Old English literature: historical background

The Romans came to Britain in A.D. 43. At this time Britain was roman province, with Latine as the leading language. The period of roman ruling was time of prosperity Anglo-Saxons (Jutes, Angles, Saxons) came to Britain in AD 430. Anglo-Saxons came from Germany. The names ofweek days came fromAnglo-Saxon Gods' names. In this period all antic achievements of Romans were being destroyed by Anglo-Saxons.

Not at once literature was written. At the beginning literature was transmitted orally. The beginning of this period was called The Dark Ages - roman works were partially forgotten due to the fatt that there was nobody to translate them. The country was divided into counties. Literature was very characteristical as for the region, therefore it was different as for the region it came. In AD 600, Augustin became the bishop of Canterburry. In 597 he was sent by the Pope to christianize Britain.

After Anglo-Saxons, Vikings reached Britain. In the IX^th the country was divided into two parts. The North-East was governed by the Vikings, wheras the South-West by Anglo-Saxons.

Influences upon English literature:

1. Christianity

2. The literature of Antiquity

3. Stories, legends and historical materials of the Germanic people

4. Whole collection of orally-transmitted stories

Sources:

1. monasteries (places where monks live - nunneries)

2. courts, i.a. non-christian heroic epic poems

The characteristics of Hero:

1. brave

2. strong

3. great warrior

4. obey to certain code of behaviour

5. loyal to his lord and fellowmen

6. fights against humans as well as against beasts and monsters

7. his faith and destiny is to fall on the battlefield with dignity

Women in Old English literature:

Women in Old English were unimportant. Female characters were introduced only when it was necessary to emphasize hero's features. A:fter some time, there were introduced some female heroes, as Judith, but they derived its roots from the Bible.

The authors in Old English literature:

Mostly, authors were anonymous, due to the fact that writing a poem meant doing it for God. The authors didn't individualize as individualization was connected with materialism. Their aim was to show spiritual life and philosophy of life. Authors thanked to God. They stressed His role by emphasizing the fact that their existence is only for God. The reason for separating world into material and spiritual derived more from philosophy than writers' preferences.

The Pagans: Christian and pagan elements

Paganism was the religion observed by the majority of Norse and Scandinavian people until Christianity was brought about in the year 597 CE. The Christian church functioned as a group of missionaries, spreading the stories and parabies of Christ to the Germanic tribes and because this type of "story-telling" was a primary form of entertainment, Christianity became widely popular and took over as a major religion. Because many ofthe Germanic tribes were not literate, when stories and tales such as "Beowulf”' were recorded, the monks that did the scribing would cautiously insert Christian references. In the original scripts, no such Christian references were prevalent and in fact reference many Paganistic beliefs.

Pagan beliefs of the Old Norse, Germanic, and Scandinavian tribes reflceted that of the common good of a human's soul. Basic ideas such as loyalty to the king and willingness to stand the ground in battle were important ideas. Pagans believed that one could achieve immortality through doing great heroic deeds then living on through stories and songs told about them.

Beowulf: as a heroic and epic poem

"Beowulf” is an example of the oldest heroic epic poem. Heroes represent nation with its features. Heroes save the nations. They are presented at a wide social background.

The style of an epic poem:

1. pathetic, ceremonious

2. long narrative poem

3. heroes

4. "deeds" are of super human nature, i.e. fighting with dragons

5. heroes are presented at wide social context

6. magic, marvellous voyages

Beowulf was involved into Pagean tradition. It was created at the beginning of VII^th century (aboutA.D. 630). Firstly, it existed in oral tradition. Beowulf was written down at about X^th century.

Beowulf is a Geat (the Geats - people who lived on the area of today's South Sweden). I part tells about Beowulf and king Hrothgar (king ofthe Danes), who built Heorot, a great castle. King Hrothgar cast1e is hounted (visited) by dragon - Grendel. Hrothgar asks the Goats and Beowulf to help him with the monster. Beowulf wounds Grendel and the monster dies. After that, Grendel's mother wants to take revenge but Beowulf kills hero.

Next, there is a break between the 1^st and the 2^nd part ofthe poem, which lasts about 50 years. In the 2^nd part, Beowulf becames a king. One day somebody steals dragon's treasure, therefore the dragon is taking revenge on people. With help of young Wiglaf (the rest knights are cowards) Beowulf fights with the dragon but is deadly wounded and dies.

