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Contents
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Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования
«Алтайский государственный педагогический университет»
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
(FROM ANGLO-SAXONS TO THE AGE OF REASON)
Барнаул
ФГБОУ ВО «АлтГПУ»
2015
Об издании - 1, 2, 3.
ISBN 978–5–88210–788–7
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УДК 811.111'0(075)
ББК 81.432.1-03я73
Ш379
Шевченко, Л. Л.
History of English Literature (from Anglo-Saxons to the Age of Reason) [Электронный ресурс] : учебное
пособие / Л. Л. Шевченко. – Барнаул : АлтГПУ, 2015.
ISBN 978–5–88210–788–7
Рецензенты:
Кочешкова И.Ю., кандидат филологических наук, доцент (АлтГПУ);
Лушникова Д.И., доктор филологических наук, профессор (Гуманитарно-педагогическая академия
ФГАОУ ВО «Крымский федеральный университет им. В. И. Вернадского»)
Учебное пособие предлагает материал для подготовки и проведения практических занятий по
дисциплине «История литературы страны изучаемого языка». В нем представлен теоретический
материал, охватывающий основные периоды английской литературы с V по XVIII век и включающий
сведения о направлениях в развитии литературных жанров, авторах и их произведениях. Тексты
произведений сопровождаются комментариями, вопросами и практическими заданиями,
направленными на формирование у студентов навыков интерпретации и анализа художественного
текста. В пособии даются определения изучаемых литературоведческих, культурологических и
философских понятий, а также дополнительные сведения о персоналиях и событиях изучаемых эпох,
которые позволят студентам расширить их кругозор.
Материал данного учебного пособия ориентирован на студентов факультетов иностранных языков, а
также студентов филологических факультетов, изучающих английский язык по углубленной программе.
Рекомендовано к изданию редакционно-издательским советом АлтГПУ 22.10.2015 г.
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�Contents
Contents
Introduction
Anglo-Saxon Literature
Historical Context
Anglo-Saxon Poetry
Beowulf
Elegiac Poetry. The Seafarer
Anglo-Saxon Riddles
Old English Christian Poetry
Anglo-Saxon Prose
English Literature in the Middle Ages
Historical Context
Literary Context
Chivalric Romances
Ballads
William Langland: Piers Plowman
Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
The Development of English Drama
English Literature in the Time of Renaissance
Cultural Context
Historical Context
Renaissance Poetry
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547)
Edmund Spenser (1552–1599)
Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
Shakespeare's Sonnets
John Donne (1572–1631) – the Father of Metaphysical poetry
Renaissance Prose
Thomas More: Utopia
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
Renaissance Drama
The University Wits
Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
Late Elizabethan Drama
English Literature in the Time of Puritan Revolution and Restoration
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Historical Context
Literary Context
Cavalier Poets
Restoration Drama
John Milton (1608–1674)
John Bunyan (1628–1688)
English Literature in the Enlightenment Period
Historical and Cultural Context
Literary Context
Daniel Defoe (1607-1731)
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)
Henry Fielding (1707–1754)
Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
Reference List
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Introduction
There are as many reasons to study literature as there are to study man. Alongside with other
forms of art literature participates in the mighty task of rendering people’s lives, minds and
hearts. Human experience contained in the works of literature is a vast continuum of
information from which we can benefit in various ways. We read books for educational
purposes, intellectual training, escape and enjoyment. We also read books because they can
help us better understand what we are.
For centuries people have accumulated and verified knowledge of man, the best works of
literature being the quintessence of all intellectual and spiritual achievements of their time.
Studying History of Literature we can observe culture in progress. Referring every single
literary work to a particular epoch we can interpret its message in a broader context of human
evolution. We can observe the development of literary forms against the historical, social,
ideological, religious and all other kinds of changes.
This book was designed to highlight a complex approach to the study of history of English
literature that would give students an integrated presentation of each literary epoch and
encourage their appreciation. It covers the 1st half of the curriculum and offers an overview of
the English literature from its origin to the 18th century.
The periods of English literature are presented chronologically in the five sections of the book:
Anglo-Saxon Literature, English Literature in the Middle Ages, English Literature in the Time of
Renaissance, English Literature in the Time of Puritan Revolution and Restoration, English
Literature in the Enlightenment Period.
The general framework of each section follows a similar pattern. It includes an outline of
historical and literary context, information on authors’ life and work, texts for critical analysis,
questions and tasks. A brief account of important historical and cultural facts, as well as facts
of the authors’ biographies, is included to deepen students’ awareness of the strong
connection between literary works and the time they were created in. Literary context aims to
provide an overview of the gradual development of genres, themes and literary techniques.
The material of the book is supplied with encyclopedic entries that offer interdisciplinary links
to other fields of study. This information is introduced within the four main categories: literary
studies, philosophy, religion and general knowledge, the last one embracing a wide range of
subjects and being less specified. These categories are marked by symbolic pictures.
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Texts are followed by exercises designed with many approaches in mind: stylistic analysis,
interpretation, creative thinking and writing. They allow students to examine the way writers
shape their thoughts and give them an opportunity to experiment with some of the techniques.
Some questions and assignments project to broader literary and cultural contexts and offer an
extension activity in which students can share their responses to the issues and themes raised
by the literary works. The focus of questions and tasks is also enhanced graphically.
This book aims to provide a general manual of English Literature with the emphasis on a crosscurricular link. It presents the information in multiple perspectives showing how History of
Literature overlaps with many other fields of study. The knowledge of historical, philosophic,
religious and other cultural facts enriches students’ competence. This background knowledge
provides them with a deeper understanding of literary epochs, and consequently gives them
more satisfaction from reading, analyzing and discussing literature.
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Anglo-Saxon Literature
Historical Context
Anglo-Saxon Poetry
Beowulf
Elegiac Poetry. The Seafarer
Anglo-Saxon Riddles
Old English Christian Poetry
Anglo-Saxon Prose
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Historical Context
The history of English Literature begins sixteen hundred years ago when Anglo-Saxon tribes
came to Britain from the north of Europe. A primitive, warlike people the Anglo-Saxons
became known for their hearty feasts, skill in handicrafts and long, heroic tales. Before they
were conquered by the Normans from France, the Anglo-Saxons produced the epic poem
Beowulf and lyrics which became the foundation stone of the English literature.
England has been invaded and settled many times: by an ancient people called the Iberians, by
the Celts, by the Romans, by the Angles and Saxons, and by the Normans.
The first mention of Britain occurs in the writings of the ancient Greeks. In the fourth century
BC they found an island settled by the tall, blond Celtic warriors. Among the Celts was a
group called Brythons or Britons, who gave their name to the nation and country they
inhabited. They spoke Celtic, and had a religion to be characterized as animism. They believed
that different spirits or gods lived in the dark parts of the forest and controlled all aspects of
life. Those gods had to be constantly placated. It was the Druids, a class of priests who acted
intermediaries between gods and people. They performed ritual dances, animal sacrifices and
sometimes human sacrifices.
The Romans were the next to inhabit the British Isles. Julius Caesar crossed the English
channel in the course of one of his Gallic Wars in 55 BC. Caesar made no attempt to colonize
the island, and the development of a Roman province did not begin until nearly a century later.
Then Roman emperor Claudius, in 43 AD led a campaign which overcame the Celtic Britons
and established the Roman Rule. The Romans were practical people who had an administrative
genius. The period of their dominance was marked by stability and organization. For nearly
400 years Britain remained part of the Roman Empire. Romans and Britons intermarried, towns
grew, magnificent roads were constructed over the province, peace was maintained. Christian
missionaries came from Europe, and the old Celtic religion began to vanish.
However, when the Roman Empire began to fall apart under repeated attacks of barbarians
early in the fifth century, the Romans had to abandon the province. They left behind all the
material wealth (wall, roads, public baths), as well as some changes in language. For example,
the Latin word castra – “camp” became a suffix and was later pronounced [kester], [shester],
[chester], which is recognized in the names of many English towns: Manchester, Worcester
[Wuster], Lancaster. Other words are vallum – “wall”, strata – “street, road”, etc. The only
thing the Romans didn’t leave was central government.
All that the Romans wanted was to make Britons work for them. The result was weakness and
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a series of successful invasions. Eventually, the remnants of the Roman province were
conquered by the Germanic tribes from across the North Sea.
Among those invaders were Angles, Saxons and Jutes who lived in the northwest coast of
Germany and the Danish peninsula. The language of Anglo-Saxons became dominant. The land
took another name – Engalond, or England. The Celts put up a strong resistance before they
retreated into Wales in the far West of the country. One of the most heroic Celtic leaders was a
man called Arthur, who became the character of many national legends.
The Anglo-Saxons were agricultural people who recognized two classes of society: the earls
(ruling class) and the churls (bondmen). The warrior also occupied a preeminent position in
the Anglo-Saxon society. The prestige of a successful warrior was immense. Even the king was
essentially a warrior. Although he ruled absolutely, he was attentive to the advice of the Witan
(assembly of elders, wise men). The earls ruled, the warriors fought wars and the churls did
hard labor. The place of women was unimportant as they were regarded valuable only for
domestic duties, although wives of kings, earls and wise men were honored.
Great feasts were also part of Anglo-Saxon life. To celebrate the deeds of a hero there had
been from ancient times the professional bard, called the scop who combined the roles of chief
entertainer, antiquarian and poet, and press agent for the king and tribe.
Scop – was an Anglo-Saxon poet who was appointed by the early Germanic kings or soldiers to entertain
them by reciting poetry to the accompaniment of a harp or another stringed instrument. From the Old English
word “scieppan”, scop means to create, form or shape. The scop was also referred to as a gleeman, from the
Old English word “gleoman”, who was a musician or performer. Scops were known to travel from village to
village; however, many had permanent posts in the king’s court or mead halls. Usually, they performed for
great feasts, celebrations, or the homecoming of soldiers from war. Scops were also commissioned to write
elegies or songs for the dead. It was considered an honor to have a scop sing one's praise or mourn one’s
death. Scops were messengers of traditional morality. They used poetry to motivate their listeners to live
good and honest lives, to keep true to the values of loyalty, family, kinship, and religion. Also, because most
of the historic events were recorded in poetry, they were carried by the scops to places far and near. By
traveling with these stories, the scops helped to preserve the history of the Germanic people for generations
later. Thanks to the work of these oral historians, we can still read about their culture, achievements, and
beliefs.
The Anglo-Saxons were loyal to their kings, because they depended on him for protection,
fame, success, even survival, especially during war, and success was measured by gifts from
the king. This loyalty pattern was part of their life. It grew out of the need to protect the group
from the enemy-infested virgin wilderness, especially in winter. Anglo-Saxons tended to live
close to their animals in a single-family homesteads, wooden buildings surrounded by wooden
fences. This also contributed to the sense of security.
The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were also pagans, as the Britons. The gods of the Anglo-
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Saxons were:
Tu, or Tuesco – god of darkness,
Woden (Odin) – god of War,
Thor – the Thunderer,
Freia – goddess of Prosperity.
Names of these gods survived in the language as days of the week: Tuesday – the day of the
god Tuesco; Wednesday – Woden’s day; Thursday – Thor’s day; Friday – Freia’s day.
One of the most important Norse gods was Odin, the god who overcame death itself in order
to learn the great mysteries contained in runes (the Briton’s alphabet), or religious inscriptions.
As the god of death, poetry and magic, Odin could help humans communicate with spirits. It is
not surprising that this god of poetry and death would have been so important to a people who
produced great poetry in the elegiac and mournful mood.
The history of England from about 600 to 850 is the story of the rise and fall of Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms. First Kent became the strongest of the kingdoms. From about 650 to 750
Northumbria achieved political and cultural eminence. Then power moved to Mercia until
Wessex attained supremacy early in the ninth century.
Around 850 in the kingdom of Wessex there emerged the figure of King Alfred the Great, most
remarkable of the Anglo-Saxon kings. His enemies were Viking Danes. Beginning at the end of
the eighth century, the Vikings advanced farther and farther. To establish peace, Alfred had to
give up to the Danes the northern and central parts of England then known as the Danelagh
(Danelaw). In 878, Alfred forced the Danes out of Wessex.
Under Alfred’s reign Irish and Continental missionaries came to England and set up little
centers of Christian religion. However, the full flow of Christianity into England came straight
from Rome, when, in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent his emissary Augustine to convert
King Ethelbert (Kent) of England. Augustine founded the cathedral of Canterbury, and became
the first Archbishop of Canterbury, or the leader of the Church of England. The conversion of
the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity widened their spiritual and intellectual outlook. However, the
core paganism of the people showed in the written records, particularly in the surviving
folklore.
The power of the West Saxon kings declined late in the tenth century, and the new waves of
Danish invaders assaulted the island. In 1014 the Danes conquered England, then the AngloSaxons returned to their rule in 1042, and in 1066, William, the Duke of Normandy, became the
last conqueror of England. That put the end to the Anglo-Saxon history of England.
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Anglo-Saxon Poetry
The poetry of the Old English period is generally grouped in two main divisions, National and
Christian. In the national, or pagan, poems the subjects are drawn from English, or rather
Germanic, tradition and history or from the customs and conditions of English life. Christian
poems deal with Biblical matter, ecclesiastical traditions and religious subjects of definitely
Christian origin. The line of demarcation, however, is not absolutely fixed. Most of the national
poems in their present form contain Christian elements, while English influence often makes
itself obvious in the presentation of Biblical or ecclesiastical subjects.
The early national poems are classified into two groups, epic and elegiac. Epics are
considerably long, while all the elegiac poems are quite short. The best example of Old English
epic poetry is Beowulf. It runs 3183 lines. The Seafarer is an example of elegiac poetry. It is a
sorrowful piece of writing running 124 lines.
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Beowulf
Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language and one of the earliest monuments of the
Germanic literature. Like most epic poets, the author of Beowulf is unknown. The poem was
probably recited as early as the 6-th century, but the text we have today was composed in the
8-th century and written down in the 10-th. The poem was given the title “Beowulf” only in
1805 and was printed in 1815.
The origin of Beowulf manuscript is completely unknown, but it may have belonged to one of the monasteries
dissolved by Henry VIII. It came into the possession of the antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton. In the 17th century
his library, was the richest collection of Anglo-Saxon literary and historical documents. In 1700, the Cottonian
library was willed to the British nation and eventually moved to Ashburnham House at Westminster, which
was thought to be a safer location. On October 23, 1731, there was a fire. The manuscript survived but was
burnt along its edges. It has been kept in the British museum till today since the time of its foundation in 1753.
Although the action takes place in Scandinavia, the poem is English. The Angles, Saxons and
Jutes took the story to Britain during their invasions. Then the pagan story was passed on from
generation to generation until it was written down by a monk who ornamented the epic with
Christian morality. Thus Christian ideas in the poem are blended with pagan views.
Alongside with supernatural elements Beowulf contains historical facts and can be read as a
chronicle. The story is remarkable for the glimpse of Anglo-Saxon society and its values. At
the time Beowulf was composed the ideals of the Anglo-Saxons included bravery and prowess
in battle, unselfishness, dignity, the sense of justice and loyalty. The poem describes the
warriors in battle and at peace, during their feasts and amusements. Though they were warriors,
the Anglo Saxons were capable of strong emotions. This emotionality is best captured in
poetry which was recited or sung by scops. Those were skilled minstrels who devoted their
lives to this purpose.
Content
Hrothgar, King of the Danes, built a hall near the sea called Heorot. He and his men
gathered there for feasts. One night as they were all sleeping a frightful monster called
Grendel broke into the hall, killed thirty of the sleeping warriors, and carried off their bodies
to his den under the sea. For twelve winters the horrible half-human creature came night
after night.
In the nearby kingdom of Geatland there lived Beowulf who was a man of immense strength
and courage. When he heard from mariners of Grendel’s murderous attacks, he decided to
fight the monster and free the Danes. With fourteen companions he crossed the sea.
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The Danes received Beowulf with great hospitality. A big feast was held in his honour. That
night the Danes left with their king. Beowulf stayed saying proudly that he would wrestle
with Grendel bare-handed since weapons could not harm the monster. The warriors fell
asleep but Beowulf did not. Breaking into the hall, Grendel seized one of Beowulf’s sleeping
men and drank his blood. Beowulf fought the monster and managed to tear off his arm at
the shoulder. Mortally wounded, Grendel went back into the sea to die. The huge arm of the
monster was hanged over the king’s seat. The Danes rejoiced in Beowulf’s victory. Beowulf
received rich presents from the king.
The following night the Danes once more went to sleep in the hall after the feast. At
midnight Grendel’s mother came to take revenge for her son’s death. She carried off the
king’s best friend as well as Grendel’s torn off arm. Beowulf and his men followed the blood
trail left by the arm and came to the place where Grendel’s mother had hidden. Beowulf
plunged into the water and swam into a cave. He fought Grendel’s mother killing her with
the magic sword he found in the cave. Beowulf cut off Grendel’s head whose body was also
lying there and brought it back to King Hrothgar.
After the great celebration Beowulf returned to his home country, where he was made king.
After fifty years of Beowulf’s successful reign he had to face another evil creature. The fire
dragon kept watch over an enormous treasure hidden in the mountains. A golden cup was
stolen from the treasure. The dragon became furious and began to destroy the country.
Beowulf knew it was going to be his final battle. He slayed the dragon and died himself.
The body of the hero was burned on fire, according to the pagan custom.
Text
Prologue
Перевод В. Тихомирова
Old English Text
Hwæt! We Gardena
in geardagum,
þeodcyninga,
þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas
ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing
sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum,
meodosetla ofteah,
Истинно! исстари
слово мы слышим
о доблести данов,
о конунгах датских,
чья слава в битвах
была добыта!
Первый - Скильд Скевинг,
войсководитель,
не раз отрывавший
вражьи дружины
от скамей бражных.
За все, что он выстрадал
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egsode eorlas.
Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden,
he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum,
weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc
þara ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade
hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan.
þæt wæs god cyning!
ðæm eafera wæs
æfter cenned,
geong in geardum,
þone god sende
folce to frofre;
fyrenðearfe ongeat
þe hie ær drugon
aldorlease
lange hwile.
Him þæs liffrea,
wuldres wealdend,
woroldare forgeaf;
Beowulf wæs breme
(blæd wide sprang),
Scyldes eafera
Scedelandum in.
The Monster Grendel
translated by Burton Raffel
. . . A powerful monster, living down
In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient
As day after day the music rang
Loud in that hall, the harp’s rejoicing
Call and the poet’s clear songs, sung
Of the ancient beginnings of us all, recalling
The Almighty making the earth, shaping
These beautiful plains marked off by oceans,
Then proudly setting the sun and moon
To glow across the land and light it;
The corners of the earth were made lovely with trees
And leaves, made quick with life, with each
Of the nations who now move on its face. And then
As now warriors sang of their pleasure:
So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall
Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend,
Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild
Marshes, and made his home in a hell
Not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime,
в детстве, найденыш,
ему воздалось:
стал разрастаться
властный под небом
и, возвеличенный,
силой принудил
народы заморья
дорогой китов
дань доставить
достойному власти.
Добрый был конунг!
В недолгом времени
сын престола,
наследник родился,
посланный Богом
людям на радость
и в утешение,
ибо Он видел
их гибель и скорби
в век безначалия,от Вседержителя вознаграждение,
от Жизнеподателя благонаследие,
знатен был Беовульф,
Скильдово семя,
в датских владениях.
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Conceived by a pair of those monsters born
Of Cain, murderous creatures banished
By God, punished forever for the crime
Of Abel’s death. The Almighty drove
Those demons out, and their exile was bitter,
Shut away from men; they split
Into a thousand forms of evil—spirits
And fiends, goblins, monsters, giants,
A brood forever opposing the Lord’s
Will, and again and again defeated.
Interpret the Biblical allusion in the extract. How do the elements of Christian
morality and national colour coexist in the poem?
Beowulf Fights Grendel’s Mother
translated by Fransis B. Gummere
'MID the battle-gear saw he a blade triumphant,
old-sword of Eotens, with edge of proof,
warriors' heirloom, weapon unmatched,
– save only 'twas more than other men
to bandy-of-battle could bear at all –
as the giants had wrought it, ready and keen.
Seized then its chain-hilt the Scyldings' chieftain,
bold and battle-grim, brandished the sword,
reckless of life, and so wrathfully smote
that it gripped her neck and grasped her hard,
her bone-rings breaking: the blade pierced through
that fated-one's flesh: to floor she sank.
Bloody the blade: he was blithe of his deed.
Then blazed forth light. 'Twas bright within
as when from the sky there shines unclouded
heaven's candle. The hall he scanned.
By the wall then went he; his weapon raised
high by its hilts the Hygelac-thane,
angry and eager. That edge was not useless
to the warrior now. He wished with speed
Grendel to guerdon for grim raids many,
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for the war he waged on Western-Danes
oftener far than an only time,
when of Hrothgar's hearth-companions
he slew in slumber, in sleep devoured,
fifteen men of the folk of Danes,
and as many others outward bore,
his horrible prey. Well paid for that
the wrathful prince!
Style
Beowulf has distinctive features of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry, which generally has 4 accented
syllables and an indefinite number of unaccented syllables in each line. Each line is separated
by a pause known as a caesura, and there are generally two strong beats per part.
Caesura (Latin: “cutting off”) is an audible pause that breaks up a line of verse. In most cases, caesura
is indicated by punctuation marks which cause a pause in speech: a comma, a semicolon, a full stop, a
dash, etc. There are two types of caesurae: masculine and feminine. A masculine caesura is a pause
that follows a stressed syllable; a caesura is feminine when it is preceded by an unstressed syllable.
Another distinction is by the position of the caesura in a line. Initial caesura describes a break close to the beginning
of a line, medial denotes a pause in the middle and terminal occurs at the very end. In scansion, the "double pipe"
sign ("||") is used to denote the position of a caesura in a line.
The halves of the two-part line are linked by alliteration of two or three of the accented
syllables:
Bore it bitterly he who bided in darkness
Twelve-winters’ time torture suffered
Soul-crushing sorrow. Not seldom in private
Sat the King in his council; conference held they...
Alliteration (also known as ‘head rhyme’ or ‘initial rhyme’), the repetition of the same sounds – usually initial
consonants of words or of stressed syllables – in any sequence of neighbouring words. Now an optional and
incidental decorative effect in verse or prose, it was once a required element in the poetry of Germanic languages.
Such poetry, in which alliteration rather than rhyme is the chief principle of repetition, is known as alliterative verse.
Anglo-Saxon poetry was recited, often accompanied by music, in front of an
audience. Alliteration gave the language a musical quality. It also played the same role as rhyme
in later poetry; it helped the scop and the audience to memorise the poem.
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Find the examples of alliteration in the above given passages from the poem.
Another feature of Anglo-Saxon poetry is the kenning, a colourful, indirect way of naming
something – a battle is “spear play”, the sun is “the candle in the skies”.
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound (usually two words, often
hyphenated) that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly
associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Most commonly kennings present metaphorical compound phrases:
the sea – “a whale-path”;
a ship – “sea-wood”, “wave-floater”;
a body – “bone-house”;
blood – “war-sweat”;
the king – “ring-giver”;
the dragon – “shadow-walker”;
musical instrument – “joy-wood”, “glee-wood”.
Old English beo wulf literally means "bee-wolf," "a wolf to bees", which is a kenning for
"bear."
Make up your own kennings for the following: winter, spring, the moon, sea,
love, time, mobile phone, money, car, refrigerator.
Link
Modern English literature
John Gardner’s Grendel (1971) is a retelling of Beowulf from the point of view of the
monster. In Gardner's version of the epic the central character is Grendel, a beast condemned
to the life of an outlaw. The novel deals with finding meaning in the world and the nature of
good and evil.
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John Edmund Gardner (1926 – 2007) was an English spy and thriller novelist, best known for his James Bond
continuation novels, but also for his series of Boysie Oakes books and three continuation novels containing
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional villain, Professor Moriarty. Gardner received prestigious awards for his wide
range of literary achievements, including short stories, novels, and essays.
Using Grendel’s perspective to tell at least part of the story of Beowulf in more
contemporary language allows the story to been seen in a new light not only in terms of the
point of view but also brings it into the modern era. Grendel is used as a metaphor for the
necessity for a dark side to everything, where a hero is only as great as the villain he faces.
When Grendel meets the dragon in the early chapters of the novel, the two discuss Grendel’s
role in life, and whether or not Grendel is truly capable of controlling his fate. The dragon
insists that Grendel is a monster and his sole purpose is to better mankind through fear and
violence. Grendel opposes this theory optimistically but the dragon persists. Ultimately,
Grendel stops toying with the idea of doing good and turns to a life of absolute terror and
violence as he raids the mead halls of Hrothgar’s kingdom, thus Grendel demonstrates
existentialist ‘all or nothing’ theory by leading a life of complete evil.
Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite
profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject – not
merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. In existentialism, the individual's
starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and
confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Many existentialists have also regarded
traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from
concrete human experience. The themes popularly associated with existentialism – dread, boredom, alienation,
the absurd, freedom, commitment, nothingness.
Grendel is portrayed mainly as a physical creature in the original work, here a glimpse into his
psyche is offered. Grendel lives in isolation and loneliness with his mother, who is unable to
provide any real companionship to her child. As the only being of his kind, he has no one to
relate to and feels the need to be understood or have some connection. Grendel has a complex
relationship with the humans who hate and fear him. He feels that he is somehow related to
humanity and despite his desire to eat them he can be moved by them and their works. He acts
as a witness to how human lives unfold and their behavior and logic bewilder him. He is cursed
to the eternal life of solitude, which deepens his grief and loneliness. He is only freed from his
tormented life through his encounter with Beowulf.
Grendel has become one of Gardner's best known and reviewed works. Ten years after
publication, the novel was adapted into the 1981 animated movie Grendel Grendel Grendel.
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1. Think of another ancient story that can be interpreted in a new completely
original way. Is the interpretation of a story (myth, legend, fairy-tale) the
matter of individual perception or culturally determined values and opinions?
2. Beowulf is the hero of northern European sagas. He lived in the world of
powerful and mysterious forces where nobility, fatalism, pride, loyalty, the search for glory
and death all played important parts. He lived in violent times in a violent environment
where nature was often hostile and man was constantly under the threat of death from
dreadful monsters. Who would you consider to be a modern hero? How does the hero you
have chosen reflect the time we live in?
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Elegiac Poetry.
The Seafarer
"The Seafarer" is an Old English poem recorded in the Exeter Book, one of the four
surviving manuscripts of Old English poetry. It contains 124 lines and is commonly referred to
as an elegy, a poem that mourns a loss, or more generally, a sorrowful piece of writing. It is
told from the point of view of an old seafarer, who is evaluating his life as he has lived it. This
poem begins as a narrative of a man’s life at sea, and then turns into a praise of God. The first
64 lines present a monologue by a seafarer about the hardships and dangers of his life and
about his love for the sea. The second half of the poem is a didactic discourse intended to
draw a general moral from the seafarer’s description. It tells about the transience of worldly
enjoyments and praises humble, honest living. A man can reach Heaven living a good,
honorable life. This is a reward to man for believing and having faith.
Text
The Seafarer
translated by Burton Raffel
5
10
15
20
This tale is true, and mine. It tells
How the sea took me, swept me back
And forth in sorrow and fear and pain,
Showed me suffering in a hundred ships,
In a thousand ports, and in me. It tells
Of smashing surf when I sweated in the cold
Of an anxious watch, perched in the bow
As it dashed under cliffs. My feet were cast
In icy bands, bound with frost,
With frozen chains, and hardship groaned
Around my heart. Hunger tore
At my sea-weary soul. No man sheltered
On the quiet fairness of earth can feel
How wretched I was, drifting through winter
On an ice-cold sea, whirled in sorrow,
Alone in a world blown clear of love,
Hung with icicles. The hailstorms flew.
The only sound was the roaring sea,
The freezing waves. The song of the swan
Might serve for pleasure, the cry of the sea-fowl,
The death-noise of birds instead of laughter,
The mewing of gulls instead of mead.
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35
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45
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55
60
65
Storms beat on the rocky cliffs and were echoed
By icy-feathered terns and the eagle’s screams;
No kinsman could offer comfort there,
To a soul left drowning in desolation.
And who could believe, knowing but
The passion of cities, swelled proud with wine
And no taste of misfortune, how often, how wearily,
I put myself back on the paths of the sea.
Night would blacken; it would snow from the north;
Frost bound the earth and hail would fall,
The coldest seeds. And how my heart
Would begin to beat, knowing once more
The salt waves tossing and the towering sea!
The time for journeys would come and my soul
Called me eagerly out, sent me over
The horizon, seeking foreigners’ homes.
But there isn’t a man on earth so proud,
So born to greatness, so bold with his youth,
Grown so brave, or so graced by God,
That he feels no fear as the sails unfurl,
Wondering what Fate has willed and will do.
No harps ring in his heart, no rewards,
No passion for women, no worldly pleasures,
Nothing, only the ocean’s heave;
But longing wraps itself around him.
Orchards blossom, the towns bloom,
Fields grow lovely as the world springs fresh,
And all these admonish that willing mind
Leaping to journeys, always set
In thoughts traveling on a quickening tide.
So summer’s sentinel, the cuckoo, sings
In his murmuring voice, and our hearts mourn
As he urges. Who could understand,
In ignorant ease, what we others suffer
As the paths of exile stretch endlessly on?
And yet my heart wanders away,
My soul roams with the sea, the whales’
Home, wandering to the widest corners
Of the world, returning ravenous with desire,
Flying solitary, screaming, exciting me
To the open ocean, breaking oaths
On the curve of a wave. Thus the joys of God
Are fervent with life, where life itself
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Fades quickly into the earth. The wealth
Of the world neither reaches to Heaven nor remains.
No man has ever faced the dawn
Certain which of Fate’s three threats
Would fall: illness, or age, or an enemy’s
Sword, snatching the life from his soul.
The praise the living pour on the dead
Flowers from reputation: plant
An earthly life of profit reaped
Even from hatred and rancor, of bravery
Flung in the devil’s face, and death
Can only bring you earthly praise
And a song to celebrate a place
With the angels, life eternally blessed
In the hosts of Heaven. The days are gone
When the kingdoms of earth flourished in glory;
Now there are no rulers, no emperors,
No givers of gold, as once there were,
When wonderful things were worked among them
And they lived in lordly magnificence.
Those powers have vanished, those pleasures are dead.
The weakest survives and the world continues,
Kept spinning by toil. All glory is tarnished.
The world’s honor ages and shrinks.
Bent like the men who mould it. Their faces
Blanch as time advances, their beards
Wither and they mourn the memory of friends.
The sons of princes, sown in the dust.
The soul stripped of its flesh knows nothing
Of sweetness or sour, feels no pain,
Bends neither its hand nor its brain. A brother
Opens his palms and pours down gold
On his kinsman’s grave, strewing his coffin
With treasures intended for Heaven, but nothing
Golden shakes the wrath of God
For a soul overflowing with sin, and nothing
Hidden on earth rises to Heaven.
We all fear God. He turns the earth,
He set it swinging firmly in space,
Gave life to the world and light to the sky.
Death leaps at the fools who forget their God.
He who lives humbly has angels from Heaven
To carry him courage and strength and belief.
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A man must conquer pride, not kill it,
Be firm with his fellows, chaste for himself,
Treat all the world as the world deserves,
With love or with hate but never with harm,
Though an enemy seek to scorch him in hell,
Or set the flames of a funeral pyre
Under his lord. Fate is stronger
And God mightier than any man’s mind.
Our thoughts should turn to where our home is,
Consider the ways of coming there,
Then strive for sure permission for us
To rise to that eternal joy,
That life born in the love of God
And the hope of Heaven. Praise the Holy
Grace of Him who honored us,
Eternal, unchanging creator of earth. Amen.
1. Why does the seafarer seek the severities of the sea rather than the
delights of the land?
2. How can you explain the combination of themes in the poem: seaman’s
life and religious teaching?
3. Interpret the lines: Fate is stronger And God mightier than any man’s
mind.
4. This short lyric is full of striking metaphors. Find them in the text. What
emotional effect does each metaphor create?
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Anglo-Saxon Riddles
Almost a hundred Anglo-Saxon riddles have come down to us. Riddle is an almost universal
form, found in most cultures. We can't say with any certainty who composed them, or when,
or how, or for what purpose. They may have been short pieces the bards used as fill between
parts of epics.
They were meant to be performed rather than merely read to oneself and give us a glimpse into
the life and culture of the era. Through many of the riddles we catch glimpses of Anglo-Saxon
life and beliefs that we do not find elsewhere in Old English literature or archaeology.
Like other Anglo-Saxon poems riddle express the notion that virtually everything in the world is
part of a living continuum, any segment of which can speak with its own particular voice. It is
important to note that many things described in the riddles are not seen as fixed and static
entities but as living creatures with biographies. A cross or a spear begins as a tree. A goose
begins as a barnacle. The world of the riddles lives, breathes, and speaks to man and to God.
The creatures of the riddles often have to go through a period of suffering to become what
they are and often experience a good deal of pain in their present state. A striking feature of the
riddles is that the speaker (a creature or a thing) accepts this pain and struggle as part of the
order of things either with cheerful endurance or Christian patience. Often a creature's
biography suggests that its pattern of growth gave it some of the powers it now has.
Parchment had to suffer to become a holy (and magical) Bible. A sword had to endure trials in
order to become strong and honored – not unlike its user.
Many riddles open with a formula like "I saw a wonderful thing" or "I am a marvel." This sort
of formula probably helped the riddler get started, and alerted the audience to the fact that this
was the beginning of a riddle.
Text
1. I am a lonely warrior, wounded by iron,
Stricken by sword, weary of battle-works,
Tired of blades.
Oft I see combat,
Fighting a brave foe,
I cannot expect comfort, safety to come to me in saving struggle,
Before I perish entirely among men;
But the leavings of hammers strike me,
The hard-edged, battle sharp handiwork of smiths,
Bites me in the stronghold.
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I must await a more hateful encounter.
Never a physician could I find on the battlefield,
One who with herbs might heal my wounds;
But the blows of the swords grow greater through death-strokes, by day and by night.
2. My home is not quiet but I am not loud.
The lord has meant us to journey together.
I am faster than he and sometimes stronger,
But he keeps on going for longer.
Sometimes I rest but he runs on.
For as long as I am alive I live in him.
If we part from one another
It is I who will die.
Write a riddle focused on some aspect of present-day life (a soda can, a light
bulb, a mobile-phone, etc.) in the style of the Old English ones.
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Old English Christian Poetry
Caedmon
Caedmon, the first English poet, lived in the latter half of the 7th century. His story is told by
Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (written in Latin). It is
perhaps the most frequently quoted piece of all Bede's writings.
Venerable Bede (673–735) was a Benedictine monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter
at Monkwearmouth. He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work,
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People)
gained him the title "The father of English history". In five books and 400 pages the book gives the
history of England from the time of Caesar to the date of its completion (731).
Text
from Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,
book IV chapter xxiv
In this abbess's monastery was a certain brother particularly glorified and honoured with a divine gift, in that he fittingly
was accustomed to make songs, which pertained to religion and virtue, so that whatever thus he he learned of divine
letters from scholars, those things he after a moderate space of time he brought forth, in poetic language adorned with
the greatest sweetness and inspiration and well-made in the English language. And by his poem-songs the spirits of
many men were kindled to distain of the world and to service of a heavenly life. And likewise, many others after him
among the English people endeavoured to compose pious songs, but none however in like manner to him could do so
because he had learned not at all from men nor through man that he songcraft learned, but he was divinely aided and
through God's gift received the art of poetry. And he therefore he never could make any sort of lying or idle songs,
but just those alone which pertained to piety, and those which were fitting for his pious tongue to sing. The man was
established in worldly life until the time when he was of advanced age, and he had never learned any songs. And
consequently, often at a drinking gathering, when there was deemed to be occasion of joy, that they all must in turn
sing with a harp, when he saw the harp nearing him, he then arose for shame from that feast and went home to his
house. Then he did this on a certain occasion, that he left the banquet-hall and he was going out to the animal stables,
which herd had been assigned to him that night. When he there at a suitable time set his limbs at rest and fell asleep,
then some man stood by him in his dream and hailed and greeted him and addressed him by his name: 'Caedmon, sing
me something.' Then he answered and said: 'I do not know how to sing and for that reason I went out from this feast
and went hither, because I did not know how to sing at all.' Again he said, he who was speaking with him:
'Nevertheless, you must sing.' Then he said: 'What must I sing?' Said he: 'Sing to me of the first Creation.' When he
received this answer, then he began immediately to sing in praise of God the Creator verses and words which he had
never heard, whose order is this:
Now [we] must honour the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect, and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory
as he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders;
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he first created for the children of men
heaven as a roof, the holy creator
Then the guardian of mankind,
the eternal lord, afterwards appointed the middle earth,
the lands for men, the Lord almighty.
Then he arose from that sleep, and all of those (songs) which he sang while sleeping he had fast in his memory, and he
soon added in the same manner to those words many words of songs worthy of God. Then in the morning he came to
the town-reeve, who was his alderman. He said to him which gift did he bring, and he directly lead him to the abbess
and made it known and declared to her. Then she ordered all of the most learnèd men and scholars to assemble, and
to those who were present commanded him to tell of that dream and sing that song, so that it might be determined by
the judgement of all of them: what it was and whence it had come. Then it was seen by all even as it was, that to him
from God himself a heavenly gift had been given. Then they spoke to him and told some holy story and divine words
of knowledge; they bade him then, if he could, that he turn it into poetical rhythm. Then, when he had undertaken it in
this manner, then he went home to his house, and came again in the morning, and with the best adorned song he sang
and rendered what he was bid (to recite).
Then the abbess began to embrace and love the gift of God in that man, and she exhorted and adviced him that he
should abandon the worldly life and accept monkhood, and he readily agreed to this. And she accepted him into the
monastery, with his goods, and united him into the community of God's servants, and ordered that he be taught the
(entire) series of holy stories and narratives. And he was able to learn all that he heard, and, keeping it all in mind, just
as a clean animal chewing cud, turned (it) into the sweetest song. And his songs and his poems were so beautiful to
hear, that his teachers themselves wrote and learned at his mouth.
Cynewulf
Cynewulf is regarded as one of the preeminent figures of Old English Christian poetry. He
presumably flourished in the 9th century. We know of his name by means of his runic signature
found in the four poems: The Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, Elene, and Christ II (also
referred to as The Ascension). Unlike his literary predecessor, Caedmon, whose biography is
solely derived from Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Cynewulf's life is a mystery to scholars.
Cynewulf was undoubtedly a literate and educated man. He relied on Latin sources for
inspiration: that means he knew the Latin language and was likely a “man in holy orders”. The
deep Christian knowledge contained in his verse implies that he was well learned in religious
literature.
The Dream of the Rood is a religious poem dating back to the tenth century. It was found in a
manuscript in Northern Italy with a number of other Old English poems, although some of the
passages are also found inscribed on a stone cross in Scotland which dates back to the eighth
century.
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There are sections from The Dream of the Rood that are found on the Ruthwell Cross that
dates back to the 8th century. It was an 18 foot, free standing, Anglo-Saxon Cross, perhaps
intended as a "conversion tool". At each side of the vine-tracery the runes are carved. On the
cross there is an excerpt that was written in runes along with scenes of Jesus healing the blind, the
annunciation, and the story of Egypt. Although it was torn down and destroyed during initial Protestant revolt, it was
reconstructed as much as possible after the fear of iconography passed. Fortunately during that time of religious
unrest, those words that were in the runes were still protected in the Vercelli Book, so called because the book is
kept in Vercelli, Italy. The Vercelli Book dates back to the 10th century, and also holds 23 homilies interspersed with
six poems; The Dream of the Rood, Andreas, The Fates of the Apostles, Soul and Body, Elene, and a poetic,
homiletic fragment.
