Comus by John Milton, Characters, Summary, Analysis

 

Comus by John Milton, Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

Masques gained prominence during the Jacobean and Caroline era. Puritans often complained that masques were associated with the perceived debauchery of the royal court. Most of the masques during the Caroline era were performed for the entertainment of King Charles I and his queen Henerrita Maria. However, Milton wrote a masque to exonerate the blame of debauchery from this genre of arts and wrote a masque titled A Maske presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: on Michaelmasse night, before the Right Honorable, John Earle of Bridgewater, Viscount Brackly, Lord President of Wales, and one of His Majesties most honorable privie counsell. It was performed on 29^th September 1634 for the celebrations of John Egerton becoming the new Lord President of Wales.

Later on, scholars and researchers changed the title of this masque to Comus, which is the main character of the masque.

Unlike other masques which were often performed in the royal court for the King and Queen, this masque was performed for John Egerton. Also, the subject matter of the masque was not to praise the King or to entertain him, rather, it was to offer a puritan, religious idea about the triumph of chastity. Milton published Comus in 1645 and 1673 in his collection titled Poems. Basically, it is a poem, it is written as a poem to be enacted as a Masque.

In 1738, the masque was revised by Thomas Arne and it became a popular masque of the eighteenth century and continuously ran for more than 70 years in London.

Characters of Comus

The Lady is the main character, a member of the royal family. She is a virgin and endowed with superior protection because of her chastity. She can see the invisible angel, the attendant spirit. She has two elder brothers. Her beauty and purity entice Comus who tries everything possible to corrupt her purity. Comus is the titular character. He is the antagonist, the villain. Comus is the bastard son of the Pagan god Bachus and nymph Circe. He is a sorcerer with the power to corrupt others by giving them a potion to drink. The Attendant Spirit is a spirit sent by Jove to protect the Lady. The attendant spirit has shapeshifting powers. The Elder Brother is a confident courageous man who understands the power of chastity. He suggests his younger brother and the attendant spirit arm themselves to encounter Comus while trying to save the Lady. The attendant spirit rejects his suggestion and rather plans to enter the palace of Comus sneakily. The elder brother doesn’t listen to the attendant spirit, suggesting that he lacks control over his temper and doesn’t listen and trust his superiors. The Younger Brother is a little less confident one. He doubts and worries about her sister’s safety. He follows his elder brother and learns philosophy and the powers of chastity and purity. Being innocent, he can identify the attendant spirit as Thyrsis. Sabrina is a local nymph living in the jungle. Just like the Lady, Sabrina is also pure, chaste, and gentle. The attendant spirit summons Sabrina’s help to undo the curse and spell of Comus. She helps the Lady to free herself against the curse of Comus.

Summary of Comus
The poem begins with a spirit descending from the skies. The spirit talks about the differences between Heaven and Earth. The spirit suggests that the Earth and the human body are a cage for the spirit while the ultimate aim is liberty.

The spirit then reveals that he was sent by Jove to help and protect those who ruled over the land and needed assistance. The spirit then says that he will tell a story that was never spoken or heard before.

The spirit then begins the story. He introduces Comus, the sorcerer. Comus is the son of Pagan god Bacchus and nymph Cicre. He is a cunning sorcerer driven by desire. Comus traps travelers who pass through that jungle and tempts them to drink his potion. After drinking the potion, the travelers turn into wild animals under his spell and follow him like slaves. Right then, the spirit hears some noise coming afar and he disappears. Comus appears on the stage followed by wild animals whom he enchanted. As a sorcerer, Comus is frightening. He says that the night should not be wasted in sleeping. Rather, a person must toil at night to fulfill his desires. Soon he hears the footsteps of someone. Without even seeing, he realizes that the newcomer is a young girl. He disguises himself as a handsome trustworthy villager to deceive the girl.

The girl is the Lady who lost her brothers in the jungle. Comus confronts her and tells her that he will help her in finding her brothers. Comus is in disguise as a trustworthy villager and the girl gets deceived by his good nature. She decides to follow Comus while searching for her brothers.

Two young men then appear. One is the Elder brother and the other is the Younger brother. The reason why they were separated away by their sister is revealed. The three siblings were returning to their palace when they lost their path in the woods. They continued trying to find the right path but their sister, the Lady got tired and hungry. She decided to take some rest. Her brothers told her to wait for them at the same place while they will go and search for some berries to eat. As they went away a little far in search of some food, the moon and stars stopped lightening as the sky got covered with dark clouds. The two brothers get worried about their sister and want to reach her as soon as possible.

The younger brother is more worried and frightened about the safety of their sister but the elder brother is confident as he soothes the younger brother and tells him that their sister will remain safe because she is determined to remain pure and chaste. He describes the power of Chastity to his brother. He then says that they should not waste their time worrying as Virtue will watch over their sister and she will remain safe. He says that they should try to find their sister as soon as possible.

While the two brothers were discussing the future plan, they get interrupted by a shepherd named Thyrsis. The shepherd asks them where was their sister lost? They tell him all that happened. The shepherd then informs them about Comus, the sorcerer, and his magic potion. The younger brother realizes that the shepherd is no common man but a powerful spirit. He asks the spirit to help them rescue their sister. The Spirit promises to help them. The Elder brother suggests that they should arm themselves to confront Comus. But the shepherd says that arms won’t help and they should sneak into the palace of Comus silently without his knowledge to rescue their sister.

Meanwhile, the Lady is following Comus and he takes her to his pleasure palace where he captures her and tortures her by his necromancy. He forces her to sit on an enchanted chair with “gums of glutinous heat” and she becomes immobilized. Comus then confronts her while holding a necromancer wand in his right hand to torture her and a magical cup full of his potion representing sexual desires and intemperance in his left hand. He tells the Lady to drink from the cup and save herself against the torture he can inflict. But the Lady is determined, she argues for the virtue of temperance, chastity, and purity and declines drinking from the magical cup.

Comus knows that the girl is hungry. There are many tasteful cuisines kept on a neat beautiful table that the Lady can easily see. She can get the smell of well-prepared food to increase her desires and appetites. The Lady is restrained and being tortured, yet she continues to maintain her determination for chastity and purity. She suggests that though Comus has restrained her physically, she is still free as she manifests the freedom of mind.

