English literature poet laureate
John Dryden (1631-1700).
Laureate 1668-88.
Appointed in 1668 by King Charles II, who gave John Dryden a formal royal warrant that awarded him the official titles of Poet Laureate and Historiographer Royal. This role continued under King James II.
As a powerful satirist, Dryden was a strong advocate and spokesman for his monarch, and "the best poet, dramatist, translator and critic of the age" [Levin in Verses of the Poets Laureate]
In 1689, sacked [or fired] by William III for failing to take an oath of allegiance.
Thomas Shadwell (1643?-1692).
Laureate 1689-92.
The successful dramatist Thomas Shadwell was chosen in large part because he was a Protestant Whig, essential to replace the Catholic Dryden. met an inglorious end in 1693,
A weak poet, a heavy drinker, and an opium user, Shadwell died from an overdose of opium, which he took in part to relieve his gout. He was said to have found the laureateship unimportant. Disrespected by John Dryden, among others, for his poetry as well as for his politics.
Shadwell wrote a yearly ode on the monarch's birthday, and introduced the tradition of writing a New Year ode; his odes are crashingly uninspired and mechanistic, as if written by an unusually dimwitted computer program.
Nahum Tate (1652-1715).
Laureate 1692-1715.
Born in Dublin, Tate was awarded the Poet Laureate position (and its £100 per year) but the post of Historiographer Royal (and its annual £200) became a separate assignment.
Tate is most known today for his authorship of the widely loved Christmas carol "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night". He is notorious for his (creative?) revision of Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear, giving it a happy ending.
In response to public events, Tate wrote poems for victories against the French (1704), the Act of Union between the Parliaments of England and Scotland (1707), and the signing of the Peace of Utrecht with France (1713).
Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718).
Laureate 1715-18.
Nicholas Rowe was celebrated as a dramatist rather than as a poet. The Poet Laureate's role was now general praise of the sovereign, rather than political and historical. In addition to the annual New Year ode, the Laureate acquired the duty of writing a birthday ode to the monarch, a practice which was to last over 100 years.
Laurence Eusden (1688-1730).
Laureate 1718-30.
Eusden never published a book of poetry. His work is mediocre.
Colley Cibber (1671-1757).
Laureate 1730-57.
The poetry of dramatist Colley Cibber was conscientious but not inspired.
William Whitehead (1715-85).
Laureate 1757-85. [The appointment was first offered to and declined by Thomas Gray.]
William Whitehead (a respectable though perhaps dull dramatist) was good humored and amiable. For example, he defended the poetry of Laureates in a comic poem "A Pathetic Apology For All Laureates, Past, Present, And To Come".
Whitehead was conscientious, and saw himself as a non-partisan spokesman for the whole country. Astonishingly for a political appointee, he appeared to see no requirement "to defend the King or support the government". Sadly, this reflects the idea that the Laureate's influence had weakened so much that the official poems were unlikely to influence opinions, even though the times were important politically, with rebellion in the American colonies and war in Europe.
Thomas Wharton (1728-90).
Laureate 1785-90. Professor of Poetry at Oxford, Wharton was the only eighteenth-century laureate who was not primarily a dramatist. William Wordsworth andSamuel Taylor Coleridge admired his work.
Henry James Pye (1745-1813).
Laureate 1790-1813.
Before Pye's appointment, the Sovereign or the Lord Chamberlain (a member of the Royal Household) awarded the Poet Laureateship directly. William Pitt (the first Prime Minister involved in appointing a Laureate) offered the position to Henry James Pye, a politician more than a poet. Thereafter, the Prime Minister submits names for royal approval. Then the monarch commands the Lord Chamberlain to issue a warrant of appointment.
Robert Southey (1774-1843).
Laureate 1813-43. [In a bizarre double-offer the appointment was offered to two writers concurrently. Fortunately, Sir Walter Scott turned down the approach by Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool.]
Robert Southey accepted the suggestion of the post from the Prince Regent. When Scott declined the offer, he suggested Southey also, so the situation ended well.
During Southey's tenure, George IV became monarch in 1820, and abandoned the requirement for regular odes to the monarch.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850).
Laureate 1843-50.
William Wordsworth, at 73, was the oldest Poet Laureate to be appointed. He accepted the position on the agreement that he would not have obligations to write poetry on demand.
Since Wordsworth, the job of Poet Laureate has been purely honorary, and appointees have been able to interpret the role as they wish.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92).
Laureate 1850-92. [The appointment was first offered to and (to our benefit) declined by Samuel Rogers.]
Alfred Tennyson raised the stature of the Poet Laureate hugely. His laureate poems include The Charge Of The Light Brigade(the suicidal charge by the Light Brigade down a valley at Balaclava during the Crimean war).
Tennyson's death was mourned publicly by millions. In respect, no appointment was made to the post of Poet Laureate for four years.
Alfred Austin (1835-1913).
Laureate 1896-1913.
A pompous man, least successful of the Poets Laureate.
Robert Bridges (1844-1930).
Laureate 1913-30.
Uninterested in fame and praise, Bridges wrote little and destroyed his papers before his death.
John Masefield (1878-1967).
Laureate 1930-67.
Born in Ledbury, Herefordshire, England, Masefield apprenticed to be a merchant marine officer. While training, he became ill in Chile, returned to England, then worked in factories and bars in the United States. In 1897 he returned to England, working on newspapers and his own writing (poems, stories, and plays). Masefield published his first volume of poems in 1902. He served during World War I in the Red Cross in France and on a hospital ship at Gallipoli. His simple and moving poems include the famous Sea Fever.
Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-72).
Laureate 1968-72.
Anglo-Irish Cecil Day-Lewis was a poet, critic, and educator who enjoyed the honor of being the Poet Laureate. A student at Oxford with Auden. A committed Communist though naive politically. Hi poetry are often romantic and melancholy. Also he wrote detective stories (using the pseudonym Nicholas Blake).
Sir John Betjeman (1906-84).
Laureate 1972-84.
Born in Highgate (North London). Sir John Betjeman wrote humorous and accessible poetry. Betjeman commemorated royal events such as The Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.
Ted Hughes (1930-98).
Laureate 1984-1998. [Appointed on the refusal of poet Philip Larkin.]
Born in Yorkshire. A fierce, sometimes ferocious, poet of the natural and the mythological worlds, of "the struggle in the soil as well as in the soul" [Levin in Verses of the Poets Laureate]. Also authored poetry and plays for children.
Despite the "no obligations" clause, Hughes did write in commemoration of royal events, such as the christening of Prince Henry of Wales in 1985.
Andrew Motion (1952-present).
Laureate 1999-2012.
Andrew Motion, an acclaimed poet and biographer, teaches creative writing at the University of East Anglia. He promotes poetry among young people. His poems addressing many public events as well and royal occasions, including the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. A critic, and a free-form poet who interweaves the personal, the historical, the legendary, and the political.
Carol Ann Duffy (1955-present). Laureate 2009-present.
Carol Ann Duffy (poet, university professor, playwright, and freelance writer) is the first woman and the first Scottish-born poetry to be appointed Poet Laureate. She graduated with a degree in philosophy from the University of Liverpool in 1977.
Her books like Feminine Gospels (2002) and Mrs Scrooge show her skill in long narrative poems, written in an accessible style and often including surreal imagery. Other work, like Rapture (2005) are poems of passion and love. She also writes poetry (such as The Hat, 2007) for children.
Not-quite Poets Laureate of Great Britain.
These poets were not Poets Laureate, for the reasons given.
Ben Jonson (1573-1637), a playwright and poet, a volatile satirist of explosive temperament and "a great lover and praiser of himself", was not formally appointed as Poet Laureate. John Dryden was the first appointed Poet Laureate, as shown by the official royal record (starts in a new window).
At best, Jonson was a "common law" poet laureate (as in "common law" husband).
Some believe Jonson to be the greatest English poet and dramatist of the seventeenth century. Many praise his charm and good humor. His vigor and productivity is clear.
Jonson learned the trade of bricklayer, fought with English troops in Flanders, then returned to London to become an actor and playwright, a writer of masques (short pageant-like plays), and a tutor to Sir Walter Raleigh's son.
In 1597 Jonson was imprisoned for involvement in the satire The Isle of Dogs, which authorities found seditious. He was tried for killing a fellow actor in a duel in 1598. Imprisioned for this, he converted to Catholicism to be spared death for murder. He was released provided that he forfeit all his possessions, and that he receive a felon's brand on his thumb.Charged with treason for his tragedy Sejanus, His Fall (1603) and then briefly imprisoned for views in Eastward Ho (1604), Jonson (a Catholic) was under deep suspicion after Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot (1605). This situation may have motivated him, shortly thereafter, to reconvert to Anglicanism. He did become court poet to King James I.
One of Jonson's most famous poems, "To Celia", begins "Drink to me, only, with thine eyes...". Buried upright in Westminster Abbey, standing on his feet in the northern aisle of the Nave (and not in Poets' Corner) beneath the inscription "O Rare Ben Johnson"
William Davenant, or Sir William D'Avenant. After Jonson's death, dramatist Davenant [D'Avenant] inherited Jonson's office and pension, again as an unofficial appointment
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Notes on feminism literature
Notes on feminism literature
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Forms of Literature
Forms of Literature
1. POETRY
● Poetry, form of literature, spoken or written, that emphasizes rhythm, other intricate patterns of sound and imagery, and the many possible ways that words can suggest meaning.
● The word itself derives from a Greek word, poesis, meaning “making” or “creating.”
● poetry in its simplest definition is organized in units called lines as well as in sentences, and often in stanzas, which are the paragraphs of poetry
● The way a line of poetry is structured can be considered a kind of garment that shapes and clothes the thought within it.
● The oldest and most longstanding genres for classifying poetry are epic, a long narrative poem centered around a national hero, and lyric, a short poem expressing intense emotion.
Elements:
Stanza
•A unit of lines grouped together
•Similar to a paragraph in prose
Couplet
A stanza consisting of two lines that rhyme
Quatrain
A stanza consisting of four lines
Mood
The feeling a poem creates for the reader
Tone
The attitude a poet takes toward his/her subject
Imagery
•Representation of the five senses: sight, taste,touch, sound, and smell
•Creates mental images about a poem’s subject
Metaphor
An implied comparison between two objects or ideas
Personification
Giving human traits or characteristics to animals or inanimate objects
Simile
A direct comparison between two objects orideas that uses the words “like” or “as”
Symbol
A word or object thathas its own meaningand represents anotherword, object or idea
Alliteration
The repetition of aninitial (beginning)sound or consonant intwo or more wordsnext to each other in aline of a poem
Assonance
The repetition of avowel sound in two ormore words in the lineof a poem
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates anoise or action
Refrain
The repetition of one or more phrases or line sat certain intervals,usually at the end of each stanza
Repetition
A word or phrase repeated within a line or stanza
Rhyme Scheme
The pattern in which end rhyme occurs
2. FICTION
● literary works of imagination: novels and stories that describe imaginary people and events
● The latin word fingere “to make, shape,” from which fiction is derived, is also the spurce of English effigy, feign, figment and figure.
Elements:
Plot
Events that form a significant pattern of action with a beginning, a middle and an end. They move from one place or event to another in order to form a pattern. The plot is also called a narrative.
Author's Role in Plot
1. Plot grows out of the characters.
2. The author is always in control of what happens; fiction manipulates events; it is created.
3. Central focus of the story has to be intriguing
Plot Techniques
1. Suspense: Frequently involves dilemma.
2. Flashback: The author waits until the story is moving and then flashes back to reveal biographical data or deep psychological reasons why a character acts as s/he does. It focuses more on why things happen, rather than on what happens.
3. Telescoping: It's a matter of economy. The author can't describe every motion of the character or event during the time the story covers. S/he has to choose the significant and merely suggest the others by saying they happened, without much description
4. Foreshadowing: The outcome of a conflict is often hinted at or "foreshadowed" before the climax and resolution. These clues are usually very subtle; you don't realize they are foreshadowing clues until you've finished the story.
Conflict in Plot
Plot usually involves one or more conflicts, which are problems that need to be solved. The "movement" towards a solution is what drives the narrative forward, and is what occupies most of the protagonist's time. Here are the major types of conflict:
1. Man's struggle against nature
2. Man against man
3. Man against society
4. Man against himself (i.e. a portrayal of an inner struggle)
The first three types are said to be "external conflicts", while the last is "internal conflict".
Setting
Setting is defined as the physical location and the time of a story. In short stories, one or both of these elements are often not defined.
Mood or Atmosphere
The mood is the feeling the reader gets while reading the story. The author helps to create the mood by using carefully chosen descriptive or evocative words. It can be compared to the use of music in films. Examples of mood are: hostile, optimistic, threatening, ominous, bitter, defiant, etc..
Theme
The theme is a recurring social or psychological issue, like aging, violence, alienation or maturity. The author or poet weaves the theme into the plot, which is used as a vehicle to convey it. The title of the story or poem is often of significance in recognizing the theme.
Symbolism
In literature, a symbol is an object, event or a character that's used to represent an abstract idea; it is something which stands for something else. Symbols are clues to what's going on in the story and often stand for key parts of the theme. A symbol is related to metaphor and simile insofar as it's a type of figurative (indirect/dual) language. The key thing to remember is that readers aren't told that something is a symbol, unlike a metaphor (the flower ofmy love) or a simile (my love is like a flower). A symbol just sits there inside the story... readers are simply expected to understand its symbolic existence.
Point of View
Different points of view allow for different ways of understanding the characters' motives and events.
Characters and Irony
3. DRAMA
● Drama is a type of literature usually written to be performed.
● it concerns the written text, or script, for the performance
● Many of the most honored and influential works of literature around the world have been dramas.
Elements:
Focus
“The frame that directs attention to what is most significant and intensifies the dramatic meaning”.
There are 4 closely related areas of focus:
1. the focus of the scene
2. the focus of the audience
3. the focus of the character
4. the focus of the actor.
Tension
“The force that engages the performers and audience in the dramatic action”.
Space
“The personal and general space used by the actors. It focuses on the meaning of the size and shape of
distances between actor and actor, actor and objects (props and sets) and actor and audience.”
Mood
“The atmosphere created. Mood concentrates the dramatic action and moves the audience in emotionally appropriate directions.”
Contrast
“The use of difference to create dramatic meaning.”
