The Wanderer
grim
loneliness
pathetic
his life is determined by somebody else
there is a narrator
The "beasts of battle" motif, often found in Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry, is here modified to include not only the standard eagle, raven and wolf, but also a "sad-faced man". It has been suggested that this is the poem's protagonist.
The ubi sunt or "where is" formula is here in the form "hwær cwom", the Old English phrase "where has gone". The use of this emphasises the sense of loss that pervades the poem.
The Wanderer conveys the meditations of a solitary exile on his past glories as a warrior in his lord's band of retainers, his present hardships and the values of forbearance and faith in the heavenly Lord.
Wyrd (he loses his lord)
The psychological or spiritual progress of the wanderer has been described as an "act of courage of one sitting alone in meditation", who through embracing the values of Christianity seeks "a meaning beyond the temporary and transitory meaning of earthly values"
Gnomic line - carries universal wisdom
Kenning - fixed metaphor (e.g. sea - the whale's road)
The Dream of the Rood
two speakers
one who had a dream and the Cross
dreamer is going to tell us his dream
he's a sinner
alliteration appears (e.g. stained with sins, wounded with wrongdoings)
by using “listen” he grabs our attention
The Cross takes over (it has jewels, covered in gold)
The Cross is personified
It empathies with Christ, shares suffering
Christ has new names : The Mighty King, Lord of the Heavens, God of Hosts, Warrior
Litotes - understatement (antyfraza)
Everyman
- Everyman is a morality play, an allegorical drama that teaches a lesson about how Christians should live and what they must do to save their souls. A morality play is, in effect, a sermon that is acted out. The characters of a typical morality play include personifications of virtues (such as hope and charity), vices (such as pride and sloth), or other qualities, as well as personifications of objects (such as money) or activities (such as death or fellowship). In addition, God and angels may appear as characters, as they do in Everyman.
- The tone of the play is solemn and dignified.
allegory has only one idea
Everyman is united with God at the end
Antropomorphization of God
Sola fide - faith only
Everyman: Typical human being who has neglected his spiritual life but repents his sins in time to be saved.
God: Just but merciful Supreme Being.
Death: Messenger commanded by God to summon Everyman.
Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Material Goods: Earthly acquaintances of Everyman who abandon him in his time of need.
Good Deeds: The only friend willing to accompany Everyman to the afterlife.
Knowledge: Character that tells Everyman what he must do to obtain salvation.
Confession: Character representing the sacrament of penance. Everyman confesses his sins to this character.
Discretion, Strength, Everyman's Five Wits, Beauty: Earthly acquaintances of Everyman who abandon him in his time of need.
Angel: Creature that welcomes Everyman to the celestial realm.
Doctor: Scholar who delivers words of warning at the end of the play.
Themes: Live for Tomorrow, The Deceptive Appearance of Sin, Material vs Spiritual Gain, God's Mercy, Final Judgment
Canterbury Tales
estate satire
tells stories to entertain
narrator doesn't judge the characters
pretends to be innocent and ignorant
all classes apart from highest and lowest (royal, peasants)
classes/estates - military, clergy, laity
description of spring (April)
there's no snow, roads clear, easier to go on pilgrimage
spring as the beginning of something
reasons for pilgrims: make up for sins, to beg for something, for holiday, entertainment, to socialize (religious reasons vs. trivial reasons)
General Prologue
The General Prologue was probably written early in the composition of the Canterbury Tales, and offers an interesting comparison point to many of the individual tales itself. It offers useful or enlightening suggestions, but they are no means a complete, reliable guide to the tales and what they mean. What the General Prologue offers is a brief, often very visual description of each pilgrim, focusing on details of their background, as well as key details of their clothing, their food likes and dislikes, and their physical features.
