Under the influence of the leading romantic thinkers like Kant and the Post-Kantians, Romanticists demonstrated strong reaction against the dominant modes of thinking of the 18th century's Neo-classicists Discuss, in relation to the works you know, the difference between Romanticism and Neo-classicism.
A.Neo——classicists upheld that artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity, and thus, literary expressions should be of proportion, unity harmony and grace. Pope's An Essay on Criticism advocates grace,wit usually through satire/humour), and simplicity in language(and the poem itself is a demonstration of those ideals, too); Fielding's Tom Jones helped establish the form of novel; Gray's "Elegy Written in Country Churchyard' displays elegance in style. unified structrue, serious tone and moral instruction.
B.Romanticists tended to see the individual as the very center of all experience, including art,and thus, literary work should be "spontaneous overflow of strong feelings, "and no matter how fragmentary those experiences were (Wordsworth'sI Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. "or "The Solitary Reaper, ")or Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"), the value of the work lied in the accuracy of presenting those unique feelings and particular attitudes.
C.In word,neo- classicism emphasized rationality and form but Romanticism attached great importance to the individual's mind ( emotion, imagination, temporary experience...)