Like much of the surviving Old English poetry, no one knows who actually wrote The Dream
of the Rood, but some features of the poem resemble those of Cynewulf’s poems. That is why
it is sometimes referred to him.
The Dream of the Rood begins with the narration of the speaker of a dream he had. In his
dream he sees a tree covered with gold and surrounded by angles. While he is gazing at the
tree it starts to bleed heavily from its right side. It, then, addresses the dreamer. The tree is
the cross of the crucifixion, and it portrays the details of the story. Jesus is described as a
mighty warrior and a hero. The cross itself has been dug out after the crucifixion and now it
dwells with Jesus and has the power to heal those who pray to him.
The cross requests the dreamer to tell other people of this vision. One who knows the story of
the crucifixion will gain an after-life. After the dream the speaker dedicates his life to
contemplation and spiritual devotion so after his death he could enter the heaven kingdom
of Jesus.
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Anglo-Saxon Prose
Among the most important prose writes in England was the Venerable Bede (673–735). He
was born and educated in Northumbria, and more than any other scholar led the kingdom to its
period of literary supremacy. The title Venerable was given to Bede for his reputation of
wisdom and piety. He is the author of 40 respected and well-read (at his time) books: verses,
biographies of saints, theological commentaries and the Ecclesiastical history of English
Church and People. His other books on natural history and astronomy were a collection of all
the learning known in the Middle Ages.
Among Bede’s many works the Ecclesiastical History of the English People is still an
invaluable source book for our knowledge of the earlier period of Anglo-Saxon rule. Bede, as a
churchman and scholar, wrote in Latin. Only because the Ecclesiastical History was translated
into Old English by Alfred the Great it is considered a part of Anglo-Saxon prose.
Bede’s History contains 5 books.
The first book, beginning with a description of Britian, carries the history from the invasion of
Julius Caesar to the year 603, after the arrival of Augustine.
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The second book begins with the death of Gregory the Great, and ends in 633, when Edwin of
Northumbria was killed and Paulinus (the Christian missionary) retired to Rochester. It is in this
book that the wonderful scene is described in which Edwin of Northumbria takes counsel with
his nobles as to the acceptance or rejection of the Gospel as preached by Paulinus. Here
occurs the unforgettable simile of the sparrow flying out of the winter night into the brightlylighted hall and out again into the dark. The story ran as follows: When King Edwin and his
advisors were debating whether to be converted to Christianity during the seventh century:
“Your Majesty, when we compare the present life of man with that time of which we have no
knowledge, it seems to me like the swift flight of a lone sparrow through the banqueting hall
where you sit in the winter months to dine with your thanes and counsellors. Inside there is a
comforting fire to warm the room; outside, the wintry storms of snow and rain are raging.
This sparrow flies swiftly in through one door of the hall, and out through another. While he
is inside, he is safe from the winter storms; but after a few moments of comfort, he vanishes
from sight into the darkness whence he came. Similarly man appears on the earth for a little
while, but we know nothing of what went before this life, and what follows. Therefore, if this
new teaching can reveal any more certain knowledge, it seems only right that we should
follow it.”
In the third book proceeds as far as 664.
The fourth book, beginning with the events of 664, deals with events to the year 698. It is there
that Bede presented a marvelous story of Caedmon.
In the fifth and last book there are different stories of church people, their letters, the
description of the condition of the country in 731, and a list of the author’s works.
The popularity of the History was immense. Bede was not carried away by the Latin manner
and wrote it in a direct and simple style.
King Alfred the Great (849-901) is regarded as the greatest figure in Old English prose. The
reign of Alfred acquired its chief glory from the personality of the king. He was a great ruler
and scholar.
The beginning of the 9th century was a troubled time for England. Danish pirates called
Norsemen kept coming from overseas. Each year their number increased. When Alfred was
made King of England the year 871, England’s danger was the greatest. In 891, the Norsemen
were defeated, and Alfred decided to make peace with them.
The policy which he realised was the policy of unifying the petty Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and
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making Wessex the nucleus of English expantion. However, Alfred’s conceptions were
cosmopolitan rather than separatist. His reign is remarkable for its educational and political
progress. He never lost sight of the importance of keeping his kingdom in organic relation with
European civilisation. Alfred had contacts with cultured circles of scholars and writers from
the continent, and this has promoted a renaissance of classical study.
The books he chose for translation and dissemination, including philosophy, general
information, religion, and Bede’s history, show the wide range of his interests. It is probable
that Alfred translated these works himself, and he certainly added the material of his own to
some of them.
At the same time he increased the number of monasteries and reformed the educational side of
these institutions by the introduction of teachers, English and foreign.
King Alfred was also responsible for fostering the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a year-by-year
account of English history, which became a valuable contemporary account of life in AngloSaxon England. It was continued for 250 years after the king’s death.
The last great figure in Old English Prose is Abbot Aelfric of Eynsham, the Crammarian
(955?–1025?), like Bede a great Benedictine scholar and teacher. His works are many, but he
is best known for his homilies or sermons, his lives of the saints, and his amusing Colloquy on
the Occupations. The Colloquy differs from most Anglo-Saxon works in that it gives real
insight into the humdrum life of the ordinary man – farmer, hunter, fisherman and merchant.
Aelfric is much more the conscious stylist than Alfred. With him, Old English prose achieves
balance and rhythm.
Text
from Colloquy on the Occupations
Pupils: Master, we young men would like you to teach us
how to speak properly and with a wide vocabulary,
for we are ignorant and badly spoken
Teacher: How would you like to speak?
Pupils: We are concerned about the way we speak, as we
want to speak correctly and with meaning, and not
with meaningless base words. Would you beat us
and make us learn? For it is better for us to be
beaten to learn than to remain ignorant. However,
we know that you are a kind-hearted man who
would not wish to inflict blows on us unless we ask
for them.
Teacher: I ask you to tell me what work you do. I am a
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monk by profession. I sing seven psalms during
the day, and spend my time in reading and singing;
but, however, I should like you, in the meanwhile,
to learn to converse in the Latin language. What
skills do your work mates possess?
Pupils: Some are ploughmen, some are shepherds,others
are oxherds, hunters, fishermen, fowlers,
merchants, leather workers, salters and bakers.
Teacher: Can you tell us, ploughman, how you do your
work?
Ploughman: Master, I have to work so very hard. I go out at the
crack of dawn to drive the oxen to the field and
yoke them to the plough. For not even in the bitter
winter would I dare to stay at home for fear of my
lord; but, when I have yoked up the oxen and
fastened the plough and the ploughshare to the
plough, then I must plough a whole field or more
for the whole day.
Teacher: Have you any mates?
Ploughman: Yes, I have one boy who drives the oxen with a
goad. He is hoarse from shouting and the cold.
Teacher: Do you do anything more during the day?
Ploughman: Yes, indeed, I do very much more. I have to fill the
stable with hay for the oxen, water them and take
their dung outside. Alas, I have to endure such
hard work since I am not a free man.
Teacher: Tell us, shepherd, what work do you do?
Shepherd: Yes, my teacher, I have much work to do. As soon
as it is light, I drive the ewes to the pastures and
guard them with dogs through heat and cold, so
that the wolves do not devour them. I drive them
to the folds, where I milk them twice a day. I move
their folds and I make butter and cheese as well,
and I am faithful to my lord.
Teacher: What did you do, oxherd?
Oxherd: I work very hard for my lord. When the ploughman
has unyoked his oxen, I take them out to pasture
and stand over them all night to guard them
against thieves and again, at dawn, I give them
back to the ploughman well-fed and watered.
Teacher: Is this man, here, one of your comrades?
Oxherd: Oh, yes he is.
Teacher: Do you have any skill?
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Hunter: Yes, I have one skill.
Teacher: What is that?
Hunter: I am a hunter.
Teacher: In whose service?
Hunter: The King’s.
Teacher: How do you perform your skills?
Hunter: I take my nets with me and set them in a suitable
place, and set my hounds to pursue the beasts so
that they reach the nets unexpectedly and are
ensnared. Then, while they are still trapped in the
nets, I cut their throats.
Teacher: Do you have any other method of hunting instead
of nets?
Hunter: Yes, indeed, I hunt without using nets.
Teacher: How?
Hunter: I chase the wild beasts with very swift hounds.
Teacher: What sort of beasts do you catch mainly?
Hunter: I catch harts, bears, does, goats and some hares.
Teacher: Did you go out hunting today?
Hunter: No, I did not, because I had to spend today on my
lord’s estate, but I went out hunting yesterday.
Teacher: What did you catch?
Hunter: I caught two harts and a boar.
Teacher: How did you catch them?
Hunter: I caught the harts in the nets and I cut the boar’s
throat.
Teacher: How did you dare to cut the boar’s throat?
Hunter: My dogs drove him towards me, and I stood against
him and suddenly slew him.
Teacher: You must have been very brave indeed.
Hunter: A hunter must be very brave, since all kinds of
beasts lurk in the woods.
Teacher: What do you get from your hunting?
Hunter: Whatever I capture I give to the King, since I am his
huntsman.
Teacher: What does he give you?
Hunter: He feeds me and clothes me, and gives me a horse
and armour, so that I can perform my duties as a
hunter freely.
What does this passage tell us about life of Anglo-Saxon people and their
values?
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English Literature in the Middle Ages
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Historical Context
In the year 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, crossed the Channel and defeated the English in
a great battle at Hastings. Within five years he became the complete master of England. The
new king managed to crush the remaining Anglo-Saxon resistance and distributed the land
among his Norman nobles, organizing the country according to the new feudal system: land
was held in return for duty or service to one’s lord (military duty, as a rule). All land belonged
to the king, but he gave it to the nobles in exchange for a part of the goods and a promise to
serve him in war for a certain period each year. The nobles, in turn, gave part of their lands to
the knights or other freemen, who contributed military service or rent. Serfs who worked on
the land, but were not free to leave it, were the last link in the chain. They paid goods and
services to the lord in return for the land they farmed and were little more than slaves.
This system of organizing men into specific classes was accepted by medieval people because
they believed that full equality could not exist on earth. In this mortal life each man assumed the
place in society for which God destined him.
Feudal society was essentially a war-oriented society. Disputes arose not only between
countries, but between rival barons in the same land. National unity did not exist. A man
thought of himself as first the subject of the lord from whom he held his lands, and then as a
subject of the king.
Medieval life was softened by the institution of chivalry. The word “chivalry” evolved from
chevalier, the French word for the mounted soldier. A symbol of chivalry was the knight. The
training of a knight began in early childhood. At the age of seven the well-born boy left his
home for service first as a page, then as a squire at some lord’s castle. The lady of the castle
taught him the elaborate code of courtesy and manners that a knight must follow. With other
pages he was trained in horsemanship and the use of the shield and sword. When he became
squire, he went to battles with his lord.
The squire, who had served his term of apprenticeship, was able to become a knight. After a
ritual bath, a night’s wake, and sacramental confession, a squire was ceremonially dubbed
knight by his lord. The knight swore an oath of loyalty to his lord and pledged himself to
revere women, protect the weak, to right wrongs, and to defend the Christian faith (especially
by participation in Crusades against the advances of Muslim infidels).
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The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with
the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. The crusaders
comprised military units from all over western Europe, and were not under unified command. The
main series of Crusades occurred between 1095 and 1291. The Crusades were fought by Roman
Catholics primarily against Muslims. After some early successes, the later crusades failed and the crusaders were
defeated and forced to return home.
The chivalry brightened the life of only a relatively small number of upper-middle class, while
the mass of people –serfs and poor townsfolk – lived a different life. People worked all the
hours of sunlight and survived on a diet of cereals and vegetables. The serfs could not leave
their land without their lord’s permission.
The only link between all classes of the Anglo-Norman society was the Church. In a world of
war, plague, death, man clang to the Church teaching of eternal life, which is everything
compared to earthly life. Membership in the Church also secured a place in society. For some
serious transgression the man could be excommunicated, thus losing his status and rights.
In Norman England education was also the province of the Church. It is there that manuscripts
were copied by hand. Monks and priests passed the culture of Greek and Roman scholars to
young people who flocked to monasteries to learn. From such beginnings in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries came the formal organization of Oxford and Cambridge as universities.
The Church was also bound with political affairs. In medieval thought Church and King were
necessary instruments for maintaining order in society. The question of who was greater
caused dispute between them. The most famous quarrel between Church and King in
Medieval England was that of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry II. It was
Henry’s believed that certain rights exercised by the Church belonged to the King. He
appointed Thomas Becket, his counsellor and close friend, Archbishop of Canterbury. But
once he had become Archbishop, Becket strongly defended the rights of the Church. So, once
in a burst of anger, Henry II exclaimed to a group of his followers: “Will not one of you
avenge me of this turbulent priest?” So, the four of his knights went to Canterbury, found the
Archbishop and killed him with their daggers. The Christian world was shocked. Henry II
himself deplored the killing of his friend.
Since then the tomb of Thomas Becket became the favourite place of pilgrimage for
Englishmen of all classes. The story of pilgrimage to Becket’s shrine later became central in
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Middle Ages witnessed a lot of tragic events in the British history.
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For many years there was hatred and resentment between the Saxon population and their new
Norman masters, who did not consider themselves as English, but as French. Political and
economic situations in the Late Middle Ages were aggravated by the epidemics of Black
Death (bubonic plague) and a long series of wars.
The plague broke out in 1348–49 and was followed by minor epidemics. Once infected, a
person barely lived 24 hours. Over the whole of the 14th century, the population fell from
about four million to less than two million. Serfs, left without masters, escaped to a freer life in
the growing towns and became vagabonds.
The overseas possessions of the English kings were the root cause of the tensions between
England and France. The kings of England were the mightiest of the king of France’s vassals,
and the inevitable friction between them repeatedly escalated into open hostilities. The
Hundred Years’ War grew out of these hostilities. It lasted from 1337 to 1453 and had many
ups and downs. The result was that England lost all its possessions in France apart from the
port of Calais.
Epidemics and wars led to the decrease in population, which favored the poor laborers. The
shortage of manpower meant that they could sell their services at a higher price. The king and
Parliament tried unsuccessfully and repeatedly to control increases in the cost of labor, and the
larger landowners were eventually forced to rent their land for longer and longer leases. By the
end of the Middle Ages the great landlords had almost disappeared, and a new class, the
yeomen, or smaller farmers, had become the backbone of the English society.
The Peasant’s Revolt in 1381 was the result of an ill-advised poll-tax to be paid by everyone
in the kingdom. The leader of the rebellion, Wat Tyler, called for better treatment of the poor:
“We are men formed in Christ’s likeness and we are kept like animals”, he said. The revolt
lasted four weeks, and peasants took control of much of London. Richard II confronted the
crowd and promised to satisfy all the demands and abolish serfdom, but as the crowd
dispersed, he changed his mind and executed the leaders, breaking all the promises he had
made.
The people were also increasingly dissatisfied with the Church, which was corrupt, greedy and
cruel. The appearance of religious works in English threatened the Church authority, since it
allowed people to think and pray independently.
A long series of struggles for power culminated in the so-called Wars of the Roses. The
conflict resulted from social and financial troubles that followed the Hundred Years' War.
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England was then ruled by King Henry VI, who was mentally ill. The nobility were divided
between those who supported the Duke of York (white rose), and those who stood for the
King, the House of Lancaster (red rose). The wars ended in the battle of Bosworth Field in
1485 when Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond (Lancastrian party),
who was immediately crowned King Henry VII.
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Literary Context
In the Early Middle Ages there developed a lot of new genres in the English literature.
Chivalric romances and ballads were the kind of literature that reflected the values and
manners of the upper classes. Fables and fabliaux were less noble stories admired by
townsfolk.
Fabliaux (singular: Fabliau) were funny metrical poems, full of indecent jokes, about cunning
humbugs, silly old merchants and their unfaithful wives. Together with fables fabliaux represented the
literature of the town which did not idealize characters as romances did.
Fables are usually short narratives making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as
characters animals that speak and act like humans.
It was Geoffrey Chaucer who dominated the period and was called the Father of English
poetry. His genius enabled him to unite the various trends of medieval European literature. He
brought together the Old English and French influences and brightened them with an expressive
individual style.
The 14ht century also saw the so-called alliterative revival: the two main examples are Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight (author unknown) and Piers Plowman by William Langland.
Both are the products of a provincial, perhaps rather conservative culture, whereas Chaucer is
distinctly modern in tone and idiom.
One extremely important development was the rise of mystery and morality plays. They
originated as didactic spectacles designed to instruct the illiterate in religious matters, and their
content encompassed the whole of the Bible, from Genesis to the Day of Judgement. They
soon assumed the independent existence, revealing many original features.
Finally, the period closes with William Caxton and the first printing press in England. Caxton
strove towards the standardization of English in a refined and universal form. One of the books
he printed, Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, which is a massive prose version of the Arthurian cycle
of legends, is a fitting conclusion to the period in which the values of an aristocratic, chivalric
social systems were already in decline and new influences from Europe were beginning to take
place, culminating in the Renaissance, one of the richest periods in the history of English
literature.
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Chivalric Romances
The history of the English romances started at the beginning of the 13th century when the
French literature began to dominate the whole Europe. Troubadours, composed an abundance
of romances of chivalry, and sang them at the courts of the Norman kings of England. The
English admired those stories for their adventures: slaughter of Saracens, fights with dragons
and giants, enchanted princesses in the enchanted castles. The English writers adapted from
the French what suited them best, and what was liked and admired by the public.
Troubadours, or trouveres (English: minstrels), were a class of musicians and poets who wrote
poems and music about chivalry and love. They were medieval traveling entertainers who would
sing and recite poetry to make a living. Troubadour poetry became popular in Europe during the
twelfth century. It was most prominent between 1100 and 1350.
Chivalric romances introduced the ideas of knighthood and courtly love. Courtly love was a
medieval European conception of noble and chivalrous expression of love and admiration. It
was a parallel between the feudal service of a knight to his lord and the service of a lover to an
adored and honoured lady. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the
nobility. It was a school of thought in which courtiers could learn how to be charming and
graceful. Courtly love was also generally not practiced between husband and wife.
The French and English romances began to place a new emphasis on the dignity of a woman
who emerged as an equal partner in love, fidelity, wit, and courage. Worship and devotion to
womanhood originated in the Cult of Virgin Mary in the late Middle Ages. As the mother of
Jesus Christ, Mary has a central role in the life of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman
Catholic veneration of her as the Blessed Virgin Mary has grown over time not only in prayer
but in art, poetry and music.
The Virgin Mary served as an ideal subject of love poetry because she was viewed as
paradoxically accessible and unattainable Mary could be sought, but never captured;
passionately loved, but never possessed. Love was always restless, always seeking, and never
fully satisfied.
According to the model of courtly love, love was important as a catalyst for growth and
transformation. The Virgin Mary came to be seen as a lady worthy of devotion, and as people
drew closer to her, they felt that their love for her made them bolder, braver, and more faithful.
Arthurian stories belong to a genre of chivalric romances. In the twelfth century Geoffrey of
Monmouth, the author of Historia Regum Britanniae, or History of Britons (1137), used
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both historical and legendary material to develop the story of King Arthur.
Content
In this narrative Arthur becomes king of Britain at the age of fifteen and wages wars against
Scots and Saxons. He conquers Scotland, Ireland, and Iceland, and many lands on the
continent. Arthur marries Guanhamara, a lady of the noble Roman family. Arthur is
summoned to pay tribute to the Emperor of Rome. Guanhamara is left in Arthur’s kingdom
in charge of his nephew Mordred. On his way to Rome Arthur slays the giant of St Michael
Mount. He is about to enter Rome when he receives a warning that Mordred has seized
Guanhamara and the kingdom. He returns to fight Mordred. Mordred and all his knights
are killed, and Arthur is mortally wounded, and taken to the island of Avalon for the healing
of his wounds. Guanhamara goes to a nunnery.
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s book was great success with readers, and made Arthur and Merlin
the romantic property of literary Europe.
The story of Arthur was developed by a Norman writer Wace, who added many details. The
Round Table around which the knights settled their disputes was first mentioned in his work.
The wounded king returns from Avalon and resumes his kingdom. Wace’s story was written in
English, in lightly rhyming verse, and was very popular. Wace’s work served as the basis of
the Brut (The Chronicle of Britain) of Layamon, the first English record of the “noble deeds
of England”, which adds many romantic and fairy details to the story. Elves are present at
Arthur’s birth to bestow on him long life, riches, and virtues. His sword and spear are magic,
after the final battle Arthur leaves for Avalon in a magic boat.
The remarkable fact about the story of King Arthur is its rapid development as the collection of
stories about Merlin, Gawain, Lancelot, Tristram, and the Grail. So Merlin, a Welsh wizardbard, and Gawain, a British knight, pass into French romances and are later transferred back to
English stories. The love of Lancelot for Guinevere is now a central episode of the Arthurian
tragedy, and Lancelot comes into the legend from a French story. The Grail story is another
complicated addition to the Arthurian cycle. The Grail is identified with the cup of the Last
Supper in which Joseph of Arimathea treasured the blood that flowed from the wounds of
Christ.
The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his Apostles in
Jerusalem before his crucifixion.
Despite the variety of Arthurian romances, none of them seriously challenges the
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remarkable poem called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, probably written in the
fourteenth century. The authorship of the poem is unknown, and the poet goes under the name
of Gawain-poet.
The poem opens by introducing Arthur as the greatest of the line if British kings which
descended from Brutus.
Content
It is a New Year at King Arthur’s court at Camelot. There is feasting and merriment, but the
king declares that he will not eat until a marvel occurs. Suddenly a huge knight dressed all
in green enters the hall, mounted on a green horse and armed with an enormous axe. He
challenges anyone in the hall to strike him with the axe, but whoever accepts he challenge
must also accept a return blow at the Green Chapel in a year’s time. Gawain accepts and
cuts off the Green Knight’s head. The Green Knight picks up his head, bids farewell, and
rides away.
The following Christmas, Gawain sets out for the Green Chapel. Arriving at a magnificent
castle, he accepts the offer to rest there. During the next three days the lord of the castle goes
hunting, leaving Gawain alone with his wife. Gawain and the lord agree that at the end of
each day they will exchange everything the other has received hunting or otherwise. For
three days the lady has tried to seduce Gawain, but succeeds in giving him just kisses. She
also gives him a magic girdle, assuring him that it will protect him from injury. Gawain
gives the lord the kisses, but hides the girdle away. On the New Year’s Day Gawain goes to
the Green Chapel and meets the Green Knight. He is wounded, and the knight reveals that
he is the lord of the castle, and he and his wife have agreed to tempt Gawain. No harm
would have befallen Gawain if he had not hidden the girdle. Gawain is ashamed. But in the
generous knightly world of Camelot, his imperfection is excused as human folly, not as a
crime against chivalry. The Arthur’s knights agree from now on to wear green girdles. The
girdle becomes an emblem of untruth and shame, and a new badge of honour.
Sir Thomas Malory (d. 1471) was attracted by the adventurous content of the French
Arthurian material. He worked on a considerable variety of English and French sources in both
verse and prose, and translated them all into a prose epic. He summarized the popular stories
about King Arthur in his book Le Morte D’Arthur (Arthur’s Death) which he wrote in French.
Le Morte D’Arthur is divided into eight tales in 21 books, but is usually taken as a single work.
It is the greatest of the medieval prose romances. Malory felt that the aristocratic chivalry was
dying, the authority of medieval aristocracy was breaking up forever, destroyed by the
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madness of the Wars of the Roses.
In Malory’s story Arthur’s world is crashed. His faithful “brother” Lancelot becomes his rival,
because he and Arthur’s wife Guinevere fail the king and become lovers. Arthur fathers an
illegitimate son Mordred who will eventually kill Arthur in the great battle at Salisbury which will
finish off the Round Table. Mordred seizes the power and tries to make Guinevere marry him.
Lancelot desperate to rescue the queen kills by mischance Gareth, the knight who used to be
his friend.
What matters most in Le Morte D’Arthur is that the king is made to see the destruction of his
own achievements before he dies. His grief nearly overwhelms him when he considers how the
loss of Guinevere and the deaths of his knights are to be weighted.
Text
from Le Morte d'Arthur
The death of them, said Arthur, will cause the
greatest mortal war that ever was; I am sure, wist Sir
Gawaine that Sir Gareth were slain, I should never have
rest of him till I had destroyed Sir Launcelot's kin and
himself both, outher else he to destroy me. And therefore,
said the king, wit you well my heart was never so
heavy as it is now, and much more I am sorrier for my
good knights' loss than for the loss of my fair queen;
for queens I might have enow, but such a fellowship of
good knights shall never be together in no company.
And now I dare say, said King Arthur, there was never
Christian king held such a fellowship together; and alas
that ever Sir Launcelot and I should be at debate. Ah
Agravaine, Agravaine, said the king, Jesu forgive it thy soul,
for thine evil will, that thou and thy brother Sir Mordred
hadst unto Sir Launcelot, hath caused all this sorrow: and
ever among these complaints the king wept and swooned.
Link
English Literature of later periods:
• "The Faerie Queene"by Edmund Spenser (16-th century)
• "The Lady of Shalott", "Idylls of the King"by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (19-th century)
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American Literature and Cinematograph:
• "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"by Mark Twain (19-th century)
• "Merlin's Mirror"by Andre Norton (20-th century)
• “First Knight” by Jerry Zucker (20-th century)
• “King Arthur” by Antoine Fuqua (21-st century)
French Literature and Animation:
•
“Arthur and the Minimoys” by Luc Besson (21-st century)
Are you familiar with the books or films from the list?
How can you explain the unceasing interest of the public in Arthurian theme?
What inspires modern authors and audiences in the legends about Arthur?
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Ballads
Ballad (Latin: ballare – to dance) is a songlike poem that was a popular verse form which
flourished mainly on the border between England and Scotland. Ballads belonged to no
particular author, but like all folklore they were handled freely by minstrels and ballad reciters
who changed and modernized the ballad texts.
Ballads told different types of stories. There were ballads about the supernatural: stories of
ghosts and demons or people who returned from the dead to haunt the living. There were
romantic tragedies usually dealing with the separation of lovers through misunderstanding or
the opposition of family. Many ballads were about crime and punishment, and often told the
stories of convicted criminals who were about to be executed and repented for their sins.
The most popular ballads were the stories about the good outlaw Robin Hood. Robin Hood is
a national character. He had the English love for fair play, generosity, wit and quickness. He
was a mighty archer armed with the national weapon of the bow and arrows. He tricked with
the legal authority in the person of a proud Sheriff of Nottingam. Robin Hood was praised for
his adventurous spirit, his sense of humour and his concern for the poor.
Finally, there were ballads recounting historical events, such as battles between the English and
the Scots (The Border Ballads) or natural disasters such as shipwrecks and plagues.
According to the circumstances of their origin and purpose we can define three basic types of
ballads: the folk ballad; the minstrel ballad; and the coronach.
Folk ballads, the oldest of these types, were probably composed by a local singer to
commemorate some event of importance to the community. As generations of singers passed
on the song, a word was changed here and there, and differing versions of the same ballad
often appeared. Certain basic characteristics also developed. Because the listeners were most
interested in rapid and dramatic action, story is more important than characters or setting. The
introductory material is sketched in briefly, and the action moves swiftly to its climax. The
general tone is usually very tragic. The ballads often end in death by accident, murder or
suicide, or with the return of the dead. In them death is viewed impersonally. Tragedy was part
of the pattern of medieval life.
The minstrel ballad takes its name from the fact that its originators were often minstrels.
Minstrels often created their own ballads but they were also famous for memorising long
poems based on myths and legends. Although they used the same themes as the community
bards had sung in their folk ballads, they were more conscious artists in the handling of these
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themes. Often they added a description of the country-side or an account of a character’s
thoughts and feelings. Minstrel ballads are often longer and less direct than the older folk
ballads and have a more literary flavour.
The coronach, or lament is the most personal type of ballad. To the narrative tradition of the
folk ballad and the descriptive touches of the minstrel ballad it adds a lyric tone – a personal
reaction to tragedy.
Style
All English ballads are divided into four- or six-line stanzas.
Stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in
popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a verse. A stanza consists of a grouping of two
or more lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme. The stanza in poetry
is analogous with the paragraph that is seen in prose, related thoughts are grouped into units. In
traditional English-language poems, stanzas can be identified and grouped together because they share a rhyme
scheme or a fixed number of lines (as in couplet, tercet, quatrain, quintain, sestet).
Most ballads are written in in quatrains of alternating lines of iambic tetrametre and iambic
trimeter. The usual rhyme is abcb. When read, the meter of ballads often seems crude and
irregular. This is because ballads were meant to be sung, and the rhythms of song differ from
speech rhythms.
Defining poetic metre
Metre is the regular arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Foot is the basic unit of metre which consists of one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed
syllables.
Iamb (adj.: iambic) – one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable (da/DUM):
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
(from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare)
Trochee (adj.: trochaic) – one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable (DUM/da):
Should you ask me, whence these stories?
Whence these legends and traditions,
With the odours of the forest,
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With the dew and damp of meadows,…
(from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Longfellow)
Anapest (adj.: anapestic) – two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (da/da/DUM):
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
(from A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Moore)
Dactyl (adj.: dactylic) – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables(DUM/da/da):
Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
(from Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles)
Amphibrach (adj.: amphibrachic) – one stressed syllable between two unstressed syllables (da/DUM/da):
How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew!
(from The Old Oaken Bucket by Samuel Woodworth)
The number of feet in the line determines its metrical length:
monometre – one foot
dimetre – two feet
trimetre – three feet
tetrameter – four feet
pentameter – five feet
hexameter – six feet
heptameter – seven feet
octametre – eight feet
In the folk ballad the repetition of various types adds to the melody, provides emphasis, and
heightens the emotional effect. Incremental repetition, or the repetition of the lines containing
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some small addition or increment, is used to build a climax. The repetition of a complete line
within a poem may be used regularly at the end of each stanza as a refrain.
Incremental repetition is the repetition of a line in a changed context or with minor changes in the
repeated part.
Refrain is a phrase, verse, or group of verses repeated at intervals throughout a song or poem,
especially at the end of each stanza.
Text
Edward
Why dois your brand sae drap wi bluid,
Edward, Edward,
Why dois your brand sae drap wi bluid,
And why sae sad gang yee O?
O I hae killed my hauke sae guid,
Mither, mither,
O I hae killed my hauke sae guid,
And I had пае mair bot hee O.
Your haukis bluid was nevir sae reid,
Edward, Edward,
Your haukis bluid was nevir sae reid,
My deir son I tell theee O.
O I hae killed my reid-roan steid,
Mither, mither,
O I hae killed my reid-roan steid,
That erst was sae fair and frie O.
Your steid was auld, and ye hae gat mair,
Edward, Edward.
Your steid was auld, and ye hae gat mair,
Sum other dule ye drie O.
O I hae killed my fadir deir,
Mither, mither,
O I hae killed my fadir deir,
Alas, and wae is mee O!
And whatten penance wul ye drie, for that,
Edward, Edward?
And whatten penance will ye drie for that?
My deir son, now tell me O.
I’le set my feit in yonder boat,
Mither, mither,
I’le set my feit in yonder boat,
And He fare ovir the sea O.
And what wul ye doe wi your towirs and your ha,
Edward, Edward?
And what wul ye doe wi your towirs and your ha,
That were sae fair to see O?
I’le let thame stand tul they doun fa,
Mither, mither,
I’le let thame stand tul they doun fa,
For here nevir mair maun I bee O.
And what wul ye leive to your bairns and your wife,
Edward, Edward?
And what wul ye leive to your bairns and your wife,
Whan ye gang ovir the sea O?
The warldis room, late them beg thrae life,
Mither, mither,
The warldis room, late them beg thrae life,
For thame nevir mair wul I see O.
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And what wul ye leive to your ain mither deir,
Edward, Edward?
And what wul ye leive to your ain mither deir?
My deir son, now tell me O.
The curse of hell frae me sail ye beir,
Mither, mither,
The curse of hell frae me sail ye beir,
Sic counseils ye gave to me O.
Translate the ballad into Modern English or Russian.
What effect is produced by the last lines of the ballad?
The Dae mon Love r
"O WHERE have you been, my long, long love,
This long seven years and more?"
"O I'm come to seek my former vows
Ye granted me before."
"O hold your tongue of your former vows,
For they will breed sad strife;
O hold your tongue of your former vows,
For I am become a wife."
He turn'd him right and round about,
And the tear blinded his ee;
I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground,
If it had not been for thee.
"I might hae had a king's daughter,
Far, far beyond the sea;
I might have had a king's daughter,
Had it not been for love o' thee."
"If ye might have had a king's daughter,Yer sell ye had to blame;
Ye might have taken the king's daughter,
For ye kend that I was nane."
"faulse are the vows of womankind,
But fair is their faulse bodie;
I never wad hae trodden on Irish ground,
Had it not been for love o' thee."
Демон-любовник
перевод С. Я. Маршака
– О где ты был, мой старый друг,
Семь долгих, долгих лет?
– Я вновь с тобой, моя любовь,
И помню твой обет.
– Молчи о клятвах прежних лет,
Мой старый, старый друг.
Пускай о клятвах прежних лет
Не знает мой супруг.
Он поспешил смахнуть слезу
И скрыть свои черты.
– Я б не вернулся в край родной,
Когда бы не ты, не ты.
Богаче нашей стороны
Заморская земля.
Себе там в жены мог бы взять
Я дочку короля!
– Ты взял бы дочку короля!
Зачем спешил ко мне?
Ты взял бы дочку короля
В заморской стороне.
�"If I was to leave my husband dear,
And my two babes also,
O what have you to take me to,
If with you I should go? "
"I hae seven ships upon the sea,
The eighth brought me to land;
"With four-and-twenty bold mariners,
And music on every hand."
She has taken up her two little babes,
Kiss'd them baith cheek and chin;
"fair ye weel, my ain two babes,
For I'll never see you again."
She set her foot upon the ship,
No mariners could she behold;
But the sails were o' the taffetie,
And the masts o' the beaten gold.
She had not said a league, a league,
A league but barely three,
When dismal grew his countenance,
And drumlie grew his ee.
The masts that were like the beaten gold,
Bent not on the heaving seas;
But the sails, that were o' the taffetie,
Filed not in the east land breeze.
They had not sailed a league, a league,
A league but barely three, so
Until she espied his cloven foot,
And she wept right bitterlie.
"O hold your tongue of your weeping," says he,
"Of your weeping now let me be;
I will show you how the lilies grow
On the banks of Italy."
"what hills are yon, yon pleasant hills.
That the sun shines sweetly on? "
" O yon are the hills of heaven," he said,
" Where you will never win." eo
"O whaten a mountain is yon,"she said,
"All so dreary wi' frost and snow? "
"O yon is the mountain of hell," he cried,
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– О, лживы клятвы нежных дев,
Хоть вид их сердцу мил.
Я не спешил бы в край родной,
Когда бы не любил.
– Но если бросить я должна
Детей и мирный кров, –
Как убежать нам, милый друг,
От наших берегов?
– Семь кораблей есть у меня,
Восьмой приплыл к земле,
Отборных тридцать моряков
Со мной на корабле.
Двух малых деток мать взяла
И стала целовать.
Прощайте, детки! Больше вам
Не видеть вашу мать.
Корабль их ждал у берегов,
Безмолвный и пустой.
Был поднят парус из тафты
На мачте золотой.
Но только выплыли они,
Качаясь, на простор,
Сверкнул зловещим огоньком
Его угрюмый взор.
Не гнулись мачты корабля,
Качаясь на волнах,
И вольный ветер не шумел
В раскрытых парусах.
– О, что за светлые холмы
В лазури голубой?
–- Холмы небес, – ответил он, –
Где нам не быть с тобой.
– Скажи: какие там встают
Угрюмые хребты?
– То горы ада! – крикнул он, -
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"Where you and I will go."
Где буду я – и ты!
And aye when she turn'd her round about, eо
Aye taller he seem'd for to be;
Until that the tops o' that gallant ship
Nae taller were than he.
Он стал расти, расти, расти
И мачты перерос
И руку, яростно грозя,
Над мачтами занес.
The clouds grew dark, and the wind grew loud.
And the levin fill'd her ee;
And waesome waiFd the snaw-white sprites
Upon the gurlie sea.
Сверкнула молния из туч,
Слепя тревожный взор,
И бледных духов скорбный рой
Покрыл морской простор.
He strack the tap-mast wi' his hand,
The fore-mast wi' his knee;
And he brake that gallant ship in twain,
And sank her in the sea.
Две мачты сбил он кулаком,
Ногой еще одну,
Он судно надвое разбил
И все пустил ко дну.
Link
The Demon Lover (1945) by Elisabeth Bowen is perhaps her most acclaimed and widely
anthologized short story. Set in London during World War II, it revolves around the haunting
of a married middle-aged woman by the ghost of a sweetheart from her youth, a man presumed
to have been killed in the First World War twenty-five years earlier. To Bowen's credit, she
controls the language, atmosphere, and events of the story so successfully as to create a
disturbing ambiguity, leaving the reader to wonder whether the haunting is truly an instance of
the supernatural or a nightmarish delusion suffered by the protagonist.
The essential plot elements of Bowen's story derive from medieval legends about a demon
lover. Such tales often tell of a young woman who, having pledged eternal love to a soldier
departing for war, marries another when her lover does not return. However, he eventually does
come back, as a ghost or a corpse, to avenge this infidelity, usually by abducting her.
In The Demon Lover the protagonist, Mrs. Drover, returns to her London home, which had
been vacated during the bombing of the city by Germany. There Mrs. Drover discovers a
letter, dated the present day, composed by a lover from the past who was presumed to have
been killed in the previous world war. As a young woman, she had sworn to love him
forever, but eventually married another man. The letter recalls a meeting that they had
arranged long ago for this very evening. Overcome with dread at the thought of confronting
her former lover (alive or otherwise), Mrs. Drover leaves the house to hail a taxi. As the cab
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pulls away with Mrs. Drover, the driver looks her in the eye, throwing Mrs. Drover into
hysteria. Bowen does not reveal exactly what Mrs. Drover saw, but many readers are inclined
to believe it was the visage of her dead lover.
The Demon Lover conveys a simple moralistic message: no bad deed goes unpunished.
Unfaithful to her lover, Mrs. Drover suffered the consequences of her action.
Text
Lord Randal
“O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?
And where ha you been, my handsome young man?”
“I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down.”
“An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?
An wha met you there, my handsome young man?”
“O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi huntin, an fain wad lie down.”
“And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my handsome young man?”
“Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied with huntin, and fain wad lie down.”
“And wha gat your leavins, Lord Randal, my son?
And what gat your leavins, my handsom young man?”
“My hawks and my hounds; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.”
“And what becam of them, Lord Randall, my son?
And what became of them, my handsome young man?”
“They stretched their legs out an died; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.”
“O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!
I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!”
“O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.”
“What d’ ye leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son?
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What d’ye leave to your mother, my handsome young man?”
“Four and twenty milk kye; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.”
“What d’ ye leave to your sister, Lord Randal, my son?
What d’ ye leave to your sister, my handsome young man?”
“My gold and my silver; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, an I fain wad lie down.”
“What d’ ye leave to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d’ ye leave to your brother, my handsome young man?”
“My house and my lands; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.”
“What d’ ye leave to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?
What d’ ye leave to your true-love, my handsome young man?”
“I leave her hell and fire; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.”
Find the examples of different types of repetition in the texts of ballads.
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William Langland: Piers Plowman
Another poet contemporary with Chaucer was William Langland (1330?–1400?), a figure
almost as shadowy as the Pearl Poet. He took minor orders but never became a priest. His
masterpiece is The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman is an allegorical dream
poem in unrhymed alliterative verse, regarded as the greatest Middle English poem prior to
Chaucer. The author devoted the last 25 years of his life to the book’s composition and
revision.
The work is a vast allegory of the human condition, in which Piers Plowman sets out to
discover the value of life and Christian salvation. In the book Vice and Virtue are spoken of as
if they were human beings. Truth is a young maiden, Greed is an old witch. Piers Plowman is
both a social satire and a vision of the simple Christian life.
