1.

ANGLO-SAXON LITERACY CULTURE: THE HEROIC WORLD vs CHRISTIANITY

In this unit, were talking about Old English Literature, which was influenced by different countries,
places, people and cultures. The subjects of the first literature are subjects which are familiar even now:
war, religion, personal sadness and happiness. It was the Christian monks in the monasteries who first
wrote down the words of the early literature (only those who could write and read) and they were also
the ones who guarded culture and learning for many centuries. Nevertheless, a few fragments remain
today, in them we have the reflection of the culture in the moment, Christian and Heroic. Most of the
texts were anonymous.

We situate this literary context in the Middle Ages, exactly in the year 410 A.D, when the Romans, who
were settled in the Island since 43 A.D, left. The Britons (natives of the island) lived under the power of
the Romans during that time. When they left, Britons were invaded by the tribes of the North, starting
this way the Germanic Invasions, which involved, according to Bede, the arrival of the most powerful
nations in Germany: Saxons, Jutes and Angles.

The invasion and settlement took place between 410 and 600. There are few remains of this period and
most of what we know mixes legend and history. English resistance to the invasions seems to have
been limited , but it is told there was a man called Artus (King Arthur?), who is told to have defeated the
Anglo-Saxons at the battle of Mount Badon (Mons Badonicus, c.520)

Anglo-Saxon invasions brought many changes to daily life, such as the progressive replacement of Latin
culture and Roman system by Germanic ways of life. At the beginning, we have an oral and non-literate
culture till 7th century.

The major Germanic tribes that settled in Britain were from different lands in the continent: Angles
came from the southern part of Jutland (modern Denmark); Saxon came from southern part of the river
Elbe (nowadays Germany); and the Jutes were from northern Jutland.

According to Bede, Jutes occupied Kent; the Angles settled in the central eastern area and both sides of
the river Humber; and the Saxons settled in the southeast and the southwest (Essex, Sussex and
Wessex). The Celts were displaced to the north or the southwestern area of the island (modern Wales
and Cornwall).

By the early 7th century Anglo-Saxon Britain was divided into seven kingdoms (HEPTARCHY):

ANGLES:
o East Anglia
o Northumbria, which held the hegemony in the late 7th and 8th century.
o Mercia, its supremacy lasted as long as the rule of King Offa (757-796), who considered
himself rex totius Anglorum patriae
SAXONS:
o Essex
o Wessex, they were the last on the power and flourished under Kings Alfred (871-899)
and Aesthelstan (924-939)
o Sussex
JUTES: Kent
These three were hostile to each other and in turn dominated England for about 200 years until a new
wave of invasions form Scandinavia (the Vikings) raided the island.

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle (another important written in Old English) talks about the Viking raids. The
first one took place in 793 and it was later followed by further invasions of the lands of the Anglo-
Saxons in 855. In the times of King Alfred they were isolated in the northeast of England by King
Alfred?. The Viking territories were known as the Danelaw.

The period between 800 and 1066 is therefore a time of conflicts between the English and the Danes,
who eventually seized power under the reign of Cnut between 1016 and 1035.

The main feature of the Germanic world Anglo-Saxons came from was that it was a society of warriors
which gave a great importance to heroic songs, originally composed for an oral performance but lately
preserved in a written form (epic poetry) which were transmitted by scops from town to town and
went from one generation to another.

Religiously talking, Germanic people were polytheist and they mainly worshiped gods related to war
and nature, so those were the most important to them. (Woden or Thor as war gods). The treasures
found at Sutton Ho and in Staffordshire are a proof to the sophistication of their war culture and the
importance of their military, male-centered code (loyalty, honor, strength).

Old English heroic poetry is an elevated, elevating, and male-centered literature, which lays stress on
virtues of a tribal community on the ties of loyalty between lord and liegemen, on the significance of
individual heroism, and the powerful saw of wyrd/fate (Andrew Sanders).

The oral character of Old English poetry made it very much of a social event. Scops were supposed to
master word-hord. As in any other language, there are words in OE with an exclusively poetic use, as we
can see in Beowulf. Poetry was recited and performed in the mead-hall, centre of Anglo-Saxon social life
( a society of warriors).

Theres a great stress on the sense of community to idealize those social bonds that tie the warriors to
their lords and kings (heorthwerod). Generosity, loyalty, hospitality and heroism are so valuable to
them. As its said before, we can find most of these features in the epic poem Beowulf, where the main
character, Beowulf, risks his life in order to pay a certain debt to a lord or king (His father was in debt
with king Hrothgar) fighting the monster Grendel. The lords show their bounty by giving some present
for the heros deeds (ring-giver = king).

CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS

Anglo-Saxons were not Christian people when they arrived in Engand. They have the same belief,
traditions and rituals as Germanic and Scandinavian people (Politheism). However, heathenism or
paganism progressively disappeared in Anglo-Saxon England, being one of the main reasons the several
missions sent by the Papacy since the end of the 6th century. Theres a mixture of legend and history
about what we know. Bede is our main source.

The arrival of Christianity to the island means an interesting and complex cultural process. Historia
Ecclesiastica shows how Christianization reached the island. According to Bede, Pope Gregory the Great
saw a group of English slaves in Rome and they looked like angels to him (non Angli sed Angeli = Not
Angles but Angels) and he decided that such an angelic people should not remain pagan, so, thats why,
according to the legend, the first Christian Mission, headed by St Augustine, was sent to England and
arrived in Kent by 597.

