A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

INTRODUCTORY
What is a History of English Literature?
1. A history of English literature is simply a chronological account of the books written in the English language.
2. Every work takes us back immediately to the man behind it, of whose genius it is a product, and whose thoughts and feelings it embodies.
3. Every great writer brings one absolute new thing into the world through his work. A history of English literature indicates the nature and value of the particular contribution which each writer has made personally to literature.
4. Literature as a whole grows and changes from generation to generation, tracing the growth, history must show the place which each writer occupies in it, and his relations with those who went before and came after him.
5. History brings out the relation between writer and writer and group and group.
6. Each age has its own particular lines of interest and its own particular way of thinking.
7. Ordinary English history is our nation‟s biography; its literature is its autobiography.
PERIODS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
Literary Periods Approximate Historic Periods
Dates
Pre-Chaucerian 500-1340 Anglo-Saxon and
Anglo-Norman
The Age of Chaucer 1340-1400 Middle Plantagenet
[Or Angevin]
From Chaucer to Tottel‟s 1400-1557 Later Plantagenet
Miscellany [Angevin]
The Age of Shakespeare 1557-1625 The Elizabethan Age
Shakespeare [1564-1616] The Jacobean Age
Age of Renaissance
The Age of Milton 1625-60 The Caroline Age
Milton [1608-74]
The Age of Dryden 1660-1700 The Age of Restoration
Dryden [1631-1700]
The Age of Pope 1700-45 the Queen Anne Age
[The Augustan Age] Early Georgian Age
Pope [1688-1744]
The Age of Johnson 1745-98 Middle Georgian Age
Johnson [1709-84]
The Age of Wordsworth 1798-1832 Later Georgian Age or
Wordsworth [1770-1850] The Age of Revolution
The Age of Tennyson 1832-87 The Victorian Age
Tennyson [1809-92]
The Age of Hardy 1887-1928 -
Hardy [1840-1928]
The Present Age 1930-55 -
ENGLISH LITERATURE BEFORE CHAUCER [500-1340]
Old English Literature or Anglo-Saxon Literature
Two important events:
1. The influx of three races- Angles, Saxons and Jutes came into England
2. Christianization of these tribes. In 1597 St. Augustine from Rome converted the Jutes in Kent to Christianity. Monks from Ireland set up monasteries in Northumbria. Old English poetry is connected with these two events.
Literature began with the history of the English people on the continent of Europe.
Old English Poetry:
Anglo-Saxon poetry has been preserved including one piece of immense interest, the epic Beowulf. It runs to some three thousand lines. Its authorship is not known. The poem was written about 700 A.D. It grew up in the form of ballads among the ancestors of the English in Denmark and South Sweden. The story of this poem was brought into England by Angels but it is about Scandinavians. It was fashioned into an epic by some Northumbrian poet of the eighth century. The manuscript of Beowulf, originally preserved by Sir Robert Cotton, got charred in a fire accident. The uncharred remains are kept in British museum.
Beowulf tells with rude vigour of the mighty feats of the hero whose name it bears. First Beowulf fought and killed the monster Grendel, who for twelve years had wasted the land of the king of the Danes; next he slew Grendel‟s mother; and at
last, a very old man, he went to destroy a fiery Dragon, he kills and gets killed in turn.
Two great old English poets:
Caedmon and Cynewulf, both belong to north, and to the period immediately following the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, which began at the end of the sixth century.
Caedmon was a servant attached to the monastery of Whitby in Yorkshire. According to Venerable Bede, the power of verse came to Caedmon as divine gift. Caedmon was originally very shy and tongue-tied. One night, an angel appeared to him in a vision and asked him to sing about ‟the beginning of created things‟. Waking up, he found himself endowed with the capacity to write poems. To him are attributed three free paraphrases of Biblical episodes, - the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall, the exodus from Egypt and the story of Daniel. It is now believed that a considerable part of these paraphrases was really written and interpolated by others.
Like Caedmon, Cynewulf who was born between [720-730], he also underwent a sudden change. First, he was a man of pleasure. Thanks to the vision of the cross that he had, he changed from worldly to religious themes. In his poem Dream of the Rood, he tells about his conversion.
His other poems are,
1. Christ- deals with the Incarnation, the Descent into Hell, the Ascension, and the Last Judgment.
2. Elene- an account of finding the true cross, according to the legend, by Helena, the mother of Constantine.
3. Juliana- a tale of Christian martyrdom.
4. Dream of the Rood- talks about his conversion and most important religious poem.
Anglo-Saxon poetry flourished in the north; prose developed later in south.
Anglo-Saxon poem consisted of two divisions; first contained two accented syllable, in the second, the accented syllables in each case began with the same letter.
Example:
Grendel gongan, Godes yrre baer
[Grendel going God‟s anger bore]
Anglo-Saxon poetry is full of a love of adventure and fighting, and sometimes martial spirit bursts into regular war poetry, as in The Battle of Brunanburh [937], of which Tennyson made a spirited translation.
Old English Prose:
King Alfred [849-901] is regarded as „the father of English prose‟. To improve the clergy Alfred translated some popular Latin books to English. His five translations are,
1. Pope Gregory’s Pastoral Care
2. Orosius’s The History of the World
3. Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
4. Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy
5. St. Augustine’s Soliloquies
Alfred‟s prose is simple and straightforward
From the Conquest to Chaucer:
The revival began in the reign of John [1199-1216] by which time the long-standing hostility between the native and the invaders had been to a large extent outgrown, and as the famous incident of Magna Charta shows, the two elements had been welded into a single people.
The first noteworthy production of the revival is Brut, completed about 1205 by Layamon, a parish priest of Worcestershire. This enormous poem of some 30.000 lines contains the legendary history of ancient Britain.
The first part relates the landing of Brutus, the great-grandson of Aeneas, and his setting out to find a new land.
The second part narrates his founding of the kingdom of Britain.
The third part of the poem deals with the history of King Arthur and his knights.
Layamon uses epic similes, other devices such as alliteration and assonance. Rhyme is used for the first time in English poetry.
Malory’s Morte d‟ Arthur and Tennyson’s Idylls of the King are derived from Brut.
Geoffrey of Monmouth is regarded as the father of verse chronicle or verse history. Deriving his material from an ancient manuscript in the Welsh dialect, he wrote Historia Regum Britanniae in Latin. This was translated into French by Gaimar [1150] and by Wace [1155].
Robert of Gloucester derived his material from Geoffrey of Monmouth. He is known for his impartiality towards historical figures.
Robert Manning begins his chronicles. Story of England with Noah and the Deluge and ends with the death of Edward I. He uses alexandrine couplets and internal and tail rhymes. His Handlynge Synne [1303] contains tales of historical figures, illustrating various sins. Written in four-stress line in couplets.
Religious and didactic poetry in Middle English Period:
1. The Ormulum [1215], a series of metrical homilies, in short lines without rime or alliteration written by Lincolnshire priest named Orm.
