MA English Paper-II Poetry PDF

POETRY – I MA English - I Semester -Paper-II LESSON WRITER VIJAYABABU KOGANTI Senior Lecturer in English Govt.Degree College, Chebrole, Guntur (Dt)...

POETRY – I MA English - I Semester -Paper-II LESSON WRITER VIJAYABABU KOGANTI Senior Lecturer in English Govt.Degree College, Chebrole, Guntur (Dt) EDITOR DR.B.VARALAKSHMI (Retd.), Reader in English Government Degree College for Women Guntur. DIRECTOR Dr. Nagaraju Battu M.H.R.M., M.B.A., L.L.M., M.A. (Psy), M.A., (Soc), M.Ed., M.Phil., Ph.D. Centre for Distance Education Acharya Nagarjuna UniversityNagarjuna Nagar-522510 Phone No.0863-2346208, 0863-2346222, Cell No.9848477441 0863-2346259 (Study Material) Website: www.anucde.info e-mail: [email protected]  M.A (English) : POETRY-I First Edition: 2021 No. of Copies © Acharya Nagarjuna University This book is exclusively prepared for the use of students of M.A (English) Centre for Distance Education, Acharya Nagarjuna University and this book is mean for limited circulation only Published by Dr. Nagaraju Battu Director Centre for Distance Education Acharya Nagarjuna University Nagarjuna Nagar-522510 Printed at  FOREWORD Since its establishment in 1976, Acharya Nagarjuna University has been forging ahead in the path of progress and dynamism, offering a variety of courses and research contributions. I am extremely happy that by gaining ‘A’ grade from the NAAC in the year 2016, Acharya Nagarjuna University is offering educational opportunities at the UG, PG levels apart from research degrees to students from over 443 affiliated colleges spread over the two districts of Guntur and Prakasam. The University has also started the Centre for Distance Education in 2003-04 with the aim of taking higher education to the door step of all the sectors of the society. The centre will be a great help to those who cannot join in colleges, those who cannot afford the exorbitant fees as regular students, and even to housewives desirous of pursuing higher studies. Acharya Nagarjuna University has started offering B.A., and B.Com courses at the Degree level and M.A., M.Com., M.Sc., M.B.A., and L.L.M., courses at the PG level from the academic year 2003-2004 onwards. To facilitate easier understanding by students studying through the distance mode, these self-instruction materials have been prepared by eminent and experienced teachers. The lessons have been drafted with great care and expertise in the stipulated time by these teachers. Constructive ideas and scholarly suggestions are welcome from students and teachers involved respectively. Such ideas will be incorporated for the greater efficacy of this distance mode of education. For clarification of doubts and feedback, weekly classes and contact classes will be arranged at the UG and PG levels respectively. It is my aim that students getting higher education through the Centre for Distance Education should improve their qualification, have better employment opportunities and in turn be part of country’s progress. It is my fond desire that in the years to come, the Centre for Distance Education will go from strength to strength in the form of new courses and by catering to larger number of people. My congratulations to all the Directors, Academic Coordinators, Editors and Lesson- writers of the Centre who have helped in these endeavours. Prof. P. Raja Sekhar Vice-Chancellor (FAC) Acharya Nagarjuna University  102EG21: POETRY- I UNIT – I Background Study: Middle English Period, Renaissance Humanism and Empiricism, Puritanism, Metaphysical conceits, Neoclassicism, Romantic Revival, Influence of French Revolution and Platonic Idealism, Poetic forms: Epic, Mock-epic, Augustan Satire, Elegy, Lyric, Ode, Dramatic Monologue. UNIT II John Milton : Paradise Lost, Book I UNIT III John Keats : Ode on Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to Autumn. P.B Shelley : Ode To Skylark, Ode To West Wind. UNIT IV John Donne : The Sun Rising, The Ecstasy. Alexander Pope : The Rape of The Lock Unit V William Wordsworth : Prelude, Book 1 Robert Browning : The Last Ride Together, My Last Duchess SUGGESTED READINGS: 1. Daiches, David. (1979). A Critical History of English Literature. Bombay: Allied Publishers. 2. Grierson, H.J.C. ( 2014 ). A History of English Poetry. CUP. 3. Daiches, David. (2014 ed. ). History of English Literature. (4 Volumes). CUP. 4. Eagleton, Terry. (2007). How to Read a Poem. Oxford: Blackwell. 5. Lewis, C. S. (1942). A Preface to Paradise Lost. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 6. Vendler, Helen. (1983). The Odes of John Keats. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.  POETRY-I Content Lesson Name Page No 1. Background to the Study of English Poetry 1.1 – 1.9 2. Geoffrey Chaucer 2.1- 2.10 3. Chaucer's Prologue to Canterbury Tales 3.1 – 3.5.6 4. A Critical Study Of ‘Prologue’ 4.1 – 4.9.2 5. Introduction To Paradise Lost 5.1 – 5.9.2 6. A Close Study of the Text Paradise Lost Book I 6.1 – 6.8 7. A Close Study of the Text Paradise Lost Book I (Part-2) 7.1 – 7.8 8. Critical Analysis Of Paradise Lost 8.1 – 8.7 9. Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock 9.1 – 9.8 10. Alexander Pope’s The Rape Of The Lock - A Critical Study 10.1 – 10.9 11. He Odes Of johnkeats-1 11.1 – 11.9.1 12. John Keats - 2 (Ode on a Grecian Urn) 12.1 – 12.7 13. Ode To Autumn 13.1 – 13.7 14. Ode to Psyche by John Keats 14.1 – 14.8 15. Ode on Melancholy 15.1 – 15.7 16. A Brief Introduction To William Wordsworth’s Prescribed Poems 16.1 – 16.9 17. Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey 17.1 – 17.7 18. Ode: Intimations of Immortalityby William Wordsworth 18.1 - 18.7 19. Introduction To The Prelude By William Wordsworth 19.1 – 19.9.1 20. An Analytical Study of The Poem, “The Prelude”: Book I 20.1 – 20.9.3 21. Last Ride Together By Robert Browning 21.1 – 21.9.4 22. Rabbi Ben Ezra By Robert Browning 22.1 – 22.9 23. Abt Vogler And My Last Duchess By Robert Browning 23.1 – 23.9.2 24. Four Poems of John Donne (The Sun Rising, Ecstasy, 24.1 – 24.9.5 The Apparition, The Anniversary)  LESSON 1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY OF ENGLISH POETRY 1.0 Objectives After going through this unit you will  Develop an overview of the definition of literature  Will come to know about the different ages  Understand the nature of ‘poetry’ and  The kinds and forms of poetry Structure of the lesson 1.0 Objectives 1.1What is literature? 1.2 What is poetry? 1.3 Poetry – Its Kinds 1.4. How can we approach a poet? 1.5 How to appreciate poetry? 1.6 Different Ages in the History of English Literature 1.7 Summing Up 1.8 Comprehension Check Questions 1.9 References Expansion of the structure 1.1 What is Literature? William Henry Hudson observes that “literature is an expression of life through the medium of language.” Unlike other treatises on specialized subjects, literature appeals to all “men and women as men and women” and not as subject-specific individuals. If a treatise imparts only knowledge about a specific issue, literature offers great aesthetic satisfaction apart from knowledge – the knowledge of life with its “deep and everlasting human significance.” Man is a social animal and due to the influence of various elements, like intellectual, emotional and element of imagination, he/she wants to share his observations of nature, his relationships with other people and his experiences as a human being with others. In this process, he chooses various genres to express his feelings, emotions and observations. It can be prose, poetry, drama or novel or short story – fiction. Centre for Distance Education 1.2 Acharya Nagarjuna University Taine observes that every work of art is influenced by the race, the milieu and the moment. When we read a work of art, we come to know about the various factors that worked on his/her mind to produce that particular work – like the “ physical environment, political institutions, social conditions and the like” (Hudson,49). 1.2 What is Poetry? As the present block is about English Poetry, let us try to focus on the development of poetry as a genre. You should have read a lot many poems before arriving at this point. Read the following two texts and understand the qualities of a poem. A B My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness A journal is an incondite miscellany, written pains from My sense, as though of hemlock I had day to day, recording the writer's life and drunk, addressed Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains either to some particular person, as in Swift's One minute past, and Lethe-wards had Journal sunk: to Stella or as in Eugenie de Guerin's Journal 'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, inscribed But being too happy in thine if not directly addressed to her beloved happiness,— brother Maurice, That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees or else implicitly or explicitly dedicated to In some melodious plot some ab- Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, straction or ideal confidant — in Fanny Singest of summer in full-throated Burney's diary ease. explicitly to " Nobody," in Maurice de (Ode to a Nightingale - John Keats) Guerin's Journal to " Mon Cahier," in others to the " Reader," to " Pos- terity," " Kind Friend," and so forth. (ON JOURNAL-WRITERS- W. N. P. Barbellion: Enjoying Life, and other Literary Remains ) Text ‘A’ is very plain like our conversation in day to day life. Text ‘B’ is different in form, expression and style. It calls for the use of imagination. It appeals to our emotions. Poetry as a genre is different from prose in many ways. The language, rhythm and the style of expression make it a different one. Several writers defined poetry in different ways. Dr. Johnson defines poetry as “a metrical composition” and “it is the art of uniting pleasure with truth by calling imagination to the help of reason and its essence is invention.” Thomas Carlyle defines poetry as “a musical thought.” Coleridge says, “poetry is the antithesis of science, having for its immediate object pleasure, not truth.” Poetry-I 1.3 Bac.to the Study of Eng. Poetry Wordsworth defines that “it is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge and the impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all science.” 