Comus says that the appetites and desires arise from one’s nature and hence they are licit. The Lady agrees that it is in nature but she argues that rational self-control is enlightened and virtuous. She says that those who submit to their desires forfeit their higher nature while succumbing to their baser impulses. In this debate, the Lady and Comus signify, respectively, soul and body, ratio and libido, sublimation and sensuality, virtue and vice, moral rectitude, and immoral depravity.

Aided by the spirit in the shape of the shepherd, the two brothers reach the pleasure palace of Comus and chase him away. As they go to rescue their sister, they find her unable to move away from the enchanted chair. The attendant spirit sings a song then and calls a water nymph Sabrina to help the Lady. Sabrina also represents temperance, chastity, and purity. As she examines that the Lady continued to safeguard her chastity despite the torture and lurings of Comus, she decides to help and free her from the enchanted chair. The poem ends with the Lady and her brothers arriving safely at their parents’ palace where they celebrate.

So this is about Comus. We will continue to discuss other important works of John Milton. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

John Milton | L'Allegro and Il Penseroso | Summary and Analysis

John Milton | L'Allegro and Il Penseroso | Summary and Analysis

 Hello and welcome to the Discourse. L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are the two companion poems by John Milton that he wrote during his early days as a poet after completing his graduation from Cambridge.

These are companion poems, that is these were written around the same time with a similar theme in mind. These are two contrasting poems at the opposite ends of a debatable point. The issue under discussion in these poems is whether it is better to live a carefree life or a contemplative life.

The titles, L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are Italian terms though the poems are written in English. Both these poems begin with the poet invoking the Greek Goddesses as their guide. Several Greek and Roman gods and goddesses have been mentioned in these poems.

L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are companion poems. These two poems together can be understood either as arguments offered by two different poets supporting different approaches to life. Or, these two poems can also be considered following the same poet from his youth in L’Allegro to his old age in Il Penseroso. These poems were very popular during the 17^th, and 18^th centuries. William Blake was so inspired by these two poems of Milton that he made illustrations of both these poems.

L’Allegro means a Joyful man in Italian. L’Allegro appears to be inspired by Greek and Roman classical works. Christopher Marlowe’s A Passionate Shepherd can also be seen as an inspiration for Milton as Marlowe’s Passionate Shepherd and Milton’s L’Allegro offer similar arguments to support a carefree life.

Both L’Allegro and Il Penseroso were written in Octasyllabic couplets (couplets with lines having 8 syllables). However, there are some 7 syllabic lines in between the poems. There are some interesting metaphors, similes, hyperbole, allusions, and major conflict in the poems. The tone of L’Allegro is buoyant and joyous.

Summary of L’Allegro

In the introductory stanza of L’Allegro, the poet banishes goddess Melancholy. He begs goddess Melancholy to leave him alone and go and bother the Cimmerians. Cimmerians are a group of people who were believed to dwell in unending darkness. The poem is set in springtime, so the sunlight is in full bloom. So the poet suggests that Melancholy and all other dark things should go away.

After this, the poet welcomes and celebrates, Mirth, the goddess of Joy throughout the poem. The poet begins by imagining how the goddess Mirth was born. In one such story, the poet suggests that she is the daughter of goddess Venus and god Bachus. Both these Greek gods are associate with love and fertility. In another similar story of the birth of the goddess of Joy, the poet suggests that she is the daughter of Zephyr and Aurora, the Greek gods representing the wind and dawn. As the poem continues, the poet continues to bounce from one story of her birth to other as he doesn’t have enough patience to analyze the details. The poet then glorifies the attributes of goddess Mirth that she brings with her such as happiness, Jest, Jollity, Sport, Laughter, and Liberty. The poet then personifies each of these feelings and emotions and imagines that all these are dancing with him to celebrate the arrival of goddess Mirth.

The poet then imagines how wonderful his life would be if he is allowed to live with goddess Mirth and Liberty, her attribute. He describes the way his day will begin with Mirth and Liberty. He first describes the village life and imagines a morning hunt taking place in the woods as peasants come out of their homes, talking while starting work in their fields. As the poet enjoys the beautiful landscape, he sees a cottage of a peasant couple named Corydon and Thyrsis as they enjoy their meal.

The poet again imagines enjoying and dancing with peasants, Mirth, and Liberty as they enjoy the evening. The poet then slips into slumber and enjoys some beautiful dreams of knights, castles, fairies, and goblins. In his dream, he, Mirth, and Liberty visit a city to enjoy an evening. The three enjoy the active life of the city as they go to watch some fine plays by playwrights like William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

The poet ends the poem by saying that the poetry of Mirth can beat the finest song of Orpheus. In the last line, the poet again says that he wishes to spend his life with the goddess Mirth.

Il Penseroso Summary

L’Allegro and Il Penseroso were published in 1645 when John Milton was at the age of 37. However, it is believed that both these poems were written in 1632, during the last year of Milton at Cambridge University, or just after he completed his post-graduation. Il Penseroso offers the second segment of the debate that began in the poem L’Allegro. L’Allegro suggests that one of the extremes of life, that is carefree joyous life is the best, in contrast, Il Penseroso suggests that Melancholy is very important to live. Both poem together suggests that it is impossible to lead a life with either of the one extremes, and there needs to be some balance. These two companion poems offer an argument against arguing.

L’Allegro began with the poet banishing Melancholy as he invites Mirth as his guide to life. Il Penseroso begins as the poet offers his argument to banish goddess Mirth and her attributes, the vain deluding joys. The poet then chooses and invites goddess Melancholy as his guide to life. He then offers an account of the birth of the goddess Melancholy. He says that Melancholy is the daughter of Vesta and Saturn. This story is an aberration to Greek mythology as Milton himself invented it. Vesta is the Greek goddess known for her virginity and chastity. Saturn, the father of Vesta, is a god of justice. The poet says that Melancholy is the result of an incestuous relationship between Vesta and Saturn. It is Milton’s own invention and an abrupt profane note about the life of contemplation.

The poet then invites the attributes of goddess Melancholy to join him. Her attributes are Peace, Quiet, Fast, Leisure, Contemplation, and Silence. He then personifies these attributes.

