Upon Overmuch Niceness by John Bunyan | Sturcture, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Bunyan was a celebrated English minister and preacher, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), the book that was the most characteristic expression of the Puritan religious outlook. His other works include doctrinal and controversial writings; a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding (1666); and the allegory The Holy War (1682). While these were serious philosophical works that he wrote with a general readership in mind, he was interested in writing content that could help young children in shaping a better character for themselves. With this aim in mind, Bunyan wrote ‘A Book For Boys and Girls’ or ‘County Rhymes for Children’ in the year 1686.

This book wasn’t published in his lifetime as he died on August 31, 1688. Later on, this book was published posthumously by the title ‘A Book for Boys and Girls or Temporal Things Spiritualized’ by John Bunyan’ in the year 1701. There are some seventy-four children’s rhymes in this book.

‘A Book for Boys and Girls’ is a collection of rhymes written for children to explain some aspects of God’s ways to children in such a way that a child in rural England of that time could easily understand. This collection of poems is very easy to understand and the book holds a didactic purpose of pleasing the young minds while justifying the ways of God to them. Most of the poems employ a commonplace or an ordinary subject to inculcate moral values and divine conclusions in the young minds. Some prominent rhymes of ‘A Book For Boys and Girls’ offering religious instructions are ‘Upon the Ten Commandments, ‘Upon the Lord’s Prayer’, and ‘Upon the Creed.’ However, many poems are not that religious in tone, rather, they offer general social, spiritual, and moral insights and ideas. One such beautiful rhyme is ‘Upon Overmuch Niceness.’

Poem Structure:

The rhyme is written in blank verse with no proper rhyme scheme. The whole poem is written in eight stanzas with a quatrain at the opening of the poem, followed by seven couplets. The poem has 18 lines in strings written in iambic pentameter, following rima rhyme. The poem appears to be written like a sonnet. While the number of words in each line varies, many lines contain 8 words. The words ‘they’, and ‘their’ repeat in the lines diaphorically. The poem contains many allegorical Biblical references.

Summary:

Tis much to see how over nice some are
About the body and household affair,
While what’s of worth they slightly pass it by,
Not doing, or doing it slovenly.

The poet directly addresses a certain type of people who are habitual to offer great concern to their outer appearances. They care a lot about their physical beauty and grooming and although they appear to stress more on cleanliness and niceties of behavior, the poet complains that such people often ignore things that are of higher worth and deeper meaning. Despite their outer cleanliness, they either ignore their moral obligations completely, or they do it excessively casually.

Their house must be well furnished, be in print,
Meanwhile their soul lies ley, has no good in’t.

The poet further explains how those who stress more on their outer well-being materialistically, fail to gain anything spiritually. He says that while their houses are elegant, beautiful, and well-furnished, their soul is unseeded or uncultivated, holding no worth at all. As if their bodies are like those of highly ornamented tombs with nothing but bones inside. Their niceness is devoid of a soul that is spiritually refined. The well-furnished house and the uncultivated soul remind us of Matthew 23:27 from Bible.

Its outside also they must beautify,
When in it there’s scarce common honesty.

In these lines, the poet suggests that such people often find themselves to be forced to take great care of their outer beauty and look as if it is a must thing for them. This is so because, within their soul, they even lack the common honesty that must shine a soul.

Their bodies they must have tricked up and trim,
Their inside full of filth up to the brim.

While they realize their hidden filth within, such people are bound to keep a neat and clean physique to impress and fool others while their inner self is full of conceit and deceit.

Upon their clothes there must not be a spot,
But is their lives more than one common blot.

The poet further chastises such people who devout all their energies in decorating and glorifying their outer self. They remain neat and clean and always wear clean and shining clothes. Even a little dark spot on their clothes disturbs them and they keep a keen watch on the cleanliness of their attires. However, their whole life is sans any spiritual, moral, and humanly goodness and they appear a common blot on the society. The people wearing spotless attire lead a blemished life marred with imperfection.

How nice, how coy are some about their diet,
That can their crying souls with hogs’-meat quiet.

The poet further notices that while such people take great care of their health and always manage to take the best and healthy rich diet, they ignore the nourishment of their starving, crying souls. Such people try to quieten their hunger with corporal nourishment with no thought of the spiritual needs their souls need.

All drest must to a hair be, else ’tis naught,
While of the living bread they have no thought.

The poet says that while these people are so attentive and careful about their corporeal needs and desires, while they take care of every hair on their body and if even a slight imperfection on their outer being make them feel as if they have lost everything, they hardly think about the ‘living bread’, the spiritual need of their soul. Here, the poet indicates the Biblical bread mentioned in John 6:51, 6: 35, and 6: 32-35.

The poet suggests that just like bread is essential for life, Jesus, the ‘living bread’, the foundation of spiritual life.

Thus for their outside they are clean and nice,
While their poor inside stinks with sin and vice.

In this last couplet, the poet exhorts such people who are leading soulless life to ask for Godly help to revive their spiritual life. People seem to be complacent about their worldly life immersed in materialistic pleasures with a total disregard for spiritual rejuvenation. Their outside and inside are totally different. While their outside appears so nice and clean and calm, within their poor soul, they are full of sins and vice, and their soul realizes the troubles and disharmony that they are bound to suffer.

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!

Religio Medici by Thomas Browne

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Thomas Browne was an English polymath and author who was influenced by and followed the Baconian method of scientific inquiry and wrote several treaties in diverse fields including scientific development, medicine, religion, and mysticism. His writings were influenced by Baconian scientific inquiry methods along with Classical and Biblical references and he continued to suggest a balance between science and religion. He was a medicinal doctor and his writings are an amalgamation of science and spiritualism, development, and mysticism. Thomas Browne took birth on 19^th October 1605 and died on 19^th October 1682.

His first literary work was Religio Medici which was published in the year 1643. It proved to be his most talked-about work. It is a spiritual testament like those of medieval literature. It is a kind of psychological self-portrait structured upon Christian virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

Through Religio Medici, Thomas Browne tried to establish a balance between science (rationalism), and religion (mysticism). In this work, Browne expresses his beliefs in the doctrine of sola fide, the existence of hell, the Last Judgment, the resurrection, and other tenets of Christianity. The major theme of the work is the relationship of science and religion while Browne uses scientific imagery to support religious beliefs. Religio Medici is often considered as a medieval text even though it was not written during the Medival period because the writing style of Thomas Browne and the religious topics that he chose to write about resembles those of the Medieval literature which talks about the Last Judgement, resurrection, hell and other biblical concepts while amalgamating them with scientific concepts...