Knight's tale
women wore black, were in grief
they couldn't bury the husbands bodies
Theseus found two soldiers, he couldn't kill them
Names: Arcite, Palamon
They were imprisoned in the tower, they started hating each other because of a woman: Emily
They fell in love with her
Role of Emily: very passive, annoying, just exists
Main theme: the wheel of fortune, God is put in the centre
Characters are praying to different gods (Mars: war, Venus: beauty,love, Diana: chasitity
About the knight
slim, experienced, returned from Latvia, man of action, still wearing the same clothes, courteous, crusader, anachronistic figure, obeys chivalrous code
Romance:
language is suited to each character
love is unhappy, irresistible, unreachable, rivalry of men, courtly love
The Miller's tale
appearance of the Miller: fat, drunk, bad-looking, hair sticking out of his nose
John has got a wife, 18-years-old Allison, Nicholas, the student, wants to have sex with her, Absolon (the clerk) falls in love with Allison and she farts in his face
Moral teaching: if we fool people, they would take revenge
Fabliau, low-brow (scatological) humour, bad language, bawdy, filthy,
Both stories tell about love but in the second one it's all about the sex. In the first one, the woman is an angel, Allison isn't passive, she stands in contrast to Emily, love has different shapes, mix of spiritual and sexual
Merchant of Venice
Themes: self interest vs love, the divine quality of mercy, hatred as a cyclical phenomenon
Symbols: the three caskets, the pound of flesh, Leah's ring
Motives: the law, cross-dressing (Jessica)
Characters:
Shylock, Porcia, Antonio, Bassanio, Jessica, Lorenzo
Antonio is sad for no reason, Graciano suffers from the lack of depth
Cascets: gold, silver, lead
Antonio In love with Jessica, Bassanio in love with Porcia
Porcia dislikes prince of Marocco because of his dark complexion
Mixture of comedy and tragedy
If you're not a Christian, you're going to Hell
Shylock's speech: hates Antonio and Christians
Antonio and Shylock: similarity - they both don't understand sense of their religion, hypocrites, both forever alone
Porcia: “Which is the Jew here, which is the merchant”
Porcia: clever, little cruel creature, kind of feminist, fast, much more cruel than Antonio, strong personality
Love: Antonio and Bassanio - homosexual relationship
Antonio a little be cruel - his last wish, he wants Bassanio to see his death
Bassanio and Porcia: she's pretty, attractive, richly left
Venetian Christians are very greedy, the love is not romantic
Jessica and Lorenzo: she had to steal the money, she had to have them to be accepted into the Christian community
Antisemitism: Shakespeare criticizes Christians but at the end the Jew is punished humiliated
Three contexts: the city of Venice, historical context,
type of work · Play
genre · Comedy
language · English
time and place written · 1598; London, England
date of first publication · First published in the Quarto of 1600
publisher · I. R. for Thomas Heys
tone · Comic, romantic, tragic
setting (time) · Sixteenth century
setting (place) · Venice and Belmont, Italy
protagonist · There is no clear protagonist. Antonio is the merchant of the play's title, but he plays a relatively passive role. The major struggles of the play are Bassanio's quest to marry Portia and his attempt to free Antonio from Shylock, so Bassanio is the likeliest candidate.
major conflict · Antonio defaults on a loan he borrowed from Shylock, wherein he promises to sacrifice a pound of flesh.
rising action · Antonio's ships, the only means by which he can pay off his debt to Shylock, are reported lost at sea.
climax · Portia, disguised as a man of law, intervenes on Antonio's behalf.
falling action · Shylock is ordered to convert to Christianity and bequeath his possessions to Lorenzo and Jessica; Portia and Nerissa persuade their husbands to give up their rings
themes · Self-interest versus love; the divine quality of mercy; hatred as a cyclical phenomenon
motifs · The law; cross-dressing; filial piety
symbols · The pound of flesh; Leah's ring; the three caskets
foreshadowing · In the play's opening scene, Shakespeare foreshadows Antonio's grim future by suggesting both his indebtedness to a creditor and the loss of his valuable ships.
Shakespeare's sonnets
18 (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?)
We don't know the addressee, eye of heaven - the sun, the main villain: time - beauty will vanish, time could ruin everything, infatuation
The language: sophisticated, noble, resembles Petrarchian love
29 (When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes)
The speaker may be the poet, bootless - useless, he becomes his worst enemy, happly-forunately, speaker is depressed, he is cast out from society, the speaker finds himself envying what others have, he sees almost everyone as having something he lacks, as the lark "sings hymns at heaven's gate," so the poet's soul is invigorated with the thought of the fair lord, and seems to sing to the sky with rejuvenated hope. The final couplet of Sonnet 29 declares that this joyfulness brought about by a thought of the fair lord is enough to convince the speaker that he is better off than royalty.