2. A charming dialogue poem The Owl and the Nightingale [1220] contains 1794 lines; it is in the form of debate between an owl and a nightingale. The owl represents sober spiritual pleasures and the nightingale stands for lighter joys of the worldly life. It is in short rhyming couplets. The genre of bird-
based allegory was used far more effectively by Chaucer in his poem, The Parliament of Fowls.
3. The Cursor Mundi [1320], a versified scripture history together with many legends of the saints is an encyclopedic work.
Making of the English Language in the early 14th Century:
The Old English or Anglo-Saxon was made up of German dialects. During and after the Norman Conquest, the Old English came under the influence of Norman French. But, by the middle of the 14t century, Modern English was evolving as French began to lose its hold on the English language. In the year 1362, a statute was passed making English the official language.
Though there were many dialects of Middle English, spoken by the people- Northern, Midland or Southern- East Midland dialect was emerging as a standard language. It was mainly because it was the language of the capital, London and the court. It enjoyed royal patronage. It was the language of both the universities- Oxford and Cambridge. Finally, the father of English poetry- Chaucer- exploited this language for his poetry.
THE AGE OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER [1340-1400]
Chaucer
Chaucer was born in the reign of Edward III, lived through that of Richard
II, and died the year after Henry IV ascended the throne. Edward‟s reign marks the
highest development of mediaeval civilization in England. The spirit of his court
was of romantic idealism which fills Chaucer‟s own Knightes Tale. The nation
enjoyed the successive wars and its new pride and ambition. The king and nobles
led a very gay life, trade expanded and wealth increased. In 1348-49 England
witnessed a terrible plague called The Black Death, which swept over one third of
entire population it reappeared in 1362, 1367, and 1370. People were burdened
with heavy taxation; there were social unrest, political trouble and conflict between
the king and his subjects all its temporary glamour of the country faded. The result
of this led to confusion and corruption of the church. John Wycliff [1320-84] „the
morning star of the reformation‟ took great task of reviving spiritual Christianity in
England. He wrote pamphlets and sent it to poor priest to revive their faith, with
the help of his disciples produced a complete English version of the Bible- the first
translation of the scriptures into any modern vernacular tongue.
(i) Social unrest
(ii) New religious movement
(iii) The change of current intellectual interests thus affected literature very directly.
Petrarch [1304-74] and Boccaccio [1313-75], the Italian writers, true leaders of great revival bought a new culture of writing with sense of beauty, the delight in life, and the free secular spirit began to appear in literature.
Life and Works of Geoffrey Chaucer:
Chaucer is generally hailed as the father of English poetry. He was born about 1340 in London. He was associated with court. At the early age of seventeen, he became page to the wife of the Duke of Florence who was Edward third‟s son. In 1359 he was involved in the hundred years’ war with France and taken prisoner. He was ransomed and returned to England. On diplomatic missions he went to Italy where he met Petrarch and Boccaccio. They considerably influenced Chaucer. He represented Kent in Parliament for a few years. He died in 1400 his death marks the end of the middle ages and the beginning of the modern period. He was the first poet to be buried in the part of the Westminster Abbey which later came to be known as the Poets’ Corner.
Chaucer’s Poetry:
It is usual to divide Chaucer‟s poetry into three periods: the French, the Italian and the English, of which the English is the best.
The poems of French group are modeled upon French originals. Chaucer wrote two major poems under French influence-
The Romaunt of the Rose is an incomplete translation of a French allegory, Roman de la Rose, describing the pleasures of love, symbolized by Rose. The poem is by two French poets, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung. These poets regard love in contrary ways. Guillaume adores women where as Jean satirizes them. Chaucer includes both these attitudes in his translations.
The Book of the Duchess is an elegy on the death of Duchess Blanchee, wife of John of Gaunt, Chaucer‟s patron. It is in the form of an allegory and its a dream poem.
The second stage, Italian period shows an advance upon the earlier stage.
The Parliament of Fowls commemorate the marriage of Richard II with Anne. It is also a dream poem written in „Chaucerian Stanza‟, riming ababbcc.
The House of Fame is another dream allegory in which the poet is carried in his dream by an eagle to the House of Fame.
The Legend of Good Women narrates the unhappy fate of Cleopatra, Thisbe, Philomela and others who suffered the cause of love. It is worthwhile to compare Chaucer‟s Cleopatra with Shakespeare‟s.
Troylus and Cryseyde is from Boccaccio‟s II Filostrato, he does not slavishly imitate Boccaccio. He attached more ideals and sentiments of his age. He narrates how Troilus, the Trojan prince falls in love with a Greek girl called Cressid.
The third, English period contains the work of the greatest individual accomplishment. Chaucer‟s masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales belongs to this period. It is a series of twenty four tales told by pilgrims on their way to
the shrine of the murdered St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury. A Prologue tells how twenty nine pilgrims pass the nights before the journey at the Tabard Inn on their way back. The pilgrim hail from different places and belong to different professions. To while away the tedium of the journey each pilgrim tells a story. This is the general framework of the poem. Chaucer got this idea from Boccaccio’s Deccameron. The work is remarkable for Chaucer‟s gift of story telling and skill in characterization.
The Canterbury Tales represents a cross-section of the Chaucer‟s age. The church is represented by a prioress, a nun, a monk, a friar, a sumnour, a pardoner, a poor
parson and a student of divinity studying at Oxford. The military profession is represented by a knight, a squire and a yeoman. We have a lawyer, a physician, a franklin merchant, a sailor, a miller, a cook, a manciple, a reeve, a carpenter, a weaver, a ploughman and a cloth-maker better known as Wife of Bath. As Dryden, said, „Here is God‟s plenty‟.
In the matter of poetic technique, English literature owes much to Chaucer. His seven lined stanza is known as the Chaucerian stanza or “rime royal” [ababbcc]. He has also introduced the heroic couplet for the first time in The Legende of Good Women. In comparison with the poets of his own time Chaucer is indeed a genius. No doubt, he is the father of English poetry.
General Characteristics of Chaucer’s Poetry:
1. Chaucer‟s modernity: Chaucer freed himself from the shackles of medievalism. His Wife of Bath, with her clamoring for free love, is a harbinger, of the modern lifestyle.
2. Chaucer‟s tolerance: Chaucer also exposes corrupt churchmen like the pardoner. But there is no bitterness in his attack. He mocks at the human folly with a broad grin and a jolly twinkle in his eyes. He is steeped in the humanism of the Renaissance. In this sense he is „the morning star of the Renaissance‟.
3. Chaucer‟s descriptive power: He is good at describing men. Manners and places. His description of spring mornings are marked by vivacity and freshness. In The Knight‟s Tale, he talks of the „bisy larke‟ and „firy Phoebus‟ brightening the world.
