School of Humanities
Department of English
King's College London
Literature of the Renaissance in England
Course Code AE0206
Course Notes
Week 1 Introduction
Literature of the Renaissance in England
The Renaissance
Renaissance -- literally meaning 'rebirth' -- is the name of the great intellectual and cultural movement of the revival of interest in classical culture that occurred in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries -- a period which saw the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times. The influence of Greek and Latin culture can be traced to the formation of extensive Latin dominions in the Eastern Mediterranean after the 4th Crusade. The Renaissance began in Italy and its first period was marked by a revival of interest in classical literature and the classical ideals. It was a great revolt against the intellectual sterility of the medieval spirit and especially against scholasticism. It favoured intellectual freedom and was passionate for the cultural magnitude and richness of the pagan world. Traces of this revolution in intellectual thought can be seen in Dante (1265-1321), who, although thoroughly medieval in his sympathies, chose the Roman poet Virgil as his model for Inferno. Petrarch (1304-1374), however, was the first true poet of the Renaissance. His poems written in Latin hexameter followed the classical models of poetry. He travelled to foreign countries and thus was familiar with a larger world than his predecessors. He also rediscovered Greek, which for some six centuries had been lost to the western world. His friend and disciple Boccaccio studied that language and, following Petrarch's advice, made a translation of Homer into Latin.
In 1360 the first chair of Greek was established in Florence . Greek scholars were now encouraged to come from Byzantium to Italy . In 1396 the scholar Manuel Chrysoloras began to teach Greek at Florence , the city becoming the cradle of the classical revival. Outstanding Italian humanists also visited Byzantium in order to learn Greek and to buy old manuscripts saved from pillages, conflagrations, and the devastation of an invaded country. Many Greek texts were brought from Constantinople . Europe was also ransacked for copies of the long unused Latin classics and copyists multiplied them. Libraries were founded, and schools for the study of both Greek and Latin in their classic forms were opened at Rome , Mantua , Verona , and many other towns. Pope Nicholas V fostered the new movement and laid the foundation of the Vatican collection. Cardinal Bessarion presided over the formation of the Library of St. Mark at Venice . Individual scholars went about looking for manuscripts of lost authors, for coins, medals, in fact anything that could give a better knowledge of classical antiquity. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the Renaissance gained a further impetus because of a number of Greek humanists who moved from Byzantium to Italy . In 1462 the Platonic Academy was opened in Florence under the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici. Its leader became Marcilio Ficino.
The second period of the Renaissance is marked by a continued zeal for classical study, and by the developmental of a broad learning and the new view of the intellectual life which is now known as Humanism. By this time the movement had spread to Germany, Poland, France, the Netherlands, and England where 'northern humanism' developed into the wide scholarship and learning of men like Sir Thomas More, Campanella, Bruno, Ronsard, Erasmus, and Copernicus. The movement had gone far beyond the mere revival of classical studies and was felt in every department of life. In philosophy it gradually replaced the purely formal methods of thought that scholasticism had fostered. In science it led to the great discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton . In architecture it brought about the revival of the classical style. In the fine arts it inspired new schools of painting in Italy , such as of Giorgione, Raphael, Leonardo, Bellini, and Michelangelo, and the Flemish school in the Netherlands . In religion its influence can be seen in the revolt of Martin Luther which led to the Reformation of the sixteenth century.
For overviews of the Renaissance see:
Burns, J. H. & Mark Goldie, eds, The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991)
Skinner, Quentin, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, Volume One: The Renaissance, 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), I
For the changes in northern humanism from a 'Ciceronian humanism' to a 'Tacitean/sceptic/Stoic humanism' see:
Dzelzainis, Martin, 'Shakespeare and Political Thought', in A Companion to Shakespeare, ed. David Scott Kastan (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), pp. 100-16
Peltonen, Markku, Classical Humanism and Republicanism in English Political Thought 1570-1640 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995)
A fascinating insight into early northern humanist thought can be found in:
Greenblatt, Stephen, Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1980)
Greenblatt's chapter on Thomas More is required reading for next week on Utopia.
Keywords:
Renaissance: Rebirth
humanism: 'The conscious revival as well as the reinterpretation of classical Graeco-Roman history, literature and values, and [...] their effective application to the political problems of the contemporary world.' (Peltonen, 7)
scholasticism: Medieval university discipline based on the theological and philosophical study of Plato and Aristotle as assimilated by Christian doctrine. A scholastic would debate how many angels could stand on a pin. A humanist would question whether the debate was necessary or of any use to the well-being of an individual or the society in which s/he lived.
irony: A conveyance of meaning (generally satirical) by words whose literal meaning is the opposite (based on a Socratic method of discussion by professing ignorance).
Week 2 Utopia
Thomas More's UTOPIA 1516
Book One is set in Flanders (modern-day Belgium) where Raphael Hythloday, Peter Giles, and Thomas More are discussing the travels of Hythloday in the New World as well as English customs and laws. Book One deals with the shortcomings of contemporary European society. Hythloday, the mariner, impresses his audience with his wisdom and erudition and More and Giles wonder why he is not in the service of a king. Hythloday assures them that no king would appreciate a counsellor whose advice would be to act against the king's natural instincts and to tread a narrow righteous path.
Book Two moves to the imaginary island of Utopia, said to exist somewhere between India and Brazil. Utopia is a crescent-shaped island, broad in the middle and narrow at the ends. The sea runs between its horns. The island is described as having many cities, hills and rivers. Amaurot is the capital and the River Anyder runs through it. A number of bridges span the river. This island houses the perfect society, whose many laws and customs have impressed Hythloday; he recognizes Utopia as a model of the humane and just, one that many European countries should emulate. Hythloday gives enough details to convince the reader not only that this society really exists, but also that it would be a good idea if more places emulated it. It has been convincingly argued that More wrote Book Two and then inserted Book One at a later date.