Regardless of legends, there were in fact two different sources of Christianity in England:

Strong Christian, monastic tradition among the Celts. In 565, an Irish monk of royal blood, St.
Columba, founded a monastery in Iona (north of Britain).
Roman tradition, which started with Augustines mission. It relies less on monasticism and more
on the hierarchical structure proper to the Roman church.

Christianity was not an outgoing process. There was much backsliding; even when kingdoms converted,
many pagan traditions and ideas remained among the people. The first king that converted into
Christianity was Ethelbert of Kent (597), followed by Northumbrians (627), West Saxons (635) and
Mercians (655)

Christianization meant the introduction of Latin culture, and also the rise of literacy for a nation whose
writing had been very limited until then. The coexistence of Latin (Church. Written page) and English
(semi-literate, pagan, warrior and oral culture) is one of diglossia:

Latin prose rose as the medium for history-writing, law, Bible, commentary, liturgy
English was the peoples language, but also the language of early poetry (celebration of victory
in battle, military glory and honour.

As Christianity started to settle in the Anglo-Saxon world, the boundaries between Latin and English
were loosened, especially because the influence of Latin permeated English quite heavily. Christian
thought became an important part of English poetry, to the extent that the old heroic songs and poems
were transformed by the new beliefs and faith, as we can see in Beowulf, in which we can see pagan
rituals living alongside Christian ideas.

Besides, the transmission of a Latinate, Christian culture was possible by means of translation into
English. In the 9th century, during the Viking invasions, King Alfred of Wessex, stablished a court school
for the study of the liberal arts, and ordered that Every Latin book was translated into English, copied
and preserved in the libraries of English monasteries. (Preface to Gregory the Greats Cura Pastoralis,
Beothius Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustines Soliloquies).

The preservation of English books was undertaken in the late part of the Anglo-Saxon period. Religious
prose and verse in English survive side by side with English poems whose origin is clearly Germanic and
pre-Christian.

Account for the conversion of Edwin,King of Northumbria (627)

In Bedes Historia Ecclesiastica we are told about the conversion of King Edwin, which is thought to have
happened in the 7th century. When he ask for advice to his Wittenagemot about the new religion, hes
answered back in an allegory/simile/comparison rhetorical way:

Your Majesty, when we compare the present life of man on earth with that time of which we have no
knowledge, it seems to be like the swift flight of a single sparrow through the banqueting-hall where
you are sitting at dinner on a winters day with your thegns and counsellors. In the midst, there is a
comforting fire to warm the hall; outside, the storms of winter rain or snow are raging. This sparrow
flies swiftly through one door of the hall, and out through another. While he is inside, he is safe from the
winter storms, but after a few moments of comfort, he vanishes from sight into the wintry world from
which he came. Even so, man appears on earth for a little while; but of what went before his life and
what follows, we know nothing. Therefore, if this new teaching has brought any more certain
knowledge, it seems only right that we should follow it."

What hes trying to explain us that we didnt see the sparrow before it entered the meadhall and we will
stop seeing it as soon as he leaves by the other window. The flight of the sparrow can be compared to
our life (which start as the sparrows get in the room and ends with its leaving).

If we compared to the Anglo-Saxons old religion, we have that what happens to the bird before getting
in the room and leaving it is something we dont know about, which means that they didnt know what
happened before and after life, only what they see what theyre living. Christianism, nevertheless seems
to be able to let them know about themselves by knowing about the afterlife.

We can appreciate a Religion mixture, since they are gathered in a banqueting hall = meadhall
(sweetened wine), which was the place where warrior and soldiers got together to drink and to
celebrate while listening to scops.

Religions is shown as a useful source to humans. Its a political, social and cultural matter. It gives
spiritual advantages and makes peoples life easier. People is better if they know what happened in the
origin of life and what will happen when they die.

Since Venerable Bede gets to be a great mixture of history and literature, we dont know till what we
can trust this source, but something is sure, the process is much longer than this, as its explained
above.

Account of Caedmons life

About historical Caedmon little is known. Hes assumed by the historians to be real and the authority of
Caedmons Hythm is attributed to him. Its written in alliterative verse.

The life of Caedmon, as told in the fourth book of Historia Ecclesiastica, and his becoming a poet out of
sheer illiteracy, says much about the oral origins of poetry as we know it from harp singers as about
Bedes interesting in finding a sacred, Christian root in English poetic composition. The idea of poetry as
originating in a dream vision is another element Bede must have taken from popular knowledge or
folklore.

Caedmons poetry is the first heroical poem know. Bede, who mixed history and legend on his Historia
Ecclesiastica, describes how Caedmon refused joining celebrations and stayed at home because he was
not able to sing. He had a dream where he met God, and after that he start singing, but only religious
songs, being able to turn Biblical passages into poetry. He was said to be God-given. Thats why,
according to Bede, poetry had a Divine origin, related to ORALTY, not evolving any need of writing.

Dreams started to be really important to the point that they were thought to be truth communicated by
God.

2. ORALTY AND LITERACY IN ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE: VERSE AND PROSE

The term Anglo-Saxon generally names a set of peoples. It also refers to the language of these peoples,
also known as Old English. What are the main features of this language?

The concept of literature is a rather modern one, so its difficult to be applied to earlier texts. It is hard
to establish what literature is and what belongs to science, religion, or philosophy, in the early medieval
period. Literature is assumed to be synonymous with written tradition.
When it comes to Anglo-Saxon written tradition, we can talk about two main streams, differenced in
language, genre, mode of transmission and some other features. On the one hand we must
differentiate between Latin and native English tradition; on the other, we must differentiate between a
tradition in prose and a tradition in verse.

