All My Sons by Arthur Miller | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Arthur Miller was an American playwright, essayist, and screenwriter took birth on October 15, 1917, and died on February 10, 2005. Some of his popular plays include All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and A View from the Bridge. He won Tony Award for Best Author for All My Sons in 1946, while he gained the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Death of a Salesman in the year 1949. His work is known for portraying complex characters who cope with real-life situations and who confront their guilt and remorse for their past actions. His stories talk about the mistakes a person makes and how he looks forward in his life knowing that he has committed a grave mistake.

Arthur Miller wrote his first play No Villain in 1936 while he was still a college student. The play examines the Marxist theory and its inner conflicts using a story of an individual facing problems as a result of a strike. It tells the story of the Simons, an immigrant family, in their parlor, anxiously awaiting the return of their son from university. The Simons were once successful, but appear to have fallen upon rough times.

In 1946, he wrote All My Sons which became his first commercial success. All My Sons is a three-act play based on a true story. In 1941–43 the Wright Aeronautical Corporation based in Ohio had conspired with army inspection officers to approve defective aircraft engines destined for military use. It was covered by newspapers and Miller used the news to make his most successful play.

Characters of All My Sons:

The main character is Joe Keller, a middle-aged businessman who has been exonerated of the charge of knowingly supplying defective aircraft engine cylinder heads during World War II. He cleverly blamed his partner and former neighbor Steve Deever for the whole episode while pretending to be innocent. However, his wife Kate Keller who is in her late 50s knows his secrets. She knows that he is "the guy who made 21 P-40s crash in Australia". Larry Keller is the younger son of Joe and Kate who has been missing for the last three years since he went to participate in the war. Kate believes that he will return and maintains that Anne Deever, who had a relationship with Larry before he went missing, is still his girl. Chris Keller is the elder brother of Larry who returned from World War II two years ago. He respects his father and idolizes him until he comes to know that his father was responsible for the defective aircraft engine cylinder heads. Chris is an idealist and many people don’t like him for that. Chris and Ann have been in contact with each other through letters since Larry went missing. Anne knows that Larry is not going to come back ever and she has moved on. She is trying to make Chris’s parents agree to her marriage to Chris. George Deever is Ann’s elder brother. Like Chris, he is also a WWII veteran. He is a successful lawyer in New York and a close friend of Chris. He was angry at his father for his doing but when he visited Steve Deever, he realized that his father has been wrongly trapped by Joe Keller, and he feels deceived. He decides to convince Anne not to marry Chriss. Dr. Jim Bayliss is a successful doctor and a friend of the Keller family. He wished to be a medical researcher but he acknowledges his responsibility towards his wife and family. Sue Bayliss is Dr. Jim’s wife. She is demanding but affectionate. She is also a friend of Keller’s family but doesn’t like Chriss much. Frank Libbey is one year older than Chriss and George. He missed the draft because of his age and remained at home. He married Linda Lubey who used to be George’s girlfriend before the war. As George went to war, she married Frank and had three children within three years. Bert is an 8-year-old boy living in the neighborhood. He is a friend of Jim Bayliss’s son Tommy. He plays cop-and-robber games with Joe Keller.

Summary:

The play begins at Keller's residence where Joe and Kate Keller live with their elder son Chriss. Joe is a successful businessman living in a luxurious life in an American city. He is living his American dream along with his wife Kate. The only thing that troubles them is their missing younger son Larry who went to fulfill his national duties for World War II but didn’t return. The army declared him missing. While most people know that he is already dead and will never come back, Kate is full of hope and believes that Larry is alive and will soon come back. Larry Keller and Anne Deever were in love and were planning to marry before he went to the war front. Since h was declared missing, Anne moved on and developed a relationship with Chris, Larry’s elder brother and now she hopes to marry him. However, Kate still insists that she is Larry’s girl. Chris has invited her to Keller's residence to make things work for them. Anne’s father Steve Deever and Joe Keller were business partners. During the war, Joe and Steve gained a very profitable project for providing airplane parts to the US Army. One day, Steve found a defective supply of aircraft engine cylinder heads. It was a time of need and the Army was pressurising Steve and Joe to provide the cylinder heads immediately. Joe wasn’t at the factory at that time when Steve called him to ask what should he do. Joe nonchalantly asked him to weld the cracks in the airplane part and supply them to the army. Steve was reluctant but he was under pressure. Joe told him that he had flu and couldn’t come to the factory that day and he will have to send the cylinder heads on his own and he did the same. Thus, they provided such cylinder heads to be used in war aircraft that they didn’t know will work properly or not. Later on, some of the defective cylinder heads busted during the war causing 21 American airplanes to crash and their pilots to die. After inquiry, Steve and Joe were charged and arrested. During the hearing, Joe denied that Steve ever called and informed him about the defective cylinder heads and claimed that Steve is solely responsible for the mischievous act that caused the death of 21 American soldiers. Joe was absent from the factory that day while Steve was there. Steve didn’t have any proof of him calling and informing Joe about the defective heads. He lost the case and was convicted and jailed while Joe was exonerated. Joe’s wife Kate knew that Joe never had any flu and he deliberately didn’t go to the factory to avoid any responsibility in case of a mishap. Steve Deever swore he would never forgive Joe, so Kate worries that Ann will try and harm her family to gain revenge for her father. Thus, she objects to Chriss marrying Anne.

Kate is also hopeful of Larry returning back. She invites Frank Lubbey to check Larry's horoscope to confirm if the day he went missing was fortunate for her. Frank claims that it was an auspicious day for Larry and he couldn’t die that day. This further fills Kate with hope. Joe opposes Kate and says that most probably Larry no more. To this, Kate says that Joe must believe that Larry is still alive, because if he is dead, then Joe is responsible for his death.