Raphael Hythloday
Raphael Hythloday (translating as 'nonsense peddler') is the main character in the book, acting like a figure or device in a rhetorical work rather than a true character from a play or novel. His task is to tell his audience about Utopia as the perfect state. Hythloday is a sunburned and bearded archetypal mariner with a cloak cast carelessly over his shoulders, one you could have met in any European seaport. A Renaissance voyager, learned and observant and no mere adventurer, Hythloday is well read, a scholar in Greek, and an admirer of Plato above Aristotle. Having given away his patrimony to his family, Hythloday had (supposedly) accompanied the famous (and real) Amerigo Vespucci in his voyages of discovery to the New World. On their last voyage, Hythloday, along with a few friends, had broken away from Vespucci's main party, during which adventure Hythloday discovered Utopia. Hythloday serves to lend empirical 'truth' to the 'Utopian' fiction. Hythloday's account is descriptive rather than instructive or sermonizing and thus different from many contemporary Utopian tales. The discovery of 'Utopian' perfection has left him angry and perplexed that places like this do not exist in Europe. He is intrigued by the knowledge of remedies that could correct the problems of his society. His diatribe against pride at the end of the book is evidence of his disillusionment. Despite his comic earnestness, Hythloday is almost tragic in his frustration. He has seen perfection exist, yet he cannot convince the world to accept his convictions and knowledge. How much of the author does Hythloday represent? Hythloday and More are two fundamental sides to the same question. Sometimes Hythloday speaks for More when he deplores and condemns the greed of men who enrich themselves while depriving others of the basic amenities. Other times, what he says seems to contradict More's own beliefs, especially about religion.
Thomas More
More is the successful diplomat and envoy of Henry VIII who comes to the Netherlands on business and is asked by Peter Giles, a young Antwerp attorney, to meet Hythloday, whose stories Giles thinks More will enjoy. Together, the two men listen to Hythloday and argue with him about the role that men such as he should play in the power-politics of court. More and Giles convert Hythloday's travelogue into a dialogue. More (or the persona he dons in the book) is a staunch supporter of English social values, but who recognizes the benefit of change among the corrupt elements of the elite and of the Church.
Peter Giles
Giles's function is primarily to pose questions in the dialogue and to state superficial arguments that Hythloday and More cannot. Giles therefore begins conversations, such as, 'My dear Raphael [...] I'm surprised that you don't enter some king's service' (p. 13). Giles is a decent man who sees little wrong in European civilization. In real life, Peter Giles [Pieter Gillis] was the town clerk of Antwerp and typical of the Northern Humanist Renaissance. He was an intimate of both More and Erasmus and in the book plays host to Hythloday and More. A learned, cultivated, liberal man, Giles emphasizes the importance of these qualities in More's idea of perfection.
Utopia is a discourse about ideal social conditions and therefore lacks a plot. Also, characters are not important, although one could argue that Raphael Hythloday represents a protagonist. Indeed, he might be read as the mouthpiece of an author who may have held similar views as Hythloday, but who feared repercussions if he were to make such comments about English society himself.
The main theme of the book is perfection in society -- in matters of kingship, counsel, law, justice, property, work, war and religion. The concept of a 'perfect state' is very clear in Utopia: the perfect king is elected with very limited powers; laws should be simple and clear, and understandable to all; justice is tolerant and not excessive; prevention of crime by good example is better than through harsh punishment; private properly and money, two great sources of inequality, are abolished with everything free and easily available; everybody is required to work; war should be avoided unless the freedom of the state is threatened, when war with minimum bloodshed is tolerated; religion should be peaceful and tolerant.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ackroyd, Peter, The Life of Thomas More (London: Chatto & Windus, 1998)
Cave, Terence, The Cornucopian Text (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), Pt.1
Greenblatt, Stephen, Renaissance Self-Fashioning: from More to Shakespeare (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980)
Guy, John, Thomas More (London: Arnold, 2000)
King, John N., English Reformation Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982)
Kinney, Arthur F. Humanist Poetics: Thought, Rhetoric, and Fiction in Sixteenth-Century England (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986), Chap.2
Norbrook, David, Poetry and Politics in the English Renaissance, rev. edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
Week 3 Measure for Measure
William Shakespeare Measure for Measure 1604
Measure for Measure, first published in 1623, was probably written in 1604. It does not seem to have been performed again until 1662, and in fact, until recently, it was not popular on the stage. Despite its lack of popularity, Measure for Measure masterfully presents various themes, characters, and problems. Shakespeare's contemporaries would have probably called the play a tragicomedy, a relatively new genre in those days, which is not just a loose mixture of tragedy and comedy, but an independent form of dramatic composition. Measure for Measure is indeed one of Shakespeare's impressive achievements, as it deals with moral issues, character development, and plot construction.
The play takes place in the city of Vienna, mainly at Duke Vincentio's palace. Later, the characters meet in the streets of the city to discuss Angelo's new rules. Once Claudio is imprisoned, Isabella and the Duke meet at the prison to discuss the further plans of action. The final scene takes place at the city gates, where Isabella, Angelo, Mariana, and the Duke meet. The Duke's disguise is revealed and Angelo is exposed as a shallow, treacherous hypocrite.
The climax of the play occurs in the Act V scene i when the Duke, still disguised as a friar, arranges a meeting near the city gate with Isabella, Mariana, and Angelo. Isabella comes forward and declares that Angelo is an adulterous thief. The entire intrigue is revealed, and Mariana supports it by explaining that it is she who has shared Angelo's bed and not Isabella. The Duke then removes his disguise, to reveal his true identity. As a result of these occurrences, Angelo is made to acknowledge and accept his faults.