Prose: Anglo-Saxon period was a flourishing time of monastic learning since the late 7th century.
There was a proliferation of Latin works. Even when these were written in OE, these prose
works belong to a tradition which is mainly Christian and Latinate.
Verse: The context for poetry was oral, as well as its transmission. It was composed for musical
accompaniment (lyre or harp) and for recitation. Whats been preserved, was written down for
those belonging to the learned tradition of Latin literature. The remains of Old English can be
found in four manuscripts from the late 10th century. Its hard to know when or where these
poems were composed, but some of them must have been composed 200 or 250 years before
they were written into the extant manuscript copies.

What are the main features of Old English verse and poetic language? How is the oral origin of Old
English poetry present in the extant texts?

When we talk about OE poetry form and diction, we must take into account its oral carcter and the
contect of its public performance, which determined poetic composition and reached us in the written
version of the poems. Those are the most importan features of Old English poetry:

The use of alliterative verse: it is the basis for the poetic rhythm in traditional Old English verse.
The verse lines are divided into two half-lines or hemistichs, separated by a caesura in the middle
of each line. On each line a consonantal sound is repeated twice or twice on the first half-line
and a third time on the second half-line. All vowels alliterate. Sounds alliterate only in initial
position of a stressed syllable. Alliteration intensifies the rhythm of song and was a usefull
memory device for the scop.
Formulaic diction: this means words are used as formulae to compose, like in the case of
European early epic tradition (Eptetos Homricos). The vocabulary is specialized and some of
the words in poems like Beowulf dont appear anywhere else. Words like guma (man) only
appear in poetry (the word for man in OE was wer). The use of compounds is usual, so that way
the can fill in a half-line or hemistich.
o Kennings: are an instance of formulaic compound. It comes from an Old Norse word
meaning to know. Its a literary compound word with metaphysical value. Its used in
descriptions to add colour and surprise, being frequent in OE epic poetry.
The real origin of Old English poetry is related to Germanic heroic poetry, that didnt have anything to
do with Christianity (Beowulf), so Bede is not a reliable source to know about the origin of this poetry.

As we know, poetry was orally transmitted till it was fixed and written, so we cant know about it oral
origins. What we know about all poetry in English in 766 is all in four manuscripts, written in the West
Saxon dialect. They can be dated around 1000-1050:

1) The Beowulf Ms. (or Cottom Vitellius Ms.): it belonged to the Elisabethan antiquarian Sir Robert
Cotton. Its called Vitellus because it was cased in a bookshelf containing bust of the Roman
emperor Vitellius. This book contains Beowulf, the Biblical poem Judith, and a narrative poem
called The Battle of Maldon. Its an illustrated book.
2) The Exester Book: most of the elegies and riddles are contained in this manuscript. The main
ones are The Saferer, the Wanderer, Deor and 95 riddles.
3) The Vercelli Book: it was found in the cathedral library at Vercelli, near Millan in the 19th century
but its said to be a gift of an English to an Italian. In this manuscript we have prose and religious
poetry. The two main hagiographies of Anglo-Saxon literature are to be found in this book
(Andreas, Elene). The most important poem in the manuscript is The Dream of the Rood, in which
the cross (rood) speaks to the sleeping poet and tells him what happened in the crucifixion of
Christ.
4) The Junius Manuscript: It contains religious poetry, specifically Biblical or apocryphal subjects.
The main works are Genesis, Exodus, Daniel and Christ and Satan.

What are the main poetic genres in Old English literature? Exemplify them with representative works.

When we talk about the poetic genres in Old English poetry, we should distinguish five type of poetic
compositions:

1. The Old English Elegies

We have to take into account that the word elegy can be a bit questionable term when we refer
to the group of poems kept in the Exeter Book, which deal with mourning, death and loss (of
love, the protection of a lord). According to Michael Alexander on his A History of Old English
Literature, OE elegies are meditative set pieces cast in dramatic form. The most important
poems in this group address the experience of exile and loos from very personal perspective.

Deprivation of ones homeland, the impossibility to oppose ones destiny of wyrd, the loss of
social protection are common themes to these poems. The Wanderer or eardstapa laments the
impossibility to find the protection of a noble lord. The Saferer, on its part, ends up in a sort of
homily that again makes clear the union of heathen, heroic and Christian roots of Old English
poetry.

The separation of man and wife is object of two other elegies. The Wifes Lament and The
Husbands Message. The first one, which is one of the first OE poem where the poetic persona is a
woman, laments a wifes loss of her husband love and companionship. Consolation is less
frequent in this poems than sorrow.

Other remarkable work we can find in Exeter Book is Deor because of its mixing of heroic tone
with the elegiac mood of The Wanderer. This poem tells a series of well-known histories of
 characters that went through several tragic episodes in their lives. They are all linked by a refrain:
that passed away, and this also may. The final stories links those historical episodes with Deors
own life. Deor is a scop who lost the favour of his lord, being substituted for a n more skillful poet
than him. Like those stories of the past, Deor hopes that his disgrace will pass away too.

2. Old English Religious Verse

Religious poetry is a logical outcome of Christian learning. Most of the poems we know about are
anonymous, except for the name of Caedmon and occasionally other. Caedmons Hymn was
followed by those poems in the Junius Ms, which are nowadays believed to have been composed
after the manner and style of Caedmon.