“Beowulf ” as a heroic poem:

1. hero (Beowulf)

2. heroic deeds (Saving the nation - Beowulf fights with dragons to protect people)

3. long, detailed descriptions of battles and castles (characteristic for epic form)

4. loyality to the king

The role of descriptions in “Beowulf”:

1. they provide the reader with detailed information of customs

2. they are used as there are no lyrical elements in “Beowulf”

3. they are building up a tension, through delaying the forthcoming events

Elegiac poem - expresses sorrow, which cause is loosing king's favour. It brings unhappiness to the author. The very structure of an elegiac poem is fixed. First part of poem refers to the past, which is happy, whereas the second part refers to the present, which is unhappy. This shows the sense of loyality. However, after some time comes the consolation.

Deor's Lament

It's an elegiac poem, derived from courtly poetry. Deor is a scop. One day he losts king's favour because there is a scop better than he.

Consolation - the author comes to terms with himself. He comes to mind that good and bad things are just transitory and they will pass away. The transitory of, for instance, privilages may be referred as to evitability of world's matters.

The refrain gives regularity, rhytm, convinces the reader and also the poet that his unhappiness is temporary in itself.

Alliteration - repetition of the same consonant at the beginning of stressed syllabes in a line, which is divided into two halves by caesura.

Caesura - divides line into two halves, with heavy stress on each.

"The Wanderer"

The structure of the poem is of four stress-lines of different lengths, divided by a caesura.

A man who was happy and respective in his lord's hall had lost his job because of the lord's death. Then he became wanderer. The sense of unhappiness is the lost of his lord (protection of the lord). He expresses consolitation, that the wealth is transitory.

"The Seafarer"

The poem may be treatet as a monologue or dialogue in which an old man, seafarer, is talking to young seafarer. The Seafarer is a highly singular 124 line poem that deals with the experience of an outsider. Indeed the poet's condition of exile has many parallels with the modern idea of the artist's estrangement from society. It begins with a lament of suffering until the speaker understands that he prefers to live a life of hardship on the waves rather than having security of land that he considers a pointess vanity. The poem can be considered an elegy, in fact the writer tends to contrast the hard times of the present with evocation of a glorious past: memory becomes a source of consolation.

Religious poem

"The Dream of the Rood" (the rood is Christ's cross)

It was written in VIII^th century by an anonymous poet. It's an example of a dream vision poem. In the poem, the scop describes his dream of a conversation with the wood of the Christian cross. Jesus is cast in the heroic model of a Germanic warrior, who faces his death unflinchingly and even eagerly. The Cross;speaking as if it were a member of Christ's band of retainers, accepts its fate as it watches its Creator die, and then explains that Christ's death was not a defeat buta victory. The Cross enumerates his functions: a) historical object;

b) religious conspect; c) the only way of salvation. At the end of the poem, narrator states how the dream changed his point of view on many things.

Chivalry - was in essence a warrior code which was later appropriated and propagated by the Church which added the Christian aspects. The Church intended to make the mounted soldiers of the Middle Ages into Christian knights who would protect the church and society rather than ravage it. In war, the chivalrous knight was idealized as brave in battle, loyal to his king and God, and willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Towards his fellow Christians and countrymen, the knight was to be merciful, humble, and courteous. Towards noble ladies above all, the knight was to be gracious and gentle. The idealized relationship between knight and lady was that of courtly love.

Courtly love - is a system of attitudes, myths, beliefs and rules which governed the real and imagined behavior of knights and their ladies as they pursued one another in a flirting and adulterous relationship which was supposed to flatter the lady and elevate, ennoble, and energize the knight.

Middle English literature

"The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer

A set of 24 stories written about 1387. The stories are either poetry or prose as well. In April, the pilgrims travell from London to Canterbury to pray for and visit shrine (relikwia, kaplica) of Thomas Becket, who was murdered in 1170 by four knights of Henry II. On the way to Canterbury, the Pilgrims stay in Tabard Inn in Southwark, where an owner of the Inn propose a competition of telling stories. Each pilgrim is to tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on return. It may suggest that there were 31 Pilgrims (124 : 4 = 31). However, the competition is not completed as there are only 24 stories already said. The Pilgrims represent different c1asses of society. The first story is being told by a knight, as he is the most important, and then there is his son turn. Among the Pilgrims, there are people of various professions, such as merchant, lawyer, cook, sailor, ploughman, miller and also ordinary people .

• Squire - a person who wants to be a knight

• Yeoman -late medieval British farmer of middling social status who owned his own land and often farmed it himself. Some yeomen had servants or laborers with whom they would work if they had the means to afford such services. Yeomen were usually peasants born in 1348 after "The Black Death", which was a devastating pandemic that first struck Europe in the mid-14th century (1347-50), killing about a third of Europe's population, an estimated 34 million people .

• The representatives of the church: prioress (przeorysze), nun, monk, priest, Friar

(braciszek, zakonnik) .