Contrast is an effective means to emphasise, heighten or intensify. Contrasting colours stand out on the
stage. Contrasting sizes, shapes and sounds draw attention.
Symbol
“The use of objects, gestures or persons to represent meaning beyond the literal.”
Role
Taking on a role requires performers to accept the physicality, attitudes and beliefs of the characters they are playing.
Types of Nonfiction:
Narrative Nonfiction is information based on fact that is presented in a format which tells a story.
Essays are a short literary composition that reflects the author’s outlook or point. A short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.
A Biography is a written account of another person’s life.
An Autobiography gives the history of a person’s life, written or told by that person. Often written in Narrative form of their person’s life.
Speech is the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one’s thoughts and emotions by speech, sounds, and gesture. Generally delivered in the form of an address or discourse.
Finally there is the general genre of Nonfiction. This is Informational text dealing with an actual, real-life subject. This genre of literature offers opinions or conjectures on facts and reality. This includes biographies, history, essays, speech, and narrative non fiction. Nonfiction opposes fiction and is distinguished from those fiction genres of literature like poetry and drama which is the next section we will discuss.
Genres of Fiction:
Drama is the genre of literature that’s subject for compositions is dramatic art in the way it is represented. This genre is stories composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action.
Poetry is verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an emotional response from the reader. The art of poetry is rhythmical in composition, written or spoken. This genre of literature is for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
Fantasy is the forming of mental images with strange or other worldly settings or characters; fiction which invites suspension of reality.
Humor is the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical. Fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to entertain. This genre of literature can actually be seen and contained within all genres.
A Fable is a story about supernatural or extraordinary people Usually in the form of narration that demonstrates a useful truth. In Fables, animals often speak as humans that are legendary and supernatural tales.
Fairy Tales or wonder tales are a kind of folktale or fable. Sometimes the stories are about fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children.
Science Fiction is a story based on impact of potential science, either actual or imagined. Science fiction is one of the genres of literature that is set in the future or on other planets.
Short Story is fiction of such briefness that is not able to support any subplots.
Realistic Fiction is a story that can actually happen and is true to real life.
Folklore are songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a person of “folk” that was handed down by word of mouth. Folklore is a genre of literature that is widely held, but false and based on unsubstantiated beliefs.
Historical Fiction is a story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting.
Horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by literature that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader.
A Tall Tale is a humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering heroes who do the impossible with an here of nonchalance.
Legend is a story that sometimes of a national or folk hero. Legend is based on fact but also includes imaginative material.
Mystery is a genre of fiction that deals with the solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets. Anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown.
Mythology is a type of legend or traditional narrative. This is often based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods. A body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person.
Fiction in Verse is full-length novels with plot, subplots, themes, with major and minor characters. Fiction of verse is one of the genres of literature in which the narrative is usually presented in blank verse form.
The genre of Fiction can be defined as narrative literary works whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. In fiction something is feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story.
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1. POETRY
● Poetry, form of literature, spoken or written, that emphasizes rhythm, other intricate patterns of sound and imagery, and the many possible ways that words can suggest meaning.
● The word itself derives from a Greek word, poesis, meaning “making” or “creating.”
● poetry in its simplest definition is organized in units called lines as well as in sentences, and often in stanzas, which are the paragraphs of poetry
● The way a line of poetry is structured can be considered a kind of garment that shapes and clothes the thought within it.
● The oldest and most longstanding genres for classifying poetry are epic, a long narrative poem centered around a national hero, and lyric, a short poem expressing intense emotion.
Elements:
Stanza
•A unit of lines grouped together
•Similar to a paragraph in prose
Couplet
A stanza consisting of two lines that rhyme
Quatrain
A stanza consisting of four lines
Mood
The feeling a poem creates for the reader
Tone
The attitude a poet takes toward his/her subject
Imagery
•Representation of the five senses: sight, taste,touch, sound, and smell
•Creates mental images about a poem’s subject
Metaphor
An implied comparison between two objects or ideas
Personification
Giving human traits or characteristics to animals or inanimate objects
Simile
A direct comparison between two objects orideas that uses the words “like” or “as”
Symbol
A word or object thathas its own meaningand represents anotherword, object or idea
Alliteration
The repetition of aninitial (beginning)sound or consonant intwo or more wordsnext to each other in aline of a poem
Assonance
The repetition of avowel sound in two ormore words in the lineof a poem
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates anoise or action
Refrain
The repetition of one or more phrases or line sat certain intervals,usually at the end of each stanza
Repetition
A word or phrase repeated within a line or stanza
Rhyme Scheme
The pattern in which end rhyme occurs
2. FICTION
● literary works of imagination: novels and stories that describe imaginary people and events
● The latin word fingere “to make, shape,” from which fiction is derived, is also the spurce of English effigy, feign, figment and figure.
Elements:
Plot
Events that form a significant pattern of action with a beginning, a middle and an end. They move from one place or event to another in order to form a pattern. The plot is also called a narrative.
Author's Role in Plot
1. Plot grows out of the characters.
2. The author is always in control of what happens; fiction manipulates events; it is created.
3. Central focus of the story has to be intriguing
Plot Techniques
1. Suspense: Frequently involves dilemma.
2. Flashback: The author waits until the story is moving and then flashes back to reveal biographical data or deep psychological reasons why a character acts as s/he does. It focuses more on why things happen, rather than on what happens.
3. Telescoping: It's a matter of economy. The author can't describe every motion of the character or event during the time the story covers. S/he has to choose the significant and merely suggest the others by saying they happened, without much description
4. Foreshadowing: The outcome of a conflict is often hinted at or "foreshadowed" before the climax and resolution. These clues are usually very subtle; you don't realize they are foreshadowing clues until you've finished the story.
Conflict in Plot
Plot usually involves one or more conflicts, which are problems that need to be solved. The "movement" towards a solution is what drives the narrative forward, and is what occupies most of the protagonist's time. Here are the major types of conflict:
1. Man's struggle against nature
2. Man against man
3. Man against society
4. Man against himself (i.e. a portrayal of an inner struggle)
The first three types are said to be "external conflicts", while the last is "internal conflict".
Setting
Setting is defined as the physical location and the time of a story. In short stories, one or both of these elements are often not defined.
Mood or Atmosphere
The mood is the feeling the reader gets while reading the story. The author helps to create the mood by using carefully chosen descriptive or evocative words. It can be compared to the use of music in films. Examples of mood are: hostile, optimistic, threatening, ominous, bitter, defiant, etc..
Theme
The theme is a recurring social or psychological issue, like aging, violence, alienation or maturity. The author or poet weaves the theme into the plot, which is used as a vehicle to convey it. The title of the story or poem is often of significance in recognizing the theme.
Symbolism
In literature, a symbol is an object, event or a character that's used to represent an abstract idea; it is something which stands for something else. Symbols are clues to what's going on in the story and often stand for key parts of the theme. A symbol is related to metaphor and simile insofar as it's a type of figurative (indirect/dual) language. The key thing to remember is that readers aren't told that something is a symbol, unlike a metaphor (the flower ofmy love) or a simile (my love is like a flower). A symbol just sits there inside the story... readers are simply expected to understand its symbolic existence.
Point of View
Different points of view allow for different ways of understanding the characters' motives and events.
Characters and Irony
3. DRAMA
● Drama is a type of literature usually written to be performed.
● it concerns the written text, or script, for the performance
● Many of the most honored and influential works of literature around the world have been dramas.
Elements:
Focus
“The frame that directs attention to what is most significant and intensifies the dramatic meaning”.
There are 4 closely related areas of focus:
1. the focus of the scene
2. the focus of the audience
3. the focus of the character
4. the focus of the actor.
Tension
“The force that engages the performers and audience in the dramatic action”.
Space
“The personal and general space used by the actors. It focuses on the meaning of the size and shape of
distances between actor and actor, actor and objects (props and sets) and actor and audience.”
Mood
“The atmosphere created. Mood concentrates the dramatic action and moves the audience in emotionally appropriate directions.”
Contrast
“The use of difference to create dramatic meaning.”
Contrast is an effective means to emphasise, heighten or intensify. Contrasting colours stand out on the
stage. Contrasting sizes, shapes and sounds draw attention.
Symbol
“The use of objects, gestures or persons to represent meaning beyond the literal.”
Role
Taking on a role requires performers to accept the physicality, attitudes and beliefs of the characters they are playing.
Types of Nonfiction:
Narrative Nonfiction is information based on fact that is presented in a format which tells a story.
Essays are a short literary composition that reflects the author’s outlook or point. A short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.
A Biography is a written account of another person’s life.
An Autobiography gives the history of a person’s life, written or told by that person. Often written in Narrative form of their person’s life.
Speech is the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one’s thoughts and emotions by speech, sounds, and gesture. Generally delivered in the form of an address or discourse.
Finally there is the general genre of Nonfiction. This is Informational text dealing with an actual, real-life subject. This genre of literature offers opinions or conjectures on facts and reality. This includes biographies, history, essays, speech, and narrative non fiction. Nonfiction opposes fiction and is distinguished from those fiction genres of literature like poetry and drama which is the next section we will discuss.
Genres of Fiction:
Drama is the genre of literature that’s subject for compositions is dramatic art in the way it is represented. This genre is stories composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action.
Poetry is verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an emotional response from the reader. The art of poetry is rhythmical in composition, written or spoken. This genre of literature is for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
Fantasy is the forming of mental images with strange or other worldly settings or characters; fiction which invites suspension of reality.
Humor is the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical. Fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to entertain. This genre of literature can actually be seen and contained within all genres.
A Fable is a story about supernatural or extraordinary people Usually in the form of narration that demonstrates a useful truth. In Fables, animals often speak as humans that are legendary and supernatural tales.
Fairy Tales or wonder tales are a kind of folktale or fable. Sometimes the stories are about fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children.
Science Fiction is a story based on impact of potential science, either actual or imagined. Science fiction is one of the genres of literature that is set in the future or on other planets.
Short Story is fiction of such briefness that is not able to support any subplots.
Realistic Fiction is a story that can actually happen and is true to real life.
Folklore are songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a person of “folk” that was handed down by word of mouth. Folklore is a genre of literature that is widely held, but false and based on unsubstantiated beliefs.
Historical Fiction is a story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting.
Horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by literature that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader.
A Tall Tale is a humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering heroes who do the impossible with an here of nonchalance.
Legend is a story that sometimes of a national or folk hero. Legend is based on fact but also includes imaginative material.
Mystery is a genre of fiction that deals with the solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets. Anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown.
Mythology is a type of legend or traditional narrative. This is often based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods. A body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person.
Fiction in Verse is full-length novels with plot, subplots, themes, with major and minor characters. Fiction of verse is one of the genres of literature in which the narrative is usually presented in blank verse form.
The genre of Fiction can be defined as narrative literary works whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. In fiction something is feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story.
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LITERARY FORMS
LITERARY FORMS
SATIRE
Satire is a work of art of diminishing a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement , contempt, scorn, or indignation. It differs from the comic in that comedy evokes laughter mainly as an end in itself, while satire derides i.e. it uses laughter as a weapon, and against a butt that exists outside the work itself. That butt may be an individual, or a type of person, a class, an institution, a nation or even mankind.
Satire may be classified as follows:
i. Formal satire: In it the satiric persona speaks out in the first person. This ‘I’may address either the reader or else a character within the work itself.
ii. Horatian satire: In it, the speaker manifests the character of an urbane, witty and tolerant man of the world, who is moved more often to worry amusement than to indignation at the spectacle of human folly, pretentiousness, and hypocrisy, and who uses a relaxed and informal language to evoke from readers a wry smile at human failings and absurdities.
iii. Juvenalian Satire: In it, the character of the speaker is that of a serious moralist who uses a dignified and public style of utterance to decry modes of voice and error which are no less dangerous because they are ridiculous, and who undertakes to evoke from readers contempt, moral indignation, or an unillusioned sadness at the aberrations of humanity.
iv. Indirect Satire: It is cast in some other literary form than that of direct address to the reader. Fictional narrative is an example. In it the objects of the satire are characters who make themselves and their opinions ridiculous by what they think, say or do. One type of indirect satire is Menippean satire, modeled on Greek form developed by the Cynic philosopher Menippus. It is sometimes called Varronian satire, after a Roman imitator, Varro.
LYRIC
A lyric is any short poem uttered by a single speaker, who expresses a state of mind
or a process of perception, thought and feeling. Although the lyric is uttered in the first
person, the “I” in the poem need not be the poet who wrote it. Some lyrics such as John
Milton’s sonnet “when I consider how my light is spent” and S. T. Coleridge’s “Frost at
Midnight” the references to the known circumstances of the author’s life make it clear that
we are to read the poem as a personal expression. Even in such personal lyrics, both the
character and the utterance of the speaker may be formalized and altered by the author in a
way that is conducive to the desired artistic effect.
ODE
An Ode is a long lyric poem, serious in subject, dignified in style and elaborate in
structure. It is generally rhymed and often written in the form of an address, in varies or
irregular meter. The Pindaric ode, named after the Greek poet Pindar were written in triads,
composed of two stanzas called “strophe ‘and “antistrophe”, followed by an epode,
different in shape. E.g. Thomas Gray’s “The Progress of Poesy” and the “Bard”. Horatian
Ode named after the Latin poet Horace was generally monostrophic and composed of many
stanzas, all of the same shape. e.g. Collin’s “Ode to Simplicity” The English Ode or
Irregular Ode was introduced in 1656 by Abraham Cowley. He imitated the Pindaric style
and matter but disregarded the strophic triad and allowed each stanza to find its own pattern
of varying line length, number of lines and rhyme scheme. Shelley’s “Ode to the West
Wind” is an example of this type of ode.
ELEGY
In Greek and Roman times, elegy denoted any poem written in elegiac
meter(alternating hexameter and pentameter lines). In its limited and present usage, the
term elegy means a formal and sustained lament in verse for the death of a particular
person, usually ending in a consolation. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “In Memorium” (1850),
on the death of Arthur Hallam, and W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” are
examples. Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is different from these
personal lament in that it is a somber meditation on mortality.