The play has a typically comedic ending. The Duke succeeds in discovering the truth about Angelo and putting him to shame. When the Duke proceeds to sentence Angelo, Mariana pleads for his life and requests Isabella to join her. Isabella agrees to help, thus, showing her final metamorphosis. Angelo is forgiven and the Duke himself asks for Isabella's hand, which she readily gives. Angelo also marries Mariana, and Claudio marries Juliet.
The main theme of Measure for Measure is that rational rules and regulations are necessary to maintain law and order. In Angelo's eagerness for reform, he demands " Measure for Measure," which means pure justice, without mercy. His belief is in 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' no matter the circumstances. Measure for Measure speaks about humankind's action, its results, and the need for mercy, even if there is a strict legal system. Justice has to be tempered with mercy; only then can a government conduct its affairs smoothly.
Hypocrites bring their own destruction. Angelo is the personification of the hypocrite in the play. He condemns Claudio to death for his immoral actions and then proceeds to try and seduce Isabella himself. In the end, he is unmasked for his hypocrisy and begs for forgiveness for his misdeeds. Because of the Duke's mercy, Angelo is spared from the total condemnation he deserves.
SOURCES
Measure for Measure is based on the tale of Epitia and Juriste from a collection of stories by Giraldi Cinthio, published in Venice in 1566. Juriste, appointed governor of Innsbruck, passes the sentence of death on Vico for his crime against a woman. Vico's sister, Epitia begs for her brother's life. Deeply stirred by her beauty, Juriste is prepared to commute Vico's sentence if Epitia will satisfy his desire for her. Though she considers her honour far dearer, when her brother appeals to her to save his life, she surrenders herself to the corrupt Governor. She realizes her folly when her brother's coffin is carried into the house. She appeals to the Emperor. The Emperor arranges the marriage of Juriste and Epitia. He then sentences Juriste to death. However, Epitia begs the Emperor to pardon him. Astonished by her goodness, the emperor grants her request.
The other sources include the two versions of a similar story by George Whetstone. The earlier version is a play in two parts called Promos and Cassandra published in 1578, and the latter, a short narrative called the Rare History of Promos and Cassandra . In Whetstone's play, Cassandra debates whether she will let her brother Andrugio die or whether she will yield her honour to Promos. Like Isabella, she would gladly die in place of her brother, and she thinks death in itself is a lesser evil than loss of honour. The play presents certain simple and basic human passions and conflicts: Promos' dilemma between justice and lust, Andrugio's instinct to save himself at almost any cost, Cassandra's dilemma between the desire to save her brother's life and to save her honour. The human interest and the dramatic possibilities of the Cassandra plays kindled Shakespeare's imagination, and he proceeded in Measure for Measure to give his version of them. But Shakespeare makes his heroine resist the appeal of her brother to save his life. Whetstone's heroine has a divided mind and struggles with herself. But Isabella struggles with her brother and her would-be seducer. Cassandra, after having been violated, contemplates suicide. But in Measure for Measure , Isabella has no reason to meditate suicide.
FORM
It is extremely difficult to classify Measure for Measure as a single form of drama. Through history, it has been called a tragedy, a comedy, a tragicomedy, and even a satire. Some critics have even regarded Measure for Measure as an allegory, with the Duke as Jesus, Angelo as Satan, and Isabella as the Virgin Mary. There is also romantic intrigue in Measure for Measure.
Most critics have argued that the play is a comedy because of its happy ending. However, it is not called a romantic comedy since there is no spirit of adventure or joy, the hallmarks of romantic comedies. Here, intellect rather than imagination drives the action of the play. And in the end, it is rather a dark comedy, where there are glimpses into the oppressive gloom of the prison and the oppressive deceit of the human heart. Measure for Measure is a drama of ideas, and it is the ideas that are the problems. At the spiritual level, excessive zeal is corrupted to pride, and cloistered virtue subordinates charity to chastity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chedgzoy, Kate, Measure for Measure, Writers and Their Work (Tavistock: Northcote House in association with the British Council, 2000)
Eccles, Mark, ed., Measure for Measure, A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1980)
Hawkins, Harriet, Measure for Measure (Brighton: Harvester, 1987)
Kamps, Ivo and Karen Raber, Measure for Measure: Texts and Contexts (Boston, MA: Bedford/St Martin's, 2004)
Wood, Nigel, ed., Measure for Measure, Theory In Practice (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1996)
Ben Jonson Bartholomew Fair 1614
Week 4 Bartholomew Fair
Bartholomew Fair is a play in five acts by Ben Jonson. It was first staged in at the Hope Playhouse, a new open-air playhouse built on the site of a bear-baiting arena which doubled as playhouse-cum-bloodsport arena. Plays and bear-baiting continued to entertain the populace there. Hence the reference of the stage-keeper 'gathering up the apples for the bears within' in the Induction. Bartholomew Fair was the last of Jonson's four major comedies.
John Littlewit, a proctor or attorney in the ecclesiastical (church) courts, delights in word-play; he is married to Win Littlewit (short for Win-the Fight, a typically evangelical name), whose velvet custard-cap delights her husband. Win's mother, Dame Purecraft, is a widow and is courted by the young gentleman Winwife. Littlewit announces that this mother-in-law plans instead to marry a puritan zealot called 'Rabbi' Zeal-of-the-land Busy. The gamester Quarlous arrives and warns Winwife against marrying an older woman, so leaving Dame Purecraft under Busy's spell.
Bartholomew Cokes, a simple squire from Harrow, also wants to see Bartholomew Fair, an annual cloth-fair held on 24 August every year in St Bartholomew's Churchyard, West Smithfield. The fair had by this time degenerated into an event for entertainment and consumption and was famous for its trade in food, drink, and prostitution. Littlewit talks Win into 'longing' to see the fair too because he has written a vulgar Puppet-show which is to be performed that day. Dame Purecraft and Busy are also talked into going to the fair.