• Representatives of middle c1ass: merchant, Clerk of Oxford, seregant of the law

• Pardoner (sprzedawca odpustów)

• Chaucers (double identity refers to mental illness)

In the Prologue, there is a description of 21 Pilgrims. Chaucer is observer and he doesn't want to tell his story. On the other hand he is the one to introduce all Pilgrims. He has the position of reporter of events, what is an example of frame narrative structure. In this kind of narration, there is one reporter, who introduces all. At the same time, the Pilgrims are narrators of their own stories. In this way, Chaucer is a linking element for all stories. He is both the main narrator and reporter of events. In fact, he is one of the most intelligent and skillful Pilgrims in the story. Double identity of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to write in English language. He used language well­-understandable for common people. Earlier all works were written in French.

General Prologue:

• written in prose

• presents a materialistic view of life we can find out things about safety

• life was dominated by the power of the Church

• we get to know true, non-christian reasons for taking part in pilgrimages each story is provided in a short prologue

"Wife of Bath"

- physical apperance

She has a gap between her teeth, white hips, fine clothes (smart and expensive). She is still able to bom children (because of her hips). She is healthy.

- character and beliefs

She is c1ever, she can take care of herself. She is sociable, independent, talkative. She represents middle-c1ass woman. She is not religious. She expresses the feminine voice.

"Friar"

• expensive clothes

• twinkling eyes

• dignified joyful, loving fun

• strong, well-build

• takes money for confession

• likes gossips

• loves eating

• great singer

• knows all pub owners

• was a licenced begger

All representants of church are presented in "Canterbury Tales" as rich and loving women.

In "Canterbury Tales" we can find a lot o fliterarv genres:

• medieval romance - The story told by knight

• Fabliau - "The Miller’sTale" - humorous, short story in verse, which deals in a realistic manner with middle-class or lower-class characters, involved in a sexual intrigue or in other obscene pranks (żarty, wybryki, psoty). In a fabliau the bad characters are not punished, whereas the good ones are suffering pain .

• Beast fable - "The Nun’s Priest’s Tale" - a brief tale, in verse or prose, which conveys a morallesson, usually by giving human speech and manners to animals and inanimate things. This genre came from Aesop .

• Exemplum - "The Pardoner's Tale" - a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point (Pardoner discusses the evils of Gluttony obżarstwo, Drunkness, Gambling and Swearing) .

• Hagiography - "The second Nun's Tale" - writing devoted to recording and glorifying the life of saints and martyrs. (Nun tells the story about Saint Cecilia, who keeps preaching for three days even if she has her throat cut.

"Everyman"

Allegory - in other terms, greek word, it is a story or visual image with a second meaning, which is hidden behind the literary meaning. The principle technique of allegory is personification by which abstract qualities are given human shape and other characteristics (Knowledge, Good Deeds)

In this genre we can differenciate two kind of works. These are morality plays and dream vision allegories.

Morality play - a kind of religious drama, especially polular in XV ^th and XVI^th centuries. They are dramatized allegories in which personified vices przywary, vertures cnoty, temptations pokusy and other abstract qualities struggle for the soul of man as he travels from birth to death.

"Everyman" is based on a Dutch play "Elckerlijc". In "Everyman" we find the "very end of journey". It dramatizes the last moment of life. Everyman is summoned stawiany przed sądem to be called by death. The main characters ofthe drama are: Kindred, Death, Fellowship, Goods, Beauty, Strength, and similiar abstractions. In the final stage all earthly things is only vanity, except for Good Deeds.

The ideology of penance pokuta and the play is importance ofthe clergy as some kind of mediator between God and people. The play was pointed to the lay świecki audience in order to show how to get to Heaven.

Dream vision allegory - a kind of narrative, in verse, in which the narrator falls asleep and his dreams are events of the poem. Quite often there is a kind of journey to marvellous world in which the narrator-dreamer is instructed by a guide. "Piers Plowman" is an example of a dream in which narrator is.

"Piers Plowman"

It was written in the XIV^th century. There were three versions of this poem. The author of the poem is William Langland. He was the author of the first version, at least. It is said that the two other versions were written by five, different authors. William Langland was educated to be a priest, however he didn't become one. He made his living on rewriting books.