The dirge is also a versified expression of grief on the occasion of a particular’s
person’s death. But differs from the elegy in that it is short, is less formal and is usually
represented as a text to be sung. Threnody is now used as an equivalent for dirge and
monody for an elegy or dirge which is presented as the utterance of a single person. John
Milton’s “Lycidas” written on the occasion of the death of his learned friend Edward King
and Mathew Arnold’s “Thyrsis” written on the occasion of the death of A.H. Clough are
monodies
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SATIRE
Satire is a work of art of diminishing a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement , contempt, scorn, or indignation. It differs from the comic in that comedy evokes laughter mainly as an end in itself, while satire derides i.e. it uses laughter as a weapon, and against a butt that exists outside the work itself. That butt may be an individual, or a type of person, a class, an institution, a nation or even mankind.
Satire may be classified as follows:
i. Formal satire: In it the satiric persona speaks out in the first person. This ‘I’may address either the reader or else a character within the work itself.
ii. Horatian satire: In it, the speaker manifests the character of an urbane, witty and tolerant man of the world, who is moved more often to worry amusement than to indignation at the spectacle of human folly, pretentiousness, and hypocrisy, and who uses a relaxed and informal language to evoke from readers a wry smile at human failings and absurdities.
iii. Juvenalian Satire: In it, the character of the speaker is that of a serious moralist who uses a dignified and public style of utterance to decry modes of voice and error which are no less dangerous because they are ridiculous, and who undertakes to evoke from readers contempt, moral indignation, or an unillusioned sadness at the aberrations of humanity.
iv. Indirect Satire: It is cast in some other literary form than that of direct address to the reader. Fictional narrative is an example. In it the objects of the satire are characters who make themselves and their opinions ridiculous by what they think, say or do. One type of indirect satire is Menippean satire, modeled on Greek form developed by the Cynic philosopher Menippus. It is sometimes called Varronian satire, after a Roman imitator, Varro.
LYRIC
A lyric is any short poem uttered by a single speaker, who expresses a state of mind
or a process of perception, thought and feeling. Although the lyric is uttered in the first
person, the “I” in the poem need not be the poet who wrote it. Some lyrics such as John
Milton’s sonnet “when I consider how my light is spent” and S. T. Coleridge’s “Frost at
Midnight” the references to the known circumstances of the author’s life make it clear that
we are to read the poem as a personal expression. Even in such personal lyrics, both the
character and the utterance of the speaker may be formalized and altered by the author in a
way that is conducive to the desired artistic effect.
ODE
An Ode is a long lyric poem, serious in subject, dignified in style and elaborate in
structure. It is generally rhymed and often written in the form of an address, in varies or
irregular meter. The Pindaric ode, named after the Greek poet Pindar were written in triads,
composed of two stanzas called “strophe ‘and “antistrophe”, followed by an epode,
different in shape. E.g. Thomas Gray’s “The Progress of Poesy” and the “Bard”. Horatian
Ode named after the Latin poet Horace was generally monostrophic and composed of many
stanzas, all of the same shape. e.g. Collin’s “Ode to Simplicity” The English Ode or
Irregular Ode was introduced in 1656 by Abraham Cowley. He imitated the Pindaric style
and matter but disregarded the strophic triad and allowed each stanza to find its own pattern
of varying line length, number of lines and rhyme scheme. Shelley’s “Ode to the West
Wind” is an example of this type of ode.
ELEGY
In Greek and Roman times, elegy denoted any poem written in elegiac
meter(alternating hexameter and pentameter lines). In its limited and present usage, the
term elegy means a formal and sustained lament in verse for the death of a particular
person, usually ending in a consolation. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “In Memorium” (1850),
on the death of Arthur Hallam, and W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” are
examples. Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is different from these
personal lament in that it is a somber meditation on mortality.
The dirge is also a versified expression of grief on the occasion of a particular’s
person’s death. But differs from the elegy in that it is short, is less formal and is usually
represented as a text to be sung. Threnody is now used as an equivalent for dirge and
monody for an elegy or dirge which is presented as the utterance of a single person. John
Milton’s “Lycidas” written on the occasion of the death of his learned friend Edward King
and Mathew Arnold’s “Thyrsis” written on the occasion of the death of A.H. Clough are
monodies
REGARDS literature group by pritee jain If u like the post please followed the blog
T.S. ELIOT – THE WASTE LAND Short Summary
T.S. ELIOT –
THE WASTE LAND Short Summary
The poem begins with a section entitled .......
"The Burial of the Dead." In it, the narrator -- perhaps a representation of Eliot himself -- describes the seasons. Spring brings "memory and desire," and so the narrator's memory drifts back to times in Munich, to childhood sled rides, and to a possible romance with a "hyacinth girl." The memories only go so far, however. The narrator is now surrounded by a desolate land full of "stony rubbish." He remembers a fortune-teller named Madame Sosostris who said he was "the drowned Phoenician Sailor" and that he should "fear death by water." Next he finds himself on London Bridge, surrounded by a crowd of people. He spots a friend of his from wartime, and calls out to him.
the poem on his own in similar ways; rather, the two men seemed to have genuinely collaborated on molding what was already a loose and at times free-flowing work. Pound, like Eliot a crucible of modernism, called for compression, ellipsis, reduction.
The poem grew yet more cryptic; references that were previously clear now became more obscure. Explanations were out the window. The result was a more difficult work -- but arguably a richer one.Eliot did not take all of Pound's notes, but he did follow his friend's advice enough to turn his sprawling work into a tight, elliptical, and fragmented piece.
Once the poem was completed, Pound lobbied on its behalf, convincing others of its importance. He believed in Eliot's genius, and in the impact "The Waste Land" would have on the literature of its day. That impact ultimately stretched beyond poetry, to novels, painting, music, and all the other arts. John Dos Passos's Manhattan Transfer owes a significant debt to "The Waste Land," for example. Eliot's take on the modern world profoundly shaped future schools of thought and literature, and his 1922 poem remains a touchstone of the English-language canon.
Character List
The Narrator
The most difficult to describe of the poem's characters, he assumes many different shapes and guises. At times the Narrator seems to be Eliot himself; at other times he stands in for all humanity. In "The Fire
Sermon" he is at one point the Fisher King of the Grail legend, at another the blind prophet Tiresias.
When he seems to reflect Eliot, the extent to which his ruminations are autobiographical is ambiguous.
Madame Sosostris
A famous clairvoyant referred to in Aldous Huxley's novel Crome Yellow and borrowed by Eliot for the
Tarot card episode. She suffers from a bad cold, but is nonetheless "known to be the wisest woman in
Europe, / With a wicked pack of cards."
Stetson
A friend of the Narrator's, who fought in the war with him. Which war? It is unclear. Perhaps the Punic
War or World War I, or both, or neither.
The Rich Lady
Never referred to by name, she sits in the resplendent drawing room of "A Game of Chess." She seems
to be surrounded by luxury, but unable to appreciate or enjoy it. She might allude to Eliot's wife
Vivienne.
Philomela
A character from Ovid's Metamorphoses. She was raped by Tereus, then, after taking her vengeance
with her sister, morphed into a nightingale.
A Typist
Lonely, a creature of the modern world. She is visited by a "young man carbuncular," who sleeps with
her. She is left alone again, accompanied by just her mirror and a gramophone.
Mr. Eugenides
A merchant from Smyrna (now Izmir, in Turkey). Probably the one-eyed merchant to whom Madame Sosostris refers.
Major Themes
Death
Two of the poem‟s sections -- “The Burial of the Dead” and “Death by Water” --refer specifically to this
theme. What complicates matters is that death can mean life; in other words, by dying, a being can pave
the way for new lives. Eliot asks his friend Stetson: “That corpse you planted last year in your garden, /
Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?” Similarly, Christ, by “dying,” redeemed humanity and
thereby gave new life. The ambiguous passage between life and death finds an echo in the frequent
allusions to Dante, particularly in the Limbo-like vision of the men flowing across London Bridge and
through the modern city.
Rebirth
The Christ images in the poem, along with the many other religious metaphors, posit rebirth and resurrection as central themes. The Waste Land lies fallow and the Fisher King is impotent; what is needed is a new beginning. Water, for one, can bring about that rebirth, but it can also destroy.
The Seasons
"The Waste Land" opens with an invocation of April, “the cruellest month.” That spring be depicted as ruel is a curious choice on Eliot‟s part, but as a paradox it informs the rest of the poem to a great degree. What brings life brings also death; the seasons fluctuate, spinning from one state to another, but, like history, they maintain some sort of stasis; not everything changes. In the end, Eliot‟s “waste land” is
almost seasonless: devoid of rain, of propagation, of real change. The world hangs in a perpetual limbo,
awaiting the dawn of a new season.
Lust
Perhaps the most famous episode in "The Waste Land" involves a female typist‟s liaison with a “carbuncular” man. Eliot depicts the scene as something akin to a rape. This chance sexual encounter
carries with it mythological baggage – the violated Philomela, the blind Tiresias who lived for a time as a woman. Sexuality runs through "The Waste Land," taking center stage as a cause of calamity in “The
Fire Sermon.” Nonetheless, Eliot defends “a moment‟s surrender” as a part of existence in “What the Thunder Said.” Lust may be a sin, and sex may be too easy and too rampant in Eliot‟s London, but action is still preferable to inaction. What is needed is sex that produces life, that rejuvenates, that restores – sex, in other words, that is not “sterile.”
Love
The references to Tristan und Isolde in “The Burial of the Dead,” to Cleopatra in “A Game of Chess,”
and to the story of Tereus and Philomela suggest that love, in "The Waste Land," is often destructive.
Tristan and Cleopatra die, while Tereus rapes Philomela, and even the love for the hyacinth girl leads
the poet to see and know “nothing."
Water
"The Waste Land" lacks water; water promises rebirth. At the same time, however, water can bring
about death. Eliot sees the card of the drowned Phoenician sailor and later titles the fourth section of his poem after Madame Sosostris‟ mandate that he fear “death by water.” When the rain finally arrives at the close of the poem, it does suggest the cleansing of sins, the washing away of misdeeds, and the start
of a new future; however, with it comes thunder, and therefore perhaps lightning. The latter may portend fire; thus, “The Fire Sermon” and “What the Thunder Said” are not so far removed in imagery, linked by
the potentially harmful forces of nature.
History
History, Eliot suggests, is a repeating cycle. When he calls to Stetson, the Punic War stands in for World
War I; this substitution is crucial because it is shocking. At the time Eliot wrote "The Waste Land," the
First World War was definitively a first - the "Great War" for those who had witnessed it. There had
been none to compare with it in history. The predominant sensibility was one of profound change; the
world had been turned upside down and now, with the rapid progress of technology, the movements of
societies, and the radical upheavals in the arts, sciences, and philosophy, the history of mankind had
reached a turning point.
Eliot revises this thesis, arguing that the more things change the more they stay the same. He links a
sordid affair between a typist and a young man to Sophocles via the figure of Tiresias; he replaces a line
from Marvell‟s “To His Coy Mistress” with “the sound of horns and motors”; he invokes Dante upon
the modern-day London Bridge, bustling with commuter traffic; he notices the Ionian columns of a bar
on Lower Thames Street teeming with fishermen. The ancient nestles against the medieval, rubs
shoulders with the Renaissance, and crosses paths with the centuries to follow. History becomes a blur.
Eliot‟s poem is like a street in Rome or Athens; one layer of history upon another upon another.
Summary and Analysis of Section I: "The Burial of the Dead"
"The Waste Land" begins with an excerpt from Petronius Arbiter‟s Satyricon, in Latin and Greek, which
translates as: “For once I saw with my own eyes the Cumean Sibyl hanging in a jar, and when the boys
asked her, „Sibyl, what do you want?‟ she answered, „I want to die.‟” The quotation is followed by a
dedication to Ezra Pound, Eliot‟s colleague and friend, who played a major role in shaping the final
version of the poem.
The poem proper begins with a description of the seasons. April emerges as the “cruellest” month,
passing over a desolate land to which winter is far kinder. Eliot shifts from this vague invocation of time
and nature to what seem to be more specific memories: a rain shower by the Starnbergersee; a lake
outside Munich; coffee in that city‟s Hofgarten; sledding with a cousin in the days of childhood.
The second stanza returns to the tone of the opening lines, describing a land of “stony rubbish” – arid,
sterile, devoid of life, quite simply the “waste land” of the poem‟s title. Eliot quotes Ezekiel 2.1 and
Ecclesiastes 12.5, using biblical language to construct a sort of dialogue between the narrator –- the “son
of man” -– and a higher power. The former is desperately searching for some sign of life -– “roots that
clutch,” branches that grow -- but all he can find are dry stones, dead trees, and “a heap of broken
images.” We have here a forsaken plane that offers no relief from the beating sun, and no trace of water.
Suddenly Eliot switches to German, quoting directly from Wagner‟s Tristan und Isolde. The passage
translates as: “Fresh blows the wind / To the homeland / My Irish child / Where do you wait?” In
Wagner‟s opera, Isolde, on her way to Ireland, overhears a sailor singing this song, which brings with it
ruminations of love promised and of a future of possibilities. After this digression, Eliot offers the reader
a snatch of speech, this time from the mouth of the “hyacinth girl.” This girl, perhaps one of the
narrator's (or Eliot's) early loves, alludes to a time a year ago when the narrator presented her with
hyacinths. The narrator, for his part, describes in another personal account –- distinct in tone, that is,
from the more grandiloquent descriptions of the waste land, the seasons, and intimations of spirituality
that have preceded it –- coming back late from a hyacinth garden and feeling struck by a sense of
emptiness. Looking upon the beloved girl, he “knew nothing”; that is to say, faced with love, beauty,
and “the heart of light,” he saw only “silence.” At this point, Eliot returns to Wagner, with the line
“Oed‟ und leer das Meer”: “Desolate and empty is the sea.” Also plucked from Tristan und Isolde, the
line belongs to a watchman, who tells the dying Tristan that Isolde‟s ship is nowhere to be seen on the
horizon.
From here Eliot switches abruptly to a more prosaic mode, introducing Madame Sosostris, a “famous
clairvoyante” alluded to in Aldous Huxley‟s Crome Yellow. This fortune-teller is known across Europe
for her skills with Tarot cards. The narrator remembers meeting her when she had “a bad cold.” At that
meeting she displayed to him the card of the drowned Phoenician Sailor: “Here, said she, is your card.”
Next comes “Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,” and then “the man with three staves,” “the Wheel,”
and “the one-eyed merchant.” It should be noted that only the man with three staves and the wheel are
actual Tarot cards; Belladonna is often associated with da Vinci‟s "Madonna of the Rocks," and the one-
eyed merchant is, as far as we can tell, an invention of Eliot‟s.
