Comus by John Milton, Characters, Summary, Analysis

 

Comus by John Milton, Characters, Summary, Analysis

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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.