In "Piers Plowman", William Langland:

1. names specific vices, such as greed or preaching for money

b) criticizes the Church and Church' members openly straightforward bezpośrednio

c) uses the technique of a dream to be an excuse while criticizing church institutions

4. investigates christian practice of behaviour (the main topic of the poem is corruption)

5. uses alliteration - the poem is example for alliterative revival (reappear of alliterative meter in Middle English literature )

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"

One day the Green Knight appears in Camelot, King Arthur's castle. The Green Knight challenge s King Arthur to chop his head off but nabody wants. Then, sir Gawain decides to do it. Sir Gawain cuts Green Knight's head, but he gives a promise to Green Knight before cutting his head. The Green Knight takes his cut head and says to sir Gawain to remember about the promise. Then headless Green Knight rolles on his horse, also green, and leaves. After one year, sir Gawain goes to chapel to pray before setting off to the Green Knight, as he promissed. His way is very dangerous. He is very tired when he finds a castle and decides to stay there. The castle belongs to sir Barcilak, who is very happy to have such a famous guest in his castle. Sir Barcilak has also a very beautiful wife - Morgan le Fay. Sir Barcilak invites sir Gawain to take part in a three-day hunting. He makes a deal with sir Gawain which says that everything sir Bercilak hunts will be exchanged on that, what sir Gawain gets in the castIe during three subsequent days. At night sir Gawain is visited by sir Barcilak's wife. They make love because she insists on it and sir Gawain can't offend her by refusing. According to the deal, sir Barcilak gives to sir Gawain a hunted animai and receives a kiss in return. The same happens on the second day. On the fird day sir Gawain is given a green girdle pas which gives immortality to its owner. However, sir Gawain doesn't give the green girdle back to sir Barcilak.

Sir Gawain reaches the Green Chapel and meets the Green Knight. The Green Knight tries to chap sir Gawain's head but nothing happens to sir Gawain. The Green Knight turns out to be sir Bercilak. He wounds Sir Gawain. The wounds symbolize three days of hunting, which was a test for sir Gawain to check his knighthood.

Elements of romance in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight":

- knights, supposed to act according to the Code of ChivaIry

- evil enemy - The Green Knight

- quest wyprawa - sir Gawain must reach the Green Chapel in one year. The quest can function as the search for truth.

- tests (sir Barcilak's wife is testing sir Gawain's knighthood

- super natural elements: magic girdle, headless knight, dragans, monsters

- the struggle between good and evil

- the world is antimimetic - it hardly resembles przypomina extratextual world

Female characters in the romance:

Women had specific function to fulfill in the romance. They were the temprisers kusicielki. Another type is damsel in distress - a lady who needs rescuing. The role of women in the romance is limited. They function as pretext to the hero to show how courageous he is, and to test him.Courtly love:

The name was used in the XIX^th century by Gastain de Paris. The term was used as a name for heterosexual love. The woman is superior to the knight. She has power to give rewards. Courtly love is not self-seeking, self-gratifying or posessive. The lady cannot be knight's wife. The very roots of courtly love com e from christianity, from worshipping the Virgin Mary, as a perfect woman. Knights were to treat every woman as such. The word "romance" comes from Latin and refers to the culture connected with Mediterranen area.

We can divide romances in four tvpes as for the subject matter:

1. matter of France - Pieśń o Rolandzie

2. matter of Britain - King Arthur

3. matter of England - romances that refer to the Vikings

4. matter of Rome - they refer to the ancient Rome and Greece.

"The tragical history of life and death of dr Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe used the leged of selling a soul to the devil, to write his dr Faustus. It was the first medieval dramatic work devoted to that legend. The play could be based on a German work by Goethe. This German version was written two years befor Marlowe's. The play oscillates between two literary epoches: medieval morality play ("Everyman") and renaissance.

Dr Faustus is scientist and scholar. Knowledge is for him the most important. This feeling is stronger than the fear of devil. The moral may come from St. Matthews quotation:"What profits a man if he should gain the whole world and loose his own soul".

This work is a tragedy, written in a blank verse - unrhythmed verse of iambic pentameter. Iamb metrical foot consists of two syllabes - the first is unstressed, whereas the second stressed. It makes ten syllabes, which arranges like: unstressed, stressed, unstressed, ... , etc. Iambic pentameter with feminine ending consists of eleven syllabes, i. e. "To be or not to be, that is the question". Over 90% of English poetry is written in iambic pentameter.

The reason for tragedy is the conflict of choices, which appears in the renaissance. In "Dr Faustus", there is a psychology of main characters (dr Faustus and Mephistophilis) presented. There is also some morality from medieval drama inc1uded, as dr Faustus sacrifies to gain power.

Petrarchian sonnets:

Sonnet - lyric poem consisted of 14 rhythming lines, of equallength. In English these lines are in iambic pentameter.

In XIV^th century, there was a division of sonnet into two parts: octave followed by sestet. The octave consists of two quatrians ( four-line stanza):

a c c

b d d

b c c

a c d

a d c

b c e

b

a

Transition from octave to sestet coincides with the turn of argumentation or mood the poem.