The content runs as follows. On a fine May day the poet William went to the Malvern Hills.
After a time he fell asleep in the open. Piers the Plowman is a peasant who appears in the
dream of the poet. Piers tells him of the hard life of the people. It is the peasants alone who
work and keep the monks and the lords in comfort, and the Church is corrupt all through.
Langland’s attacks on the evils of the church are the most outspoken of his time. Before the
peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the poem was used to formulate proclamations which easily spread
among people.
The poem consists of three dream visions:
1. The poet falls asleep in the Malvern Hills and dreams that in a wilderness he comes upon the
tower of Truth (God) set on a hill, with the dungeon of Wrong (the Devil) in the deep valley
below, and a "fair field full of folk" (the world of living men) between them. Holy Church
rebukes the dreamer for sleeping and explains the meaning of all he sees. Further characters
(Conscience, Liar, Reason and so on) enter the action; Conscience finally persuades many of
the people to turn away from the Seven Deadly Sins and go in search of St. Truth, but they
need a guide.
2. A simple Plowman appears and says that because of his common sense and clean
conscience he knows the way and will show them if they help him plow his half acre. Some of
the company help, but some evade the work; and Piers tries to get men to work and find the
path of salvation.
3. The dreamer goes on a long-winded but unsuccessful summer-long quest, aided by
Thought, Wit, and Study, in search of the men who are Do-Well (the practice of virtues), Do-
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Bet (Piers becomes the Good Samaritan)and Do-Best (Piers becomes identified with Christ).
Interpret the allegory of Do-Well, Do-Bet, Do-Best. Think of other images to
represent different stages on the path of Salvation.
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Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
In his own lifetime Chaucer was called the greatest English poet, and the centuries have not
deemed his reputation. His unfinished masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, ranks as one of the
world’s finest works of literature. It also provides the best contemporary picture we have of
14-th century England. At the time when the educated people read and spoke only NormanFrench, Chaucer wrote in English.
The Canterbury Tales is a narrative poem written in the form of a frame story, or a story that
includes, or frames, another story or stories. Chaucer borrowed this idea from Boccaccio’s
Decameron.
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) is an Italian novelist. Boccaccio shares with Petrarch the
honor of being the earliest humanist. In their time there were not a dozen men in Italy who could
read the works of the Greek authors in the original. The book with which Boccaccio's name is
inseparably linked is the Decameron. The Decameron opens with a masterly description of the
terrors of the Black Death, and we are then introduced to a gay company of seven ladies and
three young men who have come together at a villa outside Naples to while away the time and to escape the
epidemic. Each in turn presides for a day over the company and on each of the ten days each of the company tells a
story, so that at the end one hundred stories have been told. The great charm of the Decameron lies in the wonderful
richness and variety of the adventures which he relates, in the many types of character and the close analysis of all
shades of feeling and passion, from the basest to the noblest.
Black Death is the name used for the very serious infectious disease (called bubonic plague), which killed millions
of people in Europe and Asia in the 14th century.
Chaucer's frame is the pilgrimage, which he originally planned as a round trip but which remained incomplete at his death. People in medieval England sometimes made pilgrimages to
sacred shrines. One such shrine was the cathedral in Canterbury, a town near London, where
Archbishop Thomas Becket had been murdered in 1170.
Thomas Becket was a 12th century chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury whose murder
resulted in his canonisation. He was born in around 1120, the son of a prosperous London
merchant. He was well educated and quickly became an agent to Theobald, Archbishop of
Canterbury, who sent him on several missions to Rome. Becket's talents were noticed by Henry
II, who made him his chancellor and the two became close friends. When Theobald died in 1161, Henry made
Becket archbishop. Becket transformed himself from a pleasure-loving courtier into a serious, simply-dressed cleric.
The king and his archbishop's friendship was put under strain when it became clear that Becket would now stand up
for the church in its disagreements with the king. On the 29 December 1170, four knights, believing the king wanted
Becket out of the way, confronted and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Becket was made a saint in 1173
and his shrine in Canterbury Cathedral became an important focus for pilgrimage.
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The pilgrims often travelled in groups for the sake of companionship and protection.
Chaucer’s pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London on the south
bank of the Thames River. The inn, which stood near the southern end of London Bridge, was
a customary point at which to rest and eat before setting out on a fifty-nine-mile journey to
Canterbury. Harry Bailey, host of the Tabard, is so take with the lively company that he offers
to join their pilgrimage and to act as a guide and master of ceremonies. For entertainment along
the way he suggests a program of storytelling, the prize for the best to be a dinner, at the
expense of the group, back at his inn. The original plan was for two tales on the way to
Canterbury and two on the way back by all thirty pilgrims (including the host), instead only
twenty-four were completed.
The Canterbury Tales shows Chaucer’s absolute mastery of the storyteller’s art. Perhaps even
more impressive than the stories are the storytellers. Chaucer’s pilgrims, all of whom are
introduced briefly in his Prologue, are memorable, vividly drawn individuals whose
personalities are unique, but whose character traits are universal. The Canterbury Tales
introduces a group of "nine and twenty” pilgrims, one of whom is Chaucer himself. The
Prologue presents them to us according to their rank and social position. The Knight, the topranking member of the party, goes first as all people of a fourteenth-century audience
expected.
The Knight is followed by his son the Squire, and by his attendant Yeoman.
The Knight is duly succeeded by representatives of the Church: the fastidious Prioress with an
accompanying Nun, personal chaplain, and three other priests; the Monk who holds the office
of outrider in his monastery (and who therefore appears to enjoy extra-mural luxuries more than
the disciplined life of his order); and the equally worldly and mercenary Friar.
The third group is presented by a greater variety of figures, rich, middling, and poor, beginning
with a somewhat shifty Merchant, a bookish Oxford Clerk, a Man of Law, and a Franklin.
Further we move downwards socially to the urban guildsmen (Haberdasher, Carpenter,
Weaver, Dyer), to the skilled tradesmen (Cook, Shipman, Doctor of Physic), and to a well-off
widow with a trade of her own (the Wife of Bath).
Chaucer places a Parson, a Ploughman, a Manciple and the reprobates (the Reeve, the
Miller, the Summoner, and the Pardoner) to the end of the line (though he also modestly
includes himself, a high ranking royal official, at the end of the list). It is with this last group
that he seems to want to surprise his readers by contrasting the paragons of virtue (Parson and
Ploughman) with those who periodically fall from grace (the Reeve strikes fear into his
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master’s tenants while feathering his own nest; the Miller steals corn and overcharges his
clients; the Summoner makes a parade of his limited learning; and the Pardoner trades
profitably in false relics and pardons).
In medieval times Pardoners were people who sold pardons or indulgences as a way for people to
lessen their time in purgatory for the sins they had committed. These pardons were certificates from
the Pope, and pardoners themselves were sanctioned to sell these items. Pardoners became
unpopular because many of them were seen as little more than frauds disguised as men of God.
Chaucer’s favorites are the Knight, the Parson and the Ploughman who fit for their social
roles. If the Knight at the top of the social scale seems ‘a worthy man’, loyal to his knightly
vows and embodying the spirit chivalry, so, in their respective callings, the Parson stands for
the true mission of the Church and the Ploughman is the picture of the blessedness of holy
poverty.
Chaucer arranges stories to fit into the whole work shaped by prologues, interjections, or
disputes between characters. They are loosely fitted to their tellers’ tastes and professions. The
stories range from the courtly (the Knight’s Tale) to the downright vulgar (the Miller’s Tale),
are particularly vigorous in their telling and offer an unprecedented variety of styles and
material.
The Knight tells a romance. The Nun’s Priest offers a lively story of a wily cock caught by a
fox, a story which he rounds off with the clerical insistence that listeners grasp ‘the moralite’.
The Pardoner too tells an exemplum.
Exemplum is a short tale used as an example to illustrate a moral point, usually in a sermon or other
didactic work. The form was cultivated in the late Middle Ages, for instance in Geoffrey Chaucer's
Pardoner's Tale and Nun's Priest's Tale.
The Prioress also tells a short, devotional tale of a pious Christian child whose throat is cut by
Jews but who miraculously manages to continue singing a Marian hymn after his death.
Elsewhere in The Canterbury Tales tellers seem to have far less inclination to be moralizing.
The Merchant prompted by the Clerk’s adaptation of Boccaccio's story of the trials of patient
Griselda, offers a mischievous tale of an old husband (January) and his young bride (May), an
impatiently frisky wife who, exploiting her husband’s sudden blindness, is seduced in a pear
tree by her lover.
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Griselda (Decameron) is the character of the 10-th story of the 10-th day. The story tells about
The Marquis of Saluzzo, who was persuaded by his vassals to take a wife. Being minded to
please himself in the choice of her, takes a peasant's daughter. He has two children by her, both of
whom he makes her believe that he has put to death. Afterward, feigning to be tired of her, and to
have taken another wife, he turns her out of doors in her shirt, and brings his daughter into the
house in guise of his bride; but, finding her patient under it all, he brings her home again, and shows her her children,
now grown up, and honours her, and causes her to be honoured, as Marchioness.
When the Host proposes that the Knight’s “noble story” should be succeeded by something
equally decorous from the Monk, the Miller drunkenly intrudes himself and tells a fabliaux
about a dull-witted carpenter, his unfaithful wife, and her two suitors.
The Miller’s Tale presents a diametrically opposed view of courtship to that offered by the
Knight. It also serves to provoke the Reeve (who is a carpenter by profession) into recounting
an anecdote about a cuckolded miller. In the same manner, the Friar tells a story about a
greedy summoner who is carried off to hell by the Devil, and the enraged Summoner responds
with the history of an ingenious friar obliged to share out the unexpected legacy amongst his
brethren.
Chaucer modestly placed himself last in the list of the pilgrims presenting himself in the role of
an incompetent story-teller. He tells the story so terribly dull, that the Host stops him in the
middle of it. By diminishing himself Chaucer makes other stories shine with wit and humour.
The importance of Geoffrey Chaucer’s contribution to the development of English literature is
unquestionable. The Canterbury Tales is an overview of human nature and the encyclopedia of
medieval literary styles.
Language and Style
Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the greatest English poets during the Middle Ages. He will
forever be known as the leading author in English writing before the time of William
Shakespeare. The Canterbury Tales is written in a period when all serious writing had to be
done in Latin or French. Chaucer wrote in the East Midland dialect of English that was spoken
in London. This dialect was limited in vocabulary, so Chaucer enriched it with French
borrowings. When great changes started to take place in English pronunciation, and the final e
was no longer sounded, Chaucer’s poems were regarded as crude and primitive. They were
rewritten and polished.
Chaucer experiments with rhyme and rhythm patterns greatly affected the literature that
followed. Chaucer’s introduction of the rhymed couplet in iambic pentameter revolutionized
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rhythm in English poetry. It later would be called the heroic or closed couplet.
Couplet is a verse form with lines rhyming in pairs (aa). Each pair is usually self-contained in
grammatical structure and meaning.
Tone is a literary technique that encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience
implied in a literary work. Tone may be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious,
ironic, condescending, or many other possible attitudes.
The Prologue is the demonstration of Chaucer’s power of characterization. The author’s tone
is largely ironic. His method is to use irony to let the characters condemn themselves through
their own words and behavior. He pretends to be a mere innocent observer, supplying details
about each pilgrim in haphazard manner, yet these seemingly random details have a telling
ironic force.
There was a brave knight who loved truth, honor and generosity. He had been in armed
expeditions in the Mediterranean, had traveled in the North and had even been to Russia. His
son was a young squire with curled hair. His clothes were “as gay as a meadow with white
and red flowers” and he had long white sleeves. He had been on cavalry raids to France and
had fought well “in hope to win his Lady’s grace”. Their servant was a yeoman dressed in the
clothes of a forester.
They were followed by two nuns and three priests. One of the nuns was a prioress, the head of
the nunnery. She had a long face and a small mouth and wept easily. She could sing all that
was sung in churches and spoke French as it was spoken in England (for the French of Paris
she did not know). She had very good manners at table. She never let a crumb fall from her
lips and never dipped her fingers deep in the sauce.
There was a fat monk who loved hunting and a good dinner better than prayers. His hood and
his sleeves were decorated with fine fur and his greyhounds and horse were of the best.
Another monk, though not so rich, also likes to have a good time: “He knew the taverns well
in every town and every innkeeper and barmaid too.”
A student of Oxford in a shabby cloak rode a lean horse. He was thin and pale. He spent all his
money on books and learning.
There was another woman in the company, the wife of a merchant. She was merry and strong,
though no longer young, and a little hard of hearing. She had red cheeks and red stockings on
her fat legs, and her hat was as broad as a shield. She came from the town of Bath and was
mounted on a good horse. She liked to talk of her youth and her five husbands.
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There we see other townsfolk: a merchant with a forked beard “always talking about his
profits but telling nobody of his debts”; a man of law “who was less busy than he seemed to
be”.
Then came a poor priest and his brother, a ploughman, riding a mare. The ploughman was a
hard worker with a true heart, and the priest was one of those who never talked much and who
did all he could to help the needy and the poor. He was “the doer of the Word before he
taught it”.
A very stout fellow with red hair and a broad red beard trotted beside them. “His mighty
mouth was like a furnace door”. This disagreeable man was a miller. His language was very
rude. Dishonest in his trade, “his was a master-hand at stealing grain”.
Not far behind them rode some other servants of the Church. One of them, the Padroner , had
greedy eyes and yellow hair “that thinly fell like rat tails one by one”. He sold relics:
pigbones in small glass cases, which he said were the bones of saints. He also sold pardons,
“hot from the court of Rome”.
Text
The Monk
modern English Translation of the Prologue
перевод И. Кашкина и О. Румера
There was a Monk. Here was a rising man;
All the estates of his abbey he ran,
He loved to hunt, was forceful and well able
to be an abbot. There were in his stable
Fine horses. When he rode out you could hear
Their bridles jingling on the wind as clear
And quite as loudly as did the chapel bell
At that priory where he had charge as well.
The rules of Saints Maurus and Benedict,
Because they were quite old and somewhat strict
This modern monk he let these old things pass,
The new world held the key to true success.
He didn't give a jot for that old saw
Which said that hunting broke the holy law.
Or that a monk who ignored his first duty,
Like a fish out of water, was no beauty.
Монах был монастырский ревизор.
Наездник страстный, он любил охоту
И богомолье – только не работу.
И хоть таких монахов и корят,
Но превосходный был бы он аббат:
Его конюшню вся округа знала,
Его уздечка пряжками бренчала,
Как колокольчики часовни той,
Доход с которой тратил он, как свой.
Он не дал бы и ломаной полушки
За жизнь без дам, без псарни, без пирушки.
Веселый нравом, он терпеть не мог
Монашеский томительный острог,
Устав Маврикия и Бенедикта
И всякие прескрипты и эдикты.
А в самом деле, ведь монах-то прав,
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In other words, a monk out of his cloister.
But this saying too was not worth an oyster.
As I have shown his views were not muddy.
Why should he drive himself mad with study
Pouring over a dull book in his cell?
And as for working with his hands as well –
– Augustine's way - how would that serve the world's good?
Let Augustine do his labour if he would.
To spur his horse, to hunt, was his delight.
He had greyhounds as swift as birds in flight.
To follow a trail and hunt for the hair
Was his great love – and no cost would he spare.
I saw that his sleeves were trimmed at the hand
With soft grey fur, the finest in the land;
And to fasten his hood under his chin,
Of clever design, he had a gold pin,
With its head shaped into a lovers knot.
His bald head shone like a mirror on top.
His face did too, as though all smeared with cream.
This was a weighty man, broad in the beam.
His bulging eyes which rolled around his head,
Shone like a glowing furnace smelting lead.
His boots were supple, his horse in fine fettle
He was truly a prelate of great mettle:
Nor was he pale like a suffering ghost,
A fat swan he loved best of any roast!
His palfrey was as brown as a berry.
И устарел суровый сей устав:
Охоту запрещает он к чему-то
И поучает нас не в меру круто:
Монах без кельи – рыба без воды.
А я большой не вижу в том беды.
В конце концов монах – не рак-отшельник,
Что на спине несет свою молельню.
Он устрицы не даст за весь тот вздор,
Который проповедует приор.
Зачем корпеть средь книг иль в огороде,
Зачем тощать наперекор природе?
Труды, посты, лишения, молитвы На что они, коль есть любовь и битвы?
Пусть Августин печется о спасенье,
А братии оставит прегрешенья.
Был наш монах лихой боец, охотник.
Держал борзых на псарне он две сотни:
Без травли псовой нету в жизни смысла.
Он лебедя любил с подливкой кислой.
Был лучшей белкой плащ его подбит,
Богато вышит и отлично сшит.
Застежку он, как подобает франтам,
Украсил золотым "любовным бантом".
Зеркальным шаром лоснилась тонзура,
Свисали щеки, и его фигура
Вся оплыла; проворные глаза
Запухли, и текла из них слеза.
Вокруг его раскормленного тела
Испарина, что облако, висела.
Ему завидовал и сам аббат –
Так представителен был наш прелат.
И сам лицом упитанный, румяный,
И сапожки из лучшего сафьяна,
И конь гнедой, артачливый на вид.
What is the author’s attitude to Church people as revealed in the description of
the Monk?
The Oxford Clerk
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A Fellow of Oxford, was there also,
Who had started his studies long ago.
His horse was as thin as a rake I swear
And as for him there was little fat there.
He had a hollow, grave look about him.
His over-cloak was all threadbare and thin
Since he hadn't yet found a curacy,
And in worldly affairs was all at sea.
For he would much rather have by his bed,
Twenty good books, all bound in black or red,
Of Aristotle and his philosophy,
Than rich robes, or fiddle, or gay psaltery.
A metaphysician not alchemist,
With not much gold to be seen in his chest,
Since all that he was given by his friends
He spent on books, on paper and on pens
And then would earnestly begin to pray
For those who helped him on his learned way.
Nothing was more important than learning.
His speech was a short and elegant thing,
For he used as few words as would suffice
Being brief and pithy and always wise.
His discourse was filled with moral virtue,
He loved to study, and loved teaching too.
Прервав над логикой усердный труд,
Студент Оксфордский с нами рядом плелся.
Едва ль беднее нищий бы нашелся:
Не конь под ним, а щипаная галка,
И самого студента было жалко Такой он был обтрепанный, убогий,
Худой, измученный плохой дорогой.
Он ни прихода не сумел добыть,
Ни службы канцелярской. Выносить
Нужду и голод приучился стойко.
Полено клал он в изголовье койки.
Ему милее двадцать книг иметь,
Чем платье дорогое, лютню, снедь.
Он негу презирал сокровищ тленных,
Но Аристотель – кладезь мыслей ценных
Не мог прибавить денег ни гроша,
И клерк их клянчил, грешная душа,
У всех друзей и тратил на ученье
И ревностно молился о спасенье
Тех, щедрости которых был обязан.
К науке был он горячо привязан.
Но философия не помогала
И золота ни унца не давала.
Он слова лишнего не говорил
И слог высокий мудрости любил Короткий, быстрый, искренний, правдивый;
Он сыт был жатвой с этой тучной нивы.
И, бедняком предпочитая жить,
Хотел учиться и других учить.
Compare the given portrait with the modern stereotype of a student.
The Wife of Bath
A housewife came from Bath, from near that city,
And she was somewhat deaf, which was a pity.
But for cloth making she had such a bent,
Her skills exceeded those of Ypres and Ghent.
А с ним болтала Батская Ткачиха,
На иноходце восседая лихо;
Но и развязностью не скрыть греха Она была порядочно глуха.
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The good wives in church must always forebear
To make offerings before hers was there,
For if they did, she then became so cross
That sad to say all charity was lost.
And kerchiefs, of the finest texture found,
(Set on their frames they must have weighed ten pound)
She proudly wore each Sunday, on her head.
Her stockings were coloured bright scarlet red
Tightly bound; her shoes were supple and new.
Her face was bold and fair and red of hue.
She had always been most respectable;
In turn had married five husbands in all,
With further company in youth I fear,
Which there's no need for me to speak of here.
She had been to Jerusalem three times,
Had crossed many a stream by foreign shrines.
She had been to Boulogne and also Rome,
St. James' at Galicia and Cologne.
She knew well how to wander by the way,
And was gap-toothed, all open you might say.
She rode easily on a saddle horse
Wearing a wimple and a hat of course
As broad as a shield is from tip to tip.
A long skirt hung down from her ample hip
The spurs at her feet were sharp as a nail,
In company she loved to laugh and rail.
В тканье была большая мастерица Ткачихам гентским впору подивиться.
Благотворить ей нравилось, но в храм
Пред ней протиснись кто-нибудь из дам,
Вмиг забывала, в яростной гордыне,
О благодушии и благостыне.
Платков на голову могла навесить,
К обедне снаряжаясь, сразу десять,
И все из шелка иль из полотна;
Чулки носила красные она
И башмачки из мягкого сафьяна.
Лицом бойка, пригожа и румяна,
Жена завидная она была
И пятерых мужей пережила,
Гурьбы дружков девичьих не считая
(Вокруг нее их увивалась стая).
Булонь и в Бари, в Кельн, в Сантьяго, в Рим
И трижды в град святой - Иерусалим Ходила на поклон святым мощам,
Чтобы утешиться от горя там.
Она носила чистую косынку;
Большая шляпа, формой что корзинка,
Была парадна, как и весь наряд.
Дорожный плащ обтягивал ей зад.
На башмачках она носила шпоры,
Любила шутки, смех и разговоры
И знала все приманки и коварства
И от любви надежные лекарства.
She knew most cures for love by fortunes chance
For she was well versed, in that ancient dance.
The Miller
The Miller seemed a tough sort for our journey,
He was heavy built, strong sinewed and brawny,
As was well proved by his always throwing down
All rivals at wrestling, to bear off the crown.
He was hunch-shouldered, broad, solid all round;
He could heave any door onto the ground
Or smash clean through by ramming with his head.
И Мельник ехал с ними – ражий малый,
Костистый, узловатый и бывалый.
В кулачных схватках всех он побеждал
И приз всегда – барана – получал.
Был крепок он и коренаст, плечом
Мог ставню высадить, вломиться в дом.
Лишь подзадорь – и, разъярясь, как зверь,
Сшибить он с петель мог любую дверь.
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His beard like any sow or fox was red
And was so broad that it looked like a spade.
At the top of his nose there stood displayed
A wart, on which there grew a tuft of hairs,
As red as those bristles a sow's ear bears.
His nostrils were enormous, black and wide.
He wore a sword and shield by his side.
His mouth was huge, just like a great boiler.
Лопатой борода его росла
И рыжая, что лисий мех, была.
А на носу, из самой середины,
На бородавке вырос пук щетины
Такого цвета, как в ушах свиньи;
Чернели ноздри, будто полыньи;
Дыханьем грудь натужно раздувалась,
И пасть, как устье печки, разевалась.
Он бабник, балагур был и вояка,
Кощун, охальник, яростный гуляка.
Он слыл отчаянным лгуном и вором:
В мещок муки умел подсыпать сора
И за помол тройную плату взять.
Но мельник честный – где его сыскать?
Взял в путь он меч и щит для обороны;
В плаще был белом с синим капюшоном.
Он на волынке громко заиграл,
Когда поутру город покидал.
He was noisy and full of coarse humour,
And tales filled with lasciviousness and crimes.
He stole enough to grind the corn three times,
Yet had a gold thumb, as a good miller should.
He was dressed in a white coat and blue hood.
He blew and played the bagpipes well I'd say,
And with his piping got us underway.
Find the passages that reveal Chaucer’s irony?
Is it expressed directly or indirectly?
Content
The Miller’s Tale
An impoverished student named Nicholas, who persuades his landlord’s young wife,
Alisoun, to spend the night with him. He convinces his landlord, a carpenter named John,
that the second flood is coming, and tricks him into spending the night in a tub hanging
from the ceiling of his barn. Absolon, a young parish clerk who is also in love with Alisoun,
appears outside the window of the room where Nicholas and Alisoun lie together. When
Absolon begs Alisoun for a kiss, she sticks her rear end out the window in the dark and lets
him kiss it. Absolon runs and gets a red-hot poker, returns to the window, and asks for
another kiss; when Nicholas sticks his bottom out the window and farts, Absolon brands him
on the buttocks. Nicholas’s cries for water make the carpenter think that the flood has come,
so the carpenter cuts the rope connecting his tub to the ceiling, falls down, and breaks his
arm.
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The Man of Law’s Tale
In the tale, the Muslim sultan of Syria converts his entire sultanate (including himself) to
Christianity in order to persuade the emperor of Rome to give him his daughter, Custance,
in marriage. The sultan’s mother and her attendants remain secretly faithful to Islam. The
mother tells her son she wishes to hold a banquet for him and all the Christians. At the
banquet, she massacres her son and all the Christians except for Custance, whom she sets
adrift in a rudderless ship. After years of floating, Custance runs ashore in Northumberland,
where a constable and his wife, Hermengyld, offer her shelter. She converts them to
Christianity.
One night, Satan makes a young knight sneak into Hermengyld’s chamber and murder
Hermengyld. He places the bloody knife next to Custance, who sleeps in the same chamber.
When the constable returns home, accompanied by Alla, the king of Northumberland, he
finds his slain wife. He tells Alla the story of how Custance was found, and Alla begins to
pity the girl. He decides to look more deeply into the murder. Just as the knight who
murdered Hermengyld is swearing that Custance is the true murderer, he is struck down and
his eyes burst out of his face, proving his guilt to Alla and the crowd. The knight is executed,
Alla and many others convert to Christianity, and Custance and Alla marry.
While Alla is away in Scotland, Custance gives birth to a boy named Mauricius. Alla’s
mother, Donegild, intercepts a letter from Custance to Alla and substitutes a counterfeit one
that claims that the child is disfigured and bewitched. She then intercepts Alla’s reply, which
claims that the child should be kept and loved no matter how malformed. Donegild
substitutes a letter saying that Custance and her son are banished and should be sent away
on the same ship on which Custance arrived. Alla returns home, finds out what has
happened, and kills Donegild.
After many adventures at sea, including an attempted rape, Custance ends up back in
Rome, where she reunites with Alla, who has made a pilgrimage there to atone for killing his
mother. She also reunites with her father, the emperor. Alla and Custance return to
England, but Alla dies after a year, so Custance returns, once more, to Rome. Mauricius
becomes the next Roman emperor.
Do you recognize the plot of the Man of Law’s story?
Does any episode seem to be familiar to you?
If so, what other story contains the similar characters and setting?
Wife of Bath’s Tale
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A young knight of King Arthur’s court rapes a maiden; to atone for his crime, Arthur’s
queen sends him on a quest to discover what women want most. An ugly old woman
promises the knight that she will tell him the secret if he promises to do whatever she wants
for saving his life. He agrees, and she tells him women want control of their husbands and
their own lives. They go together to Arthur’s queen, and the old woman’s answer turns out to
be correct. The old woman then tells the knight that he must marry her. When the knight
confesses later that he is repulsed by her appearance, she gives him a choice: she can either
be ugly and faithful, or beautiful and unfaithful. The knight tells her to make the choice
herself, and she rewards him for giving her control of the marriage by rendering herself both
beautiful and faithful.
The Pardoner’s Tale
Three riotous youths go looking for Death, thinking that they can kill him. An old man tells
them that they will find Death under a tree. Instead, they find eight bushels of gold, which
they plot to sneak into town under cover of darkness. The youngest goes into town to fetch
food and drink, but brings back poison, hoping to have the gold all to himself. His
companions kill him to enrich their own shares, then drink the poison and die under the tree.
Chaucer’s characters present all the classes of English people and present a
broad panorama of the views and values of Middle Ages English society.
Imagine a similar book that could provide an illustration of our times.
Think of the representatives of modern society that could be the characters of
such a book.
Create a frame that could justify the variety of characters and serve a unifying
context for all their stories.
Chose some character and make up a story he(or she) would tell.
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The Development of English Drama
English drama has its origins in the fusion of two theatrical traditions which were popular in the
Middle Ages: street performances and religious dramatisations.
From the time of the Anglo-Saxon scop street performers had travelled around Britain
entertaining people. They included singers, dancers, mime artists, storytellers, acrobats and
clowns. They performed in market squares for the common people or in stately halls for the
nobles. Throughout the medieval period this tradition of popular drama flourished in Britain.
Meanwhile, in the church, a more formal type of theatre began to appear. The congregation of
the church in the Middle Ages was largely illiterate and had little religious education. In an
attempt to attract its followers the church added elements of drama to religious services.
Two types of religious plays developed out of these traditions: Mystery plays and Miracle
plays.
The Mystery plays were based on stories from the Bible. Each Mystery play was a single
episode such as the Fall of Lucifer, Noah's Flood or the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Together they formed The Mystery Cycle, which told the story of Christianity from Creation to
the Last Judgement.
Miracle plays were dramatisations of the lives of the saints, and were performed to celebrate
the great Christian events of the Nativity and the Resurrection during the festivals of Christmas
and Easter.
As liturgical drama became more popular, the churches grew more crowded, and eventually
religious performances had to move outside. Latin was replaced by English and ordinary
people performed instead of priests.
With time the Miracle and Mystery plays became more elaborate and incorporated elements of
street theatre such as humour and parody. The characters and settings were typically English.
Initially the performances were supervised by the clergy but later responsibility for their
production was entrusted to guilds of Tradesmen.
It would seem that the greatest stimulus to non-liturgical religious drama was provided by the
institution of the feast of Corpus Christi in the Western Church in 1264. The new feast,
generally observed in England from 1318, required that the Blessed Sacrament be
ceremoniously carried round the streets of the parish. In greater towns the procession would
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have been accompanied by guildsmen, representative of various established trades, dressed in
livery and bearing the banners of their craft.
The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ), also known as Corpus Domini, is a
Latin Rite celebrating the tradition and belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real
Presence in the Eucharist. It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist, which was
observed on Holy Thursday (Thursday before Easter) in the somber atmosphere of the nearness of
Good Friday.
The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used to refer to the Host or
prosphora and Eucharistic wine after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
In England, as in other European countries, this summer feast-day also became the focus of
urban street theatre organized under the auspices of the tradeguilds. Each play was repeated
several times in different locations around town, then the company would move on to another
town.
Records survive of the annual productions of the cycles in many British cities, from Aberdeen
to Canterbury, but the complete texts of the plays exist only for York (consisting of 48 plays),
Chester (24 plays), Wakefield (42 plays), and for an unknown Midlands town (42 plays).
In some instances particular guilds would perform a play appropriate to their trade. At Chester,
for example, the scene of Noah’s Flood was presented by the Water-leaders and Drawers in
Dee (that is, those who supplied the city with water drawn from the river Dee); the Crucifixion
was re-enacted by the Ironmongers (men who sold nails) and, somewhat less appropriately,
the Harrowing of Hell was performed through the good offices of the Cooks and Innkeepers.
At York the Fishers and Mariners presented the story of Noah, the Pinners and Painters the
Crucifixion, and the Bakers the Last Supper.
The guilds added to their prestige not only by commissioning and maintaining the texts of the
plays that they engaged to perform, but also by making and storing the costumes, the stage
properties and, above all, the movable platforms which the performances required. The shows
were performed on movable 'stage carriages' called pageants which were drawn by horses.
The pageant had two rooms: a lower room where the actors got ready and an upper room,
which had no walls, where the performance took place.
The actors did not always remain on the stage. Herod could ride on horseback among the
people, boasting of his riches. The Devil could jump from the stage into the audience. The
tricks of this kind added to the excitement and the success of the performance. With the time
the plays were getting more and more artistic. The biblical episodes were made into rhymed
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dialogues with comic elements that made the audience laugh. The biblical figures were given
names and individual characters.
For example, in the story about Noah’s Ark Noah’s wife is shown as an obstinate quarrelsome
woman, who refuses to board the Ark, despite Noah’s warning that the flood is about to begin.
She wants to bring her women friends on board, too, and if Noah does not let her, she
promises, flood or no flood, she will stay with them. Noah and his sons get her on board.
Noah sarcastically says, “Welcome, wife, into the boat,” to which his wife replies, “And have
then that for thy note,” accompanying the words with a slap on his face. Then she attacks him
with blows until he calls her to stop since his back is nearly broken.
In the Bible there is an episode in which shepherds were told by the Angel to go and worship
baby Christ. This is how this story was made into a play which is known as The Second
Shepherds’ Play of the Wakefield cycle.
Content
Among the shepherds there is one, Mak by name, whose reputation for honesty isn’t very
good. When the shepherds go to sleep they make Mak lie within their circle, for fear that he
steels a sheep. But when he hears the snores Mak rises, takes a sheep and hurries home. His
wife is alarmed, because at that time the theft of a sheep was punished by death. She wraps
the animal into the blanket and puts it into a cradle. If the shepherds come to search the
house, she will pretend having a child, but she won’t let them come up to the cradle. When
the shepherds wake, they miss the sheep, suspect Mak, and hurry to his home to look for the
sheep. His wife allows them to look around, but keeps them away from the cradle. The
shepherds leave ashamed of their suspicion. In the doorway they stop and decide to give the
baby a sixpence. So they get back to the cradle, lift up the covering and discover the sheep.
Mak and his wife declare that an elf has changed their baby into a sheep, but the angry
shepherds threaten them with death sentence. They seize Mak, throw him on the canvas, and
toss him into the air until they are exhausted. When they lie down to rest, the Angel comes
and tells them to go and worship the new God.
While there are no character studies, no suspense and no great poetry in miracle plays, there is
energy, simplicity and a powerful emotional impact.
During the fourteenth century another type of play, the Morality play, became extremely
popular. Morality plays were not religious: their main purpose was to teach a moral lesson, to
instruct the people what is good and what is bad. They were allegorical tales in which the
characters were personifications of abstract concepts. Instead of characters of saints appeared
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allegorical personifications of virtues and vices: Charity, Truth, Wisdom, Flesh, Greed,
Mischief, Pleasure, Folly, Indignation, Revenge. They acted like real people in everyday life.
The most famous Morality play was written around 1500 and is called Everyman.
Content
The character Everyman, who represents mankind, angers God because he is obsessed with
material goods. God orders Death to take him. Everyman wishes to have company on his
last journey so he asks Fellowship (friendship), Kindred and Cousin (family) and Goods
(wealth) if they will go with him, but they all refuse. The only characters who help Everyman
in his hour of need are Knowledge and Good Deeds: only spiritual strength can help him in
his last hour.
Text
Fe llowship.
Whether ye have loved me or no,
By Saint John, I will not with thee go!
Kindre d.
Ah, sir, come! Ye be a merry man!
Pluck up heart and make no moan.
But one thing I warn you, by Saint Anne,
As for me, ye shall go alone!
Cousin.
No, by our Lady! I have the cramp in my toe.
Trust not to me, for, so God me speed,
I will deceive you in your utmost need.
Goods.
Nay, Everyman, I say no.
Just for a while I was lent to thee,
A season thou hast had me in prosperity.
My nature it is man’s soul to kill,
If I save one, a thousand I do spill.
Thinkest thou that I will follow thee?
Nay, from this world not, verily!
Good De e ds.
Everyman, I have understanding
That ye be summoned your account to make
Before Messias, of Jerusalem King.
If you do my counsel, that journey with you will I take.
Knowle dge .
Everyman, I will go with thee and be thy guide,
In thy utmost need to go by thy side.
Confe ssion.
I know your sorrow well, Everyman,
Because with Knowledge ye come to me.
I will you comfort as well as I can,
And a precious stone will I give thee,
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Called penance, voice-voider of adversity.
Therewith shall your body chastened be
Through abstinence and perseverance in God’s service.
Here shall you receive that scourge of me
That is penance stronge, that ye must endure,
To remember thy Saviour was scourged for thee
With sharp scourges, and suffered it patiently–
So must thou ere thou escape from that painful pilgrimage.
Knowledge, do thou sustain him on this voyage,
And by that time Good Deeds will be with thee.
But in any case be sure of mercy,
For your time draweth on fast, if ye will saved be.
Ask God mercy, and he will grant it truly.
When with the scourge of penance man doth him bind,
The oil of forgiveness then shall he find.
The final passage from the play:
Stre ngth.
Everyman, we will not from you go,
Till ye have gone this voyage long.
Discre tion.
I, Discretion, will abide by you also.
Knowle dge .
And though of this pilgrimage the hardships be never so strong,
No turning backward in me shall you know.
Everyman, I will be as sure by thee,
As ever I was by Judas Maccabee.
Eve ryman.
Alas! I am so faint I may not stand,
My limbs under me do fold.
Friends, let us not turn again to this land,
Not for all the world’s gold,
For into this cave must I creep,
And turn to the earth, and there sleep.
Be auty.
What – into this grave! Alas! Woe is me!
Eve ryman.
Yea, there shall ye consume utterly.
Be auty.
And what, – must I smother here?
Eve ryman.
Yea, by my faith, and never more appear!
In this world we shall live no more at all,
But in heaven before the highest lord of all.
Be auty.
I cross out all this! Adieu, by Saint John!
I take “my tap in my lap” and am gone.
Eve ryman.
What, Beauty! – whither go ye ?
Be auty.
Peace! I am deaf, I look not behind me,
Not if thou wouldest give me all the gold in thy chest.
[Beauty goes, followed by the others, as they speak in turn.
Eve ryman.
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Alas! in whom may I trust!
Beauty fast away from me doth hie.
She promised with me to live and die.
Stre ngth.
Everyman, I will thee also forsake and deny,
Thy game liketh me not at all!
Eve ryman.
Why, then ye will forsake me all!
Sweet Strength, tarry a little space.
Stre ngth.
Nay, Sir, by the rood of grace,
I haste me fast my way from thee to take,
Though thou weep till thy heart do break.
Eve ryman.
Ye would ever abide by me, ye said.
Stre ngth.
Yea, I have you far enough conveyed.
Ye be old enough, I understand,
Your pilgrimage to take in hand.
I repent me that I thither came.
Eve ryman.
Strength, for displeasing you I am to blame.
Will ye break “promise that is debt"?
Stre ngth.
In faith, I care not!
Thou art but a fool to complain,
You spend your speech and waste your brain.
Go, thrust thyself into the ground!
Eve ryman.
I had thought more sure I should you have found,
But I see well, who trusteth in his Strength,
She him deceiveth at length.
Both Strength and Beauty have forsaken me,
Yet they promised me fair and lovingly.
Discre tion.
Everyman, I will after Strength be gone –
As for me, I will leave you alone.
Eve ryman.
Why, Discretion, will ye forsake me!
Discre tion.
Yea, in faith, I will go from thee,
For when Strength goeth before
I follow after, evermore.
Eve ryman.
Yet, I pray thee, for love of the Trinity
Look in my grave once in pity of me.
Discre tion.
Nay, so nigh will I not come, trust me well!
Now I bid you each farewell.
Eve ryman.
Oh, all things fail save God alone –
Beauty, Strength, and Discretion!
For when Death bloweth his blast,
They all run from me full fast.
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Five Wits.
Everyman, my leave now of thee I take.
I will follow the others, for here I thee forsake.
Eve ryman.
Alas! then may I wail and weep,
For I took you for my best friend.
Five Wits.
I will thee no longer keep.
Now farewell, and here’s an end!
Eve ryman.
O Jesu, help! All have forsaken me.
Good De e ds.
Nay, Everyman, I will abide by thee,
I will not forsake thee indeed!
Thou wilt find me a good friend at need.
Eve ryman.
Gramercy, Good Deeds, now may I true friends see.
They have forsaken me everyone,
I loved them better than my Good Deeds alone.
Knowledge, will ye forsake me also?
Knowle dge .
Yea, Everyman, when ye to death shall go,
But not yet, for no manner of danger.
Eve ryman.
Gramercy, Knowledge, with all my heart!
Knowle dge .
Nay, yet will I not from hence depart,
Till whereunto ye shall come, I shall see and know.