George Deever is Anne’s elder brother, a childhood friend of Chriss. He is happy about the prospective marriage of Anne and Chriss. Being a World War II veteran like Chriss and Larry, he is ashamed of his father’s act. Yet, he goes to jail to inform him about Anne and Chriss getting married. At the jail, when George meets Steve he realizes that his father is comparably innocent and the whole plot was of Joe Keller who is the main culprit yet escaped any punishment. This fills him with rage and he decides to stop Anne from marrying Chriss.

At home, Chris and Joe try to suggest to Kate that she should learn to forget Larry. Kate says that Joe should believe that Larry is alive, because if he is not, then their son's blood is on Keller's hands. At the same time, George arrives there and confronts Joe. However, Joe convinces George with his sweet talk that he is innocent. He claims that he was ill and absent the day the incident happened. George gets convinced but after some time, Kate unknowingly says that Joe hadn’t been ill ever for many years. As George notices it, Joe adds that except for a flue that he suffered. While George again gets convinced, Chriss notices something odd in Kate and Joe’s behavior. He again confronts Kate and says that she must understand that Larry is no more. To this, Kate says that Chriss must believe that Larry is alive because If Larry is dead, it means that Joe killed him by shipping out those defective parts. Chriss is devastated after hearing this. Everything is clear to him now. He understands that his own father is the main culprit. Chriss is an idealist who always stands up for the right. But in this case, his most loving father is on the wrong side. He shouts angrily at his father, accusing him of being inhuman and a murderer, and goes away to solitude. 

Kate then confronts Joe and asks him to go to the authorities and commit his crime and accept jail. Joe tells her that whatever he did, he did for the welfare of his family and goes away. Kate confronts Anne again and says that she must believe that Larry is alive and wait for him. Anne then shows her a letter that Larry wrote to her the day before he went missing. The letter written by Larry is essentially a suicide note. Kate comes to know that Larry’s airplane got crashed, but it was not because his plane’s cylinder head was defective. Larry deliberately crashed his plane because he knew that his father supplied defective airplane parts that caused the deaths of other soldiers and he couldn’t bear the shame. Kate is devastated after reading the letter. She asks Anne to hide the letter and not let Chriss or Joe read it. But Anne doesn’t agree with her. As Chris returns, Anne shows him the letter. Chris says that he is not going to send his father to jail but he will leave the family and will not marry Anne too because if he does, Anne will continue to expect justice from him.

Joe enters the room and Chris shows him the letter, saying that Larry knew his father was responsible for the unfortunate deaths of 21 pilots. He reads Larry’s letter aloud. Joe realizes that Larry believed that he is not only his father but he is like a father to all the 21 pilots that were murdered by him. He accepts that he is responsible and agrees to go to jail as all the dead pilots were his sons. He tells Chriss to wait for him as he takes his jacket. But as he goes away, Chriss, Kate, and Anne hear a gunshot. Joe Keller shoots himself and the play ends.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

John Evelyn’s Diary and Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber

 John Evelyn’s Diary and Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber

John Evelyn was an English writer, landowner, horticulturist, and government official during the restoration period. He was a founding member of the Royal Society. He was very interested in growing trees and he wrote a research paper titled “Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions” and presented it to the Royal Society in the year 1662. Later on, it was published as a book in the year 1664. Thus, John Evelyn was a writer with scientific acumen and a great interest in botany. He was a friend of Charles II and was a part of the influential group that also had Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, and Robert Boyle.

John Evelyn’s Diary or ‘The Diary of John Evelyn’ is a memoir that he began writing at the age of 11 and continued writing till his death in 1706. It was a period when no regular magazines or newspapers were published. His diary became a primary source of historical information. Evelyn’s Diary is a comprehensive source of information that covers art, culture, and politics, including the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell's rise and eventual natural death, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. John Evelyn was a Commissioner for sick seamen and prisoners of war during the Dutch Wars. He made extensive diary entries about the war and his experiences with the sick soldiers and prisoners of war. His experiences led him to work for the establishment of Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals. He was a prolific writer who wrote about architecture, art, arboriculture, fashion, and pollution. In his Diary he recorded the events and experiences of his long and remarkable life and also wrote about his friends, relatives, and family members. While Samuel Pepys is a better-known diarist of that era now, John Evelyn’s Diary became the ground on which Pepy’s Diary gained success. The Oxford Standard Authors edition of John Evelyn’s Diary was edited by E. S. de Beer, and it was first published by Oxford University Press in 1959.

Evelyn’s other major work was Sylva which he presented as a research paper to the Royal Society in the year 1662. The sub-title of this paper was A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber. Timber is a wood of considerable commercial value and as the sub-title suggests, this paper was written to discuss and develop better ways for the propagation of timber for better uses. Sylva means all the types of forest trees growing in a particular region or country.

He warned that the continued growth of glassworks and iron industries would have dramatic consequences for British timber resources. He vehemently advocated an extensive reforestation program and the systematic foundation of forests and parks in England. Evelyn received a lot of attention for his assertion that careless deforestation would cause the downfall of the British fleet, which was heavily dependent on wood. His writings reflected a sense of responsibility towards future generations and Sylva is now perceived as one of the most important precursors of modern sustainability discourse. Along with timber, Evelyn discussed the various other kinds of forest trees, their cultivation, and their uses. It was published in a book format in the year 1662. This book established John Evelyn as a distinguished prose writer of the 17th century.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was a popular play written by Tennessee Williams that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. This play is based on one of Tennessee Williams’ previous short stories titled “Three Players of a Summer Game.” The drama is a three-act play that starts, continues, and ends in a single bedroom. It is set in a plantation home in the Mississippi Delta. Williams won his first Pulitzer Prize for his play A Streetcar Named Desire, and this was his second one. The major theme of the play includes mendacity or falsehood, and unrequited love. Sexual frustration and homosexuality remain the hidden theme.

