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.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams | Characters, Summary, Analysis

 A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Streetcar Named Desire is the most successful and talked about playwright by Tennessee Williams that was first performed on 3rd December 1947. The play depicts the continual confrontations between Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. DuBois is a former Southern Belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in New Orleans where her sister lives with her husband Stanley Kowalski. Initially, the confrontation is not so severe, but it increases in severity until one of the two must be destroyed. This confrontation arises because of the completely different characters and thinking of DuBois and Kowalski. Blanche is an educated sophisticated girl who belonged to a rich heritage but has lost her prosperity. Kowalski, on the other hand, isn’t highly educated and belongs to the middle class. For Stanley money is the most important thing while DuBois doesn’t consider money that important. She searches for values, reflecting education in her manner of speaking. Her idea of entertainment is calm tea and cocktail parties while Stanley loves loud poker parties. He regards money as the key to happiness; money will buy anything. Money, for him, is a power that can buy some basic wants or pleasures of life. This gives him a type of animal superiority to the world of people (like the DuBois) who do not understand the value of money and then become destitute.

Characters:

Blanche DuBois is a former Southern Belle who belonged to a rich family. She was married to a man who turned out to be homosexual. She saw her prosperous family losing all the money. These bad experiences along with her husband’s suicide impact her emotions and her sense of reality. Desire and death became intricately linked in her life as she led a loose and increasingly careless life, and indeed, after losing her position as a schoolteacher she is forced to depend on the kindness of her one living relation, her sister Stella. She tries to relive her former Southern Belle life but she is no more a young girl nor she has money. Stella Kowalski is the younger sister of Blanche. She is married to Stanley Kowalski and she is pregnant with his child. Stella is madly in love with her husband Stanley who considers her as the means for his need for physical love. Stella is forthright and unapologetic about the nature of her relationship with her husband, and although she loves her sister, she is pragmatic and refuses to let anything come between her and Stanley. Stanley Kowalski is Stella’s husband. He belongs to a middle-class background and believes in the power of money. He is direct, passionate, and often violent. He has no patience for Blanche and the illusions she cherishes. Moreover, he is a controlling and domineering man, demanding subservience from his wife in the belief that his authority is threatened by Blanche's arrival. Harold Mitchell or “Mitch” is one of Stanley’s friends. He is as tough and raw as Stanley. He is a strongly built but deeply sensitive and compassionate man. He is attracted to Blanche from the start and wishes to marry her. However, when he is fed with rumors about Blanche’s past, he feels like being swindled by her and creates a distance.

Eunice Hubbell is the owner of the apartment where Stella and Stanley live. She is helpful and considerate of Stella and Blanche. She has a personal understanding of the Kowalskis' relationship because it mirrors her own. In the end, she advises Stella that despite Blanche's tragedy, life must go on. Steve Hubbell is the husband of Eunice, he is as cold and animalistic as Stanley is.

Summary:

The play is set in 1945, right after the end of World War II. The play begins at a rented apartment which is in a poor but charming neighborhood in the French Quarter. Stella, twenty-five years old and pregnant, lives with her blue-collar husband Stanley Kowalski. Blanche DuBois arrives to visit her sister and she is shocked by the disreputable looks of the place. While a neighbor goes to find Stella, Blanche looks around the apartment for a drink. When her sister comes, Blanche quite frankly criticizes the place. She explains that she has come for a visit because her nerves are shattered from teaching. Noticing that the apartment has only two rooms, she has qualms about staying but she tells Stella that she can't stand being alone. She informs Stella that their old ancestral home, Belle Reve, has been lost. Stanley arrives at the same time and Blanche meets Stella’s husband for the first time. He questions Blanche about her past, especially about her earlier marriage and she feels uncomfortable. We learn that Blanche was once married when she was very young, but her husband died, leaving her widowed and alone.