66 (Tired with all these, for restful death I cry)
Death wish, not satisfied with the world, talking in general, listing all wrong things, parataxis - szereg zdań złożonych współrzędnie
130 (My mistress' eyes are nothing like the Sun)
The speaker is down to earth, never sees her as beautiful as sun, coral etc., loves her but is aware of her imperfections, seems to be tired, metapoetry, deconstruction (takes Petrarchian sonnet and changes it), dun - brownish colour, damask - reddish, pinkish colour
138 (When my love swears that she is made of truth)
Emotional logic, lie with her (telling lies, lying with each other), vainly - in vain, to flatter
Metaphysical poetry: going beyond, erotic, about love, more intellectual, intellect + emotions
Definition: heterogeneous ideas are yoked as if by violence together (very different ideas are brought together)
The metaphysical poets: term coined by Dryden, influenced by the spirit of the times, religious and political tensions, a modern scientific and empirical viewpoint, more intellectual in subject matter and style, the poems are analytical and usually follow a logical order of development.
Combination of thought and feeling (e.g. a poet may express his relation to his mistress using mathematical, astronomical or geographical terms)
John Donne
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Very sophisticated, spiritual love, quite tone (whisper), touch of melancholy
Valediction: saying goodbye
1st stanza: man passing away, virtuous men die in silence, calmly
2nd stanza: there should be no flood of tears, other people shouldn't know about our departion, something sacred is compared to something profane
3rd stanza: trepidation - trembling, shaking, earthquake
4th stanza: this kind of love cannot survive, lovers cannot survive separation, it's only sensual love, it doesn't go deep enough but their love is different, more spiritual
6th stanza: our love is compared to gold which can be stretched
7th and others: two lovers are compared, this parting isn't really a parting
The Flea
Everyday situation, playful, slightly cynical, seduction poem, trying to seduce
1st stanza: not very elegant, thinking ordered to follow argument, little story, meant to be witty, rather about sex, talking to his would be mistress, says directly to a woman
“Alas” - getting desperate
“A sin nor shame” - all about sex
The speaker envies the insect “Yet this enjoys before it woo”
Flea sucking blood of two lovers
2nd stanza: flea - a little bit like a priest
religious vocabulary: cloister, sacrilege, sin
3rd stanza: he kills the insect, after killing everything's fine and everything would be ok if they had sex
George Herbert
The Pulley
In the poem, the central idea posited by Herbert is that when God made man, he poured all his blessings on him, including strength, beauty, wisdom, honor and pleasure. However, as in Pandora's box, one element remained. We are told that God "made a stay," that is, He kept "Rest in the bottome." We might, in modern parlance, call this God's ace. God is aware that if He were to bestow this "jewel" (i.e. rest) on Man as well then Man would adore God's gifts instead of God Himself. God has withheld the gift of rest from man knowing fully well that His other treasures would one day result in a spiritual restlessness and fatigue in man who, having tired of His material gifts, would necessarily turn to God in his exhaustion. God, being omniscient and prescient, knows that there is the possibility that even the wicked might not turn to Him, but He knows that eventually mortal man is prone to lethargy; his lassitude, then, would be the leverage He needed to toss man to His breast. In the context of the mechanical operation of a pulley, the kind of leverage and force applied makes the difference for the weight being lifted.
The Collar
The subject matter of The Collar is very similar to Herbert's Affliction I in its autobiographical tone and its sense of frustration barely resolved at the end. Unlike that poem, however, the object of the complaint is not at all clear. Only at the very end is there both reversal and revelation, to give a suitable surprise ending.The title is a play on words. Most obviously a collar is something you put on an animal to restrain it, just as Herbert feels restrained by an unknown master. Collars are also used as part of harness for animals pulling heavy loads. The word sounds like another word `choler', which is an old medical term for anger, or that which produces anger in the body, as in the word `choleric'. It certainly is an angry poem, written before Herbert did seek ordination, but maybe at a time when that seemed the only career still open to him, as it did to John Donne. (Modern readers might also appreciate the unintended pun on the 'dog collar' worn since the 19th century by the clergy.)
Andrew Marvell
To His Coy Mistress
"To His Coy Mistress" is divided into three stanzas or poetic paragraphs. It's spoken by a nameless man, who doesn't reveal any physical or biographical details about himself, to a nameless woman, who is also biography-less.