Characters:

Brick Pollitt is a good-looking handsome married man with a cool attitude marked with aloofness. His good looks win love and favor for him from all including his parents and his beautiful wife Margaret also called Maggie. However, he is unable to reciprocate their love. Maggie continues to try and win Brick’s affection but fails and suffers unrequited love. Maggie is a vivacious woman who deeply loves her husband but fails to win his love. She is desperate to get Brick not only for her own satisfaction but also to make a claim on the fortunes of the Pollitt family for which she needs an heir. Big Daddy is the father of Brick and he is also as impressive and aloof,. Big Mama is Brick’s mother and like Magie, she also fails to win her husband’s approval. While Big Daddy is suffering a prolonged illness, Big Mama is taking care of the plantation and businesses. Big Daddy is a cancer patient however, he and his wife Big Mama do not know about his cancer and that he is near his death. Gooper is Brick’s elder brother and Mae is his wife. Gooper is jealous of Brick the favorite child of their parents. However, Gooper and Mae have children and Gooper tries to take control of Pollitt's estate. Mae continues to taunt Maggie for her barrenness. Dr. Baugh is the family doctor. He is sensitive and intelligent. He allows Brick and Gooper to make their own decision about when and whether to tell Big Mama and Big Daddy about the patriarch's terminal condition. Skipper is a dead friend of Brick who committed suicide.

Summary:

At the Pollitt mansion, everybody is busy preparing to celebrate Big Daddy Pollitt's 65th birthday. Big Daddy is being ill for a long time and except for him and his wife Big Mama, everybody in the family knows that he is suffering from cancer and may soon die. The family has avoided telling him or Big Mama the truth, to avoid any shock to them. Meanwhile, Gooper and his wife Mae are trying to gain control over Pollitt's estate as Big Daddy hasn’t made any will yet, and while they have children, the younger brother Brick and his wife Maggie are yet to have offspring. They are planning on letting him know later that night, right after he blows out the candles.

Maggie and Brick are in their bedroom. Maggie chides Brick for his foolish behavior as last night, he broke his leg while trying to jump hurdles at the school track. She blames it on his constant state of drunkenness. However, her attitude is not that of argumentation or fighting, rather, she is trying to please and seduce Brick. We learn that Brick hasn’t had any physical relationship with Maggie for a long time and this has strained their marriages. Maggie wants Brick to sleep with her so that she may get pregnant and give birth to a potential heir of the Pollit estate. Maggie belongs to a poor family and she is extremely afraid of poverty. She knows about the cancer of Big Daddy and that he hasn’t made any will. So she wants to be pregnant to make sure that she and Brick have a secure place in Big Daddy's will. To do so, however, she must contend with Brick's brother Gooper and his wife's children.

Brick not only remains uninterested in Maggie’s effort, he says that he is disgusted with Maggie and he has no interest in Pollitt's estate. He has been this aloof since the death of his close friend Skipper.

He and Skipper were best friends. However, Maggie always felt that their relationship is much more than that. She noticed that brick prefers to spend more time with Skipper than her. Brick often used to show disinterest in her. She felt that Brick and Skipper were homosexually involved and she confronted Skipper about it. Skipper denied his homosexual inclinations and to prove Maggie wrong, he forced a physical relationship with her. However, deep within, Skipper did love Brick the way Maggie believed he loved him. Thus, Maggie and Skipper both deeply loved Brick while Brick didn’t return any of the two’s love in the manner they wished. Maggie and Skipper continued to make love with each other instead of Brick. This created a dilemma for Skipper and he soon began self-destructing. He was having an affair with the wife of the man whom he actually loved. Soon he committed suicide. His suicide turned brick towards alcohol because deep within, he too loved Skipper.

While the two are having their arguments, more people in the family join them. Everyone but Big Daddy and Big Mama know that Big Daddy is dying, but he and his wife were told by the doctor that he just had a spastic colon. Tonight, the sons will tell their mother the truth.

In the evening, after celebrating the birthday, the older couple is left alone. Big Daddy is cruel to Big Mama, who insists that she loves him even though he doesn't believe her. They appear like an older version of Brick and Maggie. Big Daddy is frustrated that she has taken charge of the estate since he became sick, but now that he knows that his days are no longer numbered (he thinks he is going to be fine) he is going to take it all back and return Big Mama to her place.

Big Daddy reveals that he is concerned about Brick’s alcoholism. As Big Mama leaves, Big Daddy calls Brick to talk to him. The father tries his best to engage Brick in a conversation but Brick is not interested. He says that he never had any interest in Big Mama and he is thinking of taking a young mistress. He openly shows that he has a great deal of affection for Brick but brick remains uninterested.

He tries to coerce his son into admitting why he drinks, eventually stealing his crutch and knocking him to the ground. Soon Brick admits to revealing the truth. He informs that it is all because of Skipper. The night that Skipper made a physical relationship with Maggie, Skipper called Brick and tried to make an admission. As Skipper admitted that he is in love with Brick, Brick hung up on him, because he was entirely incapable of even allowing the possibility of homosexuality into his outlook. It is this disgust with himself and with his world and his knowledge about Skipper sleeping with Maggie that drove Brick to alcohol.

As he is forced to reveal his truth and shame, he reveals the truth about Big Daddy’s cancer and that he won’t be living long. Big Daddy leaves, upset, and the rest of the family enters. With difficulty, Big Mama is told that Big Daddy has cancer, although she refuses to believe it at first. She tells Maggie that Brick has to get his act together so that he can take care of the estate when Big Daddy is gone. However, Gooper and Mae aren’t happy about this. They produce legal papers that would establish a will favorable to their interests. Gooper tells Big Mamma that it will be in the best interest of the family as Brick is always drowned in alcohol while Maggie is barren. To this, Maggie objects and claims that she is pregnant and is expecting a child soon. Her brother- and sister-in-law don't believe her for a second, but Big Mama rejoices in the good news and leaves to tell Big Daddy.

Maggie and Brick are left alone. He says she was very bold to make that lie, but Maggie intends to turn the lie into truth. She takes away Brick's liquor and says that she will not get him any more drinks until he consents to sleep with her. Big Mama runs in, searching for the morphine that the doctor left for Big Daddy as he is suffering pain. She leaves, and as the play ends, Maggie tells Brick that she loves him as Brick wonders "wouldn't it be funny if that were true?"