Finally, Sosostris encounters a blank card representing something the one-eyed merchant is carrying on
his back – something she is apparently “forbidden to see.” She is likewise unable to find the Hanged
Man among the cards she displays; from this she concludes that the narrator should “fear death by
water.” Sosostris also sees a vision of a mass of people “walking round in a ring.” Her meeting with the
narrator concludes with a hasty bit of business: she asks him to tell Mrs. Equitone, if he sees her, that
Sosostris will bring the horoscope herself.
The final stanza of this first section of "The Waste Land" begins with the image of an “Unreal City”
echoing Baudelaire‟s “fourmillante cite,” in which a crowd of people –- perhaps the same crowd
Sosostris witnessed –- flows over London Bridge while a “brown fog” hangs like a wintry cloud over
the proceedings. Eliot twice quotes Dante in describing this phantasmagoric scene: “I had not thought
death had undone so many” (from Canto 3 of the Inferno); “Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled”
(from Canto 4). The first quote refers to the area just inside the Gates of Hell; the second refers to
Limbo, the first circle of Hell.
It seems that the denizens of modern London remind Eliot of those without any blame or praise who are
relegated to the Gates of Hell, and those who where never baptized and who now dwell in Limbo, in
Dante‟s famous vision. Each member of the crowd keeps his eyes on his feet; the mass of men flow up a
hill and down King William Street, in the financial district of London, winding up beside the Church of
Saint Mary Woolnoth. The narrator sees a man he recognizes named Stetson. He cries out to him, and it
appears that the two men fought together in a war. Logic would suggest World War I, but the narrator
refers to Mylae, a battle that took place during the First Punic War. He then asks Stetson whether the corpse he planted last year in his garden has begun to sprout. Finally, Eliot quotes Webster and
Baudelaire, back to back, ending the address to Stetson in French: “hypocrite lecteur! – mon semblable,
– mon frère!”
Analysis
Eliot‟s opening quotation sets the tone for the poem as a whole. Sibyl is a mythological figure who
asked Apollo “for as many years of life as there are grains in a handful of sand” (North, 3).
Unfortunately, she did not think to ask for everlasting youth. As a result, she is doomed to decay for
years and years, and preserves herself within a jar. Having asked for something akin to eternal life, she
finds that what she most wants is death. Death alone offers escape; death alone promises the end, and
therefore a new beginning.
Thus does Eliot begin his magisterial poem, labeling his first section “The Burial of the Dead,” a title
pulled from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. He has been careful to lay out his central theme
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THE WASTE LAND Short Summary
The poem begins with a section entitled .......
"The Burial of the Dead." In it, the narrator -- perhaps a representation of Eliot himself -- describes the seasons. Spring brings "memory and desire," and so the narrator's memory drifts back to times in Munich, to childhood sled rides, and to a possible romance with a "hyacinth girl." The memories only go so far, however. The narrator is now surrounded by a desolate land full of "stony rubbish." He remembers a fortune-teller named Madame Sosostris who said he was "the drowned Phoenician Sailor" and that he should "fear death by water." Next he finds himself on London Bridge, surrounded by a crowd of people. He spots a friend of his from wartime, and calls out to him.
- The next section, "A Game of Chess," transports the reader abruptly from the streets of London to a gilded drawing room, in which sits a rich, jewel-bedecked lady who complains about her nerves and wonders what to do. The poem drifts again, this time to a pub at closing time in which two Cockney women gossip. Within a few stanzas, we have moved from the upper crust of society to London's low- life.
- "The Fire Sermon" opens with an image of a river. The narrator sits on the banks and muses on the deplorable state of the world. As Tiresias, he sees a young "carbuncular" man hop into bed with a lonely female typist, only to aggressively make love to her and then leave without hesitation. The poem returns to the river, where maidens sing a song of lament, one of them crying over her loss of innocence to a similarly lustful man. "Death by Water," the fourth section of the poem, describes a dead Phoenician lying in the water -- perhaps the same drowned sailor of whom Madame Sosostris spoke. "What the Thunder Said" shifts locales from the sea to rocks and mountains. The narrator cries for rain, and it finally comes. The thunder that accompanies it ushers in the three-pronged dictum sprung from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: "Datta, dayadhvam, damyata": to give, to sympathize, to control. With these commandments, benediction is possible, despite the collapse of civilization that is under way -- "London bridge is falling down falling down falling down." About The Waste Land "The Waste Land" caused a sensation when it was published in 1922. It is today the most widely translated and studied English-language poem of the twentieth century. This is perhaps surprising given the poem's length and its difficulty, but Eliot's vision of modern life as plagued by sordid impulses, widespread apathy, and pervasive soullessness packed a punch when readers first encountered it. Of course, "The Waste Land" is not quite the poem Eliot originally drafted. Eliot's close friend and colleague, Ezra Pound, significantly revised the poem, suggesting major cuts and compressions. Thanks to Pound's heavy editing, as well as suggestions (specifically about scenes relevant to their stormy, hostile marriage) from Haigh-Wood, "The Waste Land" defined Modernist poetry and became possibly the most influential poem of the century. Devoid of a single speaker's voice, the poem ceaselessly shifts its tone and form, instead grafting together numerous allusive voices from Eliot's substantial poetic repertoire; Dante shares the stage with nonsense sounds (a technique that also showcases Eliot's dry wit). Believing this style best represented the fragmentation of the modern world, Eliot focused on the sterility of modern culture and its lack of tradition and ritual. Despite this pessimistic viewpoint, many find its mythical, religious ending hopeful about humanity's chance for renewal. Pound's influence on the final version of "The Waste Land" is significant. At the time of the poem's composition, Eliot was ill, struggling to recover from his nervous breakdown and languishing through an unhappy marriage. Pound offered him support and friendship; his belief in and admiration for Eliot were enormous. In turn, however, he radically trimmed Eliot's long first draft (nineteen pages, by some accounts), bringing the poem closer to its current version. This is not to say Eliot would not have revised
the poem on his own in similar ways; rather, the two men seemed to have genuinely collaborated on molding what was already a loose and at times free-flowing work. Pound, like Eliot a crucible of modernism, called for compression, ellipsis, reduction.
The poem grew yet more cryptic; references that were previously clear now became more obscure. Explanations were out the window. The result was a more difficult work -- but arguably a richer one.Eliot did not take all of Pound's notes, but he did follow his friend's advice enough to turn his sprawling work into a tight, elliptical, and fragmented piece.
Once the poem was completed, Pound lobbied on its behalf, convincing others of its importance. He believed in Eliot's genius, and in the impact "The Waste Land" would have on the literature of its day. That impact ultimately stretched beyond poetry, to novels, painting, music, and all the other arts. John Dos Passos's Manhattan Transfer owes a significant debt to "The Waste Land," for example. Eliot's take on the modern world profoundly shaped future schools of thought and literature, and his 1922 poem remains a touchstone of the English-language canon.
Character List
The Narrator
The most difficult to describe of the poem's characters, he assumes many different shapes and guises. At times the Narrator seems to be Eliot himself; at other times he stands in for all humanity. In "The Fire
Sermon" he is at one point the Fisher King of the Grail legend, at another the blind prophet Tiresias.
When he seems to reflect Eliot, the extent to which his ruminations are autobiographical is ambiguous.
Madame Sosostris
A famous clairvoyant referred to in Aldous Huxley's novel Crome Yellow and borrowed by Eliot for the
Tarot card episode. She suffers from a bad cold, but is nonetheless "known to be the wisest woman in
Europe, / With a wicked pack of cards."
Stetson
A friend of the Narrator's, who fought in the war with him. Which war? It is unclear. Perhaps the Punic
War or World War I, or both, or neither.
The Rich Lady
Never referred to by name, she sits in the resplendent drawing room of "A Game of Chess." She seems
to be surrounded by luxury, but unable to appreciate or enjoy it. She might allude to Eliot's wife
Vivienne.
Philomela
A character from Ovid's Metamorphoses. She was raped by Tereus, then, after taking her vengeance
with her sister, morphed into a nightingale.
A Typist
Lonely, a creature of the modern world. She is visited by a "young man carbuncular," who sleeps with
her. She is left alone again, accompanied by just her mirror and a gramophone.
Mr. Eugenides
A merchant from Smyrna (now Izmir, in Turkey). Probably the one-eyed merchant to whom Madame Sosostris refers.
Phlebas
A Phoenician merchant who is described lying dead in the water in "Death by Water." Perhaps the same
drowned Phoenician sailor to whom Madame Sosostris refers.
A Phoenician merchant who is described lying dead in the water in "Death by Water." Perhaps the same
drowned Phoenician sailor to whom Madame Sosostris refers.
Major Themes
Death
Two of the poem‟s sections -- “The Burial of the Dead” and “Death by Water” --refer specifically to this
theme. What complicates matters is that death can mean life; in other words, by dying, a being can pave
the way for new lives. Eliot asks his friend Stetson: “That corpse you planted last year in your garden, /
Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?” Similarly, Christ, by “dying,” redeemed humanity and
thereby gave new life. The ambiguous passage between life and death finds an echo in the frequent
allusions to Dante, particularly in the Limbo-like vision of the men flowing across London Bridge and
through the modern city.
Rebirth
The Christ images in the poem, along with the many other religious metaphors, posit rebirth and resurrection as central themes. The Waste Land lies fallow and the Fisher King is impotent; what is needed is a new beginning. Water, for one, can bring about that rebirth, but it can also destroy.
What the poet must finally turn to is Heaven, in the climactic exchange with the skies: “Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.” Eliot‟s vision is essentially of a world that is neither dying nor living; to break the spell, a profound change, perhaps an ineffable one, is required. Hence the prevalence of Grail imagery in the poem; that holy chalice can restore life and wipe the slate clean; likewise, Eliot refers frequently to
baptisms and to rivers – both “life-givers,” in either spiritual or physical ways.
baptisms and to rivers – both “life-givers,” in either spiritual or physical ways.
The Seasons
"The Waste Land" opens with an invocation of April, “the cruellest month.” That spring be depicted as ruel is a curious choice on Eliot‟s part, but as a paradox it informs the rest of the poem to a great degree. What brings life brings also death; the seasons fluctuate, spinning from one state to another, but, like history, they maintain some sort of stasis; not everything changes. In the end, Eliot‟s “waste land” is
almost seasonless: devoid of rain, of propagation, of real change. The world hangs in a perpetual limbo,
awaiting the dawn of a new season.
Lust
Perhaps the most famous episode in "The Waste Land" involves a female typist‟s liaison with a “carbuncular” man. Eliot depicts the scene as something akin to a rape. This chance sexual encounter
carries with it mythological baggage – the violated Philomela, the blind Tiresias who lived for a time as a woman. Sexuality runs through "The Waste Land," taking center stage as a cause of calamity in “The
Fire Sermon.” Nonetheless, Eliot defends “a moment‟s surrender” as a part of existence in “What the Thunder Said.” Lust may be a sin, and sex may be too easy and too rampant in Eliot‟s London, but action is still preferable to inaction. What is needed is sex that produces life, that rejuvenates, that restores – sex, in other words, that is not “sterile.”
Love
The references to Tristan und Isolde in “The Burial of the Dead,” to Cleopatra in “A Game of Chess,”
and to the story of Tereus and Philomela suggest that love, in "The Waste Land," is often destructive.
Tristan and Cleopatra die, while Tereus rapes Philomela, and even the love for the hyacinth girl leads
the poet to see and know “nothing."
Water
"The Waste Land" lacks water; water promises rebirth. At the same time, however, water can bring
about death. Eliot sees the card of the drowned Phoenician sailor and later titles the fourth section of his poem after Madame Sosostris‟ mandate that he fear “death by water.” When the rain finally arrives at the close of the poem, it does suggest the cleansing of sins, the washing away of misdeeds, and the start
of a new future; however, with it comes thunder, and therefore perhaps lightning. The latter may portend fire; thus, “The Fire Sermon” and “What the Thunder Said” are not so far removed in imagery, linked by
the potentially harmful forces of nature.
History
History, Eliot suggests, is a repeating cycle. When he calls to Stetson, the Punic War stands in for World
War I; this substitution is crucial because it is shocking. At the time Eliot wrote "The Waste Land," the
First World War was definitively a first - the "Great War" for those who had witnessed it. There had
been none to compare with it in history. The predominant sensibility was one of profound change; the
world had been turned upside down and now, with the rapid progress of technology, the movements of
societies, and the radical upheavals in the arts, sciences, and philosophy, the history of mankind had
reached a turning point.
Eliot revises this thesis, arguing that the more things change the more they stay the same. He links a
sordid affair between a typist and a young man to Sophocles via the figure of Tiresias; he replaces a line
from Marvell‟s “To His Coy Mistress” with “the sound of horns and motors”; he invokes Dante upon
the modern-day London Bridge, bustling with commuter traffic; he notices the Ionian columns of a bar
on Lower Thames Street teeming with fishermen. The ancient nestles against the medieval, rubs
shoulders with the Renaissance, and crosses paths with the centuries to follow. History becomes a blur.
Eliot‟s poem is like a street in Rome or Athens; one layer of history upon another upon another.
Summary and Analysis of Section I: "The Burial of the Dead"
"The Waste Land" begins with an excerpt from Petronius Arbiter‟s Satyricon, in Latin and Greek, which
translates as: “For once I saw with my own eyes the Cumean Sibyl hanging in a jar, and when the boys
asked her, „Sibyl, what do you want?‟ she answered, „I want to die.‟” The quotation is followed by a
dedication to Ezra Pound, Eliot‟s colleague and friend, who played a major role in shaping the final
version of the poem.
The poem proper begins with a description of the seasons. April emerges as the “cruellest” month,
passing over a desolate land to which winter is far kinder. Eliot shifts from this vague invocation of time
and nature to what seem to be more specific memories: a rain shower by the Starnbergersee; a lake
outside Munich; coffee in that city‟s Hofgarten; sledding with a cousin in the days of childhood.
The second stanza returns to the tone of the opening lines, describing a land of “stony rubbish” – arid,
sterile, devoid of life, quite simply the “waste land” of the poem‟s title. Eliot quotes Ezekiel 2.1 and
Ecclesiastes 12.5, using biblical language to construct a sort of dialogue between the narrator –- the “son
of man” -– and a higher power. The former is desperately searching for some sign of life -– “roots that
clutch,” branches that grow -- but all he can find are dry stones, dead trees, and “a heap of broken
images.” We have here a forsaken plane that offers no relief from the beating sun, and no trace of water.