Religio Medici is a kind of psychological self-portrait or autobiography in which he discusses the episodes of his life when he was able to feel, find and look at the mysteries of nature, god, and man. He begins Religio Medici with a line that says this work is “a private exercise directed to myself.”So the quotation “a private exercise directed to myself” comes from Religio Medici by Thomas Browne as it is the beginning statement of this work. This work is considered important because while the major theme of Religio Medici is Church or Christianity, Thomas Browne being a physician tries to amalgamate religion with science and reason in a harmonious manner. It is a general opinion that science and faith cannot work together, if you have a scientific viewpoint or rational approach, then you cannot believe in God because the existence of God cannot be proved. On the other hand, if you rely upon faith, then you do not need any rational inquiry about the existence of God, nor any kind of scientific knowledge is necessary. For example, John Milton wrote Paradise Lost in which he suggests that there is a golden chain connecting Earth with Heaven. On the other hand, Religio Medici is different in the sense that although it is also based on Biblical religious concepts, Browne maintains a decorum of scientific inquiry and rational approach in his work. Thus, he establishes Christian beliefs as scientific truths in this work. The meaning of Religio Medici is The Religion of a Doctor and Thomas Browne maintains that for a Doctor, his religion is serving humanity sans any discrimination. Browne says that God has made us human beings and not beasts so we owe the debt of rational inquiry to God.”

After completing his medical studies, Bowne decided to have a set of values and belief systems while acting as a physician for which he wrote this comprehensive spiritual tract. One of the key themes of his philosophy concerns the importance of separating one's attitudes on science and religion. For a physician, one of the clearest implications of this belief is that a doctor must not only tolerate but also respect individual patients' religious or philosophical beliefs, even if they conflict with one's own. In seventeenth-century Europe, such religious tolerance was practically unheard of in the professional and peasant classes alike. A citizen was not only expected but also required by law to practice the religion of the state, be it Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox. In no state was Judaism the official religion, therefore, Jews were ostracized and frequently persecuted for their beliefs. Such beliefs, however, according to Browne, should not preclude the physician from treating patients. Browne shows his view of tolerance in Religio Medici while saying that individual churches and sects should not "usurp the gates of heaven, and turn the key against each other; and thus we go to heaven against each others' wills, conceits, and, with as much uncharity as arrogance, do err." For this reason, Browne strongly opposes the religious mandates put forth by most European states at this time, which led to bitter and bloody conflicts like the Thirty Years War, which raged during the period in which Browne wrote Religio Medici.

On one hand, Thomas Browne shows deep tolerance towards patients of other religions and faiths, he is adamant about his own religion and shows complete faith in Protestant values by the notion of sola fide or "faith alone." Sola Fide means deep and abiding faith in God, Jesus, and the resurrection is sufficient justification for a sinner to be pardoned and her soul saved. This differs from Catholicism, which tends to emphasize "works" or good deeds as part of the grace required to gain admission into heaven. In discussing his beliefs, Browne also attests to the existence of hell and the promise of the last judgment, the eschatological worldview that says the second coming of Jesus Christ will hearken God's final and eternal judgment of every human being on the planet.

Thomas Browne further asserts his belief that science can illuminate religious truths. He supports strict adherence to the scientific rigors of empiricism and observation pioneered by rationalists like Sir Francis Bacon and suggests all physicians should follow the ‘Baconian Method’ or "the scientific method." Doing so necessitates a clear separation between the spheres of religion and science, at least when conducting medical procedures or formulating diagnoses.

Thomas Browne suggests that the profession of medicine is different from other professions. To him, medicine is more than a trade or profession; it is a moral pursuit built on a foundation of service to others. This moral component also renders one's medical career into a journey of personal fulfillment. In Religio Medici, Brown says, "For by compassion, we make others' misery our own, and so, by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also." When a disease is beyond Browne's capacity to cure, he professes great shame and is reluctant to charge the patient a fee, calling this "scarce honest gain." This conceiving of the physician as a person of great moral character, for whom honesty and compassion are paramount, was unprecedented at the time.

The content of Religio Medici may make one feel as if Thomas Browne was a secular, however, he opposes any such accusation in the very first paragraph of Religio Medici and states that regarding his own religion some people might think he has no religion whatsoever. However, Browne then writes that he is of the honorable style of a Christian. Browne writes intending to prove to his readers that he is a Christian and also to stop people from labeling him as an atheist. He states, “Having in my riper years and confirmed judgment seen and examined all, I find myself obliged by the principles of grace and the law of mine own reason to embrace no other name but this [: Christian]” He was a firm believer in witchcraft, demonology and so many other magic and superstitions. In Religio Medici, he tries to scientifically justify all those superstitions.

Religio Medici is a story of conversion and provincial experiences which emphasizes Browne’s love for mystery and wonder. Browne’s writings are often described as melancholia, however, in Religio Medici, Browne clearly mentions that Death doesn’t hold any terror for him, he is not afraid of death. He believes that the world is not a place where we come to live, but it is a hospital where we come to get cured and ultimately die. While Religio Medici is a psychological self-portrait, it is not an autobiography as it doesn’t talk of life incidences of Thomas Browne, rather it shows his psychological and philosophical self.

Another important work by Thomas Browne was titled Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Vulgar Errors. The work includes evidence of Browne's adherence to the Baconian method of empirical observation of nature and was in the vanguard of work-in-progress scientific journalism during the 17th-century scientific revolution. Like in Religio Medici, he again talks about various superstitions and popular beliefs in Vulgar Error while scientifically examining them and offering corrections to those superstitions.

Another important work by Thomas Browne was Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, or, a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk in which he talks about the Anlo-Saxon pots that were found in Norfolk and then offers a survey of most of the burial and funerary customs, ancient and current, of which his era was aware.

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

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Old Man and the Sea was the last novel by Ernest Hemingway that was published in his lifetime. It is a short novel that he wrote in 1951 while he was living in Cayo Blanco, Cuba. 'The Old Man and the Sea' was published in 1952. Hemingway often used the real incidences and happenings in his life in his stories. While he dramatized his experiences of World War I and World War II in The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell To Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea is different because it is not a war novel. Yet, The Old Man and the Sea continues his autobiographical tradition as this story is figuratively based on his real-life experience. Hemingway was one of the most prolific and successful writers of the 1920s and 1930s, but in 1950, after nearly ten years without publishing a novel, Across the River and Into the Trees was published, and it was a disaster. For 10 years, Hemingway continued to face criticism of critics and was often considered as a fine writer of the past who has nothing new to say. Hemingway believed that Across The River and Into the Trees was also a nice novel, even better novel than his earlier novels that were highly popular. When he wrote The Old Man and the Sea, he was not confident that critics will like this novel too though he believed it was his best novel. The Old Man and The Sea attained huge success and re-established Hemingway as one of the finest authors of his time. In 1953, 'The Old Man and the Sea' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to their awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954.