1.3 Poetry – Its Kinds It is both Subjective and Objective. As long as the poet restricts himself/herself to personal experiences, feelings and emotions, it remains subjective. Objective poetry deals with the lives, feelings and experiences of other people in society. Objective poetry reveals the social consciousness of the poet. The following are the different forms: Lyric Poetry is the poetry sung with accompaniment of a musical instrument called ‘lyre’. It can be ‘personal’ or ‘impersonal’. Lyrics of love, lyrics of patriotism or religious emotions belong to this kind. Every lyric should create a worthy feeling. Though the essence of lyrical poetry is the depiction of a ‘personality’, it should be typically human. The reader must be able to experience it personally. As observed by Hudson (98), “personal poetry, from the simpler forms of lyric, passes into meditative and philosophic poetry, in which the element of thought becomes important.” An Odeis a ‘lyric’, which is often in the form of an address. It is dignified or exalted in subject, feeling and style. It is of two kinds: Pindaric Ode and Horatian Ode. The English Ode has pursued a course of its own regarding subject-matter, style and treatment and thus is not bound strictly by classical traditions. Spenser’s Epithalamion, Collins’s Ode to Evening, Shelley’s West Wind, Keats’s OdesTo a Nightingale, and On a Grecian Urn, Wordsworth’s Ode on the Intimations of Immortality are some examples. The odes of Shelley and Keats are regular in nature and certain odes of Wordsworth, like the Immortality Ode and also some odes of Tennyson are irregular in nature. The other most important division of personal poetry is the Elegy. It’s a brief lyric of mourning, or a “direct utterance of personal bereavement or sorrow.” As Hudson observes, “in the evolution of literature, the elegy has undergone great elaboration and has expanded in many directions”(100). Spenser’s Astrophel, Milton’s Lycidas, Shelley’s Adonais, Gray’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard, Arnold’s Rugby Chapel and Thyrsis are some great examples. Under the head of subjective poetry, we can include the Epistle and the Satire. Objective Poetry, on the other hand, deals with the outer world of passion and action. The poet deals with these external issues without bringing in his individuality. This Objective or Impersonal Poetry falls into two groups – the narrative and the dramatic. The Ballad, the Epic and the Metrical Romance come under the narrative group, whereas Dramatic Lyric, Dramatic Story and Dramatic Monologue fall under the latter group. You will come to know about these genres in the next coming lessons in a more detailed way. 1.4. How can we approach a poet? When we try to approach a poet, we need to analyse ‘the content of his writing’ first; then we need to study ‘the salient qualities’ of his ‘art’; then we must examine ‘his/her literary ancestry and affiliation’, study the ‘thought’ and ‘style’ processes and consider his Centre for Distance Education 1.4 Acharya Nagarjuna University ‘relation with the spirit and movements of his time.’ Apart from criticism, the primary job of the reader is ‘appreciation and enjoyment.’ 1.5 How to appreciate poetry? As poetry is “musical speech”, it appeals to the ears, and the heart of the listener/reader. It stirs our ‘emotions and poetic imagination with its verbal felicity, metre, rhythm and rime. While writing a poem, the poet appeals to the poet in us, and we need to seize the “secret and virtue” of a poem. The ‘strength and vitality’ of a poem lies in the appreciation of its soul. Whatever may be the aesthetic capability of the reader, it can be cultivated through regular exposure and practice. Hence our chief purpose of reading poetry is for its enjoyment – for its own sake. 1.6 Different Ages in the History of English Literature To understand the different genres of English Literature, we need to understand the political, social and literary conditions of different ages starting from 11 th century AD. The following table will provide you a bird’s eye-view of the history of English Literature. Sl.No Name of the Age Period 1 The Britons and the Anglo-Saxon Period 1066AD 2 The Norman French Period 1066 - 1350 3 The End of Middle Ages 1350 - 1500 4 The Renaissance and the Elizabethan Period 1500 - 1603 5 The Seventeenth Century 1603 - 1660 6 The Restoration Period 1660 - 1700 7 The Eighteenth Century 1702 – 1830 8 The Romantic Age 1798 - 1830 9 The Victorian Period 1830 - 1901 10 The Twentieth Century(Modern Age) 1901 - 1945 11 Post – Modern Period 1945 - Present 1.7 Summing Up In this unit, you came to know about the nature of literature and its scope. An outline of different ages that occurred in the history of English literature will rouse your interest and a detailed study of these ages will strengthen your knowledge. You also came to know about poetry as a genre, its kinds and its different forms. You will come to know about the development of poetry, the contribution of various poets during different ages in the coming lessons. 1.8 Comprehension Check Questions Answer the following questions: 1. What does Taine observe about a work of art? Poetry-I 1.5 Bac.to the Study of Eng. Poetry 2. What is ‘subjective’ poetry? 3. What is an ‘ode’ and give some examples? 4. What is ‘lyric poetry’? 5. What are the different forms of ‘objective poetry’? 6. How can we appreciate a poem? 1.9 References 1. Hudson, W.H. 1985. An Introduction to the Study of Literature, KalyaniPublishers,New Delhi. 2. __________.1986. Outline History of English Literature, B.I.Publications, New Delhi,London. 3. R.J.Rees.1973. English Literature: An Introduction for Foreign Readers, The Macmillan Press Ltd, London 4. B.Prasad.1965. A Background to the Study of English Literature,Macmillan,Delhi, India. 5. Sir Ifor Evons.1960. A Short History of English Literature, Penguin, Middlesex. 1.2 Additional Sources (Online - strictly for academic purposes and not for printing) 1.http://translationpucrs.wikispaces.com/file/view/routledge+history+of+literature+in+e nglish.pdf (hard copy also available) 2. http://mthoyibi.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/a-glossary-of-literary-terms-7th-ed_m-h- abrams-1999.pdf (hard coy also available) Lesson Contributor: VijayaBabu, Koganti Senior Lecturer in English Govt.Degree College, Chebrole, Guntur (Dt), Andhra Pradesh, India +91 8801 823244 [email protected]  LESSON-2 GEOFFREY CHAUCER (Source: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/49800/49805/49805_g_chaucer.htm ) 2.0 Objectives After going through this unit you will understand  the Age of Chaucer  Chaucer’s Contribution to the English Language  Chaucer as a Poet and his Works  Characteristics of Chaucer’s Poetry Centre for Distance Education 2.2 Acharya Nagarjuna University Structure of the Lesson 2.0 Objectives 2.1 The Age of Chaucer 2.2 Chaucer’s Life 2.3 Chaucer as the first Poet 2.4 Characteristics of Chaucer’s Poetry 2.5 Chaucer’s Contribution to the English Language 2.6 Works of Chaucer 2.7 Summing Up 2.8 Comprehension Check Questions 2.9 References 2.10 Additional Sources Expansion of the Structure 2.1 The Age of Chaucer The period from 1340 – 1400 is considered as the Age of Chaucer. Social unrest and the beginnings of a new religious movement became the active forces in the England of the later fourteenth century. The moral ideas of Greece and Rome and the new awakening which started in Italy became major influences on intellectual thinking. Chaucer’s life witnessed the reign of three kings – Edward III, Richard II and Henry IV. Chaucer was born in the reign of Edward III, lived through the period of Richard II and died the year after Henry IV ascended the throne. Thus his life covers “a period of glorious social contrasts and a rapid political change.” The rule of Kind Edward was chivalrous and romantic. The successive wars (The Hundred Years’ War) with France, the famous victories of the Battles of Crecy and Poitiers and the national ambition and pride created courage and filled the court with a sense of romantic idealism. The wealth of the commercial classes increased and the masses sank into a condition of deplorable misery. Between 1348-9, there was Black Death, a devastating epidemic, which swept away more than one third of the population. The same plague reappeared in 1362, 67 and 70. Plague was followed by famine; vagrants and thieves got multiplied and the laws which were passed tyrannously worsened things. The victorious wars left disastrous conditions for Poetry-I 2.3 Geoffrey Chaucer Edward’s successor. Under the despotic and unwise rule of Richard, political troubles grew up. There were conflicts between the king and his subjects. Thus the closing years of Chaucer’s life missed the glamour of its earlier part. One of the evils of Chaucer’s Age was the condition of the church. Spiritual zeal was absent and the priests amassed wealth and lived in a world of pleasure without faith and fear in God. Chaucer’s Prologue portrays all such friars and pleasure-loving monks. Though Chaucer was not a social reformer, he was a critical observer. 2.2 Chaucer’s Life Geoffrey Chaucer, the first poet and the greatest figure in the English Literature was born in about 1340 (1343?) in London. His father was a merchant vintner with a flourishing business. Chaucer should have read widely and at the age of seventeen, he received a court appointment as a page to the wife of the Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III. Later, after some wars and his return to England, he married Philippa and later became the valet of the King’s chamber. He was often entrusted with diplomatic missions and thus he came into contact with Italian culture during the days of the early Renaissance. It was felt that he should have met the great Italian poets – Petrarch and Boccaccio. He received several honours and with the banishment of his special patron, John of Gaunt, he fell on evil days. He suffered due to his old age and poverty. He died in 1400 and was buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. 2.3 Chaucer as the First Poet Before Chaucer, the only form of versification known to the English people was ‘alliteration’. Chaucer made substantial improvements and additions to English versification. The two important poems of the 14th century, Piers the Plowman and Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight were written in alliterative verse. Rhyme was also employed. The poets before Chaucer showed the greatest ingenuity in devising the complex stanza forms. They fashioned their rhymes down in the most complicated pattern in stanza forms. Chaucer had no liking for rhymes. He had no love for alliterative verse. He also made a travesty of the ‘doggerel rhymes’ in the rhyme of Sir Thopas. Chaucer abandoned the irregular lines and alliteration of the Old English. He adopted the French method of regular metre and ‘end rhyme’. Under his influence, rhyme gradually Centre for Distance Education 2.4 Acharya Nagarjuna University displaced alliteration in English poetry. But the secret of Chaucer’s poetry was lost when the changes in pronunciation, in the 16th century, came into light (especially the loss of a final ‘e’ from thousands of words and grammatical forms). He shaped English as a true instrument of poetry. Dryden remarked that “Chaucer was a barbarous writer, ignorant of prosody, and with no ear for the melody of verse.” But this was a wrong approach to the poet’s metrical skill and melodious verse. Chaucer was a writer with metrical accuracy, fluency and variety. Chaucer is the first land mark of English Poetry. His verse is more for the ear than for the eye. His tale and verse go together like voice and music. As observed by one of his critics, “To read them is like listening to a clear stream rippling on a bed of pebbles in a green meadow full of sun shine”. 