Suddenly Eliot switches to German, quoting directly from Wagner‟s Tristan und Isolde. The passage
translates as: “Fresh blows the wind / To the homeland / My Irish child / Where do you wait?” In
Wagner‟s opera, Isolde, on her way to Ireland, overhears a sailor singing this song, which brings with it
ruminations of love promised and of a future of possibilities. After this digression, Eliot offers the reader
a snatch of speech, this time from the mouth of the “hyacinth girl.” This girl, perhaps one of the
narrator's (or Eliot's) early loves, alludes to a time a year ago when the narrator presented her with
hyacinths. The narrator, for his part, describes in another personal account –- distinct in tone, that is,
from the more grandiloquent descriptions of the waste land, the seasons, and intimations of spirituality
that have preceded it –- coming back late from a hyacinth garden and feeling struck by a sense of
emptiness. Looking upon the beloved girl, he “knew nothing”; that is to say, faced with love, beauty,
and “the heart of light,” he saw only “silence.” At this point, Eliot returns to Wagner, with the line
“Oed‟ und leer das Meer”: “Desolate and empty is the sea.” Also plucked from Tristan und Isolde, the
line belongs to a watchman, who tells the dying Tristan that Isolde‟s ship is nowhere to be seen on the
horizon.
From here Eliot switches abruptly to a more prosaic mode, introducing Madame Sosostris, a “famous
clairvoyante” alluded to in Aldous Huxley‟s Crome Yellow. This fortune-teller is known across Europe
for her skills with Tarot cards. The narrator remembers meeting her when she had “a bad cold.” At that
meeting she displayed to him the card of the drowned Phoenician Sailor: “Here, said she, is your card.”
Next comes “Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,” and then “the man with three staves,” “the Wheel,”
and “the one-eyed merchant.” It should be noted that only the man with three staves and the wheel are
actual Tarot cards; Belladonna is often associated with da Vinci‟s "Madonna of the Rocks," and the one-
eyed merchant is, as far as we can tell, an invention of Eliot‟s.
Finally, Sosostris encounters a blank card representing something the one-eyed merchant is carrying on
his back – something she is apparently “forbidden to see.” She is likewise unable to find the Hanged
Man among the cards she displays; from this she concludes that the narrator should “fear death by
water.” Sosostris also sees a vision of a mass of people “walking round in a ring.” Her meeting with the
narrator concludes with a hasty bit of business: she asks him to tell Mrs. Equitone, if he sees her, that
Sosostris will bring the horoscope herself.
The final stanza of this first section of "The Waste Land" begins with the image of an “Unreal City”
echoing Baudelaire‟s “fourmillante cite,” in which a crowd of people –- perhaps the same crowd
Sosostris witnessed –- flows over London Bridge while a “brown fog” hangs like a wintry cloud over
the proceedings. Eliot twice quotes Dante in describing this phantasmagoric scene: “I had not thought
death had undone so many” (from Canto 3 of the Inferno); “Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled”
(from Canto 4). The first quote refers to the area just inside the Gates of Hell; the second refers to
Limbo, the first circle of Hell.
It seems that the denizens of modern London remind Eliot of those without any blame or praise who are
relegated to the Gates of Hell, and those who where never baptized and who now dwell in Limbo, in
Dante‟s famous vision. Each member of the crowd keeps his eyes on his feet; the mass of men flow up a
hill and down King William Street, in the financial district of London, winding up beside the Church of
Saint Mary Woolnoth. The narrator sees a man he recognizes named Stetson. He cries out to him, and it
appears that the two men fought together in a war. Logic would suggest World War I, but the narrator
refers to Mylae, a battle that took place during the First Punic War. He then asks Stetson whether the corpse he planted last year in his garden has begun to sprout. Finally, Eliot quotes Webster and
Baudelaire, back to back, ending the address to Stetson in French: “hypocrite lecteur! – mon semblable,
– mon frère!”
Analysis
Eliot‟s opening quotation sets the tone for the poem as a whole. Sibyl is a mythological figure who
asked Apollo “for as many years of life as there are grains in a handful of sand” (North, 3).
Unfortunately, she did not think to ask for everlasting youth. As a result, she is doomed to decay for
years and years, and preserves herself within a jar. Having asked for something akin to eternal life, she
finds that what she most wants is death. Death alone offers escape; death alone promises the end, and
therefore a new beginning.
Thus does Eliot begin his magisterial poem, labeling his first section “The Burial of the Dead,” a title
pulled from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. He has been careful to lay out his central theme
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The romantic period
The Romantic Period
(1798-1832)
A period marked by great changes in England and the Western world.
England experienced the ordeal of change; shifting from an agricultural society with landholders being the wealthy (aristocratic), to an industrial nation where power shifted to large-scale employers who had to deal with an enlarging working class
There were constant economic cycles of:
These threatened social structures
Three revolutions occurred prior to and within this time period affecting Britain tremendously:
American Revolution 1776 (dealt Britain heavy military and economic losses)
French Revolution 1789 (drew England back into costly wars)
Industrial Revolution
The term Industrial Revolution evolved as power machinery began replacing hand labor
Two Nations developed (capitol and labor), the wealthy industry owners and the poor wage workers/(working class)
A laissez-faire (hands off”) philosophy formed which held that the government should not interfere with private enterprise and so the working class were at the mercy of the owners
Women were considered a deprived class, regarded as inferior to men in all but domestic tasks
They received limited schooling, held lowly vocations, lived under rigid codes, held no legal rights
Despite these seemingly gloomy conditions, this period was also marked by a growing desire to expand the mind and several key developments in literature occurred:
The writers of this period dubbed their time The Spirit of the Age meaning it was a persuasive, intellectual, and imaginative climate; a time of renewal and promise
The emphasis of writers of this time was on personal experience; the expression of individual thoughts and feelings; use of nature as inspiration
Three romantic schools of poetry existed under which several important writers flourished:
The Lake School Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey
The Satanic School Lord Byron, Percy Shelley
The Cockney School (derogatory term for Londoners) William Hazlitt, John Keats
The real flowering of the Romantic movement came with the 1798 publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridges poetic collaboration Lyrical Ballads
Lyrical Ballads , as declared by Wordsworth in the books preface, was a collection of experiments in poetic language and subject matter
Wordsworth was committed to the common people and deliberately chose language and subjects from the common life instead of the upper class
Coleridge was into exploring the exotic and supernatural experiences, letting his imagination wander
Both poets rejected the scientific and industrial worlds, and felt that a better insight into human experiences came from humans relation to nature
Coleridge, Wordsworth, and their fellow friend and writer Robert Southey, spent a great deal of time in a rural lake district of England and are therefore dubbed The Lake Poets
A second generation of poets followed Wordsworth and Coleridge:
Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats
Byron popularized the self-absorbed romantic hero figure in his writings
Byron and Shelley were involved in radical politics and affairs that became scandalous, leading to their self-imposed exile from Britain
Keats also left Britain, but was not overly concerned with the political and social affairs of his contemporaries
Romantic period, though best known for its poetry, also produced many memorable works in prose
(novels/fiction):
Personal essays from Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt and Thomas De Quincey focused on the romantic emphasis of personal experience and appeared in literary journals
The historic novel was pioneered by Sir Walter Scott (most popular novelist of his day); through his best seller Waverley
Gothic novels (involving mystery, horror and supernatural elements) became popular; most famous Mary Shelleys Frankenstein
Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, an ironic/satire novel of manners, introduced more dialogue into fiction and helped pave the way for more realistic novels
Romantic writers strove to break free from the style of their Enlightenment predecessors, dubbed neoclassical writers for their admiration and imitation of classic forms
Romantic writers strove for a sense of freedom, wrote more serious lyric poems about their own experiences, and stressed emotions and imagination in their works (see the chart on pg 707 of your text for a more in-depth comparison
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http://festyy.com/qCOKfm
(1798-1832)
A period marked by great changes in England and the Western world.
England experienced the ordeal of change; shifting from an agricultural society with landholders being the wealthy (aristocratic), to an industrial nation where power shifted to large-scale employers who had to deal with an enlarging working class
There were constant economic cycles of:
These threatened social structures
Three revolutions occurred prior to and within this time period affecting Britain tremendously:
American Revolution 1776 (dealt Britain heavy military and economic losses)
French Revolution 1789 (drew England back into costly wars)
Industrial Revolution
The term Industrial Revolution evolved as power machinery began replacing hand labor
Two Nations developed (capitol and labor), the wealthy industry owners and the poor wage workers/(working class)
A laissez-faire (hands off”) philosophy formed which held that the government should not interfere with private enterprise and so the working class were at the mercy of the owners
Women were considered a deprived class, regarded as inferior to men in all but domestic tasks
They received limited schooling, held lowly vocations, lived under rigid codes, held no legal rights
Despite these seemingly gloomy conditions, this period was also marked by a growing desire to expand the mind and several key developments in literature occurred:
The writers of this period dubbed their time The Spirit of the Age meaning it was a persuasive, intellectual, and imaginative climate; a time of renewal and promise
The emphasis of writers of this time was on personal experience; the expression of individual thoughts and feelings; use of nature as inspiration
Three romantic schools of poetry existed under which several important writers flourished:
The Lake School Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey
The Satanic School Lord Byron, Percy Shelley
The Cockney School (derogatory term for Londoners) William Hazlitt, John Keats
The real flowering of the Romantic movement came with the 1798 publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridges poetic collaboration Lyrical Ballads
Lyrical Ballads , as declared by Wordsworth in the books preface, was a collection of experiments in poetic language and subject matter
Wordsworth was committed to the common people and deliberately chose language and subjects from the common life instead of the upper class
Coleridge was into exploring the exotic and supernatural experiences, letting his imagination wander
Both poets rejected the scientific and industrial worlds, and felt that a better insight into human experiences came from humans relation to nature
Coleridge, Wordsworth, and their fellow friend and writer Robert Southey, spent a great deal of time in a rural lake district of England and are therefore dubbed The Lake Poets
A second generation of poets followed Wordsworth and Coleridge:
Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats
Byron popularized the self-absorbed romantic hero figure in his writings
Byron and Shelley were involved in radical politics and affairs that became scandalous, leading to their self-imposed exile from Britain
Keats also left Britain, but was not overly concerned with the political and social affairs of his contemporaries
Romantic period, though best known for its poetry, also produced many memorable works in prose
(novels/fiction):
Personal essays from Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt and Thomas De Quincey focused on the romantic emphasis of personal experience and appeared in literary journals
The historic novel was pioneered by Sir Walter Scott (most popular novelist of his day); through his best seller Waverley
Gothic novels (involving mystery, horror and supernatural elements) became popular; most famous Mary Shelleys Frankenstein
Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, an ironic/satire novel of manners, introduced more dialogue into fiction and helped pave the way for more realistic novels
Romantic writers strove to break free from the style of their Enlightenment predecessors, dubbed neoclassical writers for their admiration and imitation of classic forms
Romantic writers strove for a sense of freedom, wrote more serious lyric poems about their own experiences, and stressed emotions and imagination in their works (see the chart on pg 707 of your text for a more in-depth comparison
If u like the post please followed
Chaucer Canterbury tales summary and characterization and facts
Chaucer Canterbury tales summary and characterization and facts.......
The Canterbury Tales
🔆🔆The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. Congregating at the Tabard Inn, the pilgrims decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor.
The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave prison separately: a friend of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while Palamon later escapes. Arcite returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly finds Arcite. They fight over Emelye, but their fight is stopped when Theseus finds them. Theseus sets the rules for a duel between the two knights for Emelye's affection, and each raise an army for a battle a year from that date. Before the battle, Arcite prays to Mars for victory in battle, Emelye prays to Diana that she may marry happily, and Palamon prays to Venus to have Emelye as his wife. All three gods hear their prayers and argue over whose should get precedence, but Saturn decides to mediate. During their battle, Arcite indeed is victorious, but as soon as he is crowned victor, he is killed. Before he dies, he reconciles with Palamon and tells him that he deserves to marry Emelye. Palamon and Emelye marry.
🔆When the Knight finishes his tale, everybody is pleased with its honorable qualities, but the drunken Miller insists that he shall tell the next tale. The Miller's Tale, in many ways a version of the Knight’s, is a comic table in which Nicholas, a student who lives with John the carpenter and his much younger wife, Alison, falls in love with Alison. Another man, the courtly romantic Absolon, also falls in love with Alison. Nicholas contrives to sleep with Alison by telling John that a flood equal to Noah's flood will come soon, and the only way that he, Nicholas and Alison will survive is by staying in separate kneading tubs placed on the roof of houses, out of sight of all. While John remained in this kneading tub, Nicholas and Alison leave to have sex, but are interrupted by Absolon, singing to Alison at her bedroom window. She told him to close his eyes and he would receive a kiss. He did so, and she pulled down her pants so that he could kiss her arse. The humiliated Absolon got a hot iron from a blacksmith and returned to Alison. This time, Nicholas tried the same trick, and Absolon branded his backside. Nicholas shouted for water, awakening John, who was asleep on the roof. Thinking the flood had come, he cut the rope and came crashing through the floor of his house, landing in the cellar.
🔆The pilgrims laughed heartily at this tale, but Oswald the Reeve takes offense, thinking that the Miller meant to disparage carpenters. In response, The Reeve's Tale tells the story of a dishonest Miller, Symkyn, who repeatedly cheated his clients, which included a Cambridge college. Two Cambridge students, Aleyn and John, went to the miller to buy meal and corn, but while they were occupied Symkyn let their horses run free and stole their corn. They were forced to stay with Symkyn for the night. That night, Aleyn seduced the miller's daughter, Molly, while John seduced the miller's wife. Thanks to a huge confusion of whose bed is who in the dark, Aleyn tells Symkyn of his exploits, thinking he is John: and the two fight. The miller's wife, awaking and thinking the devil had visited her, hit Symkyn over the head with a staff, knocking him unconscious, and the two students escaped with the corn that Symkyn had stolen.