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Hudibras by Samuel Buttler | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. After the fall of Cornwell’s government and the restoration of the monarchy in England, the group of Puritans, Presbyterians, and other religious zealots faced a strong backlash. One such poetic backlash that gained huge popularity was Hudibras, a mock-heroic satirical poem written by Samuel Buttler. Hdibras was published in three parts in the years 1663, 1664, and 1678. The poem describes the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediately before the restoration of Charles II as king in May 1660. Since the poem satirizes the Puritans and other opponents of monarchy it was cherished and supported by King Charles II. Hudibras is a mock-heroic satiric poem. This poem basically attacks the Puritans, Presbyterians, and those people who are involved in the English Civil War. Hudibras is about eleven thousand lines. It is a socio-religious satirical mock-heroic poem with little or no stress on politics. Samuel Buttler incorporated religion, science, matrimony, and superstitions with satires of socio-political, moral, and literary themes. The title of the poem is taken from the name of a knight in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Spenser, on the other hand, got the name from the king of the Britons, Rud Hud Hudibras.

The poem is built with an octosyllabic couplet with strange double rhymes. The poet changed the vowel rhymes and mixed two monosyllabic words to rhyme with a dissyllable. To show knowledge of illustrations, the poet works with the rhyme to make the burlesque effect. Hudibras is written in iambic tetrameter with closed couplets. While Buttler satirized puritans and Presbyterians through this poem, it is less an attack on the puritans than a criticism of antiquated thinking and contemporary morals, and a parody of old-fashioned literary form.

Characters:

Hudibras is a Presbyterian colonel. His squire, Ralpho, is one of the Independents, who follow a more radical version of puritanism, one far less formal and structured than Presbyterianism. Hudibras is described as a “Mirrour of Knighthood.” that is, an epitome of knighthood. He is a combination of incongruous traits and a Presbyterian knight errant. He is hypocritically shy and cowardly. Hudibras even has difficulty mounting and staying on, his horse. The poet describes Hudibras as a formally educated person from a University with knowledge of logic, rhetoric, geometry, algebra, arithmetic, and theology and then shows how illogical and ignorant he is. Ralpho is Hudibras’s squire who is a tailor and is not well-educated. Ralpho considers formal educational skills as pointless.  He guides his life not by philosophical systems but by direct personal inspiration: “Some call it Gifts, and some New light; A liberal Art, that costs no pains Of Study, Industry or Brains.” The Rich Widow is another important character that remains unnamed throughout the poem. Hudibras schemes to get her money, whether by marrying her or by legal trickery. She enjoys leading him on to make a fool of himself. Trulia is another woman who defeats Hudibras significantly. Turla is a village prostitute. Being regularly defeated, sometimes by the skills and courage of women, Hudibrras ultimately makes a witty and detailed declaration that women are superior to men. Sidrophel is a local astrologer and Rosicrucian conjurer, a magician. Whackum is his assistant. In 1663, a fake copy of Hudibras Part II was published by someone and Buttler depicted the character of Whackum based on that anonymous author.

Hudibras is similar to Cervantes’ Don Quixote which is also a parody.

Summary:

The first part of the poem begins as Hudibras and Ralpho set out on an adventurous journey. They encounter a local bear-baiting. While the local people want them to face the bear, Hudibras and Ralpho decide to avoid it. However, both Hudibras and Ralpho offer different reasons for avoiding bear-baiting, and then both argue over the reason for doing so. As the townspeople encounter them, they initially win over them and brag about their bravery. Soon, a local village prostitute Troila comes forward and pushes Hudibras, the “Mirrour of Knighthood”, off his horse, beating him with a rain of blows, then climbing up and standing on him. Hudibras owns her the victor and strips off his armor and weapons. She mockingly throws her own mantle on Hudibras’s back, then locks him and Ralpho in the village stocks. Later on, the rich widow of the town comes and bails out Hudibras and Ralpho on the condition that once he is free Hudibras will give himself the flogging he deserves. Part 1 ends here.

In the second part, Hudibras and Ralpho argue whether it would be good for Hudibras to break his oath to the widow, to not give himself a flogging, and then to lie to her. While they are discussing, townspeople gather and arrange for an entertaining skimmington in which women are commemorated while men are dressed as clowns. As Hudibras sees this, he objects to it and starts lecturing the crowd for their indecency. The townspeople get offended again and throw rotten eggs and tomatoes on them and their horses. Somehow, Hudibras and Ralpho rescue themselves and run away to find a pond where they could clean themselves. As they clean themselves, Ralpho discusses the bad luck they are going through and suggests Hudibras meet the local conjurer for some help. Hudibras and Ralpho go to meet Sidrophel the astrologer. However, soon Hudibras and Sidrophel engage in a heated argument over what arts are lawful and what are unlawful. Hudibras claims that Sidrophel’s astrology and magic are unlawful and fraudulent. Sidrophel taunts Hudibras with having been humiliated at Kingston and Brentford Fair and claims that it was his assistant Whackum who stole Hudibras’s cloak and picked his pocket. Hudibras points out that Sidrophel is drawing that story from the spurious “Part Two”, but nevertheless he sends Ralpho out to fetch a constable to charge Sidrophel with the possession of the stolen property. Hudibras knocks Whackum and Sidrophel down and picks their pockets. Believing that they are both dead, Hudibras decides that since Ralpho is disrespectful towards Hudibras’s orthodox puritanism, he will leave Ralpho to come back with the constable, find the two bodies, and charge with the crime of two murders. The second part ends here.

The third part of Hudibras was published in 1678. It begins with a satirical letter written by Hudibras to Sidrophel in which he satirizes the activities of the recently formed Royal Society. Hudibras knows that Sidrophel and Whackum were not dead. Though he is now estranged from Ralpho. Hudibras pursues the rich widow who bailed them out. He is determined to get his hands on the widow’s wealth. He goes to the rich widow and lies about how he flogged himself, and then defeated Sidrophel and Whackum. However, Ralpho had already visited the rich widow and had told her how Hudibras wished to get his hands on her wealth. He also informed her how Hudibras intends to lie to her about flogging while Ralpho opposed his lying. He also informs her how Hudibras tried to trap Ralpho for the charge murders of Sidrophel and Whacko and ran away while they were not dead.