Of the later poems, only a few have a direct connection with Biblical stories, as Judith. In the 8th
century it was common to write about saints lives, being the most important Andreas and Elene in
the Vercelli Book, and also poems about Christs own life.

The finest religious poem in OE is The Dream of the Rood, which is part of the Vercelli Book, but
parts of it are also kept in the so-called Ruthwell Cross, because of that, we can conclude that the
poem was written before the year 700.

3. Riddles

We can find in the Exeter Book a collection of 95 riddles. We can stablish different traditions in
order to determine their sources: on the one hand, some of them belong to Germanic and Anglo-
Saxon folklore; on the other hand, a few of them derive from Latin sources, since riddles were a
learned entertainment among clerical scholars.

Riddles determine the range of knowledge in Anglo-Saxon world: quite a few refer to natural
phenomena, other to everyday objects. Some other are difficult to guess, since the original do not
provide the answer in the written form. Some are long and twisted, pointing at the
transformation of matter into an object by human art (riddle 26: Holy Bible). Other are short and
witty, alluding to the wondrous transformation carried out by the forces of nature.

4. Gnomic Verse, Remedies, Charms

Those are verse dealing with popular or proverbial wisdom in OE poetry, which is mostly found in
the Exeter Book. The Gnomic verse are maxims containing rules and laws or behavior in nature
and social life. Beside, other short verses containing charms, recipes and cures for diseases are
found in the Anglo-Saxon poetic corpus.

The Gnomic verse provide a sententious tone that spread through all Anglo-Saxon poetry.

- Write a brief synopsis of Beowulf, and account for its main literary features.

Beowulf is an anonymous poem set around 6th century but which wasnt probably written until
the 8th century.

On its 3000 lines, it tells the story of a brave young man from the southern Sweden who goes on a
quest to help the King of the Danes, Hrothgar, who cannot defend himself or his people against
the terrible monster Grendel, who he attacks one night and injures him by pulling his hands off. As
Grendels mother finds her son death, she retaliates against Beowulf and tried to kill him, but she
turns to be killed instead in her own cave.

50 years later, a fire-breathing dragon attacks Beowulfs kingdom again, this time, even though he
defeats the dragon, he is mortally injured and dies.

The poem has a sad ending, but it is a statement of heroic values and Beowulf dies a hero. Its part
myth, part history, but the hero is remembered as the man who can win battles and give safety to
his people over a long period of time. Major themes in the story are the passing of time through
the generations and what it means to be a human being.
Unit 2: Towards literary modernity: The Renaissance

Renaissance and Revolution: Historical and Literary features

- What were the major changes in the Renaissance world from religious, cultural and
historical points of view?

The end of the 1400s comes with two important events to the English people, which are the end
of the War of the Roses in 1485 with the Victory of the Tudor dynasty and the Discovery of
America in 1492 by Christopher Colombus. This supposed the birth of new worlds, geographically
and spiritually, and so they were the beginning to the Rainassance (Italy), rebirth of learning and
culture. It got to England during Elisabeth Is reing (1558 to 1603) being this one of the biggest Era
in English history.

Talking about religion, its marked by the Act of Supremacy in 1533 by Henry VIII in his attempt to
divorce Katherin of Aragon and marry another woman in order to have a male heredero. With
this, he unlinked England from the Popal Influence, and he became himself head of the church.

We should talk about a huge important even in 1475, which was the first time a book was printed
in England, giving place to a new way of writing and reading beside of being a really significant
fact for literature, meaning this that literary work would be easier to preserve.

- Who were the Tudor rulers of England?

After the end of the War of the Roses in 1485, the arrival of the Tudor dynasty started with Henry
VII from 1485 to 1508. With Henry VII there was an opening of the political barriers England raised
in relation with other countries.

Then, he was preceded by his second born son Henry VIII (1509 1547), given that his first born
male son died a year after he got married with Katherin of Aragon in 1502. The most important
event during his reign was the Reformation of the Catholic church.

When Henry VIII died, he was followed by his only male son, Edward VI (1547 1553), who was his
third wife, Jane. Therere not very remarkable facts during his reign, as it happens with his older
sister, Mary I (1553-1559), daughter of Henry VIII and Katherin of Aragon, being their leadership
the shortest ones of the five Tudor kings.

The Tudor dynasty comes to and end with Elisabeth Is reing (1559 1603), being this one of the
most glorious and prosperous eras in English history.

- What is humanism? Explain the importance of Sir Thomas More to the humanist
movement in Europe.

Humanism is a cultural movement born in Europe which defended the position of human at the
very centre of learning, idea known as Anthropocentrism.

Being this at the same time a religious and a secular movement, religion was not as important as
the use of reason.
Knowledge is now searched backwards, regarding to classical culture (greek-latin culture) and
updating it to the XVI century.

With the arrival of humanism, a new thought is born with it. Human learning is the result of
human action and never the result of any of Gods action, meaning this more importance of the
human being as an independent being and not one ruled by a not known omnipotent and
powerful entity called God.

One of the most important humanist thinkers in Europe was Sir Thomas More, who was a
Chancellor of Henry VIII.

Hes important to the European movement because of his philosophical work Utopia in 1516 (its a
title which could have a double interpretation, both taken from the ancient Greek ethimology.
The first one is the result of the adverb EU and the noun TOPOS, meaning the perfect place, and
the second one by linking the adverb U (no) and TOPOS, meaning this time NO PLACE).

It is an ironic comment of English/European political situation, so we can see this work as one of
the most important political statements. This fictional piece could be understood in many
different ways.