Stanley initially distrusts Blanche and believes that she has cheated Stella out of her share of Belle Reve. He enquires further and Blanche offers him all the legal papers and documents to put her case. Stanley soon realizes that Blanche is not the swindling type. But the animosity between the two continues. Blanche takes long baths, criticizes the squalor of the apartment, and irritates Stanley. Blanche too feels the same for Stanley. One day, Stanley arranges for a poker party at his apartment and during the party, he acts rude to Stella and beats her. Blanche takes her to their upstairs neighbors' apartment, but soon Stella returns to Stanley. Blanche is unable to understand Stella and Stanley's powerful and destructive physical relationship. That night, she also meets Mitch, prompting an immediate mutual attraction.

The next day, Blanche goes to Stella and tries to make her see that Stanley is an animal. She is shocked that Stella could have returned to him. But Stella assures her that Stanley was gentle when she returned and that she loves him. As Blanche begins describing Stanley, he comes in and overhears the conversation but doesn't say a thing. But from that time on, he devotes himself fully to her destruction. Blanche, herself, has a shady past that she keeps close to the vest. During the last days of Belle Reve, after the mansion was lost, she was exceptionally lonely and turned to strangers for comfort. Her numerous amorous encounters destroyed her reputation in Laurel, leading to the loss of her job as a high school English teacher and her near-expulsion from town.

Tensions continue to grow between Blanche and Stanley. Blanche starts drwoning herself in alcoholism. Meanwhile, Stanley enquires more about her past and comes to know about her sexual dalliances with strangers. He realizes that Blanche is trying to make a relationship with Mitch and he decides to ruin their relationship by telling Mitch about her past. While Blanche and Mitch had been on track to marry, after he learns the truth, he loses all interest in her. On Blanche's birthday, Mitch stands her up, abandoning her for good. Stanley, meanwhile, caustically presents Blanche with her birthday gift: bus tickets back to Laurel. Blanche is overcome by sickness; she cannot return to Laurel, and Stanley knows it. As Blanche is ill in the bathroom, Stella fights with Stanley over the cruelty of his act. Mid-fight, she tells him to take her to the hospital - the baby is coming.
That night, Blanche packs and drinks. Mitch arrives unexpectedly. He confronts her with the stories of her past, and she tells him, in lurid detail, the truth about her escapades in Laurel. He approaches her, making advances, wanting what she has denied him all summer. She asks him to marry her, and when he refuses, she kicks him out of the apartment.

Hours later, Stanley comes home to get some sleep while Stella's labor continues. Blanche further antagonizes Stanley, destroying his good humor, and he responds by mercilessly destroying Blanche's illusions, one by one, until finally, he rapes her.

Weeks later, another poker game is being held at the Kowalski apartment. Blanche has suffered a mental breakdown. She has told Stella about Stanley's assault, but Stella has convinced herself that it cannot be true. Stella calls for a doctor and an attendant to take Blanche to an institution. When the attendant arrives, she doesn't recognize him and tries to run away. Stanley and an assistant trap Blanche. The doctor approaches and Blanche is quite willing to go with him, as she says she has always depended on the kindness of strangers.

The other men continue their poker game as if nothing has happened.

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 Hind and The Panther: A Poem in Three Parts | John Dryden

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Hind and the Panther was the second religious poem that John Dryden wrote. It was published in 1687 three years after his first religious poem, titled Religio Laici. The poem contains some 2600 lines set in heroic couplets. The subtitle of the poem is ‘A Poem in Three Parts’ which suggests that the poem has been written in three parts. In Religio Laici, Dryden defended the Anglican Church and criticized the catholic ways. However, he changed and converted to Catholicism within three years and in this poem, he actually defends Catholicism and suggests why he decided to convert. Because of this, it is considered the most controversial poem of the Restoration Era. He converted to Catholicism just after the accession of the Roman Catholic King James II in 1685. While most of the Protestant writers and thinkers of that time believed that John Dryden converted to Catholicism because of its political gains, Dryden wrote this poem which provides certain evidence that suggests that Dryden’s conversion was genuine. In this poem, Dryden calls for the alignment of Anglicans and Catholics against Nonconformists. However, King James II directly appealed to the Nonconformists as allies against the Church of England. Furthermore, unlike Religio Laici, in which Dryden criticized Catholic ways, he doesn’t criticize the Church of England in The Hind and The Panther.

