The Social Ideals Of English Middle Class In Early Eighteenth Century

Based on the essays of the literary periodical SPECTATOR (1711-1712;1714), the thesis attempts to analyze the social ideals of English middle class and present the British social outlook in early18th century. It also tries to dig out the ideological value and literary value of SPECTATOR from four perspectives of social economy, politics, culture and literature. The social economic activities described in the periodical show that the old nobles attempted to retain ownership of land and wealth in conventional way, while the businessmen, as representatives of the new bourgeoisie, wanted to keep their best economic interests and maximize their economic freedom by reducing government control. Politically, the middle class produced the periodical to reveal the spiritual disputes of the parties and combined the forms of literature and journalism, which lead to general public’s aesthetic values spontaneously in political life. Culturally, the periodical reproduced the middle class leisurely life, with social and recreational activities as the daily focus, which shows their will to draw closer to upper class. With the intense competition and challenge consciousness, the middle class realized their cultural ideal of shaping a good image in the process of striving. On literature, Addison implemented the principles of British empirical aesthetics and dug out the new beauty of classical works. By avoid mentioning the defects and flaws of the works but emphasizing on tragicomical theory, creative aesthetics, criticism of Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as the artistic technique of portrait, Addison made great contribution to the history of English literature criticism. Moreover, this thesis also translates the catalogues of the SPECTATOR, total635, with the detailed classification and sorting of journal content. Considering the study of journal as a starting point, the thesis goes deep into the British society in early18th century, the civilized and orderly Augustan age, to explore the literary charm of the SPECTATOR.