The novella tells the story of a struggling old fisherman who used to be a fine and reputed catcher but has failed to catch any good fish for the last 84 days.

Characters

Santiago is an old dedicated fisherman who taught Manolin everything he knows about fishing, Santiago is now old and poor and has gone 84 days without a catch. Manolin is a young man from the fishing village who has fished with Santiago since the age of five and now cares for the old man. Manolin recently began fishing with another fisherman whom his parents consider luckier than Santiago. Martin is the owner of the Terrace where tourists stay. He appreciates Santiago and sends food and drink to Santiago through Manolin. Rogelio is another fisherman of the village who occasionally helps Santiago with the fishing net. Marlin is an eighteen-foot bluish billfish and a catch of legendary proportions that Santiago succeeds to catch on the 85th day. While Santiago successfully catches Marlin, he fails to save it from voracious Mako sharks and shovel-nosed sharks. Pedricko is another fisherman of the village who buys Marlin’s head to use in the fish trap. There are Tourists (a man and a woman) enjoying their holidays at the Terrace.

Summary

Santiago is a lonely old fisherman whose wife died years ago. He lives alone and while he is an experienced fisherman, he has caught nothing for 84 days. Other fishermen of the village now consider him ‘salao’ which means the worst type of unlucky. Manolin is a young fisherman who has been with Santiago as his trainee since he was five years old. Since Santiago is failing to catch anything for long, Manolin’s parents force him to leave Santiago’s boat and join the boat of some other luckier fisherman. Manolin is sad about it and though he joins another boat, he remains dedicated to Santiago, visiting his shack each night, hauling his fishing gear, preparing food, and talking about American baseball and Santiago's favorite player, Joe DiMaggio.

Santiago too mises Manolin and though he has not made any significant catch for a long, he is confident of his skills and believes that his streak of bad luck is going to end soon. He decides to go far out into the Gulf Stream, north of Cuba in the Straits of Florida to fish.

It was his 85th unlucky day when in the morning he takes his skiff (a small fishing boat) into the sea. He fails to get any catch for long and as a result, he continues to row his skiff far away. In search of an epic catch, he eventually does snag a marlin of epic proportions. He hooked a big fish, but he is unable to haul it in. He is unwilling to tie the line to the boat for fear that a sudden jerk from the fish would break the line. With his back, shoulders, and hands, he holds the line for two days and nights. He gives slack as needed while the marlin pulls him far from land. He is hungry with no food, trapped in the middle of the sea, struggling against a mighty marlin, determined to control it. He misses Manolin and feels it could have been easy if the young man had been with him and continues to say “I wish I had the boy.” He uses his other spare hooks to catch a small fish and a dolphin fish to eat and satiate his hunger. Despite all these troubles, he expresses compassion and appreciation for the marlin, often referring to him as a brother. The line has cut his hands and he is tired so he sleeps.

On the other hand, the fatigued Marlin starts circling the skiff. Santiago feels the movement and starts drawing the line inwards towards the skiff. As the Marlin reaches near the boat, he pulls the marlin to one side and kills it with his harpoon. He then tries to pull the fish into the skiff but realizes that the Marlin is too large to fit in his boat. He decides to lash the Marlin on one side of his boat and sets off to the shore. He is happy for his catch thinking of the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed.

However, the wound of Marlin caused by the harpoon leaves a trail of blood from the dead marlin and it attracts sharks. Santiago berates himself for having gone out too far. He kills a great mako shark with his harpoon but loses the weapon. He makes a spear by strapping his knife to the end of an oar. He kills three more sharks before the blade of the knife snaps, and he clubs two more sharks into submission. But each shark has bitten the great marlin, increasing the flow of blood. That night, an entire school of sharks arrives. Santiago attempts to beat them back. When the oar breaks, Santiago rips out the skiff's tiller and continues fighting. Upon seeing a shark attempt to eat the marlin's head, Santiago realizes the fish has been completely devoured. He tells the sharks they have killed his dreams.

Santiago reaches shore before dawn the next day. He struggles to his shack, leaving the fish head and skeleton with his skiff. Once home, he falls into a deep sleep. In the morning, Manolin finds Santiago. As he leaves to get coffee for Santiago, he cries. A group of fishermen has gathered around the remains of the marlin. One of the fishermen measures it at 18 feet from nose to tail. The fishermen tell Manolin to tell Santiago how sorry they are. A pair of tourists at a nearby café see the marlin's skeleton waiting to go out with the tide and ask a waiter what it is. Trying to explain what happened to the marlin, the waiter replies, "Eshark," explaining that sharks have eaten the marlin. But the tourists misunderstand and assume that's what the skeleton is. The woman tourist exclaims that she didn’t know sharks have developed such a beautiful long tail.

When Santiago wakes, he donates the head of the fish to Pedrico. He and Manolin promise to fish together once again. Santiago returns to sleep, and he dreams of his youth and of lions on an African beach.

Analysis

Hemingway was famously fascinated with ideas of men proving their worth by facing and overcoming the challenges of nature. When the old man hooks a marlin longer than his boat, he is tested to the limits as he works the line with bleeding hands to bring it close enough to harpoon. Through his struggle, Santiago demonstrates the ability of the human spirit to endure hardship and suffering to win. At the same time, he also expresses his own struggles after the failure of Across The River and Into the Trees as a writer. He depicts the unfriendly literary critics who rejected his previous novel as sharks while this novel is the Marlin that Santiago caught. After the reviews that he got for Across The River and Into the Trees, he believed that critics will do the same for The Old Man and The Sea as what the sharks did to the Marlin. However, this short novel proved to be the best and most successful work of Hemingway. Somehow, Hemingway expressed his dislike for women too as he described the Marlin as a male. Santiago believes that males have an abundance of self-control. He knows that the marlin he has hooked now is a male before he sees it. He says, "He took the bait like a male, and he pulls like a male, and his fight has no panic in it" Furthermore, the female tourist, which the only female character in the whole novel makes the silliest comment about the dead Marlin, mistaking it to be a shark.

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.

The Aanatomy of Meloncholy by Robert Burton | Summary

 The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Robert Burton was an English writer, fellow, clergyman, and cleric of Oxford University who took birth on 8^th February 1577 and died on 25^th January 1640. As a fellow of Oxford University, he became the Librarian of Christ Church Library in 1624 and remained a librarian there till his death. He was a poet, a dramatist, and a prose writer however, most of his works have been lost. One of the works that he wrote under a pseudonym as Democritus Junior became extremely successful at that time and is considered a pathbreaking work even now. It was titled The Anatomy of Melancholy that he wrote as medical work. However, he was not a physician nor a doctor. Yet, he devoted extensive time and efforts to proper research and studies before writing this work and took the help of quotations and references from various previous writers, thinkers, and physicians to assert his views regarding melancholy.

