The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms - Ross Murfin 2018

Neoclassical Period (in English literature)

Neoclassical Period (in English literature): A period in English literary history spanning the years 1660 to 1798. The Neoclassical Period is usually divided into three literary eras: the Restoration Age, which ended around 1700; the Augustan Age, which spanned the first half of the eighteenth century; and the Age of Johnson, which spanned the second half of the eighteenth century.

Major writers of the period include Joseph Addison, a poet, essayist, and playwright; John Dryden, a poet, critic, and playwright; and Samuel Johnson, a poet, essayist, and lexicographer. Other noted writers include the novelist-playwrights Aphra Behn and Henry Fielding; William Congreve, best known for his comedies of manners; satirical poet Alexander Pope, and prose satirist Jonathan Swift.