It was imitated by other writers, so it can be said to be a genre.

Appart from Thomas More, there are some other important humanist such as Erasmus of
Rotterdam and Vives.

- Describe the religious situation in England at the times of Henry VIII. What are the main
causes and factors of the religious Reformation?
- What are the major changes fostered by Luthers Protestant Reformation? How does the
Reformation invite rethinking of the major questions of humanity?
- What are the major political and cultural achievements during the reign of Elisabeth I?

During Elisabeth Is fourty-five-years reign, England reached an important stability, so it was one
of the most important eras in English history.

Politically talking, there were many rebellions against her reign, though, as the Puritans. Many
people let the country for political reasons and moved to the colonies in the US.

Her monarchy was affected by the plot led by one of her men of trust, the Earl of Essex, which
came with the unsettling of the political stability at the end of the century.

Some important events during those years was the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, giving
England sovereignity over the seas. This political and economic growth made London the nations
capital.

Even though most of the population couldnt read nor write, but went to the theatre, so the first
public theatre in 1576, where you could debate, watch and spectacle or enjoy of the
entertainment.
The early Modern Lyric, Petrarchan to Metaphysical.

- What is the literary importance of Sir Thomas Wyatt? In what senses can his poetry be said
to be Petrarchan?

The Canzionere, or Rime sparse, is a collection of 366 love poems, 317 of which are sonnets. In
them Petrarch inaugurates a new code literary love. Despite of its novelty, Petrarchism relies on
former traditions:

** Petrarchism is a trend in writing in imitation of Petrarca. The Petrarchans will imitate the form
and the content of his works. The Petrarchism will be inaugurated in England by two poets:
Wyatt and Henry Howard***

Greek and Latin amatory poetry(Catullus, Tibullus, Ovid). Motifs such as the conception of
love as an eternal flame(flamma amoris), the beloveds cruelty(puella crudelis), or the
idea of love as a prison come from these traditions.
Courtly lyrics of the medieval troubadours. The conceptions of love as a religion as a bond
of vassalage are taken from medieval courtly love.
Platonism. An idealized conception of love as a quest (bsqueda) for absolute beauty,
virtue and truth has its basis on Platos philosophy. After Petrarch, Neoplatonism at
Florence(Marsilio Ficino, Pietro Bembo) will develop these ideas, which will become very
influential on 16th love poets.

THE CONVENTIONS OR TRAIST OF PETRARCHAN POETRY, as a literary code it has its

characteristics

1. The beloved is extremely beautiful (her beauty is frequently expressed through the
poetic blazon, or feature-by-feature description). She is also extremely cruel.
Unattainable and unrequired love.
2. Love is a paradoxical emotion (i.e, an icy fire). It causes pain due to the cruelty of the
lady but he cant give up, he manages to enjoy the suffering.
3. Love is a torment which nevertheless has an ennobling effect on the lover. One
becomes betters by means of suffering. It gives you moral superiority.
4. Love is the effect of the whims (caprichos) of Fortune. Love starts by chance and cant
be controlled.
5. Love is a disease whose only though unlikely cure is the beloveds mercy and grace.
Since she never pities him, it has no cure; it makes lovers get mad, out of themselves.

Sir Thomas Wyatt(1503-42)

Born in Allington Castle, in 1503, Wyatt was presented at court in 1516. He served as secretary
diplomat, participating in missions to France in 1526 and Venice and the papal court in Rome in
1527. He served as High Marshal of Calais(a528-1530) and the Comissioner of the Peace of Essex in
1532.

His possible love affair with Anne Boleyn(in the mid 1520s before the king had any interest in her),
his quarrels with King Henrys favourite Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and his cynical humour
at the service of court criticism in his satires, marked his unstable relations with the king(his
imprisonment and later release in 1536). Anne put him into trouble. So he was a courtier at the
times of Henry VIII

Wyatt wrote various love sonnets, which are translations/adaptations of Petrarchs.

He also wrote epistolary satires.

Wyatt was a convinced Protestant. His translation of Davids Penitential Palms reflects his
religious commitment.

His songs and sonnets were published posthumously, namely in a volume known as Tottels
Miscellany(1557), an anthology that also contains the poetry by his contemporary and friend,
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey( 1517-47). This book was published by a man called Tottel, who gave
the tittle to the book when Wyatt died.

- What are Sir Philip Sidneys major contributions to the literature of the sixteenth century?

Sir Philip Sidney was a soldier, statesman and a poem, three features which represent the
prototype of the Renaissance educated aristocracy. He came from the most important literary
family in England during the 16th century.

He is mostly known for three main literary works:

Defense of Poetry (1579-1582): it was a response to Stephen Gossons Schoole of Abuse

(1579). It is and Aristotelian apology of poetry which insists on poetry as an imitative art
that was over philosophy and history. We find that poetry is divided into different genres,
being classical poetry the most loved to the poet. We can see as he reviews the main
English authors form the M.A to his times.
The Countess of Penbrokes Arcadia: this long prose romance was dedicated to his sister
Mary Herbert. It mixes the pastoral genre with the tradition of the Hellenistic novel in the
Heliodorus. On it we can find political intrigue, love, lust, battles, and all kinds of
adventures which can be read as a mere fictional story. It can be interpreted as an allegory
of the private and political live in the Elizabethan court.
Astrophel and Stella, this one is a collection of love sonnets (108 and 11 songs) written in
the early 1580s and printed after his death in 1591. It has a coherent internal narrative
about Astrophels love to Stella (could be interpreted as Philips love to Lady Penelope
Deveraux).