4. Chaucer‟s narrative power: The variety of the Canterbury tales is an evidence of Chaucer‟s narrative skill.
(i) The chivalrous story of the Knight
(ii) The Clerk‟s account of Griselda‟s wifely devotion
(iii) Stories of Miller and Reeve
Chaucer can be described as „the Father of the English Novel‟.
The Contemporaries of Chaucer:
William Langland’s William Concerning Piers the Plowman. It is a long poem of 15,000 lines in which Langland makes vehement attack on the vices of the corrupt Church. [In the first part the poet lies down on the Malvern Hills. A vision comes to him in sleep. All kinds of workingmen are toiling on the field, but the fruits of their labour are enjoyed by others. There is a lady by name Bribery. This allegorical character expresses the corrupt social life of the times. In the second vision the Seven Deadly Sins asks Piers Plowman the way of truth. But Piers refuses to leave work. He advises them to work hard and preaches that honest toil will lead one to salvation. The poet wakes from his vision with the sound of Easter bells ringing in his ears.] It is in the form of allegory.
John Gower was a friend of Chaucer in the beginning. Chaucer has dedicated Troylus and Cryseyde to „moral Gower‟ as he usually calls. Gower too has made warm reference to Chaucer towards the end of his Confessio Amantis. But later misunderstanding arose between them. Gower, the popular writer who wrote in three languages. He is famous for his third work in English, Confessio Amantis. This has the allegorical setting. The story contains many anecdotes that reveal Gower‟s capacity as a story teller.
His three long poems are,
(i) Speculum Meditantis in French
(ii) Vox Clamantis in Latin
(iii) Confessio Amantis in English
John Barbour is regared as the father of Scottish poetry. In his great work The Brus, a long poem of twenty books and 1300line he narrates the heroic deeds of Robert Bruce. It is the history of Scotland‟s struggle for freedom till the death of Bruce.
Nature of Prose during the Middle English Period:
During Chaucer‟s period, the English language was ripe for a good prose style. The language was settling for a standard. In the works of Sir John Maundeville and Malory, we have a prose that is both original and individual. Though the
existence of Maundeville is denied now, The Travels, a compilation from several popular books of voyages, is interesting. The travels are full of incredible descriptions and anecdotes. The style is sweet and clear with colloquial touches.
John Wyclif, an Oxford scholar, began satirizing the abuses of the church. He is said to have brought out an English translation of the Bible. His style is not polished but it is vigorous and pointed with a homely simplicity. He is known as “the morning star of Reformation”, because of the influence of his satire on the church.
Sir Thomas Malory is famous for his book, Morte d‟ Arthur. It is also a compilation of several romances about King Arthur. It is a skilful blend of dialogue and narrative and is full of colour and life, which makes Malory the first great individual prose stylist. Malory‟s work came to be published by Caxton in his printing press.
FROM CHAUCER TO TOTTEL’S MISCELLANY [1400-1557]
The Fifteenth Century a barren period:
After the death of Chaucer in 1400 A.D, there was a long period of barrenness. The whole of the 15th century in England was not an age of great men in any field. The prevailing conditions were not favorable for creative literature.
Religion continued to degenerate in spite of the fact that Wyclif and the Oxford reformers tried their best. Persecution prevented free thinking. The political struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster resulted in the Wars of the Roses. Many noble men were killed. The old order of Feudalism was shaken at its foundations. The low state of education was also responsible for the emptiness. Universities were engaged in controversies over medieval philosophy. The middle class in general were money-minded and were not interested in the intellectual interests of any kind.
Hence there was no English poet of any consequence. The prose writing was thin in quality and quantity.
The Poetry of the Fifteenth Century:
There was not much of good poetry written during 15th century. The greater part of the available poetry was imitative. A long poem Flower and the Leaf ascribed to Chaucer himself, but now referred to some anonymous writer of his school. But on the whole, nearly all of them imitated Chaucer without success. Among the many imitators, a few good ones could be identified. Among the British poets Thomas Occleve and John Lydgate were important.
Thomas Occleve [1370-1450] was a clerk in the privy seal office. His long poem called The Governail of Princess in Chaucer‟s seven line stanzas riming ababbcc and in the prologue, he tells us much about himself describes his grief on Chaucer‟s death and sings his master‟s praises. His minor poem, Moder of God was printed along with Chaucer‟s works.
John Lyndgate [1370-1451] was a monk. He studied and wrote much and gained a reputation as a scholar and a poet. He was a friend of Chaucer on whom he modeled much of his poetry. The Storie of Thebes, designed as new Canterbury Tale, the Troy Boke, The Falles of Princes [based on French paraphrase of a Latin work by Boccaccio] and The Temple of Glass were his works. His work lacked humour and was allegorical.
Some of the best poetry of the 15th century was written in Scotland, where the influence of Chaucer was marked. A long poem, The King‟s Quair was written by King James I of Scotland in which he expressed his love for his lady love Jane Beaufort (Duke of Somerset‟s daughter) who became his wife. It was written is Chaucerian stanza.
William Dunbar[1465-1530] a great British poet between Chaucer and Spencer, his The Thistle and Rose was composed to commemorate the marriage of James IV of Scotland and Margaret (daughter of Henry VII of England). In his Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins one could find vigour, humor and pathos.
Robert Henryson [1430-1506] followed Chaucerian model in his Testament of Cressid. He also produced Robin and Makyne a story which anticipates Burn’s Duncan Gray.
Gawain Douglas [1474-1522], the Bishop of Dukeld, wrote the Palice of Honour in Chaucerian model. He also translated Virgil’s Aeneid into English.
In Scottish poetry we find real Scotch scenery. In Douglas‟s Prologue we find the scenery of the country in the spring, in autumn and in winter. They really did something to bring the love of nature into later English literature
The 15th century was rich in a kind of a particular minor verse, the Ballads. The ballads became increasingly popular. They were often rude in style, but wonderfully direct and vigorous and full of real feeling. The Battle of Otter burn, Nut Brown Maid and Robin Hood Ballads were good examples.
The Prose of the Fifteenth Century:
The prose of the 15th century was better than the poetry of the period. The form of prose was used for instruction and entertainment.
Reginald Peacock [1395-1460] took an active part in the religious controversies of the day. But he was too conservative for the Lollards and was radical for the orthodox. His Repressor of Overmuch Blaming of the Clergy and his Boke of Faith are landmarks in the history of English prose. Peacock was the earliest to use English for expressing controversies.
Sir John Fortescue [1394-1476] his The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy.
William Caxton [1422-91] the first English printer his The Dictes and Sayengis of the Philosopher is the first book he printed. He translated many French, Dutch and Latin texts into English to reading public in England.
The most popular prose work of the age was Morte D‟ Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory [d.1471]. He was a knight and completed the work in 1470. It is a compilation of a number of French romances dealing with King Arthur and his Round Table Knights. The work is a good example of medieval chivalry, humanity, love, courtesy and gentleness. The work has inspired great many modern poets, like Arnold, Swinburne, William Morris, and pre-eminently Tennyson, whose Idylls of the King is based upon it.