Littlewit, Win, and the whole company go to the fair and, when Win needs to urinate, they enter the pig-woman Ursula's booth which doubles as a roast-pork-outlet-cum-brothel. Busy enjoys eating pig at the fair but then rants and raves about the temptations of the flesh. He overturns a tray of gingerbread men and is arrested and placed in the stocks as punishment.
Also at the fair is the local magistrate, Justice Overdo, who disguises himself as a madman in order secretly to observe the immoral activities of the day. His voyage of self-discovery is as fraught with failure as his pompous belief in his own righteousness and ability to judge the morality of others. Many times Overdo is convinced that the worst reprobates are in fact decent upstanding citizens and several times he is tricked into committing crimes or accused of crimes and placed in the stocks.
Bartholomew Cokes, followed by crowds of young urchins, sees the advertisement for the puppet-show and makes his way inside with Littlewit. Leatherhead, now called ' Lantern ', displays his puppets to Cokes, who wants to buy them as 'fairings'.
Winwife and the Grace Wellborn, the ward of Overdo, arrive at the puppet-show. Knockem, Whit and Edgeworth bring Win and Dame Overdo, the wife of the Justice, who are unrecognizable in their masks as well as worse the wear with drink. Whit offers these apparent 'whores' to Justice Overdo. The puppet-show begins. Littlewit's dialogue proves vulgar and amateurish. Cokes foolishly attempts to talk to the puppets.
Busy storms in and interrupts the puppet-play, pronouncing it an "abomination" and uses the old puritan argument that cross-dressing on the stage is an outrage. He is urged to hold a with the puppet Donysius, who answers his charge by pulling up gown and showing it has no genitalia. Busy is 'converted.' Overdo reveals his true identity.
Quarlous, disguised as the madman Trouble-All, interrupts Overdo's accusations against Whit, Knockem, and Edgeworth. Littlewit looks for his wife. Overdo unmasks what he believes to be a whore but who turns out, to his astonishment, to be Win. The true Trouble-All enters with Ursula and Nightingale, naked except for her scalding-pan. Quarlous is exposed as a liar. Dame Overdo is sick and her true identity is revealed, while Overdo stands confused at the whole affair. Quarlous makes it clear that Edgeworth is really a cutpurse, he has the license Winwife needs to marry Grace, and he has married Dame Purecraft. He commands Overdo to forgive all and invite everyone to dinner, which Overdo humbly and graciously does.
KEYWORDS
INDUCTION = an introductory scene to a play. In English Renaissance drama an Induction is usually a pre-play which introduces the actors of the play or the staff of the playhouse. It can also set up a metatheatrical convention for the play that follows.
METATHEATRICAL = a play within a play OR a self-conscious reference to the act or action of performance which acknowledges that the audience are watching something that is make-believe. The Induction of Bartholomew Fair introduces actors playing characters who would really be a part of the smooth-running of the playhouse. Other plays metatheatrically introduce the actors themselves discussing how they are going to play their roles in the drama that follows, or introduce pretend members of the audience who discuss where they are going to sit, whether they will like the play, or who interrupt the performance at various points so forcing the actors to make comments outside the action of the narrative.
Week 5 Pleasure Reconciled with Virtue and Comus
Masques
A masque was a setting -- a lyric, scenic, and dramatic framework -- for a ball. It was made up of a combination of speech, dance, and song; its essential feature was the presence of a group of dancers called 'masquers'. These dancers -- who ranged in number from eight to sixteen -- were usually noble and titled people of the court. They didn't speak or sing and their dances were not complicated or requiring of any great skill. Their function was to create an 'imposing show' with their gorgeous costumes and fine presence, enhanced by artistic grouping, and decorated by clever scenic effects. The dialogue of the masque was at all times spoken by professional players.
Jonson's career as an entertainer at court began in the year of King James's accession. It lasted until 1631, within a few years of the king's death in 1625. During a period of some thirty years, Jonson composed nine entertainments, three 'barriers', two antimasques (grotesque interludes between the acts of a masque, to which it served as a foil, and of which it was at first often a burlesque), and twenty three masques -- more than twice as many as written by all his competitors and imitators combined. Jonson contributed more than twenty masques to the thirty-seven of James's reign.
Ben Jonson's Pleasure Reconciled with Virtue (6 January 1618)
Questions to consider when reading Jonson's masque:
1. Renaissance humanists (including Jonson) viewed poetry as a means of educating royalty and persuading them to virtue. What methods does Jonson's Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue use to fulfil this function? How heavily does the masque seem to rely on the art of Inigo Jones (the designer of elaborate sets and costumes), as compared with that of Jonson (the writer)?
2. Drama is characterized by conflict, but in masques, the appearance of the good simply banishes vice (embodied by the antimasque), with no conflict involved. This principle is borne out in scenes like those in which Comus and the pygmies disappear at the approach or waking of Hercules. What is the purpose and/or effect of such scenes in a court setting?
3. In court masques, the King (in this case James I), is always the principal audience member and point of reference. It is his wealth that makes the masque possible, his nobles (and possibly his son, Prince Charles) who emerge from the mountain and dance, and his wise rule which (according to Jonson's text) makes possible the reconcilement of virtue and pleasure. To what extent is he also a character and/or a part of the set in the masque?
4. Given the role of Hercules in Renaissance mythography (the representation or depiction of mythical subjects in art) , why does Jonson feature Hercules in this masque?
5. How does the figure of Daedalus define the function of dancing as an art essential to courtly society? Does Jonson's masque define a similar role for the poet's art?
6. Ben Jonson had a reputation, which he himself encouraged, as a very hearty eater and drinker with a huge belly and a great appetite. Yet he somehow managed to combine this reputation with the role of the humanist sage capable of advising the powerful in matters of virtue. Does the fact that the poet was known for his 'mountain belly' make a difference in the way one would read (or view, in performance) the opening 'Hymn' and the speech by the Bowl-bearer?