The Anatomy of Melancholy

The full title of this work that Burton wrote under the pseudonym of Democritus Junior was The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections. Philosophically, Medicinally, Historically, Opened and Cut Up.

It is a huge and encyclopedic book containing more than 900 pages that explores a dizzying assortment of mental afflictions, including what might now be called depression. Burton considers melancholy to be an ‘inbred malady’ in all of us and admits that he is ‘not a little offended by it himself. The main subject of the book is Melancholia which includes but is not limited to clinical depression. Burton produced this book as a medical text however, it is considered a unique text of literature because it contains a lot of scientific and philosophical content. Furthermore, to assert evidence in his support, Burton mentions a huge number of case studies of melancholia in this book which included some important historical figures, and some fictional case studies including protagonists of Shakespearean plays and other famous stories.

Burton printed the Anatomy under the pseudonym of "Democritus Junior", alluding to the Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, Democritus, sometimes known as the Laughing Philosopher. To address the issue of Melancholy in his book,

Burton drew from nearly every science of his day, including psychology and physiology, but also astronomy, meteorology, theology, and even astrology and demonology. He took inspirations from the Hippocratic and Galenic corpus, and the writings of the late first-century physician Rufus of Ephesus, Arabic philosophers, and many more. The Anatomy contains a summary of the medical doctrines about melancholy as they had accumulated from the time of the Hippocratic corpus through to the early seventeenth century—though of course for the most part it is not presented as a historical survey of knowledge, but rather a theoretical treatise with immediate practical application.

The book was published in five revised and extended editions during burton’s lifetime and it continued to be reprinted. The anatomy of Melancholy is divided into three parts with various sub-parts. The first considers the nature, symptoms, and diverse causes of melancholy. These causes range from God to witches and devils, poverty and imprisonment, parents and ‘overmuch study’, ‘desire of revenge’, or ‘overmuch use of hot wines’. The second section discusses cures such as exercise and diet, purging, blood-letting, and potions. The third section focuses on two particular types – love melancholy and religious melancholy.

Melancholy

While discussing the plays of Ben Jonson, we explained the four types  of humors that were considered important in human life during that time. One of them is black bile which causes Melancholy. In the book, Burton mentioned that he himself was struggling against Melancholy as he says, "I writ of melancholy, by being busy to avoid melancholy. There is no greater cause of melancholy than idleness, no better cure than business.” Those were hard times of political upheaval across Europe. England was suffering plague and the tensions between Protestants and Catholics were at their peak. Puritans and Anglicans were also drawing swords against each other. In such a scenario, depression was a common problem that often people faced.

Burton classified melancholy into various kinds and one of them is Male and Female Melancholy. In this section, Burton examines the melancholy that drove Shakespeare’s Hamlet and also discusses the madness of Ophelia.

In the sub-section Maides, Nunnes, and Widows, Burton suggests that forced sexual abstinence can lead to melancholy. Burton mentions, “stale maids, nuns and widows, they are melancholy in the highest degree, and all for want of husbands.” He says that ‘noble virgins’ are particularly affected by “vitious vapours which come from menstruous blood”. He reports shocking tales of nuns who rebel against their “enforced temperance” and express their sexuality, leading to “frequent” abortions and “murdering infants in their Nunneries.” As a cure, Burton suggests that the “surest remedy” is to see them “married to good husbands” where they can fulfill their “desires”, and put out the “fire of lust.” At some point in the book, Burton mentions 'What have I to do with nuns, maids, virgins, widows? I am a bachelor myself, and lead a monastic life in a college.' But then he defends himself and suggests that a grown-up man like him with experience can offer the correct advice. Also, it indicates that his own ascetic life forced him to suffer melancholy that he to avoid by remaining busy in writing this huge work.

Burton devoted a major part of the third section to Love melancholy. Burton uses Shakespeare’s characters, as Sigmund Freud would do centuries later, as definitive examples of particular psychological types. For Burton, lovers who at first “cannot fancie or affect each other, but are harsh and ready to disagree” are ‘like Benedict and Betteris in the comedy’, Much Ado About Nothing. He claims that the best solution is to push the couple into marriage, so that love will grow out of closeness: “by this living together in a house, conference, kissing, colling [or embracing], and such like allurements, [they will] begin at last to dote insensibly one upon another”. Burton seems to sidestep the idea that, in Shakespeare’s play, the couple might love each other even before their friends intervene; we might see their witty disagreements as a subtle sign that they already 'fancie' each other.

Burton illustrates The tyranny of love over men in the following passage: "For an old fool to dote, to see an old lecher, what more odious, what can be more absurd ? ... How many decrepit, hoary, harsh, writhen, bursten bellied, crooked, toothless, bald, blear-eyed, impotent, rotten old men shall you see flickering still in every place? One gets him a young wife, another a courtesan, and when he can scarce lift his leg over a sill, and hath one foot already in Charon's boat when he hath the trembling in his joints, the gout in his feet, a perpetual rheum in his head, " a continuate cough," his sight fails him, thick of hearing, his breath stinks, all his moisture is dried up and gone . .. and very child again, that cannot dress himself, or cut his own meat, yet he will be dreaming of, and honing after wenches, what can be more unseemly ?" Similar invectives are' leveled against old women, who are just as bad.

Burton believes that Love is blind and irrational and says, "Though she be very deformed of herself, ill-favored, wrinkled, pimpled, pale, red, yellow, tanned, tallow-faced, have a swollen juggler's platter face or a thin, lean, chitty face . . . goggle-eyed, blear-eyed, or with staring eyes . .. have a sharp fox nose, a red nose, China flat . .. rotten teeth, black, uneven, brown teeth, beetle-browed, a witch's beard, her breath stink all over her room, her nose drips winter and summer, filthy long unpared nails ... gouty legs, her ankles hang over her shoes... If he love her once, he admires her for all this, he takes no notice of any such errors or imperfections of body and mind; he had rather have her than any womah in the world." Burton concludes, "there is no end of love's symptoms, 'tis a bottomless pit." Cure for love melancholy is first of all 'to be always occupied, seriously intent.' A lean diet is prescribed and young men should refrain from reading the Book of Genesis. All kinds of subterfuges are devised to put the unfortunate man off; think of what the fair maiden will be like when she grows old, ' one grows too fat, another too lean.'

The other subject of the third section is Religious Meloncholy, which is regarded as a branch of love melancholy, largely due to the concept held in Burton's age that the deprivation of love - God's love -was a cause of melancholy. He discusses Demonology in this section and offers a great many historical examples. Burton not only incorporated the spiritual concept of acedia and presented melancholy as a consequence of the Fall, but dissolved the boundary between medicine and theology—or more specifically, practical divinity—that his contemporaries had explicitly been observing. In one sense, this was uncontroversial. His remedies for the ‘Cure of Despair’ in the final Subsection contributed to the Christian ‘cure of souls’ tradition, and in many ways were typical of the Jacobean literature of spiritual comfort.