The poet then describes how he walks along with Melancholy, peace, contemplation, and silence to a lonely cottage or solitary tower in a dark silent forest.

In the peaceful surroundings, the poet thinks about philosophy and gradually wanders towards the thoughts of Tragedy and imagines the fall of big, strong ancient cities. He then thinks about modern cities and how people of modern cities find tragic dramas satisfactory. The poet then alludes to the story of Orpheus. Orpheus is a classical mythical figure, a shepherd who tried to bring his wife back from the darkness of the underworld. The poet then brings up the story of Canace, a character from Chaucer’s Canterbury tale (The Squire's Tale). Canace gets a magical ring that allows her to translate the songs of birds. Canace uses the ring to hear the tragic love story of a hawk.

The poet spends the whole night with the goddess Melancholy and Contemplation. As the morning arrives, he asks Melancholy to take him to a shadowed part of the deep wood where he could dream a little more. Finally, the poet wakes up John Milton | L'Allegro and Il Penseroso | Summary and Analysiswhile hearing an organ being played in a nearby church. In the end, the poet decides to retire to a hermitage and spend the rest of his life while studying and contemplating. In the end, he again stresses that he wants to live his whole life with Melancholy.

L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are two extremes of life, the first is full of joys, and the second is full of contemplation. In each of the poems, the poet begins while rejecting the idea presented in the other poem. The main idea of the two poems is to suggest that none of the two extremes is a proper way to lead a life and there needs to be a balance. There are sexual innuendos in both of the poems.

In Il Penseroso, the poet suggests an incestuous relationship between Vesta and her father Saturn while he addresses Melancholy as a pure devout nun.

So this is about L’Allegro and Il Penseroso, the two companion poems by John Milton. We will continue to discuss other important works of John Milton. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

John Milton | Early Works and Influences

 John Milton | Early Works and Influences

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

John Milton was a mixed product of various ideas that we influential during his time. His grandfather was a Catholic but his father favored Protestantism. He chose to side with Puritan ideology. He had influences of John Donne and his tutor Thomas Young carved his political and religious thoughts. Despite being an ardent supporter of Puritanism, John Milton went against the puritan ideas about Divorce and wrote his four tracts on Divorce. So while for a Puritan, Bible is the ultimate truth, Milton wasn’t so sure of it. He was an ardent fan of science and met Galileo during his time in Italy. Galileo was the only contemporary living person that he mentioned in his magnum opus Paradise Lost. He was among the very few such puritans who accepted and supported the Heliocrantric view of Galileo without a fuss.

During his days in Italy, he associated himself with Humanism. The humanist ideal of the renaissance period was that God has made man in his own image and hence, there is something inherently valuable in man. Yet, he was a staunch puritan too. All his works are inspired by Bible. The basic story of Paradise Lost is taken from Bible. In other works of Milton too, he mentions Christ again and again.

At Horton, during the outbreak of plague, he invested six years only in reading Greek and Latin authors. He was inspired by Holmer, Ovid, and Vergil. Another important influence that is visible in his poetic works is that of Edmund Spenser. Many critics suggest that the writing style of Paradise Lost is akin to that of Faerie Queen by Spenser.

Another important literary aspect that influenced John Milton appeared from the Elizabethan dramatists such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Milton was particularly intrigued by William Shakespeare. His first published poem was titled ‘On Shakespeare’ which was anonymously included in the second folio of Shakespeare’s plays in 1632. Milton’s use of unrhymed lines in blank verse in his magnum opus Paradise Lost became the first instance of the use of blank verse in poetry. Before Milton, only dramatists used Blank Verse. Milton not only employed Blank Verse in Paradise Lost, but he used it in Samson Agonistes, and Paradise Regained too.

So, we can summarize the influences on Milton as a) Metaphysical Poets (He heard sermons of John Donne and Andrew Marvell was his close associate), b) Puritanism and Presbyterianism, c) Renaissance Humanism, d) Greek and Latin classics of Holmer Ovid, and Vergil, e) Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Tale, and f) William Shakespeare.

Influences of John Milton

John Milton is considered one of the best English poets of all time. John Dryden in 1677 described Milton as the poet of the sublime. Poets of the 18^th century, including Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson revered and praised John Milton. Samuel Johnson wrote many essays on Paradise Lost and mentioned John Milton in his book Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets.

Voltaire was too impressed by Milton as he mentioned him in his work The Age of Louis XIV as ‘Milton remains the glory and wonder of England.’

William Blake was an ardent fan of John Milton and considered him the major English poet. According to Blake, Edmund Spenser was the pre-cursor of Milton while he considered himself as the poetical son of Milton.

During the Romantic age, Edmund Burke described Milton’s description of Hell in Paradise Lost as the best example of the sublime aesthetic concept. Burke believed that it was as difficult as to put ‘mountain tops, a storm at sea, and infinity’ alongside each other, and Milton did it easily in his own poetic manner. In his book, 'The Beautiful and Sublime', Burke mentions Milton as, "No person seems better to have understood the secret of heightening, or of setting terrible things, if I may use the expression, in their strongest light, by the force of a judicious obscurity than Milton."

Milton was the first to use strong Blank Verse in poems. Most of the romantic poets praised Milton’s use of blank verse though they had reservations about his religious thoughts. William Wordsworth praised Milton in his sonnet ‘London 1802.’ He begins the sonnet London 1802 as "Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour". He further addresses Milton and says, ‘Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart, Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea,” Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge collaborated to produce a philosophical poem larger than Paradise Lost in Miltonian style using Blank Verse. Though the plan didn’t work, Wordsworth’s biographical poem 'The Prelude' was written in Blank Verse and was inspired by Paradise Lost. Similarly, John Keats described Paradise Lost as "beautiful and grand curiosity.” However, he couldn’t use Miltonian verse himself with elan when he tried to write his epic poem Hyperion that he never completed.

During the Victorian age, T.S. Eliot, Harold Bloom, and Ezra Pound criticized Milton. T.S Eliot said “Milton’s poetry could only be an influence for the worse upon any poet whatever,” and that the “bad influence may be traced much farther than upon bad poets “and we still have to struggle against it. According to T.S. Eliot, ‘Milton writes English like a dead language.’ 