Summary:

As the poem's subtitle suggests, this poem is divided into three parts. Each part tells a distinct topic and point of view. It is an allegory. In the poem's first part, the poet discusses and describes the various religious denominations in England. In this part, he depicts Catholicism as a hind, or a female deer, representing purity, innocence, and piety. He further describes the Anglican Church of England as a strong panther. The poet also talks about other religious groups including Independents, Freethinkers, Presbyterians, Quackers, Socinians, and Anabaptists. According to the poet, the Independents are like a bear. He depicts Presbyterians as a wolf, Quackers as a hare, and Socinians as a Fox. The poet says that the Anabaptists are like boars while Freethinkers and atheists are like an ape.

After describing all these religious denominations, the poet touches on the main topic of the poem and suggests why he chose to convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, arguing that the hind is purer than the panther. The first part ends when the hind and the panther meet.

In the second part, the hind and panther take a stroll while discussing various topics that appear to be controversial. This dialogue between the Hind and the Panther as they stroll together deals with the controversial topics of church authority and transubstantiation.

In the third part, the poet offers his political viewpoint on what should be done for the benefit of England as a nation. According to the poet, the Crown and the Anglican and Catholic Churches should form a united front against the Nonconformists and the Whigs.

Critical Analysis:

While this is a religious poem, it offers a logical amalgamation of religion and politics. The poet cleverly offers his position and choices in a way to avoid unnecessary arguments between the Catholics and the Protestants. The poet is against the religious zealots of any core and calls for the reconciliation of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church and advocates the union of Anglicans, loyalists, and Catholics against the Nonconformists and the Whigs who, according to him are religious zealots and fanatics. This poem was an attempt at reconciliation and peace. Dryden describes distinct religious denominations as animals, suggesting that people form groups because of their animal instincts. They desire separation and distinction as a demonstration of superiority or even survival. He offers relationships and comparisons between these groups as predator and prey, social and solitary, intelligent and naive. In the end, the poet sheds light on the necessity of Unity of Catholic and Anglican churches against Nonconformists. He mentions the then trend of using political threats to convert people by describing the Anglican church as the fearsome panther.

He despises this practice and calls for more unity, with Jesus Christ as the ultimate authority over the Church, rather than a given human leader. Throughout the text, Dryden warns against the corruption of religion for political aims. He calls upon the various sects to unite to firmly oppose the radicalism of the Nonconformists.

Canadian feminist literary critic Margaret Doody appreciated this poem by Dryden and commented, "the great, the undeniable, sui generis poem of the Restoration era…It is its own kind of poem, it cannot be repeated (and no one has repeated it)." However, the poem continued to gain negative criticism right since its publication.
Mathew Prior and Charles Montagu wrote a hostile pamphlet parody of Dryden's The Hind and The Panther which was titled The Hind and the Panther Transvers'd to the Story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse. Dryden faced many such ridicules and satires for this poem and his conversion from Anglican Church to Catholicism. However, Catholic King James II’s reign wasn’t too long and his ill effects faded, this poem was observed positively in a new light. Alexander Pope and Samuel Jonson both appreciated Dryden’s The Hind and The Panther. William Hazlitt and Lord Macauley also praised this poem. Gorge Saintsbury also had a positive review of this poem who said that The Hind and the Panther is "the greatest poem ever written in the teeth of its subject".

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 Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Tennessee Williams was an American playwright and screenplay writer who also wrote short stories, poems, essays, and a volume of memoirs. He was a contemporary of Eugene O’Neil and Arthur Miller and gained fame as one of the three most important playwrights of 20th-century American Drama. Tennessee Williams was his pen name while his original name was Thomas Lannier Williams III. He was born on March 26, 1911, in Columbia, Mississippi and he died on February 25, 1983. He was deeply influenced by famous American poet Hart Crane as much as he mentioned in his will before his death that he wanted himself to be buried at sea nearby the area where Hart Crane committed suicide.