2.4 Characteristics of Chaucer’s Poetry Chaucer’s poetic genius was twofold – partly it was due to literature and partly it was due to life. He was a man of the world like Shakespeare and Milton. He had travelled much, tasted life in different positions and had intimate relations with different people. He was a keen observer with a poetic heart and dramatic vision. He also had a novelist within him. His descriptions were very picturesque and elaborate and he would never miss the minutest detail. Chaucer employed three principal metres – the octosyllabic couplet, the eight syllable line, rhyming in couplets as in The Book of the Duchess. The decasyllabic line was an old measure but he knew the secret of ten syllable line also rhyming in couplets and used it the ‘Prologue’ and in Troilus. His range is limited and he employs the ‘iambic’ rhythm. His measure is always the ‘tetra metre’ and the ‘Pentametre’. He developed his versification, on the basis of stress, with a large measure of freedom in rhythmical movement. He introduced the ‘heroic couplet’ which became the standard form of narrative poetry. He used the ‘Rhyme Royal’ which belonged to the Italian poetry. He also made several metrical experiments in his shorter poems. Chaucer ‘speaks in verse’: The diction and style of Chaucer’s versification is simple, graceful and effortless. His words are the words of everyday life. His sentences are short and simple in structure. They are free from awkward inversions. His style is easy, graceful and lucid. There are no strained conceits and far-fetched metaphors. Chaucer illustrates at his best, Coleridge’s definition of Poetry-I 2.5 Geoffrey Chaucer poetry “the best words in the best order”. His poetic diction also matches with Wordsworth’s theory of poetic diction. He found the English metre, halting and stiff, and he left it formal, graceful and supple. His verse has all the qualities of a living speech. Chaucer’s English is not bookish; it is rather the language of good society. His poetry is the very model of simplicity and naturalness. His chooses the right word at the right place. Mathew Arnold says about his poetry as “the golden dew drops of speech”. But his followers lacked his technical brilliance and his breadth of vision. Until Shakespeare, after Chaucer, there is no great English poet who observed and followed the technical skill of Chaucerian Verse. As David Daiches observes, “No other English narrative poet is his equal”. 2.5. Chaucer’s Contribution to the English Language The English Language was passing through a critical period, when Chaucer was still a boy. French was the chief language of the nobility and of the court. After 1315, French began to lose its influence upon English. The complete victory of the English language was signaled by the implementation of English, instead of French, in law courts. The Battles of Crecy and Poitiers fanned the flame of patriotism and national pride leading to the neglect of French by the common English men. But there was no standard form of English to occupy the place of the disappearing French. The English language was in a deplorable state as it was split up into four dialects, namely - Southern, Midland, Northumbrian and Kentish, differing from each other and hampering inter-communication. The Midland or the East Midland was the most single and the easiest form in its grammatical structure. It was free from the inflections of the other three. The leading writers and poets also composed their works in this dialect. Wycliffe also had translated the Bible in the same dialect. Gower, after making experiments in French and Latin languages came round to this East Midland dialect in his English work, Confessio Amantis. Chaucer followed the lead of Gower and popularized the East Midland dialect. He gave it a new turn, a new form and shape till it became the suitable medium of expression both in courts and universities. He shaped the English language by making it an instrument of social, political and literary thought. He harmonised, regulated and made popular the discordant elements of the national speech. He made the dialect of London a standard one for future writers and the parent of current modern English. Thus his contribution was vital to the English language. Centre for Distance Education 2.6 Acharya Nagarjuna University Chaucer’s contribution is not only restricted to the English language but also extended to English poetry. The Canterbury Tales is a landmark in the English poetry as well as in the English language. Before Chaucer, the English language was too difficult to understand without the aid of grammar and glossary. In these matters, Aubrey de Selincourt’s opinion about Chaucer’s language is worth considering. “His language, compared with (say) Shakespeare is simplicity itself, and any determined reader with his wits about him and a glossary at his elbow can very quickly determine himself to turn a phrase which is strange only with the strangers of a bygone fashion in his deed”. He was influenced and inspired by the French poets but he wrote in his own, native tongue. He presented vigour, grace and freedom of expression to his native tongue. Chaucer’s English is not bookish but it is the language of good society. His words are the words of everyday life. “To read Chaucer, is to listen to the charming, gracious conversation of a cultured gentleman with a poetic heart”. His style is marked by naturalness and simplicity. Chaucer Europeanized the English language and brought it into the current of culture. 2.6 Works of Chaucer The following are the works of Chaucer:  The Boke of the Duchese  The Hall of Fame  Troyles and Creseyde  Legende of Good Women  Canterbury Tales 2.7 Summing Up In this unit, you learnt about the historical background of Geoffrey Chaucer’s age. More information can be had from some other books and websites. The reigns of different kings and the social conditions got reflected in the works of Chaucer. Chaucer is the first English poet and his contribution to the English language is vital. As you read some of the works, you will come to know the music of his poetry. This unit offered you a detailed and clear background to his study. 2.8 Comprehension Check Questions Poetry-I 2.7 Geoffrey Chaucer Answer the following questions: 1. Mention some contemporary poets of Chaucer. 2. Who translated the Bible? 3. What were the four dialects mentioned? 4. Describe the reign of Edward III. 5. Whys was Richard’s reign devastating? 6. Name the wars/battles mentioned in this unit. 7. Portray the condition of church during Chaucer’s age. 8. What is Chaucer’s contribution to the English verse? 2.9 References 1.W.H.Hudson.1986. Outline History of English Literature, B.I.Publications, New Delhi,London 2. C.G.Coulton. 1937. Chaucer and His England. 6th Edition. London 3.Clair C.Olsen and Martin M.Crow. 1948. Chaucer’s World, New York and London 4. Bowden,Muriel. 1965. A Reader’s Guide to Geoffrey Chaucer. London. 2.10 Additional Sources (Online - strictly for academic purposes and not for printing) 1. http://pages.towson.edu/duncan/chaucer/duallang1.htm 2. http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucerbio.htm Lesson Contributor: Vijaya Babu, Koganti Senior Lecturer in English Govt.Degree College, Chebrole, Guntur (Dt), Andhra Pradesh, India +91 8801 823244 [email protected]  Lesson 3 Chaucer's Prologue to Canterbury Tales 3.0 Objectives (http://www.newrepublic.com/book/review/selected-canterbury-tales-chaucer ) After reading this lesson you will  Understand the context of the poem  Know about different kinds of characters in the poem  The social and religious conditions of Chaucer’s society and  Realize the differences between medieval and modern English Structure of the Lesson 3.1 The Canterbury Tales and The Prologue 3.2 An Outline of the Prologue and the Description of Important Characters 3.3.1. The Knight (43 – 78) 3.3.2 The Squire (79 – 100) 3.3.3 The Yeoman (101 – 117) 3.3.4 The Prioress (118 – 162) 3.3.5. The Monk (165 – 207) 3.3.6 The Friar (208 – 269) 3.3.7 The Merchant, The Clerk and The Man of Law. (270 - 284, 285 - 308, 309 - 330) 3.3.8 The Franklin (lines 331 – 360) 3.3.9 The Five Members of the Guild ( Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer and an Upholsterer) (361 - 379) 3.4 Their Cook (379 - 387) 3.4.1 The Shipman (388 – 410) 3.4.2 The Doctor of Physic (411 – 444) 3.4.3 The Wife of Bath (445 – 476) 3.4.4 The Parson (477 – 528) 3.4.5 The Ploughman (528 – 541) 3.4.6 The Miller (542 – 566) 3.4.7 The Manciple (567- 586) 3.4.9 The Reeve (587 – 622) 3.5 The Summoner (623 – 668) 3.5.1The Pardoner (669 – 714) 3.5.2 Conclusion 3.5.3 Summing Up 3.5.4 Comrephension check Questions 3.5.5 References 3.5.6 Additional Sources Expansion of the Structure 3.1 The Canterbury Tales and The Prologue In the previous lesson you came to know about the age of Chaucer and his contribution to the English Language as a poet. The Canterbury Tales is the greatest work of Chaucer's Period. It is a realistic document of the 14th century England. Chaucer's work is not only a poem but a guide that helps us understand the social conditions of his contemporary England with its varied professions. To be brief, it is a cross section of his contemporary society. Chaucer describes the journey of a group of pilgrims from London to Canterbury, the holy shrine of St. Thomas Beckett. It is a group of different people from all walks of life. Chaucer, like a painter - novelist, presents the portraits of his characters in beautiful poetical terms and at the same time, like a dramatist, analyses their psychology. The Prologue forms the preface to the main work, The Canterbury Tales. While introducing several characters, Chaucer provides certain 'links' which help us understand the portraits closely. The 'tales' vary in their nature based on the temperament and nature of the individuals. As Legouis comments, "the tales were for Chaucer a means of completing the portraits of his pilgrims.... He chose for each one the tale which best suited his class and his temperament." Though a poem, The Prologue introduces the characters as a drama introduces its dramatis personae. Apart from the narrator, who is none but the poet, the following are the main pilgrims: 1. The Knight 18. The Shipman 2. The Squire 19. The Doctor of Physique ` 3. The Yeoman 20. The Wife of Bath 4. The Prioress 21. The Parson 5. Associates of the Prioress. 22. The Plowman 6. The Monk 23. The Miller 7. The Friar 24. The Manciple 8. The Merchant 25. The Reeve 9. The Clerk 26. The Summoner 10. The Sergeant of Law 27. The Pardoner 11. The Franklin 28. The Host 12. The Haberdasher 13. The Dyer 14. The Carpenter 15. The Weaver 16. The Carpet Maker 17. The Cook  Harry Bailey, the main host, was a merry man who liked good company and merry stories. He was a social person and was liked by all. Having arranged a huge dinner for the pilgrims at his Tabard Inn, he suggested to the pilgrims that each member of the party should tell the group two interesting stories to avoid monotony during the journey to Canterbury. He also explained that the best story teller would be offered a sumptuous dinner by the other members of the party. He also said that he would accompany the group to judge the group members. All the members accepted this proposal. The poet, Chaucer was also one of the members. The Canterbury Tales deals with these stories and The Prologue gives a description of these characters in detail. Boccaccio's Decameron also deals with similar tales but it lacks Chaucer's depth of analytical observation. Chaucer took his contemporary theme of pilgrims' going to the shrine - but through this he analyses human nature. 