The Renaissance

Shakespearian sonnets:

They are love poems, describing aspects of two different loves: for a young man (the Earl of Southampton or the Earl of Pembroke) and for a Dark Lady. Sonnets from 1 st to 126^th are addressed to this young man. The sonnets from 127^th to 154^th are addressed to Dark Lady.

sonnets	characteristics
1 -17	Author speaks of his friend's beauty. The poet insists that the young man should marry and have children to perpetuate uwiecznić his beauty beyond his death.
up to 77	The poet describes his love to the young man. In the course of sequence progress, the poet speaks about his disappointment that the young man has left him or at least, doesn't love him in return.
78 - 86	The poet fears that his place in his friend's affections has been taken by another superior poet, but as the sequence progresses, the spirit of love returns.

As for Dark Lady, she betrayed the poet's love by loving other man.

Shakespearian comedies:

light-hearted comedies with reference to love		more serious comedies
mistake of an identity stock theatrical devices disguise or crossdressing (men dress for women like in "The two gentlemen of Verona") complicated plot situational comedies soliloquy - words that actor says while al one on the stage. This monologue helps the audience to understand the play. wit - an ability to say something clever	full of melancholy meditation the tone is more serious

Shakespearian histories:

- the topical themes of rebellions and kingships

- they are full of patriotic and nationalistic sentences: "Hemy IV"

Shakespearian roman plays:

- they are treated as a part of the history because of the theme. However, the historical context is no longer England: "Julius Caesar", "Anthony and Cleopathra"

Shakespearian tragedies:

In his tragedies, Shakespeare expresses his thought about the Elizabethan times. In a very bitter way, Shakespeare expresses his sorrow and concerns. The main character of Shakespearian tragedies is an outstanding character, who experiences a downfall.

Hamartia - a mistake, which leads the character to a downfall. In tragedies, there is a eatastrophy eaused by men. The death of hero marks the establishment of order. There is also a kind of destiny involved. Another eommon point is madness (fake or real). Another eommon element is comic relief. Comic relief - a kind of scene, which provides an outlet for expressions, feelings, intense atmosphere. It is to provide a kind of break from tension. In "Hamlet"the comic relief is the scene with Grave Diggers In tragedies, characters are shown with the whole psychological depth. In tragedies, there appears also a chain of murders. One murdery leads to another. Tragedy - in tragedy the action is serious and there is a sense of purification, called catharsis, through incidents arousing pitty and sorrow. The protagonist is led to his downfall by a mistake. Shakespearian late romances: They are more lyrical than other works. They were written by Shakespeare towards end of his life. In later romance s the structure is the same: first1y, a sense of lost, then - a series of conflicts and finally, happy end. The Examples of late romances are: "The Tempest" and "The Winter’s Tale". Hamlet: The story of Hamlet derived in Danish history by Saxo Grammaticans from XII^t^h century. The story was probably adapted by Thomas Kyd ("Spanish tragedy"), who wrote "Vr-Hamlet" on which Shakespeare based. "The Spanish Tragedy" has a lot of paralells with "Hamlet": ghosts, play-within-the-play, dumb show. Another common element between these two is vengeance (zemsta) and obstacles to vengeance. Hamlet as a hero: From the very beginning, Hamlet is the one to take revenge, but he is hesitating - he hesitates to act. Finally, he takes revenge, but later on, dies after a downfall. Hamlet's tragic ./law is his hesitation. ~
Ophelia's madness	Hamlet's madness
True, not pretended. She dies after committing a suicide - she jumps into the river and drowns	He is afraid of Ophelia - he thinks she is a decay ofher father. He rejects her love. Hamlet pretend to be mad. It is a kind of mask for Hamlet not to reveal his plans. He wants to council his thoughts. He want s to reveal the truth of Claudius.

The concept of madness in "Hamlet":

Play-within-the-play - aliterary device used by Shakespeare. It is used to relieve the tension by making the audience aware of the fact, that they are watching a play, An example for this is the scene where Hamlet organizes a drama about "The Murder of Gonzago", which aim is to reveal the real murderer of his father and to check whether his mother was involved in the murdery.

Tragic flaw – a defect on character, which leads to a downfall, i. a. in “Macbeth” – desire for power; in “Hamlet – hesitation; in “Othello” – jealousy.

Metaphysical poetry

John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Carshaw, Andrew Marvell, Henry Vaughan, Abraham Cowley, Thomas Traherne.

There were two schools of poetry: metaphysical and cavaliere. The time of metaphysical poetry coincides with baroque era.

Metaphysical- refers to specific qualities, intelectual concepts.

Conceit - far- fetched and elaborated metaphor or simile. Conceit employs hiperballs, oxymorons and paradoxes. The function of conceit is to shock or surprise. Quite often, an ironic style is used.