🔆The Cook's Tale was intended to follow the Reeve's Tale, but this tale only exists as a fragment. Following this tale is the Man of Law's Tale, which tells the story of Constance, the daughter of a Roman emperor who becomes engaged to the Sultan of Syria on the condition that he converts to Christianity. Angered by his order to convert his country from Islam, the mother of the Sultan assassinates her son and Constance barely escapes. She is sent on a ship that lands in Britain, where she is taken in by the warden of a nearby castle and his wife, Dame Hermengild. Both of them soon convert to Christianity upon meeting her. A young knight fell in love with Constance, but when she refused him, he murdered Dame Hermengild and attempted to frame Constance. However, when King Alla made the knight swear on the Bible that Constance murdered Hermengild, his eyes burst. Constance marries King Alla and they have a son, Mauritius, who is born when Alla is at war in Scotland. Lady Donegild contrives to have Constance banished by intercepting the letters between Alla and Constance and replacing them with false ones. Constance is thus sent away again, and on her voyage her ship comes across a Roman ship. A senator returns her to Rome, where nobody realizes that she is the daughter of the emperor. Eventually, King Alla makes a pilgrimage to Rome, where he meets Constance once more, and the Roman emperor realizes that Mauritius is his grandson and names him heir to the throne.
🔆The Wife of Bath begins her tale with a long dissertation on marriage in which she recounts each of her five husbands. Her first three husbands were old men whom she would hector into providing for her, using guilt and refusal of sexual favors. However, the final two husbands were younger men, more difficult to handle. The final husband, Jankin, was a twenty-year-old, half the Wife of Bath's age. He was more trouble, as he refused to let the Wife of Bath dominate him and often read literature that proposed that women be submissive. When she tore a page out of one of his books, Jankin struck her, causing her to be deaf in one ear. However, he felt so guilty at his actions that from that point in the marriage, he was totally submissive to her and the two remained happy. The Wife of Bath's Tale is itself a story of marriage dynamic. It tells the tale of a knight who, as punishment for raping a young woman, is sentenced to death. However, he is spared by the queen, who will grant him freedom if he can answer the question "what do women want?" The knight cannot find a satisfactory answer until he meets an old crone, who promises to tell him the answer if he marries her. He agrees, and receives his freedom when he tells the queen that women want sovereignty over their husbands. However, the knight is dissatisfied that he must marry the old, low-born hag. She therefore tells him that he can have her as a wife either old and ugly yet submissive, or young and beautiful yet dominant. He chooses to have her as a young woman, and although she had authority in marriage the two were completely happy from that point.
The Friar asks to tell the next tale, and asks for pardon from the Summoner, for he will tell a tale that exposes the fraud of that profession. The Friar's Tale tells about a wicked summoner who, while delivering summons for the church court, comes across a traveling yeoman who eventually reveals himself to be the devil himself. The two share trade secrets, and the devil tells him that they will meet again in hell if the summoner continues to pursue his trade. The summoner visits an old woman and issues her a summons, then offers to accept a bribe as a payment to prevent her excommunication. The old woman believes that she is without sin and curses the summoner. The devil then appears and casts the summoner into hell.
🔆The Summoner was enraged by the Friar's Tale. Before he begins his tale, he tells a short anecdote: a friar visited hell and was surprised to see that there were no other friars. The angel who was with him then lifted up Satan's tail and thousands of friars swarmed out from his arse. The Summoner's Tale is an equally vitriolic attack on friars. It tells of a friar who stays with an innkeeper and his wife and bothers them about not contributing enough to the church and not attending recently. When the innkeeper tells him that he was not recently in church because he has been ill and his infant daughter recently died, the friar attempted to placate him and then asked for donations once more. Thomas the innkeeper promised to give the friar a “gift” and gives him a loud fart.
The Clerk, an Oxford student who has remained quiet throughout the journey, tells the next tale on the orders of the Host. The Clerk's Tale recounts a story about Walter, an Italian marquis who finally decides to take a wife after the people of his province object to his longtime status as a bachelor. Walter marries Griselde, a low-born but amazingly virtuous woman whom everybody loves. However, Walter decides to test her devotion. When their first child, a daughter, is born, Walter tells her that his people are unhappy and wish for the child's death. He takes away the child, presumably to be murdered, but instead sends it to his sister to be raised. He does the same with their next child, a son. Finally, Walter tells Griselde that the pope demands that he divorce her. He sends her away from his home. Each of these tragedies Griselde accepts with great patience. Walter soon decides to make amends, and sends for his two children. He tells Griselde that he will marry again, and introduces her to the presumed bride, whom he then reveals is their daughter. The family is reunited once more. The Clerk ends with the advice that women should strive to be as steadfast as Griselde, even if facing such adversity is unlikely and perhaps impossible.
🔆The Merchant praises Griselde for her steadfast character, but claims that his wife is far different from the virtuous woman of the Clerk's story. He instead tells a tale of an unfaithful wife. The Merchant's Tale tells a story of January, an elderly blind knight who decides to marry a young woman, despite the objections of his brother, Placebo. January marries the young and beautiful May, who soon becomes dissatisfied with his sexual attentions to her and decides to have an affair with his squire, Damian, who has secretly wooed her by signs and tokens. When January and May are in their garden, May sneaks away to have sex with Damian. The gods Pluto and Proserpina come upon Damian and May and Pluto restores January's sight so that he may see what his wife is doing. When January sees what is occurring, May tells him not to believe his eyes – they are recovering from the blindness - and he believes her: leading to an on-the-surface happy ending.
🔆The Squire tells the next tale, which is incomplete. The Squire's Tale begins with a mysterious knight arriving at the court of Tartary. This knight gives King Cambyuskan a mechanical horse that can transport him anywhere around the globe and return him within a day. Further, he gives Canacee, the daughter of Cambyuskan, a mirror that can discern honesty and a ring that allows the wearer to know the language of animals and the healing properties of all herbs. Canacee uses this ring to aid a bird who has been rejected in love, but the tale then abruptly ends.
🔆The Franklin's Tale that follows tells of the marriage between the knight Arviragus and his wife, Dorigen. When Arviragus travels on a military expedition, Dorigen laments his absence and fears that, when he returns, his ship will be wrecked upon the rocks off the shore. A young man, Aurelius, falls in love with her, but she refuses to return his favors. She agrees to have an affair with Aurelius only on the condition that he find a way to remove the rocks from the shore, a task she believes impossible. Aurelius pays a scholar who creates the illusion that the rocks have disappeared, while Arviragus returns. Dorigen admits to her husband the promise that she has made, and Arviragus tells her that she must fulfill that promise. He sends her to have an affair with Aurelius, but he realizes the pain that it would cause Dorigen and does not make her fulfill the promise. The student in turn absolves Aurelius of his debt. The tale ends with the question: which of these men behaved most generously and nobly?
🔆The Physician's Tale that follows tells of Virginius, a respected Roman knight whose daughter, Virginia, was an incomparable beauty. Appius, the judge who governed his town, lusted after Virginia and collaborated with Claudius, who claimed in court that Virginia was his slave and Virginius had stolen her. Appius orders that Virginia be handed over to him. Virginius, knowing that Appius and Claudius did this in order to rape his daughter, instead gave her a choice between death or dishonor. She chooses death, and Virginius chops off his daughter's head, which he brings to Appius and Claudius. The people were so shocked by this that they realized that Appius and Claudius were frauds. Appius was jailed and committed suicide, while Claudius was banished.
🔆The Pardoner prefaces his tale with an elaborate confession about the deceptive nature of his profession. He tells the secrets of his trade, including the presentation of useless items as saints' relics. The Pardoner's Tale concerns three rioters who search for Death to vanquish him. They find an old man who tells them that they may find Death under a nearby tree, but under this tree they only find a large fortune. Two of the rioters send the third into town to purchase food and drink for the night (when they intend to escape with their fortune) and while he is gone they plan to murder him. The third rioter poisons the drink, intending to take all of the money for himself. When he returns, the two rioters stab him, then drink the poisoned wine and die themselves. The three rioters thus find Death in the form of avarice. The Pardoner ends his tale with a diatribe against sin, imploring the travelers to pay him for pardons, and be absolved, but the Host berates him scatalogically into silence.
🔆The next story, The Shipman's Tale, is the story of a thrifty merchant and his wife. The wife tells a monk, the merchant’s close friend, that she is unhappy in her marriage, and asks if she might borrow a hundred francs of his. In return for the loan, she agrees, she will sleep with him. The monk then borrows the money from the merchant himself, sleeps with his wife, and pays her her husband’s money. When the merchant asks for his money back, the monk tells him it he gave it to the wife: and when the merchant confronts his wife, the wife simply tells him that she will repay the debt to her husband in bed.
🔆The Prioress' Tale tells the story of a young Christian child who lived in a town in Asia that was dominated by a vicious Jewish population. One child learned the “Alma redemptoris”, a song praising the Virgin Mary, and traveled home from school singing it. The Jews, angry at his behavior, took the child and slit his throat, leaving him in a cesspit to die. The boy's mother searched frantically for her son. When she found him, he was not yet dead, for the Virgin Mary had placed a grain on his tongue that would allow him to speak until it was removed. When this was removed, the boy passed on to heaven. The story ends with a lament for the young boy and a curse for the Jews who perpetrated the heinous crime.
🔆Chaucer himself tells the next tale, The Tale of Sir Thopas, a florid and fantastical poem in rhyming couplets that serves only to annoy the other pilgrims. The Host interrupts Chaucer shortly into this tale, and tells him to tell another. Chaucer then tells The Tale of Melibee, one of two tales that is in prose (the other is the Parson’s Tale). This tale is about Melibee, a powerful ruler whose enemies attack his family. When deciding whether to declare war on his enemies, Prudence, his wife, advises him to remain merciful, and they engage in a long debate over the appropriate course of action. Melibee finally gives his enemies the option: they can receive a sentence either from him or from his wife. They submit to Melibee's judgment, and he intends to disinherit and banish the perpetrators. However, he eventually submits to his wife's plea for mercy.
🔆The Monk's Tale is not a narrative tale at all, but instead an account of various historical and literary figures who experience a fall from grace. These include Adam, Samson, Hercules, King Pedro of Spain, Bernabo Visconti, Nero, Julius Caesar, and Croesus. The Knight interrupts the Monk's Tale, finding his listing of historical tragedies monotonous and depressing, and is backed up by the Host.
🔆The Nun's Priest's Tale tells the story of the rooster Chaunticleer and the hen Pertelote. Chaunticleer was ill one night and had a disturbing dream that he was chased by a fox. He feared this dream was prophetic, but Pertelote assured him that his dream merely stemmed from his imbalanced humours and that he should find herbs to cure himself. Chaunticleer insisted that dreams are signifiers, but finally agreed with his wife. However, Chaunticleer is indeed chased by a fox, and carried off – but is saved when he tricks the fox into opening his mouth, allowing Chaunticleer to fly away.
🔆Chaucer follows this with The Second Nun's Tale. This tale is a biography of Saint Cecilia, who converts her husband and brother to Christianity during the time of the Roman empire, when Christian beliefs were illegal. Her brother and husband are executed for their beliefs, and she herself is cut three times with a sword during her execution, but does not immediately die. Rather, she lingers on for several more days, during which time she orders that her property be distributed to the poor. Upon her death Pope Urban declared her a saint.
🔆After the Second Nun finishes her tale, a Canon (alchemist) and his Yeoman join the band of travelers. The Canon had heard how they were telling tales, and wished to join them. The Yeoman speaks incessantly about the Canon, praising him hugely, but then retracts his praise, annoying the Canon, who suddenly departs. The Yeoman therefore decides to tell a tale about a duplicitous Canon: not, he says, his master. The Canon's Yeoman's Tale is a story of the work of a canon and the means by which they defraud people by making them think that they can duplicate money.
🔆The Host tells the Cook to tell the next tale, but he is too drunk to coherently tell one. The Manciple therefore tells a tale. The Manciple's Tale is the story of how Phoebus, when he assumed mortal form, was a jealous husband. He monitored his wife closely, fearing that she would be unfaithful. Phoebus had a white crow that could speak the language of humans and could sing beautiful. When the white crow learns that Phoebus' wife was unfaithful, Phoebus plucked him of his feathers and threw him out of doors. According to the Manciple, this explains why crows are black and can only sing in an unpleasant tone.
🔆The Parson tells the final tale. The Parson's Tale is not a narrative tale at all, however, but rather an extended sermon on the nature of sin and the three parts necessary for forgiveness: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. The tale gives examples of the seven deadly sins and explains them, and also details what is necessary for redemption. Chaucer ends the tales with a retraction.
Facts
Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English
The Narrator is an anonymous member of the pilgrimage
The pilgrimage happened in the late fourteenth century
In the story, Chaucer's plan is to make none of his storytellers better than others
Each of the characters express different views of reality
The pilgrims destination is the Tabbard Inn
The original copies of Canterbury Tales were printed in 1477
It was written around 1386-1395
It is written in the past tense
Was Chaucer's most famous work
He was supposed to write 120 tales, but he only wrote 24.
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The Canterbury Tales
🔆🔆The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. Congregating at the Tabard Inn, the pilgrims decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor.
The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave prison separately: a friend of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while Palamon later escapes. Arcite returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly finds Arcite. They fight over Emelye, but their fight is stopped when Theseus finds them. Theseus sets the rules for a duel between the two knights for Emelye's affection, and each raise an army for a battle a year from that date. Before the battle, Arcite prays to Mars for victory in battle, Emelye prays to Diana that she may marry happily, and Palamon prays to Venus to have Emelye as his wife. All three gods hear their prayers and argue over whose should get precedence, but Saturn decides to mediate. During their battle, Arcite indeed is victorious, but as soon as he is crowned victor, he is killed. Before he dies, he reconciles with Palamon and tells him that he deserves to marry Emelye. Palamon and Emelye marry.
🔆When the Knight finishes his tale, everybody is pleased with its honorable qualities, but the drunken Miller insists that he shall tell the next tale. The Miller's Tale, in many ways a version of the Knight’s, is a comic table in which Nicholas, a student who lives with John the carpenter and his much younger wife, Alison, falls in love with Alison. Another man, the courtly romantic Absolon, also falls in love with Alison. Nicholas contrives to sleep with Alison by telling John that a flood equal to Noah's flood will come soon, and the only way that he, Nicholas and Alison will survive is by staying in separate kneading tubs placed on the roof of houses, out of sight of all. While John remained in this kneading tub, Nicholas and Alison leave to have sex, but are interrupted by Absolon, singing to Alison at her bedroom window. She told him to close his eyes and he would receive a kiss. He did so, and she pulled down her pants so that he could kiss her arse. The humiliated Absolon got a hot iron from a blacksmith and returned to Alison. This time, Nicholas tried the same trick, and Absolon branded his backside. Nicholas shouted for water, awakening John, who was asleep on the roof. Thinking the flood had come, he cut the rope and came crashing through the floor of his house, landing in the cellar.