Aware of the truth, the rich widow engages Hudibras into a long argument about the true nature of marriage (she pointedly maintains that men marry principally because they are after a woman’s money), which takes them till sunset. This argument is interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Terrified that it might be Sidrophel, Hudibras hides under a table in a nearby room, in the dark, only to find that he is being pulled out and trampled by what appears in the dark to be a group of demons; one cloven-hoofed demon, standing on him just as Trulia had done in Part One, makes him admit his intention to defraud the rich widow of her money; also to confess his lie about having scourged himself, and to confess his dishonesty and mercenariness, and more. Colonel Hudibras shows himself up as a dishonest, cowardly, and superstitious fool. The demons then leave him, still in darkness, but there is, somewhere in the dark room, one remaining “blackguard sprite” who upbraids him in detail with all his deceits and cowardice. Hudibras finds him uncomfortably well-informed about his doings. As dawn approaches, Hudibras and the “blackguard sprite” escape from the Widow’s house, find Hudibras’s and Ralpho’s horses, and flee. After this, Buttler offers a satiric disquisition on the turbulent state of puritan and national party politics in 1659–60.

The story then continues as daylight breaks, Hudibras discovers that the “blackguard sprite” who upbraided him in the darkness was in fact Ralpho, who tells him that the cloven-hoofed demon who stood on him and questioned him was a local weaver in a parson’s gown and that the widow heard every word, and laughed.

Ralpho goes on to persuade him not to pursue the rich widow directly, but to go to law against her for a breach of contract to marry and get hold of her money that way. Hudibras consults a pettifogging lawyer in London, who advises him how to begin by writing the widow a letter that will entrap her into making statements on paper that Hudibras can use to pursue a breach of promise suit against her.

The widow reads Hudibras’s letter, smiles, and writes him a reply that avoids his trap while spelling out in riotously contemptuous detail how right women are to despise men. Her last words meant that men are inferior to women: she ends her letter, and the entire satire, with a clear statement that she has no intention to “Let men usurp Th’unjust Dominion, / As if they were the Better Women.” The poem ends here.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Night of the Iguana by Tennesse Williams | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Night of the Iguana was a stage play by Tennesse Williams that was based on one of his own short stories. It was first staged in 1959 and it was converted into an Oscar-winning film in 1964. Like his other dramas and stories, The Night of the Iguana deals with the subject of sex, repressed sexual desires, mental illness, loneliness, and confinement. There is an iguana in the story that is bound to be killed and eaten the protagonist frees and lets it go while the protagonist himself decides to stay.

Characters:

Larry Shannon is the major character of the play. As a child, he was beaten by his mother for masturbating and that trauma had a deep impact on his character. As he grew, he became a reverend at a local church, but he continued to struggle with the sexual repression he had faced. He had to leave the church after being accused of sleeping with another young woman teacher and characterized the image of God as a “senile delinquent” during a sermon. He was institutionalized for a nervous breakdown. Later on, he becomes a tour guide for Blake Tours. He arrives at Costa Verde with a furious group of college professors on his tour bus. Maxine Faulk is another important character. She is a mature lady in her forties. She is proud of her sexuality. She recently lost her husband Fred who was a friend of Shannon. After her husband’s death, she feels lonely, and to get rid of her loneliness, she engages in a sexual relationship with one of her employees Pedro. She likes Shannon and has sympathy for him. She feels he is also lonely as her and asks him to stay with her. Judith Fellows is a member of Shannon’s tour. She is a straightforward woman who cares about her colleagues touring with her. She reminds Shannon of his mother as she approaches Shannon with a furious attitude and claims that Shannon slept with Charlotte, one of the teenage girls on the tour. Hannah Jelkes is a middle-aged woman, she is an artist who paints portraits of people in the places that she travels to around the world; however, she also takes care of Nonno, her ninety-seven-year-old grandfather, who is also the world's "oldest poet." Shannon finds her sexually attractive. However, Hannah has no interest in sex and she believes that Shannon can also triumph over his desires as well. Charlotte Goodall is a member of Shannon’s tour. She is a 17-year-old girl whom Shannon finds attractive and slept with her. After having sex, he slaps her as if he is punishing her for the act. Shannon tries to avoid Charlotte after that but she confronts him and says she loves him dearly. She even states that she forgives him for slapping her after the two had sex and begs him to marry her.

Summary:

The play begins on the west coast of Mexico, in Costa Verde, a rustic hotel owned by Maxine Faulk. Maxine is a voluptuous woman in her forties who recently lost her husband to an infection. Although her husband died recently, she engages in a sexual relationship with one of her employees Pedro and she flirts with guests at the hotel she manages. One of her guests is Larry Shannon who works as a tour guide for a second-rate company Blake Tours. He used to be a reverend at a local church but had to leave the church. He is more interested in rambling about and seducing young women on the tours and he has a special interest in teen girls under age 18. Faulk flirts with him as soon as she meets him and proposes he stay with her at her hotel. However, Shannon wants to get back into the priesthood after his recent nervous breakdown, but he is hesitant to leave his tour, which consists of female teachers from a Baptist college in Texas. As Faulk, Shannon, and Hank, one of Shannon’s assistant are talking, one of the tour members, Judith Fellows approaches them and start berating Shannon for having sex with a seventeen-year-old girl on the tour. She is a strict teacher who wants Shannon to follow the instructions of the tour guide. Shannon convinces her to stay at the hotel for some time. Faulk is soon approached by a middle-aged woman, Hannah Jelkes, and her grandfather, Nonno, who ask if they can stay at the hotel despite being short on money. Finding out that Hannah is a portrait artist and her grandfather is a famous poet, she initially denies them, but Shannon says he will pay their costs. This is because he is attracted to Hannah, and Faulk acquiesces for now.