The Renaissance and its influence on English Literature:
The Revival of learning began with Petrarch and Boccaccio in the 14th century but only in the 15th century we enter the age of the Italian humanism. Enthusiasm for classic studies began. The Renaissance worked in two ways in the development of literature- it did much to liberate thought from the bondage of medieval theology and it presented writers with literary masterpieces as models. England began to get the influence of the Renaissance.
The scholar went to study in Italy and brought back inspiration. The New Learning was established in Oxford and Cambridge. It was helped by the introduction of the
Printing Press in 1476, by William Caxton. The results of this revival were first shown in the literature of the early Tudor period.
In prose,
 William Tyndale’s English New Testament
 Cloverdale’s The Complete English Bible
 Cromwell’s Great Bible
pointed to the popular interest in the scriptures. This led to the Reformation and also to the development of a standard prose.
The Utopia of Thomas More is one of the typical works of this time. It describes an ideal society. It owes much to Plato’s Republic and to general thinking about life, government and religion. It was written in Latin in 1516. It entered English literature in 1551 when Ralph Robinson translated it. Roger Ascham is one of the earliest masters of English prose. His Toxophilus or Schole of Shooting was written for the English men. His Scholemaster was an educational treatise.
The Renaissance English poetry was influenced directly by Italy. A few poets like Stephen Hawes and John Skelton carried on the Chaucerian tradition. But the new movement in the poetry began at the court of Henry VIII.
Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was filled with the spirit of new culture and polished the English poetry. Together they brought from Italy the love poetry, which Petrarch called “Sonnet” in Italy. Surrey was the first to use blank verse, in his translation of the Aeneid. He used the unrimed, ten-syllabled verse. They are the chief poets represented in a collection of Songs and Sonnets, which is popularly known as Tottel‟s Miscellany, published in 1557. It marks the dawn of the new age in English Literature.
UNIT II
THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMA
The beginnings of the English drama are obscure. During the Roman occupation of Britain there were amphitheatres but they disappeared with the departure of the Romans. During the time of the Norman Conquest a form of religious drama was introduced by the Church in France; and later it found its way into England.
Originally drama was merely a part of the church service. Its purpose was purely didactic.
At first, the Miracle and Mystery plays came into being. The Mystery plays dealt with the subjects taken from the Bible especially scenes from the life of Christ. The priests were the actors and the language employed was Latin. On important occasion large crowd came. They could not be accommodated inside the church. So the stage was removed from inside the church to the porch. Later, the venue was shifted to the village green or the city street. Other remarkable changes were the acting of laymen instead of priests and the use of English.
England did not reach its height till the fourteenth century, at the time of festival of Corpus Christi, in early summer; miracle plays were represented in nearly all our large towns in great connected sequences or cycle. They are called as Corpus Christi plays or collective mysteries. All these plays were united into cycles beginning with the creation and ending with the Final Judgment. They are the Chester Cycle of 25 plays, the Coventry of 42, the Wakefield of 31 and the York of 48. The merchant and craft guilds which produced the cycles were the forerunners of the theatrical companies of Shakespeare‟s time.
The literary quality of the Miracle Plays: The miracle plays were generally crude. But the ones dealing with the crucifixion and the story of Abraham and
Isaac were most moving. The humorous element in some of the plays, especially in the play of Noah, was very much enjoyed by the audience. Noah‟s wife wrangling with and bossing over her husband provided hilarious comedy. In the crucifixion play Herod was a prankish tyrant. He provided comic relief by leaving the stage and ranting among the audience.
The Moralities plays marked the next stage in the development of English drama. The characters in these plays are personifications or abstractions such as Life, Science, Death, the Seven Deadly Sins, Repentance, Love, Greed, the Five Senses, Perseverance, Free Will, Good and Bad Angels, Now-a-Days, Young England, Lusty Juventus, Humanum Genus and Everyman. The Devil of the Miracle plays was replaced by Vice in the Moralities. The vice sometimes stole the show, doing all sorts of antics. The vice jumped on the Devil‟s back and beat him with a wooden dagger and made him roar with pain. Such scenes gave immense pleasure to the groundlings. The vice of the Moralities in turn gave rise to the Clown of the Elizabethan comedy. The finest example of the Morality is Everyman, an anonymous play of excellence.
Everyman, the most famous Morality play: Everyman was the most popular of the Morality plays. The play conveys the importance of good deeds in the life of every man. The play is in the form of an allegory.
[God sends Death to summon Everyman. Everyman is anguished. He asks his friends to accompany him on his supreme journey. His boon companions, Fellowship, Kindred and Goods, back out. Then Everyman remembers Good Deeds whom he has long abandoned. Good Deeds sends him to her sister Knowledge who in turn recommends him to Confession, Everyman is shriven and ready to meet God. When he reaches the grave, his erstwhile friends Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits depart. They do not keep their promise to help him. Finally, only Good Deeds pleads for him. Everyman dies contented. The play has a classic simplicity and inevitability.]
Shakespeare’s history play Henry IV Part I and tragedy Othello are viewed by some critics as advanced Morality plays.
The Interlude was an offshoot of the Morality play. The Interlude was a short satirical dramatic piece. It was popularized by John Heywood[1497-1580] who was a musician and entertainment at King Henry VIII‟s court.
John Heywood‟s most popular interlude is Four P‟s. It is in the form of a dialogue in which a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Apothecary and a Pedlar enter into a competition as to which of them can tell the biggest lie.
Another interesting interlude is The Play of the Weather. In this interlude Jupiter listens to people‟s complaint about the weather and wishes to help them.
Interludes were also used for scholastic purpose, as in the Interlude of the Four Elements; while in such production as Thersytes, the addition of action turns the form into a sort of elementary comedy.
The First English Comedy:
The Interludes were mere scenes. The Moralities contained only personifications. People were not satisfied with these productions. They craved for full-length plays, reflective of English life. The earliest English comedy was influenced by the Latin comedy writers, Terence and Plautus. Nicholas Udall’s Ralph Roister Doister , was written about 1550 is another early comedy. Udall, master of Westminster school, meant his play to be acted by school boys. The play is about a fop who is in love with a widow. But the widow is already engaged to another man. The play is an adaptation of Plautus’s comedy, Miles Gloriosus. Ralph Roister Doister has a clear plot and natural dialogue. It has a judicious mix of classic and English elements. It is composed in rhyming couplets. It is divided into acts and scenes in the Latin style.
The First English Tragedy:
The first English tragedy was produced in 1562 by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Morton. It was called Gorboduc (or Ferrex and Porrex). It was an imitation of Senecan tragedy, written primarily for representing during the
Christmas festives of 1561. It had the unique distinction of being the first play to be written in blank verse and the first play to be based on history. It is only from these people that predecessors of Shakespeare took over.
The English drama evolved from Miracle and Mystery plays and the Moralities and then developed into a very fine artistic form. The drama form rose to perfection during the Elizabethan period.