Simile - something is asimile, when it contains "as" or "like".

The poetry is a mixture of strange paradoxes, oxymorons, elaborated and far- fetched imaginary. The poetry is filled with mysticism and irony. The poetry is called "realistic", however, it should be referred to as "mimetic".

Mimesis - pretending, that the world created is extratextual. It is not realistic, it just pretends to be such.

Quite often the theme of poems is love. The language is unpoetic, colloquial. Metaphysical poets break the view at whole poetry, based on decorum. John Donne rejects Greek and Latin allusions. He refers to contemporary philosophical and scientific metaphors. He focuses on "wit" .

Wit - is a form of intellectual humor, based on manipulation of concepts; a wit is someone who excels in witty remarks, typically in conversation and spontaneously, since wit carries the connotation of speed of thought. Wit often suffers on being relayed (you had to be there).

"The Flea" by John Donne

The poem is about a man, who is trying to persuade woman to make love. He refers to the flea. John Donne was the first poet to use word "sex" in the modern meaning. The concept of mingling blood expresses sexual interference. To emphasise, that man and woman consist a marriage, the argument of sacrilege is used. The act of killing the flea is for the man a sign to change the mo de of arguments, persuading.

"Easter Wings" by George Herbert

The very shape of the poem is referred to as hieroglyphic. Herbert was very religious. In his poems, he refers to God, priesthood. "Easter" refers to be reborn spiritually, to important christian celebrity. The poem seems to be a kind ofprayer in itself. The poem has prayer-like structure. Herbert says that the man was foolished because he wasted this all, what he was given from God. The phrase "most thin" means weak spiritually. Both stanzas end with a feeling of hope.

"The Collar"

The author enumerates the reasons for his leaving. He is a priest, but he is dissatisfied with priesthood, with his service. He compares his priesthood to a cage. He feels tired and urges himself to leave. He is trying to excuse himself why he is leaving. He experiences an internal conflict. He lost his vocation powołanie.He hesitates and has doubts. Pinally, he comes to terms with himself.

"Paradise Lost" by John Milton

"Paradise Lost" was written in 1667. It is about Adam and Eve, about how they lost their position in Eden. It was expanded into narrative poem. "Paradise Lost" includes stories of originally Satan - Lucifer. He was sent to hel l. He is desired to take revenge on God. The story opens in Hell, where Satan and his followers are recovering after war against God. Milton uses the technique of "in medias res".

In medias res (Latin for "into the middle of things") is a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story(getting readers interested) instead of from its beginning (ab initio). The characters, setting, conflict and previous events are introduced through a series of flashbacks. It is also called retrospection.

The Satan builds "Pademonium" , where he establishes council, which decides to explore new world and then, to take revenge. God foretells Satan's plans to Adam - a symbol of society. Satan, finally, finds the entrance to Eden and sees Adam and Eve. God sends Raphael to wam Adam and Eve against Satan. However, Satan induces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

In "Paradise Lost" there is also "solilo quy"( actor is alone on the scene and expresses his thoughts and emotions). The main source for this poem was the Bible. However, Milton made use of works of Homer, Edmund Spenser's (renaissance poet) "The Faerie Queene". The main theme is the rebellion of Satan against God. The man's first disobedience was breaking God' s law. The aim of writing the poem was to justify the ways of God to man.

Features of heroic poem:

• long, narrative poem invocation

• heroes: Adam, Eve, Satan, God

• Satan appears to be more sympathetic

• Deeds: creation ofhumanity, Satan acts against God Saving human kind

• Descriptions of battles

• Marvellous voyages

• Language of poem - pathetic, grand, ceremonious, epithets

• The use of "in medias res" - characteristic feature for heroic poems

The Enlightenment

The rise of the novel:

XVIII^th century was The Age of Reason. The novel was a new genre. According to the ideas of XVIII^th century, everything in the universe was to be explained in a natural way. It led to self-confidence. As for art, harmony, proportion and balance were praised. It was aslo the age of scientific discoveries. Sir Francis Bacon claimed that every scientific idea must be proved by experiment. William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood. Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke discovered the mechanics of breathing. Isaac Newton wrote "Principia", in which he elaborated on the gravity. Edmund Halley, a friend of Newton, discovered a comet. There were a lot of changes in philosophy in the Enlightenment. John Locke introduces epistomology (teoria poznania) and tabula rasa (the notion that individual human beings are born "blank" (with no built-in mental content), and that their identity is defined entirely by events after birth).

Thomas Hobbes expressed himself in "Leviathan". He believed that everybody is selfish. He claimed that the government is created to guide people from their selfishness. He believed that democracy would never work.