Eve ryman.
Methinketh, alas! that I must now go
To make my reckoning, and my debts pay,
For I see my time is nigh spent away.
Take example, all ye that this do hear or see,
How they that I love best do forsake me,
Except my Good Deeds that abideth faithfully.
Good De e ds.
All earthly things are but vanity.
Beauty, Strength and Discretion do man forsake,
Foolish friends and kinsmen that fair spake,
All flee away save Good Deeds, and that am I!
Eve ryman.
Have mercy on me, God most mighty,
And stand by me, thou Mother and Maid, holy Mary!
Good De e ds.
Fear not, I will speak for thee.
Eve ryman.
Here I cry God mercy!
Good De e ds.
Shorten our end and minish our pain,
Let us go and never come again.
Eve ryman.
Into thy hands, Lord, my soul I commend –
Receive it, Lord, that it be not lost!
As thou didst me buy, so do thou me defend,
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And save me from the fiend’s boast
That I may appear with that blessed host
That shall be saved at the day of doom.
In manus tuas, of mights the most,
Forever commendo spiritum meum.
[Everyman goes into the grave.
Knowle dge .
Now that he hath suffered that we all shall endure,
The Good Deeds shall make all sure;
Now that he hath made ending,
Methinketh that I hear angels sing,
And make great joy and melody,
Where Everyman’s soul shall received be!
The Ange l.
Come, excellent elect spouse to Jesus!
Here above shalt thou go,
Because of thy singular virtue.
Now thy soul from thy body is taken, lo!
Thy reckoning is crystal clear.
Now shalt thou into the heavenly sphere,
Unto which ye all shall come
That live well before the day of doom.
[The Angel goes and the Doctor enters.
Doctor.
This moral men may have in mind, –
Ye hearers, take it as of worth, both young and old,
And forsake Pride, for he deceiveth you in the end, as ye will find,
And remember Beauty, Five Wits, Strength, and Discretion, all told,
They all at the last do Everyman forsake
Save that his Good Deeds there doth he take.
But beware, if they be small,
Before God he hath no help at all,
None excuse for Everyman may there then be there.
Alas, how shall he then do and fare!
For after death amends may no man make,
For then Mercy and Pity do him forsake.
If his reckoning be not clear when he doth come,
God will say, Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum.
And he that hath his account whole and sound,
High in heaven he shall be crowned,
Unto which place God bring us all thither
That we may live, body and soul, together!
Thereto their aid vouchsafe the Trinity –
Amen, say ye, for holy Charity!
Finis.
What is the main message of the play?
What effect do you think it could have produced upon the 15th century audience?
Is it the same as the effect produced upon the 21st century mind?
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English Literature in the Time of Renaissance
Cultural Context
Historical Context
Renaissance Poetry
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547)
Edmund Spenser (1552–1599)
Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
Shakespeare's Sonnets
John Donne (1572–1631) – the Father of Metaphysical poetry
Renaissance Prose
Thomas More: Utopia
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
Renaissance Drama
The University Wits
Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
Late Elizabethan Drama
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Cultural Context
In the Middle Ages, people forgot the Greek language and debased the Latin; in the time of
Renaissance people learned to read Greek once more and reformed the Latin that they read,
wrote, and spoke. The term renaissance itself is a French word meaning “rebirth,” and it refers
to renewed interest in classical learning, the writings of ancient Greece and Rome.
In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Turks. The Greek refugees who fled to Italy brought with
them masterpieces of Greek literature, science, physics, mathematics, astronomy and medicine.
From Italy, classical knowledge spread to other countries where it was embraced by great men
of learning.
The dissemination of classical knowledge was enhanced by printing which rapidly replaced the
laborious reproduction of books by hand.
The inventor of printing is a German named Johann Gutenberg (1400–1468), who was
responsible for the first printed book, an immense Latin Bible produced at Mainz in Germany.
The re-awakening of interest in classical knowledge affected all aspects of
culture. People became more curious about themselves and their world than
people in general had been in the Middle Ages. Gradually there took place a rebirth of the
human spirit. New energy seemed to be available for creating beautiful things and thinking new
thoughts.
The optimistic view of human nature was expressed by the philosopher Pico della
Mirandola, who said the following in his speech entitled On the Dignity of Humanity:
God made man and woman at the close of the creation, to know the laws of the universe, to love its beauty,
and to admire its greatness. He bound his human creatures to no fixed place, to no prescribed form of work,
and by no iron necessity, but gave them freedom to will and to love. "I have set thee,” says the Creator, "in the
midst of the world, that thou mayst the more easily behold and see all that is therein. I created thee a being
neither heavenly nor earthly, neither mortal nor immortal only, that thou mightest be free to shape and to
overcome thyself. Thou mayest sink into a beast or be born anew to the divine likeness. To thee alone is given
a growth and a development depending on thine own free will.”
Authors like Pico Della Mirandola, Petrarch, Dante are representative of an intellectual
movement known as humanism, a movement that attempted to derive from the Latin and
Greek classics answers to such questions as, “What is a human being?”, “What is a good
life?” and “How does one lead a good life?”
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The main subject of Humanism was human nature in all its manifestations and achievements.
Humanism looked forward to a rebirth of a lost human spirit and wisdom. The effect of
Humanism was to help man break free from the mental structures imposed by medieval
religious orthodoxy, according to which the earthly life was given to man as penance and
preparation for the afterlife.
Humanism was a radical departure from the principles that governed medieval art and literature.
The focus of attention was no longer God but Man. Love of this world was underlined rather
than preparation for the next. For the first time man was explored as an individual, and the idea
that a man could shape his own destiny was widely accepted.
Humanism inspired a new confidence in the possibilities of human thought and activity.
According to the new outlook man was created ideal physically and mentally. The classic
Greek statement of “A sound mind in a sound body” became popular.
The humanist outlook shaped the thinking of all great artists, writers, and scientists of the
Renaissance. Just mentioning a few of the geniuses who flourished in this period – Raphael, da
Vinci, Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Columbus—reminds us how remarkably rich this
civilization was, and how much we owe to it.
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Historical Context
The establishment of the English Church
While the Renaissance was going on in Europe, there occurred in some countries another
important series of events known as the Reformation. In England these two vast movements
were closely related. Although the exact nature of the reformation varied from country to
country, there was one feature common to all Reformers: they denied the authority of the Pope
and the Roman Catholic Church.
New religious ideas were coming into England from the Continent, especially from Germany,
where Martin Luther had founded a new kind of Christianity based on his understanding of
the Bible rather than on the authoritative teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Strong
feelings of patriotism and national identity made the English people resent the financial burdens
imposed on them by the Vatican.
Martin Luther (1483–1546) was a German friar, priest and professor of theology who was a key
figure in the Protestant Reformation. He rejected several teachings and practices of the Roman
Catholic Church and strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could
be purchased with money. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching
that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God. His translation of the Bible into the
vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, which had a tremendous impact on the church and on German
culture.
Those who support Luther’s views are called Lutherans. Today, Lutheranism constitutes a major branch of Protestant
Christianity.
Matters came to a climax when Henry VIII, the second of the Tudor Kings, asked Pope
Clement to declare that he was not properly married to his Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon,
because she had previously been the wife of his older brother Arthur, now dead. Henry had
two motives: first, Catherine didn’t give him the male heir that he thought he must have. What
is more, he was in love with, and wanted to marry, another woman, Anne Boleyn. The Pope
did not allow Henry to divorce his wife. In 1531, upon receiving the Pope’s refusal, Henry
declared himself head of the English Church. He appointed a new Archbishop of Canterbury,
who declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid.
At the very beginning many were dissatisfied with the English Church. They felt that it was not
reformed enough, that it was merely a compromise between Protestantism and Catholicism.
These dissidents, who were soon to become known as Puritans, Baptists, Presbyterians,
Dissenters, Nonconformists, and so on, wanted to get rid of many different things they called
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“Popish," such as the bishops, the prayer book, the priest’s vestments, and even the bell on
the church. Some of them said that religion was solely a matter between the individual and
God. This idea, which is still frequently expressed, is directly traceable to the teachings of
those Renaissance humanists who emphasized the freedom and self-sufficiency of all human
beings.
The Tudor Monarchs (1485–1603)
The five Tudor rulers are easy to remember: they consist of a grandfather, a father, and three
children. The grandfather was Henry VII, a Welsh nobleman named Henry Tudor who seized
the throne after England was totally exhausted by the long and bloody struggle of the Wars of
the Roses. Henry VII was a shrewd, patient, and stingy man who restored peace and order to
the kingdom.
His son Henry VIII (1509–1547) had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane
Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Their fates are summarized
in a jingle: “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” Despite his messy
home life, Henry VIII was very important. He created the Royal Navy, which effectively put a
stop to foreign invasions and allowed to spread English political power, language, and literature
all over the globe. Henry VIII himself deserves the title “Renaissance man.” He wrote poetry,
performed well on many different musical instruments, was a champion athlete and a mighty
hunter.
Henry VIII had three children: Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon; Elizabeth, daughter of
Anne Boleyn; and Edward, son of Jane Seymour. According to the laws of succession the son
had to be crowned first, and so at age nine he became Edward VI (1547–1553). An intelligent
but sickly boy, he ruled in name only while his relatives had the actual power. He died and was
followed by his half-sister Mary (1553–1558), a strong-willed woman determined to avenge
her mother and restore the Pope’s power in England. Bloody Mary burned at the stake about
three hundred of her subjects, and then lost the support of her people entirely when she
married Philip II, king of Spain, the country England was beginning to fear and hate. When
Mary was overthrown, Elizabeth came to the throne.
Mary Tudor was given the title Bloody Mary by her opponents for her brutal persecution of
Protestants. She had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake.
Elizabeth I (1558–1603) was one of the most brilliant and successful
monarchs in history. She inherited a kingdom torn by fierce religious feuds,
and her first task was to restore law and order. She reestablished the Church of England and
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again renounced the Pope, who promptly excommunicated her. To keep Spain pacified, she
pretended that she just might marry her widowed brother-in-law King Philip, who was the first
of a long procession of eligible noblemen, both foreign and English, who wanted to marry her.
But she resisted marriage her whole life (thereby giving the American colony Virginia its name)
because she knew that her strength lay in her independence and her ability to play one suitor
off against another.
A truly heroic person, Elizabeth survived many plots against her. Several of them were in
support of her cousin, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Mary was Elizabeth’s heir because she
also was a direct descendant of Henry VII. She was deposed from her throne in Scotland and
lived as an exile in England. Elizabeth beheaded Mary. King Philip used this act as an excuse to
invade England. In 1588, the Royal Navy, assisted greatly by the weather, destroyed the
Invincible Armada. It was a great turning point in history and the brightest period of Elizabeth's
reign.
After the defeat of the Armada, Elizabeth became a beloved symbol of peace, security and
prosperity to her people. Many English authors represented her mythologically in poetry,
drama, and fiction. Literary works that did not directly represent her were dedicated to her
because authors knew that she was a connoisseur of literature and a person of remarkably wide
learning. She was fluent in Latin, Spanish, French and Italian. Like her father, she was skilled in
music, dancing, and religious argument, and also vain, headstrong, and clever. But her reign far
surpassed her father’s in the production of literary works.
Under the reign of Elizabeth I the Renaissance flourished. That was a period of unprecedented
prosperity, and both the court and the emerging middle classes dedicated a lot of time to art
and literature.
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Renaissance Poetry
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Most poetry and other literature in the Renaissance tended to be aristocratic in tone. Poets
were themselves aristocrats, who did not publish their works but gave them to their friends,
who circulated them in manuscript. Unless they also wrote plays, English poets could not
expect to make much money from their writings. So they asked aristocratic patrons for
support and dedicated their books to them.
In the Renaissance people wrote poetry in figurative language fitted into formal patterns. The
poets of Renaissance England were very conscious of their predecessors, who wrote not only
in English but in Italian and Latin, Spanish, French and Greek. English poets depended on
tradition. They wrote a particular kind of poem. There were epithalamia (wedding songs),
epigrams (brief poems sometimes praising but more often making fun of either real or
fictitious people), epitaphs (brief poems on dead people), and songs (lyrics suitable for setting
to music). Poems were often set to music and sung to the accompaniment of an instrument.
These songs expressed a great variety of moods and covered a great variety of subjects, from
love to religion.
The most popular genre of poetry was the sonnet. The English sonneteers followed the Italian
poet Petrarch who had used the sonnet to address a woman identified only as Laura, a proud
woman of ideal virtue and beauty who remains totally indifferent to the poet. The poet-lover is
a humble figure, who burns with desire for the lady and freezes from her disdain of him.
Francesco Petrarca, known in English as Francis Petrarch (1304— 1374) was a scholar and
poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's sonnets were admired and
imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry.
The language of Renaissance poetry was elaborate and stylised. Some of the
metaphors seem inconceivable to us: as when two lovers were called a geometer’s compass.
Extended metaphors of this kind, bringing together things totally unlike each other, are called
conceits, and they may distract us because we have been taught to visualize the images in
poetry.
Conceit is an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By
juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader
into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison. Extended conceits in English are
part of the poetic idiom of Mannerism, during the later sixteenth and early seventeenth century.
Renaissance readers apparently did not try to picture conceits in their minds; instead, they
admired them for their boldness and ingenuity. As time passed, the practice of writing conceits
intensified and reached a peak in the followers of John Donne.
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Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–
1547)
Wyatt and Surrey have much in common: they were courtiers of Henry VIII, they admired and
imitated foreign – especially Italian – poetry, and they were literary innovators. Wyatt spent
much of his life traveling abroad as an ambassador for King Henry. Twice Henry had him
imprisoned on charges that were probably false, and twice Wyatt managed to regain his favor.
Surrey was not so lucky. He was a brilliant soldier and both his parents were descended from
English kings. Thus he had two qualifications for being a king himself. Henry didn’t like it and
had Surrey executed when he was only thirty years old.
Both Wyatt and Surrey helped to change the nature of English poetry, which up to their time
was still essentially medieval in matter and manner, subject and form. Wyatt brought a new kind
of poem, the love sonnet, to England from Italy. His English sonnets are adaptations of Italian
sonnets.
Wyatt's sonnets were mainly translations or imitations of those of Petrarch. He changed the
structure of Petrarchan sonnet to create what became known as the Elizabethan sonnet.
In the original Italian sonnet the first eight lines – the octave – introduced the problem, while
the last six lines – the sextet – provided an answer or comment and expressed the personal
feelings of the poet. The rhyming scheme was usually ABBA-ABBA-CDC-DCD. Wyatt
changed the rhyming scheme of the sestet to CDDC-EE thus creating a quatrain (four lines)
and a couplet (two lines). The Earl of Surrey developed the sestet even further, separating the
couplet from the quatrain and using it to comment on the previous twelve lines. The final
pattern for the Elizabethan sonnet comprised therefore three quatrains (twelve lines) and a
couplet (two lines) with the scheme ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG.
Wyatt and Surrey introduced a new method of writing sonnets in the form of sonnet sequence,
a collection of sonnets telling a story of love, like that of Petrarch for his Laura.
Surrey was the first to use the blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) in English poetry.
Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and many other later poets used blank verse, and this
poetic form now seems the most natural of all English meters.
Aside from their sonnets and Surrey’s blank verse, both poets produced a variety of other
kinds of works. But neither of these poets had any of his works printed and publicly
distributed, except for one poem that Surrey wrote on Wyatt’s death. They had no ambition to
be known as “clerks,” or men of letters, the sort of people who published books. As courtiers
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they were expected to compose songs and verses, just as they were expected to do battle for
their king, compete in tournaments, dance, and carry on intrigues with the ladies. And so they
circulated their poems privately, in handwritten copies, amongst their friends. Not until ten
years after Surrey’s death did most of their poems appear in print. In 1557 an anthology called
Songs and Sonnets was published. It contained ninety-seven of Wyatt’s poems and forty of
Surrey’s.
The book Wyatt’s and Surrey’s poems is commonly known as Tottel’s Miscellany (after the
name of the printer Richard Tottel). It has a rather bad reputation today because Tottel
“improved” the poems by changing their words so that they seemed smoother to his ears.To make
certain that we read Wyatt’s and Surrey’s words scholars have searched out the handwritten
copies of the poems that predate their publication.
Text
According to traditional gossip, this poem by Wyatt is about the attraction he felt for Anne Boleyn, a beautiful
young woman at court. When he noticed that no less a person than King Henry was also attracted to Anne, he
gave up the pursuit (as he says in line 1) to whoever else wanted to “hunt” her. No one knows whether this
story is true or not, but Henry did make Anne the second of his six queens.
Whoso List to Hunt
перевод Е. Фельдман
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore,
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Whoso list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about,
“Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.”
Добычи ищешь? Я скажу, где лань!
Увы, моя закончена охота.
Измучен, как чумой, пустой работой,
Плетусь я позади, чуть жив от ран.
Порыв ловца я сдерживал, как мог,
Но лишь промчалось нежное виденье –
Я ринулся в погоню вслед за тенью,
А в сети только лёгкий ветер лёг.
Не верь тому, что говорит молва, Охота эта страстная напрасна.
На шее горделивой и атласной
Горят алмазной россыпью слова:
«Не тронь меня, сетей не ставь упорно!
Я одному лишь Цезарю покорна».
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Who is referred to as Caesar in the poem?
Why does the poet refuse to “hunt”?
What does the poem reveal about the position of women in Wyatt’s time?
In the poem love is described in terms of “hunting”.
Make up your own metaphors that could reveal the nature of “love”.
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Edmund Spenser (1552–1599)
Edmund Spenser, unlike such gentlemanly writers as Wyatt, Surrey and Sidney, regarded
himself primarily as a poet. Indeed, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries he became known
as “the poet’s poet” because so many young writers learned the art and craft of poetry by
studying him. Spenser began publishing poetry about the time he graduated from the Merchant
Taylors’ School and went to Cambridge University, from which he received the B.A. and M.A.
degrees. Upon leaving the university, he served as a personal secretary to the Earl of Leicester,
Queen Elizabeth’s favorite.
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (1532 or 1533–1588) was an English nobleman and
the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death. The
Queen giving him reason to hope, he was a suitor for her hand for many years.
Leicester, a great patron of scholars and writers, surrounded himself with
brilliant people, and in his household Spenser became acquainted with many poets, among
them Sir Philip Sidney. He dedicated to Sidney his first book, The Shepherds’ Calendar
(1579). This is a set of twelve pastoral poems, one for each month, written in a variety of
meter. Some of them are experimental, and all of them are original and interesting. Literary
historians have long recognized 1579 as the date when the great age of Elizabethan literature
began.
Pastoral, as an adjective, refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock around
larger areas of land according to seasons and availability of water and feed. "Pastoral" also describes
literature, art and music which depicts the life of shepherds, often in a highly idealised manner. It may
also be used as a noun (a pastoral) to describe a single work of pastoral poetry, music or drama. An
alternative name for the literary "pastoral" (both as an adjective and a noun) is "bucolic", from the Greek βουκóλος,
meaning a "cowherd". This reflects the Greek origin of the pastoral tradition.
In 1580, Spenser and his wife went to Ireland in the service of the Lord Deputy of Ireland.
Except for two or three visits to England, he was to spend the rest of his life in that war-torn
country. English troops had invaded and conquered Ireland, but the Irish did not regard
themselves as conquered. They particularly resented people like Spenser, who was given an
Irish castle and a vast estate.
The conditions remained very unsettled and dangerous, but Spenser managed to work on The
Faerie Queene and other poems. After the death of his first wife he courted and married
Elizabeth Boyle, an Anglo-Irish lady living in Cork. His sonnet sequence Amoretti (1595) and
his marriage hymn Epithalamion (1595) reveal Spencer’s intense devotion to his wife.
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The Irish intensified their efforts to expel the English from their land. During one of their raids,
Spenser’s castle was burned and his infant son killed. Spenser himself took refuge in Cork
City, and from there he went over to London, carrying messages to the government and some
poems in manuscript. He died suddenly, in 1599, and was given a splendid funeral and burial in
the Poet's Corner. He lies near Chaucer, a poet who provided much of his inspiration.
Spenser's masterpiece The Faerie Queene was published in 1590. It was dedicated to the
Queen: “To the Most Mighty and Magnificent Empress Elizabeth, by the Grace of God
Queen of England, France, and Ireland.” The Queen, notoriously stingy, rewarded him with
the unusually large pension of fifty pounds annually, and Spenser was generally recognized as
the leading poet of the day.
The Faerie Queene is a religious and political allegory that despite its unfinished state runs
about 33,000 lines. It has an open form, with many characters and many different plots
developing in all directions. Their knights, ladies, battles, tournaments, enchantments, dragons,
giants, dwarfs, and demons are derived from the medieval romances of chivalry.
Spencer intended to write twelve books, but only half of the work was completed. Each book
recounts the adventures of a knight, who represents one of the twelve virtues that make a
perfect gentleman. The first six books have heroes or heroines who embody holiness,
temperance, chastity, friendship, justice, and courtesy.
The main theme of the work is the glorification of Queen Elizabeth and her court. At the end of
the story, Prince Arthur, the most important knight, is to marry the Faerie Queene Gloriana,
who represented Queen Elizabeth.
Style
The Faerie Queene shows Spenser's great gift for creating refined and vivid poetry. He
introduced a new metre into English poetry called the Spenserian stanza. Each stanza
contains nine lines in total: eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by a single 'alexandrine'
line in iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme of these lines is ABABBCBCC:
Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses hauing slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broad emongst her learned throng:
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Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song.
(From Faerie Queene)
Spenser's belief that poetry should deal with subjects far removed from everyday life and
should be written in refined language became the basic principle for Elizabethan.
Text
SONNET XXX from Amoretty
Перевод Д. Смирнова
My love is like to ice, and I to fire:
How come it then that this her cold is so great
Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,
But harder grows the more I her entreat?
Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold,
But that I burn much more in boiling sweat,
And feel my flames augmented manifold?
What more miraculous thing may be told,
That fire, which is congealed with senseless cold,
Should kindle fire by wonderful device?
Such is the power of love in gentle mind,
That it can alter all the course of kind.
Любимая, как лёд, а я, как пламя –
какой мороз ей сердце остудил,
что не расплавить жаркими кострами? –
оно твердеет – тщетно я молил.
Какой пожар мне сердце распалил
таким огнём, что не боится льда,
а только пуще пламенеет пыл,
и страсть моя вскипает, как руда?
Но чудо совершится лишь тогда,
когда огонь пылающий поймёт,
что растопить он может холода,
cам превратившись в безразличный лёд.
Сильна любовь, и может в час тревожный
cменить свой курс на противоположный.
What feelings stand behind the images of “fire” and “ice”?
What determines the temperature in a lover’s heart?
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Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
Sir Philip Sidney was a soldier and a statesman. He was connected with many important
people. His father was Sir Henry Sidney, for many years Lord Governor of Ireland, his uncle
was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a handsome and talented courtier whom Queen
Elizabeth loved passionately but never married. As a boy Sidney first met Queen Elizabeth
when his uncle Leicester put on a spectacular entertainment for her at Kenilworth. Elizabeth
later made Sidney her cupbearer.
In 1585 Queen Elizabeth appointed Sidney governor of Flushing, an important English fortress
in the Netherlands. He had long sympathized with the Dutch in their struggle to remain independent of Spain. In November of 1586 Sidney was wounded and died. His body was brought
back to England and given a hero’s burial in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The English idolized Sidney, and held him up as the embodiment of perfect knighthood. As a
writer and poet Sidney is best remembered for his three works. The long chivalric pastoral
romance called The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1590, 1593) is full of adventure and
moralizing. Many literary historians regard it as the most important piece of English prose
fiction before the eighteenth century. A collection of poems entitled Astrophel and Stella
(1591) consisting of 108 sonnets and 11 songs is the first of many Elizabethan sonnet
sequences. Finally, An Apology for Poetry (1595), also known as The Defense of Poesy, is the
first substantial critical essay in the English literature. It is a defense of imaginative literature
against its detractors, who were saying that poets lie. Sidney replied that poets can't lie because
they don't pretend to be giving factual information. “The poet nothing affirmeth,” he argued.
Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella has two purposes: to praise Stella (“Star”) and to explore and
express the feelings of Astrophel (“Star Lover”). Sidney pays much more attention to the
second purpose than to the first. Compared with Petrarch’s Laura, Stella is a rather dim figure.
Text
In the following sonnet, Astrophel plans to express his love for Stella in poems that will make her love him in
return.
"Loving in truth..."
Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That the dear she might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe:
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Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain,
Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow
Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburned brain.
But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay;
Invention, Nature's child, fled stepdame Study's blows;
And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write."
How does the lover try to impress his beloved?
Are his attempts effective?
What is the message of the poem?
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Shakespeare's Sonnets
The first examples of sonnets in English were written by Sir Thomas Wyatt, and the form was
then developed by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. If these poets had not lived, Shakespeare
might never have written any sonnets at all.
The rhyme scheme of most sonnets in English, including Shakespeare's is generally
ababcdcdefefgg – this is called the Elizabethan scheme, and is different from the original
Petrarchan scheme.
While his contemporaries were dealing exclusively with love Shakespeare used the sonnet form
not only for the description of the beauty of the woman and of his passions, but also for the
expression of his ideas. Shakespeare's 154 sonnets cover a wide range of subjects: they are
poems of love and loss, of loneliness, infidelity, "devouring time", death, and ruthless age. But
there are two major themes: the force of love, and the battle between the power of time and the
timelessness of poetry. The sonnets reveal that their writer was a playwright. They often have
the structure of a little drama. The octave introduces some kind of conflict. In the following
quatrain the conflict is developed in some way: it can be disputed or accepted, denied or
affirmed. In the last two lines a solution is presented that is often clever and unexpected. This
final couplet works like the last scene in a play in which all the difficulties of the plot are
resolved.
Sometimes Shakespeare expressed the same idea through several sonnets. Shakespeare's
sequence of sonnets suggests "a story", though the story itself is elusive and mysterious.
The sequence of his sonnets is traditionally divided into two parts. The first part (sonnets 1 –
126) is dedicated to a young man, the second part (127 – 154) – to a lady.
There are many opinions about the connection of addressees of the sonnets with
Shakespeare's life. The most accepted view is that the young man is Shakespeare's friend Sir
William Herbert, “Mr. W.H.”. Lord Herbert possessed all the external characteristics
mentioned in the sonnets. Physically the young man is the embodiment of beauty. But
Shakespeare is concerned not only with the physical but also with the moral beauty of his hero.
He describes not only merits, but also shortcomings and vices of the man's character, though
in his time it was fashionable to speak about the coincidence of moral and physical beauty.
Shakespeare hints at his friend's arrogance, selfishness and egoism. The young man has no
love for anybody, and therefore remains single. Shakespeare's strong advice is to get married
and have children who will inherit his beauty and justify his existence.
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The woman to whom the second part of the sequence is dedicated to is not identified by the
biographers. She is known under the name of the Dark Lady. The character of the Dark Lady
is an innovation in Elizabethan literature, because the image in pre-shakespearean love poetry is
blond. The sonnets reveal the story of the Dark Lady as well as the story of Shakespeare's love
for her. She is in her early twenties, married, faithless to her husband in her love for other men.
Shakespeare admires her beauty, suffers from his passionate love for her, and at the same time
despises himself for loving such a worthless woman. He stresses the darkness of her hair,
eyes, and heart.
Text
XVIII.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
XIX.
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,
And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets;
But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:
O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.
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Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young.
LXVI.
Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And guilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly doctor-like controlling skill,
And simple truth miscall'd simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.
CXXIX.
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
CXXX.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
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Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Learn one of Shakespeare’s sonnets by heart.
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John Donne (1572–1631) – the Father of Metaphysical poetry
The term "metaphysical," as applied to English and continental European poets of the
seventeenth century, was used by the literary critic Samuel Johnson in the eighteenth century to
reprove those poets for their “unnaturalness.” Therefore it may be considered misleading
because metaphysical poetry did not deal with philosophical speculation but with the themes of
religion and love. The metaphysical poets were not widely appreciated in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries by romantic and Victorian poets, but their reputation grew at the beginning
of the twentieth century with the rise of the interest in dramatic and passionate poetry.
John Donne, along with similar but distinct poets such as George Herbert, Andrew Marvell,
and Henry Vaughn, developed a poetic style in which philosophical and spiritual subjects were
approached with reason and often concluded in paradox. This group of writers established
meditation as a poetic mode.
John Donne (1572–1631) was the most influential metaphysical poet. He was born into a
Roman Catholic family at a time when members of that faith were under increasing pressure to
conform to the teaching of the newly established Church of England. Donne was not allowed
to take a degree at Oxford because of his religion. Throughout his youth he was tormented by
the question of his religion. If he remained loyal to the Roman Catholic faith, he would have to
give up any hope of a successful career. Finally in 1593 Donne decided to convert to the
Protestant faith. He became a diplomat and in 1601 was elected Member of Parliament. By the
secret marriage to his patron’s young niece Donne destroyed his bright prospects. After some
unsuccessful attempts to regain his career in politics and diplomacy, Donne turned his attention
to the Church. In 1615 he was ordained into the Church of England. When he was elected the
Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral he made a series of memorable sermons which earned him the
reputation of being the greatest preacher of his generation.
While his sermons won him public acclaim, Donne wrote poetry exclusively for personal
pleasure. During his lifetime his poems were read only by his circle of friends in manuscript
form. It was not until two years after his death that they were published. His literary production
includes:
Satires written in his early years and targeted to the social evils of the day;
Songs and Sonnets, a collection of love poems;
Holy Sonnets, a collection of religious poetry;
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Sermons and meditations, which include Donne’s weekly sermons.
Style
Much of the poetry written in the period in which he lived was musical, ornate and respectful:
he rejected these standards and wrote poems which were original, striking and irreverent. His
use of religious imagery in love poems and images of physical love in religious poetry shocked
his contemporaries.
In Songs and Sonnets Donne deals with the theme of love in a way that strongly contrasts with
the Elizabethan tradition. Love is presented as an intensely intimate and physical experience.
The poems are addressed to a very real lover, often the poet’s wife. The rhythm of the poem is
the rhythm of natural speech and the language is dramatic. The poet often tries to persuade his
lover to share his point of view through poetry which appeals both to the intellect and the
emotion.
His Holy Sonnets, which contains many of Donne’s most enduring poems, was released
shortly after his wife died in childbirth. The poet addresses God in a tone that often borders on
the irreverent, and uses the language of physical suffering and love to describe his spiritual
crises and devotion.
Donne was a great literary innovator. The literary techniques he used in his poetry became the
features of metaphysical poetry:
the dramatic quality of the language, which often seems to be one side of a dialogue
between the poet and his lover, or God, or himself;
the wide range of areas from which the poet draws his images (science, travel,
medicine, alchemy and philosophy);
the use of wit in paradoxes, epigrams, puns and conceits.
A paradox is an argument that produces an inconsistency, typically within logic or common sense.
An epigram is a concise, clever, often paradoxical statement.
Pun is a play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar
sense or sound of different words.
Text
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A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Прощание, запрещающее печаль
перевод С. Козлова
AS virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say,
"Now his breath goes," and some say, "No."
So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ;
'Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.
Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears ;
Men reckon what it did, and meant ;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers' love
– Whose soul is sense – cannot admit
Of absence, 'cause it doth remove
The thing which elemented it.
But we by a love so much refined,
That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assuredиd of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.
Как праведники, отходя,
Неслышно шепчутся с душой,
Друзей в сомнение вводя:
"Уже не дышит". – "Нет, живой".
Так распадемся мы сейчас:
Без бури вздохов, ливня слез;
Спасем от нечестивых глаз
То, что изведать довелось.
Сдвиг почвы - бедствия пример:
Он порождает страх и крик;
Но тихий сдвиг небесных сфер
Всегда невинен, хоть велик.
Любовь земная оттого
Разлук не терпит, что они
Разъединяют вещество,
Составившее суть любви.
Но мы, кто чувством утончен
До несказуемых границ,
Легко снесем такой урон,
Как расставанье тел и лиц.
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery thinness beat.
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two ;
Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th' other do.
And though it in the centre sit,
Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th' other foot, obliquely run ;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.
Ведь наши две души – одна;
Ей страх разъятья незнаком;
Уйду – растянется она,
Как золото под молотком.
А если две – то две их так,
Как две у циркуля ноги:
Вращенье той, что в центре - знак
Единства с той, что вьет круги.
Центральная, наклонена,
Следит за странствием другой
И выпрямляется она,
Лишь если та пришла домой.
Мы как они: ведь ты тверда,
И путь мой станет образцом
Окружности: у нас всегда
Начало совпадет с концом.
Analyze the image used in the poem to describe two lovers.
What is the message of the poem?
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from Holy Sonne ts
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Compare Elizabethan sonnets with metaphysical poetry of John Donne.
Which of them appeal to you most and why?
A Lecture Upon the Shadow
Лекция о тени
перевод Г. М. Кружкова
Stand still, and I will read to thee
A lecture, Love, in Love's philosophy.
These three hours that we have spent,
Walking here, two shadows went
Along with us, which we ourselves produced.
But, now the sun is just above our head,
We do those shadows tread,
And to brave clearness all things are reduced.
So whilst our infant loves did grow,
Постой – и краткой лекции внемли,
Любовь моя, о логике любви.
Вообрази: пока мы тут, гуляя,
С тобой беседовали, дорогая,
За нашею спиной
Ползли две тени, вроде привидений;
Но полдень воссиял над головой Мы попираем эти тени!
Вот так, пока любовь еще росла,
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Disguises did, and shadows, flow
From us and our cares ; but now 'tis not so.
Она невольно за собой влекла
Оглядку, страх; а ныне – тень ушла.
That love hath not attain'd the highest degree,
Which is still diligent lest others see.
То чувство не достигло апогея,
Что кроется, чужих очей робея.
Except our loves at this noon stay,
We shall new shadows make the other way.
As the first were made to blind
Others, these which come behind
Will work upon ourselves, and blind our eyes.
If our loves faint, and westerwardly decline,
To me thou, falsely, thine
And I to thee mine actions shall disguise.
The morning shadows wear away,
But these grow longer all the day ;
But O ! love's day is short, if love decay.
Но если вдруг любовь с таких высот,
Не удержавшись, к западу сойдет,
От нас потянутся иные тени,
Склоняющие душу к перемене.
Те, прежние, других
Морочили, а эти, как туманом
Сгустившимся, нас облекут самих
Взаимной ложью и обманом.
Когда любовь клонится на закат,
Все дальше тени от нее скользят И скоро, слишком скоро день затмят.
Love is a growing, or full constant light,
And his short minute, after noon, is night.
Любовь растет, пока в зенит не станет,
Но минет полдень - сразу ночь нагрянет.
How does the poet present different stages of love?
What do shadows represent at the beginning and at the end of the poem?
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Renaissance Prose
Thomas More: Utopia
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
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Thomas More: Utopia
Thomas More (1477–1535) was born in London in 1478 and followed his father's profession
as a lawyer, eventually becoming an MP. Then in 1529 he became Lord Chancellor to Henry
VIII. However, his firm allegiance to Church tradition made him oppose his king's attempts to
obtain a divorce and to reform the church. By December 1533 Moore had been forbidden to
publish his writings and the next year found him imprisoned in the Tower of London. On July
6th 1535 he was beheaded and in 1935 More was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
More published Utopia in 1516 and since that time the word has become the name for a whole
genre of speculative writing and ideology, also being retrospectively applied to works like
Plato's Republic, upon which Utopia is largely based.
A utopia (/juːˈtoʊpiə/) is a community or society possessing highly desirable or near perfect
qualities. The word was coined by Sir Thomas More in Greek for his 1516 book Utopia (in
Latin), describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to
describe both intentional communities that attempt to create an ideal society, and imagined
societies portrayed in fiction. It has produced other concepts, most prominently dystopia.
The word Utopia is constructed from two Greek words: TOPOS meaning PLACE and OU
meaning NO. Thus Utopia is “nowhere”, or an imaginary place. It is also a pun on the word
EU meaning good or perfect. So Utopia can also be a perfect place that is non-existent. Some
commentators interpret Moore's Utopia as a proposal for an ideal society that would be
desirable to achieve. Others think it is simply an indirect criticism of contemporary European
society.
Content
Book I
More tells how, when he was in the Low Countries on government business, he was
introduced by his friend Peter Giles to Raphael Hythloday, a veteran traveler. The long
day's conversation among the three men constitutes the substance of the book.
When More and Giles discover how widely Hythloday has traveled and realize the depth of
his understanding of the governments of many nations, they propose that his knowledge is
too valuable to waste and that he ought to enter the service of some monarch as a councilor
in order to employ his knowledge in the service of mankind. Hythloday is reluctant to
undertake such employment. First, he does not believe that, his advice would be accepted.
The people sitting in royal councils practice a system of flattery toward their superiors. They
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would surely outweigh his idealistic and philosophical proposals. In support of these views,
he relates experiences during an earlier visit to England.
In pursuit of the argument, Hythloday proceeds to a critical analysis of the patterns of law,
government, economics among European nations and, most particularly, in England. His
criticism is directed specifically at the severity of the laws, the unjust distribution of wealth,
the unequal participation in productive labor, and the appropriation of farm lands for sheep
grazing.
Book I represents the negative side of the picture which More intends to create, the statement
of what is wrong with "civilization"in his time. A few incidental references comparing the state
of affairs in contemporary Europe with the manners and government of a nation on a remote
island called Utopia leads into the discussion in the second book.
Book II
Hythloday gives an account of the whole life pattern of the Utopians.
Utopia is an Island and so has no problems with borders.
Utopians have no interest in territorial expansion and make no alliances with other nations.
They are basically pacifist but they will fight in defensive conflicts if necessary.
Utopia is a rationally structured society. It is peaceful and harmonious.
Towns are well planned and there are no slums. Everyone has an adequate housing with a
garden in which to grow vegetables for the family. And everyone is well trained in farming.
Utopian society is well-ordered with traditional family structure and elders, who are much
respected heads of households. The family is the unit of their society, and the oldest member
is the governor of the family. Thirty families band together about a great hall where they eat
together, their food being well prepared by women well qualified for that work.
Divorce is permissible, but only under special circumstances.
Women do not marry before 18 and men marry at 22. Pre-marital sex is severely punished.
All children are given a good education and adults give up spare time to assist in education.
Government is done by delegates being elected to represent local communities.
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All Utopians work willingly and only need to work 6 hours a day. Everyone does some
farming and so is a food producer. They have no interest in luxury, fashion, gold or jewels
and no interest in accumulating wealth. Greed is not known among them.
The country has slaves but these are either condemned criminals or hostages from other
lands.
The economy of the Utopians is of particular interest. Their markets are nothing more than
supply houses where everyone is free to go and take what he needs without payment. They
are able to produce an abundance of food, so that they can export their surplus to foreign
countries.
There is no private property among the Utopians and they have no money. The wealth which
they acquire by foreign trade is used only in time of war. The citizens are educated to despise
jewels and precious metals.
Utopians define virtue as life according to nature and they condemn hunting as a pastime.
Pre-marital sex, prostitution, adultery, gambling, theft and drunkenness, are outlawed and
severely punished.
The sick are well looked-after but if someone is terminally ill the priests advise suicide.
However, while suicide in the context of illness is acceptable, euthanasia by the doctors is
not.
There is not a single religion throughout the nation, but a considerable variety of doctrines is
permitted. Some Utopians worship the sun, some the moon or some worship virtuous men –
but all believe that there is one God and that the soul is immortal. However, there is no
compulsion in belief. Citizens are free in matters of religion. They have persons whose
dedication to a life of service and sacrifice corresponds to the religious orders in the
Christian church. Their priests are men of exceptional character and dignity. Their churches
are large and very beautiful. The services are interdenominational in character. When
Hythloday and his companions instructed the Utopians in the teachings of Christianity,
many of them became converts and were baptized.