Raylor, Timothy 'Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue: William Cavendish, Ben Jonson, and the Decorative Scheme of Bolsover Castle', Renaissance Quarterly, 52, 2. (1999), 402-39
Marcus, Leah, 'The Occasion of Ben Jonson's Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue', Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 19 (1979), 271-93.
John Milton's Comus
John Milton was born on 9 December 1608 in Cheapside, London. He developed a harshly Puritan political vision. As an older man, he was left physically blind.
Early Life
In about 1620, Milton began studying under Dr Gill at St. Paul's School in London. Apparently he was a very good student under a very good teacher; by the time he went up to Christ's College Cambridge in 1625 the young Milton was already composing very complex poetry in Latin. In 1632 Milton was granted the degree of Master of Arts. Within two years he was working as a poet to the nobility.
Comus
For notes on Comus courtesy of Dartmouth College, NH click hereOn the evening of 29 September 1634, Comus, Milton's first extended work, was presented to a small audience at Ludlow Castle with the children of the house taking on three of the principal roles. Comus is a masque, involving ornate spectacle, but with a stiff and formal presentation for its private, intimate, and elite audience. Milton's title for this work was simply A Mask; the modern title was given by John Dalton in 1738 when he published an adaptation of the piece for a larger stage. Sometimes Comus is considered too fluid and free to be truly considered a masque and is often referred to as a 'pastoral drama'.
Comus tells the story of a lady and her two brothers lost in the woods. The brothers leave the lady alone while they search for food. Comus, the late Roman god of revelry and debauchery, happens upon the lady and tries to convince her to join his band and become his consort. She is steadfast in her refusal, and her brothers, with the help of an attendant spirit, attempt a rescue. The lady, however, is under a spell which is only broken with the help of Sabrina, the spirit of the Severn River (which runs close by Ludlow).
Week 6: John Donne, Selected Poems
Verse Stanzas
Some poems' lines run continuously from beginning to end, and they are called "non-stanzaic" to distinguish them from "stanzaic" poems whose lines are divided into groups. Don't make the mistake of assuming that stanzas necessarily correspond to prose paragraphs, though it is possible and worth noting if each stanza handles a different topic of aspect of the topic. In rhyming verse, stanzas often are created by rhyme patterns (e.g., a "quatrain" formed by lines rhyming abab), but the poem's rhetoric, what it's talking about and how it's saying that, may either work with or against the rhyme scheme in stanza construction. Look for stanzas which split the poem's handling of a topic in interesting ways, perhaps appearing to end its discussion in one stanza but suddenly reversing logical direction without pause in the next. When the content works against the rhyme scheme, this sometimes is used to echo the content's description of disorder, overflow of emotion, or other kinds of conflict.
Stanza Types:
Two lines: couplet. [Don't confuse this with non-stanzaic rhyming couplets in which there is no line break and the syntax runs continuously between couplets. The most common couplet stanza ends the English or Shakespearean sonnet, which divides its fourteen lines 4/4/4/2.]
Three lines: tercet or terza rima. [A "tercet" would be a three-line stanza that was part of a larger lyric poem. Repeated three-line stanzas, or "terza rima," is the stanza form of Dante's Divina Comedia , perhaps the most widely known and influential work of the medieval period.]
Four lines: quatrain. [The most common quatrain stanzas are the three which are found in the main body of English or Shakespearean sonnets, which divide their fourteen lines 4/4/4/2. A four-line stanza rhyming abcb in English narrative verse is a "ballad stanza."]
Five lines: cinquain. [Not a classical stanza form, the cinquain was invented by the American poet, Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914), from the older French term, "quatrain." This stanza is used in English poems resembling Japanese haiku.]
Six lines: sestet. [This is the second portion of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, which divides its fourteen lines 8/6.]
Seven lines: septet. [An uncommon stanza form in early literature.]
Eight lines: octave. [If it rhymes abababab and is followed by a sestet, it is the first portion of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, which divides its fourteen lines 8/6. If it rhymes ababbcc and either stands alone or is followed by other ababbcc stanzas, it is "rhyme royal," Chaucer's most elaborate stanza -- 1,117 rhyme royal stanzas make up Troilus and Criseyde.]
Spenserian: A rhyme royal stanza to which a ninth line is added in hexameter (6-foot), the stanza in which Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene.
The Meters
The only difficulty with metrics is learning to count as you read, and remembering the Latin prefixes for numbers. For your eye, use a virgule or slash (/) to divide the feet in a line. When reading aloud, count on your fingers. Make sure you are grouping the feet naturally together as they sound when read as a sentence, with small allowances for "poetic license." Extra syllables sometimes crop up, often at ends of lines and sometimes in their interiors.
1 -foot = monometer (often for comic effect; see Donne, "Song" lines 7 and 8 are iambic monometer)
2 -foot = dimeter (again, usually for comic effect; see Donne)
3 -foot = trimeter (a popular "ditty" line, like many of the Fool's songs in King Lear)
4 -foot = tetrameter (the popular English ballad line in ME and early modern English)
5 -foot = pentameter (the great sonnet and blank verse line)
6 -foot = hexameter (even more formal, see last line of Spenser's Faerie Queene stanza)
7 -foot = heptameter (rare, found in alternation with hexameters in "poulter's measure")
8 -foot = octameter (none in English Renaissance)
9 -foot = nonameter (as above)
10 -foot = decameter (as above)
Scansion
When analyzing a poem's "scansion" you usually are interested mainly in the dominant metre of the poem. Most English poets write in fairly regular metre until the metaphysical poets (Donne and Herbert etc.). At first, ignore the occasional deviant foot and look for the dominant metre (similar to the key signature in a piece of music). After that, see if the scansion reveals ways in which the poet married the meaning to the metre, or even divorced the meaning, perhaps with variants from the dominant metre. As with all claims about significant patterns in literature, your argument will be strongest if the pattern is wide-spread and consistent rather than only a local aberration.
