Question

Which literary trend declined as Romanticism emerged?

• A. Pseudo‑classicism
• B. Gothic Literature
• C. Sentimentalism
• D. The Enlightenment's focus on logic and empirical observation

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Pseudo‑classicism

• Pseudo-classicism refers to the 17th and early 18th-century literary style that imitated the classical works of ancient Greece and Rome. It emphasized:

  • Order, balance, and decorum

  • Strict poetic forms

  • Intellectualism over emotion

  • Imitation of classical models

  As the Romantic Movement gained momentum in the latter half of the 18th century, this style began to fade. Romanticism celebrated:

  • Emotion and individual expression

  • Nature, imagination, and the supernatural

  • National folklore and medieval themes

  • A break from rigid forms and classical imitation

  Writers like Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Byron rejected the artificiality of pseudo-classicism and turned to personal experience, natural beauty, and emotional truth, which marked a major shift in literary sensibility.