of Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf etc. the two world wars and the spiritual bankruptcy of the modern men are their primary focus. Similarly, Modernist literature in the early 20th century, with authors like T.S. Eliot and James Joyce, responds to feelings of alienation and fragmentation in the aftermath of World War I.

Political and Economic Factors:

Political and economic conditions also shape literature. In the Restoration England, Dryden and pope are more social than other English poets. Moreover British culture during their time is more literary than ever before. The social, intellectual, literary and religious aspects of the England are best exhibited in their texts. The Romantic writers, however, live through much momentous changes in the political, economic, social and literary spheres. The idea of revolution informs the Romantic Movement from the beginning. Many mayor writers of this period are aware that great changes are taking place around them and that these changes would inevitably find their way into literature also. The French Revolution seems to be the great divide and the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind. William Hazlitt rightly observes in his book The Spirit of The Age: “There was a mighty percent of the heads of statesman and poets, kings and people …. It was a time of promise, a renewal of the world and of letters”. The new slogans, liberty, equality and fraternity is everywhere in the texts of Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Byron, and such great writers.The rise of Marxist ideas, colonialism, and the Cold War all found their way into literature. George Orwell’s 1984 reflects the fear of totalitarian regimes, while postcolonial literature, like Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, explores the cultural impact of imperialism.

Psychological and Emotional Landscape:

Literature captures the psychological and emotional tenor of the time. For instance, post-World War II literature often reflects a sense of existential despair and loss, seen in the works of authors like Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus. On the other hand, the literature of the 1960s and 70s, such as the Beat Generation or the works of Sylvia Plath, often reflect a rebellious spirit and a quest for personal identity amidst societal change.

Evolution of Literary Forms: 

The form and style of literature also change with the times. The rise of the novel in the 18th century coincided with a growing middle class and an increased focus on individualism. In contrast, the fragmented and experimental structures of Modernist literature reflect a departure from traditional linear storytelling, mirroring the complexity and uncertainty of the modern world.

Conclusion:

Literature, in its many forms, acts as both a reflection and a critique of the time in which it is written. It absorbs the spirit of the age and offers readers a way to understand the complexities of their world, giving voice to the emotions, struggles, and aspirations of society. Through literature, we can trace the evolution of human thought, culture, and history. In a nutshell, we can conclude by saying that literature give us details of a man called an author who stamps his impress upon his age by his strong personality and by the same process he also takes the impress of his age; and the success of his work, entirely original as it may seem to be, is often due to the way – in which it meets or anticipates the general taste of the public to which he appeals.

Ardhendu De