He was very close to his elder sister Rose Isabel Williams who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman. In 1943, she was hospitalized and remained in the hospital throughout her life. Tennesse was very close to her and continued to take good care of her health and medication till the end of his life.

The Glass Menagerie was one of the most successful plays by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944. It is a memory play in which the scenes are presented through the memory of one of the characters. It is a play in which Tennessee Williams expressed his own childhood difficulties that he faced because of his turbulent father and devoted mother.

Characters:

Amanda Wingfield is a troubled mother, abandoned by her husband. She is trying to raise her two kids with utmost devotion. However, she also yearns for the comforts of her youth. The contradiction between her desires and her devotion makes her feel that she almost hates her children. Tom Wingfield is her elder son who works at a shoe warehouse to support his family. However, he doesn’t like his job and yearns to study more and become a poet. through the memory of one of the characters. Like his mother, he is also very devoted to his family, however, he finds it burdensome. Laura Wingfield is his younger sister who suffered a childhood illness that left her with a limp. She is depressed with an inferiority complex that causes mental fragility to her. Jim O’Connor was a schoolmate of Tom and Laura during childhood. He was a brilliant student who excelled in athletics and acting. However, his familial situation forced him to suffer failure and now he works as a clerk in the same shoe warehouse where Tom works.

Summary:

Tom Wingfield is a major character and the narrator of the play and the scenes are presented as the memories of Tom during a crucial time in his life. The narrator tries to bring up some realities of his life in front of the readers through the development of scenes. Tom appears on the stage and as he remembers the older times, the play begins. The play is set in 1937. Amanda Wingfield who belonged to a genteel Southern family and who spent most of her childhood in abundance is suffering financial turmoil as her husband has left her while she has to take care of her two children. Laura is her daughter who is limp and she wears a brace on her left leg. Tom is Laura’s brother who works at a shoe warehouse to help his family. Their father left them years ago and except for one postcard, the family has never heard from him since then. Laura suffers from depression and an inferiority complex because of her physical condition. Tom cares for her sister and wants to help her. He aspired to be a poet and writer. However, the financial conditions of his family force him to devote all his time to the shoe warehouse. He often remains tired and irritated. Amanda is trying to get a suitable genteel caller for Laura who could marry her. However, Laura fails to attract any genteel caller (suitor) because of her physical condition and shyness. Amanda enrolls in a business college hoping that she will make her career and bring prosperity to the family. However, Amanda comes to know that her shyness and inferiority complex has failed her at college too as she drops out of the class and kills her time wandering around the city alone. Amanda then decides that Laura’s last hope is to get married. She starts working extra time and sells magazine subscriptions to gain more money that she believes will help Laura get a suitable groom. Tom on the other hand continues to struggle as he doesn’t like his job at the shoe warehouse. He desired to be a creative writer but finds himself trapped in the banality and boredom of everyday life. He gets some relief from alcohol, movies, and literature. He spends most of his night hours in movie theaters. Laura spends most of her time in polishing and arranging her collection of little glass animals. Amanda often tells Laura and Tom about her younger days and how once she got seventeen genteel callers for her during a single day. She pressurizes Tom to help her in getting a proper suitor for Laura to get her married. When Amanda confronts Tom about him wasting time and money on movies, they often get into arguments. During one such argument, Tom accidentally breaks several of the glass animal figurines that are Laura’s most prized possessions.