During the first stanza, the speaker tells the mistress that if they had more time and space, her "coyness" (see our discussion on the word "coy" in "What's Up With the Title?") wouldn't be a "crime." He extends this discussion by describing how much he would compliment her and admire her, if only there was time. He would focus on "each part" of her body until he got to the heart (and "heart," here, is both a metaphor for sex, and a metaphor for love).
In the second stanza he says, "BUT," we don't have the time, we are about to die! He tells her that life is short, but death is forever. In a shocking moment, he warns her that, when she's in the coffin, worms will try to take her "virginity" if she doesn't have sex with him before they die. If she refuses to have sex with him, there will be repercussions for him, too. All his sexual desire will burn up, "ashes" for all time.
In the third stanza he says, "NOW," I've told you what will happen when you die, so let's have sex while we're still young. Hey, look at those "birds of prey" mating. That's how we should do it - but, before that, let's have us a little wine and time (cheese is for sissies). Then, he wants to play a game - the turn ourselves into a "ball" game. (Hmmm.) He suggests, furthermore, that they release all their pent up frustrations into the sex act, and, in this way, be free.
In the final couplet, he calms down a little. He says that having sex can't make the "sun" stop moving. In Marvell's time, the movement of the sun around the earth (we now believe the earth rotates around the sun) is thought to create time. Anyway, he says, we can't make time stop, but we can change places with it. Whenever we have sex, we pursue time, instead of time pursuing us. This fellow has some confusing ideas about sex and time. Come to think of it, we probably do, too. "To His Coy Mistress" offers us a chance to explore some of those confusing thoughts.
Robert Herrick
To the Virgins, to make much of time
From the title, we can tell that the speaker is addressing this poem to a group of virgins. He's telling them that they should gather their "rosebuds" while they can, because time is quickly passing. He drives home this point with some images from nature, including flowers dying and the sun setting. He thinks that one's youth is the best time in life, and the years after that aren't so great. The speaker finishes off the poem by encouraging these young virgins to make good use of their time by getting married, before they're past their prime and lose the chance.
Beowulf
Epic poem, around 700 a.d.
Action takes place in 500 a.d.
Many of the characters in the poem—the Swedish and Danish royal family members, for example—correspond to actual historical figures
The plot of the poem concerns Scandinavian culture, but much of the poem's narrative intervention reveals that the poet's culture was somewhat different from that of his ancestors and that of his characters as well.
Beowulf is often referred to as the first important work of literature in English, even though it was written in Old English, an ancient form of the language that slowly evolved into the English now spoken.
type of work · Poem
genre · Alliterative verse; elegy; resembles heroic epic, though smaller in scope than most classical epics
language · Anglo-Saxon (also called Old English)
time and place written · Estimates of the date of composition range between 700 and 1000 a.d.; written in England
date of first publication · The only manuscript in which Beowulf is preserved is thought to have been written around 1000 a.d.
publisher · The original poem exists only in manuscript form.
narrator · A Christian narrator telling a story of pagan times
point of view · The narrator recounts the story in the third person, from a generally objective standpoint—detailing the action that occurs. The narrator does, however, have access to every character's depths. We see into the minds of most of the characters (even Grendel) at one point or another, and the narrative also moves forward and backward in time with considerable freedom.
tone · The poet is generally enthusiastic about Beowulf's feats, but he often surrounds the events he narrates with a sense of doom.
tense · Past, but with digressions into the distant past and predictions of the future
setting (time) · The main action of the story is set around 500 a.d.; the narrative also recounts historical events that happened much earlier.
setting (place) · Denmark and Geatland (a region in what is now southern Sweden)
protagonist · Beowulf
major conflict · The poem essentially consists of three parts. There are three central conflicts: Grendel's domination of Heorot Hall; the vengeance of Grendel's mother after Grendel is slain; and the rage of the dragon after a thief steals a treasure that it has been guarding. The poem's overarching conflict is between close-knit warrior societies and the various menaces that threaten their boundaries.
rising action · Grendel's attack on Heorot, Beowulf's defeat of Grendel, and Grendel's mother's vengeful killing of Aeschere lead to the climactic encounter between Beowulf and Grendel's mother.
climax · Beowulf's encounter with Grendel's mother constitutes the moment at which good and evil are in greatest tension.