🔆The pilgrims laughed heartily at this tale, but Oswald the Reeve takes offense, thinking that the Miller meant to disparage carpenters. In response, The Reeve's Tale tells the story of a dishonest Miller, Symkyn, who repeatedly cheated his clients, which included a Cambridge college. Two Cambridge students, Aleyn and John, went to the miller to buy meal and corn, but while they were occupied Symkyn let their horses run free and stole their corn. They were forced to stay with Symkyn for the night. That night, Aleyn seduced the miller's daughter, Molly, while John seduced the miller's wife. Thanks to a huge confusion of whose bed is who in the dark, Aleyn tells Symkyn of his exploits, thinking he is John: and the two fight. The miller's wife, awaking and thinking the devil had visited her, hit Symkyn over the head with a staff, knocking him unconscious, and the two students escaped with the corn that Symkyn had stolen.
🔆The Cook's Tale was intended to follow the Reeve's Tale, but this tale only exists as a fragment. Following this tale is the Man of Law's Tale, which tells the story of Constance, the daughter of a Roman emperor who becomes engaged to the Sultan of Syria on the condition that he converts to Christianity. Angered by his order to convert his country from Islam, the mother of the Sultan assassinates her son and Constance barely escapes. She is sent on a ship that lands in Britain, where she is taken in by the warden of a nearby castle and his wife, Dame Hermengild. Both of them soon convert to Christianity upon meeting her. A young knight fell in love with Constance, but when she refused him, he murdered Dame Hermengild and attempted to frame Constance. However, when King Alla made the knight swear on the Bible that Constance murdered Hermengild, his eyes burst. Constance marries King Alla and they have a son, Mauritius, who is born when Alla is at war in Scotland. Lady Donegild contrives to have Constance banished by intercepting the letters between Alla and Constance and replacing them with false ones. Constance is thus sent away again, and on her voyage her ship comes across a Roman ship. A senator returns her to Rome, where nobody realizes that she is the daughter of the emperor. Eventually, King Alla makes a pilgrimage to Rome, where he meets Constance once more, and the Roman emperor realizes that Mauritius is his grandson and names him heir to the throne.
🔆The Wife of Bath begins her tale with a long dissertation on marriage in which she recounts each of her five husbands. Her first three husbands were old men whom she would hector into providing for her, using guilt and refusal of sexual favors. However, the final two husbands were younger men, more difficult to handle. The final husband, Jankin, was a twenty-year-old, half the Wife of Bath's age. He was more trouble, as he refused to let the Wife of Bath dominate him and often read literature that proposed that women be submissive. When she tore a page out of one of his books, Jankin struck her, causing her to be deaf in one ear. However, he felt so guilty at his actions that from that point in the marriage, he was totally submissive to her and the two remained happy. The Wife of Bath's Tale is itself a story of marriage dynamic. It tells the tale of a knight who, as punishment for raping a young woman, is sentenced to death. However, he is spared by the queen, who will grant him freedom if he can answer the question "what do women want?" The knight cannot find a satisfactory answer until he meets an old crone, who promises to tell him the answer if he marries her. He agrees, and receives his freedom when he tells the queen that women want sovereignty over their husbands. However, the knight is dissatisfied that he must marry the old, low-born hag. She therefore tells him that he can have her as a wife either old and ugly yet submissive, or young and beautiful yet dominant. He chooses to have her as a young woman, and although she had authority in marriage the two were completely happy from that point.
The Friar asks to tell the next tale, and asks for pardon from the Summoner, for he will tell a tale that exposes the fraud of that profession. The Friar's Tale tells about a wicked summoner who, while delivering summons for the church court, comes across a traveling yeoman who eventually reveals himself to be the devil himself. The two share trade secrets, and the devil tells him that they will meet again in hell if the summoner continues to pursue his trade. The summoner visits an old woman and issues her a summons, then offers to accept a bribe as a payment to prevent her excommunication. The old woman believes that she is without sin and curses the summoner. The devil then appears and casts the summoner into hell.
🔆The Summoner was enraged by the Friar's Tale. Before he begins his tale, he tells a short anecdote: a friar visited hell and was surprised to see that there were no other friars. The angel who was with him then lifted up Satan's tail and thousands of friars swarmed out from his arse. The Summoner's Tale is an equally vitriolic attack on friars. It tells of a friar who stays with an innkeeper and his wife and bothers them about not contributing enough to the church and not attending recently. When the innkeeper tells him that he was not recently in church because he has been ill and his infant daughter recently died, the friar attempted to placate him and then asked for donations once more. Thomas the innkeeper promised to give the friar a “gift” and gives him a loud fart.
The Clerk, an Oxford student who has remained quiet throughout the journey, tells the next tale on the orders of the Host. The Clerk's Tale recounts a story about Walter, an Italian marquis who finally decides to take a wife after the people of his province object to his longtime status as a bachelor. Walter marries Griselde, a low-born but amazingly virtuous woman whom everybody loves. However, Walter decides to test her devotion. When their first child, a daughter, is born, Walter tells her that his people are unhappy and wish for the child's death. He takes away the child, presumably to be murdered, but instead sends it to his sister to be raised. He does the same with their next child, a son. Finally, Walter tells Griselde that the pope demands that he divorce her. He sends her away from his home. Each of these tragedies Griselde accepts with great patience. Walter soon decides to make amends, and sends for his two children. He tells Griselde that he will marry again, and introduces her to the presumed bride, whom he then reveals is their daughter. The family is reunited once more. The Clerk ends with the advice that women should strive to be as steadfast as Griselde, even if facing such adversity is unlikely and perhaps impossible.
🔆The Merchant praises Griselde for her steadfast character, but claims that his wife is far different from the virtuous woman of the Clerk's story. He instead tells a tale of an unfaithful wife. The Merchant's Tale tells a story of January, an elderly blind knight who decides to marry a young woman, despite the objections of his brother, Placebo. January marries the young and beautiful May, who soon becomes dissatisfied with his sexual attentions to her and decides to have an affair with his squire, Damian, who has secretly wooed her by signs and tokens. When January and May are in their garden, May sneaks away to have sex with Damian. The gods Pluto and Proserpina come upon Damian and May and Pluto restores January's sight so that he may see what his wife is doing. When January sees what is occurring, May tells him not to believe his eyes – they are recovering from the blindness - and he believes her: leading to an on-the-surface happy ending.
🔆The Squire tells the next tale, which is incomplete. The Squire's Tale begins with a mysterious knight arriving at the court of Tartary. This knight gives King Cambyuskan a mechanical horse that can transport him anywhere around the globe and return him within a day. Further, he gives Canacee, the daughter of Cambyuskan, a mirror that can discern honesty and a ring that allows the wearer to know the language of animals and the healing properties of all herbs. Canacee uses this ring to aid a bird who has been rejected in love, but the tale then abruptly ends.
🔆The Franklin's Tale that follows tells of the marriage between the knight Arviragus and his wife, Dorigen. When Arviragus travels on a military expedition, Dorigen laments his absence and fears that, when he returns, his ship will be wrecked upon the rocks off the shore. A young man, Aurelius, falls in love with her, but she refuses to return his favors. She agrees to have an affair with Aurelius only on the condition that he find a way to remove the rocks from the shore, a task she believes impossible. Aurelius pays a scholar who creates the illusion that the rocks have disappeared, while Arviragus returns. Dorigen admits to her husband the promise that she has made, and Arviragus tells her that she must fulfill that promise. He sends her to have an affair with Aurelius, but he realizes the pain that it would cause Dorigen and does not make her fulfill the promise. The student in turn absolves Aurelius of his debt. The tale ends with the question: which of these men behaved most generously and nobly?
🔆The Physician's Tale that follows tells of Virginius, a respected Roman knight whose daughter, Virginia, was an incomparable beauty. Appius, the judge who governed his town, lusted after Virginia and collaborated with Claudius, who claimed in court that Virginia was his slave and Virginius had stolen her. Appius orders that Virginia be handed over to him. Virginius, knowing that Appius and Claudius did this in order to rape his daughter, instead gave her a choice between death or dishonor. She chooses death, and Virginius chops off his daughter's head, which he brings to Appius and Claudius. The people were so shocked by this that they realized that Appius and Claudius were frauds. Appius was jailed and committed suicide, while Claudius was banished.
🔆The Pardoner prefaces his tale with an elaborate confession about the deceptive nature of his profession. He tells the secrets of his trade, including the presentation of useless items as saints' relics. The Pardoner's Tale concerns three rioters who search for Death to vanquish him. They find an old man who tells them that they may find Death under a nearby tree, but under this tree they only find a large fortune. Two of the rioters send the third into town to purchase food and drink for the night (when they intend to escape with their fortune) and while he is gone they plan to murder him. The third rioter poisons the drink, intending to take all of the money for himself. When he returns, the two rioters stab him, then drink the poisoned wine and die themselves. The three rioters thus find Death in the form of avarice. The Pardoner ends his tale with a diatribe against sin, imploring the travelers to pay him for pardons, and be absolved, but the Host berates him scatalogically into silence.
🔆The next story, The Shipman's Tale, is the story of a thrifty merchant and his wife. The wife tells a monk, the merchant’s close friend, that she is unhappy in her marriage, and asks if she might borrow a hundred francs of his. In return for the loan, she agrees, she will sleep with him. The monk then borrows the money from the merchant himself, sleeps with his wife, and pays her her husband’s money. When the merchant asks for his money back, the monk tells him it he gave it to the wife: and when the merchant confronts his wife, the wife simply tells him that she will repay the debt to her husband in bed.
🔆The Prioress' Tale tells the story of a young Christian child who lived in a town in Asia that was dominated by a vicious Jewish population. One child learned the “Alma redemptoris”, a song praising the Virgin Mary, and traveled home from school singing it. The Jews, angry at his behavior, took the child and slit his throat, leaving him in a cesspit to die. The boy's mother searched frantically for her son. When she found him, he was not yet dead, for the Virgin Mary had placed a grain on his tongue that would allow him to speak until it was removed. When this was removed, the boy passed on to heaven. The story ends with a lament for the young boy and a curse for the Jews who perpetrated the heinous crime.
🔆Chaucer himself tells the next tale, The Tale of Sir Thopas, a florid and fantastical poem in rhyming couplets that serves only to annoy the other pilgrims. The Host interrupts Chaucer shortly into this tale, and tells him to tell another. Chaucer then tells The Tale of Melibee, one of two tales that is in prose (the other is the Parson’s Tale). This tale is about Melibee, a powerful ruler whose enemies attack his family. When deciding whether to declare war on his enemies, Prudence, his wife, advises him to remain merciful, and they engage in a long debate over the appropriate course of action. Melibee finally gives his enemies the option: they can receive a sentence either from him or from his wife. They submit to Melibee's judgment, and he intends to disinherit and banish the perpetrators. However, he eventually submits to his wife's plea for mercy.
🔆The Monk's Tale is not a narrative tale at all, but instead an account of various historical and literary figures who experience a fall from grace. These include Adam, Samson, Hercules, King Pedro of Spain, Bernabo Visconti, Nero, Julius Caesar, and Croesus. The Knight interrupts the Monk's Tale, finding his listing of historical tragedies monotonous and depressing, and is backed up by the Host.
🔆The Nun's Priest's Tale tells the story of the rooster Chaunticleer and the hen Pertelote. Chaunticleer was ill one night and had a disturbing dream that he was chased by a fox. He feared this dream was prophetic, but Pertelote assured him that his dream merely stemmed from his imbalanced humours and that he should find herbs to cure himself. Chaunticleer insisted that dreams are signifiers, but finally agreed with his wife. However, Chaunticleer is indeed chased by a fox, and carried off – but is saved when he tricks the fox into opening his mouth, allowing Chaunticleer to fly away.
🔆Chaucer follows this with The Second Nun's Tale. This tale is a biography of Saint Cecilia, who converts her husband and brother to Christianity during the time of the Roman empire, when Christian beliefs were illegal. Her brother and husband are executed for their beliefs, and she herself is cut three times with a sword during her execution, but does not immediately die. Rather, she lingers on for several more days, during which time she orders that her property be distributed to the poor. Upon her death Pope Urban declared her a saint.
🔆After the Second Nun finishes her tale, a Canon (alchemist) and his Yeoman join the band of travelers. The Canon had heard how they were telling tales, and wished to join them. The Yeoman speaks incessantly about the Canon, praising him hugely, but then retracts his praise, annoying the Canon, who suddenly departs. The Yeoman therefore decides to tell a tale about a duplicitous Canon: not, he says, his master. The Canon's Yeoman's Tale is a story of the work of a canon and the means by which they defraud people by making them think that they can duplicate money.
🔆The Host tells the Cook to tell the next tale, but he is too drunk to coherently tell one. The Manciple therefore tells a tale. The Manciple's Tale is the story of how Phoebus, when he assumed mortal form, was a jealous husband. He monitored his wife closely, fearing that she would be unfaithful. Phoebus had a white crow that could speak the language of humans and could sing beautiful. When the white crow learns that Phoebus' wife was unfaithful, Phoebus plucked him of his feathers and threw him out of doors. According to the Manciple, this explains why crows are black and can only sing in an unpleasant tone.
🔆The Parson tells the final tale. The Parson's Tale is not a narrative tale at all, however, but rather an extended sermon on the nature of sin and the three parts necessary for forgiveness: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. The tale gives examples of the seven deadly sins and explains them, and also details what is necessary for redemption. Chaucer ends the tales with a retraction.
Facts
Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English
The Narrator is an anonymous member of the pilgrimage
The pilgrimage happened in the late fourteenth century
In the story, Chaucer's plan is to make none of his storytellers better than others
Each of the characters express different views of reality
The pilgrims destination is the Tabbard Inn
The original copies of Canterbury Tales were printed in 1477
It was written around 1386-1395
It is written in the past tense
Was Chaucer's most famous work
He was supposed to write 120 tales, but he only wrote 24.