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.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. For Whom the Bell Tolls was another war novel by Ernest Hemingway that was published in the year 1940. Unlike his other two war novels that were based on World War I, this story revolved around the Spanish Civil War. During the Spanish Civil War that was fought from 1936 to 1939, many foreigners visited Spain to either help the government of the Second Spanish Republic supported by the Communist Soviet Union or the Nationalist faction which was supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

The Second World War began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. America hadn’t entered the battlegrounds of World War II yet when this novel was published in 1940. The novel is divided into 43 chapters while it tells a story that happens for four days and three nights. The theme of this novel is again Love and War and the futility of war. The involvement of Americans and other foreigners in the Spanish Civil War was obvious as the Civil War was fought between two factions supported by different foreign powers. While the Republicans supported democracy and sided with the USSR, France, and Britain, the Nationalists sided with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

The title of the novel was inspired by Metaphysical poet John Donne’s Meditation XVII (No Man is an Island) from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.

Hemingway used a part of Meditation 17 as an epigraph for his novel which says

“No man is an Island, entire of it selfe; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”

In these lines, Donne referred to the funeral bells. He was seriously ill during the time he wrote Devotions upon Emergent Occasion.

Characters:

Robert Jordon is the protagonist. He is a young American-Spanish professor who volunteers to help the Republicans in the Civil War. He is a detonator expert. Anselmo is a Loyalist Spanish Republican fighter who acts as a guide to Jordon for the completion of his mission. Anselmo is a brave, loyal, and true humanitarian who doesn’t regard supporters of the Nationalists as enemies but considers them poor citizens just like him, caught in a futile war. General Golz is the Russian general, practicing his war tactics as a Loyalist volunteer, who orders Jordan to blow the bridge. Pablo is the leader of the guerillas who help Jordan blow the bridge. Once a ruthless leader, Pablo is now afflicted by cowardice and cynicism. As he no longer wants to fight for the Cause, he makes difficulties for Jordan and threatens the completion of his mission. Pilar is Pablo's wife who is as bold as she is broad, and she keeps the band united through her personal example of patriotism. She is a palmist, and early in the novel foresees Jordan's death in his palm reading. Maria is the young girl the guerillas rescued from a prison train. Her father was a loyalist mayor, and the raped and battered Maria has been left an orphan. Maria and Jordan fall immediately in love. El Sordo is the deaf guerilla leader who Jordan and Pilar enlist in helping with the bridge mission. Rafael is a member of Pablo's band. He is referred to frequently as "the gypsy" and characterized as lazy but well-intentioned. Agustin is another member of the band; he is a devoted soldier. Fernando is another guerilla, and Jordan trusts him the most next to Anselmo. Andres is the guerilla Jordan sends to Golz with a message to cancel the attack. Kashkin was Jordan's friend and a famous Russian journalist. He was the previous detonator expert for General Golz who died in the war.

Summary

Robert Jordon is an American Spanish professor who decides to join the cause of the Loyalists against the Nationalists supported by Germany and Italy. He is appointed as a dynamite expert in the band of General Golz. General Golz is a cynical Russian soldier representing the International Brigade in Spain against the Fascists. His only intention is to experiment with his war tactics. He orders Robert to detonate a bridge within three days to weaken the enemies. Robert Jordon goes to survey the mountain terrain to observe the bridge that he is ordered to blast away. His mission is to destroy the bridge so that the fascists may not get any reinforcement over the bridge. Robert gets two bags full of dynamite to complete the mission while Anselmo accompanies him as a guide in the mountain region. Anselmo takes him to meet Pablo, a guerilla leader, and his men who were living in a hideout, an abandoned cave near the bridge. On the way, they meet Agustin, a guerilla of Pablo’s band. Through Agustin, Jordon learns that Pablo used to be a brave, loyal, and enthusiastic guerilla fighter but gradually he lost interest in the war and doesn’t want to get involved in the war anymore. The guard of the hideout and bridge is Rafael, a gypsy who is only interested in cracking jokes. Rafael tells Jordon about the previous detonator expert who committed suicide after being wounded during their last mission which was to explode a train. His name was Kashkin, a famous Russian journalist who was a close friend of Jordon. Rafael takes him to meet Pablo and Jordon realizes that Pablo is the most cynical of them. Pablo resents that a foreigner is interfering in the matters of his country and is leading them on a dangerous mission that may endanger his life and the life of his band members. He directly confronts Jordon and suggests that trying to detonate the bridge is foolhardy and they should not do that. However, his wife Pilar is a brave woman and a strong, able soldier. Despite Pablo showing cowardice and reluctance to fight anymore, Pilar is committed to serving her country and leads other guerillas to help Jordon in accomplishing the mission. Apart from Pilar, there is another woman with the group. She is a nineteen-year-old girl named Maria whose father was a brave loyalist mayor who was killed by the Fascist group. After the murder of her father, she was raped and brutalized and she still suffers the consequences of that brutality. Maria was shaved clean head by the fascists but despite her hair loss, she looks stunningly beautiful. When Jordon and Maria see each other, Jordon immediately falls in love with her. Maria also feels that Jordon’s love can help her in overcoming the brutal memories of her past.

At night, Pablo openly says that he is against blowing up the bridge, Pilar stands up and supports the mission. As a result, Pablo losses the position of the leader of the group of guerillas as all other guerillas including Raphael and Agustin vow to follow Pilar and support Jordon. Raphael suggests that Jordon should kill Pablo and become the leader of their band. However, Jordon says that unless there are no strong reasons, killing Pablo will mean the murder of an innocent man.

That night, Maria comes to the makeshift bed of Jordon outside the cave and they eagerly make love. Maria strongly believes that Jordon will rescue her from the memories of past atrocities committed to her. Jordon on the other hand realizes that he never felt such a strong feeling of love for any other woman and celebrates happiness in unity with another individual.

On the second day, Pablo continues to insult and cause trouble to Jordon as he tries to anyhow sabotage his mission. Jordon wonders if he did right by deciding not to kill him. The very next day, Jordon observes some airplanes of nationalists near the bridge. He wonders if the enemy has decided to opt for an offensive strategy or had they got some prior information about his ongoing mission to destroy the bridge. Pilar talks to Jordon and takes him and Maria to another guerilla camp whose leader is El Sordo. El Sordo is a brave guerilla but he is deaf. As Pilar explains about Jordon’s mission to El Sordo through signs, he reminds them that it is a highly dangerous mission. Nonetheless, he promises to help them. However, as soon as they leave El Sordo’s camp it begins to snow, and this further increases Jordon’s troubles. Now, if El Sordo tries to help Jordon by going to the bridge and fixing the dynamite to it, the footsteps of El Sordo will be easily traceable.