Harold Bloom in his work The Anxiety of Influence wrote, "Milton is the central problem in any theory and history of poetic influence in English.”

Despite such critics, Milton continued to enjoy praise as other victorian authors like George Eliot and Thomas Hardy were inspired by him.

Milton’s Areropagitica influenced the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Initial Works of Milton

The very first work by Milton that we will discuss is ‘On Morning of Christ’s Nativity’ also known as the Nativity Ode. It is a poem about the birth of Christ and the birth of a poet. Milton wrote this poem for the celebrations of his 21^st birthday. The poem is about his leap into the world and begins his career as a poet, author. It was not the first poem that Milton wrote, yet he considered it his beginning as a poet. In 1645, When Milton published his collection of Poems, he kept Nativity Ode at the beginning. The poets of the 17^th century often wrote about Christ’s birth. Some of such very popular poems were written by Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, and others. While the central focus of poems by other poets used to be the miracle of Christ’s birth and Mother Mary’s love for her son, Milton’s ode focussed more on the history and development of Christianity and how the birth of Christ influenced it.

Milton’s poem is more about the capacity of an individual to bring noteworthy changes. He not only describes how Christ served humanity, but he also stresses his own duties towards England and humanity. It is a long 27 stanza poem that was longer than any other poem on Christ’s birth written before it. Milton was a student at Cambridge University when he wrote this poem in 1629. The poem is divided into two sections, the first section is a four stanza introduction and the other section is titled Hymn which is a 27 stanza poem. The poem describes how Christ took birth and overthrew the false gods and rulers, and how he was crucified. He brings upon the necessity of political change to end the reign of Charles I. He presents Christ’s birth as a model for revolutionaries against the tyrant monarch.

The next work by Milton that we will discuss is ‘On Shakespeare’. It was the very first published poem of Milton in English. Milton wrote ‘On Shakespeare’ in 1630 and it was published anonymously in 1632 in the second folio of Shakespeare’s collection of dramas. It is a 16-lines long epigram in which Milton praises Shakespeare and says that there is no need to make any monument as a tribute to Shakespeare as no man-made monument is a suitable tribute to Shakespeare’s achievement. According to Milton, Shakespeare himself created the most enduring monument to befit his genius: the readers of the plays, who, transfixed with awe and wonder, become living monuments, a process renewed at each generation through the panorama of time. Milton describes Shakespeare as ‘Son of Memory,’ and ‘Heir of Fame.’

The third work by Milton that we will discuss is his famous poem ‘On Arriving at the Age 23.’

Milton wrote this poem in 1632 just after he graduated from Cambridge University. It was for the celebration of his 23rd birthday. It is a sonnet of personal meditation. Milton talks about how he would like to use his talent to glorify God. Milton mentions a time in the beginning line as the thief of youth. Milton suggests that he has little time as he is now 23 years old, yet he hasn’t achieved any noteworthy milestone. It is as if someone at the age of 23 is looking back at his years and wondering that he hasn’t done anything noteworthy till now, he has just wasted his time. Milton here acknowledges that he may not seem as mature as some of his contemporaries but expresses a desire to use his talents well and his trust in God's will for him over time. He then uses the metaphor of the seasonal cycle to express different stages of life. He says that youth is like spring, summer symbolizes the prime time of life, autumn is middle age, and winter is like old age. He mentions that currently, he is in the late spring season.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss other important works of John Milton. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

John Milton | English Poet | Biography and Important Points

 John Milton | English Poet | Biography and Important Points

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. We are going to discuss John Milton, one of the most important English poets and authors. While we will discuss all the major works of John Milton (including Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes) in detail, let us begin with a quick go through his life. Having an idea of his biography will certainly help in understanding his literary work. John Milton was among such few poets and authors who created their best works during the latter half of their life, after the age of 50.

John Milton took birth on December 9, 1608, in London. His grandfather was a staunch Roman Catholic but his father decided to be a protestant and supported the Anglican Church. John Milton himself was attracted to the principles of Puritans. His grandfather expelled his father and disinherited him as his father sided with the Anglican Church and read the English Bible. His father shifted to London and established himself as a successful scrivener and moneylender. Milton began his schooling at St. Paul’s School, London. His father was very much interested in arts and hence, he arranged a private tutor to instruct and help John Milton along with his formal education. This tutor was Thomas Young, a Scottish Presbyterian who influenced John Donne with his ideas of religion and politics. John Donne remained in contact with Thomas Young through letters for a long period. At school, he befriended Charles Diodati who remained a long-time friend of Milton.

During those years, John Donne was the Dean of St. Paul Cathedral and John Milton heard some of his sermons. John Donne’s influence on John Milton can be felt in his magnum opus Paradise Lost. Milton was being educated in Greek and Italian at St. Paul’s School and he gained proficiency in these languages.

Being the son of a scrivener, John Milton had a dream of becoming a Minister in the court. He got admission to Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1625 to be educated for the ministry. However, he got involved in a heated debate against his tutors at college. As a result, he was rusticated for a period from college. He didn’t have many friends in college. After some time, a new tutor named Nathaniel Tovey was appointed for him and he got back into the college. He excelled in his studies and got his Bachelor of Arts in 1629. He received his Masters's degree in 1632 with excellent marks. Despite being a bright student, he wasn’t so popular in college and didn’t have many friends. He was being ridiculed as the ‘Lady of Christ College,’ by other students. He got this nickname because of his unusually fair complexion, delicate facial features, and girl-like long auburn hair. Yet, he befriended Edward King at Christ College.

After completing his Masters's degree, he decided to give up his aim of becoming a minister perhaps because he was not comfortable with other students who might have become his colleagues if he had chosen to be a minister.

Ultimately, he decided to turn his attention to poetry. His father was an avid supporter of poetry and other forms of arts. As his father was enjoying success in his business, he got ample support from his father. After college, he returned to his family in Hammersmith on the outskirts of London. Those were the days of the Bubonic plague and to save his family, his father decided to move to a more pastoral location at Horton in Buckinghamshire. Milton spent six years in Horton during which he hardly met anyone and spent most of his time studying Greek and Latin poets and authors. By the end of six years, he was familiar with all major works of Homer, Virgil, Ovid, and other major Greek and Latin writers.