In a short passage, Hythloday sums up his views on the Utopian system, declaring it to be
the best and only true commonwealth. It insures justice for all of its citizens, and because
there is no private property, everybody owns a share in everything. The result is a nation of
happy people.
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At the conclusion of Hythloday's discourse, More offers some remarks of his own indicating
that he was not wholly converted to the Utopian system but that he regarded some of its
features as commendable and wished they might be adopted in Europe.
Link
The word Utopia overtook More's short work and has been used ever since to describe this
kind of imaginary society with many unusual ideas being contemplated. Although he may not
have founded the genre of Utopian and dystopian fiction, More certainly popularised it and
some of the early works which owe something to Utopia include:
The City of the Sun by Tommaso Campanella, Description of the Republic of
Christianopolis by Johannes Valentinus Andreae, New Atlantis by Francis Bacon and
Candide by Voltaire.
Chronologically, the first recorded utopian proposal is Plato's Republic, written by Plato around
380 BC. It concerns the definition of justice and the order and character of the just city-state and
the just man.
The 20th century witnessed the rise of dystopian, or anti-utopian novel.
A dystopia, or anti-utopia, is a community or society, usually fictional, that is in some important
way undesirable or frightening. It is the opposite of a utopia. Such societies appear in many
works of fiction, particularly in stories set in a speculative future. Dystopias are often characterized
by dehumanization, totalitarian governments, environmental disaster, or other characteristics
associated with a cataclysmic decline in society. Elements of dystopias may vary from
environmental to political and social issues. Dystopian societies have culminated in a broad series of sub-genres of
fiction and are often used to raise real-world issues regarding society, environment, politics, religion, psychology,
spirituality, or technology that may become present in the future. For this reason, dystopias have taken the form of a
multitude of speculations, such as pollution, poverty, societal collapse, political repression, or totalitarianism.
The 1921 novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin predicts a post-apocalyptic future in which society
is entirely based on logic and modeled after mechanical systems.
Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World is a more subtle and more threatening dystopia
because he projected into the year 2540 industrial and social changes he perceived in 1931,
leading to a fascist hierarchy of society, industrially successful by exploiting a slave class
conditioned and drugged to obey and enjoy their servitude.
George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel about a coercive and
impoverished totalitarian society, conditioning its population through propaganda rather than
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drugs.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury describes a hedonistic future America devoid of critical
thinking or literature.
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale describes a future North America governed by
strict religious rules which only the privileged dare defy.
Are you familiar with any of these novels?
How can you explain the change of philosophic and literary focus: from utopian
to anti-utopian?
Do you think there is a possibility for any future utopian project for humanity?
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Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
In the 17 century people’s taste changed from being emotional to philosophical and scientific.
The reasons for these changes were great scientific discoveries as the theory of Galileo or
Gabriel Harvey, who stated the circulation of blood, or the invention of telescopes. As for the
developments in literature, the 17 century becomes the time for essay to establish itself as a
popular genre. It was borrowed from the French essay writer Michel de Montaigne. Francis
Bacon was the one who brought it to English literature and got the central role in developing
English essay and prose. He actually influenced the intellectual history of the early 17 century
because he emphasized learning through experience.
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) was an influential French Renaissance writer, generally
considered to be the inventor of the personal essay.
Bacon's great claim to fame is not that he entered Trinity College, Cambridge,
at the age of 12, not that he was Lord Chancellor of England under James I,
nor even that he has been reputed the real writer of Shakespeare's plays, but that he was a
philosopher of the first rank and the effective founder of the modern, experimental, scientific,
approach to understanding. Before Bacon, 'learning' largely meant memorizing the classics,
especially Aristotle, and acceding to every dictate of established religion.
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of
Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry,
theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together
with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in
Western philosophy.
In The Advancement of Learning (1605), he argued that the only knowledge of importance
was that which could be discovered by observation – 'empirical' knowledge rooted in the
natural world. Empiricism itself emphasizes that experience, evidence, especially sensory
perception are important in the formation of ideas. In scientific method it is necessary that all
hypothesis and theories be tested against the observations of natural world. Therefore,
according to this scientific view science should be empirical in nature.
Bacon championed the idea of state funding for experimental science and the creation of an
encyclopedia. In New Organon (1620), he redefined the task of natural science, as a way of
increasing human power over nature, and in The New Atlantis(1626), describing a Utopian
state exploiting scientific knowledge. The expression "Knowledge is power" is his. In 1621
Bacon was evicted from office for taking a bribe and died four years later after catching a cold
while stuffing a chicken with snow in an early experiment in refrigeration.
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Text
Of Studies
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for
ornament is in discourse; and for ability is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute,
and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come
best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is
affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected
by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves, do give
forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men
admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above
them, won by observation.
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh
and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that
is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and
with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that
would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common
distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And
therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit:
and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise;
poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt
studia in mores [“practices zealously pursued pass into habits”].
Nay, there is no ston[e] or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body,
may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle
walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the
mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to
distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores ["splitters of hairs”]. If he be
not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ cases.
So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.
Об учении
Науками занимаются ради удовольствия, ради украшения и ради умения. Удовольствие обнаруживается
всего более в уединении, украшение – в беседе, а умение – в распоряжениях и руководстве делом. Ибо
людям опыта можно поручить выполнение да еще, пожалуй, суждение об отдельных подробностях; но
общего руководства и совета лучше искать у людей ученых. Отдавать наукам все время означает
неумение применить их к делу; превращать их целиком в украшение – жеманство; а всецело полагаться
на них в суждениях – ученое чудачество. Наука совершенствует природу, но сама совершенствуется
опытом, ибо прирожденные дарования подобны диким растениям и нуждаются в выращивании с
помощью ученых занятий, а ученость сама по себе дает указания чересчур общие, если их не уточнить
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опытом. Люди хитроумные презирают ученость, простодушные дивятся ей, мудрые ею пользуются.
Ибо сама по себе ученость не научает, как применять ее: на то есть мудрость особая, высшая, которую
приобрести можно только опытом.
Читай не затем, чтобы противоречить и опровергать; не затем, чтобы принимать на веру, и не затем,
чтобы найти предмет для беседы; но чтобы мыслить и рассуждать. Есть книги, которые надо только
отведать, есть такие, которые лучше всего проглотить, и лишь немногие стоит разжевать и переварить.
Иначе говоря, одни книги следует прочесть лишь частично, другие – без особого прилежания и лишь
немногие – целиком и внимательно. Есть и такие, которые можно поручить прочесть другому и
воспользоваться сделанными им извлечениями; но так можно поступать лишь с маловажными
предметами и посредственными авторами, ибо перегонка книг, как перегонка воды, убивает всякий
вкус. Чтение делает человека знающим, беседа – находчивым, а привычка записывать – точным.
Поэтому, кто мало пишет, тому нужна хорошая память; кто мало упражняется в беседе, должен быть
находчив; а кто мало читает, должен быть весьма хитер, чтобы казаться более знающим, чем есть на
самом деле.
В истории черпаем мы мудрость; в поэзии – остроумие; в математике – проницательность; в
естественной философии – глубину; в нравственной философии – серьезность; в логике и риторике –
умение спорить. "Abeunt studia in mores" («занятия налагают отпечаток на характер»). Скажем более: нет
такого умственного изъяна, который не мог бы быть исправлен надлежащими занятиями, подобно
тому как недостатки телесные устраняются соответствующими упражнениями. Так, игра в шары
полезна при каменной болезни и для почек; стрельба – для легких и груди; ходьба – для желудка;
верховая езда – для головы и так далее. А кто рассеян, тот пусть займется математикой, ибо при
доказательстве теорем малейшая рассеянность вынуждает все начинать сызнова. Кто неспособен
усматривать различия, пусть изучает схоластиков, ибо они "cymini sectores" («расщепляющие тминные
зёрна» (о вдающихся в излишние тонкости). Кто не умеет быстро осваиваться с предметом и быстро
припоминать все нужное для доказательства, пусть изучает судебные дела. И такие средства имеются
против каждого умственного изъяна.
Find interesting ideas expressed in the essay.Do you agree with Bacon’s recipe for
the treatment of various defects of mind?
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Renaissance Drama
The medieval tradition of Mystery and Miracle plays continued under the reign of Henry VII.
However, after the Reformation, Henry VIII put an end to medieval religious drama. Humanism
revived interest in classical drama and the plays of Plautus, Terence and Seneca were
translated into English.
Titus Maccius Plautus (254?–184 BC), commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman
playwright of the Old Latin period.
Publius Terentius Afer (195/185–159 BC), better known in English as Terence, was a
playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for
the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave,
educated him and later on, impressed by his abilities, freed him. All of the six plays Terence wrote have survived. One
famous quotation by Terence reads: "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto", or "I am a human being, I
consider nothing that is human alien to me."
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca; 4? BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher,
statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to
emperor Nero.
Senecan tragedies were very popular and created a taste for horror and bloodshed. An
example of Seneca's influence on English drama can be seen in the works of Thomas Kyd
(1558–1594). His highly popular play about bloody revenge called The Spanish Tragedy
(1587) has many Senecan elements including horror, villains, corruption, intrigue and the
supernatural.
Content
Don Andrea, a Spanish nobleman, has been killed in battle with the Portuguese. After his
soul arrives in the underworld, Pluto sends it and the Spirit of Revenge back to the world of
the living to learn what happened after Don Andrea’s death. At the Spanish court, Don
Andrea’s ghost hears that the Portuguese have been defeated in war and that Balthazar,
prince of Portugal, has been taken prisoner. Balthazar, Don Andrea learns, is the man who
killed him. A quarrel has developed between Lorenzo and Horatio, each claiming the honor
of capturing Balthazar.
Balthazar, while a prisoner, falls in love with Bel-Imperia, who had been the fiancé of Don
Andrea. The king of Spain plans to make diplomatic use of Bel-Imperia, who is his niece, by
marrying her to the Portuguese prince, Balthazar, thus cementing the friendship of the two
countries. The king warns her that she must do as he commands. However, Bel-Imperia falls
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in love with Horatio.
Balthazar, aided by Lorenzo, plans to win the love of Bel-Imperia. Lorenzo and Balthazar
plot Horatio’s death. One night, when Bel-Imperia and Horatio meet in the garden, Horatio
is set upon by Balthazar and Lorenzo. They kill Horatio by hanging and then take BelImperia away.
When Horatio’s body is discovered, Hieronimo, Horatio’s father, goes mad, as does his wife.
Seeing these events, Don Andrea’s ghost becomes angry, but the Spirit of Revenge tells him
to be patient.
The marriage between Bel-Imperia and Balthazar is set. Hieronimo is given responsibility
over the entertainment for the marriage ceremony, and he uses it to take revenge. He devises
a play, a tragedy, to be performed at the ceremonies, and convinces Lorenzo and Balthazar
to act in it. Bel-Imperia, by now an associate in Hieronimo's plot for revenge, also acts in the
play.
The plot of the tragedy mirrors the plot of the play as a whole. Hieronimo casts himself in the
role of the hired murderer. During the action of the play, Hieronimo's character stabs
Lorenzo's character and Bel-Imperia's character stabs Balthazar's character, before killing
herself. But after the play is over, Hieronimo reveals to the horrified wedding guests that all
the stabbings in the play were done with real knives, and that Lorenzo, Balthazar, and BelImperia are now all dead. He then tries to kill himself, but the King and Duke of Castile stop
him. In order to keep himself from talking, he bites out his own tongue. Tricking the Duke
into giving him a knife, he then stabs the Duke and himself and then dies.
Revenge and Andrea then have the final words of the play. Andrea assigns each of the play's
"good" characters (Hieronimo, Bel-Imperia, Horatio) to happy eternities. The rest of the
characters are assigned to the various tortures and punishments of Hell.
The main concern of the tragedy was to tell a story and to emphasize its moral significance.
The religious and moral themes of medieval drama, under the influence of Renaissance humanism, began to give way to closer attention to ordinary human characters. During the earliest
part of the sixteenth century the abstract characters in the plays were substituted by characters
of real human beings. It was realized that a man with a name and a real human nature could
more easily win the attention of the public than a symbolic allegorical character.
Down to the sixteenth century there were neither theatres nor professional actors in England.
The nobility kept their own players, their servants, to perform at great celebrations. They
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staged magnificent masques – spectacular entertainments which combined music, song,
dance, and splendid costuming. Masques were written by professional playwrights. The
scenery and stage machinery were designed by the best architects of the time. The plot
introduced mythological and allegorical elements. The play ended with a dance when players
removed their masks and took members of the audience as partners.
Other plays that became fashionable in the sixteenth century were interludes, short one-act
plays usually performed as part of an evening’s entertainment at a rich man’s house.
In towns players were looking for the protection of a rich man because after a performance the
bailiff of the town could arrest them. The authorities passed the law in 1572, which made
actors punishable for vagrancy. Actors who were allowed to perform were those belonging to
a nobleman's company.
In 1574 the Earl of Leicester was the first to give his protection to a group of actors, and since
then they were called the Earl of Leicester's Men. After that two other great companies of
actors were formed: Lord Chamberlain's Men, and Lord Admiral's.
From time to time the actors went touring the country. They moved from town to town
spending nights in the inns. In the morning they set up their stages in the inn yards, took money
after their performances, and, finding that the audiences in the inns shifted frequently,
considered giving daily performances in the same place instead of moving on to new places
and fresh audiences. New audiences came to see their performances in the same inns. The rich
people usually sat in verandas, leading into inn bedrooms and overlooking the inn yard, while
the common people used to stand in the yard itself.
When acting was a recognized profession it was necessary to build permanent houses for
dramatic performances. The first playhouse in London, called the Theatre, was built by James
Burbage, the chief man of Leicester's company in 1576. It was built outside London, because
the City Council had banned the construction of theatres within the City of London itself.
Soon came another playhouse – the Curtain, in 1587 the Rose was built, which was followed
by the Swan in 1594. Shakespeare's Globe was built in 1598, out of the timbers of the old
Theatre.
Elizabethan theatres were built with the inn yard model in mind. They were open polygonal or
circular three-storied constructions. The stage in the theatre was elevated. There was a room
under the stage called cellar or hell. Actors in 'hell', who played the parts of ghosts, demons or
fairies, would make dramatic appearances through trap doors onto the stage. The back wall
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had two doors over which was a gallery. The gallery was used for seating as well as for
musicians or as a balcony if it was needed by the play. Between the two doors was a space
that could be closed off by a curtain. Part of the stage was covered by a roof, called the
heavens because from there the gods or angels could be lowered on the stage. There were two
rows of seats on the stage, and the actors were playing between them.
As acting was considered immoral, there were no women in the companies: female parts were
played by boys whose voices had not yet changed.
Many special effects were used in the theatre. Death scenes were violent and realistic, animal
organs and blood were often used to make battle scenes more impressive. The audiences
became very involved in the play, particularly the spectators in the yard, who were very close
to the action.
Theatres had entrances for admission. The price was low for the people who were prepared to
stand in the open air near the stage. For a higher price people could get a seat in one of the
galleries. The theatres were large: they could hold as many as three thousand spectators. The
plays lasted for hours.
The structure of the Elizabethan theatre had a great influence on form and technique in plays. In
contrast to the modern theatre, where there is a curtain separating the actor from the audience,
the Elizabethan actor was in much closer contact with the spectators. It was quite natural for
the actors to exchange words with the spectators. The immediate contact between the audience
and the players in Elizabethan theatres was lost a century later, in the Restoration period, after a
great reformation of the playhouses.
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The University Wits
The wits, or as they are usually called the University Wits were university graduates, the men
with learning and talent, but with no money. They led bohemian life, and were often seen in
pubs and taverns.
Before the time of Henry VIII penniless scholars used to live in monasteries where they
devoted themselves to reading manuscripts, learning and writing. After the foundation of the
Anglican Church, Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, and the scholars had to look for the
places to earn their living. The most popular occupations were those of a tutor or a secretary.
But the most gifted men turned to more creative professions, like writing poems and plays for
the new London theatres.
The most famous University Wits were John Lyly (1554?–1606), Robert Greene (1558–
1592), Thomas Kyd (1558–1594), George Peele (1558?–1597), and Christopher Marlowe
(1564–1593). Each of them gave something to the dramatic literature of the time. Lyly
produced wonderful dialogues, Greene wrote comedies with charm and humour, Peele made
the first attempt at a dramatic satire. The man who rose above his contemporaries in dramatic
gift and was considered to be almost equal to Shakespeare was Christopher Marlowe.
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Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
Christopher Marlowe was the son of a prosperous shoemaker. He was an exceptional student
and when he was fifteen he was awarded a scholarship to King's School in Canterbury, one of
the oldest schools in Britain. He continued his studies at Cambridge University, where he took
his Bachelor of Arts in 1583. Three years later he received his Master of Arts degree in spite of
the opposition by the University authorities. They suspected him of converting to Roman
Catholicism during a secret journey to France. Marlowe at this time was probably working for
the government in Her Majesty's Secret Service, spying on Catholic conspirators. Thus the
government authorities intervened on his behalf and the degree was granted.
He moved to London, where he met other graduates who were involved in the literary life of
London. Together they formed a circle of young writers known as the University Wits. Like all
of the members of the University Wits, Marlowe had a wild reputation – he was believed to be
an atheist who kept mistresses and fought the police. Yet his reputation might have been a
disguise for a man who was not at all wild and irresponsible. At the age of twenty-nine,
Marlowe was stabbed to death in a tavern. It is widely believed that he was deliberately
assassinated for political reasons.
Marlowe’s works were highly successful and had a major influence on other playwrights of the
period including Shakespeare.
During his short life Marlowe wrote eight plays. The most popular are Tamburlaine, The Jew
of Malta, Edward II, Doctor Faustus. His tragedies are extravagant and full of imagination.
Each of his plays revolves around a protagonist who is obsessed by a ruling passion:
Tamburlaine wishes to conquer the world; the Jew of Malta is obsessed by his love for gold;
Doctor Faustus aspires to unlimited knowledge. However, his works are far more sophisticated
than the medieval morality plays which told simple tales of wickedness and well-deserved
punishment. Marlowe created tragedies in which men make difficult decisions being aware of
the potentially catastrophic consequences.
The play that shows all the greatness of Marlowe's genius is The Tragic History of Doctor
Faustus.
Content
Faustus becomes dissatisfied with his studies of medicine, law, logic and theology; therefore,
he decides to turn to the dangerous practice of necromancy, or magic.
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Faustus begins experimenting with magical incantations, and suddenly Mephistophilis
appears, in the form of an ugly devil. Faustus sends Mephistophilis back to hell with the
bargain that if Faustus is given twenty-four years of absolute power, he will then sell his
soul to Lucifer.
Later, in his study, when Faustus begins to despair, a Good Angel and a Bad Angel appear
to him; each encourages Faustus to follow his advice. Mephistophilis appears and Faust
agrees to sign a contract in blood with the devil even though several omens appear which
warn him not to make this bond. Faustus begins to repent of his bargain as the voice of the
Good Angel continues to urge him to repent. To divert Faustus, Mephistophilis and Lucifer
both appear and parade the seven deadly sins before Faustus. After this, Mephistophilis
takes Faustus to Rome and leads him into the pope's private chambers, where the two
become invisible and play pranks on the Pope and some unsuspecting friars.
Faustus and Mephistophilis go to the German emperor's court, where they conjure up
Alexander the Great. At this time, Faustus makes a pair of horns suddenly appear on one of
the knights who had been skeptical about Faustus' powers.
Faustus is next seen selling his horse to a horse-courser with the advice that the man must
not ride the horse into the water. Later, the horse-courser enters Faustus' study and accuses
Faustus of false dealings because the horse had turned into a bundle of hay in the middle of
a pond.
After performing other magical tricks such as bringing forth fresh grapes in the dead of
winter, Faustus returns to his study, where at the request of his fellow scholars, he conjures
up the apparition of Helen of Troy. An old man appears and tries to get Faustus to hope for
salvation and yet Faustus cannot. He knows it is now too late to turn away from the evil and
ask for forgiveness. When the scholars leave, the clock strikes eleven and Faustus realizes
that he must give up his soul within an hour.
As the clock marks each passing segment of time, Faustus sinks deeper and deeper into
despair. When the clock strikes twelve, devils appear amid thunder and lightning and carry
Faustus off to his eternal damnation.
Text
Act V, Scene 2
перевод Н. Н. Амосовой
[The clock strikes eleven.]
(Часы бьют одиннадцать)
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Фауст
Faustus
Ах, Фауст!
Ah, Faustus,
Один лишь час тебе осталось жизни.
Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,
Он истечет - и будешь ввергнут в ад!
And then thou must be damn'd perpetually!
О, станьте же недвижны, звезды неба,
Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,
Чтоб навсегда остановилось время.
That time may cease, and midnight never come;
Чтоб никогда не наступала полночь!
Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again, and make
Взойди опять, златое око мира.
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
Заставь сиять здесь вековечный день!
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
Иль пусть мой час последний длится год.
Иль месяц хоть, неделю или сутки,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
Чтоб вымолил себе прощенье Фауст!
O lente, lente curite, noctis equi!
О,
lente, lente currite noctis equi *!
The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
[О, медленно, медленно бегите, кони ночи!
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damn'd.
(лат.; Овидий, Amores, I, 13).]
O, I'll leap up to my God! – Who pulls me down? –
Но вечное движенье звезд все то же...
See, see where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!
Мгновения бегут, часы пробьют,
One drop would save my soul--half a drop: O my
И дьяволы придут, и сгинет Фауст!
Christ! –
Я дотянусь до бога! Кто-то тянет,
Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ;
Неведомый, меня упорно вниз...
Yet will I call on him: O, spare me, Lucifer! –
Вон кровь Христа, смотри, струится в небе!
Лишь капля, нет, хотя б всего полкапли
Where is it now? 'Tis gone; and see where God
Мне душу бы спасли, о мой Христос!..
Strecheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!
За то, что я зову Христа, мне сердце
Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,
Не
раздирай, о сжалься, Люцифер!..
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!
Взывать к нему я все не перестану!
No! no!
Где он теперь? Исчез!.. О, вон, смотри,
Then will I headlong run into the earth:
Бог в вышине десницу простирает
Earth gape! O, no, it will not harbour me!
И гневный лик склоняет надо мной.
You stars that reign'd at my nativity,
Громады гор, обрушьтесь на меня,
Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,
Укройте же меня от гнева бога!
Нет? Нет?
Now draw up Faustus, like a foggy mist,
Тогда стремглав я кинусь в глубь земли.
Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds,
Разверзнись же, земля! Она не хочет
That, when you vomit forth into the air,
Мне дать приют, о нет!.. Вы, звезды неба,
My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths;
Что над моим царили гороскопом,
So that my soul may but ascend to heaven!
[The clock strikes the half hour.]
Ah, half the hour is past! 'twill all be past anon!
O God!
If thou wilt not have mercy on my soul,
Yet for Christ's sake whose blood hath ransom'd me,
Impose some end to my incessant pain;
Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years,
A hundred thousand, and at last be sav'd!
Чья власть дала мне в долю смерть и ад,
Втяните же меня туманной дымкой
В плывущую далеко в небе тучу!
Когда ж меня извергнете вы снова,
Пусть упадет на землю только тело
Из вашего курящегося зева,
Но пусть душа взлетит на небеса!..
(Бьют часы).
Ах, полчаса прошло... Вмиг минет час...
О боже!
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O, no end is limited to damned souls.
Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?
Or why is this immortal that thou hast?
Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis, were that true,
This soul should fly from me, and I be chang'd
Into some brutish beast! all beasts are happy,
For, when they die,
Their souls are soon dissolv'd in elements;
But mine must live still to be plagu'd in hell.
Curs'd be the parents that engender'd me!
No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer
That hath depriv'd thee of the joys of heaven.
[The clock striketh twelve.]
O, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air,
Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell!
[Thunder and lightning.]
O soul, be chang'd into little water-drops,
And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found!
My God, my God! look not so fierce on me!
[Enter DEVILS.]
Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while!
Ugly hell, gape not! come not, Lucifer!
I'll burn my books!--Ah Mephistophilis!
[Exeunt DEVILS with Faustus.]
Коль надо мной не смилуешься ты,
Хоть ради всех святых страстей Христа,
Чья кровь мой грех когда-то искупила,
Назначь конец моим страданьям вечным!
Пусть тысячу в аду томлюсь я лет,
Сто тысяч лет, но наконец спасусь!..
Но нет конца мученьям грешных душ!
Зачем же ты бездушной тварью не был?
Иль почему душа твоя бессмертна?
Ах, если б прав был мудрый Пифагор
И если бы метампсихоз был правдой,
Душа моя могла б переселиться
В животное! Животные блаженны!
Их души смерть бесследно растворяет.
Моя ж должна для муки адской жить.
Будь прокляты родители мои!..
Нет, самого себя кляни, о Фауст!
Кляни, кляни убийцу Люцифера,
Лишившего тебя блаженства рая!
(Часы бьют полночь).
Бьют, бьют часы! Стань воздухом ты, тело,
Иль Люцифер тебя утащит в ад!
(Гром и молния).
Душа моя, стань каплей водяною
И, в океан упав, в нем затеряйся!
Мой бог, мой бог, так гневно не взирай!
(Появляются дьяволы).
О, дайте мне вздохнуть, ехидны, змеи!
О, не зияй так страшно, черный ад!
Не подходи же, Люцифер! Я книги
Свои сожгу! Прочь, прочь! О, Мефистофель!
(Дьяволы увлекают его).
(Входит Хор).
Хор
Обломана жестоко эта ветвь.
Которая расти могла б так пышно.
Сожжен побег лавровый Аполлона,
Что некогда в сем муже мудром цвел.
Нет Фауста. Его конец ужасный
Пускай вас всех заставит убедиться,
Как смелый ум бывает побежден,
Когда небес преступит он закон.
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Develop the last lines of the Russian translation into your own story illustrating
the massages of the play: the limits of human nature, the cost for extraordinary
powers, the ambition punished, the victory of morality over human passions, etc.
Style
Perhaps Marlowe's main contribution to the English drama was the elaboration of blank verse
(non-rhyming lines of iambic pentameter). Marlowe established blank verse as the principal
verse form of Elizabethan drama. It had been used before, but he made it more flexible by
varying the length of sentences. For instance, he wrote sentences longer than one line; these
"run-on" lines sound like the rhythm of natural speech. Marlowe avoided monotony by varying
stresses and breaking up the lines with pauses, exclamations and shortened sentences, and the
use of syntax to reflect the state of the character’s mind. Marlowe’s early death undoubtedly
deprived literature of even greater and more developed works.
Link
The Faust legend first flourished in medieval Europe and is thought to have its earliest roots in
the New Testament story of the magician Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24). During the superstitious
Middle Ages, the story of the man who sold his soul to the devil to obtain supernatural powers
captured the popular imagination and spread rapidly. At some point the name of Faust was
definitely attached to this figure. A cycle of legends, including some from ancient and medieval
sources that were originally told about other magicians, began to collect around him. One of
the most widely-read magic texts of the period was attributed to Faust and many others
referred to him as an authority.
A famous German sage and adventurer born in 1480 was thought by many of his
contemporaries to be a magician and probably did practice some sort of black magic. Few
details of his life are certain, but it is known that he exploited the situation by calling himself
Faust the Younger, thus acquiring the reputation of the legendary character.
After a sensational career, this Faust died during a mysterious demonstration of flying which he
put on for a royal audience in 1525. It was generally believed that he had been carried away by
the devil. One of the scenes of Goethe's tragedy is set in Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig, the city
of this fatal exhibition, because the walls of the old tavern were decorated with representations
of Faust's exploits, and the place was traditionally connected with him.
A biography of Faust, the Historia von D. Johann Fausten, based upon the shadowy life of
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Faust the Younger, but including many legendary stories, was published in Frankfurt in 1587.
That same year it was translated into English as The Historie of the damnable life and
deserved death of Doctor John Faustus. In both these popular editions of the "Faust-Book,"
the magician's deeds, his pact with the devil and final damnation are depicted. In this version
the legend took a permanent form.
When the Renaissance came to northern Europe, Faust was made into a symbol of free
thought and the opposition to the Church doctrine.
Marlowe used the English translation of the 1587 Faust-Book as his main source, but
transformed the legendary magician into a tragic figure and made his story a powerful
expression of the main subject of the Renaissance thought.
In the seventeenth century English strolling actors brought Marlowe's Faustus to Germany
where the play was translated and transformed into a puppet play. Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe saw its performance, and was inspired to write his version of Doctor Faustus.
Goethe's "Faust" is a tragic play. It was published in two parts. The play is meant to be read
rather than performed. It is Goethe's most famous work and considered by many to be one of
the greatest works of German literature.
Content
" aust Part One"is a complex story. It takes place in multiple settings, the first of which is
F
heaven. Mephistopheles makes a bet with God: he says that he can deflect God's favorite
human being (Faust), who is striving to learn everything that can be known, away from
righteous pursuits. The next scene takes place in Faust's study where Faust, despairing at
the vanity of scientific, humanitarian and religious learning, turns to magic for the
showering of infinite knowledge. He suspects, however, that his attempts are failing.
Frustrated, he ponders suicide, but rejects it as he hears the echo of nearby Easter
celebrations begin. He goes for a walk with his assistant Wagner and is followed home by a
stray poodle.
In Faust’s study, the poodle transforms into the devil (Mephistopheles). Faust makes an
arrangement with the devil: the devil will do everything that Faust wants while he is here on
earth, and in exchange Faust will serve the devil in hell. Faust's arrangement is that if
during the time while Mephistopheles is serving Faust, Faust is so pleased with anything the
devil gives him that he wants to stay in that moment forever, he will die in that instant.
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After the Devil wants Faust to sign the pact with blood, Faust complains that the devil does
not trust Faust's word of honor. In the end, Mephisto wins the argument, and Faust signs
the contract with a drop of his own blood. Faust has a few excursions and then meets
Margaret (also known as Gretchen). He is attracted to her and with jewelry and help from a
neighbor, Martha, the devil draws Gretchen into Faust's arms. Faust seduces Gretchen and
they sleep together. Gretchen’s mother dies from a sleeping potion, administered by Gretchen
to obtain privacy so that Faust could visit her. Gretchen discovers she is pregnant.
Gretchen’s brother condemns Faust, challenges him and falls dead at the hands of Faust
and the devil. Gretchen drowns her illegitimate child and is convicted of the murder. Faust
tries to save Gretchen from death by attempting to free her from prison. Finding that they
cannot free her, Faust and the devil flee the dungeon, while voices from heaven announce
that Gretchen shall be saved.
The first part represents the "small world"and takes place in Faust's own local, temporal
milieu. In contrast, P
" art Two"takes place in the w
" ide world"or "macrocosmos".Rich in classical
allusion, in "Faust Part Two", the romantic story of the first Faust is forgotten, and Faust
wakes in a field of fairies to initiate a new cycle of adventures and purpose.
The piece consists of five acts – relatively isolated episodes – each representing a different
theme. Ultimately, Faust goes to heaven, for he loses only half of the bet. Angels, who arrive
as messengers of divine mercy, declare at the end of Act V, "He who strives on and lives to
strive/ Can earn redemption still".
Goethe's great tragedy reinforced the new interest in the Faust story. Since his time it has
stimulated many creative thinkers and has been the central theme of notable works in all fields
of expression. In art, for instance, the Faust legend has provided fruitful subjects for such
painters as Ferdinand Delacroix (1798–1863). Musical works based on the Faust story
include Hector Berlioz's cantata, The Damnation of Faust (1846), Charles Gounod's
opera, Faust (1859), Arrigo Boito's opera, Mefistofele (1868), and the Faust Symphony
(1857) of Franz Lizt. Even the newest of art forms, the motion picture, has made use of the
ancient story, for a film version of Goethe's Faust was produced in Germany in 1925. But
most important, the legend has continued to be the subject of many poems, novels, and
dramatic works. Among the more recent of these are the novel, Doctor Faustus (1948) by
Thomas Mann and the poetic morality play, An Irish Faustus (1964) by Lawrence Durrell.
Each succeeding artist has modified the legend according to of his own time, and over the past
few centuries this tale has grown into an archetypal myth of man's aspirations and the dilemmas
he faces in the effort to understand his place in the universe. The history of the legend's
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development and its expansion into broader moral and philosophical spheres is also an
intellectual history of mankind.
Although today many of the classical and Central European themes may be hard for the
modern reader to grasp, the work remains a resonant parable on scientific learning and religion,
passion and seduction, independence and love, as well as other subjects.
Think of the books or films that present super-characters, scientists, or
extraordinary people who defy commonsense and demonstrate abilities beyond
human limit.
What is the outcome of such a challenge? Is it always punished by God?
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William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Shakespeare is the author of more than three dozen remarkable plays and more than 150
poems. Over the centuries, these literary works have made such a deep impression on the
human race that all sorts of legends and theories have been invented about their author. There
are even those who say that somebody other than Shakespeare wrote the works that bear his
name. Such speculation is based on the wrong assumption that little is known about
Shakespeare's life; in fact, Shakespeare's life is better documented than the life of any other
dramatist of the time except perhaps for Ben Jonson, a writer who seems almost modern in the
way he publicized himself. Jonson was an honest, blunt, and outspoken man who knew
Shakespeare well; for a time the two dramatists wrote for the same theatrical company, and
Shakespeare even acted in Jonson's plays. Jonson published a poem praising Shakespeare,
asserting that he was superior to all Greek, Roman, and English dramatists, and predicting that
he would be "not of an age, but for all time."Jonson's judgment is now commonly accepted,
and his prophecy has come true.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, probably on April 23rd. He
was christened in the parish church there on April 26th. His father, a glover by trade, was a
prominent local figure who held important positions in the government of the town. His mother
came from a prosperous local family.
William Shakespeare probably attended Stratford grammar school, but he did not go on to
study at university. After leaving school, he may have been apprenticed to a butcher, but
because he shows in his plays very detailed knowledge of many different crafts and trades,
speculators have proposed a number of different occupations that he could have followed.
When he was eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior, and six
months later his first child Susanna was born, followed three years later by twins Hamnet and
Judith. We don't know how the young Shakespeare supported his family, but according to
tradition he taught school for a few years. The two daughters grew up and married; the son
died when he was eleven. It is commonly believed that Shakespeare left Stratford to avoid
being arrested for poaching.
He went to London where he did a series of jobs, including holding theatre-goers' horses
outside playhouses. He eventually became an actor, and by 1592 he was sufficiently wellknown as a dramatist to be the subject of an attack by the playwright Robert Greene (1558–
1592). Greene wrote a pamphlet in which he complained that uneducated dramatists were
becoming more popular than university men like himself. In it he called Shakespeare “an
upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers”.
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In 1595 Shakespeare joined an important company of actors called The Lord Chamberlain's
Men (later changed to The King's Men) and performed at court. His success as a dramatist
grew. He mixed in high social circles and the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his
sonnets, became his patron and friend. By 1596 Shakespeare was beginning to prosper. His
improved financial standing allowed him to invest in the building of the Globe Theatre and in
1597 he bought New Place, the finest house in Stratford. He had his father apply to the
Heralds' College for a coat of arms that the family could display, signifying that they were
"gentlefolks." On Shakespeare's family crest a falcon is shown, shaking a spear. To support
this claim to gentility, Shakespeare bought New Place, a handsome house and grounds in
Stratford, a place so commodious and elegant that the Queen of England once stayed there
after Shakespeare's daughter Susanna inherited it.
By 1600 Shakespeare was regularly associating with members of the aristocracy, and six of his
plays had been given command performances at the court of Queen Elizabeth.
Shakespeare indeed prospered under Queen Elizabeth; according to an old tradition, she asked
him to write The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600–1601) because she wanted to see the merry,
fat old knight Sir John Falstaff (of the "Henry plays") in love.
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In
the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain,
boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and
is ultimately repudiated after Hal becomes king. Falstaff does at times seem to be mainly a funmaker, a character whom we both laugh with and laugh at, and almost in the same breath. Even
his name invites humor, as it is a sort of pun on impotence, brought on by the character's excessive consumption of
alcohol.
He prospered even more under Elizabeth's successor, King James of Scotland. Fortunately for
Shakespeare's company, as it turned out, James's royal entry into London in 1603 had to be
postponed for several months because the plague was raging in the city. While waiting for the
epidemic to subside, the royal court stayed in various palaces outside London. Shakespeare's
company took advantage of this situation and, since the city theaters were closed, performed
several plays for the court and the new king. Shakespeare's plays delighted James, for he loved
literature and was starved for pleasure after the grim experience of ruling Scotland for many
years. He immediately took the company under his patronage, renamed them the King's Men,
gave them patents to perform anywhere in the realm, provided them with special clothing for
state occasions, increased their salaries, and appointed their chief members, including
Shakespeare, to be Grooms of the Royal Chamber. All this patronage brought such prosperity
to Shakespeare that he was able to make some very profitable real estate investments in
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Stratford and London.
Shakespeare retired to his hometown in 1611, where he died on April 23rd 1616.
Works
Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays in a period of about twenty years, from 1591 to 1611.
The plots of his plays are not original. Shakespeare took the material from old chronicles of
English history, Italian novels, pastoral romances and older plays and adapted them to his
needs. The stories of Hamlet, Macbeth and Lear may be found in the chronicles of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. But when a comparison is made between Shakespeare's masterpieces
and the old chronicles and tales one can see how Shakespeare's philosophy, imagination, and
artistic expression transformed the plays. Every theme and character got a deeper meaning and
value in his hands.
Shakespeare introduced scenes and characters belonging to Egypt, Rome, and the
Renaissance Italy as though he depicted them from real life. His fairies, ghosts and strange
monsters are lifelike and convincing.
Shakespeare did not publish his plays. Some of his works were put together from notes taken
in the theatres or reconstructed from memory by actors. They are referred to as Bad Quartos.
Quartos are large-sized books made of sheets of folded paper. They are called 'Bad' because
they are full of gaps and mistakes.
In 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, two former actors and friends of
Shakespeare's, Heminge and Condell, decided to publish the first collection of his plays. The
so-called First Folio included thirty-five plays that were divided into 'Comedies, Histories and
Tragedies'.
The plays were not dated. However, approximate dates have subsequently been given to them
based on: references to contemporary events in the play; references to the works of other
writers which are dated; style, plot, characterisation and metre used in the play. Shakespeare's
plays are usually divided into four periods.
The first period covers the years from 1590 to 1595 and was a period of learning and
experimentation. In these years Shakespeare wrote very different types of plays: chronicle
plays dealing with the history of England, such as Henry VI and Richard III; comedies which
include A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew; tragedies Titus
Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet.
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During the second period, from 1596 to the turn of the century, Shakespeare focused on
chronicle plays and comedies and it is generally agreed that it was during these years that he
wrote his best comedies, including The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor,
Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night, which base their comedy on a
wide range of themes such as the pain and pleasure of love, mistaken identity and the
degrading of materialistic and humourless people.
During the third period, from 1600 to 1608, Shakespeare wrote his great tragedies. These
plays have given world theatre unforgettable characters such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello
and Macbeth. The comedies that were written in this period no longer have the bright,
optimistic appeal of earlier works. The darker elements that are found in works such as
Measure for Measure seem to suggest that Shakespeare was experiencing difficulties in his
personal life which made his outlook rather pessimistic.
A return to a happier state of mind is reflected in the plays of the fourth period from 1609 to
1612. The Tempest, for example, is set in the ideal world of an enchanted island where an
atmosphere of magic, music, romance and harmony prevails.
Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the greatest dramatists in world literature. The
universal appeal of his work is based on its timeless themes, unforgettable characters and
powerful language. His ability to engage the audience's attention has remained unsurpassed to
the present day. The variety of timeless themes in Shakespeare's works is unsurpassed: the
appeal of an unsophisticated life in harmony with nature (As You Like It); ambition and
jealousy, deception and crime (Macbeth, Othello); greed, corruption and ingratitude (King
Lear); love and politics (Antony and Cleopatra); crime, guilt and punishment (Macbeth,
Richard III); the all-conquering power of love (Much Ado About Nothing); the impatience of
youth (Romeo and Juliet); the pains and pleasures of love (The Merry Wives of Windsor,
Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It).