Later on, Faulk approaches Hannah and talks about her art and money. Hannah informs her that currently she is broke. Faulk tells her that she recently lost her husband and she is in debt and she cannot afford freeloaders. Shannon appears at the same time and Faulk leaves to have fun with some German tourists. A young girl named Charlotte is searching for Shannon. As Shannon sees her, he hides in his apartment of Hannah. Charlotte is the young girl with whom Shannon had sex on the tour. She tells Shannon through the door that she is truly in love with him and wants him to marry her even though he apparently hit her after they had sex. Miss Fellows notices Charlotte pursuing Shannon and drags her away. Later on, Shannon confesses to Hannah that he had sex with Charlotte. He also says that he used to be a reverend at a church but had to leave for having sex with a young girl there and for calling God a “senile delinquent.” Suddenly, they hear a crash and they find that Nonno, Hannah’s 97 years old grandfather has fallen from his chair. He is a renowned poet but is struggling with memory loss. He says that he is fine but fails to recite his old poem. Hannah notes that he has had many more accidents like this lately. Faulk lightly taunts the old man, and Shannon defends him. They engage in an argument and start throwing a cart at each other. As Shannon throws the cart while trying to hit Faulk, it falls down the hill near the hotel. Faulk tells him to bring the cart back. As Shannon leaves, Faulk tells Hannah she and her grandfather can stay as long as they want if she stays away from Shannon. At the same time, a major storm is about to hit Costa Verde.

At night, Shannon starts writing a letter to the dean of his former divinity school, requesting he let Shannon join the church again. Faulk visits his room and says that she is thinking of selling the hotel and moving to the United States. She tells him that she heard from her late husband about Shannon’s childhood trauma, being beaten by his mother for masturbating. She speculates that might be the source of his issues with God.

At the same time, Jake Latta, a representative from Blake Tours arrives at the hotel and informs Shannon that he will be fired and will not get any severance pay if he immediately doesn’t leave the hotel with him and the other tourists. Miss Judith Fellows approaches Jake Latta and informs him how he treated a teenage girl and had sex with her. Jake Latta demands the keys to the bus from Shannon and decides to leave him. Shannon has a mental breakdown, and Faulk has her employees tie him down. She threatens to have him sent to a mental asylum and makes him a sedative drink. As Fauk goes away for her hotel duties, Hannah and Shannon engage in discussion. Shannon convinces her to untie him and as soon as he is freed, he goes to take a drink. Shannon expresses his interest in Hannah and asks if she would like to travel with him. Hannah confesses that she struggled with depression, and she gives him some advice on how to manage his mental issues. She says that when her grandfather passes, she plans to travel the world making art. She says she has never had any romantic encounters but has been assaulted by two men. That is why she is hesitant to fall for someone. Shannon proposes to her again but she rejects him and Shannon realizes that he is stuck with Faulk. Hannah warns him that Faulk is a jealous woman and he should get away from her.

Suddenly, Hannah notices a scratching noise coming from under the verandah. As she asks about it, Shannon informs her that Faulk has kept an iguana tied up under the verandah and she has planned to kill and cook the animal to eat. Hannah feels sad for the iguana and asks Shannon to set it free. Shannon agrees and loosens the iguana to go free. Soon they hear Nonno yelling from the hotel, and they run in to hear him recite a new poem, the first he has written in years. Hannah is overjoyed and promises to help him type it up in the morning. Faulk asks Shannon to go swimming with her, where she asks him to stay and help her run the hotel. He reluctantly agrees. The next morning, Hannah discovers that Nonno has passed away after reciting his poem.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards. 

Alexander’s Feast by John Dryden | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Dryden wrote his first ode for the celebrations of Saint Cecilia’s Day in 1687 and ten years later, he presented the second ode. Saint Cecilia was considered a patron of music and musicians. In 1687, John Dryden presented A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day which was the first of the two odes written by him for the annual function of Saint Cecilia’s Day. The other more famous ode was Alexander’s Feast which he presented in 1697. Alexander; Feast proved to be Dryden’s most popular song. In his first ode, A Song for St. Cecilia, Dryden emphasized praising the various musical instruments and the human passions they aroused. In the second ode, Dryden specifically explains the power of music by describing the story of Alexander the Great, and Timotheus the musician. The poet expresses a sense of wonder towards Timotheus's ability to manipulate human emotion using music and compares it to Catholic martyr St. Cecilia.

Characters:

In the poem, Dryden tells the story of Alexander III of Macedon, King of Macedonia, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia, and Lord of Asia in the 4th century BCE who throws a feast in Persepolis to celebrate and share his with his lady love Thais. Timotheus is a bard who performs at Alexander's feast at Persepolis. He sings in praise of Alexander and plays the music so well that it enchants Alexander and Thais. Through his music, Timotheus enrages Alexander and Thais against the people of Persepolis to such an extent that leads to Alexander's impulsive decision to burn down Persepolis. Temothius invokes Jove, the Roman god of sky and thunder, Olympia, mother of Alexander, Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and religious ecstasy, and Helen of Troy, wife of King Menelaus. Her abduction by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. He also mentions and praises Darius III, the king of Persia in the 4th century BCE. He was defeated by Alexander the Great. Dryden then mentions Saint Cecilia who is believed to have created the first organ.