According to Fernando Galvn, this collection is a dramatized narrative of a love poem. Its
organized in three parts:

1. Sonnets of expectation (1-33)

2. Sonnets of satisfaction-seeking (34-86)
3. Sonnets of disappointment and despair (from 8th song to the end)

The major Petrarchan themes are used in this collection but it also innovates to new patterns and
forms not known in English literature till that moment. It is himself different from Petrarchs:
Lauras cooly unresponsive versus Astrophels hope for Stella to favour him, or Astrophels
awareness of his failure versus Petrarchs seeing everything he passed through as an spiritual
purification.

The confrontation between Reason and Passion as another main theme. Here, Virtue or Desire
come to be personified.

- What are the major innovations that Shakespeare brought to the English sonnet?
- What are the main achievements of Edmund Spencer as a poet? Can his poetry be
considered idealistic? Why?

- What are the defining g features of John Donnes poetry and the so called Metaphysical
poets? What is the origin and meaning of that term?

Before 20th, his poetry was left aside for being too complicated, far-fetched. John Donne and the
poets that later will imitated them will be called after John Drydens remark about Johns poetry.
According to this critic his fault will consist in appealing to the mind and not to the heart. He
writes about philosophy about logical processes of our minds instead of feelings. While poetry
according to former poets must be the plain imitation of the reality, Donne ignores it and makes
an artificial imitation.

3. WIT and 4. CONCEIT

John as the first poet in representation of the Baroque or Metaphysical poetry incorporates
conceit and wit in his works.

Conceit according to Baltasar Gracin is the act of our understanding that explains in detail the
correspondence that is found between two objects. These metaphysical poets are keen on
finding connection by unusual correspondence between two apparently far objects. Wit is a
faculty of mind that enables poetic writing. It provides the author to make unusual associations
finding unusual correspondence between objects that are far from each other.

Donne intellectualizes poetry through the analogy and comparison. An example is the analogy or
correspondence found between the shadows projected by the lovers bodies during their
morning walk and the nature of love. Comparison between science and passion, it drives him to a
logical conclusion.

Its possible thanks to the wit, which let him find out a logical conclusion after bringing together
all the reasonable arguments developed through the poem step by step.

But what is the ground of metaphysical poetry? Metaphysical style is the updating of poetic
notions used before, mainly, the wit of the Renaissance. This poetry born in 17th is based on:
convincing the beloved, persuading her by means of rational arguments and of course by using
language in a surprising way making the piece persuasive.

- Provide instances of the classicism of the so-called cavalier poets

Cavalier poetry is the second direction of poetry after Petrarch. Its represented by poets,
supports of monarchy ( it explains its name), who propose a sort of renovation based on a much
easy, plain style. This style is related to sobriety and more personal works.

This poetry updates the easiness in style and form of the classics.

ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674) To the virgins to make much of time

From a metrical point of view, it deals with a composition with plain syntax, short lines and easy
words. Its far from Donnes far-fetched style.

The poem is a piece of advice addressed to young woman who are not deflowered yet. As Done
did in A lecture upon the shadows, Henry establishes an analogy between the development
of the sun during a day, the sunrise and the sunrise, and the different stages of age of the human
beings. When the sun is reaching the highest degree is compared to the beautiful young girls,
who are in her splendour. But, when the sunset begins, when they get older all that beauty and
jolliness and freshness fade away.

In the end, with the classical Carpe Diem, the poet advice them to seize the day before the death
falls over them. He tells them to hasten to marry while they are on time, because if they dont do
it while they own that youthfulness, they will never do it.

This poem goes against the enjoyment of life and is acquainted with the unstoppable passing
nature of life.

Renaissance Drama: genre, texts, performance.

- Define tragedy and comedy according to Sir Philip Sidneys Defense of Poesie.
- Describe the public theatres of Elizabethan London. What are the major features in term
of architecture, performance conditions and theatergoing?
- Describe the structure and major themes of Shakespearean soliloquy, using Hamlet as an
example.
- What are the major themes of Shakespearean comedy?
- What are the main issues explored in Christopher Marlowes tragedies? How does
Marlowe represent tragic heroism?
- What label is frequently used in order to describe Ben Jonsons comic model? What does
the model consist of? Supply examples.
Unit 3: The Long Eighteenth Century Restauration and Enlightenment

- What are the main consequences of the Civil War (1642 49) and of the Glorious
Revolution (1688)? How do the writings of Thomas Hobbes, Andrew Marvell or John
Milton reflect the major political changes of the late seventeenth century?
- What is the period known as the Augustan Age? Whats the importance of reason as a
guiding principle of this period?
- What was the Royal Society and which were its main aims?

The Royal Society was created around 1662-1663 in order to improve natural knowledge. It was an
institution founded in London , where experimental projects were made and were supported bt
Monarchy. It stablished that the bases of the new style should be precise, clear and without any
unnecessary artificial element.

It supposed the beginning of reason and empirism.

- What is the subject matter of John Miltons epic poem Paradise Lost?

Milton (1608 1674) considered himself a poet in the classical sense, influenced by Latin writers
and traditions but also wanting to become one of the greatest poets in English, as Chaucer. Both
classical and Christian influences are seen in his works, as in Lucydas (1637).

He barely wrote poetry in the las twenty years or so, he wrote prose pamphlets about the most
polemic subjects of the time (divorce, politics, education, freedom of press, religion) and he
became Latin Secretary to Oliver Cromwell at the beginning of the Commonwealth.