Jordon realizes that he doesn’t have much time nor does he have enough manpower and horses to accomplish the mission, yet, he is committed to his mission. His pensiveness and urgency are expressed through his urgent need to make love to Maria. As they make violent love, he feels "the earth move out and away from under them." Then afterward he asks María, "Did thee feel the earth move?", to which she responds affirmatively.

While Jordon grows highly pensive about his mission, Anselmo continues to encourage him. When Jordon goes to check Anselmo at his assigned post, he finds him loyally paying his duty despite the heavy snowstorm. Anselmo fills him with the hope of accomplishing his mission. Yet, Anselmo is sad and says that he won’t mind if he gets killed while executing the mission but he wants to avoid killing any other Spanish person and fears that he may be ordered to kill his own brethren on the enemy’s side. While others consider the enemy as evil fascists, Anselmo thinks of them as poor countrymen like themselves. He wonders if there is any good in the ongoing war and finds nothing good in it.

As Jordon returns to the cave, Pablo confronts him and tries to instigate him about his relationship with Maria. Jordan tries to goad him into fighting, as this would be an appropriate time to kill him for the sake of the mission. Pablo refuses to be baited, however, and later resumes a cooperative mood. Jordan trusts him less than ever and grows increasingly worrisome about the success of the mission.

The next morning, Jordon wakes up abruptly as he hears the sound of an approaching enemy horseman. Jordon timely gets attentive and shoots the soldier. The other group members frantically get up and gather their arms to face the situation. They hide as the other soldiers pass by their hideout. Jordon successfully manages to control them and keep them calm as Agustine wanted to shoot at the passing soldiers. Jordon carefully observes that the enemy are greater in number and they cannot outpower them. As the soldiers go away from their cave, they hear sounds of bombs coming from the side of El Sordo’s camp. The enemy soldiers had raided and bombed El Sordo’s camp. Primitivo, one of the guerillas urges Jordon to help El Sordo but Jordon declines and says that their primary goal is to destroy the bridge. The group of Fascist soldiers that attacked El Sordo’s camp was led by Lieutenant Berrendo. Before bombing El Sordo’s camp, he had a talk with his men that suggests neither of the sides actually wanted to fight and die, or kill others.

As the Fascist soldiers retreat, Jordon sends a guerilla to General Golz to inform him about the defeat of El Sordo and to request him to cancel the offensive mission of destroying the bridge.

Somehow, Jordon falls asleep after the turmoils of this disturbing day but he is awakened by Pilar at 2 O'Clock in the morning. Pilar informs him that Pablo has deserted the camp and he stole away one of the bags of dynamite that Jordon had, along with the set of detonators.

Jordon doesn’t have too much dynamite, nor does he has enough manpower, even El Sordo is no more to help him, and he has just lost the detonators. He sends another message to General Golz informing him about the loss of detonators and requests him to cancel the mission, however, he is not sure if his message will reach General Golz in time. It appears as if his mission is completely doomed, yet he manages to make love to Maria again before the sunrise and as the sun rises, he decides to execute his mission.

It appears necessary as Jordon realizes that the Fascists will soon use the bridge to take offensive actions. He takes Anselmo, Pilar, Agustin, Raphael, Primitivo, and Maria along with him and they leave their horses before reaching the bridge.

Meanwhile, Pablo returns to the cave to prove that he is not a coward after all. But he had already thrown the detonators in a river. Yet he takes the bag of dynamite back to the campsite. He also takes five new men to help his band in detonating the bridge. As he reaches the cave, he realizes that Jordon has gone to the bridge to perform the mission. He feels that his men will need horses to run away at the time of urgency. Thus, he decides to kill the five men he brought and takes their horses to help his men.

At the bridge, Pablo returns the second bag of dynamite to Jordon. Jordon orders Anselmo to kill the sentry guarding the bridge so that he may fix the dynamite to its pillars. Anselmo didn’t want to kill another countryman yet he finishes his task with teary eyes. Though Jordon doesn’t have detonators, the dynamite still can be blasted away with the help of bombs. As they dynamite the bridge, one of the falling rocks kills Anselmo. The Fascist soldiers notice them and attack them. In the ensuing fight, only Pablo, Pilar, Maria, Agustine, and Primitivo survive as Jordon gets hit by a shell when they try to run away on the horses brought by Pablo. Jordon refuses to be shot out of mercy and orders the other guerillas to run away as he will try to stop the fascist soldiers coming behind them and will buy more time for their safety. Maria cries and shouts and refuses to go away. Jordon assures her that they are now one, and she will find him wherever she goes, and thus explains the theme of the title taken from John Donne’s poem, indicating the connectedness, oneness of humans. Jordan fights pain and suicidal thoughts with the hope that he can buy time for the fleeing guerillas. The novel closes here, as Jordan awaits his certain death on the mountain terrain where he appeared on the first scene at the beginning of the novel.

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.

Of Youth and Age by Francis Bacon | Summary, Analysis, and Important Quotations

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Of Youth and Age is an interesting essay by Francis Bacon which was published in the second edition of his book Essays in 1612. The first edition of "Essayes: Religious Meditations. Places of Perswasion and Disswasion. Seene and Allowed" was published in 1597 and it had 10 essays. The second edition contained 38 essays and the third edition was published in 1625 with the title “Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall” which contained 58 essays in total.

In this essay, Bacon offers a comparative study of the nature of youth and old age and how to apply them for the greater benefits of the business. He begins with exploring the demerits of youth and then explains the strong points and advantages of youth over old age. Again, he explains the drawbacks of old age and offers the merits of old age. After this extensive comparison, Bacon proposes a wise course of golden mean and suggests that the merits of both youth and old age should be employed in the business. In the end, he mentions some historical figures to assert his explanations.
Summary:

Bacon begins with the description of the drawbacks or flaws of youth. He says that while a young man may attain more experience than many old men, it is rare. He then mentions some important shortcomings of youth. He says that youth is liable to foolish thoughts. The errors of youth often prove fatal. It is because of certain characteristic weaknesses of youth such as attempting too much thinking only about the end, ignoring the means, holding on to imperfect principles, reckless innovations, extreme remedies, and reluctance to acknowledge errors.

Then Bacon describes the merits of youth. He says that youth has lively invention and imagination. Though youth is not so well fitted to judge or deliberate, it is fitter to invent and execute.