Sentimentalism - reaction against particular, materialistic philosophy of Hobbes. Sensibility covers these works, which prove the emotional side over material.

"Pamela" - an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, which shows connection between virtue and sensibility.

The features of sentimentalism novels:

The XIII^th century novel is different from the previous one because of:

• a prose narrative of:considerable length

• deals with a world of actual, human experiences

• the world of contemporary reader is presented

• the emphasis of individual features

• individual matters are more important than universal

• individuals presented in specific circumstances

• the novel is more mimaetic

• the treatment of time - time is specified

• temporal sequencing - close relationship between events

• the importance of physical background and setting, detailed descriptions

• the language is less rhetorical, more common and down-to-earth, language of mid-classes

• versimilitude - the language fits to characters

• authenticity (veracity -literary world imitates realistic world)

"The life and strange and surprising adventures of Robinson Cruzoe" by Daniel Defoe

It was published in 1719 and based on true story of Alexander Selkirk.

The novel is written in 1 st person narrative. The narrator is also one of the characters­Robinson Cruzoe. Whenever he appeares as a character, his knowledge of events is limited. When he appeares as a narrator he presents the story from a distance. The narrator adopts retrospective view. The consequence of this kind of narration is that the narrator adopts hero's point of view. However, the narrator is wiser and more experienced.

Robinson Cruzoe as anovel:

Most of novels were written in the 1 st person narration, as this kind of narration is used to establish versimilitude. It is easier for the reader to believe when narrator takes part in the novel. Nevertheless, there are life or experiences of only one person presented. The kind of narration influence s the model ofthe world, presented in the novel. The distance between narrator and reader is closer. The reader symphatizes with narrator. In the novel, the reader is more interested in individuals than in timeless truths. The language is plain, of middle-class people. The language also fits the characters, what is a mean for creating and maintaining versimilitude. "Robinson Cruzoe" is a representative of the novel as it has detailed descriptions. Also the individual treatment of character, place and time sticks to the features of the novel.

"Robinson Cruzoe" - the shortcomings of the genre of novel:

1. The novel lacks a plot. Instead of that, there is a series of episodes, where each episode is complete in itself. The episodes are also quite separate.

2. There are a lot of references to God. It's a basic providence opatrzność, who creates and rules the world. It's connected with the Puritan traditions (providence books which were aimed at teaching). Nevertheless, the middle­class people didn't appreciate of art. Early novels had to teach something not to be useless and questioned. That's why "Robinson Cruzoe" was published undercover providence book. The novel presents Robinson's struggle to survive and emphasises some values, so significant and desired within the middle-class.

3. The novel resembles a geme of "memoir novel” (tends to be authentic) due to its 1 st person narrative

"Gulliver's travells" by Jonathan Swift

Written in 1726. It's a1so referred to as allegorical satire. Allegory means speaking in other words. It hides some meaning beyond the main, visible meaning. In satire, the hidden meaning was usually political rather than religious. As for satire, it's exaggregating some failing to provoke to criticize. It can be a work within other work.

Gulliver doesn't express himself Swift' s ideas conceming the contemporary issues. Other people, representatives of other cultures, speak on behalf of whole culture. The book is full of philosophical thought. Swift encourages the reader himself to discuss these allusions on his own. On one hand, the novel can be dued to be an adventure story or a "travelogue", but on the other hand, the book can be treated as complex satire on the XVIII^th century morals and thoughts, what was exactly Swift's intention. The general idea of the novel was to show the experience of individual. An attention is also put to details.

"Clarissa Harlowe" by Samuel Richardson

epistolary novel- written in the form of series of letters. The upper- and middle-c1asses enjoyed leisure time and writing letters, was a way of spending that time. This novel is highly moralizing. The plot is more developed, characters' psycho is more complex - it makes the genre of the novel quite new one. The treatment of time is obayed. The form of letters requests the narration to be chronological. The objectivism is shown due to the fact that the letters are exchanged. The novel cannot be subjective if it describes an event on behalf of many witnesses. The distance between writing letters and reading them is shortened. The novel is interesting because of the treatment of time. Epistolary form provides the reader with variety of outlooks at the same events so that the reader cannot get bored with reading even about one single event. The reader can build his own version after reading few descriptions by different authors. This serves the purpose of authenticity and veracity. The psychological aspect of characters makes the story more reliable. Still, its aim is to moralize.

"Tom Jones the Foundling" by Henry Fielding

Written in 1749. Divided into three parts, each six books. Introductory essay preceides each book. By providing the reader with essays, the author builds a sense of veracity and authenticity. The narration is in 3^rd person. The narrator is observer and God-like figure.

Comedy - form of drama, associated with Ben Johnson, in which the character is explained on basis of phisical constitution.