Shakespeare portrayed an unforgettable gallery of characters: kings, queens, princes, courtiers,
merchants, merchants, sailors, soldiers. They all possess individuality. Shakespeare managed
to create sympathy for his heroes, making them understandable, complex and recognizable.
Comedies
Shakespeare's romantic comedies mostly date from the early period of his life. Light-hearted
plays, mostly on themes relating to love, they feature stock theatrical devices such as mistaken
identity (The Comedy of Errors) and disguise/cross-dressing (The Two Gentlemen of Verona)
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– where the comedy was accentuated by the fact that women's parts were acted by men or
boys. These plays, generally with extremely complicated plots, use situational comedy and
farcical effects (The Taming of the Shrew) as well as wordplay and wit.
The Taming of the Shrew is a well-balanced comedy with brilliant dialogues.
Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, of shrewd wit and hot temper, decides to marry Katarina,
the notorious elder daughter of Baptista, a rich gentleman of Padua. The taming begins.
Katarina is mad, but Petruchio says that he finds her courteous and gentle. In the end
Katarina agrees to marry Petruchio. On the wedding day he humiliates Katarina by keeping her waiting before the wedding ceremony. He refuses to attend the bridal feast, and takes
Katarina to his home. He doesn't let her sleep or eat and distresses her with his mad
behaviour. This treatment makes Katarina tamed, and when she comes to see her father she
surprises everyone with her sweet temper and shyness:
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience;
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Shakespeare's later comedies, written after 1598, (Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It,
Twelfth Night) display a shift in tone to a greater seriousness. The rollicking heroes still remain
(as for example Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Belch and Aguecheek in Twelfth
Night), but, in keeping with the spirit of the times, there is a growing presence of meditation
and melancholy, as well as romance. The treatment of themes such as the unreliability of love,
and of illusion and self-deception anticipate the great tragedies. In particular, the use of the
clown or fool (Touchstone in As You Like It, Feste in Twelfth Night) and their bitter-sweet
attitude to life looks forward to their use in King Lear and Antony and Cleopatra, where their
seemingly childish words usually conceal a macabre wisdom which the saner characters in the
plays fail to recognize. Some of the plays are so weighty as to hardly seem comedies at all: for
example, The Merchant of Venice, whose plot runs much deeper and treats more complex
themes such as anti-Semitism and greed.
The Merchant of Venice presents a story which is nonsense. A Jewish moneylender Shylock
agrees to lend money to a merchant Antonio who needs the money to help his friend
Bassanio. Bassanio is going to marry beautiful Portia. The money is lent on condition that
Antonio shall pay a pound of his flesh if he fails to repay the debt at the right time. Antonio's
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ships are wrecked, and he fails to repay the money. The case is taken to the court, and
Antonio has no hope. Portia, dressed as a lawyer, makes a speech at the court. She says that
Shylock may take his flesh, but without a drop of blood. There is nothing about blood in the
agreement. Shylock cannot do it, and Antonio is saved.
The play seems to have a happy ending, but it is not what it seems, since it depends on the
tricks of the characters, rather than on natural humanity. Shylock is usually called the first tragic
character in Shakespeare's plays. Shylock addresses the audience and other characters with the
words showing that he is a man just like them. "Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,
organs, dimensions, senses, passions, fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons,
subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same
winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed?"
There is a rather dark atmosphere in Measure for Measure , which is preoccupied with the
themes of justice and mercy. Finally, A Midsummer Night's Dream, within the context of a
comedy about love and marriage, raises questions regarding the nature of reality in general.
Content
Hermia is ordered by her father to marry Demetrius, but she loves Lysander. Her friend
Helena loves Demetrius and wants to marry him. Under the law of Athens, Hermia is given
four days in which to obey her father. In case she doesn't, she must suffer death or enter a
nunnery. Hermia and Lysander escape from Athens and find themselves in the wood
haunted by fairies. Helena knows about the project and tells Demetrius who decides to
follow the couple Helena goes after him, and soon all four meet in the wood, and are
enchanted by the fairies. The mortal and the supernatural characters are mixed. Hermia's
father appears on the scene, the runaways are forgiven and the couples marry.
In Shakespeare's comedies there is no central figure, but in his tragedies the attention of the
author is concentrated upon a single character. The difference is evident even in the titles of the
tragedies. They take their titles from the names of the heroes, the comedies never do this.
Histories
Shakespeare began his career with a history play (Henry VI) and the last play attributed to him
is also a history (Henry VIII), but most of this category of plays belong to the middle part of
his career, between 1595 and 1600. Writing histories Shakespeare took from chronicles, often
transforming historical events to suit the political climate and tastes of the Elizabethan age. He
produced topical plays dealing with themes of rebellion and kingship at a time when there was
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a real fear of an overthrow. Shakespeare, like the other dramatists of his time, was very
favourably disposed towards the authority of the monarchy. The main examples of the genre
(Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, and Henry V) are a cycle setting out the story of the kings
immediately preceding the Tudor dynasty. One of the greatest of Shakespeare's creations is
undoubtedly the comic character Falstaff, the “man-mountain” whose interests are strictly
limited to eating, drinking and womanizing. He appears in the two parts of Henry IV, and his
hilarious adventures often seem to dominate the historical action of the plays.
The so-called Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Antony and Cleopatra), although not
really belonging to the category of histories, all show a preoccupation with the same themes of
order, rebellion and authority.
Tragedies
Tragedy is a kind of play in which human actions have their inevitable consequences, in which
the characters' bad deeds, errors, mistakes, and crimes are never forgiven or corrected. The
characters in a comedy do not live under this iron law of cause and effect. They can do
whatever they please so long as they amuse their audience, and at the end of the play the funny
mess they have made is easily cleaned up. But in tragedy, a careless action will inevitably lead
to a catastrophe, usually a death or some deaths.
The first of Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies is Romeo and Juliet, known to all parts
of civilized world as the most famous tragedy of love. The plot is based on an old Italian
romance, translated into English.
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The Montegues and the Capulets are the two chief families of Verona, and they are bitter
enemies. Romeo, the son of Lord Montegue, and Juliet, the daughter of Capulet, fall in love
with each other and marry secretly with the help of Friar Laurence. During a street battle
Romeo kills Juliet's brother Tybalt and as a punishment is banished from the city. Romeo
goes to Mantua.
Juliet's parents want her to marry count Paris. On the night before the wedding Friar
Laurence gives Juliet a drink which must render her lifeless for forty hours. Romeo is
supposed to take her from the family vault and bring her to Mantua. But the message sent by
Friar Laurence doesn't reach Romeo, and Romeo hears that Juliet is dead. He gets to the
vault, drinks the poison, kisses Juliet and dies. When Juliet awakens she sees the body of
Romeo with a cup in his hands, guesses what's happened and stabs herself.
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Why do you think Shakespeare suggests that real love is tragic?
Shakespeare's tragedies, written after the death of Queen Elizabeth are more philosophic. They
mark the author's disillusion, hopelessness and disappointment. This period is often called
Shakespeare's black period. In his tragedies, again and again the characters ask, "What is a
man?". This was the question of the age.
Shakespeare's tragedies of this time are the stories of revenge, jealousy, and ambition. They
have in common the idea that mankind is constantly trying to go beyond its limits in order to
achieve perfection and harmony in the world. But mankind itself is not perfect, and so must fail
in these attempts.
The tragic flaw which the main heroes display takes the form of a powerful passion (jealousy in
Othello, ambition in Macbeth, revenge in Hamlet). Darker forces often seem to be at work:
storms or supernatural phenomena in Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear, as well as the frequent
madness (Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, King Lear). They are indications of the struggle between a
man and his destiny. Shakespeare uses exceptionally vivid images to represent the depths of
the human soul. The great tragedies create their own individual world where normal moral laws
are overturned.
The only way the balance and order must be restored is through the destruction of the hero.
Hamlet is a play, as Anthony Burgess says, "of all the plays ever written, that the world least
willingly be without".
John Anthony Burgess Wilson (1917–1993), published under the pen name Anthony
Burgess, was an English writer and composer. His best known novel is a dystopian satire A
Clockwork Orange.
The plot of Hamlet was borrowed by Shakespeare from Thomas Kyd's The
Spanish Tragedy, but Shakespeare changed the time of Hamlet from the Middle Ages to the
Renaissance, providing the play with the setting of a contemporary Renaissance court.
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Prince Hamlet suspects that his dead father, King of Denmark, was murdered by his uncle
Claudius, who has married his mother and become king. The Ghost of his father informs
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him about the murder and tells him to revenge. Hamlet promises to revenge, but on second
thought decides to check the words of the Ghost. So it takes him a long time before he
revenges:
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
Hamlet is a thinker, whose hesitation and inability to act cause the tragic development of the
play. He kills Claudius, but is badly wounded himself. The queen, his mother, is poisoned by
the drink intended for Hamlet. His love Ophelia is drawn, her brother Laertes and her father
Polonius are killed by Hamlet.
Shakespeare depicts Hamlet in the struggle of one against many:
The time is out of joint;
О cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Macbeth is the gloomiest of Shakespeare's plays. It creates a very bitter, pessimistic and
hopeless vision of life. Macbeth is the only play of Shakespeare that is related to the
contemporary historical situation. Its subject was regicide, commonly regarded as the supreme
crime. The public had been moved by an attempted regicide in November 1605 – the famous
Gunpowder Plot – which the English people, even after three and a half centuries still have not
forgotten.
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or
the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of
Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow
up the House of Lords during the State Opening of England's Parliament on 5 November 1605.
The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter. Most of the conspirators fled from London as they
learnt of the plot's discovery. At their trial on 27 January 1606, eight of the survivors were convicted and sentenced to
be hanged, drawn and quartered.
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The ambitious Scottish general Macbeth is told by the witches that he will become thane,
and later king. Immediately comes the news that Macbeth is made thane. King Duncan is
staying in Macbeth's castle, and Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth kill the king. But
Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain escape. Malcolm brings an army against Macbeth,
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who is killed. Lady Macbeth is already dead. Shakespeare has humanized the two
murderers, by making them husband and wife. To add to it the play is highly poetic. Here
are the words of Macbeth when he hears of his wife's death:
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Macbeth fascinates the readers because it shows, more clearly than any of Shakespeare's other
tragedies, how a character can change as a result of what he does. Macbeth is trapped as soon
as he understands what the witches in Act I, Scene 3 are saying to him, and his punishment, in
the form of mental anguish, begins even before he commits any crimes. At the start of the play,
the mere thought of committing a murder terrifies Macbeth, makes his hair stand on end and
his heart knock at his ribs, although he is a veteran of many battles and no novice at carving up
men with a sword. But it is one thing to fight openly, quite another thing is to kill stealthily.
Lady Macbeth's deterioration is different from her husband's but just as dramatic. Legally she
is not an actual murderer. But she is the first to decide that Duncan must die. Macbeth hesitates
right up to the last moment. After the first murders, she exerts immense self-control over
herself, while he surrenders to his nerves. But it would be incorrect to think of her as an
unfeminine monster or she-devil, because she does eventually crack under the strain. Both
Macbeth and his wife are moral beings who excite our pity rather than our contempt or disgust.
We see what they do to their king and their country, but more than that, we see what they do to
themselves. Why do they commit their crimes? The customary answer to this question – that
they are ambitious – is a superficial one because it leads only to another question: "Why are
they so ambitious that they are willing to commit such crimes?" These questions are
unanswerable because evil is just as mysterious as it is real. Shakespeare makes no attempt to
solve the mystery of evil. Instead he uses language to make it even more mysterious and
repulsive.
Romances
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This category embraces the later plays written after Shakespeare retired to Stratford, around
1608, and includes Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. The last plays of
Shakespeare Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest express the idea of forgiveness.
The violence and pessimism of his great tragedies are gone. The world is wicked, but the
spectators are given hope.
The Tempest is Shakespeare's magical “swan-song”.
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Prospero, duke of Milan, is ousted from the throne by his brother Antonio, and with his
daughter Miranda put into a boat and sent into the open sea. They reach an island
inhabited by spirits who serve the witch Sycorax. Prospero with the help of the knowledge of
magic releases Ariel, the good spirit, and enslaves the witch's son Caliban, a misshapen
monster, whose character may be interpreted as that of a natural man, instinctively poetic
and brutal, longing for independence and better life.
After Prospero and Miranda have lived in the island for twelve years, a ship earring Antonio
and his son Ferdinand is brought by the magic of Prospero close to the island and wrecked.
Prospero is planning the unity of Naples and Milan through the marriage of his daughter
Miranda and Naples king's son Ferdinand. He makes Ariel bring them together and
watches them fall in love. At the same time Ariel makes Antonio repent his cruelty and restore
relations with Prospero. The ship is magically restored, and all the heroes leave the island.
Caliban is left, as before, the island's sole inhabitant. Miranda and Ferdinand are going to
marry and restore peace between Naples and Milan.
The play may be considered as symbolic. Prospero is an allegory of reason and knowledge,
Caliban is the personification of human nature, Ariel is the symbol of the good spirit. The
happy end of the play contrasts the sins and shortcomings of an older generation with
humanist ideas of the young.
The character of Prospero is often identified with Shakespeare himself. Prospero’s attempts to
bring the events to a happy conclusion are likened to Shakespeare’s aspirations as a dramatist.
In the most important speeches of the play Prospero convinces Miranda and Ferdinand that
what they have been watching is only a play, an illusion that keeps with the nature of everything
in the world:
Like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
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Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The reality of our ordinary life and everyday experience is shown as illusory and shadowy.
Shakespeare balances the "untrue" images of art against the uncertain "truths" of reality. His
last plays deal with the age-old debate on the relations between art and reality:
Our revels now are ended.
These our actors
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air...
Late romances are more lyrical in comparison with the earlier plays and seem to represent a
newly found peace of mind in Shakespeare's art. There is a common thread linking some of the
plays. All of them somehow deal with reconciliation and justice. Through a series of conflicts
they move from a starting point of loss or injustice to a happy and forgiving conclusion. They
expose the corruption of civilization and reassert the value of mercy and love. They also have a
strong supernatural presence and the qualities of a fairy tale. Their tranquility constitutes a
fitting conclusion to Shakespeare's career: the aging playwright, after the great inner conflict
which resulted in the production of the tragedies, finds peace and reconciliation in his own
heart at last.
Text
from As You Like It
All the world's a stage
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
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In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
“Life is theatre” is the most famous metaphor that translates the concept of
human life. What do you think about the illusory, theatrical character of human
existence? Do you agree with Shakespeare?
Think of other metaphors that interpret man’s life.
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Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
Benjamin Jonson was born in London and educated at Westminster School. On leaving school,
he became a bricklayer, following his stepfather's trade until 1597, apart from a short period of
military service in the Netherlands. He was then employed by Philip Henslowe as an actorwriter. The following year disaster struck: he killed the actor Gabriel Spencer, and was
sentenced to death, avoiding execution only on technicality. He was sent to prison, where he
was converted to Roman Catholicism. On his release he began to write plays for various
companies, including the one Shakespeare belonged to. In the Jacobean period he was a
prolific writer of court masques for almost thirty years.
The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and refers to the period in English and Scottish
history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland (1567–1625), who also inherited the
crown of England in 1603 as James I.
He was certainly the greatest exponent of the masque: a court entertainment
with music and drama of a mythological nature. His poems which are written in a smooth,
classical style influenced the course of poetry in the seventeenth century. In 1619 he was
awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University, and began to teach rhetoric at Gresham
College in London. In 1628 he was paralyzed by a stroke and remained confined to bed for the
last nine years of his life.
Jonson is a fine writer of Renaissance satirical comedy, in plays such as Volpone (1606), The
Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614).
He is often called Shakespeare's antipode. Jonson disliked Shakespeare’s fantastic comedies,
wide-ranging chronicles, and highly emotional and dramatic tragedies. Jonson was a dramatist
of realism. All his comedies are made out of the situations of his own time, and he was always
contemporary in his themes and settings.
Every Man in his Humour (1598) is a kind of revolt from Shakespearean comedy in matter as
well as in style. Jonson wanted ordinary facts expressed in ordinary speech, nothing unusual.
Jonson's dramatic works begin a new chapter in the history of English drama. While
Shakespeare saw people as strange mixtures of the good and the evil, always surprising, and
full of contradictions, Jonson saw them as simple and almost mechanical combinations of four
elements. He used the medieval idea that the human soul was made of humours – sanguine,
choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic – which, mixed in different proportions, gave different
human types. In each character one quality predominates: amorousness, cowardice,
boastfulness, etc. They know no change or complexity. Once established, they remain as they
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are.
“Some one peculiar quality
Doth so possess a man, that it doth draw
All his affects, his spirits, and his powers,
In their confluctions, all to run one way.”
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Volpone, or the Fox
Volpone, whose name means ‘Great Fox’, gained his wealth through frauds and deception.
He pretends to be fatally ill to induce people to offer him gold and gifts out of their own free
will. People took wealth to Volpone thinking themselves as the future heirs of Volpone.
The Three Birds of Prey are Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino
The first to make his appearance is Voltore. The lawyer brings a gold plate for Volpone.
Corbaccio is an elderly man who is the next to hope to outlive Volpone and inherit his
money. He gives a vial of medicine for Volpone, which he refuses fearing it is some sort of
poison to speed up Volpone’s death. Corvino, the merchant, gives Volpone a pearl and a
diamond.
Volpone’s servant Mosca, the fly, manages to convince Corbaccio to make Volpone his sole
heir. Corbaccio disinherits his son Bonario.
Volpone fired by his lust for Corvino’s wife, Celia, enlists Mosca to work on his behalf to woo
Celia. Mosca arranges for Volpone to seduce Celia by telling Corvino that Volpone would
surely choose him as his sole heir if he allows his wife Celia to sleep with him as a
“restorative” for his failing health. Corvino’s desire for material possession is stronger than
his sexual jealousy and he agrees to sacrifice his wife.
Volpone must abandon his disguise to show Celia that he is a far more worthy lover than her
husband. Celia is unmoved and Volpone enraged by her refusal threatens her that if she will
not make love to him wittingly, he will have to take her by force. Celia is rescued by Bonario
and Volpone’s lie is exposed: “I am unmasked, unspirited, undone”.
In the Final Act, Volpone expresses his wish to disclose his lie but not before he indulges
himself in one final prank on his “birds of prey” by pretending he died and left all his
wealth to his servant, Mosca. Volpone has now become totally dependent on Mosca and
Mosca tells the audience: “now I have the keys, and am possessed”.
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With Mosca's betrayal, the cheating is finally revealed and Volpone himself asks for the
punishment that is due to him and Mosca as well as to Corvino, Corbaccio and Voltore.
At the end justice is executed to all. Once the lie is discovered, not only are Cecilia and
Bonario declared innocent, but the “birds of prey” along with Mosca and Volpone are
punished in a way that reflects their vices. Volpone must confiscate his ill-gained wealth and
is to be sent to prison:
“Thou are to lie in prison, cramped with irons,
Till thou be’st sick, and lame indeed”.
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Late Elizabethan Drama
There is clearly no sudden change in literary production when a new king or queen comes to
the throne. However, under the early Stuart monarchs, James I and Charles I there was a
definite shift in moral view; Elizabethan confidence began to waver and a rather more cynical
(and realistic!) view of human nature and corruption began to hold sway. The dramatists of the
day began to produce plays with a sharper satirical edge.
Classical settings such as Venice or Rome gave way to portraits of the corruption and
hypocrisy of contemporary London society, as exemplified in the plays of Thomas
Middleton (1580–1627). This desperate world-view culminates in the tragedies of John
Webster (1578–1634) which are unequalled in their gloomy vision of human nature. Gradually
the audience was also changing: Shakespeare's move to the inside and more exclusive
Blackfriars Theatre in 1609 was a sign that the theatre was losing its appeal to the masses, and
despite popular successes by Thomas Dekker (1572–1632), Thomas Heywood (1570–
1641), John Ford (1586-1640), Francis Beaumont (1584–1616) and John Fletcher (1579–
1625), who wrote some very popular comedies together in the period 1608–1613, and Philip
Massinger (1583–1640); by the time the Puritans closed the theatres in 1642 drama was in
serious decline.
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English Literature in the Time of Puritan Revolution and
Restoration
Historical Context
Literary Context
Cavalier Poets
Restoration Drama
John Milton (1608–1674)
John Bunyan (1628–1688)
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Historical Context
James' son, Charles I (1600–1649) stubbornly pursued his father's policy asserting that the
king’s power is absolute. When the Parliament refused his request for funds, Charles dissolved
it. After 11 years during the war with France and Spain and the rebellion in Scotland, Charles
had to summon the Parliament again. In 1628 the Commons put forward the Petition of Rights
in order to limit the power of the king, according to which there should be no imprisonment
without cause shown, no forced taxes imposed without parliamentary agreement, no martial
law. This policy brought about an open conflict between the Parliament and the king.
The supporters of the king were the members of the House of Lords, royal officers, and
landlords. They were known as Royalists or Cavaliers. The supporters of the king's
opposition were the members of the House of Commons, townsmen and small landlords.
They were known as Roundheads. Their hair was cut close, their dresses were plain and dull in
colouring, unlike curled hair and brightly coloured clothes of the Cavaliers.
In 1642 the Civil War began. At the beginning of the war the Royalists won quickly, but with
the time it became clear that the Roundheads would defeat the king. The king's army was
unpaid, got disorganized, and the soldiers started to run away. The Roundheads got the money
from the rich merchants. The army was headed by Oliver Cromwell, a gifted commander
who made the Parliament army well-trained and disciplined. In 1645 in a decisive battle at
Naseby the Royalists were completely defeated. Charles I was arrested and imprisoned. In
1649 Charles I was brought to the trial, found guilty for treason, and executed. Charles
accepted his death with such dignity and courage that at the time when the monarchy was
restored in England, he was regarded as a martyr.
Most of the king's enemies were Puritans. Therefore the Civil War of 1642–49 is traditionally
called the Puritan Revolution.
After the victory, Oliver Cromwell proclaimed himself to be Lord Protector and started to rule
as a dictator. Cromwell's rule (1653–58) was hard on the people. The Puritans wanted church
and state to become one body and established the government of saints. The Bible became the
book of the law. The church service was made simpler and shorter; confession and music
were eliminated and the architecture of the churches was changed completely: no stain glass,
statues, or beautifully decorated altars. Pleasure was regarded sinful. The Puritans closed
theatres, banned sports and amusements, forbade Christmas and Easter celebrations.
Cromwell's son, Richard Cromwell, tried to carry on his father's regime, but within a year he
was forced to resign. The Houses of Parliament resumed their activity, and in 1660 invited
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Charles II (1630–1685), the son of Charles, from the exile to be their monarch. This
important event marked the beginning of the period of Restoration.
The date 1660 is one of the most significant in the history of English politics. After two
decades of the Civil War and Cromwell dictatorship, on May 29, 1660, Charles II was
triumphantly restored to the throne from which his father had been driven. When Charles was
making his way from Dover to London, he was greeted by the ringing bells and the flying flags
and joyful cries of the crowds, chanting "Long live the king!".
Charles II believed in the divine right of the king and admired the absolute power of Louis
XIV. However, he wanted stability and order for his exhausted country and all his life tried to
avoid an open break with the Parliament.
Louis XIV (1638–1715), known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le RoiSoleil), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1643 until his
death. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a major country in
European history.
Charles was tolerant to different religious groups, and made attempts to unite Catholics,
Puritans and members of the Anglican Church. The fact that Charles had spent a long time in
Catholic France gave rise to rumours that the king wanted to restore Catholicism in England. In
1673 the Parliamentarians, who were mostly Anglican, passed the Test Act which did not allow
Catholics to take positions of authority in the government. The Act developed the
confrontation between the king and Parliament. The Parliamentarians did all they could to
weaken the monarchy in England. The result was the creation of two political parties, the
Whigs and the Tories.
The Whigs (a rude name for cattle drivers) were merchants, businessmen, and certain lords
who feared the power of the king. The Whigs believed that Parliament should be stronger than
the king, and that he should be guided by the House of Commons. They also believed in religious freedom. Many of the Whigs were Dissenters, Protestants who did not agree with the
doctrines of the Church of England.
A dissenter (from the Latin dissentire, “to disagree”), is one who disagrees in matters of opinion,
belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England it refers to a member of a religious body
who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church. Dissenters were
Protestants who refused to recognise the supremacy of the Established Church (Anglican).
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The Whigs were more democratic than the opposition party nicknamed the Tories (an Irish
name for thieves). The Tories believed in the king's power, but limited by the decisions of
Parliament. They also favoured the authority of the Anglican Church. Many of the Tories came
from the Cavaliers and shared the views of their ancestors. The Tories were favoured by
Charles II and were often given high positions in the Anglican Church and the court.
The restoration brought the change in lifestyle, philosophy, art and literature as well as in
government. The Cromwell dictatorship had been exhausting and difficult. The ideals of
Puritans could appeal to comparatively few. Puritan morality had failed. The sober dresses and
solemn faces of the Puritans had become ridiculous and ugly. The mass of English nation
turned with relief and pleasure to the new mode of life. People of all classes of society were
seeking amusements and entertainments. The May poles were set up again, Christmas and
Easter were celebrated, sports, hunting and gambling were revived. Theatres that had been
closed by the Puritans were opened again.
Charles II had lived at the splendid court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and brought from
Versailles French fashions and styles. Charles, who was called the merry monarch, believed in
exuberant life and extravagances for himself and the court. He was little concerned about how
others managed their lives. His motto was "Live and let others live". The court, following the
example set by the monarch, corrupted the English society. The upper classes lacked such
principles as patriotism, honour and the sense of duty. Bribery became customary in the
government, drunkenness turned into a national vice, crimes were regularly committed in badly
lit London streets. The most obvious characteristic of the period of Restoration is its lowered
moral tone.
By 1660 the population of London had risen up to 500,000. The city was restless and alive.
There were gay boating parties on the Thames, picnics in the beautiful gardens, music and
fireworks at night. On London streets the silks, powdered headdresses, gold coaches of the
rich moved against a background of rags, filth, and general despair. Beaus and belles attended
plays at Drury Lane Theatre, heard Italian operas, sipped wine, watched fireworks and looked
down on the country site with muddy roads and routine life of squires. The smells of the farms
and the wilderness of the woods were considered to be dead and behind the time.
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Literary Context
The great political and social turmoil of the first half of the 17th century was reflected in the
prose writing of the time. The burning issues of religion, education, politics and philosophy
were the subjects of pamphlets, essays and treatises.
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet (that is, without a hard cover or binding). It may consist of a single
sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths (called a leaflet), or
it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and stapled at the crease to make a simple book. In
the centuries when books were expensive and newspapers virtually nonexistent, pamphlets and
broadsheets played an important role as a means of mass communication. During the period of the Reformation
religious dogma and political issues were publicly debated in the form of pamphlets.
An essay is generally a short piece of writing written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a
number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections
prose, but works in verse have been named essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on
Man).
Treatise is a formal and systematic exposition in writing of the principles of a subject, generally longer and more
detailed than an essay.
Robert Burton (1577–1640) wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), a huge treatise of
over half a million words. It is an analysis of the causes, symptoms and cures for melancholy,
which was considered an illness.
The genius of John Milton (1608–1674) dominates the age. Although he preferred poetry (he
described writing prose as writing with his left hand), John Milton also produced some
excellent pamphlets, including Areopagitica (1644), a defence of free speech and writing, and
Of Education (1664) in which he expresses his idea of how young people should be educated.
Milton was an adamant supporter of Cromwell and Parliament, and when King Charles I was
executed he wrote a pamphlet in which he voiced his approval, saying it was the people’s right
to kill a Tyrant or Wicket King.
Milton was a very prolific pamphleteer but his masterpiece is the greatest of the 17th century
poems – Paradise Lost.
The writer who most successfully captured the Puritan spirit is undoubtedly John Bunyan
(1628–1688). A firm believer in Parliament, he joined Cromwell’s army at the age of sixteen.
During the Restoration he was imprisoned for twelve years for preaching without a license. He
started writing his great masterpiece The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) during one of his periods in
prison. It is a powerful allegory of man’s quest for salvation that is widely considered to be
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one of the greatest works of religious literature of all time and a forerunner to the 18th century
novel.
It cannot be denied that poetry was in decline after the Restoration. The great Renaissance
works were succeeded by imitations of older models and official verse, celebrating public
figures, which can seem rather affected to modern ears.
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Cavalier Poets
The group of English gentlemen poets who supported Charles I during the English Civil Wars
are known as Cavalier Poets. They were associated with Royalist cause in one way or
another, in contrast to the Metaphysical poets who were mostly attracted to the rational and
intellectual atmosphere of Puritanism. They wrote on classical themes and in classical metres,
and their poetry has a sophisticated charm. The best known are Robert Herrick (1591–1674),
whose celebrated To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time is justly famous, Sir John Suckling
(1609–42) and Richard Lovelace (1618–1657). However, the distinction between Cavaliers
and Metaphysicals is essentially an artificial one and several poets, in particular Andrew
Marvell (1621–1678) and Thomas Carew (1595–1640), combine features of both schools.
Marvell’s style has the elegant sophistication of the Cavaliers while his use of intense imagery
and paradox is reminiscent of the metaphysicals.
Accomplished as soldiers, courtiers, gallants, and wits, Cavalier poets wrote elegant lyrics,
typically on love and flirtation and sometimes on war, honour, and duty to the king. 'Cavalier'
implies more than just 'Royalist'. It implies, for instance, a particular class of man: courtly,
well-educated, genteel. In many ways, these are the cultural heirs of Sir Philip Sydney, moving
in something like the same circles.
In fact the common factor that binds the cavaliers together is their use of direct and colloquial
language expressive of a highly individual personality, and their enjoyment of the casual, the
amateur, the affectionate poem written by the way. They avoid the subject of religion, and
attempt no comprehension of the depths of the soul. The poems must be written in the
intervals of living, and are celebratory of things that are much livelier than mere philosophy or
art. Poetry need not be a matter of earnest emotion or public concern.
The Cavaliers made one great contribution to the English Lyrical Tradition. They showed us
that it was possible for poetry to celebrate the minor pleasures and sadnesses of life in such a
way as to impress us with a sense of ordinary day-to-day humanity.
Text
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
by Robert Herrick
Gather the rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a flying,
And this same flower that smiles to-day
Tomorrow will be dying.
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The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun.
The higher he’s a getting,
The schooner will his race be run
And nearer he’s to setting
That age is best which is the first
When youth and blood are warmer;
Bet being spent, the worst and worst
Times still succeed the former
Then be not coy, but use your time
And, while ye may go marry;
For having lost but once your prime
Ye may forever tarry.
The poem is an expression of carpe diem attitude to the world and life.
Do you agree with Robert Herrick’s message?
Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, usually translated "seize the day", taken from the Roman poet
Horace's Odes.
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Restoration Drama
No great dramatists emerged in the immediate post-Shakespearean period. Playwrights
continued to write in the Shakespearean style but did not reach the same literary heights or
introduce innovations of any great importance. In 1642 the Puritans closed theatres, declaring
them improper places for decent people. Theatres remained closed for eighteen years and were
not reopened until Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660. After the Restoration the
frugal, sober and sombre society created by the Puritans was replaced by a more pleasureseeking attitude to life. The immoral behaviour of the Court set an example that was readily
followed by the upper classes.
Charles II, nicknamed 'the Merry Monarch', was a patron of the theatre and during his reign
new theatres were built: Drury Lane (1674) and the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (1732).
Restoration theatres were very different from Elizabethan playhouses. They were smaller and
indoor. The audience no longer surrounded the stage but sat facing the actors, who did not
enter the stage through doors at the back as they had in Elizabethan times, but from the sides.
The personal contact between actors and audience, typical for the Elizabethan theatres was lost
and replaced by the effect of the fourth imaginary wall, and the illusion that the spectators were
looking at the stage through the keyhole. One can say that the modern stage began in this
period. Plays were also made more attractive by music between the acts and songs and dance
during the performance. Famous composers wrote for the theatre. By the end of the century
the musical part of a performance was sometimes more important than the play itself.
Painted scenery was used to reproduce settings. Performances took place at night: the
audience sat in the dark while the stage was illuminated by candles and torches. Another
Restoration innovation was the introduction of women players, which at the beginning was
shocking for the public. Love scenes in the Elizabethan theatre had only the poetic meaning
because the spectators knew that the female parts were played by boys. Two sexes in amorous
scenes were an exciting novelty. What we take for granted now was sensational for the
Restoration audience.
The middle and lower classes, who still lived by strict Puritan moral laws, considered theatregoing to be immoral, so drama became a form of entertainment for the upper classes, and
theatres became meeting places where people displayed their fashionable clothes and
discussed the latest gossip. Restoration audiences favoured spectacular productions.
Shakespeare's works continued to be performed but changes were often made to the original
texts to make the productions more extravagant and sensational. The Court had spent almost
twenty years in France, and the French influence can be seen in a new type of drama called
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heroic drama, which became popular for a while. Heroic tragedies tried to compete with epic
poetry. They were mainly about love and valour, the main character was generally a hero
whose passionate love conflicted with his patriotic duty. The plays were written in rhyming
couplets and in an elevated style, both of which made the language extremely artificial.
The term "heroic drama" was invented by John Dryden. He argued that the drama was a species of
epic poetry for the stage. Consequently, Dryden derived a series of rules for this type of play. First, the
play should be composed in heroic verse (closed couplets in iambic pentameter). Second, the play must
focus on a subject that relates to national foundations, mythological events, or important and grand
matters. Third, the hero of the heroic drama must be powerful, decisive and dominating even if he is wrong.
Dryden's All for Love (1678), based on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, is a good
example of this type of drama.
John Dryden (1631–1700) was the prominent man of letters of the Restoration. The son of a
wealthy Puritan family, he received a classical education and had a thorough knowledge of
Greek and Latin literature. He was inspired by the Latin poets Virgil, Horace, Ovid and tried to
reproduce the balance and clarity of their work in his poetry. He became a master of the heroic
couplet (two rhyming lines of iambic pentameters) parallelism, antithesis and repetition.
Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite ") is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are put
together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. The antagonistic features of the two objects or
phenomena are more easily perceived when they stand out in similar structures. Antithesis is generally
formed in parallel construction. Parallelism of expression serves to emphasize opposition of ideas.
Dryden wrote in almost every
widely regarded as the father
theatre, and tried to establish
influence on the poets of the
1744).
literary genre: comedy, heroic tragedy, verse, satire. But he is
of literary criticism. He wrote several essays on poetry and
guidelines for good taste in literature. He exercised a major
early eighteenth century, in particular Alexander Pope (1688–
The Restoration drama found its peculiar excellence in a type of play called the Comedy of
Manners. Restoration dramatists learned how to develop characters from the French
playwright Moliere, whose elegant style became a model to be imitated.
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, (1622–1673) was a French
playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western
literature. Among Molière's best-known works are Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope), L'École
des Femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou L'Imposteur (Tartuffe or the Imposter),
L'Avare (The Miser), Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois
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Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).
Comedy of Manners reflected the life of the Court, which was portrayed as being immoral,
corrupt, shameless but also elegant, witty and intelligent. Its main targets of criticism were
middle-class values and ideals, conventions, hypocrisy and above all the institution of
marriage. The comic effect was achieved primarily through the witty dialogue, which was often
in the form of repartee, a kind of verbal fencing match of witty comments and replies. In
Elizabethan drama comic characters were usually low and humble in origin. In the Comedy of
Manners they were aristocratic ladies and gentlemen who were easily recognised by the
audience as fashionable members of society. Two new male character types were created: the
gallant and the fop. The gallant was usually the hero of the play. He was a witty, elegant,
sophisticated yet cynical lover. The fop was a figure of fun, ridiculed for his stupidity and
pompous pretentiousness. The leading female characters generally had no feelings or morals.
Their only interests were fashion and infidelity. The characters usually had names that captured
some aspects of their personality: Scandal, Lady Fidget, Petulant, Mrs Squeamish, Sir
Fopling Flutter and Tattle.
It is important to note that the Comedy of Manners had no moral didactic purpose. These
plays were written purely to entertain theatre audiences.
As the 17th century came to an end the public objected to the quality of restoration comedy.
William Wycherley's (1640-1716) The Country Wife (1675) was accused of immorality. The
protests against the manners shown on the stage led to the publication of a pamphlet by Jeremy
Collier called A Short View of the Profaneness and Immorality of the English Stage in 1698.
Many playwrights spoke against Collier, just as strongly as he criticized them. Among them
was William Congreve (1670–1729), the major dramatist of the 1690s.
His comedies deal with the world of fashion, courtship, seduction, but they are all witty, and
well-composed. His masterpiece The Way of the World (1700) is still staged in English theatres.
Here Congreve shows himself the supreme master of the comedy of manners, displaying the
narrow world of fashion and gallantry.
The Comedy of Manners has continued to be a popular form of theatre. In the 18th century
playwrights eliminated the indecency but maintained the wit and fun. In the early 19th century
under Queen Victoria it declined, to be revived by Oscar Wilde at the turn of the century.
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John Milton (1608–1674)
John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the most brilliant achievements in English poetry and one
of the most beautiful poems in the world.
Early in his life John Milton resolved to be a great poet. He was born in London in 1608 into a
wealthy, well-educated family. His father, who had been disinherited by his family for
becoming a Protestant, instilled in his son a love of learning and strong religious beliefs. By the
age of sixteen he could write in Latin and Greek and had a good knowledge of Philosophy. He
attended Christ's College, Cambridge, where he took his Master of Arts degree and
distinguished himself as an outstanding student. For a period of time he considered taking
religious orders, but finally decided to move back home, where he continued his studies and
wrote. He had a period of long six years of solitary study and preparation for future life.
He firmly believed that a poet must be a person of learning, familiar with ancient and
contemporary philosophy, history, languages and literatures. In 1638 he visited France and
Italy. Milton had long admired Italian language and culture, and there he visited many interesting
people. In Florence he met Galileo, blind, aged, and imprisoned.
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and
philosopher. Galileo's championing of heliocentrism (astronomical model in which the Earth and
planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System) was
controversial within his lifetime. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615,
and Galileo was tried, found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and spent the rest
of his life under house arrest.
Milton intended to go to Greece, but he had to interrupt his trip, when he got to know that his
countrymen were fighting for freedom at home. "I considered it wrong," he wrote, "to be
travelling for amusement abroad in foreign lands while my countrymen were fighting for
liberty at home."
When Milton got home from his tour, he took part in the struggle for the Puritan cause. He
became a publicist, and gave himself to prose propaganda. Milton served in the government of
England under Oliver Cromwell. As Latin Secretary to the Council of State, Milton was
responsible for all correspondence with foreign countries. Milton, who had always had weak
eyesight, was going blind, and doctors warned him not to take the job as it involved translating
into Latin all the government's foreign correspondence. Milton replied that he had to do his
duty for the Commonwealth and accepted the position. He eventually went totally blind.
As King Charles II came to the throne Milton was arrested as a traitor. His influential friends
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helped Milton to escape the scaffold. He spent the last years of his life in retirement dedicating
himself to the writing of his masterpieces. He died in 1674.
Works
John Milton's literary works can be divided into three periods.
Period I covers his years as a student. Milton was fascinated by Italian culture. He studied
writers like Petrarch and Dante, and their works influenced his early poems L’Allegro ("The
Cheerful Man") and Il Penseroso ("The Melancholy Man"), both written in 1632. In the first the
poet describes the joys of life in the country in spring, outside in the fields in the morning, but
at home in the evening, with music and books. In the second poem, which is set in the autumn,
he studies during the day and goes to church in the evening to listen to music.
His masque Comus was first performed in 1634. Comus (1634) presents the traditional moral
theme where virtue triumphs over vice.
