The 18th century is the century of Enlightenment. He absorbed the ancient culture and all the achievements of the Renaissance. Literature of the 18th century, which made an invaluable contribution to world culture, had a huge impact on science, morality and morality of society. Enlightenment gave an impetus to the French Revolution, which completely changed the social system of Europe.
The literature of the 18th century carried out mainly enlightening functions; great philosophers and writers became its heralds. They themselves possessed an incredible wealth of knowledge, sometimes encyclopedic, and not without reason believed that only an enlightened person could change this world. They carried their humanistic ideas through literature, consisting mainly of philosophical treatises. These works were written for a fairly wide range of readers who are able to think and reason. The authors hoped in this way to be heard by a large number of people.
The period from 1720 to the 1730s was called enlightened classicism. Its main content was that writers ridiculed the absolute monarchy, relying on examples of ancient literature and art. In these works one feels pathetic and heroism, which are aimed at the idea of creating a state of paradise.
Foreign literature of the 18th century has done a lot. She was able to show heroes who are true patriots. For this category of people, Equality, Brotherhood and Freedom are the main priority. True, it should be noted that these heroes are completely devoid of individuality, character, they are possessed only by lofty passions.
Enlightenment classicism is being replaced by enlightenment realism, which brings literature closer to concepts that are closer to people. Foreign literature of the 18th century receives a new direction, more realistic and democratic. Writers turn to face a man, describe his life, talk about his suffering and torment. In the language of novels and poems, writers urge their readers to mercy and compassion. Enlightened people of the 18th century begin to be read out by the works of Voltaire, Russo, Didro, Montesquieu, Lessing, Fielding and Defoe. The main characters are ordinary people who cannot resist public morality, very vulnerable and often weak-willed. The authors of these works are still very far from realistic literary images of the heroes of the 19th and 20th centuries, but a significant shift towards the description of more vital characters is already noticeable.
Russian literature of the 18th century originates from the transformations of Peter I, gradually replacing the positions of enlightened classicism with realism. Vivid representatives of this period were such authors as Antioch Kantemir, Trediakovsky and Sumarokov. They created fertile ground on Russian soil for the development of literary talents. The merits of Lomonosov, Fonvizin, Derzhavin, Radishchev and Karamzin are undeniable. We still admire their talents and civic stance.
English literature of the 18th century was distinguished by the formation of several different directions at once. The British were the first to use genres such as social and family novels, in which the talents of Richardson, Smollett, Stevenson, and, of course, Swift, Defoe and Fielding were manifested. The writers of England were among the first to criticize not the bourgeois system, but the bourgeois themselves, their moral and moral values. True, Jonathan Swift swung in his irony at the bourgeois system itself, showing in its works its most negative sides. English literature of the 18th century is also represented by a phenomenon called sentimentalism. It is filled with pessimism, disbelief in ideals and is aimed only at feelings, as a rule, of loving content.