Iambs, Trochees, and Spondees -- The Two-syllable Feet:
An iamb is a "da-DUM," a two-syllable foot with the stress on the second part, like "por-TRAY" or "an-TIQUE."
A trochee (trochaic...) is a reverse iamb -- a "DA-dum" like "BRAIN-dead" or "SPLEN-did."
A spondee is two accented syllables, a rarity in English but often produced by two adjacent single-syllable words that modify each other and would be phrased together, as in Sylvia Plath's description of her cut thumb (in "Cut"): "thumb stump." A spondee occurs amid the iambs and trochees of Shakespeare's Sonnet 19, line 13:
Yet do thy worst, old Time, de- spite thy wrong.
The line scans "iamb, iamb, spondee, iamb, iamb." So it's not perfect "iambic pentameter," but that "imperfection" is the spondee that literally stops time, slowing the sentence in its middle, as line 14 will do with an anapest:
"My love shall in my verse ever live young."
Of course, you could squeeze line 14 into an iambic straight-jacket, but "in my verse" parenthetically divides the verbal phrase "shall live."
Anapests and Dactyls -- The Three-Syllable Feet: The three-syllable feet are the anapest (which, confusingly, is an example of a dactyl -- AN-a-pest) and the dactyl . An anapestic foot drops the accent on the end like "dis-res-PECT" or "re-in-FLATE." A dactylic foot follows an accented syllable with two lesser syllables like "AN-a-pest" or "BU-da-pest" or "FOR-tu-nate."
Week 7: The Tragedy of Mariam
Lady Elizabeth Cary's closet drama (a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group) The Tragedy of Mariam was written c.1602-1604 but not printed until 1613. It is thus the first play by an Englishwoman ever to be published. Carey takes her plot and characters from the ancient story of King Herod and his wife Mariam, as described in Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews. Using Thomas Lodge's 1602 translation of Antiquities , Cary stays generally faithful to the events chronicled by Josephus, although she changes the timeline of the original narrative and some aspects of the characters' personalities, while adding a Christian undertone and romantic subplots to the play.
The events that take place in the story are spread out over the period of about a year in Antiquities, but Cary chooses instead to compress the entire tale into the span of one day, thus keeping with the classical tradition of unity in time. Cary also begins the play in medias res (in the middle of things) , with Mariam and her mother, Alexandra, talking of the news that Herod has been killed on his way back from Rome. The visit to Egypt mentioned in Antiquities had actually occurred long before. The quarrels between the women who surround Herod, however, are as apparent here as in Antiquities; even though Cary does not go through all the incidents that had set Mariam against Doris and Salome, the tensions between the women are tangible. For example, when Alexandra mentions to Mariam that Herod might want her dead so as legally to remarry his first wife Doris, Mariam replies, 'Doris, alas her time of love was passed, / Those coals were raked in embers long ago' (I.132-133). Herod had divorced Doris many years before in order to marry Mariam, and Mariam acknowledges that this probably explains Doris's hatred towards her.
In Antiquities, Mariam is at times portrayed as a shrewish wife who plots against her husband. The beginning of Josephus's account of Mariam and Herod records how, whilst locked up in the castle during Herod's absence, Mariam is upset that she 'neither might make use of other mens, nor enjoy [her] owne goods'; this has suggested that Josephus's creation is in fact an adulteress (Weller, 277). In The Tragedy of Mariam, however, Mariam is characterized as an innocent woman torn between being a chaste, silent, and obedient wife, and a woman who protests against the wrongful murder of her grandfather and brother. Mariam's complaints are justified, since her husband's tyranny has indeed led to the death of Mariam's relatives. Herod ordered their murder to guarantee his accession to the throne. The play begins, therefore, with Mariam's soliloquy, in which she laments that she once despised Julius Caesar for weeping over Pompey's death (I.1-10). She now mourns her own relatives' deaths openly, wanting to love Herod because he is her husband, but hating him because he engineered her grandfather's and brother's assassination.
Josephus writes about the scheming of Salome with Herod's mother, who try to frame Mariam for the attempted poisoning of the king. Josephus makes only one mention of any harsh words being exchanged between the opposing women. Nevertheless, Cary presents her own version of events, inventing violent verbal exchanges between Salome and Mariam; these exchanges make up some of the most lively parts of the play. In one scene, Mariam loses her temper and proclaims Salome to be of low birth and scarcely better than her own servants (I.223-226). Mariam is, in Cary's drama, a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind; eventually, Mariam's audacious outspokenness is punished.
The subplots of the marriage of Graphina and Pheroras and the love-triangle of Salome, Constabarus, and Silleus are not found in the Antiquities. However, they add interest to the main story and also reflect on Salome's moral character. Salome wants to divorce Constabarus and marry her lover, Silleus, an act impossible under Hebrew law, for only men could initiate a divorce from a wife and only under very specific circumstances such as adultery. This also reflects the prevailing attitude to divorce in early modern England. Even so, Salome does manage to get a divorce from Constabarus. Her success demonstrates not only the power of her lust and her lust for power, but also the effect of such lust on the innocent Mariam. Salome's divorce might break sacred law but her action towards Mariam effectively guarantees the condemning of Salome's soul to hell.
Cary's Mariam has Christian undertones, most notably in Mariam's death and implicit martyrdom. Mariam is an innocent woman whose only crime is to speak up for herself. In Act III, Sohemus reflects on Mariam's plight, musing, "Unbridled speech is Mariam's worst disgrace / And will endanger her without desart" (III.183-184). Mariam continues to protest her innocence from Herod's accusation in IV.162-165 until her death, a factor which demonstrates the Christian ethic behind Carey's depiction of torture and martyrdom.
Although Lady Elizabeth Cary changes details of Josephus's writings to suit her own literary purposes, she remains faithful to the essence of the original narrative, with its tale of scheming relatives and a foolish, evil king who sends an innocent woman to her death.