Amanda pressurizes Tom to keep an eye on a suitable genteel caller for Laura at the warehouse. Tom decides on a fellowman, Jim O’Connor, at dinner. Jim used to be a schoolmate of Tom and Laura. He used to be a good athlete and actor. However, his own family problems forced him to work as a clerk at the same shoe warehouse. Yet, he is confident enough to improve his career and prosper. When Amanda learns that he is a driven young man with his mind set on career advancement she gets very happy and spruces up the apartment. She prepares an elaborate dinner and insists that Laura wear a new dress. When Laura comes to know that Jim O’Connor is visiting her, she gets depressed as she knows him since the schooldays when she used to have a strong crush on Jim. She again suffers a spell of inferiority complex and finds herself ill. When Jim O’Connor arrives at their home for dinner, Laura answers the door, on Amanda’s orders, and then quickly disappears, leaving Tom and Jim alone. However, later, Laura joins the dinner and after dinner, Laura and Jim are left alone by candlelight in the living room as they wait for the electricity to be restored. Tom had revealed to Jim that he hadn’t paid the electricity bill as he is planning to leave the job and go away for some adventurous life and he will need money for that.

As Laura and Jim are left alone, they converse with each other and soon Jim realizes that Laura is suffering inferiority complex. He encourages her and tells her to think better of herself. They share a quiet dance during which, Jim accidentally disturbs Laura’s glass menagerie knocking a glass unicorn to the ground and breaking off his horn. Laura takes the accident nicely and Jim compliments Laura and kisses her. Then he tells her that he is already engaged and will soon get married. Laura then offers the broken horn as a gift to Jim and then he leaves. When Amanda comes to know that Jim is already engaged, she feels heartbroken and furiously chides Tom. Tom on the other hand is surprised as he didn’t know anything about Jim’s engagement. He realizes that maybe Jim made up this story of engagement as he felt that the family was trying to set him up with Laura, and he had no romantic interest in her. The play ends as Tom says that he left home soon afterward and never returned. He then bids farewell to his mother and sister and asks Laura to blow out the candles.

The characters and story of this play resemble Tennessee Williams’ own life. Williams clearly resembles Tom while Laura, whose nickname in the play is Blue Roses resembles Tennessee’s elder sister Rose while his mother inspires Amanda.

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

Religio Laici by John Dryden | Summary and Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Dryden was the first official poet laureate of England and he was a loyal Tory supporter of the crown. He was active at a time when England was facing religious and political turmoil. The power struggle between Catholics and Protestants was incessantly increasing. King Charles II wished his brother James, Duke of York to succeed him but the strong Protestant fraction was totally against it as James II was a Catholic. John Dryden was a Protestant but he was a supporter of King Charles II. During the same time, the Catholic faction of Britain was also gaining strength. In 1682, ‘Histoire critique due Vieux testament’ by French cleric Father Richard Simon was translated and published in English. This book was a detailed criticism of the textual history of the Bible and argued that, given the compromised nature of much of the Bible, Christians would do better to base their faith on the history and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. The book was meant to undermine the Protestant faction that considered the authority of the Bible over the traditions and rituals of the Catholic Church.

As a response, Dryden wrote Religio Laici; or, A Layman’s Faith which was essentially a literary defense of the Protestant Anglican Church against arguments made by Deists, Catholics, and Dissenting factions against the throne of England. While John Dryden offers strong support to the Anglican Church in Religio Laici, he converted to Catholicism three years after writing this poem. The poem contains 456 lines composed in 23 uneven stanzas. It is a narrative poem written in epic form.

Summary:

Dryden first offers a prose description (a Preamble) of why he is writing this poem. He says that his writing is supported by both officially sanctified concepts of the Church of England and has been approved by a knowledgeable scholar. However, he acknowledges that he has not followed all the notes offered by that scholar as that would have compromised his own personality.

He then discusses his ideas of faith. He discusses the history of Christianity which according to him reveals that the concept of the chosen people is used in so many contexts that it has become invalid as if in God's plan the devil always had a first choice with which he disagrees. Dryden suggests that the one true religion was given to Noah and that each subsection that came after slowly degraded the holy rite, and hence, could not be near the one true faith. He talks about science and the laws of nature and how they all fit into the scheme, even though certain religious and philosophical figures discourage them. He concludes this section by stating that the word of God, as found in the Holy Scripture is the only anchor a human needs.