In 1638, John Milton decided that he has gained enough from books and he must now go out to learn from the world. His father again helped him and he went on a tour to Continental Europe along with a male servant. He spent most of his time in Italy, especially in the city of Rome and Florence. He was touched by the humanist approach of Italian literati. We already discussed Humanism in our previous videos. The basic idea of the humanistic approach was that God pervades all humans and just like God has special powers, a human can also have special powers that he may use. Humanism was about celebrating humanity. Milton made many friends in the literary circles of Italy and remained in touch with them through written correspondences after returning to England. Just like John Donne, John Milton also had a strong interest in new science and astronomy. During his tour to Italy, he managed to meet Galileo who was very old and blind at that time. Galileo was under house arrest when Milton met him. They discussed astronomy, science, and other varied subjects. Milton was just 30 years old at that time and he was too impressed by Galileo. Galileo was the only contemporary person of John Milton who got a mention in Paradise Lost.

John Milton knew many languages and he excelled in Latin, Greek, and English. He was a staunch puritan who continued to oppose Catholics. Yet, during his visit to Italy, he befriended many Catholics and got the help of high-ranking Catholics at the Library of the Vatican to gain access to the vast resource of knowledge.

In 1637, Milton got information about the death of his college friend Edward King who drowned while crossing the Irish sea. John Milton wrote a pastoral elegy titled Lycidas in the memory of Edward King. This elegy was published as the last elegy of the compilation “Obsequies in the memory of Edward King’ in which many other ex-students of Cambridge wrote elegies for Edward King.

Milton was planning to leave Italy and move to Greece as his next destination during the tour when he got the information of the death of his childhood friend Charles Diodati. At the same time, he got the news of the impending civil war in England against the monarchy. John Milton decided to return to England and help the Parliamentarians against the Royalists.

Milton himself was a puritan and he had great respect for Oliver Cromwell who was leading the revolution. On his return to London, he wrote an elegy for Charles Diodati in Latin who probably died of the plague. The title of this elegy was Epitaphium Damonis (Damon’s Epitaph).

After returning to London, he almost left poetry and decided to devote his energies to writing pamphlets supporting Oliver Cromwell’s commonwealth. So while cavalier poets were trying to popularize King Charles I, Puritan poets like John Milton decided to provide support to Roundheads headed by Oliver Cromwell. From 1640 to 1660, John Milton wrote many proses works almost all supporting the Puritan ideas and the government of Cromwell.

In 1642, John Milton got married to Mary Powell but their marriage proved to be a disaster as Powell left Milton just one month after their marriage. Mary Powell was just 17 years old then while Milton was 24 years old. Another reason for their separation was that Mary belonged to a family that supported Royalists while Milton was increasingly supporting the Roundheads. During his estrangement from his wife, Milton wrote four prose works on the subject of Divorce known as the Divorce Tracts of John Milton. They were titled The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (published in 1643), The Judgment of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce (1644), Tetrachordon (1645), and Colasterion (1645).

However, Mary Powell didn’t divorce John Milton and she returned to him in 1646 after which they had three daughters and a son who died at an early age. In 1652, Mary Powell died while giving birth to their third daughter Deborah. Powell was just 27 years old.

John Milton came in contact with educational reformer Samuel Hartlib and in 1644, he published his short tract ‘On Education’ in which he advocated reform of national universities.

Meanwhile, he continued to support the Oliver Cromwell government. In 1649, he published ‘The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates’ in which he implicitly supported the regicide (execution of King Charles I). Impressed by his support for Puritans, he was appointed as Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in 1649. His major duty was to keep a proper look at the criticism of the Commonwealth Government in various pamphlets and publications and offer a proper rebuttal. His job included the duty of producing propaganda in support of the Commonwealth government. However, his post demanded him to compose the English Republic’s correspondences to other nations in Latin and other languages. Milton was a friend of contemporary metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell who was also a supporter of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth government. Andrew Marvell worked as the assistant Milton when he was working as the Secretary of Foreign Tongues.

Milton got partially blind in the year 1652 and his eyesight continued to deteriorate. In 1652, he lost his wife Mary Powell too who died while giving birth to their third daughter Deborah. In 1656, John Milton married Katherine Woodcock who died after four months of their marriage. Gradually, Milton turned completely blind. In 1663, he married the third time to a girl named Elizabeth Mynshell who was very compassionate towards him. She acted as a nurse to him and took proper care of him. From 1640 to 1660, Milton continued to write prose, pamphlets articles, and books in support of the Commonwealth government. After the return of Charles II as the king of England, during the age of Restoration, Milton suffered the wrath of the new government under the Monarch. He was shortly imprisoned but was helped by Andrew Marvell and other supporters and was rescued. He again turned his focus to poetry and in 1660 and in 1663 he completed his magnum opus Paradise Lost which was published in 1667. Milton died on 8^th November 1671.

So we have discussed the major incidences of life of John Milton. His biography will help us in understanding the prose and verses by John Milton that we will continue to discuss in detail. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Age of Civil War and Interregnum | Age of Milton | Age of Puritans

 Age of Civil War and Interregnum | Age of Milton | Age of Puritans

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

King James IV published his book The True Law of Monarchies in 1598. Through this book, he tried to force the idea of the divine right of kings in Scotland, England, and Ireland. James IV died in 1625. Charles Ist became the next king and he also believed in the divine right of kings. However, the English Parliament had its own powers and that created a rift between the monarch and the parliamentarians. King Charles Ist took some such decisions and actions that lead to a revolution by the parliamentarians and created the ground for Civil War in England that began in 1640 and continued till 1649. In 1649, the army of Parliamentarians won and King Charles the Ist was beheaded. He became the first king to be executed by his own people.

Age of Civil War

The civil war had its effect on English literature and no noteworthy literary work was produced during these years. The English monarch lacked any standing army or a paid bureaucracy and hence he was powerless to coerce the parliamentarians. The taxation system was controlled by the Parliament and hence the king lacked any legal source of income. English war against Spain proved to be costly and fruitless and that increased the financial troubles of Charles Ist. Furthermore, despite his marriage to a Catholic princess, he didn’t enjoy the support of Catholics. Puritans were already against the Anglican church and hence the King because the supreme leader of the Anglican church was the King. Protestants were angry against King Charles I because of his policies. King Charles I tried to improve the financial status of his kingdom by levying extra charges on custom duties, exacting forced loans, and exploiting feudal privileges but it was not enough. He further tried to impose some non-parliamentary taxation and that prompted the Parliament to raise its voice against him.