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Comus is a story of a noble lady and her two brothers who are travelling through a forest,
and have to spend the night there. The lady is separated from her companions and attracted
by Comus, an evil pagan god, invented by Milton. He is known by his habit to waylay
travellers and make them drink a magic liquor which turns them into beasts. Comus,
disguised as a shepherd, offers to lodge the lady in his cottage. The brothers are warned of
the magic power of Comus by a good spirit. They make their way to his cottage where
Comus is pressing their sister to drink from a glass, but she, strong in her purity, refuses. The
lady is released, and the three travellers continue their way.
In 1637 Milton published his poem Lycidas, a pastoral elegy written in remembrance of the
death of a fellow student. The elegy is called pastoral because it imitates certain ancient elegies
in using imagery of shepherds and their flocks. Milton and Edward King (renamed Lycidas) are
the young shepherds feeding their flock. The word pastor (clergymen) literally means
"shepherd". As students, both Milton and King were preparing themselves for the Church, but
Milton changed his mind and King died.
In Period II Milton focused on prose writing. In 1643 he published The Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce, claiming the right of a husband or wife to break a marriage on the
grounds of incompatibility. In 1642Milton married a seventeen-year-old girl from a Royalist
family. She left him after just a few weeks because of their religious differences. They
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reconciled, but Milton never fully forgave his wife and became a strong supporter of divorce.
One of his greatest prose works, Areopagitica, published in 1644, is Milton's passionate
demand for freedom of speech and the press.
The Areopagus (the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated as "Ares Rock") is a hill in Athens
where a respected council met to take important decisions.
In the same year he wrote the pamphlet Of Education which promoted
schooling for the formation of humanistic leaders.
Period III. After the Restoration in 1660 Milton retired from public life and dedicated himself
to the writing of his great poetic masterpieces. He had always wanted to write an epic poem in
English in the classical style. Initially he had considered the legend of King Arthur as a suitable
subject matter. However, he eventually chose the Fall of Man as his theme and set to work on
Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost (1667) tells the story of Satan's banishment from Heaven and
his attempt to take revenge on God through the temptation of Adam and Eve.
Paradise Regained (1671) is written in the same epic style as Paradise Lost. It tells the story
of Christ's temptation by Satan in the desert. Milton needed to complete Paradise Lost by
showing how Christ, at the very beginning of his mission on Earth, defeated Satan. Paradise
Regained is based on an incident in the New Testament in which Christ resists the temptations
of Satan.
Samson Agonistes (1671) is Milton’s play depicting the events leading up to the killing of
Samson by the Philistines.
According to the biblical account, Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to
combat his enemies and perform heroic feats such as killing a lion and destroying a pagan temple.
Samson had two vulnerabilities, however: his attraction to deceitful women and his hair, without
which he was powerless. These weaknesses ultimately proved fatal for him. Samson lost his
strength when Delilah allowed the Philistines to shave his hair during his sleep.
The play is modelled on Greek tragedies with its choruses, messengers and long monologues.
The play, focusing around the betrayal of Samson at the hands of Dalila, his wife, produces a
negative portrayal of love and love's effects. Women, and men's desire for women, are
connected to worship against God, and the idea that there is no possibility for the sacred
within love in a marriage. Samson, who is both holy and desirous of Delila, is seduced into
betraying God and losing the source of his strength, and thus betrays God. He is blinded
because of his sexual desires. The Chorus, after Delila attempts to seduce Samson again,
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criticises women for being deceptive.
The blinded Samson is Milton himself, blind and betrayed by his wife. Milton divorced his wife
who, like Delilah, came from the enemy's camp. The play is the reflection of Milton’s grief
over his fall, humiliation and his blindness.
Paradise Lost
Being a poet, in Milton's view, was not a matter of writing short lyrics that expressed his
private feelings and insights; being a poet meant competing with the great authors of antiquity,
the epic poets Homer and Virgil.
Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek
epic poets. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by
a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between
King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. The Odyssey is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad. It is the
second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. It is believed to have
been composed near the end of the 8th century BC. The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (known
as Ulysses in Roman myths) and his journey home after the fall of Troy.
Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC – 19 BC), usually called Virgil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the
Augustan period. His Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition
to the present day. Modeled after Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he
struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of Italy—in Roman mythology the founding act of Rome.
Milton first considered various English subjects for his works, especially King Arthur and the
knights of the Round Table. But finally, after years of thinking and reading he chose the biblical
story of the Fall of Man.
Milton worked on his epic all his life. According to one of the plans he wanted to write a
tragedy with Satan as its protagonist. Many readers have regarded Satan as the secret hero of
the poem. "Milton was of the Devil's party without knowing it," asserted William Blake, the
poet and artist of the Romantic Age. In literary works evil frequently seems more interesting
than good.
In Paradise Lost Milton took a few verses from the Bible and developed them into a 10,565line poem. Although the poem ranges back and forth between Hell and Heaven, the most
important action takes place on Earth, where the first human beings, Adam and Eve, are given
the choice to obey or disobey God. They chose, as everybody knows, to disobey, and having
done so accepted their punishment and made the best of the life that was left to them.
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The initial lines of the poem state its general subject. This is the poem:
Of Man's first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death onto the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden...
The angels, led by Lucifer (the former name of Satan) by the command of God are driven
away from heaven into the great deep. Pandemonium, the palace of Satan, rises out of the
deep. Sitting on the throne decorated with precious stones Satan addresses his speech to the
fallen angels, and comforts them with hope of regaining heaven. When Satan gets the news
about the creation of man, he decides to go to heaven alone. He passes through the hell
gates, guarded by sin and death, and goes upward through chaos.
God, sitting on the throne, sees Satan flying towards the newly created world. God foretells
his success and the fall and punishment of man. He declares that man must die unless
someone agrees to undergo his punishment.
The Son of God offers himself as ransom for man and is accepted.
Should man finally be lost, should man
Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son?
God answers:
О Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight,
Son of my bosom, son who act alone
My word, my wisdom...
Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will
Freely vouchsafed once more I will renew his life.
Satan enters the Garden of Eden, where he first sees Adam and Eve and overhears their
conversation concerning the Tree of Knowledge, of which they are forbidden to eat. Satan
starts tempting Eve in a dream, but the angels of Paradise discover him at Eve's ear, and
throw him away. In the morning Eve tells Adam about her troublesome dream. Archangel
Raphael, sent by God, comes to Paradise and warns Adam of his enemy. Adam promises to
be obedient to God. Satan, accompanied by the fallen angels appears in the garden, and
starts to battle against God's angels. The Son of God appears to drive the hosts of Satan to
the edge of heaven and forces them to fall down into the deep.
Raphael relates to Adam how God created the world within six days.
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Satan enters into the serpent, and in this form finds Eve alone. He persuades her to eat from
the Tree of Knowledge. Eve relates Adam of what has happened, and brings him the fruit.
Adam, thinking that Eve is lost, from extreme love for her, decides to perish with her, and
eats the fruit. Thus they are robbed of their innocence. They cover nakedness and try to hide
from God.
Soon man's sin is known. Death and sin come into the world, and Adam and Eve are to
leave the Paradise. They approach Son of God with repentance, and the Son of God asks his
Father not to let Adam and Eve die completely. God decides on their expulsion from
Paradise. Archangel Michael leads them to a high hill and shows the future misery of man
and what shall happen till the Flood, the future coming of Christ, his incarnation, death,
resurrection, and ascension, and foretells the corrupt state of the church till his second
coming. Adam and Eve, submissive, are led out of Paradise.
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast
To the subjected plain, then disappeared.
They looking back, so late their happy seat
Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon.
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.
Milton is attempting to resolve an interesting dilemma that has puzzled many
people throughout the ages. 0n the one hand, we are told that through His
Providence God takes loving care of creation; on the other hand, we know that
there are many very bad things in the world, such as war, crime poverty,
disease, oppression, injustice, death – the list is endless. Milton asserts that God
is not responsible for these evils; instead, Adam's and Eve's disobedience to God's command
"Brought death into the world, and all our woe". God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to
choose between good and evil, and the strength to resist evil; yet they chose evil, and their
offering, including all of us, have suffered the effects of their choice ever since. This
explanation of course is not original to Milton, most Christians have accepted it for many
centuries.
How do you interpret the biblical story? Do you agree that eating from the tree of knowledge
Adam and Eve chose evil? Is the free will a loss or a gain?
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John Bunyan (1628–1688)
Unlike most of the other writers of his period Bunyan came from a low social class. He
worked with his hands as a brazier or tinker, a maker and mender of cooking pots and pans.
Yet he was the author of a book that, next to the Bible, has been the most widely read of all
English books: The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come (1678),
commonly called The Pilgrim's Progress.
What we know about Bunyan comes mainly from his autobiographical work Grace Abounding
to the Chief of Sinners (1666), the "Chief of Sinner" being himself. In this book he describes
his childhood poverty, his service in the army fighting against King Charles I, and his marriage
when he was still a teen-ager. He and his wife, he says, were "as poor as poor might be, with
not so much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt us both." Grace Abounding is
concerned with the state of Bunyan's soul and his relationship with God. To Bunyan, these
were the only really important thing in life.
Although he had never been formally educated or ordained as a minister, Bunyan felt entitled to
preach to his people. He began holding services in private houses and then, as his eloquence
and piety attracted many people, in the woods outside his home town of Bedford. Such
Puritan sects as the Baptists flourished during the years when England was without a king
(1649–1660), but with the Restoration of Charles II, the government soon reestablished the
Church of England and outlawed all other forms of religion. In 1660 he was arrested and jailed
for preaching without a license. The magistrate didn’t want to sentence him. He would gladly
have released him had he promised to give up public preaching. Moreover, there were strong
personal reasons why Bunyan should have been eager to leave the jail and resume support of
his family. Conditions at home were not ideal: about a year earlier, his first wife had died,
leaving a number of small children, one of them blind, to be taken care of. His second wife was
pregnant, and the news of her husband's arrest caused her to miscarry. He was desperately
needed at home. Yet his principles did not permit him to obey the law.
During his confinement, he wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, which was such a great success that
he published a second part. Both parts have been translated into many languages and
republished countless times.
As the laws against nonconformists were relaxed Bunyan became famous as a preacher, even
in London, where an audience of several thousand would go to hear him on a Sunday. When
told about Bunyan, King Charles expressed astonishment that a tinker could draw such
crowds.
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Bunyan spoke to, and wrote for, people who believed that every individual human being is
engaged in a continuous battle against the forces of evil. Bunyan and his listeners believed that
the whole aim of life is to win this battle. Although, in this belief, the evil forces are powerful,
they are not so powerful as God. With God's help, the battle can be won and eternal life
attained. Bunyan told his readers how they could defeat evil and how God could save them. He
expressed his message in the language familiar to his readers, taken from their daily experience
and from the Bible, folk tales and popular literature. In Bunyan's books his readers recognized
their own lives, made surprising and interesting.
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory, a story developed out of a metaphor. Bunyan's allegory
(often regarded as the best example of this kind of writing in English) grows out of the
metaphor "Life is a journey."
Allegory is a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms;
figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
Christian and Christiana, Bunyan's heroes, are ordinary human beings who
suddenly feel the need for a closer relationship with God. Bunyan to portrays their spiritual
experiences as though they were physical. Instead of real places, Christian travels through such
allegorical places as the Valley of Humiliation, where he learns the value of being humble.
Christiana climbs the Hill Lucre, where she learns that money cannot save her soul.
Far from being realistic, the proper names in an allegory are direct clues to meaning. Mr.
Talkative is a man who speaks much but says little, Madam Bubble is always playful, Valiant
is always brave and strong, Atheist is always unbelieving, and Hypocrisy is always two-faced.
The characters are aspects of Christian's own consciousness, they never change, and they
disappear from the story after they have helped or hindered him on his journey.
Allegory thus enables Bunyan to tell two stories at the same time. One, the surface story,
involves a journey through a fantastic landscape. This story is an adventure story. The other
story involves the spiritual development of typical human beings who do not go anywhere, but
try to lead religious lives, avoiding the obstacles and temptations that get in the way. This
second story might be called a psychological story, since it is concerned with mental and
emotions processes. Yet, in the experience of reading, the two stories become one.
In the nineteenth century, The Pilgrim's Progress could be found in nearly every literate
household in England. Most children read it along with the Bible and the great plays of
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Shakespeare. In the twentieth century, its popularity has declined, mainly because of changes in
contemporary views of religion.
The doctrine that is at the heart of The Pilgrim's Progress comes directly from the New
Testament's Sermon on the Mount where Christ encourages his followers to seek "first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness"and to avoid the broad path that leads to destruction.
In The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan describes what it means to follow the narrow path to
Christian salvation, resisting all temptation and all worldly cares and diversions along the way.
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The dreamer sees a man, Christian, clothed in rags, with a burden on his back, leaving his
house behind in the knowledge that it will burn down. The book he holds in his hands has
told him so. He has to flee his family who think he has gone mad and escape the City of
Destruction. On the advice of Evangelist he begins a journey through a series of allegorical
places. He effectively maneuvers his way through the Slough of Despond, passes under the
Wicket Gate (the gate through which the elect must pass, beginning their journey to
Heaven) and soon comes to the Interpreter's House, where he learns to think
metaphorically. After leaving this enlightening place, Christian sheds his burden and
receives the garb and certificate of the elect from some angels. His next stop is the Beautiful
Palace.
After leaving the palace, Christian slips down into the Valley of Humiliation, where he
battles and defeats Apollyon, the notorious fiend. After transversing the Valley of the
Shadow of Death in the dark, he catches up to his friend Faithful. Christian and Faithful
arrive in Vanity-Fair together, where they are arrested under the false charge of inciting a
riot. Faithful is tried and burnt at the stake, even though Christian is miraculously
delivered. Hopeful, inspired by Faithful's faith, becomes Christian's new traveling
companion.
The pair of pilgrims soon come to the Doubting Castle, owned by the Giant Despair, who
traps them inside and intends to kill them. Fortunately, their faith allows them to escape
from the dungeon and make their way to the Delectable Mountains. The shepherds in the
foothills warn Christian and Hopeful about the Flatterer and other potential threats in the
last leg of their journey. Unfortunately, the Flatterer manages to fool Christian and Hopeful
anyway. An angel rescues them, but punishes them for being so blind when they had been
warned. In the final stretch of the journey, they encounter Ignorance, who has not entered
the path through the Wicket Gate.
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In Beulah, which abuts heaven, Christian and Hopeful arrive at the river. To cross the river
is to die, but the must cross it in order to enter into heaven. When they arrive at the gates to
the Celestial City, they are welcomed graciously with a trumpet fanfares, and they take their
place alongside the rest of the elect. Ignorance gets to the gate, but because he doesn't have
a certificate of election, he is sent to hell. The pilgrim's progress to heaven completed, the
author awakes from his dream.
The second part concerns the Christiana, Christian's wife, who is inspired to follow on a
similar pilgrimage.
Text
Vanity Fair
Then I saw in my dream, that when they were got out of the wilderness, they presently saw a town before them, and
the name of that town is "Vanity"; and at the town there is a fair kept, called "Vanity Fair"; it is kept all the year long. It
bears the name of Vanity Fair, because the town where 'tis kept is lighter than vanity; and also because all that is there
sold, or that comes thither is vanity. As is the saying of the wise, "All that comes is vanity."
This fair is no new erected business; but a thing of ancient standing. I will show you the original of it.
Almost five thousand years agone, there were pilgrims walking to the Celestial City, as these two honest persons are;
and BEELZEBUB, APOLLYON, and LEGION, with their companions, perceiving by the path that the pilgrims
made, that their way to the City lay through this town of Vanity, they contrived here to set up a fair; a fair wherein
should be sold of all sorts of vanity, and that it should last all the year long. Therefore at this fair are all such
merchandise sold: as houses, lands, trades, places, honours, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms; lusts, pleasures,
and delights of all sorts – as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls,
silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and what not.
And moreover, at this fair there is at all times to be deceivers, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves, and rogues
and that of every kind.
Here are to be seen, too – and that for nothing – thefts, murders, adulteries, false-swearers, and that of a blood red
colour.
And as in other fairs of less moment, there are the several rows and streets, under their proper names, where such
and such wares are vended; so here likewise you have the proper places, rows, streets (viz., countries and
kingdoms), where the wares of this fair are soonest to be found: here is the Britain row; the French row; the Italian
row; the Spanish row; the German row – where several sorts of vanities are to be sold. But as in other fairs, some
one commodity is as the chief of all the fair, so the ware of Rome and her merchandise is greatly promoted in this fair:
only our English nation, with some others, have taken a dislike thereat.
Now, as I said, the way to the Celestial City lies just through this town, where the lusty fair is kept; and he that will go
to the City, and yet not go through this town, must needs go out of the world. The Prince of princes himself, when
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here, went through this town to his own country, and that upon a fair day too; and as I think, it was BEELZEBUB, the
chief lord of this fair, that invited him to buy of his vanities; yea, would have made him lord of the fair, would he but
have done him reverence as he went through the town. Yea, because he was such a person of honour, BEELZEBUB
had him from street to street, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a little time, that he might, if possible,
allure that Blessed One to cheapen and buy some of his vanities. But he had no mind to the merchandise; and
therefore left the town without laying out so much as one farthing upon these vanities.
This fair, therefore, is an ancient thing, of long standing, and a very great fair.
Now these pilgrims, as I said, must needs go through this fair: well, so they did; but behold, even as they entered into
the fair, all the people in the fair were moved, and the town itself as it were in a hubbub about them; and that for
several reasons. For – First, the pilgrims were clothed with such kind of raiment as was diverse from the raiment of
any that traded in that fair. The people, therefore, of the fair made a great gazing upon them: some said they were
fools; some they were lunatics; and some they are outlandish men.
Secondly: and as they wondered at their apparel, so they did likewise at their speech; for few could understand what
they said. They naturally spoke the language of Canaan; but they that kept the fair were the men of this world: so that
from one end of the fair to the other, they seemed barbarians each to the other.
Thirdly: but that which did not a little amuse the merchandisers was, that these pilgrims set very light by all their wares
– they cared not so much as to look upon them; and if they called upon them to buy, they would put their fingers in
their ears, and cry, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;" and look upwards, signifying that their trade and
traffic was in heaven.
One chanced mockingly, beholding the carriages of the men, to say unto them, "What will ye, buy?" but they, looking
gravely upon him, said, "We buy the truth".
At that there was an occasion taken to despise the men the more: some mocking; some taunting; some speaking
reproachfully; and some calling upon others to smite them. At last, things came to a hubbub and great stir in the fair,
insomuch that all order was confounded. Now was word presently brought to the great one of the fair, who quickly
came down, and deputed some of his most trusty friends to take these men into examination, about whom the fair was
almost overturned. So the men were brought to examination: and they that sat upon them, asked them whence they
came; whither they went; and what they did there in such an unusual garb?
The men told them that they were pilgrims and strangers in the world; and that they were going to their own country,
which was the heavenly Jerusalem; and that they had given none occasion to the men of the town, nor yet to the
merchandisers, thus to abuse them, and to let them in their journey. Except it was, for that when one asked them what
they would buy, they said they would buy the truth. But they that were appointed to examine them did not believe
them to be any other than lunatics and mad, or else such as came to put all things into a confusion in the fair. Therefore
they took them and beat them, and besmeared them with dirt; and then put them into the cage, that they might be
made a spectacle to all the men of the fair. There, therefore, they lay for some time, and were made the objects of any
man's sport, or malice, or revenge; the great one of the fair laughing still at all that befell them.
But the men being patient, and not rendering railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing, and giving good words for
bad, and kindness for injuries done, some men in the fair that were more observing and less prejudiced than the rest,
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began to check and blame the baser sort for their continual abuses done by them to the men. They, therefore, in angry
manner, let fly at them again: counting them as bad as the men in the cage, and telling them that they seemed
confederates, and should be made partakers of their misfortunes. The other replied, that for aught they could see, the
men were quiet and sober, and intended nobody any harm; and that there were many that traded in their fair that were
more worthy to be put into the cage, yea, and pillory too, than were the men that they had abused. Thus after divers
words had passed on both sides – the men behaving themselves all the while very wisely and soberly before them, –
they fell to some blows among themselves, and did harm one to another.
Then were these two poor men brought before their examiners again, and there charged as being guilty of the late
hubbub that had been in the fair. So they beat them pitifully, and hanged irons upon them, and led them in chains up
and down the fair for an example and a terror to others, lest any should further speak in their behalf, or join
themselves unto them. But CHRISTIAN and FAITHFUL behaved themselves yet more wisely; and received the
ignominy and shame that was cast upon them with so much meekness and patience, that it won to their side – though
but few in comparison of the rest – several of the men in the fair. This put the other party yet into a greater rage;
insomuch that they concluded the death of these two men. Wherefore they threatened that the cage nor irons should
serve their turn; but that they should die for the abuse they had done, and for deluding the men of the fair.
Then were they remanded to the cage again, until further order should be taken with them. So they put them in, and
made their feet fast in the stocks.
Here therefore they called again to mind what they had heard from their faithful friend, EVANGELIST; and were the
more confirmed in their way and sufferings by what he told them would happen to them. They also now comforted
each other, that whose lot it was to suffer, even he should have the best of it; therefore each man secretly wished that
he might have that preferment; but committing themselves to the all wise disposal of him that rules all things, with much
content they abode in the condition in which they were, until they should be otherwise disposed of.
What does vanity fair symbolize in the context of spiritual pilgrimage that the
whole book represents?
How do the people treat the pilgrims who ask for no other good but truth?
Can you bring any example from life that could correspond to the metaphorical
picture given in the book?
What is the message of the episode?
Link
William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero, first published in 1847–48,
satirizes society in early 19th-century Britain. The book's title comes from John Bunyan's
allegorical story which was still widely read at the time of Thackeray's novel. In Bunyan’s
work, "Vanity Fair" refers to a stop along the pilgrim's progress: a never-ending fair held in a
town called Vanity, which is meant to represent man's sinful attachment to worldly things.
Thackeray interprets the allegory in his own way. In the preface to his book he writes:
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BEFORE THE CURTAIN
As the manager of the Performance sits before the curtain
on the boards and looks into the Fair, a feeling of profound
melancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place.
There is a great quantity of eating and drinking, making love
and jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating,
fighting, dancing and fiddling; there are bullies pushing about,
bucks ogling the women, knaves picking pockets, policemen
on the look-out, quacks (OTHER quacks, plague take them!)
bawling in front of their booths, and yokels looking up at
the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the
light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind.
Yes, this is VANITY FAIR; not a moral place certainly; nor a
merry one, though very noisy. Look at the faces of the actors
and buffoons when they come off from their business; and
Tom Fool washing the paint off his cheeks before he sits down
to dinner with his wife and the little Jack Puddings behind
the canvas. The curtain will be up presently, and he will be
turning over head and heels, and crying, "How are you?"
A man with a reflective turn of mind, walking through an
exhibition of this sort, will not be oppressed, I take it, by his
own or other people's hilarity. An episode of humour or kindness
touches and amuses him here and there--a pretty child
looking at a gingerbread stall; a pretty girl blushing whilst her
lover talks to her and chooses her fairing; poor Tom Fool,
yonder behind the waggon, mumbling his bone with the honest
family which lives by his tumbling; but the general impression
is one more melancholy than mirthful. When you come home
you sit down in a sober, contemplative, not uncharitable frame
of mind, and apply yourself to your books or your business.
I have no other moral than this to tag to the present story
of "Vanity Fair." Some people consider Fairs immoral altogether,
and eschew such, with their servants and families: very
likely they are right. But persons who think otherwise, and are
of a lazy, or a benevolent, or a sarcastic mood, may perhaps
like to step in for half an hour, and look at the performances.
There are scenes of all sorts; some dreadful combats, some
grand and lofty horse-riding, some scenes of high life, and
some of very middling indeed; some love-making for the
sentimental, and some light comic business; the whole
accompanied by appropriate scenery and brilliantly illuminated
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with the Author's own candles.
What more has the Manager of the Performance to say? –
To acknowledge the kindness with which it has been received
in all the principal towns of England through which the Show
has passed, and where it has been most favourably noticed by
the respected conductors of the public Press, and by the Nobility
and Gentry. He is proud to think that his Puppets have given
satisfaction to the very best company in this empire. The
famous little Becky Puppet has been pronounced to be uncommonly
flexible in the joints, and lively on the wire; the Amelia
Doll, though it has had a smaller circle of admirers, has yet
been carved and dressed with the greatest care by the artist; the
Dobbin Figure, though apparently clumsy, yet dances in a very
amusing and natural manner; the Little Boys' Dance has been
liked by some; and please to remark the richly dressed figure
of the Wicked Nobleman, on which no expense has been
spared, and which Old Nick will fetch away at the end of this
singular performance.
And with this, and a profound bow to his patrons, the
Manager retires, and the curtain rises.
What is Thackeray’s interpretation of Vanity Fair?
The concept is widely employed in modern times. For example, the well-known
magazine has the same name.
How far has it (concept) gone from the original meaning offered by Bunyan?
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English Literature in the Enlightenment Period
Historical and Cultural Context
Literary Context
Daniel Defoe (1607-1731)
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)
Henry Fielding (1707–1754)
Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
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Historical and Cultural Context
Literary historians have applied several names to the long period that runs from 1660 to 1800:
The Enlightenment, The Age of Reason, The Augustan Age, and The Neoclassical
Period. Each of them applies to some characteristics of the period, but none applies to all.
"The Age of Reason" and "The Enlightenment" reveal now people were gradually
changing their view of themselves and the world. In 1662 the Royal Society was opened in
London. It was a meeting place of all kinds of scientists and philosophers. Its first president
became King Charles II. Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was the president of the Royal Society
from 1703 to 1727.
Isaac Newton contributed to the development of science by his profound studies in
mathematics and physics. He was the founder of the modern science of optics. His discovery
of the law of gravitation made him the founder of science of gravitational astronomy. Joseph
Addison called him "a miracle of the present age".
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. His name
is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, an Irish writer
and politician, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.
Newton's works suggested that there were indeed intelligible laws in nature
which could be demonstrated by physics and mathematics, and moreover that the universe
exhibited a magnificent symmetry and a mechanical certainty. This universe, according to
Newton, could not have risen out of a chaos by the mere laws of nature: "a wonderful
Uniformity in the Planetary System had to be the handiwork of an intelligent and benevolent
Creator". Newton's declaration demonstrates his belief that there was order and design in
creation, and therefore religious mystery could be challenged, and sometimes even replaced by
reason. The scientific discoveries of the time proved that the universe is controlled by natural
laws that men could discover and understand.
The model of the world didn't seem chaotic and unpredictable any more, but symmetrical,
balanced, and logic. The ideal of universal law, order, and tidiness which could be concluded
from Newton's physics was echoed in the arguments of contemporary scholars.
John Locke (1632–1704) declared that reason, experience and observation were the
unquestionable guides to universal truth. For Locke the mind was a tabula rasa at birth, "a
white paper, void of all characters, without any ideals". When he rhetorically demanded how
the mind acquired "all the materials of reason and knowledge", he answered, "from experience."
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The contact between scientists, philosophers and men of letters initiated the development of
rational attitude in Restoration literature. Scientific experiments gave no place for feelings and
intuition. It seemed that everything had a natural explanation and the unlimited power of human
reason could challenge God.
The two terms Augustan and Neoclassical refer to real and imagined similarities between
England and its literature in this period and ancient Rome and its literature, especially in the
reign of the Roman Emperor Octavius.
Octavius (63 в.с – 14 a.d.) was the Roman Emperor who took the high-sounding title Augustus,
meaning "the magnificent, grand, and exalted one."Augustus restored peace and order to Rome
after the tumult and civil wars that followed Julius Caesar's assassination.
The Stuart monarchs of England restored peace and order to England after the
civil wars that led up to the execution of King Charles I in 1649. The people of both Rome and
England were tired of their quarrels and ready to settle down, make money, and enjoy life. The
Roman Senate had hailed Augustus as the second founder of Rome, the English people
brought back the son of Charles I from his exile in France, crowned him as Charles II and
called him their savior.
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Literary Context
There were literary similarities as well as political ones. In this age many English writers
consciously modeled their works on the Latin classics, which they had studied in school and in
the universities. The classics, it was generally agreed, were valuable because they represented
what was permanent and universal in human experience. All educated people knew the classics
better than they knew English literature, and one of their pleasures in reading a new work in
English was recognizing its similarities to the works in Latin and Greek. These new works were
called neoclassical.
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts,
literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture
of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th
century Age of Enlightenment..
The earlier part of the century was a golden age of prose. In line with the general reaction
against the complexities, decorations and rhetorical extravagances of late European
Renaissance literature, the new prose was characterized by a certain restraint. It was simpler,
clearer and more precise than the previous prose. The rationalist tendencies of the age led to a
more reasonable and empirical world view. The new writers of both prose and poetry were
more concerned with balance, clarity and coherence. It was a reflection of the desire for peace
and order in a society emerging from a period of revolution and civil war.
It is also important to take into consideration the changes in the reading public. Female
readers became increasingly numerous. Another market was made up of the huge number of
household servants who had access to their masters' books.
A rising middle class, hungry for literary representations of a changing social reality, wanted
new forms of entertainment and intellectual encouragement. Those were provided by the
proliferation of the press and coffee houses. The first coffee houses appeared in London in
the middle of the seventeenth century and became the centers of intellectual and social life.
They served as the meeting places of people of different social status and occupation. There
were coffee houses for statesmen, merchants, writers, and poets. Men (women were not
admitted into the coffee houses) came to enjoy a cup of newly-imported Turkish coffee, which
cost only a penny, smoke a pipe, read a newspaper, discuss political events or gossip. Coffee
was being imported in large quantities, and it afforded a refreshment for a wide variety of club
activities, ranging from games of checkers to the buying and selling of goods and the
formulation of political policy. The most famous of the coffee houses in London were the
Will's – where men of letters and poets met, and the Button's – the place of journalists.
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The Will's boasted of the patronage of such people as John Dryden, Joseph Addison, and
Alexander Pope. It was there that the considerable number of neoclassical rules and
regulations were formulated.
The main characteristic of the new literature was "From the head, not the heart". Feelings and
emotions were mistrusted. Poems, singing pastoral love, nature and passions were considered
to be ridiculous. Following the fashions of the day people began to place reason and common
sense above Elizabethan enthusiasm and Puritan rigid faith. Imagination of the Elizabethan Age
was gradually replaced by logical analytical approach.
Shakespeare's tragedies and Milton's Paradise Lost were ridiculed. There was a feeling that
Shakespeare and Milton should be reformed, their wild imagination restrained, and their literary
form made more "correct". Shakespeare's characters were thought as monstrous and unreal,
the mixture of tragic and comic elements was regarded as a sin against good taste. Hamlet was
criticized because the Prince of Denmark fought a duel with Laertes, who was beneath his rank,
and because such vulgar creatures as grave diggers were permitted to appear on the same
platform with a prince of blood.
Imagination was declining in poetry. Blank verse, so much loved by Elizabethans, was
replaced by rhymed couplets, inspired by ancient Greek and Roman authors. The works of
Homer, Horace and Virgil were considered to be the best models for literature.
As for drama, the eighteenth century is a particularly unfruitful period. The tone of plays was
frequently moralizing and there was often a strong didactic element to them. The theatre
became a place where the moral standards of a well-ordered society should be upheld.
Essays, journalism and the novel were the most important aspects of literary production.
The abolition of the Licensing Act in 1694 marked the end of censorship and heralded a new
period of freedom for the press. Many accomplished writers of the age were encouraged to
write articles or essays for the growing number of newspapers and periodicals. Journalism
became a new trade. Depending on the periodical the subjects were current affairs, politics,
literature, fashion, gossip, entertainment and contemporary manners and morals. It was a prose
characterized by simplicity and conversational tone. Its main concern was to reach the largest
number of readers possible.
The eighteenth century novel represented a new departure from previous canons. It was a
prose dealing with a world of actual human experience.
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The novel took individual experience as its most important criterion. The plots taken from
history, legend, mythology and previous literature were largely abandoned by the new
novelists.
The rejection of classical literary conventions meant that the readers were presented with
original plots acted out by highly individual characters in singular circumstances. The fact
that characters were often given contemporary names and surnames was something new
and served to reinforce the realistic impression.
The eighteenth-century novel revealed a much greater concern with the exactness of time.
References were made to particular times of the year or even to days, and characters and
events developed against a temporal background which had not been systematically present
in fiction.
Greater attention was paid to the setting. In previous fiction (for example, in Sidney or in
Bunyan) the idea of place had usually been vague and fragmentary. More detailed
descriptions and specific references to the names of streets or towns helped to make the
narrative all the more 'realistic'.
There was a general movement away from rhetorical and figurative language towards its
more descriptive and denotative form.
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Daniel Defoe (1607-1731)
Daniel Foe added the gentlemanly prefix De to his name when he was about thirty-five. His
father was a London candle manufacturer. Defoe's family were Dissenters and so he was
barred from attending either of the two English universities.
The term dissenter (from the Latin dissentire, “to disagree”), labels one who disagrees in matters
of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and, by extension,
Ireland, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or
another, separated from the Established Church or any other kind of Protestant who refuses to
recognise the supremacy of the Established Church in areas where the established Church is or was Anglican.
Instead, Daniel had a sound education at the highly reputable Presbyterian Academy of
Newington Green, where the Bible and John Bunyan were a prominent part of the curriculum.
In the academy Defoe also studied history, law, economics, geography and natural science,
rather than the Latin and Greek classics offered by Cambridge and Oxford. As Defoe left the
Academy he was fluent in five languages (which did not include Latin or Greek). He first
intended to be a Presbyterian minister but thought better of it and followed a career of a
merchant, trading in a variety of commodities, including haberdashery, brandy, wool, real
estate, and eventually civet cats. He married when he was twenty-four. Meanwhile, he became a
political activist and a journalist. His practical interests extended to politics and the theory of
commerce. His early work An Essay Upon Projects contains a wide range of radical
proposals for a new kind of state, and pre-dates by two centuries ideas of a similar kind.
Defoe’s dissenting spirit led him to take part in the rebellion against the Roman Catholic king
James II, in 1685, but, luckily, he escaped punishment. In 1688, a true Protestant king in the
shape of William III was crowned, but Defoe's commercial prosperity and personal delight
were short lived. He went bankrupt in 1692 and spent much of his time hiding from his
creditors.
By 1702 he was notorious as the author of a pamphlet called The Shortest Way with the
Dissenters. At first, the Church of England party applauded and admired the pamphlet, then
they discovered that it was ironic, meaning exactly the opposite of what it said. The
government had Defoe arrested, exposed in the pillory for three days, and then jailed. He was
released on the condition that he would become a spy and a writer for the very government
which had locked him up because of his satire.
Defoe got out of prison with the help of a Tory politician, Robert Harley. Defoe repaid Harley
by agreeing to edit and write almost single-handedly his periodical The Review from 1704–
1713. The Review proved to be an ideal vehicle for his prodigious journalistic talents, and had
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a considerable influence over future periodicals of the century. Defoe also carried out
intelligence work as a spy and government agent during this period, adapting himself to the
views of whichever party was in power. When George I came to the throne in 1714, the Tories
fell out of favour, but Defoe continued working for the government.
Defoe was a prolific journalist. Most of his works are pamphlets and books of advice offered
for the improvement of people and their lives. He touched on every conceivable subject: the
choice of a wife, the history of the Devil, the manufacture of glass. A great many of his works
are political. Defoe wrote propaganda for both of the major political parties, sometimes
defending both sides of a particular public issue. Some of his works are written in verse. The
True-Born Englishman (1701) is a long poem that scolds the English people for their
antipathy to King William because he was Dutch. Defoe argues that all the English are, in a
sense, foreigners. In 1719, at the age of fifty-nine, Defoe turned from journalism to a new form
of prose fiction.
Defoe's innumerable writings can be roughly classified into four groups.
A large number of them, like The Shortest Way with the Dissenters, are concerned with the
political and religious controversies of the time.
The works in a second group advise people on how to become virtuous as well as rich: The
Family Instructor (1715, 1728), for example, and The Complete English Tradesman (1725,
1727).
A third group is made up of journalistic accounts of sensational events, such as A Journal of
the Plague Year (1722).
The fourth group contains Defoe's fiction. Robinson Crusoe (1719) is generally considered
the first novel written in English. Defoe followed it with several other novels, including
Captain Singleton (1720), Moll Flanders (1722), Colonel Jack (1722) and Lady Roxana
(1724).
Though his fiction sold especially well, Defoe had to confront one financial crisis after another
during his later years. He and his wife, Mary, had a large family to support, and Defoe had a
talent for getting into disastrous business deals. Late in 1730 he went into hiding to avoid
debtor's prison. After several months he secretly returned to London, where he died, aged
sixty, early in 1731.
In spite of his enormous contribution to literature, Defoe is usually remembered as the author
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of only one book, the popular Robinson Crusoe.
The basic story of Robinson Crusoe is well known: a sailor is shipwrecked on a tropical island
and for many years manages to lead a more or less civilized life there, without human
companionship, until a young "cannibal" whom he named Friday arrived. This classic book,
which has been filmed many times and often re-written and simplified for very young readers,
has an almost universal appeal because it portrays a single strong individual who, all alone,
triumphs over hostile surroundings. Readers of the book are bound to ask themselves such a
question as "Could I survive if I were cast away on an island by myself?"
The appeal of Robinson Crusoe is also great because Defoe presents Crusoe's story as a true
account of what happened to a real person. Many people believe that Defoe modeled
Robinson Crusoe on an actual man, a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk. Selkirk
quarreled with his commanding officer and, at his own request, was abandoned on an
uninhabited Pacific island. There he stayed for almost five years (1704–1709), and after his
rescue and return to England he was interviewed by journalists, including Sir Richard Steele
and possibly Defoe himself.
But it was only the idea of an isolated man that Defoe used. The events in the book have
nothing to do with Selkirk or with anyone else. It is a tribute to Defoe's skill that many readers
have assumed the tale to be true.
Defoe's other novel Moll Flanders is written in the genre of picaresque.
The picaresque novel (Spanish: "picaresca," from "pícaro," for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose
fiction which depicts the adventures of a low social class hero, often criminal or dishonest, who lives by
his wits in a corrupt society. Picaresque novels typically adopt a realistic style, with elements of comedy
and satire. This style of novel originated in 16th-century Spain and flourished throughout Europe in the
17th and 18th centuries. It continues to influence modern literature.
Its full title is The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was
Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her
Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother),
Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd
Honest, and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums.
Content
Moll was born in Newgate Prison to a mother who was transported to Virginia shortly
afterwards for theft. Around the age of three a parish took her in and she was given to the
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care of a nurse. When her nurse died, Moll became a maid-servant in the household of the
Mayor, and learned the same lessons as the daughters of the house. The older son of the
house seduced her. Then the younger one fell in love with her also, and wanted to marry
her, not being aware of her relationship with his brother. The older one convinced the
unwilling girl to marry the younger one, and she lived as his wife until his death a few years
later. His parents took charge of the two children from the marriage.
Moll then married a gentleman-draper who spent her money and soon went bankrupt. He
broke out of jail and left the country, leaving Moll free to marry again, though perhaps not
legally.
After a period of time she married again and went to Virginia to her husban's mother.
Unhappily the woman turned out to be her mother as well. This discovery made Moll leave
her brother/husband and children and return to England. Her goods were lost in a storm
and she moved to Bath.
In Bath she became acquainted with a very modest and very friendly gentleman, whose wife
was insane. They lived as lovers for several years, until he fell gravely ill. After he recovered
he repented his sinful ways and did not want to see Moll anymore, but took care of the son
she had born him.
Moll wanted to get married, but did not see any likely prospects. She wanted to go to the
north. Before the trip Moll met an honest, sober gentleman who agreed to take care of her
money. He decided to divorce his unfaithful wife and marry Moll when she returned.
In Lancashire Moll met someone she thought to be a wealthy Irish gentleman. They married.