A man that is young in years may be old in hours if he has lost no time. Young men have a moral freshness, which the old lack. They are full of adventures and would not tolerate partial success. They are better capable of taking immediate decisions. Thus young people have many advantages over old people.

Bacon then begins discussing the shortcomings of old age. He says that “Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success.” While describing the merits of old age he says that old men are more experienced than young men and they are guided in their actions by their experience. But they are less imaginative, they argue too much, consult too long, are less adventurous, repent too soon and seldom push an affair right through the end. Even a little success satisfies them.

Bacon then offers his view over how to employ a combination of youth and old age for the betterment of the business. He advises that the merits of both young and old men should be employed in business which requires immediate efficiency, efficiency in the future, external success. This requires a combination of the moral freshness of youth and the political sagacity of old age. When both old men and young men are employed, young men will learn from their elders and will themselves grow older and thus have the advantages of old age also.

Then Bacon goes back to his initial point, that there can be some young men with more experience than many old men. He says that while some persons gain maturity before reaching their mature age, they soon decline to be dull-headed, just like the metal of good edge that becomes soon blunt.

To strengthen his views, Bacon offers examples from history to bring to light brings to light an important fact about young people. He points out that youth sometimes fails to fulfill its early promise. There are some, who have an early maturity, but their powers also fail early, and then they do not justify their promise. This happened with Hermogenes, the rhetorician, who lost all his mental powers by the time he was twenty-five years old. Secondly, some persons have some natural qualities, which are more becoming in youth than in age like Hortensius. He had a florid, passionate style. In oratory, this style suited him better as a young man than when he was old. He remained the same even in his old age. Then some begin with very high standards but are unable through a long period of years to maintain themselves at the height of greatness, which they have reached. This was the case with Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hanibal at Zama in 201 B.C. Scipio’s early career in Spain and Africa was very brilliant. At the time of his great victory in Zama, he was only thirty-five years of age. His later career in Asia Minor was not so brilliant.

Important Quotations

1) A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he has lost no time. But that happenth rarely.

In these lines, Bacon says that a man who does not waste time may gain a lot of experience even at a young age. A man who utilizes all his time becomes more experienced than his age. But such men are found rarely.

2) Generally youth is like the first cogitations, not so wise as the second. For there is a youth in thoughts as well as in ages. And yet the invention of young man is more lively than that of the old, and imaginations stream into their minds better, and as it were more divinely.

Bacon compares age with thoughts and finds that young age is like the first preliminary thoughts which cannot be so wise as the second thoughts i.e. the matured thoughts which we find in old age. Meditation improves our ideas. The reason behind it is that young age is as much mental as physical. Young men are not able to think wisely. And yet, the new thoughts and views of young men are more lifelike than those of old people. The imaginative ideas flow in the minds of the young men and they are driven by divine inspiration. They flow fast and young people act fast.

3) Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel and fitter for new projects than for settled business. For the experience of age, in things that fall within the compass of it directeth them; but in new things, abuseth them.

In these lines, Bacon says that certain things are not within the range of young men. They are only apt to invent because they are less experienced. They are capable of executing a thing because they have more vigor and vitality. But they are unable to give advice because their thoughts are not always so mature. They are fit for new projects because they have the enthusiasm and a craze for new things. But they are not meant for settled business because there is no use of their imaginative power and craze for action. The experience of age guides young people properly. Young men are more imaginative and active but they lack ripeness. They may commit blunders in executing a work, which may ruin the whole thing.

3) A certain Rabin, upon the text, your men shall see visions, and your old men shall see dreams inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to God than old because vision is a clearer revelation than a dream. And certainly, the more a man drinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth; and age both profit rather in the powers of understanding, than in the virtues of the will and affections.

Bacon says that a certain Rabin (an expert on Jewish Laws) said that young men see visions while old men only dream. That is to say that young men are nearer to God than the old. A vision is a clearer expression than a dream. A dream is a sleeping imagination while a vision is an awaking description. A man who lives more in the world knows more secrets of the world. Old age profits a man in the power of understanding. An old man is experienced rather than passionate. Bacon says that the effect of age and experience on a man is that it increases his power of understanding. A young man has greater power of will, which enables him to execute a job better. Their thoughts and feelings are purer. They have a moral freshness, which the older people lack in. This is youth’s advantage over age which benefits their ability to act.
4) Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold; stir more than they can quiet; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some few principles which they have chanced upon absurdly; care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences; use extreme remedies at first; and that, which doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or retract them, like an unruly horse, that will neither stop nor turn.

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 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Farewell to Arms was a lyrical poem by George Peel that he wrote for the occasion of the retirement ceremony of Queen Elizabeth I in 1590 in which he pledged his undying loyalty to the queen and addressed her as Goddess. Ernest Hemingway took this title for his war novel that was published in 1929. It is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army during World War I. While the novel is set against the backdrop of World War I, it tells the love story of Frederick Henry and an English nurse Catherine Barkley. It proved to be one of the most successful novels of Ernest Hemingway and is considered "the premier American war novel from that debacle World War I." The novel is not an autobiography but the novel was based on Hemingway's own experiences serving in the Italian campaigns during the First World War.

A real nurse named Agnes von Kurowsky cared for Hemingway in a hospital in Milan when he was injured. Hemingway had planned to marry her but they broke off when he returned to America.

Characters: Henry Frederick is an American who leaves America to take part in World War I (as America is yet not involved). He joins Italian forces as a Lieutenant. Miss Catherine Barkley is an English Nurse working in Italy. She lost her fiance in the war and gradually she falls in love with Henry. Surgeon Rinaldi is an Army surgeon who is friendly to Henry. The priest is an army chaplain who develops a friendship with Henry and often engages in discussions with Henry about war and God. Helen Ferguson is a nurse and friend of Catherine. Miss Van Campen is the head nurse of an American hospital in Milan. She has a disliking against Henry. Miss Gage is a friendly nurse who often works unconventionally. Major Valentini is an Italian army doctor who operates Henry’s knee when wounded. Ralph Simmons is an opera singer whom Henry meets in Milan.

Other minor characters include some Italian soldiers (Gino, Bonello, Piani, Passini) and a bartender Emilio. Count Greffi is an old nobleman of Switzerland.

Summary:

The novel is divided into five parts. Being a war fiction, the whole book is set in the historical background of World War 1. World War I or the Great War began in August 1914 with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand. The war pitted the Central Powers (Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) against the allied forces of Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy, who were joined in 1917 by the United States. The action of A Farewell to Arms takes place from 1916-18 in four locations, for the most part: 1) the Julian Alps, along what was then the border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire; 2) the city of Milan, which lies in the plains of northern Italy, far from the front; 3) the Italian resort town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore, which straddles the border between Italy and Switzerland; and 4) various towns and villages of the Swiss Alps.