King Charles Ist tried to win the support of Parliament but the members of Parliament were not ready to burden the common public with new taxes. As a result, the king dismissed the parliament three times and didn’t allow the members of parliamentarians to meet. King Charles 1^st strongly believed that being the Monarch he has a divine right to rule and for him, the parliament was the entity that continued to hamper his right to rule as he wanted. In 1628, King Charles I locked the parliament after the Petition of Rights was approved. He didn’t allow the parliament to meet for the next 12 years. Meanwhile, many members of parliament were imprisoned and one of them named John Eliot died during his imprisonment.

The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political upheaval that began in 1642 and continued till 1651. The first part of this civil war began in 1642 and ended in 1646. The supporters of King Charles I were known as the Cavaliers or Royalists and the opposing supporters of Parliamentarians were known as Roundheads. The major issues of the war were excessive taxation, the high-handedness of the King in the matter of ruling England, and interference in religious freedom.

Initially, King Charles I’s army gained success against the army of Parliamentarians.

Generally, the North and Southwest parts of England favored the king. All the Caroline poets were Cavaliers as they supported King Charles Ist. These Caroline poets and writers wrote poems, articles, and pamphlets in support of the king, presenting him in good light to win the support of the common people.

On the other hand, people in London and the South-Eastern part of England were supporting Parliamentarians. King Charles Ist left London with his family to North in January 1642 as he feared for the safety of his family.

Initially, Cavalier forces had an advantage over the Parliamentarian forces because while the Cavalier forces were fighting under the leadership of King Charles Ist who was an experienced general, there was no clear leader of the Parliamentarian forces. Soon, an educated and dedicated Puritan Oliver Cromwell took the leadership of Parliamentarian forces and supporters. He changed the way of administration of the Army. While in the Cavalier forces, anyone with enough riches could gain a high position, Cromwell made sure that an army man attains a position as per his skills and abilities. Gradually, the Parliamentarian forces started gaining an upper hand. King Charles Ist belonged to Scotland and he had high hopes of support from Scottish forces. However, he was working for the uniform Anglican Church rule throughout his three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland and this created a negative feeling against him in the hearts of Presbyterian Scottish people who sided with the Parliamentarians against the Cavalier forces. The Scottish forces imprisoned King Charles Ist and handed him over to the Parliamentarian forces in May 1646.

After his arrest, the period of ‘Interbellum’ began in which all the different axis of forces were trying to make alliances to gain complete power over England, Scotland, and Ireland. The period of Interbellum, when there was no clear government in England ended in 1648 when the Presbyterian party again aligned with the Royalists and they together made a strong force supporting King Charles I.

Oliver Cromwell was consolidating his political powers while King Charles I also tried to regain the support of various factions and raise a strong army while he was still in prison. Oliver Cromwell realized that King Charles I will not let the Parliamentarians settle in the powerful position. In 1648, some unpaid soldiers of Parliamentarians changed sides and vowed to support King Charles Ist. Oliver Cromwell could now see the real threat and he decided to end the threat of King Charles Ist and his new forces by executing him. King Charles Ist was beheaded on 5 July 1649. This period from 1648-1649 was the second leg of the English civil war that ended with the execution of King Charles Ist.

After the death of King Charles Ist, his son King Charles II was the legal heir but Parliamentarians opposed the return to Monarchy and Oliver Cromwell was elected as the leader. Supporters of Charles II raised forces in support of Charles II and the third leg of the Civil war began in 1649 and continued till 1651. The Parliamentarian forces again won the struggle and the unrest was put to an end on 3 September 1651. Prince Charles II ran away to France.

In 1653, Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector of England and he remained the de facto ruler of England till his death.

The Period of Interregnum (1649-1660)

The third leg of the English Civil War was fought during the period of Interregnum which began after the death of King Charles I in 1649 and ended in 1660 with the return of Ki9ng Charles II on the English throne. While theaters were banned as an abject means of entertainment on 6^th September 1642, there was no hard censor or ban on other literary works. However, the social and political situations of then England were such that no noteworthy literary work was produced during the years of the Civil War. All the literature created during this period were either influenced by political scenario and hence either biased towards Royalists or biased towards Roundheads, or it was influenced by religious sentiments.

From 1649 to 1653, executive powers were held by the Council of State while Rump Parliament controlled the legislative works. In 1653, Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector holding the rule of England, Scotland, and Ireland and hence making the Commonwealth. While Oliver Cromwell gained huge support during the years of the Civil War, his time as the Lord Protector wasn’t so great. It was difficult to control and maintain peace with different religious factions including the Presbyterians, Puritans, Catholics, and Protestants. Cromwell forced Puritan ideals strictly. All were forced to lead an austere lifestyle. There were restrictions on fashion and clothing. Holidays of the sabbath, easter, and Christmas were suppressed. Gambling and theater were completely banned. However, some forms of religious entertainment such as Opera were allowed.

Meanwhile, the Lord Protector was also facing financial difficulties that continued from the times of King Charles I. To ease the situation, Cromwell allowed the admission of Jews in England. Though this decision proved to be controversial and Jews continued to suffer the hostile attitudes of English people. Yet, they were allowed to worship and maintain synagogues.

Lord Protector was also facing the threat of Irish and Scottish rebellion and he had to maintain a strong army to suppress any rebellion. To do so, he had to exact strict taxes. The civil war began as the Parliamentarians didn’t want the common public to face the burden of taxes, but the public still had to pay high taxes. Oliver Cromwell died on 3 September 1658 after suffering a long illness. After his death, his son Richard Cromwell took the position of Lord Protector which was also opposed by various factions. Richard had no support base in Parliament and he was forced to resign in May 1659. The Long Parliament was restored in 1659 and after some time, Prince Charles II was invited to England in 1660 to be the new King of England under a restored monarchy.