THE AGE OF SHAKESPEARE – POETRY
Shakespeare
The General Features of the Elizabethan Age:
The Shakespeare‟s Age we mean the who le period starting from the accession of
Queen Elizabethan in 1558 to the death of James I in 1625. During this period of
sixty seven years, people shared common literary experiences. The period falls
into three divisions- the first 21 years of the Queen‟s reign; the 24 years between
the publications of Spenser’s “Shepherd‟s Calendar” and her death; and the 22
years of the reign of James I.
The first division is the time of preparation or the spring time of the
Elizabethan period.
The second, the time of full fruition or summer; and
The third, its decline or autumn.
The first two divisions belong to the Elizabethan period and the last division
belongs to Jacobean. This period ranks as one of the greatest in the history of
English literature.
Major Influences:
Many influences helped the people to expand thought, dilate imaginations and to give energy to the literature produced. England, during this period, felt the full effect of the Renaissance, the Revival of Learning. Because of the numerous translations of the classics the public had easy access to the Greek and Roman works.
An appetite for literature was fostered and importance was given to the sense of beauty and the aesthetic appeal.
While the Renaissance aroused the intellect and the aesthetic faculties, the next important movement, the Reformation awakened their spiritual nature. The printing press, established in England by William Caxton, put the English Bible into the hands of the English people. The spread of interest in religion was accompanied by moral earnestness.
The discovery of the new worlds beyond the seas and the thrilling tales brought home by explorers like Hawkins, Drake and Raleigh, enriched the minds of men. The general prosperity of the country was also increasing. There was internal peace. The feud between the Catholic and the Protestants were now over. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the English prestige also increased. The intense patriotism united the people into an extravagant loyalty to the Queen.
The nature of Elizabethan Poetry before Spenser:
The publication of Spenser‟s Shepherd‟s Calendar marks the golden age of Elizabethan literature. Not much of good poetry was produced before Spenser.
The best poetry of the period is to be found in the contribution of Thomas Sackville’s A Myrroure for Magistrates. This originated in a publisher‟s scheme for a continuation of Lydgate’s Falles of Princes. It was designed to include a long series of tragic histories of famous Englishmen. Sackville’s two poems- The Induction and The Complaint of Buckingham are superior to the contributions by the others. The Induction may be called “the finest single poem written in England between Chaucer and Spenser”.
George Gascoigne is remembered for his blank verse satire, The Steele Glass. The only important thing to notice about these two poets is that they have done something important to rise above the common rut of the fifteenth century.
Edmund Spenser [1552-99]:
Edmund Spenser is the greatest non-dramatic poet in the Elizabethan period. He is, as Milton says, „our sage and serious Spenser‟ and one of the greatest Renaissance humanists.
Spenser’s early life was most unhappy. After finishing his education at Merchant Taylor‟s School, Cambridge, he led an obscure, wandering life for a few years. It was Sir Philip Sidney who brought Spenser into the limelight. He brought Spenser to the notice of his uncle, the Earl of Leicester who was a VIP in the Elizabethan court. Leicester introduced Spencer to Queen Elizabeth. In 1580 he was appointed to various positions in Ireland. He spent eighteen years there. He was given the castle of Kilcolman in Munster to stay in. All his effort to establish peace between England and Ireland failed. In Oct, 1598 rebellion broke out and the Irish rebels burnt down Kilcolman. Spenser fled to London with Irish wife Elizabeth and children. By this time the political climate in England changed. There were not many in England to patronize him. Ben Jonson says that Spenser died „for want of bread‟. He died on 16th Jan, 1599 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Fellow-poets mourned his death by throwing their elegies and pens into his tomb.
The contribution of Edmund Spenser to English Poetry:
Spenser‟s fame rests mainly on The Faerie Queen, his minor poetry, which is voluminous. It is undoubtedly Spenser’s masterpiece. The original plan of the poem included twelve books, each of which was to recount the adventure of a Knight, who represented a moral virtue. The work is purely allegorical in its personification of virtues and in its representation of life as a struggle between good and evil. Spenser could complete only six books, celebrating Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice and Courtesy. Spencer modeled The Faerie Queen on the Italian poet Ariosto’s romance, Orlando Furioso. The underlying scheme of the epic, explained by Spenser in his prefatory letter to his friend, Sir Walter Raleigh, is as follows: The Fairy Queen keeps her annual feast for twelve days. On each day certain knight undertakes a particular adventure. Each book is devoted to each knight. Spencer, being a moralist, uses the „Faerie Queen‟ as a vehicle of moral values. The following table spells out the moral equations.
Book
Characters
The moral values the
Characters represent
Prince Arthur
Divine Power
Book I
The Red Cross Knight Lady Una
Holiness
Religion
Book II
Sir Guyon
Temperance
Book III
Britomartis
Chastity
Book IV
Cambel and Triamond
Friendship
Book V
Artegall
Justice
Book VI
Sir Calidore
Courtesy
The Faerie Queen
Gloriana
Duessa
Orgoglio
The Glory of God
Deceit
Pride
The chief of all the knights is Prince Arthur, who appears at critical moments in the poem. He marries Gloriana, the Queen of the fairy land. The Faerie Queen has also been studied as a political-historical allegory. The various incidents in the poem are said to represent various political and historical developments of Spenser‟s time. His allegory is sometimes confused, inconsistent, and obscure. Spenser invented a new verse form known as the Spenserian stanza. It is a stanza of nine lines, eight of five feet each and last of six feet, riming ababbcbcc. Spenser‟s work is filled with a noble moral spirit and with the quality of pure essential poetry that is why Spenser is called „poet‟s poet‟.
Next to his masterpiece, The Shepherd‟s Calendar is the best known of Spencer‟s works. It is the first pastoral poem in English literature and marks the beginning of the outbursts of the great Elizabethan poetry. It consist of twelve pastoral poems called „Eclogues‟, one for each month of the year. The poem is in the form of discussions among shepherds. These eclogues deal with variety of subjects. The glory of Queen Elizabeth The corruption of the clergy The death of a beloved girl- these are some of them.
Spenser’s minor poems include eighty-eight sonnets, written in sequence called „Amoretti‟. It celebrates the progress of Spencer‟s love for his ladylove, Elizabeth Boyle. „Epithalamion‟ a magnificent wedding song, was written to celebrate his marriage with his beloved. „Astrophel‟ is a first pastoral elegy in English on the death of Sidney. Also, he has written Four Hymns on love, beauty, heavenly love and heavenly beauty. Spenser‟s shorter poems illustrate his lyrical ability.
Spenser is often called „the poetical son of Chaucer‟ as both the poets are studied together, though nearly two centuries separate them. He is acknowledged as the “poets‟ poet”. During his life-time, he influenced a large number of poets. Abraham Cowley and John Dryden, at a later period testified to his inspiring influences as a literary artist. Milton paid him a warm tribute. Keats and Tennyson are indebted to him. His influence can be seen even in the Pre-Raphaelites like William Morris.