3.2 An Outline of the Prologue and the Description of Important Characters The following is the outline of Prologue and the line numbers are also indicated before each part. The original text is in Medieval English and the following link will lead you to a Modern English version. http://www.librarius.com/canttran/genpro/genpro001-042.htm The division of The Prologue : The first forty-two lines form the 'introduction'. He describes the season first. " Whan that April with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote... (Lines 1-42) The poet describes the beauty of the Spring season with its sweet showers and its flora and fauna. All the pilgrims go to Canterbury from all corners of England to seek the holy blessings of St.Thomas Beckett, who helped them when they were sick. The poet was resting at the Tabard Inn at Southwark and was getting ready to leave for Canterbury with a devout heart. Twenty nine pilgrims, who were on their way to Canterbury came to the same inn in a group. The poet also became a part of the group and they all planned to start the next day. As the group consisted of different sorts of people, the poet wanted to describe them. 3.3.1. The Knight (43 – 78) The poet describes the knight first. He was a brave person. He loved knight hood, faithfulness, honour and courtesy. He was valiant in his Lord’s war, had campaigned both in Christendom and in heathen lands. He was always honoured for his bravery. The poet describes thus: He was at Alexandria when it was war; several times he had headed the board in Prussia. He had joined expeditions in Lithuania and Russia. He had been at Granada at the siege of Algeriras and had ridden out in Benmarin. He was at Lyes and Attalia when they were won and was at the arrival of troops in the Lavant. The knight was at many places but had never been discourteous to anyone. He was valiant, humble and wise. His dress was not very showy. He was on his pilgrimage soon after his travels. 3.3.2 The Squire (79 – 100) There was a young squire with the knight. He was a jubilant lover. He was a young bachelor with curled locks. He was twenty and had a great strength though he appeared nimble. He had also been at various places like his father. He was wearing embroidered clothes in red and white colour. He had a short coat with long, wide sleeves. He was an ardent lover and was always singing during night time. He was courteous, modest and helpful and behaved well at the table. 3.3.3 The Yeoman (101 – 117) The squire had a yeoman with him. He was clad in coat and carried a mighty bow and a sheaf of bright and sharp peacock arrows. He also carried a sword, a buckler, a horn and a fine dagger. He wore a St. Christopher on his breast. The poet says that he also believes that the yeoman is a woodman. 3.3.4 The Prioress (118 – 162) There was a quiet and simple smiling nun, a prioress. She was named as Madame Eglantine. She spoke well and had excellent etiquette and table manners. She also tried to follow court-manners. She had a nasal voice and would sing devotional songs well. She was very kind and would cry easily. She had a nice dress sense and she always carried a rosary of beads with a brooch of gold on which was engraved ‘ Amor vincit omnia’ , which means ‘love conquers all things’. 3.3.5. The Monk (165 – 207) There was also a monk who loved hunting. He had great horses in his stable. He gave up all traditional things and followed the things of the new world. The poet then describes his attire and his dogs. The monk had a great passion for hunting and his greyhounds were ‘swift as fowls in flight.’ His sleeves had the finest fur at the wrists. The monk was fat with a bald head; his eyes were red like ‘fire under a cauldron’. His boots were soft and his horse was in fine condition. He loved roasted meat and a fat swan. We must observe how Chaucer contrasts the description of the monk with that of the knight and the squire. Those who were valiant were simple, honest and humble and on the other hand, those who must be pious and humble were vain and jolly. 3.3.6 The Friar (208 – 269) There was a jolly and wanton Friar. He was permitted to beg within the city limits. He knew much gossip and had arranged several marriages of young women at his own cost. He was liked and was familiar among franklins and women of the town. He had great authority to hear confessions. He had a pleasant voice and he could sing and play on a stringed instrument. He was familiar with the taverns and knew every inn keeper and bar maid. He was the best beggar and could make even the poorest to give him alms. His proceeds were greater than his regular income. He was very helpful during the days of arbitration. He was called Hubert. 3.3.7 The Merchant, The Clerk and The Man of Law. (270 - 284, 285 - 308, 309 - 330)  There was also a merchant with a forked beard. He wore a Flanders beaver hat and rode on a horse. He fastened his shoes neatly. He was very intelligent. He managed his business well. He was worthy. There was also a Clerk of Oxford who attended lectures of logic. He looked thin and also grave. He had a lean horse. He wore a threadbare coat. He was a great lover of Aristotle and his philosophy and he would have thick,bound books at his head near the bed. He did not have enough money. He took great care of his studies. He would always speak about moral virtues and he was always glad to learn and teach. There was a Sergeant of Law. He was very cautious and wise. He was dignified and had a thorough Knowledge of law. He had a great reputation and made money. He possessed several lands. He was a busy man but would seem busier than he was. He knew every statute fully by heart. 3.3.8 The Franklin (lines 331 – 360) There was a Franklin, with a beard as white as a daisy. He was of sanguine temperament, and liked to have wine with pieces of bread or cake. His always loved to live in pleasure. He was a true son of Epicurus. He held the opinion that great pleasure was in fact perfect happiness. He was a great householder. His house was never without pies of fish and meat. He varied his food or supper according to the seasons of the year. He had very many fat partridges in a coop and great numbers of beams and pikes in his fish pond. At county meetings,he was a representative and Chairman, and on many occasions, he had been the Knight of the Shire. He always had a dagger and a hawking pouch at his girdle, which was as white as morning milk. He had been a Sheriff and a legal auditor apart from being a distinguished landowner. 3.3.9 The Five Members of the Guild ( Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer and an Upholsterer) (361 - 379) There were also a Haberdasher, a Carpenter, a cloth weaver, a Dyer and an upholsterer. They were all dressed in the common uniforms of the guilds. Their apparel was fresh and newly trimmed.Their knives were not fashioned from brass but had sheaths with silver caps. Their belts and purses were beautifully wrought out in the same manner. Each one of them seemed prosperous to sit on the dais in a guild hall. Their knowledge, wealth, and income would have justified their position to be aldermen. Their wives would have surely been at fault not to have consented to do this – for it is pleasant to be called ‘Madam’ and good to lead this procession into church and have one’s mantle carried in royal fashion. 3.4 Their Cook (379 - 387) They had brought a cook with them, to boil chickens with marrow-bones. He could recognize the flavour of London ale, and could roast, steam, boil and fry, make stew and bake a pie well. But the poet felt that it was a great pity that he had gangrenous wound on his skin. 3.4.1 The Shipman (388 – 410) There was a shipman who came from Dartmouth. He lived in the far west. He rode upon a farm – nag. He wore a gown of course woolen cloth to the knee. He had a dagger hanging on a cord around his neck which passed down under his arm. The hot summer sun had made his complexion quite brown, and undoubtedly he was not trust worthy. He had stolen many mouthfuls of wine on the journey home from Bordeaux while the merchant was asleep. He was not troubled by a scrupulous conscience. If he fought and gained the upper hand, he threw his prisoners into the sea. There was no one from Hull to Carthagena as good as him at calculating the tides, the currents and the dangers. He was bold and prudent in his undertaking and he had seen many a tempest. He knew the harbours well as they lay from Gottland to Cape Finistere. His ship was called the Maudelayne. 3.4.2 The Doctor of Physic (411 – 444) With the group there was a doctor of medicine. There was no one like him in all the world in the sphere of medicine and surgery. He was also well versed in astrology. He took great care of his patients at all critical hours by means of astrology. He could use the influence of the planets for the benefit of patients. He knew the cause for every disease; whether it came from excess of hot, cold, moist or dry and how and where they had originated and from what ‘humour’. He was a very perfect practitioner. Once he knew the cause and origin of the malady, he would at once give the sick man his remedy. He had his chemists always prepared to send him drugs and medicinal powders, as each of them brought profit to the other. Their friendship was not a new thing. He was familiar with the old Aesculapius, with Dioscorides, and also Rufus. Old Hippocrates, Hali and Galen, Serapion, Rhazes and Avicenna, Avenoes, John of Damascus, Constantine, Bernard, Gaddesden and Gilbertine. In his diet he was moderate, and always referred very nourishing and easily digestible food and avoided excesses. He very seldom studied the Bible. He was dressed in red and blue-grey lined with taffeta, and thin silk and yet his expenditure was moderate; he saved what he earned during the times of plague. Since Gold is the heart stimulant in medicine, he loved it more. 3.4.3 The Wife of Bath (445 – 476) There was a good wife from near Bath, but unfortunately,she was somewhat deaf. She was so skilful at cloth-making that she surpassed those of Ypres and Ghent. Of all the parish wives she would be the first to go to the offertory.i.e. bread and wine offered at the altar for consecration. If someone did before her, she would be so angry that she showed no charity. Her kerchiefs were very finely woven and the poet swears that the ones she wore on Sunday weighed ten pounds. Her stockings were of the finest scarlet and very tightly laced, while her shoes were very soft and new. She had a bold fair face, with red complexion. She had been a wealthy woman all her life and had been married legally on five occasions besides having other lovers in her youth, but the poet says that there is no need to speak about that. She had thrice been to Jerusalem and had crossed many a foreign river. She had been to Rome, Boulogne, Cologne, and to the shrine of St. James in Galicia. She knew a great deal about traveling along the roads. To tell the truth she was gap-toothed. She sat easily upon her ambling horse, with a wimple and with a hat as large as a small shield. She had a large foot- cloth about her hips and a pair of sharp spurs on her feet. She knew well how to laugh and chatter in company. She also perhaps knew (Ovid’s) Remedia Amoris, for she was well versed in all the approved devices of love-making. 3.4.4 The Parson (477 – 528) There was a good religious man, a poor parson, but who was rich in pious thoughts and deeds. He was also an educated man, a scholar, who genuinely preached Christ’s Gospel and devoutly taught his parishioners. He was gentle, kind and extremely hard working. Many a time he had proved himself to be very patient in adversity. He was extremely reluctant to demand his ‘tithes’, and undoubtedly would give his poor parishioners in the neighborhood, his Easter money and also his own property. He was not greedy and his material needs were easily satisfied. He visited those who were in sickness or in adversity in all weathers and at all times. This shepherd set a noble example to his flock, which he had learnt from the Gospel. He first practised good things and then taught them. He always keeps the adage in mind, 'if gold itself rusts, what about the iron'! But it is an even greater shame to have a sinful shepherd and pure sheep. By his clean living, a priest should set an example to his parishioners. The Parson did not hire out his services leaving his congregants without leadership, nor did he run to St. Paul’s in London for selfish ends. He stayed at home to guard his flock from mischief; he was a true parson, not a mercenary. Though he was a virtuous and holy person, he did not despise sinful men. His task was to save souls by setting a good example. The poet says that a better priest cannot be found anywhere else. He did not seek honour or respect. He always preached the gospel of Christ and his twelve apostles. 