Analysis:

Alexander’s Feast is a narrative poem containing seven stanzas that can be divided into four parts. The first three stanzas (1 to 3) provide the backdrop to the poem’s narrative, as they describe the pleasure, hubris, and excess involved at the beginning of Alexander the Great’s celebration of his military success. In this part, king Alexander and his people are oblivious to their own vainglory. Timotheus takes them to greater heights with his expressive song. In the second part (stanzas 4 to 5), Timotheus detects the hubris rising in King Alexander and he transforms his into an elegy mourning the tragic death of King Darius, and then into a philosophical musing upon both the futility of war and the need for gratitude, love, and peace. Timotheus’s song is so touching and expressive that King Alexander, in response to the performance, cries for the death of Darius whom he conquered. In the third part (stanza 6), Timotheus again changes the subject of his song and reminds Alexander and Thais of the atrocities people of Persepolis. The intense music of the lyre played by Timotheus creates feelings of vengeance, anger, and violence. These sudden changes in the narrative prove the power of music as music can inspire a broad spectrum of emotions, ranging from joy and hubris to grief and gratitude to destructive, cathartic rage. It also proves how easily music can manipulate the emotions and actions of its listeners. The final part is stanza 7 in which the poet closes the poem by praising the ability of the bard Timotheus to inspire a variety of emotions. Rather than empathizing with either of the two opposing political forces (Macedonians and Persians), the poet identifies himself with the musician who demonstrates the ability to manipulate those in power as well as the masses of people under their rule. And then the poet suggests that an artist or art itself can hold destructive powers on the minds of listeners. Then Dryden champions Christianity over Paganism and suggests that while Timotheus was a pagan, St. Cecilia, being a pious Christian musician is technically and spiritually superior musician.

Summary:

The first stanza sets the scene, with Alexander described as “The godlike hero” and Thais as “like a blooming Eastern bride / In flow’r of youth and beauty’s pride.” The four brief lines preceding the chorus fill with a celebratory tone:

Happy, happy, happy pair!
None but the brave,
None but the brave,
None but the brave deserves the fair.

In the second stanza, the poet introduces Timotheus the bard. He plays his lyre with “flying fingers,” his music ascending to the heavens, where it inspires joy. Lush imagery recreates the journey of Jove, moved by love in “A dragon’s fi ery form” and riding “on radiant spires” to Olympia. He then “stamp’d an image of himself, a sov’reign of the world,” and the audience assumes that the stamp is Alexander. Jove’s act, according to the chorus, “seems to shake the spheres,” a comparison of the warrior prince’s birth to a portent. The third stanza praises Bacchus, the god of celebration and drink. The celebration that Dryden describes followed Alexander’s attack on the Persian capital city of Persepolis. The original story stresses the greed of the looting soldiers, who lost all control in their thievery and the destruction of priceless treasures. Timotheus foreshadows the increased destruction that will follow the drunken debauchery, as he sings,

Drinking is the soldier’s pleasure;
Rich the treasure,
Sweet the pleasure
Sweet the pleasure after pain.

In the fourth stanza, the poet changes the subject as Timotheus recalls that “the King grew vain, / Fought all his battles o’er again,” and describes Alexander, as three times “he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew / the slain.” He sings of the madness of battle that challenged Alexander, the passion for war eventually softened by pity for Darius, the Persian ruler. At that point, Alexander “the joyless victor sat” as he considered chance, suggesting that he might have been in Darius’s place if not for fate, and he weeps. Stanza 5 celebrates the softening of the mighty master as “pity melts the mind to love.” Timotheus sings that war “is toil and trouble, / Honour but an empty bubble,” and he urges Alexander to consider that “If the world is worth thy winning, / Think, O think it worth enjoying.” He reminds the ruler of his lovely bride, and then:

The Prince, unable to conceal his pain,
Gaz’d on the fair Who caused his care,
And sighed and look’d, sigh’d and look’d,
Sigh’d and look’d, and sigh’d again;
At length, with love and wine at once oppress’d,
The vanquish’d victor sunk upon her breast.
Alexander remained undefeated in the battleground but fell under Thais' control. She in return, like many other women in classic stories, will co-opt the power of the male, tempting men with the passions she arouses to do as she bids them.

In the 7th stanza, the poet changes the tone again. Timotheus describes the prince awakening as he hears the lyre, amazed to “See the Furies arise! / See the snakes that they rear,” with the ghastly sights explained as ghosts of those slain in battle. Traditionally, women who haunted men, the Furies symbolize Thais in her control of Alexander, while the snakes suggest the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden that led to original sin. Dryden’s audience would have been familiar with the story of Thais’ tempting Alexander to burn Persepolis, after his men’s drunken looting of its riches. Thais led a procession of warriors and women to the accompaniment of flutes and pipes, as if in a grand celebration, and convinced Alexander to hurl his torch into the city. Her torch followed, and then hundreds of others, and the once-glorious city was destroyed. In Dryden’s ode Thais “led the way” of the revenging king “to light him to his prey / And like another Helen fir’d another Troy.” The reference to Helen also reflects on the power of women to stir men’s passions, even to war. That Thais used instruments during her “parade” to the city also suggests the power of music to stir passions, helping to overcome the strength of even the great Alexander.

In the 7^th stanza, Dryden discusses St. Cecilia, the spiritual, pious, patroness of music.

Enlarg’d the former narrow bounds
And added length to solemn sounds
With nature’s mother-wit and arts unknown before.
Or both divide the crown;
He rais’d a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.

The “narrow bounds” she enlarges with her music are those tied to the ability of mere mortals to make music. Where Timotheus praises the mortal, Alexander, raising his name to the heights reserved for celebrated individuals, St. Cecilia’s music is so powerful that it tempts heavenly creatures to descend to earth.

So, this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day by John Dryden | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Dryden began his career during the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. He saw the times when under Puritan pressure, all sorts of entertainment, theaters, and music were banned in England. However, Dryden was a student of Westminster school and he was well trained in rhetoric with an ability to present arguments for both sides of a given issue. Despite being an ardent follower of Oliver Cromwell, he had Royalist leaning and he celebrated the Restoration in 1660 after the return of King Charles II with his poem Astraea Redux. He then engaged himself in writing various plays as theaters were reopened and he enthusiastically celebrated the annual festival of Saint Cecilia's Day observed in London every 22 November from 1683 to 1703. Saint Cecilia was considered a patron of music and musicians. In 1687, John Dryden presented A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day which was the first of the two odes written by him for the annual function of Saint Cecilia’s Day. The other more famous ode was Alexander’s Feast which he presented in 1697.