There are five main qualities of Spenser‟s poetry-
(a) perfect melody
(b) a rare sense of beauty
(c) splendid imagination, which could gather into a poem
(d) a lofty moral purity and seriousness and
(e) a delicate idealism which could make all nature beautiful.
Finally, Spenser is the „prince of poets‟. He claims a fuller sense of sensuous liveliness and a masterly command of the resources of rhythmic music and pictorial phrasing.
The contributions of Minor Poets of the Elizabethan Age [1579-1625]
The minor poets of the Elizabethan Age were very numerous. It is rather impossible to give a catalogue of them. Following Tottel‟s Miscellany several collections came to be published under fanciful titles but many were not popular.
The Sonneteers:
The sonnet form enjoyed great popularity during the Elizabethan Age. On its introduction from Italy by Wyatt and Surrey, the form established itself in England. The Italian plan of writing sonnets in sequence was also adopted by many Elizabethan poets.
Spenser’s Amoretti is a sequence of sonnets addressed to his lady-love, Elizabeth Boyle, whom he married after along courtship. His friend, Sir Philip Sidney wrote sonnet sequences called Astrophel and Stella. These sonnets record Sidney‟s hopeless passion for Penelope. Daniel’s Delia. Drayton’s Idea, Constable’s Diana and Shakespeare’s W.H. Sonnets‟ and Dark Lady Sonnets belong to the sequence.
The Elizabethan sonnets expressed strong feelings of love- with all its ups and downs, the changing moods of the lady. Usually, the sonnets placed the lady on a high pedestal and the lover experiences and sentiments are real and in others these are imagined.
Patriotic Poetry:
The other form of poetry was historically very important because it expressed the powerful patriotic feelings of the period. This form of poetry was inspired by national themes. William Warner’s Albion‟s England is a poem of 10.000 lines. It sets forth the history of England from Noah‟s days to those of Elizabeth. Samuel Daniel produced a versified chronicle in eight books on The Civil Wars between the two Houses of Lancaster and York. Michael Drayton, known for his ballad, The Battle of Agincourt wrote England’s Heroical Epistles, The Barons Wars and Polyolbion, an enormous poetical description of England in thirty books. Such poems were the product of the love for England which led scholars like Stow, Harrison and Holinshed to make elaborate researches in history and also found expression in chronicle plays of Shakespeare.
John Donne and Metaphysical poetry:
A new kind of poetry was beginning with John Donne, whose work belongs essentially to the time of James. He was thirty years old when Elizabeth died. Donne was a preacher. He wrote songs and sonnets, marriage poems, elegies and satires. Other Elizabethan poets wrote smooth, soft, musical poetry but Donne‟s poetry was artificial and intellectual. The type of poetry written by Donne is known as “Metaphysical poetry”. It is characterized by much genuine poetic feeling, harsh metre, and rhythm. Donne wrote in a simple, colloquial and unmusical language. Donne borrowed ideas and phrases from contemporary life, common experience latest science. In his poetry, we get far-fetched ideas, peculiar comparisons and unusual images. For example, in a poem he compares lovers to the hands of a compass. Donne is one of the greatest poets of England.
DRAMA IN THE AGE OF SHAKESPEARE
The Elizabethan Romantic Drama:
When the first tragedy, Gorboduc was produced on the English stage in 1561, there was some confusion in the minds of scholars. Some wanted to follow the classical type of drama as introduced by Seneca and others wanted to cater to the unscholarly public who wanted only amusement. They expected exciting plots and vigorous action and finer details about art. Hence, gradually, the Elizabethan Romantic drama emerged.
Principles of Classical Drama:
To understand the conventions of the Elizabethan Romantic Drama, we must have an idea about the principles of the classical drama.
1. The classical drama adhered to unity of the subject and tone. Comedy and tragedy were kept separate. There were no humorous episodes of any kind in a tragedy.
2. There was little or no dramatic action. Main events in the play were only reported to the audience by dialogue or narration.
3. The dramatists were expected to follow the three classical unities of time, place and action to control the construction of the plot.
The Romantic Drama:
The Elizabethan dramatists opposed these classical principles
1. The Romantic drama makes free use of variety in theme and tone. Often in one play, we can find the blending of the tragic and the comic.
2. The Romantic drama is essentially a drama of action. Much of the action shown on the stage.
3. It repudiates the three classical unities of time, place and action.
The Elizabethan Romantic drama, in the hands of the University-educated scholars, acquired a suitable form to please the theatre-going public.
The Predecessors of Shakespeare for the development of drama:
Taking Shakespeare as the central figure, Elizabethan dramatists are divided into three periods- Pre-Shakespearean drama, Shakespeare and Post-Shakespeare dramatists. The Predecessors of Shakespeare are usually known as „University Wits‟ as most of them had University education. Shakespeare was influenced by them. The successors of Shakespeare are called Jacobean dramatists as they flourished during the reign of King James I.
The „University Wits‟ are John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Thomas Nash. Lyly and Marlowe exerted direct influence on Shakespeare.
Life and works of Shakespeare:
Shakespeare is the greatest English dramatist the world has ever produced. Shakespeare was born at Stratford in 1616. He had no university education. By the time he was nineteen, he was married to a woman eight years his senior. He ran away to London, went to the stage, became an actor and finally established himself as one of the leading dramatists of the time. He spent twenty years in London, became financially sound and was greatly admired for his literary skill. Shakespeare finally retired to his home town, where he died in 1616. In the space of about twenty years he produced plays and poems that have become part of English heritage.
Shakespeare’s works:
Shakespeare‟s works are broadly classified under two categories- non-dramatic poetry and plays. His non dramatic poetry consists of two narrative poems. Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece; and a sequence of 154 sonnets, the first 126 addressed to a man, W.H. and the remaining 28 addressed to a woman, the Dark Lady.
Shakespeare‟s dramatic work comprises 37 plays. His activity as writer for the stage extended over 24 years- from 1588 to 1612. Critics have agreed to subdivide these 24 years into four periods.
First Period: 1588-1593:
It is period of early experimental work. The plays of this period are, the three parts of Henry VI, Titus Andronicus and the comedies, Love‟s Lobour‟s Lost, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The comedy of Errors, and A Midsummer Night‟s Dream. The historic play, Richard III and the youthful tragedy, Romeo and Juliet belongs to this period.
Second Period: 1594-1600:
This is a period of great comedies and chronicle plays. Shakespeare‟s Romantic comedies- The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Twelfth Night and the History Plays, Richard II, King John, two parts of Henry IV and Henry V belong to this period.
Third Period: 1606-1608:
This period is a great period of Shakespeare‟s greatest tragedies and bitter comedies or problem plays. Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus are Shakespeare‟s tragedies. Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cresida, All‟s Well that Ends Well and Timon of Athens is his dark/bitter comedies.
