ABSTRACT
As the eighteenth century moved on, there were changes of emphasis and tone with regard to many critical positions. There was 110 small amount of confused statement, in large part due to failure of the critic to make clear whether he was talking about (a) the nature of literature itself, (b) the psychological experience of enjoying literature, (c) the processes involved in the creation of literature, or (d) the intellectual process of evaluating literary achievement. The conscious changes in doctrine were less trenchant than they seem at first sight. Rules and imitation continued a tendency to become “indecent” words; but the art of literature remained representational (mimetic) in the minds of practically all writers except Blake, and the battle between controlled and spontaneous art continued-with much of the shouting done by the believers in spontaneity.