Dryden then discusses the philosophy of Athanasius, a Bishop of ancient Constantinople famous for his pursuit against heretics within the old Catholic faith. He expresses his disagreement with Athanasius and says that the words of the apostles are the only source of wisdom as these are easy to understand. He concludes his analysis of History and suggests that it is better to have a worldview simply based on the Holy Scriptures and let the unknown be unknown. However, he says that this makes him an enemy of both the Papacy and the religious fanatics (Puritans). He further says that none of these groups troubles his mind because while the fanatics are entrenched in their own battles and the Catholics have no dominion over England, nor they can ever get.

He then shows some favors for the ‘Good Catholics,’ those who consider the English crown as their sovereign and are loyal to it. He asks them to culminate all their loyalties towards Rome. He then criticizes the religious fanatics of the Anglican church and their crimes against civility and humanity. At the end of this introduction to his poem, Dryden suggests that this poem should be taken as an instruction, he believes that a learned person can be led to the truth by means of reason.

The first stanza of the poem stresses the primacy of reason over a man’s life. Dryden says that reason has led men on the right path and has the opportunity to do this for others as well. In the second stanza, Dryden counters the viewpoint of deists who say that they are chosen with the truth and history and provenance suggests to humankind that only good deeds lead to salvation. In the third stanza, Dryden attacks those who try to explain the way of God. He says that the people who try to decipher the will of God are like those philosophers of ancient Greece who didn’t believe in God and tried to rationalize the concept of God. Dryden says that truth and reason are implanted into humankind by the true God and God encompasses all that is. In the fourth stanza, he questions the reader if he can breach this law and do whatever he wants? In the next stanza, Dryden mentions Christ who took birth to take humankind’s sin over him. He again attacks those who believe they know God’s will. The sixth stanza warns people to only listen to the scripture as truth can only be found in it, followed by a plea that rites, tradition, and philosophy do not contain the truth, but only the word of God can give us this.

In the tenth stanza, Dryden counters those who argue that the truth can only be the truth if it is known by everyone. Since Bible remained unknown in the recently discovered Americas during that time, they say Bible cannot be true. Dryden asserts that Providence always finds a way, exemplified in the journey of the Gentiles, who were not forced by any given law. He also contests the notion that good people who did not know the true word would suffer in eternity, as this goes against the basics of the written word. In the thirteenth stanza, Dryden acknowledges the problem of mistranslation and misinterpretation of the holy words of the Bible. In the fourteenth stanza, Dryden mentions the issue of Apocrypha, those religious texts that were kept out of the Bible by Catholic concepts. Dryden states that these holes in the knowledge are filled with ill-placed traditions and bad rites. In the 15^th and 16th stanzas, Dryden answers these issues and says that a true, fully realized, and bias-free version of the holy text can be found in the lost original. He further says that this doesn’t mean that all translations are wrong or bad. He mentions that Christ is still the lord and still a man. He then praises the Layman and encourages them to remain true to their heart. He says that Layman has the ability to see what is true and just among all the fancy translation errors in the scripture. The common man should keep these truths he finds to his heart and not let the fancy text bring him off the true path.

In the 19th stanza, Dryden offers a strong critique of Catholic belief and says that the Catholic faith believes to own the whole Christian faith when they only are a part of it. In the 20th stanza, he goes on to explain how Catholic history has corrupted this branch of Christianity. They're keeping the real wisdom, as mentioned before, from the common folk leading to a number of problems. People started to have their own interpretations and believed everything they heard. The good and common thread of love and compassion got lost. Dryden complains that this practice caused a thousand sects per day to rise.

In the last two stanzas, Dryden asserts the main message of the poem and says that the layman or the common man must only have the basic truths of Christianity to hold onto. Every addition given from the outside has to be rejected.