His major work was Paradise Lost, which was published in 1667. It is the major epic poem in
English. At first, Milton thought of using the myth of King Arthur for his poem, nut later hi decided
to use the myth of Creation as a reference, with the figures of God and Satan, Adam and Eve, and
the Fall of Mankind as his subjects.

His aim was to make clear God always looks after us and and explain the ways of God to men. This
was controversial, making some readers and critics see Satan as a Hero.

The poem can be read as a religious text, supporting Christian ideals, or it can be read as the last
great Renaissance text, stressing the freedom of choice of Adam and Eve as they choose the path
of human knowledge and leave the Garden of Eden, Paradise.

The Fall was not Eve or Adams fault, when Eve eats the Forbidden Fruit from the Tree of
Knowledge and Adam loses his innocence. Man, Satan and God are equally responsible.

In later works, such as Paradise Regaigned or Samson Agonistes, Milton goes beyond Adam and
Eves humanity, writing about superhuman heroes. In Paradise Regaigned, Jesus is an example of
how to live by resisting temptation.

He related Heaven with neoclassical virtues, reason, civilization whereas anything having to do
with subconscious and feeling was doomed to Hell.

Paradise can be seen as the republican government of Oliver Cromwell.

 - What is satire and what are its aims? What is remarkable about Samuel Butlers Hudibras
as a satiric poem? What is its main literary inspiration? What are the major themes of John
Drydens satirical poems?

Satire is a mode of writing, not a literary genre itself but which can be used in other genres. In it, a
message is provided by telling things indirectly, understatement. It should be by indirection rather
than by head-forward statement. Sometimes the real subject of the satire is not the object of the
attack.

It censures bad manners, social/personal vicesbut it has a special concern for historical
problems.

It offers a skeptical view of life and there is often a moral reading of it, especially as its didactic
function is concerned.

One of the first satirical poems written was Hudibras by Samuel Butler, published in three parts
between 1663 and 1678. It became very popular. Its a mock romance, one of the fist English texts
which took reference forma n Spanish text, in this case, Don Quixote. Its satirical comments are
aimed at very religious, academic and political subject of age.

Another important satirical poet is John Dryden, known as a master of satire after Restoration.
His satirical poems of the early 1680s, particularly Absalon and Achitophel (1681) and The Medal
(1682) focus on the religious and political issues of the time and show a different kind of satire
from Rochesters. Whereas Rochester comments in general on all mankind, Dryden satirizes
particular people and situations.

- Account for the major aims of journalism in the British eighteenth century. What were the
journalistic achievements of Richard Steele and Joseph Addison?

There was a growth of the middle classes, the demand for printed word increased and writing
became a profession. At this time, most famous newspapers and magazines were started and
most of the great writers were also journalists, as Defoe, for example started at journalism before
writing his novels. There are some other writers, whose journalism was more famous than their
books or plays.

Journalism of the 18th century took the opinions and fashions of London to the whole nation, and,
therefore, an important change in the way of thinking. This growth was parallel with Scotland,
being the time of the Scottish Enlightenment. The intellectual currents of the two countries were
quite different, despite de Union of Crowns in 1603 and the Union of Parliaments in 1707.

Whereas Scotland in that century was the centre of philosophical writing (David Hume and Adam
Smith), London focused more on society, manners and the gossip of the coffee-houses.

The most famous of the early magazines were The Tatler by Richard Steele from April 1709 to
January 1711 and The Spectator started by Steele with Joseph Addison from March 1711 to
December 1712. Addison continued to run it by himself from March 1714.
With Addison, the idea of a magazine about the taste of gentlemen kept as the main concern.
The Spectator was presented as the magazine of a fictional gentlemens club with Roger de
Coverly, who gave his opinion on every subject, as its leader.

Magazines were therefore a way of expressing points of view, and setting social and taste
standards. The tone was not intellectual or highbrow, and the term middlebrow came later to
describe this kind of journalism. It can be seen as a model of safe writing and as a model of
politeness and good taste. Addison saw himself as a mere observer of mankind, not as part of it.
Samuel Johnson described Addisons prose as the model of middle-style.

Richard Steele also started The Guardian and ran The Englishman (1713 1714). He was also a
dramatist who attacked the excess of Restoration comedy. His major work, The Conscious Lovers
(1722), was very successful for many years. It completely broke with the Restoration drama,
setting the kind of feeling and politeness which were to rule the theatre for the next century.

- Account for the importance of Samuel Johnson as a man of letter. In which genres did he
excel? What are his major non fictional works? What is his importance as a literary critic?
- What are the differences in tone and subject-matter between the poetry of Alexander
Pope and that of Thomas Gray?
- What is the importance of Aphra Behn as a precursor of the novel in England? What are
her major innovations? Which two narratives by him reflect these innovations?
- What is Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe about? Does this novel admit different
interpretations? Which?

Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe (1719) is his major literary work, becoming in an immediate
success when it was realised and still remains as one of the most famous stories in the world.

It is about Robinson Crusoe, whose ship is wrecked in an island, makes a kingdom of it and stays
there for twenty-eight years, building a society of only two men, only accompanied by his man,
Friday.

The story can be read in two different ways, either as a fable pf survival in praise of the human
spirit or as an example of how society brought its values, religion and selfish behaviour to any
place it colonized. Friday is considered inferior, being his religion laughed at and his ignorance
cured. Crusoe, in the other hand, grows rich and becomes the model of new capitalist man of
Europe when he returns to society. Love or marriage are less important that property or mans
power.