Bibliography
Cerasano, S. P., and Margaret Wynne-Davies, eds, Renaissance Drama by Women: Texts and Documents ( New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1996)
Weller, Barry, and Margaret W. Ferguson, eds, The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994)
Week 8: The Faerie Queene
A Summary of The Faerie Queene Book One
Book 1. The legend of the Knight of the Red Crosse, or of Holinesse
Canto i Redcrosse and Una are travelling, when a storm drives them into a wood where Redcrosse kills the dragon Error. Archimago welcomes them in his hermitage, but produces sexual illusions that destroy their mutual trust, and Una goes on alone.
Canto ii Archimago disguises himself as Redcrosse and follows Una, while Redcrosse accompanies Duessa whom he takes for Una, after killing Sansfoy.
Canto iii Una, alone, is befriended by a lion and finds refuge with Ignorance and Blind Devotion. Archimago finds Una, but is defeated by Sansloy who carries her off.
Canto iv Redcrosse with Duessa comes to the House of Pride and sees the procession of the Deadly Sins. Sansjoy challenges Redcrosse, and receives favours from Duessa.
Canto v After the battle, Duessa and Night carry the wounded Sansjoy to the Underworld for healing. Redcrosse escapes from the House of Pride, still with Duessa.
Canto vi Satyrs rescue Una from Sansloy, and she is assisted by Satirane.
Canto vii The giant Orgoglio overpowers Redcrosse, puts him in prison, and takes Duessa as his mistress. Her servant dwarf tells Una what has been happening to Redcrosse; she meets young prince Arthur who promises to save Redcrosse.
Canto viii Arthur kills Orgoglio, wounds his tame beast, punishes Duessa, and rescues the weakened Redcrosse.
Canto ix Arthur tells Redcrosse the story of his strange meeting with the Faerie Queene Gloriana. Redcrosse and Una see the Cave of Despair and Redcrosse is tempted to suicide.
Canto x Redcrosse is brought by Una to the House of Holiness where he recovers his strength. He is shown the heavenly Jerusalem .
Canto xi After a 3-day battle Redcrosse kills the dragon and sets free the royal parents of Una.
Canto xii Redcrosse is engaged to Una, but the time is not yet ripe for their marriage.
Allegory
Definition: Allegory is a form of extended metaphor in which objects and persons within a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative. Allegory implies two levels of meaning -- the litera l (what happens in the narrative) and the symbolic (what the events stand for, outside the narrative). It evokes a dual interest: in the events, characters and setting presented, and in the ideas they represent or the significance they bear. Allegory may involve the personification of abstract qualities (e.g. Pride, Beauty, Death); it can also represent a historical personage (e.g. Gloriana = Queen Elizabeth), a category of individual (e.g. Everyman = all mankind), or another sort of abstraction (Una = the True Church ). Characters, events and setting may be historical, fictitious, or fabulous; the key is that they have meanings independent of the action in the surface story. On the surface, the Faerie Queene is about a knight killing a dragon and rescuing a princess. On the allegorical level, however, it is about the duties of a Christian and the way to achieve salvation. Note that the simple use of personification (e.g. talking animals or teapots) does not constitute allegory in and of itself; in an allegory, characters and objects usually symbolize abstract qualities, and the events recounted convey a coherent message concerning those abstractions . Allegory is frequently, but not always, concerned with matters of great import: life and death; damnation and salvation; social or personal morality and immorality. It can also be used for satiric purposes. In Faerie Queene, allegory exists on several levels: religious, historical, mythological. Some characters are named for qualities or actions they represent (Error, Despair); others' names are foreign terms for such qualities (Sans foy = French for "without faith"; Speranza = Italian for "Hope," etc.) Book I contains both religious and historical allegory. Redcrosse Knight is an "Everyman" who represents Holiness or Faith, i.e. how to be a true Christian. Book I is also an allegory of English Church History: in this respect, Redcrosse Knight = St. George, patron saint of England (and so England itself); Una = the "one true faith," Protestantism; Archimago = the pope; Duessa = the duplicitous "false" faith (according to Spenser), Catholicism. Literal Synopsis of Book I of The Faerie Queene: Redcrosse Knight, representative of Holiness, has been commissioned by Gloriana , Queen of Fairy Land, to accompany Una to the kingdom of her parents and deliver them from the dragon that is scourging their land. Redcrosse and Una go through a series of adventures and encounter a series of enemies. Redcrosse defeats Error with Una's help, but cannot tell appearance from Reality through Archimago 's deception. As a result, he abandons Una and becomes involved with Duessa. With help from Arthur and Una, he defeats a series of enemies: the brothers Sansfoy, Sansloy, and Sansjoy (French for Faithlessness, Lawlessness and Joylessness); Orgoglio (Italian for pride); Despair ; and the dragon (a fight lasting three days). At the end of Book I, Redcrosse is betrothed to Una and returns to the court of the Fairie Queene.
Remarks: Holiness = Righteousness, that knightly quality that was devoted to fighting sin or evil. In medieval tradition, one spoke of the "Christian Warrior" putting on the "armour of Christ" -- sometimes referring to actual Crusaders, but also a New Testament metaphor for living a Christian life. Redcrosse Knight aspires to Holiness, but he is young and inexperienced. In Book I he gains the experience necessary to be a true Christian knight. Una = Truth, or the one true religion (Anglican Protestantism, for Spenser); her white dress = purity; black cloak = mourning for sins of mankind; veil = concealment, i.e., truth is not always plain to see. Archimago (archmagician) = Hypocrisy; on historical level, the pope. He is dressed like a hermit, but is evil (an anti-Catholic jab against monks). On a historical level, the separation of Redcrosse and Una through the machinations of Archimago and seductions of Duessa (= Catholicism, or the "False" Faith) stands for the outlawing of Protestantism and the reestablishment of Catholicism under Queen Mary (i.e., Redcrosse = England ; Una = the one true faith, Protestantism; Archimago = the Pope.)