The poem deals with the tussle of true Christianity between the Catholics and Protestants. The poet explains the definition of true belief. The narrator leads the reader towards the explanation that true Christianity is only to be found in the pure interpretation of the original word of God, namely the Bible. Dryden also brings up the debate between believers and nonbelievers and rejects the argument that most people that have lived on this planet would be considered to burn in hell for all eternity because they do not believe in Catholic ways. He says that the Provenance of God's word is true in all times and places, transcending the Christian world and allowing all good people to arrive in heaven. He attacks religious eliticism. He complained against the argument that some religious rites are better than others. The poet says that all forms of worship are flawed to some extent and no one can know which one is the least flawed. That is why such elitist explanations about the one true way to worship God, as proclaimed by Catholics or other denominations are discarded by Dryden.

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

Mac Flecknoe by John Dryden | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Dryden and Thomas Shadwell were close friends with some political and artistic differences. While John Dryden was a fan of Shakespeare, Thomas Shadwell considered himself the heir of Ben Jonson. Dryden preferred comedy of wit and repartee. On the other hand, Shadwell preferred humor comedy. They also disagreed over the importance of rhymed plays. However, the main contention between the two was their political alignments. John Dryden belonged to the Tory group supporting the Stuart royalty while Shadwell, being a Protestant, supported the Whigs against the possibility of a Catholic monarch. In 1681, Dryden published Absalom and Achitophel. After the acquittal of the Earl of Shaftesbury, he published The Medal (1682). Both of these were a strong satirical attack on the Whigs' supporters. In addition, John Dryden also contributed to Nahum Tait’s Absalom and Achitophel Part II in which he indirectly satirized Thomas Shadwell as the character Og.

In response, Thomas Shadwell published The Medal of John Bayes; a Satire against Folly and Knavery (1682), another political satirical poem that directly attacked the Tories and Dryden’s political satire. As a response, John Dryden published Mac Flecknoe, which became the classic mock Heroic satirical poem. The subtitle and the subject of this poem is “the True-blue Protestant Poet T.S.” This poem carved out a new poetic genre known as mock-epic, or mock-heroic poetry. This poem is a strong hilarious criticism of Thomas Shadwell in which Dryden completely skewers Shadwell, exposing him for what he was: a bad writer with bad taste, who would do anything for the cheap laugh. John Dryden created an incredibly rich, expertly crafted work of satire, layered in so much irony, sarcasm, and wit that at many times, the poem appears to be a genuine epic. The poem has the same grandiose as that of The Illiad or Paradise Lost, however, it is just a satirical joke.

During the Restoration period, Shadwell was a reputed author and playwright, so much so that he replaced John Dryden as England's poet laureate in 1689. But Dryden believed Shadwell was a subpar poet and dramatist who believed much too highly of himself. Dryden uses Mac Flacknoe to point this out, highlighting throughout the satire the ridiculousness of Shadwell’s self-indulgence. Regarding the dueling poets’ thoughts on humor, the satire serves as a defense of wit against humor, which Dryden believed to be a much more noble and intelligent form of co“the True-blue Protestant Poet T.S.”

Characters:

Richard Flecknoe was a lesser-known English dramatist during the Milton age. Andrew Marvel derided and made a mockery of his works and John Milton also made a similar mockery of him in this poem. He is represented as the titular character Mac Flecknoe who is the monarch of the realm of Nonsense. He is getting older and decides he must appoint a successor to one of his sons. He chooses Shadwell because he is the most like him; he is dull and devoid of wit and sense. Thomas Shadwell is the main target of Dryden’s satire and derision and he is represented as T.S., or Sh--, or Shadwell. He is the heir of the fictional "Kingdom of Nonsense," which is presided over by Flecknoe. Shadwell is a large, proud man who revels in the bombast of his coronation. He has no sense, is dull, and runs roughshod over the work of other, better poets. Dryden has mentioned Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Fletcher, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, and James Shirley in this satire. Apart from them, Roman author Virgil, Roman king Augustus, Ancient Greek poet Arion, Troy’s leader Ascanius, British monarch Charles II, and Oliver Cromwell have also been mentioned in the poem. Sir Formal Trifle, Bruce, and Longvil are characters from Thomas Shadwell’s play Virtuoso. Dryden also mentions St. Andre, a French dancing master who choreographed Shadwell’s drama Psyche.