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Thomas kyd works and facts
Thomas kyd works and facts
Thomas Kyd was the son of Francis Kyd, a scrivener, or professional scribe, of London. He received his education at the Merchant Taylors' School, a well-respected, fairly progressive school attended by sons of middle-class citizens of London.
Thomas Kyd was one of the most important Elizabethan dramatists who preceded William Shakespeare.
Kyd was a seminal force (having a strong influence on later developments) in Elizabethan drama. He is the father of the revenge tragedy, if not of English tragedy.
It was he who introduced blank verse to the English drama before Marlowe.
It was Kyd who adopted the academic Senecan tragedy to the popular theater.
He is the first great English master of melodrama.
He was well-acquainted with the classics and most likely was fluent in Latin and Greek.
His works include The Spanish Tragedy, Soliman and Perseda, etc.
Through his play The Spanish Tragedy, Kyd introduced the genre of “revenge tragedy” to English literature. This drama would go on to influence dozens of other playwrights, among them William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, addressing the universal problems of jealousy and revenge.
Other works by Kyd are his translations of Torquato Tasso’s Padre di Famiglia and Robert Garnier’s Cornelia.
He was one of the university wits.
The Spanish Tragedy established a new genre in English theatre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy.
More about Spanish Tragedy:
The Spanish Tragedy (1585) is one of the most important single plays in all of Elizabethan literature. Modelled after classical Latin tragedies—most notably those of Seneca— the play is largely responsible for the resurgence of tragic drama in sixteenth-century literature. Countless playwrights would imitate the play’s themes of jealousy, revenge, and divine retribution, as well as its intricately-crafted plot. The play has one of the most complex and most compelling storylines for any drama of its period, rivaling even those of Shakespeare. Almost all of Kyd’s present-day fame rests on this single play, and records from his own time suggest that The Spanish Tragedy has always been his most popular and influential work. Some important characters of The Spanish Tragedy are Hieronimo, Lorenzo, Balthazar, Horatio, Isabella, Bel-Imperia, etc.
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CHINUA ACHEBE: works and important facts
CHINUA ACHEBE: works and important facts......
He was born on 16 November, 1930 and died on 21 March, 2013. He was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. He was grown up by his parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria. His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958) was considered his masterpiece in modern African literature. Achebe wrote his novels in English and defended the use of English, a "language of colonisers", in African literature. Achebe's novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of Western and traditional African values during colonial period. He was told many stories by his mother and sister. This helped him to express his ideas through his novels. Achebe criticized Joseph Conrad as ""a bloody racist”, in one of his lectures An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in 1975. Achebe asserted that Conrad's famous novel dehumanises Africans. Achebe had good hand writing and reading skills during his school days. Achebe extensively used library in his school. He discovered Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery (1901), the autobiography of an American former slave; he was much influenced by the work and it showed him the other dimension of reality. He also read novels such as Gulliver's Travels (1726), David Copperfield (1850), and Treasure Island (1883). In 1950 Achebe wrote a piece for the University Herald entitled "Polar Undergraduate", his debut as an author. While at the university, Achebe wrote his first short story, "In a Village Church", which combines details of life in rural Nigeria with Christian institutions and icons, a style which appears in many of his later works. He worked for Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) in 1954. In May 1967, Nigeria and Biafra war took place. It was influenced on the mind of Achebe. After the war, Achebe helped in starting two magazines: the literary journal Okike and Nsukkascope. In June 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize. The judging panel included US critic Elaine Showalter and South African writer Nadine Gordimer. His fictions heavily draw from Oral tradition and folk tales. Achebe has been called "the father of modern African writing." Novelist Margaret Atwood called him "a magical writer – one of the greatest of the twentieth century". Poet Maya Angelou lauded Things Fall Apart as a book wherein "all readers meet their brothers, sisters, parents and friends and themselves along Nigerian roads". Nobel laureate Toni Morrison has noted that Achebe`s work inspired her to become a writer and "sparked her love affair with African literature.”
Famous work Things fall apart
SHORT SUMMARY (Synopsis) for THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe
The novel deals with the rise and fall of Okonkwo , a man from the village of Unuofia. Okonkwo was not born a great man, but he achieved success by his hard work. His father was a lazy man who preferred playing the flute to tending the soil. Okonkwo was opposed to his father’s way of life, and always feared failure. In order to prove his ability, he had overthrown the greatest wrestler in nine villages, set himself up with three wives, two barns filled with yams and a reputation for being a hard worker. The reader learns that he was also one of the egwugwu--the masked spirits of the ancestors. His importance is proved when he is sent as an emissary to Mbaino in order to negotiate for hostages, and he returns successfully with a boy, Ikemefuna and a virgin.
Okonkwo has his faults, one of them being his impatience of less successful men and secondly his pride over his own status. His stern exterior conceals a love for Ikemefuna, who lives with him; an anxiety over his son Nwoye, who seems to take after his father; and an adoration for his daughter Ezinma. His fiery temperament leads to beating his second wife during the Week of Peace. He even shoots at her with his gun, but luckily he misses. This shows his short temper and a tendency to act on impulse, a tendency that backfires on him later on in the novel. The boy, Ikemefuna, is ordered to death by the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Though Okonkwo is upset, he shows his fearlessness and impartiality by slaying the boy himself. His final fault against his tribe is when he unintentionally shoots a boy and kills him; for this he is banished from the village for seven years and has to live in his mother’s village of Mbanta. This is a great disappointment for him although he is consoled and encouraged by his uncle, Uchendu.
The reader now hears of the arrival of the Christian missionaries, who take over the village of Mbanta, as well as Umuofia, set up a church and proceed to convert the tribesmen to Christianity. At first, they face much resistence, but gradually many of the tribesmen including Okonkwo’s own son, Nwoye, are converted and follow the path of Christ. After his period of exile, Okonkwo returns to Umuofia with his family and finds it totally changed. The missionaries have done a lot for the village. Umuofia is prospering economically, but Okonkwo is firm in his refusal to charge his religion.
The missionary Mr. Brown is overzealous in his methods. A Christian named Enoch enters a meeting of the tribe in which the egwugwu is present, and he unmasks one of them. This causes great anger, and the villagers make a decision to destroy the church, which they eventually do. This action incites the wrath of the District Commissioner, who invites Okonkwo along with five other men and overpowers and imprisons them. These elders are humiliated in the prison. On their return, another meeting is held. The commissioner sends some men to stop the proceedings, and Okonkwo, in a fit of fury, beheads one of them. The tribe is disturbed and they let the other men escape. Finding no more support from his tribesmen, Okonkwo hangs himself. His world has fallen apart.
His tribesmen even refuse to cut him down and bury him since taking one’s own life is a violation of the earth goddess, and his men would not bury such a man. His friend Obierika’s words describe the tragedy most powerfully “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog.”
Okonkwo’s suicide is symbolic of the self-destruction of the tribe, for he was a symbol of the power and pride that the tribe had and with its demise, the tribe’s moral center and structure gave way to a more dominant one.
Prizes:
Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1982
Man Booker International Prize in 2007
Works:
Things Fall Apart (1958)
No Longer at Ease (1960)
Arrow of God (1964)
A Man of the People (1966)
Anthills of the Savannah (1987)
Regards
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He was born on 16 November, 1930 and died on 21 March, 2013. He was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. He was grown up by his parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria. His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958) was considered his masterpiece in modern African literature. Achebe wrote his novels in English and defended the use of English, a "language of colonisers", in African literature. Achebe's novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of Western and traditional African values during colonial period. He was told many stories by his mother and sister. This helped him to express his ideas through his novels. Achebe criticized Joseph Conrad as ""a bloody racist”, in one of his lectures An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in 1975. Achebe asserted that Conrad's famous novel dehumanises Africans. Achebe had good hand writing and reading skills during his school days. Achebe extensively used library in his school. He discovered Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery (1901), the autobiography of an American former slave; he was much influenced by the work and it showed him the other dimension of reality. He also read novels such as Gulliver's Travels (1726), David Copperfield (1850), and Treasure Island (1883). In 1950 Achebe wrote a piece for the University Herald entitled "Polar Undergraduate", his debut as an author. While at the university, Achebe wrote his first short story, "In a Village Church", which combines details of life in rural Nigeria with Christian institutions and icons, a style which appears in many of his later works. He worked for Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) in 1954. In May 1967, Nigeria and Biafra war took place. It was influenced on the mind of Achebe. After the war, Achebe helped in starting two magazines: the literary journal Okike and Nsukkascope. In June 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize. The judging panel included US critic Elaine Showalter and South African writer Nadine Gordimer. His fictions heavily draw from Oral tradition and folk tales. Achebe has been called "the father of modern African writing." Novelist Margaret Atwood called him "a magical writer – one of the greatest of the twentieth century". Poet Maya Angelou lauded Things Fall Apart as a book wherein "all readers meet their brothers, sisters, parents and friends and themselves along Nigerian roads". Nobel laureate Toni Morrison has noted that Achebe`s work inspired her to become a writer and "sparked her love affair with African literature.”
Famous work Things fall apart
SHORT SUMMARY (Synopsis) for THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe
The novel deals with the rise and fall of Okonkwo , a man from the village of Unuofia. Okonkwo was not born a great man, but he achieved success by his hard work. His father was a lazy man who preferred playing the flute to tending the soil. Okonkwo was opposed to his father’s way of life, and always feared failure. In order to prove his ability, he had overthrown the greatest wrestler in nine villages, set himself up with three wives, two barns filled with yams and a reputation for being a hard worker. The reader learns that he was also one of the egwugwu--the masked spirits of the ancestors. His importance is proved when he is sent as an emissary to Mbaino in order to negotiate for hostages, and he returns successfully with a boy, Ikemefuna and a virgin.
Okonkwo has his faults, one of them being his impatience of less successful men and secondly his pride over his own status. His stern exterior conceals a love for Ikemefuna, who lives with him; an anxiety over his son Nwoye, who seems to take after his father; and an adoration for his daughter Ezinma. His fiery temperament leads to beating his second wife during the Week of Peace. He even shoots at her with his gun, but luckily he misses. This shows his short temper and a tendency to act on impulse, a tendency that backfires on him later on in the novel. The boy, Ikemefuna, is ordered to death by the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Though Okonkwo is upset, he shows his fearlessness and impartiality by slaying the boy himself. His final fault against his tribe is when he unintentionally shoots a boy and kills him; for this he is banished from the village for seven years and has to live in his mother’s village of Mbanta. This is a great disappointment for him although he is consoled and encouraged by his uncle, Uchendu.
The reader now hears of the arrival of the Christian missionaries, who take over the village of Mbanta, as well as Umuofia, set up a church and proceed to convert the tribesmen to Christianity. At first, they face much resistence, but gradually many of the tribesmen including Okonkwo’s own son, Nwoye, are converted and follow the path of Christ. After his period of exile, Okonkwo returns to Umuofia with his family and finds it totally changed. The missionaries have done a lot for the village. Umuofia is prospering economically, but Okonkwo is firm in his refusal to charge his religion.
The missionary Mr. Brown is overzealous in his methods. A Christian named Enoch enters a meeting of the tribe in which the egwugwu is present, and he unmasks one of them. This causes great anger, and the villagers make a decision to destroy the church, which they eventually do. This action incites the wrath of the District Commissioner, who invites Okonkwo along with five other men and overpowers and imprisons them. These elders are humiliated in the prison. On their return, another meeting is held. The commissioner sends some men to stop the proceedings, and Okonkwo, in a fit of fury, beheads one of them. The tribe is disturbed and they let the other men escape. Finding no more support from his tribesmen, Okonkwo hangs himself. His world has fallen apart.
His tribesmen even refuse to cut him down and bury him since taking one’s own life is a violation of the earth goddess, and his men would not bury such a man. His friend Obierika’s words describe the tragedy most powerfully “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog.”
Okonkwo’s suicide is symbolic of the self-destruction of the tribe, for he was a symbol of the power and pride that the tribe had and with its demise, the tribe’s moral center and structure gave way to a more dominant one.
| Interesting Chinua Achebe Facts: |
|---|
| Chinua Achebe wrote his first short story while at University College titled In a Village Church. |
| After graduation from the University in 1954, Chinua Achebe became a teacher at the Merchants of Light School in Oba. |
| Chinua Achebe quit teaching to become the Director of External Broadcasting in Lagos at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. |
| In 1958 Chinua Achebe sent his manuscript for Things Fall Apart to an agent recommended to him by a friend named Gilbert Phelps. |
| Things Fall Apart was rejected by several publishers, until it reached Heinemann where an educational advisor said, "This is the best novel I have read since the war." 2000 copies were printed in 1959 and the novel received positive reviews and endorsements. |
| Things Fall Apart went on to be translated into more than 50 languages and sold more than eight million copies around the world. |
| Chinua Achebe's next two novels were No Longer at Ease (1960), and Arrow of God (1964). |
| Chinua Achebe married Christiana Chinwe Okoli on September 10th, 1961. They had several children together including Chinelo, Ikechukwu, Chidi, Nwando, and eventually had several grandchildren as well. |
| Chinua Achebe's novel A Man of People was published in 1966. It brought military trouble to him because his book foreshadowed the coup. He sent his wife and children to Port Harcourt, and then followed them to safety. |
| Chinua Achebe's first children's book Chike and the River was published in 1966. He also wrote the children's books How the Leopard Got His Claws (1972), The Flute (1975), and The Drum(1978). |
| Anthills of the Savannah was Chinua Achebe's 5th novel, and it was published in 1987. |
| Chinua Achebe also wrote many short stories, essays, criticisms, poetry, political commentary, and works of non-fiction. |
| Chinua Achebe continued to teach throughout his life. He was a professor at the University of Nigeria, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and at Bard College in New York. |
| Chinua Achebe received more than 30 honorary degrees at universities around the world. |
| Chinua Achebe won many awards for his writing including the Nigerian National Order of Merit, The Man Booker International Prize, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and the United Nations Population Fund appointed him a Goodwill Ambassador in 1999. |
| Chinua Achebe died |
Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1982
Man Booker International Prize in 2007
Works:
Things Fall Apart (1958)
No Longer at Ease (1960)
Arrow of God (1964)
A Man of the People (1966)
Anthills of the Savannah (1987)
Regards
literaturegroupblog
If u like the post please followed the blog
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