In the beginning, the Italian forces are busy trying to stop Austro-Hungarian forces from assisting German forces on western and eastern forces. Russia withdrew from the war in 1917 due to Communist Revolution while the United States decided to take the side of Italy, France, and Britain in the same year. At the beginning of the novel, The novel's narrator, and the protagonist are eventually identified as Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American who has volunteered for the Italian army because the United States has not yet entered the war. Henry supervises a group of Italian ambulance drivers.

Book 1

As the winter begins, a deadly epidemic of cholera kills thousands of soldiers and as a medic, Frederick is sent to Gorizia for a brief period. In Gorizia, Henry learns the hierarchy of the army as there are two brothels, one set for officers, while the other is for lower-rank soldiers. Henry makes friends with a few army personnel and the priest of the army. Soon situations improve and he returns to his base where he shares his experience with one of his friends Surgeon Rinaldi. Rinaldi takes interest in beautiful women and later he fell in love with a beautiful nurse named Miss Catherine Barkley. Though Rinaldi is not very serious about Catherine, he admires her. One day, Rinaldi takes Henry to his hospital and introduces him to Catherine Barkley, a British nurse who recently lost her fiance in the war. Henry feels attracted to Catherine and they develop a rapport. Catherine shares her sadness about the demise of her fiance with Henry and tells him how she feels uncomfortable when it rains. As it starts raining, Henry tries to kiss her but Catherine slaps him but then she feels sorry about it. At last, Catherine starts feeling comfortable and Henry kisses her. Henry is then sent to the Italian front in the war. He takes an ambulance along with fellow drivers Passini, Manera, Gordini, and Gavuzzi. They face a mortar attack and Passini gets killed while Henry suffers a serious knee injury.

Book 2

Henry is admitted to the hospital where Rinaldi visits him. Rinaldi praises him for Henry’s bravery but Henry says that he did nothing brave. Rinaldi says that his injury is serious and hence, he will be sent to Milan in the American hospital. Henry requests him to send Catherine to Milan too. Rinaldi realizes that Henry and Catherine are developing a relationship and he feels happy about it. The Priest also pays a visit to see Henry and they discuss the war. Henry expresses his views against war. Meanwhile, America declares war against Germany while the Austrian army is also infiltrating Italian borders. Henry is sent to Milan where he is nursed by Miss Gage, Miss Walker, and head nurse Miss Van Campen. While Van Campen is a strict lady, Miss Gage is too friendly and she arranges wine for Henry in the hospital which is prohibited. Soon Catherine arrives in Milan too and Henry and she begin a steamy relationship as they make love in the hospital bed.

Doctor Valentini visits the hospital to check Henry. Soon his knee improves but Henry is forced to spend more time in the hospital as he is found to be suffering from jaundice. Miss Van Campen finds out the bottles of wine and realizes the reason for his jaundice. Van Campen also realizes that Henry is knowingly keeping himself ill so that he may avoid the war while he is having a good time with Catherine. She reports against him and suggests canceling his convalescent leave. Henry is ordered to go to the war front but before he could go, Catherine informs him that she is pregnant. Henry promises her that he will return soon to meet Little Catherine, his daughter, and goes to the war.

Book 3

Frederick returns to Gorizia to join the war. Lieutenant Rinaldi greets him and checks his knee. He asks if Frederick has married Catherine. The priest also meets Frederick and notices a certain change in his behavior. The priest suggests that the war may end soon. Frederick is then ordered to go to Bainsizza. At Bainsizza, Frederick comes to know about a new artillery battery of terrifying guns that Austrians have. He notices that the morale of Italian soldiers is at a remarkable low as if they have accepted defeat. Soon the Austrian forces infiltrate the Italian lines at the Battle of Caporetto. The Italian forces decide to retreat. Frederick goes to visit Rinaldi to go back with him but finds that Rinaldi has already left for the hospital. To avoid an aerial attack, Frederick and his men decide to go back through an alternative path while the main route is too busy because citizens were also being transported to safer places. However, their cars get stuck in the mud. Another car was driven by Bonello with whom two engineering sergeants were also traveling. Frederick calls them and asks for their help. Afraid of being overtaken by the enemies, the sergeants refuse to help Frederick and try to run away. Frederick shoots at them and kills one of the engineers while the other escapes. Meanwhile, one of the drivers of Bonello’s car also gets killed by enemy fire. Bonello gets too afraid and runs towards Austrian forces to surrender. Frederick decides to run away with Piani and reach the main retreat along the river Tagliamento. As they reach the bridge on the river, Frederick sees that the Italian forces are asking the retreating soldiers why they ran away from the battle lines and shooting them for their cowardice. Frederick thinks that he will also be shot dead and hence decided to jump in the river and escape. Then he gets out of the river and catches a train to Milan to seek Catherine.

Book 4

At Milan, Henry comes to know that Catherine and Helen Ferguson have left for Stresa. He seeks the help of Ralph Simmons, an Opera singer whom he met before. Ralph Simmons arranges some civilian clothes for Henry and tells him how to reach Switzerland. Anyhow, Henry reaches Stresa and stays at the hotel Isle Borromees. While he keeps searching for Catherine, a bartender named Emilio who works at Isles Borromees tells him that he knows two English nurses who are staying at a small hotel near the railway station. Frederick visits the hotel and meets Catherine and Helen Ferguson. At the same hotel, he meets Count Greffi a Swiss nobleman who is staying at that hotel with his niece. Catherine asks Henry about his war experience but Henry avoids her questions as he feels guilty as a war deserter. Emilio informs him that the Italian police are still searching for him. Catherine and Frederick plan to flee to Switzerland to avoid Frederick’s arrest. Emilio arranges for a boat and other necessities for Catherine and Frederick. However, the waters are rough because of a storm. Anyhow, Catherine and Frederick reach Switzerland and when Swiss guards check them, they show the papers they arranged with the help of Count Greffi. The guards provide them provisional visas.

Book 5

Catherine and Frederick start living in the Swiss mountains in a small cottage outside the village of Montreux. While Catherine is pregnant, she often gets worried about her baby yet to be born, especially about the baby's health. Finally, Frederick and Catherine decide to move to the town of Laussane and reside near a hospital. Soon, Catherine starts suffering labor pain and Frederick takes her to the hospital. After checking her, the doctor suggests that a cesarean operation would be best for Catherine. During the operation, Catherine suffers a lot of pain and finally delivers a still-born baby boy. While Federick is very sad about it, the nurse informs him that Catherine is hemorrhaging. Frederick gets worried and goes to see her. Catherine loses her life in Frederick’s arms. He leaves the hospital and as he walks back to the hotel, rain starts pouring into the streets. Frederick remembers how rain used to disturb Catherine.

So this is it about A Farewell to Arms. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.