So we have discussed the historical, political, and social background of the Age of Civil War and the Interregnum. Now we will discuss the major literary works of this period which include the works of John Milton and other noteworthy authors. Please stay connected with the Discourse. 

Thanks and Regards!

The Awakening by Kate Chopin | Characters, Summary, Analysis

 The Awakening by Kate Chopin | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Awakening is a feminist fiction novel that was published in the year 1899. The novel depicts the story of Edna Pontellier, a married wife and a mother who feels suffocated in her married life and tries to attain freedom. The novel was against the moral norms of victorian society and hence it was highly criticized after its publication. However, with the changing social norms, the novel gained popularity after the death of Kate Chopin and is considered a prototype of feminist literature. The meaning of the title and the message of the novel is that the central character Edna succeeds in rediscovering herself, independent of her familial identity and role as a mother and wife as she awakens.

The novel suggests the strong influence of French writer Guy de Maupassant and is considered as an example of naturalism or nineteenth-century literary realism.

Characters:

Edna Pontellier is the central character of the novel. She is a respectable presbyterian married woman, a mother of two sons (Etienne and Raoul). She rediscovers her individual identity and rebels against the social norms while rejecting the conventional expectations as a mother and wife.

Leonce Pontellier is a successful businessman, husband of Edna. He is unaware of her wife’s struggle in the married life.

Mademoiselle Reisz is a gifted musician, an individualist who doesn’t conform to the expected role of her as a female in society. She invests most of her time in music and herself without caring what society thinks of her. She lives an asexual life like a celibate. Edna finds herself disagreeing with Reisz more than often, yet she finds her inspiring. Adele Rantignolle is Edna’s friend. She represents a perfect victorian woman of the 19^th century. She is completely devoted to her husband and children. She is a good pianist but all her music is to please her kids and family. She continues to remind Edna of her duties as a mother and a wife. Alcee Arobin is a womanizer known for seducing married women. Edna engages in a short-lived relationship with him. Robert Lebrun is a charming young man who succeeds in winning Edna’s heart. He has a history of falling in love with women he cannot have. He flirts with Edna and this instigates rebellious feelings in Edna.

Summary of The Awakening

Leonce Pontellier is a rich businessman in Louisiana who goes on a vacation at a resort in Grand Isle on the Gulf of Mexico with his wife Edna and two sons Etienne and Raul. The resort is managed by Madam Lebrun and her two sons Victor and Robert.

Edna is an introverted person who spends most of her time with her friend Adele Ratignolle. Adele is a devoted wife who cheerily continues to remind Edna of her duties towards her sons and husband. At the resort, Edna finds the calmness and solitude that she longed for. Robert is infatuated with Edna and he flirts with her. Eventually, Edna makes a connection with Robert who actively seeks her approval. Robert has a history of falling in love with such women who he cannot have.

Robert helps Edna in learning how to swim. Edna and Robert fall in love but when Robert realizes that their relationship cannot reach a happy conclusion as she is already married with two sons, he decides to fly away to Mexico. He pretends to go for an important business venture.

However, Robert has already instigated Edna who was already feeling suffocated in her married life. She desires an independent life and she wants to live with Robert. As Robert runs away, she tries to reconcile with her married life and duties and her desires of being independent, free.

Edna meets Mademmoise Reisz on the Grand Isle as she was also there for vacation. Reisz is a musician. She lives alone, an independent life. Unlike Rantignolle, Reisz creates music for herself. Edna is attracted towards Reisz and one day, when Reisz plays piano for Edna, she gets overwhelmed and cries. She realizes a certain awakening in herself to find her own identity independent of her being a wife or mother. Edna likes painting and she starts as a painter.

While Edna appreciates Reisz, she cannot agree with her and she finds a definite void in Reisz’s life. Edna realizes her natural inclinations as she likes sex very much. However, Reisz is celibate, living a life almost like a hermit.

Edna realizes that nature forces her either to lead a life like Adele, where she can have sex and become a devoted wife and mother. Or else, she can choose to be like Reisz, independent, successful, yet, away from carnal pleasures, as if giving up a part of her womanhood. Edna is not ready to succumb to this societal pressure. Adele unknowingly awakens Edna’s sexual self.

As summer approaches, Edna returns to New Orleans with her family. She starts living a secluded life, giving less and less attention to her husband and children. Leonce notices this change and he thinks that Edna is suffering some illness. They consult a doctor. The doctor gets some inkling that maybe Edna is having an affair. However, he doesn’t reveal this to Leonce.

When Leonce plans to go to New York City for a business meeting, he decides to send his sons to his mother’s house as Edna is sick and unable to take proper care of her children. This lets Edna have some solitude. She actually enjoys this independence when she is alone, away from her husband and children. Yet, she continues to remember and miss her sons. She realizes that nature forces a woman to be a mother. However, Edna has vowed not to succumb and give up her individual self to just become a wife and mother. She decides to pursue a career as a painter. She hires a small house for rent and starts living there. She names this rented house 'Pigeon House'.

She starts earning good money through her money and hence breaches the market which is male-centric. Edna uses that money for herself. She bets on horses and buys things she likes. She also buys and sends confectionaries to her sons and realizes that she loves them too much. Edna also realizes her sexual self as she makes a short-term relationship with Alcee Arobin to get sexual relief in absence of her husband. She realizes that while a man can easily enjoy sex without taking responsibility for children and family, a woman cannot do so easily.

In New Orleans, Edna continues to remain in contact with Reisz and Adele. Reisz informs her that she is in contact with Robert through letters. Edna requests her to let her read those letters. Reisz shows her the letters written by Robert. These letters confirm that Robert still loves her.

Robert returns from Mexico to New Orleans. He continues to maintain distance from Edna. However, he succumbs to his feelings and confesses his love for Edna as he goes to visit her at Pigeon House.

Adele is pregnant again and about to give childbirth. Edna is called to help her as her delivery is proving to be complicated. When Edna meets Adele, Adele pleads with her to reconsider her choices and says that she will lose a lot if she doesn’t behave appropriately. Soon after Adele dies while giving birth to a child. Edna again confronts the nature that prompts a woman to be a mother, a wife.