Fourth Period: 1608-1612:
This is a period of Shakespeare‟s last plays or Romances. Cymbeline, The Tempest and The Winter‟s Tale belong to this group. Pericles and Henry VIII
may be added; but Shakespeare wrote only parts of these and they completed by Shakespeare‟s junior contemporary, Fletcher.
It is impossible to give a clear answer to the question, “How far Shakespeare‟s plays are a revelation of his life and character?” To some extent, his work tells us much about the man himself.
General Characteristics of Shakespeare’s plays:
Shakespeare possesses in a superlative degree the power of digesting thought into phraseology. He is the most often quoted of all writers.
There is the vitality of Shakespeare‟s characterization. No one else has created so many men and women who are completely alive. His characters have become unforgettable by their strong passion, actions or humorous speeches.
He has a unique command over the resources of language. His vocabulary is the largest to be used by any writer.
The achievement of Ben Jonson as a Dramatist:
Drama declined after Shakespeare. During the Jacobean period, the audience wanted to see more and more action and amusement on the stage. Among the junior cotemporaries of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson was the most important.
Jonson produced three different kinds of writings. He produced court masques. His historical tragedies Sejanus and Catiline were very learned, laborious and dull. Jonson is better known for his comedies of humours. He became popular as a dramatist with the production of Every Man in His Humour. He produced more such comedies later- The Alchemist, Volpone, Epicoene and Every Man in His Humour.
Ben Jonson is a realist. The world of his comedy is not the world of romance but of contemporary London life, with its manners, types and affectations. He gives a
heightened picture of this life. His aim is not only to depict but also to amuse. He seeks to teach and correct his audience. His realism is „didactic realism‟.
Jonson rejects the Elizabethan romantic drama and takes the Latin comedies of Terence and Plautus as his models. He follows the classical unities of time, place and action.
Intellect predominates in Jonson‟s comedies. They are products of learning, skill and conscientious effort than of creative power. Though astonishingly clever and rich, they lack charm and spontaneity.
Jonson is a great genius and may rightly be called the real founder of the comedy of manners.
Jacobean Dramatists:
During Jacobean period, drama declined. The audience was different. Most of them lacked Shakespeare‟s talents. Ben Jonson, John Webster, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ford. Shirley and Massinger were some of the well-known dramatists.
John Webster:
John Webster was one of the greatest dramatists of the Jacobean period. He wrote blood and thunder revenge tragedies. He is best remembered for The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi.
UNIT III
THE AGE OF MILTON [1625-1660]
Milton
If Renaissance is the rebirth of learning, Puritanism is the rebirth of moral
literature. It is the greatest moral and political reform which swept over a nation in
the short span of fifty years. Puritanism aimed at its two objects- personal
righteousness and civil and religious liberty. Milton, the greatest product of this
age, stands for these two ideals.
Puritanism takes its origin from the time of Reformation. When the Church of
England was established, there were a few people who were dissatisfied. To them
the Church of England was not different from the Church of Rome. They came to
be influenced by John Calvin of Geneva, who advocated strict views concerning
life and conduct. They were called Puritans.
The puritans spread in the time of James I and emerged as a national power
deposing even Charles I. During the Civil War, Charles I was beheaded and Oliver
Cromwell became the Lord Protector of England. Milton became his Latin Secretary.
The Puritan influence upon the tone and temper of English life and thought was profound. The spirit was fine but it was hard and stern. Puritans generally neglected science, art and beauty. They wanted to confine literature to particular interests. Hence, Puritanism was fatal to art and literature. The only poet who could produce real literature during this period was Milton. It is because; in him the Reformation and Renaissance were found in the right proportion.
The Puritan Age in English literature- the half century between 1625 and 1675- differs from the Elizabethan period in three ways. It has no unity of spirit as in the Elizabethan period. The literature of this period is somber and it saddens rather than inspires. It has lost the romantic vigour of Elizabethan period. Milton and Bunyan have risen to popularity because the subjects they have chosen are religious and in keeping with the Puritanic ideals. Milton is said to be the Moral King of Literature.
Milton‟s poetry is hard and austere, written more to instruct rather than to delight the readers. In Paradise Lost, he justifies the ways of God to men. At the same time, Milton is not strict Puritan. He is a lover of drama and music. In his poetry, we find numerous references to the classic, pagan literature, something alien to the conventions of the age.
The Puritan period has not produced many literary figures; but it has a produced Milton, who ranks as one of the greatest poets of the world.
Milton’s Life and Poetry:
Next to Shakespeare, Milton occupies the seat of honour in English literature. He is the greatest non-dramatic poet in English. Only in him, we see the union of creative power and intellectual power, both at their height. He is the child of the Renaissance and Reformation as he represents the ideals of two of the greatest movements.
Mark Pattison calls Milton‟s life “a drama in three acts”. The three periods naturally fall into three definite divisions-
1. His birth, to the continental tour(1608-1639)
2. Period of the Puritan rule in England(1640-1660)
3. The era of Paradise Lost(1660-1674)
The connecting link between the periods is his personality.
Milton was born on 9th Dec, 1608, in London. He was educated in Christ‟s College, Cambridge. After taking his M.A Degree, he settled in a pleasant village, Horton, to prepare for his future career. That is, to write something which “the posterity ill not willing let die”. It is only in this village, he wrote some of his best early poems, L‟Allegro, ll Penseroso, Comus, Arcades, etc. Then, he started his continental tour, which he could not complete, as the Civil War started in England. He took active part in the Civil War and at the success of Puritanism he was appointed Latin Secretary to Oliver Cromwell. When Charles II was restored to the throne, Milton lost his post and had become totally blind. He produced his masterpiece Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes only during this period. Milton died in peace at the age of 64 in 1674.
Milton appears as the inheritor of all that was besting the Elizabethan literature. On the Morning of Christ‟s Nativity approaches the high watermark of lyric poetry. L‟Allegro and ll Penseroso, the two companion poems, contain a few best descriptive passages. The Masque of Comus is the most perfect of Milton‟s poems. The last of the Horton poems, Lycidas, which Milton wrote to commemorate the death of a friend, Edward King, is one of the best pastoral elegies in English.
Milton has occasionally written a few sonnets, which mark the return of the Petrarchan form. Unlike his predecessors, Milton has patriotism, duty, music and politics as its subjects matter. Some of his best-known sonnets are On His Deceased Wife, On His Blindness and To the Nightingale.
Milton‟s prose works are criticized by many for the harsh language used by Milton. But for Areopagitica, others are not of permanent interest. Areopagatica is a plea for the freedom of the press.
The noblest of Milton‟s works is his later poetry, when he became blind. Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes are the major works of Milton. Of these his epic, Paradise Lost is his masterpiece. This deals with the fall of man. It is a colossai epic of the whole race of mankind.