3.4.5 The Ploughman (528 – 541) With the Parson was his brother, a Plowman. He had pulled many a cart-load of manure, for he was a good and honest worker. He lived peacefully and was charitable to all. Whether it caused him pleasure or pain, he loved God with his whole heart at all times and (next to God) he loved his neighbours as himself. To please God, he was prepared to thresh, dig ditches, and lay water channels for all poor folk without demanding any charge. He paid the tithes derived from his own labour and those derived from the profits on his stock fully and regularly. He wore a plough man's frock and rode a mare. 3.4.6 The Miller (542 – 566) The Miller was an exceedingly stout fellow with very big muscles and bones; Wherever he went he always won the wrestling contests. He was a short-shouldered, broad and a thick set fellow and there was no door that he could not heave off its hinge, or break open by running at it with his head. He had a broad, spade-like beard, which was as red as a sow or a fox. He had a wart on the tip of his nose, which was surmounted by a tuft of red hair, which resembled the bristles in a sow’s ear. He had flaring black nostrils. A sword and a small round shield hung at his side; his mouth was as wide as a great furnace. He was an idle talker and a teller of indecent stories of sin and harlotries. He well knew how to steal corn and take his toll three times, and yet, by God, he had a thumb of gold as goes the old proverb. He wore a white coat and a blue hood. He could blow and play a bagpipe well, and with it he led the group out of the town. 3.4.7 The Manciple (567- 586) There was a noble Manciple of an Inn of Court. Buyers of victuals can take an example from him regarding purchases – for, whether he bought for cash or on credit he always came out well and ahead of everyone else. He is always watchful in business. He had more than thirty masters who were expert and skilled lawyers but he surpassed all of them with his wit. The poet says that it is really the grace of the Lord. 3.4.9 The Reeve (587 – 622) The Reeve was a slightly-built and bad tempered man. His beard was shaven closely to the skin. His hair was cut around his ears and tonsured shortly at the front of his head in a priestly fashion. His legs were as long and thin as walking sticks, and his calves could not be seen. He knew well how to keep a granary and a bin and no auditor could detect mistake in his accounts. When it comes to observing the dry and rainy seasons of the year, he knew exactly when to sow and when to reap. This Reeve was in complete charge of his lord’s sheep, cattle, dairy, swine, horses, stock and poultry. Ever since his lord was twenty years old he had been under contract to render the estate accounts and no one could ever discover him to be in arrears. There was no bailiff, herdsman or farm laborer who was in any way cunning or deceitful that he did not know about and they were as fearful of him as of the plague. His home upon the heath was pleasant and was shaded with green trees. He could make purchases more advantageously than his lord. He could secretly enrich his own barns through crafty pleasing of his lord. He could even give and lend him even from his own property and even for this he was rewarded with the lord’s thanks and gifts of a gown and hood. In his youth he had learnt a useful trade and could work competently as a carpenter. This Reeve sat upon a low-bred, undersized horse of dapple grey which was called Scot. He wore a long, over bluish grey overcoat and carried a rusty sword by his side. This Reeve came from Norfolk and lived near a town called Baldewelle. His long coat was tucked into his girdle in friar-like fashion and he always rode at the rear of the company. 3.5 The Summoner (623 – 668) With the group in that place was a Summoner who had a fiery red cherubic face covered with pimples. His eyes were small but he was as lustful and lecherous as a sparrow. His eye brows were scabby and black and he had a scanty beard – children were afraid of his appearance. There was no quicksilver,lead-ointment,sulphur, borax, white lead, cream of tartar, or any other ointment which could cleanse and cauterize his skin, rid him of his white pimples and cure the boils, which disfigured his cheeks. He was passionately fond of garlic, onions and leeks and loved strong blood red wine, and, under its influence, he would shout and cry out as if he had forgotten his senses. When intoxicated with wine he would only speak Latin. He would parrot two or three legal phrases which he had learnt from some document. He well knew how to cheat a foolish fellow. He was a great liar. In his own way, he deceived all the young people of the diocese using his power. He knew all their secrets and had falsely acted as their adviser. He wore on his forehead a garland which was large enough to have served as an inn-sign, and he had made a small shield for himself out of a loaf of bread. 3.5.1The Pardoner (669 – 714) Along with the Summoner there was a noble Pardoner from the ‘Priory of Rouncivale’ He was his friend and his companion, who had recently come from the (Papal) Court of Rome, and who loudly sage the song ‘Come hither, love, me! ” This Pardoner had hair as yellow as wax which hung smoothly like a bundle of flax’. His locks hung in narrow strands and covered his shoulders. Out of jolliness he wore no hood. It was packed in his bag, and he thought he was riding all in new fashion. He had hare-like, staring eyes, a voice as thin as a goat and wore no beard-nor was he likely to have one, as his chin was as smooth as if it were recently shaven. His bag lay on his lap brimful of pardons, hot from Rome, and with regard to his profession, there was never such a pardoner from Berwick down to Ware.  In his bag he had a pillow case which was claimed as ‘our Lady’s Veil’. He said he had a piece of the sail belonging to St. Peter when the latter walked upon the sea until Jesus Christ saved him. He had a cross of brass studded with stones, and the bones of a pig in a glass. With these relics he made more money than a poor county parson can make in two months. And thus with feigned flattery and tricks he made gullible persons, fools. But in conclusion he was a noble preacher in the church. He could read a lesson or a story well, but best of all he sang the ‘Mass anthem’ well. He knew well that, when that song was sung, he might preach and polish his tongue to gain silver. To achieve this, he sang even more cheerfully and loudly. 3.5.2 Conclusion Then as suggested by the host they draw lots and the knight gets his chance to start the tale. The group leaves for Canterbury in a jolly mood. 3.5.3 Summing Up This lesson has presented the different characters of Prologue who narrate their stories during their journey. You should have observed how Chaucer has selected his characters from all ranks of society and how conscious he is in talking about their tastes, appearances and conversations. Your reading of the original text as indicated in the links mentioned above will improve your understanding of the medieval times. Chaucer’s poetry is more for the ears and you can understand it if you listen to some of the recordings of the text. In the next lesson you will study the different aspects related to The Prologue. 3.5.4 Comrephension Check Questions 1. How many religious persons are presented? 2. Describe the ‘knight’ in your own words. 3. What does Chaucer say about the Miller? 4. What do you understand about the social conditions of Chaucer’s times? 5. Write about the nature of the woman described in the Prologue: 3.5.5 References 1. Wyatt, A.J. Ed., The Prologue to Canterbury Tales. London: University Tutorial Press Ltd. 1960. 2. Howard J.Edwin. Geoffrey Chaucer. London: The Macmillan Press ltd., 1976 3.5.6 Additional Sources 1. http://austinapenglish.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/1/4/2914983/u1_canterbury_prolo_se.pdf 2. http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/prjs3e/INDEX.html 3. https://itunes.apple.com/in/itunes-u/canterbury-tales- prologue/id417297221?mt=10 4. http://skemman.is/stream/get/1946/4941/14742/1/thesis.pdf 5. http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gp.htm Lesson Contributor: Vijaya Babu, Koganti Senior Lecturer in English Govt.Degree College, Chebrole, Guntur (Dt), Andhra Pradesh, India +91 8801 823244 ,[email protected]  LESSON 4 A CRITICAL STUDY OF ‘PROLOGUE’ 4.0 Objectives After going through this lesson, you will  Understand that Chaucer’s Prologue shines as a picture gallery of 14th century England  Analyse how Chaucer represented all the people of his contemporary society  Understand the nature of medieval characters  Understand Chaucer’s humour and treatment of women Structure of the Lesson 4.1 ‘Prologue’as a Picture-Gallery 4.2 Chaucer's Characters and their Social Order 4.3 Chaucer and Medieval Characters 4.4 Art of Characterisation in The Prologue 4.5 Chaucer’s Treatment of Medieval Figures 4.6 Chaucer’s Attitude towards Women 4.7 Chaucer's Humour 4.8 Summing Up 4.9 Comprehension Check Questions 4.9.1 References 4.9.2 Additional Sources Expansion of the Structure Your reading of earlier lessons should have made you understand the times of Chaucer and his contribution to the English language as a poet. This lesson will help you to understand The Prologue from a critical perspective. Chaucer’s ‘Prologue’ is approached by various critics for its ‘realism, sharp individuality, adroit psychology, and vividness of felt life’ (A.Hoffman, 1954:1). 4.1 ‘Prologue’as a Picture-Gallery The Prologue shines like a portrait gallery and Chaucer is unique in his art of characterization. The characters in the ‘Prologue’ are the pictures of the people of the different classes of the 14th century. Chaucer has tried to paint the body and soul of the 14th century life so faithfully. His characters do not only simply represent his age; they are also universal in their nature. His characters are both ‘individuals’ and ‘types’. In the pilgrims’ company we see various characters like the Knight, the Squire, the Yeoman, the Prioress, the Friar, the Monk, the Clerk etc. All these characters are sketched by Chaucer in clear terms. Chaucer achieved his aim and transcended both the Italian and the English poets of his age. We must note that Chaucer has given no chance or representation for the feudal society of aristocracy. Prof. R.K. Root expressed his views on the Prologue that “it is a representative assembly, a parliament of social and Industrial England.” As a keen observer,  Centre for Distance Education 4.2 Acharya Nagarjuna University Chaucer, in this aspect ,is not influenced by any. He has adopted no definite pattern in the description of the portraits. 