Comedy of humor - a timeless satire on human character.

Comedy of manners - satire on special groups, it represents the code of behaviour. Plot concems with greed of the upper c1asses. Comedy of manners rewards the negative characters (as T om Jones) according to social conventions - the c1ever characters are rewarded.

"Tom Jones" is deeply rooted in "picaresque novel", which developed in the XVI^th century in Spain as a form of prose. The picaresque novel deals with adventures of a roque. In the novel, events are not link together by the logic of the plot, but by the roque and the chances of a long journey. In "Tom Jones" the stress is put to characters' behaviour. The narration is in the 1^st person.

"Tristram Shandy" by Laurence Steme

It supposes to be an autobiography. Tristram Shandy writes his autobiography. He starts it when he was not born yet. He uses digresions and allusions, drifting away for a time. The work is not chronological- it refers to the life, which is also not chronological. Lawrence Stern experimented with narration, thus contributed to the genre. The traditional narration is disturbed. "Tristram Shandy" is an entertaining work.

Romanticism

This term came into use in the middle of the 19^th century. It stands in the opposition to the Age ofReason (18^th cent).

The main features of romantics:

• Sensibility - the main cognitive tool

• The dependence on emotions rather than reason

• The rejection of social and literary hierarchy

• Plain, understandable language for common people

• Interest in individuals - poetry should be about common people

• Madness as the source of wisdom

• The poet is one of the common people, but with superior sensibility. He can imagine things which do not exist

• Poetry is "spontanious overflow of powerful feelings' (Wordworth)

• Poetry should be written in tranquity, not in the very moment of experiencing

"The Lamb" William Blake

It's divided into two stanzas. The rhythming pattem is couplet (two rhyming stanzas). The lines repeat function as a refrain. Simple rhyming pattem - "nursery rhymes", child-like. The poem tells about alamb. The lamb is a metaphor with different meanings: 1) Jesus Christ (He called himself a lamb); 2) people (humanity is perceived as God's children -lambs)

The 1^st stanza consists of a series of questions about the creation of humanity. The adjectives, such as tender, mild, meek, carry a positive meaning and attributes. The poem tells also about childhood. For Blake, childhood means a specific state of the soul. In the poem, the features of childhood are included: tenderness, innocence, purity, simplicity.

The Song of Innocence: "Infant Joy"

The adjectives used are of positive meaning: happy, sweet, pretty - they express the good aspects of human life. In the poem, words appear at random, what imitates the language of children. Also the lines are short.

The Song ofExperience: "Infant Sorrow"

The adjectives used are rather negative: sorrowful, naked - they express the bad aspects of human life. In the poem, the author comes to terms with the sorrowful side of life. The poem is more mature (maturity as a state ofthe soul). The poem is regular, two four-line stanzas, what expresses more experience.

"The Tiger"

Fom-line, regular stanzas. It has repetitions and questions in common with "The Lamb". There are no answers to any question. The reader is involved in a game of answering the questions apart from the poem. The poem elaborates on sorrowful side of life: terror, fearful. Hammer, chain and anvil symbolize industrial revolution.

"The Clod and the Pabble"

It consists of three stanzas. The poem combines two attitudes towards love, which complete each other.

	The Song of Innocence		The Song of Experience
Simplicity World is stable - simple answers to simple questions Childhood as a state of soul Influenced by children songs, ballads, hymns, folk traditions Biblical elements - symbolic world of biblical tradition		Poems concern with humanity, evil, problematic matters World without simple answers Maturity as a specific state of soul Poems are more personal

"I wandered lonely as a cloud" by William Wordsworth

Four stanzas, personifications, comparisons. The scenes author describes in the three first stanzas are imaginary. The 4^th stanza brings another time and place.

Wordsworth implies all ingredients of romantic poetry to his poem:

• sight, views

• he sees more than others

• influence of nature upon the poet

• the change of mood, conscious process of evoking strong and spontanous emotions and feelings

• 4^th stanza is a temporai shift - the sense of tranquity

• solitude specific language: ordinary sight presented in unordinary way

BRITISH MODERNISM

"Heart ar Darkness" by Joseph Conrad

The main themes are journey and seeking for truth which are closely related. Journey is treated both as a journey up the Congo River and the journey to oneself (insi de Marlow's psycho). The novel is written in l st person narrative. The narration of Marlow is documentary­ like - it increases veracity.

There are some symbols in the novel:

1. blackness - Africa, natives, evil;

2. cannibals - civility, free, wild, strong, honorable;

3. ivory - purity, corruption, killing, madness;

4. ivory ball - corruption, desire for extermination;

5. jungle - darkness, evil forces, mystery;

6. the Congo River - temptation, the river protects Africa

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