After the publication of Paradise Lost, Milton wrote Paradise Regained, at the suggestion of his friend Ellwood. Christ‟s temptation at the wilderness is the theme. Milton has based his work on the fourth chapter of Matthew‟s Gospel. But it falls below the level of Paradise Lost. Milton‟s aim to present in English a pure tragedy in Greek fashion is accomplished by his Samson Agonistes in which he presents the mighty champion of Israel, Samson. It is autobiographical to a great extent.
In Milton‟s poetry we notice the grand style, the majesty of thought and diction and an astonishing descriptive power. We can also see his extraordinary insight into motives and character. There is high seriousness in his poetry. Milton is a consummate literary artist and his poetry is certainly an “outpouring of splendors”. The Caroline poetry and prose writers carried literature to the modernity.
AGE OF DRYDEN (1660-1700)
Dryden
In the year 1660, the Puritan Rule came to an end and Charles II was restored to
the throne of England. This great event is known as Restoration. The Age of
Dryden refers to the Restoration literature. The Age is different from the Puritan
Age in many aspects. The moral ideals of Puritanism were turned into jest. The
literature was defiantly corrupt and became pedestrian. Literature was intellectual
rather than emotional. Poetry became vehicle of argument, controversy, personal,
and political satire.
Dryden as a poet:
John Dryden is one of the most commanding figures in English literature. Though he tried criticism, drama and poetry, he is chiefly remembered as a poet. Also, he was the first one to hold the very high literary office- the Poet Laureateship in England.
Dryden is not that kind of poet, who got up one morning and found himself famous. He ripened slowly. There is quite a lot of difference between his early poetry and later poetry. His later poetry – especially The Fables shows an immense development of poetic capabilities in him. Dryden’s poetry is marked by want of certain very essential poetical qualities.
Dryden‟s Absalom and Achitophel- to defend the king‟s policy against Earl of Shaftesbury.
Mac Flecknoe- personal attack on his rival.
Religio Laici and The Hind and The Panther- religious poems
Dryden’s prose works consist mainly of essays and prefaces gealing with poetry and drama. Dryden‟s best criticism is to be found in the Essay of Dramatic Poesy. His prose style has earned him the title, “father of English criticism”.
AGE OF POPE(1700-1745)
pope
Poetry
The Major Characteristics of the Neo-Classical Poetry:
The Age of Pope is called the Classic Age and sometimes the Augustan Age of
English literature. It is called the Classic Age because the writers of the period
accepted the classical Latin writers as their models. The term „Augustan‟ was used
in the sense that it was believed that just as the Augustan Age was the golden age
of Latin literature, the Age of Pope was the golden age of English literature.
1. The Neo-Classical poetry reached its zenith and all the characteristics of this
poetry took the finest shape from the writers.
2. It is essentially town poetry, made out of the interests of „society‟ in the
centre of culture.
3. It is opposed to all that is „Romantic. The neo- classicists hate anything romantic.
4. They established a highly artificial and conventional style.
5. They paid greater attention to the didactic side of literature.
Drama
Defoe occupies an important position.
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe- well received by public
The Memoirs of a Cavalier
Captain Singleton
Moll Flanders
Colonel Jack
Roxana
The Journal of the Plague Year
These may be called pseudo-histories, if not novels.
His evolution of the English novel is universally acknowledged.
AGE OF JOHNSON (1745-1798)
Johnson
PROSE
Johnson wrote little poetry. None of it can be called first class. His first poem
London is a typical Augustan poem. His only other longish poem is The Vanity of
Human Wishes. It is also in the Augustan literature. As the title indicates, it shows
the vanity of human wishes.
NOVEL
The second half of the 18th century saw the abundant growth of the novel.
Realism, which dominated both life and literature.
The different ingredients of the novel such as romance, adventure, realism,
morality etc. had all been introduced already.
Henry Fielding’s Pamela, The Adventures of Joseph Andrew, Jonathan Wild, The History of Tom and Amelia.
These novels depict vice and exposes some of the most glaring evils.
POETRY
1. Emotion, passion, and imagination invaded poetry to the destruction of its intellectuality and didacticism.
2. Poetry ceased to concern itself exclusively with the „town‟ and began to deal with nature and rustic life. There was the growth of the sense of the picturesque.
3. The Romantic spirit revived and this revival brought in changes in themes and temper of verse.
4. An effort was made to break away from the conventions of „poetic diction‟ and to use simple language.
5. The supremacy of the closed couplet was attacked and other forms of verse were used.
UNIT IV
AGE OF WORDSWORTH
Wordsworth isn considered to be one of the greatest English poets.His contribution to English poetry is unique.He is the only European poet who looked upon nature as possessing a spirit closely akin to human being.His poems marked a clear departure from the conventional ones.His Ode on the Intimations of Immortality, Titern Abbey,Lines,Micheal & Resolution & Independence are some of his well-known poems. The Prulude is the record of the mind and soul.The Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth is an epoch- making book. Wordsworth is the greatest poet of the country and of natural life.
The Romantic poets generally fall into two groups, the elder and the younger. Wordsworth & Coleridge & Scott are the older poets. But Shelly, Keats & Byron are representatives of the younger romantics
Scott has a thorough knoeledge of the past. He is said to has popularized a form of the novel, a historical novel. His Ivanhoe is an imaginary novel, which has the historical background of the 12th C
Count Robert of paris is based on 11th C
Castle Dangerous on the 14th C
Quentin Durward on 15th C
Kenil Worth on 16th C
The fortunes of Nigel & Old Morality on 17th C
Scott not only deals with the history of Scotland & England but also with that of France.
AGE OF TENNYSON
Tennyson is the most representative poet of the Victorian England. His poetry appeal to his contemporaries because he had successfully combained romantic idealism & LOVE OF NATURE with a new temper of scientific materialism. He is a great master of poetic graft.His The Princess & In Memoriam are his most famous work.
Prose fiction was well established in the 18th century and it became very prominent in the 19th C. The novel became a vehicle of ideas as a means of amusement. Different writers employed novel to embody their general criticism of life. The spread of science made it social and humanitarian. The Spirit of religion and moral unrest was criticized often. Again, in its variety of matter and treatment, the Victorian novel is the index of many of many-sided interests and conflicting elements of the Victorian Age.
The Novelist tried to give a fairly comprehensive picture of contemporary society. We have novels of the sea and of military life,of high life, middle – class life, low life, criminal life and so on. The novel form has expanded on all sides and it would be impossible to give a detailed consideration of the Victorian novel.
There are three chief novelists of the period – Dickens Thackeray and Geroge Eliot.
UNIT V
AGE OF HARDY AND THE PRESENT AGE
Hardy was a novelist and a poet.
His first great novel is Far From the Madding Crowd.
His The Return of the Native – a study of man‟s helplessness
The Trumpet Major, The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Woodlanders, Tess of the D‟Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure were his famous novels.
The novel in the 20th century is different from those in earliest centuries. The modern novel is characterized by new techniques of characterization, new methods of narrating story, sociological and peychological considerations, etc. Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, James Joyce, Somerset Maugham, D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, and George Orwell are some of the most popular modern novelists