falling action · Beowulf's glorious victory over Grendel's mother leads King Hrothgar to praise him as a worthy hero and to advise him about becoming king. It also helps Beowulf to transform from a brazen warrior into a reliable king.
themes · The importance of establishing identity; tensions between the heroic code and other value systems; the difference between a good warrior and a good king
motifs · Monsters; the oral tradition; the mead-hall
symbols · The golden torque; the banquet
foreshadowing · The funeral of Shield Sheafson, with which the poem opens, foreshadows Beowulf's funeral at the poem's end; the story of Sigemund told by the scop, or bard, foreshadows Beowulf's fight with the dragon; the story of King Heremod foreshadows Beowulf's eventual ascendancy to kingship.
Othello
full title · The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
author · William Shakespeare
type of work · Play
genre · Tragedy (character fights against fate, downfall of protagonist, serious play, in Greek tragedies happy ending allowed, should imitate reality, usually written in verses, stories about families, political leaders)
language · English
time and place written · Between 1601 and 1604, England
date of first publication · 1622
publisher · Thomas Walkley
tone · Shakespeare clearly views the events of the play as tragic. He seems to view the marriage between Desdemona and Othello as noble and heroic, for the most part.
setting (time) · Late sixteenth century, during the wars between Venice and Turkey
setting (place) · Venice in Act I; the island of Cyprus thereafter
protagonist · Othello
major conflict · Othello and Desdemona marry and attempt to build a life together, despite their differences in age, race, and experience. Their marriage is sabotaged by the envious Iago, who convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful.
rising action · Iago tells the audience of his scheme, arranges for Cassio to lose his position as lieutenant, and gradually insinuates to Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful.
climax · The climax occurs at the end of Act III, scene iii, when Othello kneels with Iago and vows not to change course until he has achieved bloody revenge.
falling action · Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio's room and later arranges a conversation with Cassio, which Othello watches and sees as “proof” that Cassio and Desdemona have slept together. Iago unsuccessfully attempts to kill Cassio, and Othello smothers Desdemona with a pillow. Emilia exposes Iago's deceptions, Othello kills himself, and Iago is taken away to be tortured.
themes · The incompatibility of military heroism and love; the danger of isolation
motifs · Sight and blindness; plants; animals; hell, demons, and monsters
symbols · The handkerchief; the song “Willow”
foreshadowing · Othello and Desdemona's speeches about love foreshadow the disaster to come; Othello's description of his past and of his wooing of Desdemona foreshadow his suicide speech; Desdemona's “Willow” song and remarks to Emilia in Act IV, scene iii, foreshadow her death.
In Othello, 1604, Shakespeare also alludes to cats as green-eyed monsters in the way that they play with mice before killing them.
Iago:
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But, O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!
Bestiary
text relates to beasts
animal stories in middle ages were very popular, many versions of them
background is vital in literature
people have some interest in animals around them
mystical aspects between to animals
allegory was used
The Lion
prowling restlessly, hunter of humans, terrible, awful
similar to God, he's powerful, watchful
Lord is also on the hill, watching you, similar to the Lion
You should not sin because He always knows what you are doing
The Whale
the devil
hugest in the sea, giant
deceiving
eating small fish (people with small faith), cannot hold big ones (people with strong faith)
Alexander Pope
An Essay on Criticism
heroic couplet
didactic poem
key words: wit, nature, rules, genius, judgment
imitation of the ancient writers: use of rules
artists should follow nature
nature is unchangeable, will guide you
Greece is personified
Laws for the critics
False critics and fashionable critics
Nature: unique the way it is, establishes some laws, limits, we should refer to them, it's divine, perfect
learn as much as you can
dig deeper, not just the surface
climbing mountains = being a critic is a hard task
not focus too much on mistakes, focus on the whole work, try to understand
avoid quick judgment
pride is the vice of fools
pride takes over when you're not educated
the cloud = the pride
“trust not yourself, make use of every friend and every foe”
“a little learning is a dangerous thing”
“a perfect judge will read each work of wit with the same spirit”
False critics
they value the book just by looking at it
expression is the dress of thought
they focus on rhymes
thought = wounded snake
Qualities needed for a good critic
let truth shine,
be silent always when you doubt your sense
be tactful when expressing criticism
how to convey criticism? Know how to use words