4.2 Chaucer's Characters and their Social Order Chaucer presents common people with the stories of their life. They are blissfully unaware of the political events of their age. As Legouis observes, Chaucer's pilgrims talk about their "purse, their love affairs or their private feuds... They are interested in their next door neighbour, than in the king." He represents people from the higher as well as the lower strata of his society. If the Knight belongs to the highest social order, the Plowman belongs to the lowest in society. The war representatives were the Knight, the Squire, and the Yeoman. The liberal classes were represented by the Doctor, the Man if Law, the Oxford Clerk and Chaucer himself. More people were from the agricultural classes, like The Plowman, the Miller, the Reeve and the Franklin. There was a representation from the commercial classes also. The Merchant and the Sailor belonged to them. The industrial classes were represented by the cloth-merchant, the Woman of Bath, a Carpenter, a Weaver, a Dyer and an Upholsterer. The provision and grocery trade is represented by a Manciple, a Cook and the Host of the Tabard Inn. The secular clergy is represented by the Parson and the Summoner. The monastic order is represented by the Benedictine Monk, a Prioress, a Priest and a Pardoner. 4.3 Chaucer and Medieval Characters His characters are drawn from medieval society, “the ecclesiastical and the guild organisations”. From the former side, he portrayed the Prioress, Second Nun’s priest, the Monk, the Friar, Summoner and the Pardoner. The more learned professions were represented by the Physician, the Man of law and the Clerk of Oxford. The Knight represented the chivalric order. The Sergeant of Law was a typical medieval character. His clients give him fees as well as robes. As a part of the barter system payment was also made in terms of robes. The contemporaries of Chaucer, like Wycliff, Langland and Gower also criticised the greed of such lawyers. Other characters like the Cook and the Doctor of Physique reflect some similar traits. The Cook does not follow hygiene and serves stale food. The Doctor is dedicated and does not know anything about the Bible. The Wife of Bath with her peculiar habits represented the typical medieval women. She was rich and had married many a time. The Miller and Reeve are realistic figures. The Miller was notorious for his dishonest tactics. Though they were not pious, they were on a holy pilgrimage. Chaucer's satirical wit is subtle. It evokes humour. His wit is not pungent and biting like that of Alexander Pope. Chaucer’s descriptions are also interesting. Sometimes he describes the dress of the persons and then the physical features. Sometimes, he begins with the personal aspects of the characters and adds the touches of dress afterwards. They are natural in their dialogues and in their moods. Chaucer gives their original tongue to some characters that belong to the alien countries. The language of the characters also is varied according to their social status.  Poetry-I 4.3 A Cri. St. of Prologue 4.4 Art of Characterisation in The Prologue The old Knight is a chivalrous character of all ages. He is a great warrior and conqueror. He stands for the ‘guardian of man’ against the oppressor. He is gentle in manner, gallant in tournaments and dignified and simple in behaviour. But the Knight has been individualized by his horse, dress and by his gentle and meek behaviour. The young Squire represents the types of warriors, who not only live in the dream of warfare but also who are skilled in music. His dress is very peculiar. He has been individualized by his curly locks, embroidered clothes and with his short-coat with long, wide sleeves. “Well coude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde, He coude songes make and well endyte”. The Yeoman represents the warriors of archery. He is individualized by his cropped head and his brown visage. The Prioress represents the women who try to imitate courtly manners. She came from an upper class family. She’s well bred. She has been individualised by her nasal voice, tenderness of heart and by her physical manners. Chaucer describes her beauty, dress and table manners. “Her nose trety; hir eyen greye as glas; Hir mouthful small, and there to softs and need; butsikerly she had a fair for heed”. The poet also could read meanings into aspects of physiognomy and talk of manners. He explains about the Reeve with his pole like legs and without calf-muscles. The Reeve was a “slender, Choleric man. He deceived his master for amassing wealth. Chaucer’s monk, Daun Piers, belongs to the group of monks who found their monastic rule, ‘strict and irksome’. “Leet Olde thynges Pace, And heeld after the newe world space”. He is fond of riding horses and keeping greyhounds for hunting. Chaucerian monk is individualized by his bald head and his rolling eyes which resemble glowing balls of fire. Chaucer’s friar belongs to the type of friars who were wanton and jolly and were interested in gay and flattering talk. His friar is individualized by his melodious voice, and by his skill in singing songs and also by his knowledge of taverns and bar-maids. The Oxford Clerk in the Prologue represents good scholars who devote their time in the acquisition of knowledge. He is also an individual person with his volumes of Aristotle, his hollow cheeks, grave looks and his thread bare cloak. The Man of Law is a typical figure, like the doctor of Physique. They are also individualized by their physical traits and features. The Miller’s nose was surmounted by a ‘tuft of hair’. Chaucer’s personal comments on the characters add a new glow to his characters. Chaucer combines the typical and individual traits with a deft hand. The characters are suitably portrayed according to their personal traits. A drunken man insists on telling his tale out of turn. The shipman flatly  Centre for Distance Education 4.4 Acharya Nagarjuna University refuses to hear a sermon from the parson. A clerk drinks too much corny ale and he is not able to even speak. Chaucer observed each and every man to portray them in his picture- gallery. There is an immense variety in his characters, and in his art of characterization. They are the epitome of his age. He applies a dramatic method. Chaucer’s art of characterization is free from “personal bias”. He portrays his characters so objectively and impartially. In this respect, he is equal to Shakespeare and Fielding. He is broadly human and he has copious sympathy for all his characters. His characters are the embodiment of the romantic spirit. Hence his work shines as a portrait gallery. 4.5 Chaucer’s Treatment of Medieval Figures During Chaucer’s time there appeared a moral laxity in the religious world and characters belonging to the Church symbolized the decay of the religious faith. Apart from the chivalrous warriors, the other characters belonging to religion came under Chaucer’s criticism. Chaucer was the last of the medievals and the first of the moderns. Hence Matthew Arnold observed, “With him, is born our real poetry.” Dryden describes him as “the father of English Poetry.” The pictures of the Knight and the Squire bring to our mind the age of chivalry and romance. In the Knight the poet embodies the noblest virtues like valour, charity, honesty and modesty as were found in those days. The Oxford Clerk also is an ideal figure. He is not interested in material pursuits. He is an ardent lover of knowledge. The Parson is another medieval figure who practices what he preaches. The Plowman is a real son of the soil. Chaucer, on the other hand, presents also the medieval priestly class, who went against the Christian idealism. The priestly class is represented by the Monk, the Friar, the Summoner, the Pardoner etc., The Monk spends the greater part of his time in riding and hunting hares. The Summoner is also such an officer who makes money through foul means. Similarly the Wife of Bath is a medieval woman of peculiar tastes and loose morals. 4.6 Chaucer’s Attitude towards Women Chaucer was always balanced in his treatment of women. Though he was not blind to their vices, he never condemned them. In addition to this, he would extol their virtues greatly. The debate about the relationship between men and women makes an interesting study in The Canterbury Tales. He advocates a harmonious one. 4.7 Chaucer's Humour Apart from his realism Chaucer's poetry is known for its humour. It is born out of a strong common sense of observation and a generous sympathy. He deals with common people and their everyday life. Like a painter he portrays their oddities and it evokes pity and humour. His descriptions, like the nose of the Miller with its tuft of hair, the heavy hat of the Wife of Bath, the lanky legs of Reeve, the loud voices and greedy manners of different people have a touch of humour. However, his humour is always sympathetic and never pungent. As Legouis observes, Chaucer neither 'disdains the foolishness' of, nor 'turns away in disgust' from the fools and rascals he talks about. As observed by Prof.Rutherford, Chaucer 'was able to think in a modern way' even seven centuries ago.  Poetry-I 4.5 A Cri. St. of Prologue 4.8 Summing Up This lesson has provided you with necessary information and an insight into issues like Chaucer’s treatment of the middle ages, his art of characterization and his humour in delineating the characters. A study of other critical sources will help you expand the horizon of your knowledge. 4.9 Comprehension Check Questions 1. Comment on Chaucer’s humour. 2. Which characters represented the priestly class? 3. How did Chaucer represent his society? 4. What are the different characters presented by Chaucer? 5. Analyse the structure of The Prologue. 6. Comment on the nature of the medieval characters of Chaucer. 7. Bring out the social order of Chaucer’s characters. 8. How can you say that ‘Prologue’ is a picture-gallery? 9. What is the remark of Prof R.K.Root about ‘Prologue’? 10. What does Dryden say about Chaucer? 4.9.1 References 1. The Poetical Works of Chaucer, ed. F. N. Robinson (Cambridge, Mass., 1933 2. Muriel Bowden, A Commentary on the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.(New York. 1948). 3. Arthur W. Hoffman. Chaucer's Prologue to Pilgrimage: The Two Voices. ELH, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Mar., 1954), pp. 1-16 4.R.K.Root. Poetry of Chaucer: A Guide to Its Study and Appreciation 1922. 4.9.2 Additional Sources 1. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2871929 2. http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucessays.htm Lesson contributor: Vijaya Babu, Koganti Senior Lecturer in English Govt.Degree College, Chebrole, Guntur (Dt), Andhra Pradesh, India +91 8801 823244 [email protected]  LESSON 5 INTRODUCTION TO PARADISE LOST In the previous lessons you studied about the work of the first poet of English literature, i.e., Geoffrey Chaucer. Now you are going to study about one of the other greatest poets, who is known for his grandiloquent language, i.e., John Milton. 5.0 Objectives After reading this lesson, you will be able to Understand the aspects of the Age of Milton Understand his life and Know about the theme of the epic Paradise Lost Structure of the Lesson 5.0 objectives 5.1 Age of Milton 5.2 What is Puritanism? 5.3 Literary Aspects of the Age 5.4 Life of John Milton 5.5 Critical opinions on Paradise Lost. 5.6 An Overview of the theme of Paradise Lost 5.6.1 Book I 5.6.2 Book II 5.6.3 Book III 5.6.4 Book IV 5.6.5 Book V 5.6.6 Book VI 5.6.7 Book VII 5.6.8 Book VIII 5.6.9 Book IX 5.7.0 Book X 5.7.1 Book XI 5.7.2 Book XII 5.8 Summing Up 5.9 Comprehension Check Questions 5.9.1 References 5.9.2 Additional Sources 5.1 Age Of Milton Mrs. Una-Fermor refers to the age of Milton as an age of uncertainty, misgiving, despondency, anxiety, frustration, pessimism and inner gloom, and in all these respects it is in sharp contrast to the glorious and exuberant age of Elizabeth, when the nation marched from achievement to achievement with zest and confidence. There was a clash of ideals and philosophies of the old world and the medieval world, with its scholastic learning and metaphysics breaking down under the impact of new philosophy. Centre for Distance Education 5.2 Acharya Nagarjuna University Milton is the connecting link between the glorious age of Queen Elizabeth, the Puritan age which followed, and the Restoration Age. It was an age of disillusionment, of increasing gloom, frustration and loss of faith. 