© 2006 Debora B. Schwartz
You might find it interesting to see an 'Englished' version of Castiglione's The Courtier
Week 9: Paradise Lost
John Milton's PARADISE LOST (1667)
INTRODUCTION
Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve--how they came to be created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It's the same story you find in the first pages of Genesis, expanded by Milton into a very long, detailed, narrative poem. It also includes the story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war against God, and was ultimately sent with them to hell. Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
SUMMARY
The story opens in hell, where Satan and his followers are recovering from defeat in a war they waged against God. They build a palace, called Pandemonium, where they hold council to determine whether or not to return to battle. Instead they decide to explore a new world prophesied to be created, where a safer course of revenge can be planned. Satan undertakes the mission alone. At the gate of hell, he meets his offspring, Sin and Death, who unbar the gates for him. He journeys across chaos till he sees the new universe floating near the larger globe which is heaven. God sees Satan flying towards this world and foretells the fall of man. His Son, who sits at his right hand, offers to sacrifice himself for man's salvation. Meanwhile, Satan enters the new universe. He flies to the sun, where he tricks an angel, Uriel, into showing him the way to man's home.
Satan gains entrance into the Garden of Eden, where he finds Adam and Eve and becomes jealous of them. He overhears them speak of God's commandment that they should not eat the forbidden fruit. Uriel warns Gabriel and his angels, who are guarding the gate of Paradise, of Satan's presence. Satan is apprehended by them and banished from Eden. God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve about Satan. Raphael recounts to them how jealousy against the Son of God led a once favoured angel to wage war against God in heaven, and how the Son, Messiah, cast him and his followers into hell. He relates how the world was created so mankind could one day replace the fallen angels in heaven.
Satan returns to earth, and enters a serpent. Finding Eve alone he induces her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam, resigned to join in her fate, eats also. Their innocence is lost and they become aware of their nakedness. In shame and despair, they become hostile to each other. The Son of God descends to earth to judge the sinners, mercifully delaying their sentence of death. Sin and Death, sensing Satan's success, build a highway to earth, their new home. Upon his return to hell, instead of a celebration of victory, Satan and his crew are turned into serpents as punishment. Adam reconciles with Eve. God sends Michael to expel the pair from Paradise, but first to reveal to Adam future events resulting from his sin. Adam is saddened by these visions, but ultimately revived by revelations of the future coming of the Saviour of mankind. In sadness, mitigated with hope, Adam and Eve are sent away from the Garden of Paradise. .
BOOK I - Satan and the fallen angels in Hell A. Introduction to the poem, and first invocation [1-]
B. Satan and his lieutenant awaken in the lake of fire [50-282]
. . . . . 1. Satan's speech, refusing to accept defeat [84-]
. . . . . 2. Beelzebub's speech, fearing eternal slavery in Hell [128-]
. . . . . 3. Satan's speech, vowing to resist [156-]
. . . . . 4. They rise off the lake and light on solid ground [192-]
. . . . . 5. Satan's speech, accepting Hell as his new capital [242-]
. . . . . 6. Beelzebub urges Satan to speak to the fallen angels [271-]
C. Satan rallies his troops [283-669]
. . . . . 1. Satan calls them out of the lake where they lay [283-]
. . . . . 2. The multitudes fly out of the lake [331-]
. . . . . 3. The high ranking angels come forth one by one [376-521]
. . . . . . . . . . a) Moloch [381-]
. . . . . . . . . . b) Chemos [406-]
. . . . . . . . . . c) Baalim and Ashtaroth [421-]
. . . . . . . . . . d) Astoreth [437-]
. . . . . . . . . . e) Thammuz [446-]
. . . . . . . . . . f) Dagon [457-]
. . . . . . . . . . g) Rimmon [467-]
. . . . . . . . . . h) The Egyptian gods [476-]
. . . . . . . . . . i) Belial [490-]
. . . . . . . . . . j) The Olympian gods [507-]
. . . . . 4. They assemble before Satan [522-]
. . . . . 5. Satan's speech [622-]
D. The devils build their palace, Pandemonium [670-]
E. They assemble within to hold council [752-797]
BOOK II - The Council; Satan's odyssey to Earth A. High council is held in Pandemonium [1-520]
. . . . . 1. Satan's opening speech [11-]
. . . . . 2. Moloch proposes a return to war [43-]
. . . . . 3. Belial proposes inaction [106-]
. . . . . 4. Mammon seconds Belial's argument [226-]
. . . . . 5. Beelzebub proposes an exploration of Earth [299-]
. . . . . 6. Satan volunteers to undertake the mission alone [430-]
. . . . . 7. The council dissolves and the resolution is announced without [486-]
B. The devils disband and occupy themselves during Satan's leave [521-628]
. . . . . 1. Part engage in sport, song, and philosophy [528-]
. . . . . 2. Part explore the interior of Hell [570-]
C. Satan's passage out of Hell [629-1055]
. . . . . 1. Satan meets Sin and Death at the gate of Hell [643-889]
. . . . . . . . . . a) Death challenges Satan [675-]
. . . . . . . . . . b) Sin describes their origin [746-]
. . . . . . . . . . c) Sin opens the gate of Hell [850-]
. . . . . 2. Satan's journey across Chaos [890-1055]
. . . . . . . . . . a) The wildness of Chaos appears before the open gate [890-]
. . . . . . . . . . b) Satan sails out into the mixed elements [927-]
. . . . . . . . . . c) He holds discourse with Chaos [951-]
. . . . . . . . . . d) He approaches the heavenly region [1034-1055]
Courtesy of New Arts Library
Kevin Quarmby AE0206 Handout Email