Edna returns home as she decides to choose her freedom and be with Robert forever. However, when she reaches home, she finds a note written by Robert who has already left. The note says that Robert is leaving Edna because he loves her and their relationship has no meaning and hence he could not pursue it.

Edna is heartbroken. She has to make a choice, either to be like Reisz, independent but celibate, or be like Adele, a devoted wife, and mother while forgetting her own self. Edna returns to Grand Isle where she met Robert for the first time. Robert taught her how to swim. She faces the sea and gets completely naked as a newly born child and starts swimming in the open sea under the sun. She continues to swim far in the sea until her limbs get tired, and then she drowns. Her death resembles her new birth where she could be independent, free, and satisfied.

Analysis of The Awakening

The story is about the struggle of a woman seeking independence. She is at struggle against societal and natural norms that force her to accept the identity of a woman recognized by her husband, and children. She loves her sons but she says that she can give her money and life for her kids, but she cannot sacrifice herself, her freedom to them. Reisz and Adele are the two epitomes that Edna may follow. While she gets sexual and emotional fulfillment if she chooses to be like Adele, she will have to accept the societal norms and set up defined for a domestic woman. On the other hand, if she chooses to lead an artistic life like that of Reisz, she will have to compromise her sexual self which she is not ready to do as she likes her sexual self. Edna decides to act like a man. She begins her career and starts making money. She engages in a short-termed affair with Alcee while she still loves Robert and is the wife of Leonce. She realizes that while it is easy for a man to do so, it is not that easy for a woman. 

Edna desires to enjoy the freedom that a man easily attains while remaining a female. She loves her feminine sexuality and sensuality, yet wants to be independent of the responsibilities of being a woman that she thinks society forces on her. As she realizes that not only societal rules, norms, and expectations, but nature itself forces her to be a woman defined by their husband and children, she opts to end herself.

So this is about The Awakening by Kate Chopin. We will continue to discuss American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Storm by Kate Chopin

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

The Storm is a short story written by Kate Chopin in 1898. It remained unpublished for a long period. After the death of Kate Chopin, this story came in print in the year 1969 in the book The Complete Works of Kate Chopin.

This story is a sequel to another short story by Chopin titled At the Candian Ball which was published in 1892. The main characters of both stories are Alcee and Calixta who are married to Bobinot and Clarisse respectively. The theme of ‘At the Candian Ball’ is the class struggle as it is a drama of class dynamics. The story chronicles the activities of a newly launched ball where Calixta is a belle dancer. Alcee visits the ball and becomes frequent while Calixta favors him. Gradually, both grow fond of each other as they fall in love. However, Alcee is a wealthy Creole while Calixta belongs to a lower-class Arcadian family. Both succumb to the class struggle and settle with partners from their respective classes. Alcee marries Clarisse while Calixta marries Bobinot.

The Strom is a sexually explicit story that emphasizes the female erotic experience. Kate Chopin didn’t try to get this story published during her lifetime probably because of prudish and morally righteous publishers and critics of her time. She already was being criticized for breaking the norms. Her novel The Awakening got negative reviews even though it was not centered around erotic experience but depicted a female’s domestic experience. The Awakening tells a story of a woman who decides to leave her husband and live her life independently.

Summary of The Storm

The story begins with Bobinot and his four-year-old son Bibi shopping at Friedheimer's store when a violent storm begins to take shape. The storm appears dangerous so Bobinot decides to stay at the mall with his son and wait until the storm passes. Bobinot is worried about his wife. He buys a can of shrimps for his wife as he waits for the storm to abate.

At home, Bobinot’s wife Calixta is busy with her sewing work. Initially, she doesn’t notice the strong storm. As it grows darker outside, she notices the bad weather and decides to shut the windows and take the clothes back that are hanging outside to dry. As she picks up the laundry, she notices that Alcee, one of her old acquaintances is standing there, trying to save himself against the storm. He asks for shelter and she invites him inside her home.

It is getting late as the sky grows darker. Calixta is worried about her husband and son but Alcee soothes her. Her worries give rise to the old suppressed passion that she used to feel for Alcee, once they were lovers and wished to marry each other. The town is small and houses are very close to each other. However, the storm is very strong and loud and no one can leave wherever they are.

Their passion ignites a strong sexual urge and Alcee and Calixta end up having sex with each other as the storm protects them. Calixta, who always remained honest towards her husband, enjoys this sexual escapade to the fullest. Later on, Alcee goes away on his horse as the storm settles. Calixta laughs in ecstasy as she bids goodbye to Alcee.

Bobinot and Bibi return home as the storm passes away. Calixta is too excited and happy to see them safe. Bobinot is relieved that his wife is not complaining about the delay. Bobinot presents the pack of shrimp to Calixta and she gets overjoyed. Calixta prepares a fine dinner and the family enjoys the evening.

On the other hand, Alcee reaches his home and he is feeling ecstatic. He decides to write a letter to his wife Clarisse, saying that if she and their children are enjoying their time at Biloxi, they should stay there for a while longer. The letter reaches Biloxi. When Clarisse reads the letter, she is also happy. She realizes that though she is missing her husband, she is actually enjoying the independence at Biloxi that she hasn’t known since she got married. She decides to stay at Biloxi for a while longer.

The story ends as the narrator suggests that the storm has passed and everyone is happy.

Themes

The major theme of this story is forbidden love and sexual desires. The relationship of Calixta and Alcee is more passionate than they could feel with their real-life partners. Calixta is fearful of the storm as her husband and son are outside. Alcee is calm and as he soothes Calixta, a bolt of loud lightning occurs outside. Calixta is more fearful and Alcee embraces her to soothe her. This rekindles the forbidden love that the two had decided to avoid as they belonged to different classes (in the prequel At the Candian Ball.) Calixta gives in to her urge to have sex with Alcee and it appears against the moral norms. Even as the storm settles there are worries about how Calixta and Alcee will face their spouses after committing such forbidden love.

The other theme of the story is familial obligations. Calixta is fully devoted to her family, doing the chores properly. Alcee is also a responsible husband and father as he cares for his wife and children and regularly writes letters as his family is away. The storm occurs as an interruption to their familial obligations and as the storm passes, they return back to their regular life.

So this is it about The Storm, a short story by Kate Chopin. We will continue to discuss American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!