5.2 What is Puritanism? Puritanism may be regarded as the renaissance of the moral sense of man. The Greco- Roman Renaissance of 15th and 16th centuries was largely pagan and sensuous. It did not touch the moral nature of man; it did nothing for his religious, political and social emancipation. The Puritan movement, on the other hand, was the greatest movement for moral and political reforms. Its aims were (i) religious liberty, i.e., that men should be free to worship according to their conscience, and (ii) they should enjoy full civil liberty. The Puritans wanted to make men honest and to make them free. They insisted on the purity of life. The Puritans thus stood for (i) Church reform, (ii) for the reform of social life according to their austere ideals and (iii) for the ideal of liberty both religious and political –man should be free to worship according to his own conscience unhampered by the state. 5.3 Literary Aspects of the Age The decline from the high Elizabethan standards is clear in several ways. The out-put, especially of poetry, is much smaller, and the trend is toward shorter poems, especially the lyric. The poetry of the period is largely lyrical, and Donne and Ben Jonson are the two most outstanding and original lyricists of the age. Milton who links up the Puritan age with the Restoration is a class by himself. There is a marked decay in the exalted poetical fervor of the previous age. In the new poetry, there is more of intellectual play than of passion and profundity. And especially in prose, there is a matured melancholy that one is apt to associate with advancing years. There is a marked increase in prose activity, and prose is an almost invariable accompaniment of a decline in poetry. The ambition to write an epic persisted, but it was Milton alone, who could achieve success. 5.4 Life of John Milton John Milton, the poet, was born on December 9, 1608, in London. The poet’s father was settled in London, following the profession of a notary. He married in about 1600, and had six children of whom several died young. The third child was the poet, John Milton. The elder Milton was evidently a man of considerable culture, in particular as an accomplished musician. To him, the poet owed his love of music of which we see frequent indications in the poems. John Milton was sent to St. Paul’s School about the year 1620. The headmaster was a good English scholar; and he had much to do with the encouragement and guidance of Milton’s early taste for English poetry. In 1625 he left St. Paul’s, and his early training was important in many respects; it had laid the foundation of the far-ranging knowledge which makes Paradise Lost unique for diversity of suggestion and interest. Milton went to Christ’s Poetry-I 5.3 Intro. to Paradise Lost College, Cambridge, in 1625, took his B.A. degree in 1629, and joined M.A. in 1632, but he left Cambridge shortly after. Milton’s father settled at Horton in Buckinghamshire. There the son joined him in July, 1632. He had gone to Cambridge with the intention of qualifying for the Church. This purpose was soon given up and when Milton returned to his father’s house he seemed to have made up his mind that there was only one profession which he cared to enter. It seems as if he already decided that he would devote himself to studying and preparing by rigorous self-discipline and application, for the calling of a poet. During his five years’stay at Horton (1632-38), Milton completed his self-education. Milton’s life falls into three well-marked divisions (i) the period of his education and apprenticeship to the art of poetry, (ii) the period of active participation in political and religious controversy in England and (iii) the last and glorious period of great poetical achievement. Milton’s works fall naturally into four periods: (1) the College period, closing with the end of his Cambridge career in 1632; (2) the Horton period, closing with his departure for the Continent in 1638; (3) the period of political and religious controversies, the period of his prose-writings, from 1640 to 1660: and (4) the later poetic period or the period of the great epics. To this early Horton period belong a number of great poems. The dates of the early pieces-L’Allegro, II Penseroso, Arcades, Comus and Lycidas- are not all certain; but probably each was composed at Horton before 1638. Four of them reflect the great crisis through which English life and thought were passing. In L’Allegro the poet holds the balance almost equal between the two opposing tendencies. In 1638, Milton set out to make the customary Grand Tour of Europe, which was part of the education of the young English gentleman. He travelled widely in Italy, absorbing as he went, something of the intellectual culture of that land, and developing close and fruitful contacts with scholars and scientists and in particular with ‘the great Tuscan artist’, Galileo. He wrote, during this period, some verse in Latin and some in Italian. But news of far- reaching developments in the political and religious spheres, back home in England, made him end his stay in Italy and return to England at the end of the summer of 1639. Milton’s first treatise upon the government of the Church (Of Reformation in England) appeared in 1641. Others followed in quick succession. He had married Mary Powell in the May, 1643. The marriage proved unfortunate. Its immediate outcome was the 'pamphlets on divorce'. Clearly he had little leisure for literature proper. The finest of Milton’s prose works, Areopaegetica, a plea for the free expression of opinion, was published in 1644. In 1645 appeared the first collection of his poems. In 1649 his advocacy of the anti- royalist cause was recognized by the offer of a post under the newly appointed Council of State. His bold vindication of the trial of Charles I, The Tenure of Kings, had appeared earlier in the same year. Between 1649 and 1660, Milton produced no less than eleven pamphlets. Dryden complained that Milton saw nature through the spectacle of books; we might have had to complain that he saw men through the same medium. Fortunately it is not so; and it is not so because at the age of thirty-two he threw in his fortunes with those of his country. The last part of Milton’s life 1660-74, passed quietly. Centre for Distance Education 5.4 Acharya Nagarjuna University At the age of fifty-two he was thrown back upon poetry, and could at length write the epic of his dreams. The early poems he had never regarded as a fulfillment of the debt due to his Creator. Even when the fire of political strife burned at its hottest, Milton did not forget the purpose,which he had conceived in his boyhood. Of that purpose Paradise Lost was the attainment. Begun about 1658, it was finished in 1663, the year of Milton’s third marriage; revised from 1663 to 1665; and at last published in 1667. Before its publication Milton had commenced work (in the autumn of 1665) on Paradise Regained, which in turn was followed by Samson Agonistes. The completion of Paradise Regained may be assigned to 1666-that of Samson Agonistes to 1667. Some time was spent in their revision; and in January, 1671, they were published together, in a single volume. His third marriage had proved happy, and he enjoyed something of the renown which he rightly deserved. Various well-known men used to visit him - Dryden, being one of them. In one of his visits he asked and received permission to dramatise Paradise Lost. Milton died in 1674, on the 8th of November. He was buried in St. Giles Church, Cripplegate. 5.5 Critical Opinions on Paradise Lost Professor Oliver Elton thought that the central myth of Paradise Lost did not embody, as handled by Milton, some enduring truth that speaks to the imagination. Mr. T.S. Eliot was claimed to have ‘destroyed Milton in a parenthesis’, though this much admired pontiff of twentieth century letters would seem to have noted only two weaknesses in him, an auditory rather than a visual imagination and a crucial role in a damnable ‘dissociation of sensibility’. T.S. Eliot went through the process of a public recantation and apology, before the most distinguished academic audience of the British Academy, by making Milton the theme of the Master Mind Lecture of the Academy under the Henry Hertz Endowment. Matthew Arnold hailed Milton as the greatest English master of the grand style in literature. Wordsworth, deeply troubled by the discontents of his time said ‘Milton, thou shouldn’t be living at this hour’. The poem is wrought out of the Bible –as few other poems have been. Echoes of Homer and Virgil, of Spenser and Shakespeare, of Dante, Petrarch and Tasso ring through the poem. "Milton’s vast and voracious reading makes the task of tracing the measureless allusions in the poem, a stimulating challenge, not easily and not always successfully faced. Its central theme, the Fall of Man, is awe-inspiring in its huge, imponderable vastness-not of scale alone but of significance. Of a trifle, seemingly as light as air, such as the eating of a fruit by Adam and Eve, it may be easy to work out a mock-heroic poem of a few lines. But what Milton has wrought out of it is truly awesome in its superb grandeur, its sheer, towering majesty." Compassing all life and all time, Heaven and Hell, war, love and religion, Paradise Lost is unique in its intrinsic greatness and in the reverent homage it has evoked among all true lovers of poetry. The central action of the poem, for all its seeming simplicity, is charged with the universal and cosmic significance. "Adam’s heroism may not be of the kind that resounds through the pages of history alongside Hector, Achilles and Ulysses and other ‘active’heroes of life and letters. Adam and Eve through Eden ‘took their solitary way’and the poem is invested with a heroic dimension which only those, who have known tragedy in their lives and endured it, can assess right." Poetry-I 5.5 Intro. to Paradise Lost Milton had considered writing on the Arthurian theme- and he had also drawn up, about the year 1646, the plan of a play to be called Adam Unparadised, on the lines of aGreek tragic drama. But Milton abandoned the idea of a play and set to work to give this theme the shape of an epic poem. 5.6 An Overview of the theme of Paradise Lost 5.6.1 Book I (General introduction, invocation of the poet, Description of the pandemonium and Satan recovers from fall) Milton invokes the muse to inspire him for his tale to “justify the ways of God to men”. Satan, the Arch Fiend has been cast down into an abyss, a place of utter darkness because of his revolt against God. He is hurled down into a burning lake. He recovers from his confusion and finds Beelzebub and millions of fallen angels. He addresses them and encourages them for a fight. Milton describes all the fallen angels like Molach, Chemos, Astoreth, Thammuz, Dagon, Rimmon, Osiris, Isis, Orus, Belial, Azazel and Mammon. All these gods build a palace for Satan, a pandemonium, and begin a secret meeting. 