The happy ending suggests the continuation of the way of life Crusoe has brought to the island,
on the model of white European society.

- How does Defoes narrative reflect his ages interest in lived experiences? Use a Journal of
the Plague Year and Moll Flanders as instances to support your argument.

Defoes technique is most of his novels is to use a first-person narrator, an I who tells the story
as it had really happened. R. Crusoe was inspired by the story of Alexander Selkirk, who had
actually been on a desert island for many years).
A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) describes the plague in London in 1664 1665 in a journalistic
way, with documents and lists of the dead. Moll Flanders (1722) tells the story of a woman who has
been a prostitute, a thief, committed incest, and been to prison. But when she tells the story, she
had reformed and changed her life. The novel therefore makes a moral point about ways of living:
the reader shares Molls terrible experience in order to learn what life should be.

This reflects the ages concern with experience and how to live. A concern that contrast with the
interest in the Renaissance in the exploration of new worlds and ideas. Most of the novelist of the
18th century described the bad life, but with a happy ending to show that it was all worth while.

- Samuel Richardsons fictions are labelled sentimental novels. Why? How do they
address the issues of female virtue and respectable behaviour? What are the messages in
the novels like Pamela or Clarissa?

Sentimental novels valued emotions over reason, given that emotions were seen as pure and
good, as a natural state.

The characters in these novels are often extremely virtuous. Further, they are posed against a
hostile world for which they are initially unfit. However, their emotions and superior judgment
leads them to continue along the path of righteous conduct until they eventually triumph over
their adversaries. In this way, sentimental fiction tends to be extremely moral and didactic, even
when the author does not underline those lessons.

This can be seen in both of his most important works Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1747-9). Pamela
is created as the typical heroine of the time (poor, but a good woman). In her letters we can
follow all of her problems with Mr B wanting to marry her. She is harassed before accepting Mr B
proposal and becoming a model of the perfect wife. It has many themes as womens weakness vs
mens strength, the power of sex, the social need for good behaviour.

Some readers have found the moral tone of Richardson novel difficult to accept, even though he
was very successful.

In Clarissa, epistolary novel is taken one step further. The novel is narrated through the letters
between Clarissa Harlowe and Lovelance. Once again, we see here how the woman is a victim of
men, but this time his work was approved by his readers.

In many ways the rules of moral behaviour in male/female relationships were fixed in the novels
of Richardson, and it was not until the next century that female writers began to challenge them.

- How can Henry Fieldings novels be read as reactions to Richardsons sentimental fictions?
What does his comic approach to human experience consist of?

As a reaction to Richardsons sentimental novel, Henry Fielding decided to mock his work by
writing moral parodies of what he wrote, as Shamela, ridiculing the moral tone of Pamela.

While Richardson examined female ideas and circumstances, Fielding focused on male point of
view, as we can see in his novels Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749).
He calls his novel a comic epic in prose and he follows his heroes through long complicated epic
journeys, stressing the experience they go through and how they form their character.

Fieldings aim is to display the ridiculous in order to show what is good. His plots show the
strengths and weaknesses of human nature, they show the innocence learning from experience
and the human goodness. We can find in his novels a great range of comic characters, and he
helped to define the tradition of the English novel, focusing on the pleasures of life. Men always
have more freedom than women do, and theres always a moral. Fieldings 3rd-person narrator
often puts in his own opinion for the benefit of the dear reader.

- Explain the innovative character of Laurences Sternes Tristam Shandy.

The most unusual novel of the time was Tristam Shandy (1760 67), which is a long comic story
which plays with time, plot and character, and even with the shape and design of the page. The
traditional order of the plot (beginning, middle, end) also suffered a transformation so he could
show how foolish it is to force everything into the traditional plot.

Sterne was the first writer to use what is now known as the Stream of Consciousness technique,
which consisted on expressing the thought of the characters as they came into their heads,
without even processing them. This lack of order and structure wanted to represent human mind
as a caotic mind. In this he was influenced by the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
by John Locke, and his theories about time, sensations and the relation of one idea to another.

- What are the main features of the Gothic Fiction? How do they change the literary scene
of the 18th century English novel? Which are the main literary specimens of the Gothic
turn?

Towards the end of the 18th century, the novel took a new direction. Horace Wapoles The
Castle of Otranto (1764) started the fashion for the Gothic, and the horror novel was born.
The story is set in the medieval times, with castles and ghosts, appearances and
disappearances, and a whole range of frightening effects which are still popular in story and
film.

The Gothic novel developed the imaginative range of the genre, going beyond realism and
moral instruction. It explored extremes of feelings and imagination.

In 1757, the philosopher Edmund Burke had analysed the pleasure of the mysterious and the
frightening in his essay The Sublime and the Beautiful (sublime = wonderful). A sort of
delightful horror is the phrase Burke used to describe the kind of pleasure the Gothic novel
would give. This analysis was a sign of an important break from rational control of the
Augustans, and was one of the first steps towards the focus on feeling found later in Henry
Mackenzie and the early Romantic writers.

Beside Wapoles work, we also have Clara Reeves The Old English Baron and Ann Radcliffes
Myateries of Udolpho, which were both even more successful. Vathek by William Beckford
takes place in Arabia and contains all sorts of sexual and sensual exaggeration. Matthew
Lewis The Monk, written when he was only 21 years old, is often considered the most
completely Gothic of eighteenth-century horror stories, and was a great success at the time.