Summary of Mac Flecknoe:

The poem has 217 lines written in rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter. It starts with

All humane things are subject to decay,
And, when Fate summons, Monarchs must obey;

The poet then introduces Mac Flecknoe, the Protagonist of the poem. He is the poet-king of the realm of nonsense. Like the roman ruler Augustus, he was called to rule when he was young and like Augustus, he proved to be a successful ruler. But now, he is getting old and it is time for him to step down. He thinks over which of his sons should succeed him in the eternal war against wit. Ultimately, he chooses his son Shadwell, a poet of unparalleled dreadfulness, as his successor. Shadwell is the worst writer in all the land, and thus, the perfect man for the job. He is the one who resembles Mac Flecknoe most. Shadwell, who even while young in years is mature in the dullness. He is “confirm’d in full stupidity”, and while some of his brothers occasionally grasp the meaning, he never has any sense at all. Other people are illuminated by beams of wit, but Shadwell’s “genuine night admits no ray.” The monarch is very proud of his son and believes Shadwell is “the last great prophet of tautology” The poet then compares Shadwell with James Shirley and Thomas Heywood while admitting that Flecknoe himself is no comparison to his son Shadwell. As Shadwell approaches London (city Augusta in the poem) while sailing down the river Thames, Flecknoe feels as if a new Arion is sailing to claim his state. Mac Flecknoe weeps for the joy of his son, knowing that Shadwell’s plays persuade “that for anointed dullness he was made.

Near the walls of the city of Augusta, there is a pile of ruins that once used to be a mighty watch tower. Flecknoe rejects this place for the coronation of Shadwell. Rather, he chooses a place where a long time ago, Decker prophesied that a mighty prince shall rule this pile, a prince “born for a scourge of wit, and flail of sense” (line 89). The prince’s pen will create misers, humorists, and hypocrites, as well as whole families of Raymond and the tribes of Bruce.

The prince finally appears in all his majesty, sitting atop a throne of his labors. Flecknoe compares Shadwell to Ascanius, son of Aeneas, who famously sat at his father’s right hand and inherited the kingdom. Shadwell’s brows are like thick fogs, and dullness swirls about his visage.

Shadwell swears he will maintain dullness until his death. He will never make peace with wit and never sign a truce with sense.

Then the old monarch offers his son some words of advice. He says that Shadwell should always trust his dull nature and should not let any false friend seduce him by using Ben Jonson’s name and turning him towards wit. Flecknoe says that when Shadwell will fully embraces his nature, Sir Formal Trife’s oratory skills will become his. Flecknoe urges Shadwell that he should remember that he is Flecknoe’s blood and Jonson has no part in it. Flecknoe exhorts his son to remember that this is his place, his way; he gets to add new humor to his plays and indulge in the dullness. Shadwell may be a large, bulky man with a huge belly, but his plays never bite or offend. Even though his heart may have venom, it dies the moment it touches his Irish pen.

Shadwell’s genius does not lie in iambics but rather in simple anagrams. He should not, Flecknoe counsels, worry about plays; instead, he should focus on acrostics. In those, he can be famous and torture words in thousands of ways. If not those, then perhaps songs set to a lute.

The father continues to offer his advice to Shadwell as his words start fading away as Bruce and Longwil captures him in their trap and he sinks down and perishes. He leaves his robe on the ground which rises upward by flatulence, the mantle settles on the son who possesses a “double portion of his father’s art”

Mac Flecknoe is a typical personal satire that has for its target Thomas Shadwell, another poet who had offended Dryden with his aesthetic and political leanings. It is also literary satire and is considered one of the most famous mock-heroic verses in the English tradition. It is 218 lines of rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter. Like Dante’s Inferno, the poem has numerous references to Dryden’s contemporaries. Dryden not only criticizes Shadwell, but he also attacks Shadwell’s literary works and mentions that Shadwell himself by nature is exactly similar to the characters of his plays like Psyche, and has abilities like those of Sir Formal Trifle from The Virtuoso.

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.