5.6.2 Book II (Satan begins his journey through Chaos to the world) After the secret meeting, Molach advises an open war. Mammon asks them to accept their plight. Beelzebub advises that they should find out man and his weaknesses and try to seduce him to their cause. Satan decides to go alone to explore the newly created world, hoping thereby to maintain his grip or power. The fallen angels disperse and begin to explore hell. Satan puts on wings and soars to the adamantine gates of hell. There he encounters and fights Sin, and her incestuous son by Satan, Death. Satan offers a life of ease in the new world if they open the gates and let him pass. Sin accepts it. As the gates open, fire and smoke pours out into chaos from hell. Satan crosses the abyss and encounters Chaos and Night. He asks for directions. He then finds Nature at the edge of chaos and approaches the new world. 5.6.3 Book III (Satan arrives on the earth; God prophesies man's disobedience!) God sees Satan traveling to the earth. The Son of God and God discuss how the fallen angels elected their rebellion through their own free will. Son of God is concerned for man and they discuss man's future. God prophesies that man will also disobey Him and must die unless the death of a sacrificial victim is offered. Son of God wants to let God's anger over man's disobedience fall on him instead, and he says that he will die for him. God praises Son of God and says he will not be tainted by assuming human trappings. They speak of the Last Judgement to come. The angels dutifully and subserviently rejoice. Satan is at the edge of the universe. Satan continues down, assisted by the stairs from heaven, and encounters the angel Uriel at a sunspot on the sun. Concealing his evil intentions and disguised as a young cherub, he inquires where man is to be found. Uriel describes the creation and directs him to Paradise on the earth. Satan descends and lands on the mountain Niphates, north of Eden. Centre for Distance Education 5.6 Acharya Nagarjuna University 5.6.4 Book IV (Satan finds Adam and Eve and tempts Eve in a dream) Satan arrives at Eden and sits on the Tree of Life, pondering his next move. He finds the innocent couple Adam and Eve and is envious of their beauty and unearned pleasures. Adam praises God and Eve returns his praise; Adam warns Eve of their one commandment. Satan despises them, and overhears that the Tree of Knowledge is forbidden to man. Eve recounts her first awakening, seeing her beautiful image in the lake.She thinks that she is more beautiful than the more rational Adam. The couple exhibit innocent sexual desire, which inspires Satan's hatred, and he works on his malignant plan. The guardian angels Uriel and Gabriel converse as the night approaches, and Uriel warns that an evil Spirit has arrived. Adam and Eve exchange love and praise and retire after prayers, to their blissful bower and connubial love. Satan, squatting like a toad next to the sleeping Eve's ear, tempts her in her dreams. He is confronted by the angels Zephon and Ithuriel and is brought to Gabriel -- they question the haughty and boastful Satan. He flies from Paradise after perceiving a warning sign from heaven. 5.6.5 Book V (Eve's Dream; Raphael warns them and tells them of the war in heaven) The next morning, Eve appears blushing and excited and tells Adam of her dream. She says that an angel like figure tempted her to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and that it would make her godlike. Adam is afraid and troubled by her ominous dream of temptation. Adam argues that other lesser faculties of the soul must be subservient to reason. They pray and begin their morning's work, which involves pruning the exuberant plant growth. God sends Raphael to visit Adam to warn him of the consequences of his freedom and disobedience, and to remove any excuse that might occur out of ignorance. He dines with them while warning them--but Eve is away gathering fruit.Raphael tells them that man will gradually become more godlike if he remains obedient. He describes heaven: God, the Son, Satan's pride and envy of the Son of God's promotion over him to the second in preeminence, Satan's refusal to submit to God, his gathering of 1/3 of the angels in a rebellion, the history of the fallen angels and Satan, God's requirement for the angels’voluntary obedience, Abdiel's opposition to Satan, Satan's clever arguments and defiance and Abdiel's prophecy of Satan's downfall. 5.6.6 Book VI (Raphael completes the war story and tells of victory by the Son) Abdiel returns and God praises Abdiel's loyalty. Gabriel and Michael are sent into battle against the rebellious angels--trumpets call the angels to battle. Satan disparages Abdiel's subservience to God, but Abdiel defends himself, fights and wounds Satan. Satan seeks out Michael, and they fight in single combat--Michael wounds Satan, and Satan is borne away. Gabriel wounds Moloch, and the rebels are routed. After a night of re-grouping (during which the rebels make gunpowder and devilish engines), the rebels take the offensive on the second day. God calls the Son to help so that he may have the final victory. On the third day of battle, the irresistible warrior Son conquers them with overwhelming force and drives them from heaven through a gap exposing chaos. The Son returns to God victorious and all the heavens rejoice victoriously. Eve seems to be absent, so Raphael warns Adam to warn Eve. Poetry-I 5.7 Intro. to Paradise Lost 5.6.7 Book VII (Raphael tells of the creation of the world and man) Milton invokes his muse Urania, like the Holy Spirit. He recalls his personal danger from hostile political forces. At Adam's request Raphael tells them of the creation of the world and of man. Adam wants to know of their own origins. Raphael is willing to tell some, but warns of the limits to their knowledge. God has left some things unrevealed and incomprehensible to them and too much knowledge can be dangerous. Raphael explains about the seven days of creation. The Universe is created with golden compasses, then light, night and day, the firmament, the waters are divided by the heavens, dry land (earth) appears in the lower waters (surrounded by the seas), the grass, plants, and trees, the sun and the moon, the stars and planets, reptiles, whales and fish, fowl, cattle and other animals, and finally man appears. Angels in heaven praise the creation. Man is made in God's own image to rule over other beasts. Eve is created as his companion. 5.6.8 Book VIII (Adam tells his own story; Raphael again warns him) Adam is grateful and asks about celestial motions. Eve departs when this complex subject comes up. She leaves to visit her fruits and flowers. She prefers to learn from her husband rather than from the angel. Raphael again warns of the set limits to knowledge and says that God has concealed the secrets of planetary motion and man should not know all. Raphael, who was spying on hell when Adam was created, asks about Adam's own recollection of the time immediately after his creation. Adam relates his own story, what happened after he awoke from his creation. He was led by God to Paradise, warned to avoid the Tree of Knowledge or face death, but told that man will reign over the earth. Adam gave names to the species of animals. After Adam expressed his loneliness through a lack of an intellectual equal, Eve was created. Raphael praises higher love but cautions Adam about excessive interest in carnal passion and again warns Adam. Thus warning, he departs for heaven. 5.6.9 Book IX (Satan succeeds in tempting Eve, and she corrupts Adam) Milton again invokes his Muse. Satan returns, after seven days of hiding behind the other side of the earth, he arrives concealed as mist. He admires the beautiful earth but is tormented by this beauty. He boasts about the destruction he will create. He enters the hapless serpent. Eve proposes to Adam to divide their labors; she wants to work away from Adam. Adam argues she should stay by his side and do her role of promoting her husband--he fears for her safety. She interprets this as unkind, and responds with "sweet austere composure", saying he should not distrust her or her ability to fend for herself. He reminds her of the danger from the foe they have been warned about. But she is confident of her ability to resist temptation. She argues that their happiness in Paradise is illusory if they must live in such constant fear and confinement. Adam fears her free will and faulty reasoning. But finally he is worn down, and she overcomes his hesitation and concern. He consents to her leaving. Eve is pleased to leave with his permission, and says, in parting, the pride of their foe would prevent him from coming after the weaker of the two humans. But, she is wrong. Centre for Distance Education 5.8 Acharya Nagarjuna University When she is alone, Satan seeks her out, shunning her husband's higher intellect. He again notes her angelic beauty and is temporarily awed by her. He appears to her as a lovely serpent, and addresses her with flattery, saying that she is like a goddess. She marvels that the serpent can talk. He attributes this ability to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and leads her to it. She offers resistance, saying it is forbidden, but he is cleverer, and says she will become goddess-like. She sees how he has benefited and desires the same for herself, and eats her fill of the uniquely delicious fruit. Nature immediately gives off ominous rumblings and portents. She makes an idolatrous soliloquy to the tree and then debates whether to tell or involve Adam. But if she is to die, she does not want Adam to have a new Eve. She wants him to die with her and so decides to force him to eat it too. Adam becomesworried,seeks her out and finds her near the Tree. She tells Adam that the fruit is not harmful. She appears flushed and intoxicated. Adam is stunned, drops the garland he has made for her as heknows thathe cannot live without her nor undo her deed. He is tightly bound to her by love, and while expressing his deep regret at her action, tries to find a reason for the act due to his love for her. He doubts if God would destroy his prize creation, mankind, or let Satan triumph. Finally he is resigned to his fate with her as one flesh, and she views his compliance as a kind of test or trial of his love. At last he eats his fill, and she has more as well. As if intoxicated, they are overwhelmed with carnal lust for each other and take their fill of love's disport on a bank of flowers in the afternoon (obviously sinful). They awaken the next morning ,from troubled sleep, their innocence lost, overcome with remorse and shame at their nakedness, filled with turmoil. Adam and Eve want to hide and to cover their sexual parts. They sew fig/banyan leaves together to cover themselves. They blame each other and argue, exhibiting increasing discord and distrust. Their appetites have dominated reason. Eve claims the serpent would have as easily deluded Adam, and demands to know why he did not simply command her not to go to work alone. Adam resents the lack of gratitude she shows at the supreme sacrifice he has made for her. They each blame the other but do not accept self- responsibility. 5.7.0 Book X (Divine retribution; Adam and Eve's remorse and reconciliation) God has seen Satan in the form of the snake. The angelic guards of Paradise ascend to heaven and are exonerated by God--he foresaw this outcome. He plans to rule on the death sentence, and decides to send the Son of God to earth to judge the sinners. The Son