Then it turned out that he had married her for her money and she had married him for his.
They liked each other very well, but decided that it was only practical to part, and consider
the marriage nonexistent.
Back in London Moll married the man who had been taking care of her money, and had
successfully obtained a divorce. They lived together soberly and happily for five years until
he went bankrupt and died.
Being no longer young, Moll eventually took to crime, stealing things. Moll became an
excellent and successful thief, and had many adventures until at last she was caught stealing
some silk. In Newgate Moll met her Lancashire husband being brought in for highway
robbery. They reasserted their love and together were transported to Virginia.
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In Virginia they settled in Virginia quite far from the place where her brother and son lived,
and began a tobacco plantation. After a year Moll returned to see her son. He gave her the
income from some land her mother had left her. Soon afterwards her brother died.
Moll and her husband became quite rich and ultimately moved back to England (incognito)
to end their days there.
The main features of Defoe's novels are the following:
they are presented as memoirs or autobiographies;
their protagonist is presented in a series of episodes (no real plot);
they have contemporary and realistic setting;
in them primacy of the economic motive (characters have the reader informed of their
stocks of money and commodities) diminishes the importance of personal relations;
their characters overcome misfortune through self-reliance, hard work and belief in God.
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On The Education of Wome n
I have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous customs in the world, considering us as a civilized and a
Christian country, that we deny the advantages of learning to women. We reproach the sex every day with folly and
impertinence; while I am confident, had they the advantages of education equal to us, they would be guilty of less than
ourselves. One would wonder, indeed, how it should happen that women are conversible at all; since they are only
beholden to natural parts, for all their knowledge. Their youth is spent to teach them to stitch and sew or make
baubles. They are taught to read, indeed, and perhaps to write their names, or so; and that is the height of a woman`s
education. And I would but ask any who slight the sex for their understanding, what is a man (a gentleman, I mean)
good for, that is taught no more? I need not give instances, or examine the character of a gentleman, with a good
estate, or a good family, and with tolerable parts; and examine what figure he makes for want of education. The soul
is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be polished, or the lustre of it will never appear. And `tis
manifest, that as the rational soul distinguishes us from brutes; so education carries on the distinction, and makes some
less brutish than others. This is too evident to need any demonstration. But why then should women be denied the
benefit of instruction? If knowledge and understanding had been useless additions to the sex, God Almighty would
never have given them capacities; for he made nothing needless. Besides, I would ask such, What they can see in
ignorance, that they should think it a necessary ornament to a woman? or how much worse is a wise woman than a
fool? or what has the woman done to forfeit the privilege of being taught? Does she plague us with her pride and
impertinence? Why did we not let her learn, that she might have had more wit? Shall we upbraid women with folly,
when `tis only the error of this inhuman custom, that hindered them from being made wiser? The capacities of women
are supposed to be greater, and their senses quicker than those of the men; and what they might be capable of being
bred to, is plain from some instances of female wit, which this age is not without. Which upbraids us with Injustice,
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and looks as if we denied women the advantages of education, for fear they should vie with the men in their
improvements. . . . [They] should be taught all sorts of breeding suitable both to their genius and quality. And in
particular, Music and Dancing; which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their darlings. But besides
this, they should be taught languages, as particularly French and Italian: and I would venture the injury of giving a
woman more tongues than one. They should, as a particular study, be taught all the graces of speech, and all the
necessary air of conversation; which our common education is so defective in, that I need not expose it. They should
be brought to read books, and especially history; and so to read as to make them understand the world, and be able
to know and judge of things when they hear of them. To such whose genius would lead them to it, I would deny no
sort of learning; but the chief thing, in general, is to cultivate the understandings of the sex, that they may be capable of
all sorts of conversation; that their parts and judgements being improved, they may be as profitable in their
conversation as they are pleasant. Women, in my observation, have little or no difference in them, but as they are or
are not distinguished by education. Tempers, indeed, may in some degree influence them, but the main distinguishing
part is their Breeding. The whole sex are generally quick and sharp. I believe, I may be allowed to say, generally so:
for you rarely see them lumpish and heavy, when they are children; as boys will often be. If a woman be well bred,
and taught the proper management of her natural wit, she proves generally very sensible and retentive. And, without
partiality, a woman of sense and manners is the finest and most delicate part of God`s Creation, the glory of Her
Maker, and the great instance of His singular regard to man, His darling creature: to whom He gave the best gift either
God could bestow or man receive. And `tis the sordidest piece of folly and ingratitude in the world, to withhold from
the sex the due lustre which the advantages of education gives to the natural beauty of their minds. A woman well bred
and well taught, furnished with the additional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour, is a creature without
comparison. Her society is the emblem of sublimer enjoyments, her person is angelic, and her conversation heavenly.
She is all softness and sweetness, peace, love, wit, and delight. She is every way suitable to the sublimest wish, and
the man that has such a one to his portion, has nothing to do but to rejoice in her, and be thankful. On the other hand,
Suppose her to be the very same woman, and rob her of the benefit of education, and it follows – If her temper be
good, want of education makes her soft and easy. Her wit, for want of teaching, makes her impertinent and talkative.
Her knowledge, for want of judgement and experience, makes her fanciful and whimsical. If her temper be bad, want
of breeding makes her worse; and she grows haughty, insolent, and loud. If she be passionate, want of manners
makes her a termagant and a scold, which is much at one with Lunatic. If she be proud, want of discretion (which still
is breeding) makes her conceited, fantastic, and ridiculous. And from these she degenerates to be turbulent,
clamorous, noisy, nasty, the devil! . . . The great distinguishing difference, which is seen in the world between men and
women, is in their education; and this is manifested by comparing it with the difference between one man or woman,
and another. And herein it is that I take upon me to make such a bold assertion, That all the world are mistaken in
their practice about women. For I cannot think that God Almighty ever made them so delicate, so glorious creatures;
and furnished them with such charms, so agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the same
accomplishments with men: and all, to be only Stewards of our Houses, Cooks, and Slaves. Not that I am for exalting
the female government in the least: but, in short, I would have men take women for companions, and educate them to
be fit for it. A woman of sense and breeding will scorn as much to encroach upon the prerogative of man, as a man of
sense will scorn to oppress the weakness of the woman. But if the women`s souls were refined and improved by
teaching, that word would be lost. To say, the weakness of the sex, as to judgment, would be nonsense; for ignorance
and folly would be no more to be found among women than men. I remember a passage, which I heard from a very
fine woman. She had wit and capacity enough, an extraordinary shape and face, and a great fortune: but had been
cloistered up all her time; and for fear of being stolen, had not had the liberty of being taught the common necessary
knowledge of women`s affairs. And when she came to converse in the world, her natural wit made her so sensible of
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the want of education, that she gave this short reflection on herself: "I am ashamed to talk with my very maids," says
she, "for I don`t know when they do right or wrong. I had more need go to school, than be married." I need not
enlarge on the loss the defect of education is to the sex; nor argue the benefit of the contrary practice. `Tis a thing will
be more easily granted than remedied. This chapter is but an Essay at the thing: and I refer the Practice to those
Happy Days (if ever they shall be) when men shall be wise enough to mend it.
What are the advantages of a woman’s education? What is the author’s attitude to women in
general?
Does Defoe present a woman’s education as a benefit of a man, or a woman, or both?
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Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
Jonathan Swift is one of the main prose writers of the early eighteenth century and England's
greatest satirist. Swift was born in Dublin, of English parents, seven months after the death of
his father. He had prosperous Anglo-Irish uncles who paid for his education, first at an
excellent private grammar school at Kilkenny, Ireland, and then at Trinity College, Dublin. After
that he went to England and became secretary to Sir William Temple, a distant relative. Temple
was a writer, a wealthy country gentleman, a statesman and diplomat. At Moor Park, his
handsome estate near London, he maintained a large household of interesting people.
The job gave Swift the opportunity to mingle with public figures, read, and look for a more
important and permanent position. Unfortunately, noting came up, and after several years of
disappointment Swift had to take his life into his own hands. He obtained a Master's degree
from Oxford University, and was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland, although he
desperately wanted a career in England.
Swift was assigned to remote parishes in the Irish countryside. To Swift, Ireland seemed a
cultural desert, and he escaped to England whenever it was possible. His longest period of
absence from Ireland was from 1710 to 1713, when he was in London writing pamphlets defending the Tories. Swift hoped to be made an English bishop as a reward, but his political
friends fell from power, and the only appointment he could obtain was the Dean of St.
Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Swift went back to Ireland and held that office for the remaining
thirty years of his life.
Swift has always been a controversial figure to his biographers, who have attacked him,
defended him, and eagerly speculated about his life. Some biographers say that his biggest
personal attachment was to Esther Johnson, a friend whom Swift always called Stella.
Fourteen years younger than he, Stella was just a child when Swift first met her at Sir William
Temple's house and began to supervise her education. Eventually they became deeply
committed to each other. There is no evidence at all that Swift and Stella ever married.
However, many letters, journals, and poems exist to prove that it was a very satisfactory
relationship for both.
As the years passed, Swift made fewer and fewer visits to London, though he continued to
correspond with Alexander Pope and with many other literary friends. In his last days he
suffered from a disease of the inner ear which made him dizzy, deaf, and disoriented. He was
buried in his cathedral in Dublin, where tourists come every day to read his epitaph:
Text
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Here is placed the body
Of Jonathan Swift
Dean of this cathedral church
Where angry rage
Cannot cut through his heart
Go away, traveller
And imitate, if you can
a valiant for manly freedom
Laying claim.
Здесь покоится тело Джонатана
Свифта, декана этого собора, и
суровое негодование уже не
раздирает его сердце. Ступай,
путник, и подражай, если
можешь, тому, кто мужественно
боролся за дело свободы.
An epitaph may be an actual inscription on a gravestone or a short literary work, written as if for a
gravestone, appearing in a collection of poetry. In European literature the epitaph developed as a
variation of the classical epigram. A popular genre in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the age of
classicism, the epitaph subsequently came to be little used.
Works
Swift produced a great amount of journalism defending his religious and political beliefs. His
first important book, The Tale of a Tub (1704), is a satirical allegory about the three major
religious groups in the 18th century Britain: Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Dissenters
(Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Mennonites, etc.). The narrator tells the story of a father
who leaves each of his three sons a coat (the Christian Religion) with a strict instruction that
they shouldn’t change it. Peter (St Peter – the Roman Catholic Church), Martin (Martin Luther
– the Anglican Church) and Jack (John Calvin – the Dissenters) disobeyed their father by
altering their coats to make them more fashionable.
Saint Peter (died AD 64 or 67), also known as Simon Peter, was an early Christian leader, one
of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament and Christian tradition,
and the first bishop of Rome.
Martin Luther (1483 –1546) was a German monk, Catholic priest, professor of theology and seminal figure of a
reform movement in 16th century Christianity, subsequently known as the Protestant Reformation. He strongly
disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. Luther taught that
salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as
redeemer from sin and subsequently hell. His theology challenged the authority of the Pope of the Roman Catholic
Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge. Luther's efforts to reform the
theology and practice of the Roman Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation.
John Calvin (1509–1564) was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He
was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Calvinists broke
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with the Roman Catholic church but differed with Lutherans on the real presence of Christ in the Lord's supper,
theories of worship, and the use of God's law for believers, among other things. Calvinism can be a misleading term
because the religious tradition it denotes is and has always been diverse, with a wide range of influences rather than a
single founder. The movement was first called "Calvinism" by Lutherans who opposed it.
Peter furnished his coat with gold lace and other beautiful accessories. Martin removed the
false decoration from his coat without tearing the cloth. Jack fanatically ripped his garment to
shreds to get rid of all ornaments.
Swift was deeply committed to the ideals of justice and humanity. In the series of pamphlets,
The Drapier's Letters (1724–1725), Swift became an Irish patriot defending the Irish rights
against the oppressive policies of their English rulers.
The most famous of his pamphlets, A Modest Proposal (1729), satirizes the British by
proposing an outrageous solution to the "Irish problem." To revive Ireland's industries and
bring the country out of its current financial collapse Swift offers to sell infant children for
meat. The author states that Ireland needs a cheap and simple solution to help its impoverished
population. The Irish streets are full of woman beggars and many of them have children, which
they fail to feed properly. Children mostly grow up to become thieves. Swift argues that among
the 1.5 million people in the country, approximately 120,000 are children who are useless to
society.
Gulliver's Travels (1726) is Swift’s most famous book. The book was an immediate success.
It has been interpreted at many different levels: as a travel book for children, a sharp political
satire and an accusation of a society that accepts war and corruption and rejects altruism and
reason.
Content
Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput
The book begins with a short introduction in which Lemuel Gulliver, in the style of books of
the time, gives a brief outline of his life and history before his voyages.
During his first voyage, Gulliver is washed ashore after a shipwreck and finds himself a
prisoner of a race of tiny people, less than 6 inches tall, who are inhabitants of the island
country of Lilliput. He is given a residence in Lilliput and becomes a favourite of the court.
From there, the book follows Gulliver's observations on the Court of Lilliput. He is also given
the permission to wander around the city on a condition that he must not harm anybody.
Gulliver assists the Lilliputians to win their neighbours, the Blefuscudians, by stealing their
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fleet. However, he refuses to reduce the island nation of Blefuscu to a province of Lilliput,
displeasing the King and the court. Gulliver is charged with treason for, among other
"crimes", m
" aking water"in the capital (even though he was putting out a fire and saving
countless lives). He is sentenced to be blinded, but with the assistance of a kind friend, he
escapes to Blefuscu. He finds an abandoned boat and sails out to be rescued by a passing
ship, which safely takes him back home.
Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag
When the sailing ship Adventure is forced to land for want of fresh water, Gulliver is
abandoned by his companions and found by a farmer who is 72 feet (22 m) tall (the scale
of Brobdingnag is about 12:1, compared to Lilliput's 1:12). He brings Gulliver home and
his daughter cares for Gulliver. The farmer treats him as a curiosity and exhibits him for
money. Since Gulliver is too small to use their huge chairs, beds, knives and forks, the queen
orders a small house to be built for him so that he can be carried around in it. The house is
referred to as his 'travelling box'. Between small adventures such as fighting giant wasps
and being carried to the roof by a monkey, he discusses the state of Europe with the King.
The King is not happy with Gulliver's accounts of Europe, especially upon learning of the
use of guns and cannons. On a trip to the seaside, his travelling box is seized by a giant
eagle which drops Gulliver and his box into the sea, where he is picked up by some sailors,
who return him to England.
Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
After Gulliver's ship was attacked by pirates, he is marooned close to a desolate rocky island
near India. Fortunately, he is rescued by the flying island of Laputa, a kingdom devoted to
the arts of music and mathematics but unable to use them for practical purposes. Gulliver
sees the ruin brought about by the blind pursuit of science. Great resources and manpower
are employed on researching absurd schemes such as extracting sunbeams from cucumbers,
softening marble for use in pillows, learning how to mix paint by smell, and uncovering
political conspiracies by examining the excrement of suspicious persons.
Gulliver is then taken to Balnibarbi to await a trader who can take him on to Japan. While
waiting for a passage, Gulliver takes a short side-trip to the island of Glubbdubdrib, where
he visits a magician's dwelling and discusses history with the ghosts of historical figures. In
Luggnagg he encounters the struldbrugs, unfortunates who are immortal. They do not have
the gift of eternal youth, but suffer the disabilities and illnesses of old age and are considered
legally dead at the age of eighty. After his visit to Japan, Gulliver returns home, determined
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to stay there for the rest of his days.
Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
Despite his earlier intention of remaining at home, Gulliver returns to the sea as the captain
of a trader as he is bored with his employment as a surgeon. On this voyage his crew mutiny
and leave him on the first piece of land they come across and continue as pirates. Gulliver
comes upon a race of hideous, deformed and savage humanoid creatures to which he
conceives a violent antipathy. Shortly afterwards he meets a race of horses who call
themselves Houyhnhnms (which in their language means "the perfection of nature"). They are
the rulers, while the deformed creatures called Yahoos are human beings in their dreadful
form.
Gulliver becomes a member of a horse's household, and comes to admire the Houyhnhnms
and their lifestyle, rejecting his fellow humans as merely Yahoos endowed with some
semblance of reason which they only use to aggravate the vices Nature gave them. However,
an Assembly of the Houyhnhnms decide that Gulliver, a Yahoo, is a danger to their
civilisation, and expel him.
He is then rescued, against his will, by a Portuguese ship, and is surprised to see that
Captain Pedro de Mendez, a Yahoo, is a wise, courteous and generous person. He returns to
his home in England, but he is unable to reconcile himself to living among 'Yahoos' and
becomes a recluse, remaining in his house, largely avoiding his family and his wife, and
spending several hours a day speaking with the horses in his stables, basically becoming
insane.
Style
Swift’s contemporaries immediately understood that Swift was doing several things in
Gulliver’s Travels. Under the pretense of describing politics in Lilliput, he was indirectly
referring to politicians and political events in his own country. For instance, in the imaginary
Lilliput there are two major parties, distinguished by a trivial detail: the height of the heels on the
shoes they wear. Another characteristic is the way they eat eggs. The Big-Endians always cut
open the big end of a boiled egg, and the Little-Endians always cut open the little end. These
parties have had a long and bitter history: one emperor has lost his life, another – his throne,
and many Lilliputians have had to go live in another country, Blefuscu. All these details suggest
that Swift was thinking of specific events in English history. It is possible to identify the
parallels between Swift’s fictions and historical fact. Lilliput, for example, represents England
and Blefuscu represents France, where some English Catholics lived in exile. The Big-Endians
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are people loyal to Catholicism, and the Little-Endians are those loyal to Anglicanism. The
emperor who lost his life is Charles I, the one who lost his throne is James II.
In Gulliver's Travels different peoples that Gulliver visits metaphorically represent different
aspects of humanity.
Gulliver represents an everyman, a middle-class Englishman who is fundamentally decent and
benevolent. In the course of his travels, he becomes less tolerant and more judgmental of the
nations he visits and of his fellow human beings.
The Lilliputians, a tiny race of people, represent much of what is petty and small-minded
about the English and humankind in general. They are physically and morally smaller than
Gulliver. They are arrogant, selfish, hypocritical, and surprisingly dangerous and cruel in spite
of their small size.
The Brobingnagians, the race of giants, are physically and morally bigger than Gulliver.
While vice does exist in their country, unlike humans, they have not built vice into their
government and institutions. Therefore, they represent much of what is good in humankind.
The Brobdingnagian king is shocked at Gulliver's account of English politics and society, and
refuses his offer of gunpowder as he cannot think of any good coming from it. However, the
great size of the Brobingnagians means that Gulliver can never feel safe or equal in their
society. They treat him kindly, but as a plaything or an exhibit. Gulliver was large and strong in
Lilliput, and absolutely powerless in Brobdingnag. Swift means this as a warning to nations,
such as the English of his time, that the arrival of a larger or more powerful force can easily put
an end to their dominance on the world stage.
The Laputans represent the dangers and limitations of abstract and theoretical knowledge.
This field was growing in Swift's time, under the influence of what became known as the
Enlightenment. When Swift wrote this section of the novel, many of the impracticable
experiments and theories resembling those described in the book had actually been carried out
or proposed by the scientists of the Royal Society of London. The Laputan people's addiction
to abstract knowledge makes them indifferent to each other and to all human concerns. The
fact that the King of Laputa inhabits an island that floats above his domain is symbolic of his
ungrounded thinking and his separation from his people and their practical concerns.
The Houyhnhnms represent reason and virtue. They operate their society according to these
principles and as a result, have no crime, disease or other problems. They subordinate their
own individual lives and concerns to the good of their society as a whole. So deep-rooted is
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this tendency that they have no distinguishing characteristics or names, and they do not seem
to possess an emotional life beyond treating everyone with respect and kindness. While they
represent the rational faculty that man possesses, they do not seem fully human and, indeed,
expel Gulliver from their society because they see him as a Yahoo. This suggests that Swift
does not intend their nation to be seen as a complete and self-contained model for an ideal
human society. Their way of life only exemplifies much what is admirable in human beings.
The humanoid Yahoos, on the contrary, represent all that is bestial, low and despicable in
human behavior. Gulliver is ashamed to recognize the similarities between them and human
beings. They are dirty, greedy, violent and destructive of themselves and others. While they are
constantly likened to human beings by Gulliver and the Houyhnhnms, an important distinction
is drawn: human beings are endowed with reason, and Yahoos are not. The conclusion is not,
however, that humans are better than Yahoos, because they (unlike Yahoos) have the ability to
choose good or evil, and frequently choose evil. The Yahoos are therefore not identical to
humans, but symbolize humans at their worst.
Swift’s approach to the analysis of human nature is complex.
Does he view a man as a representative of a particular time and society or
human race in general?
What is his conclusion about this man?
Do you think evil or good prevails in human nature?
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Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)
Samuel Richardson received little formal education. His family hoped that he would become a
priest, however, due to the lack of means he was apprenticed to a printer in London. Thirteen
years later he set up his own shop as a stationer and printer and became one of the leading
figures in the London trade.
Richardson married his employer's daughter, Martha Wilde, and they had six children. Sadly,
she and all their children died. He married again, and had six children with Elizabeth Leake, and
although two of them also died of childhood illness, four survived.
Richardson's literary career began after he was in his fifties and well-established as a printer,
when two booksellers proposed that he should compile a volume of model letters for unskilled
letter writers. While preparing this, Richardson became fascinated by the project, and a small
sequence of letters from a daughter in service, asking her father's advice when threatened by
her master's advances, formed the beginning of Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded (1740–41).
Pamela was a huge success and became something of a cult novel.
Content
Pamela Andrews is a beautiful 15-year old maidservant. Her master, Mr. B, makes
unwanted advances towards her after the death of his mother. His high rank hinders him
from proposing marriage. Mr. B locks Pamela up in one of his estates, and attempts to
seduce her. She rejects him, but is falling in love. He intercepts her letters and becomes even
more enamored by her innocence and intelligence.
Finally Mr. B sincerely proposes to Pamela. Pamela attempts to build a successful
relationship with him and to acclimatise to upperclass society.
Richardson's other most popular epistolary novel, also regarded today as his masterpiece, is
Clarissa or, the History of a Young Lady (1747–8). Clarissa is one of the longest novels in
the English language. It is a tragic story of a girl who runs off with her seducer, but is later
abandoned.
Content
Clarissa Harlowe receives a substantial fortune from her grandfather. The family attempts to
force Clarissa to marry Roger Solmes, who is willing to trade properties with James,
�Contents
Clarissa’s brother. Robert Lovelace (the family’s enemy) tricks Clarissa into eloping with
him. Clarissa becomes Lovelace’s prisoner for many months. She refuses to marry him even
after he rapes her.
Clarissa escapes to find sanctuary at the house of a shopkeeper and his wife. She becomes
dangerously ill due to the mental pressure. Eventually Clarissa dies in the full consciousness
of her virtue and trusting in a better life after death. Lovelace dies in a duel with Clarissa’s
cousin.
Style
Richardson believed that letters could be used to accurately portray character traits. He quickly
adopted the epistolary novel form, which granted him "the tools, the space, and the freedom to
develop distinctly different characters speaking directly to the reader".
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary
entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents"
such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use. The epistolary form can add
greater realism to a story.
In his first novel, Pamela, he explored the various complexities of the title character's life, and
the letters allow the reader to witness her develop and progress over time. The novel was an
experiment, but it allowed Richardson to create a complex heroine through a series of her
letters. When Richardson wrote Clarissa, he had more experience in the form and expanded
the letter writing to four different correspondents, which created a complex system of
characters encouraging each other to grow and develop over time.
Richardson’s novels were enormously popular in their day. Although he has been accused of
being a verbose and sentimental storyteller, his emphasis on detail, his psychological insights
into women, and his dramatic technique have earned him a prominent place among English
novelists.
His last novel is The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753–4). By the time Richardson
writes Grandison, he transforms the letter writing from telling of personal insights and
explaining feelings into a means for people to communicate their thoughts on the actions of
others and for the public to celebrate virtue. The letters are no longer written for a few people,
but are passed along in order for all to see.
In the London literary world, Richardson was a rival of Henry Fielding, and the two responded
to each other's literary styles in their own novels.
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Henry Fielding (1707–1754)
Henry Fielding was an 18th century English writer and magistrate. He attended Eton College,
where he studied classical authors and began to challenge the literary world. Fielding wrote his
first play in 1728. He then enrolled at the University of Leiden in Holland, but left to return to
London in 1729. Fielding wrote masques, farces, comedies, burlesques and political satires
which so exasperated the Whig government that all London theaters, except two protected by
royal patent, were ordered closed by the Licensing Act of 1737. Fielding's career as a
playwright was at an end.
Unable to find meaningful work, Fielding began studying law at Middle Temple and became a
barrister. In the meantime, he married Charlotte Craddock and edited The Champion; or,
British Mercury, a satirical political publication.
In 1740, Samuel Richardson published Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded, which was an instant
success. The tale of a young woman, who becomes a great lady and finds true happiness by
defending her chastity, was the London sensation of the season, an early bestseller.
Pamela was read as a lesson in morality by all young ladies. However, Fielding found the work
objectionable and set out to write a parody of it, which he called An Apology for the Life of
Mrs. Shamela Andrews (1741). In Shamela the virtuous heroine is hilariously exposed as a
crafty schemer. Although the book was published anonymously, Fielding was generally
accepted as the author.
He followed with Joseph Andrews (1742), another parody published anonymously, and The
History of the Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great (1743).
Despite his productivity, Fielding endured significant personal loss in these years. His father
passed away in 1741, followed by one of his daughters in 1742 and his wife in 1744. He
married his wife's maid in 1747 after the two grew close during a period of mourning.
Fielding's legal training was at last put to good use in the late 1740s, when he was appointed
justice of the peace for Westminster and then magistrate of Middlesex. Together with his halfbrother Sir John Fielding, he established a new tradition of justice and suppression of crime in
London. They helped to found what is known as London's first police force, the Bow Street
Runners, in 1749 and did a great deal to improve prison conditions.
Although he devoted significant energy to struggle with crime, Fielding managed to complete
his celebrated novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), a work considered one
�Contents
of the English language's great early novels.
Fielding’s final novel was sentimental Amelia (1751). It describes the hardships suffered by a
young couple newly married.
Fielding's health was in serious decline by this point. He traveled by sea to Portugal with his
wife and daughter in the summer of 1754, but never returned to England, as he passed away in
Lisbon on October 8.
Tom Jones
Fielding’s best-plotted novel, his great mock epic, romance and picaresque, The History of
Tom Jones, a Foundling, was begun in 1746. When the novel finally appeared, it was
enthusiastically received by the general public. However, the Tory journalists, who strongly
disliked Fielding for supporting the House of Hanover, and Richardson and his group, who
saw Fielding as a “filthy and immoral writer,” disapproved of the book as well as of Fielding
himself, particularly for “marrying his cook.”
The plot of Tom Jones is among the most perfectly planned plots in literature. It is very
complicated for a simple summary. Its basis is Tom's alienation from his foster father, Squire
Allworthy, and his sweetheart, Sophia Western, and his reconciliation with them after lively and
dangerous adventures on the road and in London.
The triumph of the book is its presentation of English life and character in the mid18th century. Every social type is represented, and through them every shade of
moral behavior. Fielding himself called Tom Jones a “comic epic poem in prose,”
though others say it is essentially a comic romance.
Fielding used the term ‘comic epic poem in prose’ in the “Preface to Joseph Andrews”. Fielding claimed that he was
founding a new genre of writing but this was not entirely accurate. There was a long tradition of such writing before
him, though it was not completely developed or established. Homer’s Odyssey is often referred to as a ‘comic epic in
verse’. Fielding tried to combine ‘comic epic poem’ and ‘prose epic’ to produce what he termed as ‘comic epic
poem in prose’.
Fielding does include some parts that parody heroic poetry, particularly, the digressions. Like
other eighteenth century writers, Fielding felt it was his duty to try to change his society. Thus,
he headed each of the eighteen books of Tom Jones with an introductory essay, each of which
enlarges on an idea that he wished to promote, much like the Greek chorus in a tragedy.
Content
�Contents
The structure of Tom Jones shows three major parts, each six books in length.
The first third of the novel is set in the Paradise Hall of Squire Allworthy in Somersetshire. In
this part Tom Jones grows from infant foundling into a teenager who falls in love with the
beautiful daughter of Squire Western. Tom’s infancy and early years to age twenty need only
the first three books to be told; the beginning of his twenty-first year and his break with the
squire highlight the next three books.
The second third, books 7 through 12, take but weeks to complete, recounting Tom’s
adventures on the road to London. In this section, the protagonist experiences many episodic
adventures involving a diverse cast of characters that include a woman in distress, soldiers
on the march, gypsies, untrustworthy lawyers, puppeteers, women admirers of the title
character, and an impoverished robber.
The third part, books 13 through 18, is set in London, taking only days to complete. Yet the
tone is grimmer, not the comical rowdy, farcical adventures Tom has hitherto met on the road
but ugly involvements: prostitution, incest, and the like, similar to what Fielding had seen of
London himself. In the third part Tom searches for his beloved, fights a duel, has encounters
with a possessive seductress, goes to jail, gains his freedom, and reunites with his beloved.
This section ends when the principal characters return to Somersetshire.
Style
One of the novel’s innovations is the narrative persona.
Narrative point of view or narrative perspective describes the position of the narrator (the character of
the storyteller) in relation to the story being told.
In the first-person narration, the story is revealed through a narrator who is also a character within the story, so that
the narrator reveals the plot by referring to this viewpoint character with forms of "I" or, when plural, "we".
The second-person narration is less common in fiction. The narrator refers to him- or herself as 'you' in a way that
suggests alienation from the events described, or emotional/ironic distance.
The third-person narration provides the greatest flexibility to the author and thus is the most commonly used
narrative mode in literature. Every character is referred to by the narrator as "he", "she", "it", or "they", but never as "I"
or "we" (first-person), or "you" (second-person). The third-person "subjective", or limited, narrator describes one
or more character's feelings and thoughts. He may know absolutely everything about a single character and every
piece of knowledge in that character's mind, but the narrator's knowledge is "limited" to that character. The thirdperson "objective", or omniscient, narrator has knowledge of all times, people, places, and events, including all
characters' thoughts. An omniscient third-person narrator who interrupts the narrative and speaks directly to the
�Contents
readers is called obtrusive. He may use these intrusions to summarise, philosophise, moralise or guide the reader’s
interpretation of events. If the narrator does not address the reader directly he is referred to as non-obtrusive.
When telling the story, the narrator generally uses third-person omniscient point of view that
enables him to reveal the thoughts of the characters. When commenting on the story, the
narrator uses first-person point of view, sometimes in the singular and sometimes in the plural.
Text
from Tom Jones. Book 9, Chapter 3
It hath been observed, by wise men or women, I forget which, that all persons are doomed to be in love once in their
lives. No particular season is, as I remember, assigned for this; but the age at which Miss Bridget was arrived, seems
to me as proper a period as any to be fixed on for this purpose: it often, indeed, happens much earlier; but when it
doth not, I have observed it seldom or never fails about this time. Moreover, we may remark that at this season love
is of a more serious and steady nature than what sometimes shows itself in the younger parts of life. The love of girls is
uncertain, capricious, and so foolish that we cannot always discover what the young lady would be at; nay, it may
almost be doubted whether she always knows this herself.
What is the purpose of Fielding’s digressions in the book?
Do they help or obstruct the process of reading?
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Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
The greatest poet of the period who modeled himself after the great poets of classical antiquity
is Alexander Pope (1688–1744). He first attracted public attention in 1709 when he wrote
Pastorals, the bookish poems that were largely an imitation of Virgil. Still, the poems were a
success, and went from hand to hand before they were published. Pope became really famous
as the author of Essay on Criticism (1711), a brilliant poem written in rhymed couplets, in
which he sets out his principles for writing poetry. As a true classicist, Pope was more
interested in form and correctness than in imagination and feelings. He praised the ideals of
truth, reason, and polished order in poetry and prose:
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
True wit is nature to advantage dressed,
What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed.
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance.
Pope's later poems were published in The Spectator, the newspaper edited by Steele and
Addison. His most famous poem was The Rape of the Lock (1714). It concerns the quarrel
between two families caused by Lord Petre's cutting a lovelock from the head of Arabella
Fermor, Belinda in the poem. The poem is a bitter satire on the mode of life of fashionable
people of his day. The joke is in the disparity between the high style of the poem and the
triviality of the subject. The poem was published with the permission of Miss Fermor. Pope
described the matter in a mock-heroic poem. It is a playful poem full of paradoxes, witty
observations and humorous epic allusions.
Mock-heroic, mock-epic or heroic-comic works are typically satires or parodies that mock
common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature. Typically, mock-heroic works
either put a fool in the role of the hero or exaggerate the heroic qualities to such a point that
they become absurd.
In 1715 Pope issued the first volume of his translation in heroic couplets of Homer's Iliad. The
poem was completed in 1720. It was followed by a translation of the Odyssey.
The publication of his works gave Pope a financial independence. In 1717 Pope moved to a
villa in Twickenham, on the River Thames, west of London, where he lived till the end of his
life. The most celebrated people of the day came to see him there. He became friends with
Jonathan Swift and, together with some other leading literary figures, they formed the
Scriblerus Club to discuss topics of contemporary interest and to ridicule all false tastes in
learning.
�Contents
In Essay on Man (1733- 34) Pope revealed his philosophic ideas on the world and the man
living in it. According to Pope the universe is a smoothly running machine, set in motion by
God. The aim of man is to learn to master this machine. Man can rise high and fall very low,
but he is fundamentally good and generally attempts to perfection.
Pope's success made the heroic couplet the dominant poetic form of the century. His poems
were translated into many foreign languages, making him famous throughout the European
continent.
In the second half of the century, however, he fell out of favour, as tastes began to change and
his sophisticated poetry was considered to lack feeling. He did not appeal to readers again until
the beginning of the twentieth century, when once more his wit and technical ability found an
appreciative public.
The Augustan poet was a social being whose private feelings were considered inappropriate for
public confession. The influence of ancient Rome dominated in the first half of the eighteenth
century. Locked into well balanced forms, poets obediently produced estimable satire and
mock heroic verse. However, by the middle 1700s, it was evident that the 'conflict' between the
intellect and the emotions was coming to a climax and that the neoclassical canons were
challenged by a more personal and melancholic kind of poetry.
Text
from The Essay on Man
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall:
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Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
What contrasted features does Pope describe to illustrate “a middle state” in a
man?
�Contents
Reference List
Reference List
Selected Bibliography:
1. Elements of Literature, Literature of England. – Holt : Reinhart & Winston. – 1989.
2. Kenneth Broadey. Focus on English and American Literature / Kenneth Broadey, Fabio Malgaretti. – Москва :
Айрис-пресс. – 2003.
3. The Wordsworth Companion to Literature in English. – Wordsworth Edition Ltd. – 1994.
4. Denis Delaney. Fields of Vision. Literature in the English language. Volumes I, II / Denis Delaney, Ciaran Ward,
Carla Rho Fiorina. – Pearson Education Limited. Longman. – 2007.
5. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Third Edition. – Oxford University Press. – 2004.
6. English Literature. Английская литература: Сред. века – XVIII век : учебное пособие для 10-11 кл. шк. с
углубл. изучением англ. яз. / сост. В.Р. Трусова. – Москва : Просвещение. – 2002.
7. English and American Literature: A course of Lectures. Английская и американская литература : Курс
лекций для школьников старших классов и студентов. – Санкт-Петербург : КОРОНА принт. – 2002.
8. What is the English We Read. Универсальная хрестоматия текстов на английском языке / сост. Т.Н.
Шишкина, Т.В. Леденева, М.А. Юрченко. – Москва : Проспект. – 2006.
9. Тумбина, О.В. Lectures on English Literature. Лекции по английской литературе V–XX веков /
О.В. Тумбина. – Санкт-Петербург : КАРО. – 2003.
10. Teachers & Students’ Guide to the British Literature : методическое пособие по истории британской
литературы для учителей и учащихся / сост. Н.Н. Часовая. – Москва : Айрис-пресс. – 2002.
11. Guide to English and American Literature : учебное пособие по английской и американской литературе /
сост. О.В. Зубанова. – Москва : Менеджер. – 2004.
Internet Resources:
1. Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://
www.luminarium.org
2. About.com. Classic Literature. A History of English Literature by Robert Huntington Fletcher [Электронный
ресурс]. – Режим доступа:
3. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/rfletcher/bl-rfletcher-history-table.htm
4. A brief history of English literature [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа:
http://
www.universalteacher.org.uk/lit/history.htm
5. History World. HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://
historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=aa08
6. Literarism. The Republic of Letters. English literature [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://
literarism.blogspot.ru
7. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://en.wikipedia.org
8. Wikisource, the free library [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://en.wikisource.org
9. Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://en.academic.ru
10. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://bartleby.com
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11. Encyclopedia.com. Free Online Encyclopedia [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа:
http://
www.encyclopedia.com
12. Internet Encyclopedia of Philisophy [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://www.iep.utm.edu
13. GradeSaver. Study Guide and essay Editing [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://
www.gradesaver.com
14. Dictionary.com [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://dictionary.reference.com
15. Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Homework Help, Answers & More [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа:
http://www.enotes.com
16. Free Essays, Term Paper, Research Paper, and Book Report [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа:
http://www.123helpme.com
17. Answers. The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life’s Questions [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа:
http://www.answers.com
�
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Шевченко, Людмила Леонидовна
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History of English Literature (from Anglo-Saxons to the Age of Reason)
Subject
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1. Литературоведение. 2. Литература Европы — Англия — 5 в. — 6 в. — 7 в. — 8 в. — 9 в. — 10 в. — 11 в. — 12 в. — 13 в. — 14 в. — 15 в. — 16 в. — 17 в. — 18 в. 3. Языкознание. 4. Германские языки. 5. английская литература. 6. история литературы. 7. литературные жанры. 8. литературные тексты. 9. комментарии. 10. анализ художественного текста. 11. английский язык. 12. английские писатели.
Description
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History of English Literature (from Anglo-Saxons to the Age of Reason) [Электронный ресурс] : [учебное пособие] / Л. Л. Шевченко ; Алтайский государственный педагогический университет. — 1 компьютерный файл (pdf; 28.2 MB). — Барнаул : АлтГПУ, 2015. — 198 с.
Учебное пособие предлагает материал для подготовки и проведения практических занятий по дисциплине «История литературы страны изучаемого языка». В нем представлен теоретический материал, охватывающий основные периоды английской литературы с V по XVIII век и включающий сведения о направлениях в развитии литературных жанров, авторах и их произведениях. Тексты произведений сопровождаются комментариями, вопросами и практическими заданиями, направленными на формирование у студентов навыков интерпретации и анализа художественного текста. В пособии даются определения изучаемых литературоведческих, культурологических и философских понятий, а также дополнительные сведения о персоналиях и событиях изучаемых эпох, которые позволят студентам расширить их кругозор. Материал данного учебного пособия ориентирован на студентов факультетов иностранных языков, а также студентов филологических факультетов, изучающих английский язык по углубленной программе.
Creator
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Шевченко, Людмила Леонидовна
Source
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Алтайский государственный педагогический университет, 2015
Publisher
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Алтайский государственный педагогический университет
Date
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03.12.2015
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©Алтайский государственный педагогический университет, 2015
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pdf, exe
Language
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русский
Type
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Учебное пособие
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<a href="http://library.altspu.ru/dc/exe/shevchenko.exe">http://library.altspu.ru/dc/exe/shevchenko.exe</a><br /><a href="http://library.altspu.ru/dc/pdf/shevchenko.pdf">http://library.altspu.ru/dc/pdf/shevchenko.pdf</a>
английская литература
английские писатели
английский язык
Англия
Германские языки
история литературы
комментарии10анализ художественного текста
Литература Европы
литературные жанры
литературные тексты
Литературоведение
Языкознание