Characters of A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day:

The poem is dedicated to Saint Cecilia who was a Roman virgin of rank, who flourished during the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. She was a Christian, and, by her purity of life, and constant employment in the praises of her Maker, while yet on earth, obtained intercourse with an angel. Being married to Valerianus, a Pagan, she not only prevailed upon him to abstain from using any familiarity with her person but converted him and his brother to Christianity. They were all martyrs for the faith in the reign of Septimus Severus. Cecilia is said to have sat apart from the ceremony and sung her praises to God, which later earned her the title of Patroness of Musicians. Her feast is celebrated on November 22nd. Dryden personifies Nature in the first stanza as a character. Jubal is a figure from the Hebrew Bible regarded as "the father of all who plays harp and flute." He played the Kinnor, an Israelite stringed instrument comparable to a harp or lyre, referred to in the poem as the "corded shell." Orpheus is a poet and musician from Greek mythology who was said to be able to charm all living things with his music. Some claim that Orpheus was able to introduce order and civilization to savages through his musical talents and even make trees and rivers dance, hence Dryden uses allusion to Orpheus in the poem as "lead[ing] the savage race" and "trees uprooted leav[ing] their place." Impressed by the beauty of Saint Cecilia’s music, an Angel mistakes Earth for Heaven and appears at the scene. This could be a reference to the angel who watches over Cecilia in the story of her marriage to Valerian. The Spheres are representatives of God’s creation. Dryden personifies them in this poem as the spheres sing God's praises in a grand chorus as they are created and begin to move.

Structure of A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day:

The poem is divided into eight stanzas. The first stanza is the longest one with 15 lines. The number of lines in each stanza continues to decrease till the fourth Stanza and then again, the stanzas start becoming longer. The poem doesn’t follow any strict metrical pattern, however, most of the lines are written in iambic meter. Similarly, while there are some rhyming couplets in the poem, it lacks any specific rhyming pattern. Dryden used the alternative and closed rhyming scheme.

Summary:

The poem begins with a reference to ‘Heavenly Harmony.’ Dryden suggests that God supervised a harmony that lies in the whole universe, that is, the whole universe is based on a Godly musical harmony. Dryden says that at the beginning, nature was nothing but a “heap of jarring atoms” that God bound to create Earth. It appears as if Dryden is alluding to the Newtonian model of the universe while referencing the gravitational pull as the heavenly harmony. He then personifies Nature and says that while nature was in slumbers, she heard a “tuneful voice” from heaven that raised her up. Dryden says that this heavenly music caused the seasonal cycle. Dryden further says that all the compasses of the musical notes aligned and made the earth revolve and ultimately, these musical notes, in all possible ranges (diapason) closed “full in man.” That is, the heavenly music resulted in the creation of man. The first stanza ends here.

In the second stanza, the poet describes the power of music. He says music can raise and quell extreme passion. When Jubal struck the corded shell, his brethren stood around him wondering about his composition. On their faces, there was an awe-inspiring look. It seems to the speaker that they were worshiping that “celestial sound” coming from Jubal’s shell. This is a Biblical reference. Jubal is described as the “ancestor of all who played the harp and flute.” He played the “kinnor”, also known as the harp, and the “uggab,” a Hebrew alternative for the flute.

In the third stanza, the poet continues to describe the power of music while depicting some well-known musical instruments. He describes the trumpet’s sound as a “loud clangor” that excites the soldiers and fills them with enthusiasm. The same loud clangor expresses anger and warns the enemy as it acts as a “mortal alarm.” On the other hand, the beating of a “thundering drum” cries and harks the arrival of enemy forces. The thundering sound of drums alarm the soldiers and they get ready with all their might to resist the enemy as they say “Charge, charge, ’tis too late to retreat.”

In the fourth stanza, Dryden describes the soft and sensuous sound of the flute. The soft sound of the flute appears to be imitating a complaining voice. In the dying notes of it, the listeners can imagine the woes of hopeless lovers. The poet says that their dirge is whispered by the “warbling lute.”

Dryden describes the violin in the fifth stanza. He says that the soft sound of the flute invigorates the ‘sharp violins.’ Violins express strong and loud emotions and when the poet hears them, the sound reflects the musician’s depth of pain and height of passion for the fair, disdainful dame. So, the violin player seems to be a victim of unrequited love. Music is the medium using which he expresses his love as well as his pain.

In the sixth stanza, Dryden suggests that a human’s voice is inferior to the sound of musical instruments as it doesn’t have that divinity. However, he says that some humans with specific divine enlightenment gain that capacity and mentions Saint Cecilia. He mentions how a holy spirit inspired Saint Cecilia. Her notes inspired holy love in humans. Not only that, her composition rose higher to heaven and mended the choirs above. In this way, Dryden refers to the healing and constructive qualities of music, especially Cecilia’s music.

The seventh stanza begins with the praise of Orpheus, a Greek poet, prophet, and musician who could play the lute in such a manner that made the savage race of Greece obey and respect him. His music could inspire humans and nature to respond to it. The trees got uprooted from their place as he played his music. Dryden says that Orpheus perfected the lyre. He again comes back to praise Saint Cecilia and says that she raised the wonder higher than Orpheus. When she gave her vocal breath to her organ, it reached heaven. An angel heard her music and he straightly appeared, mistaking earth for heaven. Such was the magnificence of Cecilia’s composition.

In the last stanza, Dryden says that from the power of Cecilia’s sacred music the spheres began to move. Her music had the power to infuse life into all the inanimate objects. Hearing her organ, they came into life and sang the great creator’s praise. They sang for all the blessed angels residing in heaven.

When the last and dreadful hour (a metaphorical reference to death) came, the crumbling pageant shall devour the creation. The trumpet shall be heard in heaven. Those who have died will come to life and the living will die. Along with that, her music will untune the sky. In this way, the poe t refers to the mightiness of Cecilia’s divine music, comparable to the power of God.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.