The Caroline Age T-3

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• The Senecan Tragedy
• The Puritan Movement
• The Caroline Poetry

The Senecan Tragedy

Seneca (c. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman philosopher and writer of tragedies (Medea, Thyestes, Phaedra). His plays were meant more for reading than acting, but Elizabethan dramatists copied them. The first regular English tragedy, Gorboduc (1561) by Sackville and Norton, followed Seneca.

Features of Senecan tragedy

• Five acts and a Chorus.
• Revenge as the main motive; often a ghost demands revenge.
• Horror and bloodshed – murder, mutilation, madness (in English copies shown on stage).
• Long rhetorical speeches, moral sayings (sententiae).
• Messengers report violent events.
• Characters of high rank; dark, gloomy atmosphere.

Influence: Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy began the English revenge tragedy; it was followed by Hamlet, Webster's The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil, and Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy.

The Puritan Movement

Puritans were strict Protestants who wanted to "purify" the Church of England from Catholic rituals. They valued the Bible, plain living, hard work and strict morality.

• Conflict with Charles I (reigned 1625–1649) led to the Civil War (1642–1651); Charles I was executed in 1649.
• Oliver Cromwell ruled the Commonwealth/Protectorate (1649–1660).
• Puritans closed the theatres in 1642; drama stopped till the Restoration (1660).
• Effect on literature: serious, religious and moral writing; decline of the Elizabethan joyful spirit; growth of prose pamphlets and sermons.
• Greatest Puritan writer: John Milton (Paradise Lost); later John Bunyan (The Pilgrim's Progress, 1678).

The Caroline Poetry

"Caroline" comes from Carolus, Latin for Charles – the age of Charles I (1625–1649). Its poetry has two main groups:

• Metaphysical poets following Donne – Herbert, Crashaw, Vaughan, Marvell.
• Cavalier poets following Ben Jonson ("Sons of Ben") – Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Sir John Suckling, Richard Lovelace. They supported the King (Royalists = Cavaliers).

Features of Cavalier poetry

• Short, light, graceful lyrics – love, wine, beauty, honour, loyalty to the king.
• Carpe diem theme – "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" (Herrick).
• Elegant, polished style; classical models (Horace, Catullus).
• Witty, sometimes cynical attitude to love.
• Less deep thought than the Metaphysicals; more music and courtliness.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) What is Senecan tragedy? Discuss its features and its influence on English drama.
2. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Write an essay on the Puritan movement and its effect on English literature.
3. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Who were the Cavalier poets? Give their main features.
4. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Why is the period called the Caroline age?
5. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a short note on the closing of theatres in 1642.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Paradise Lost Book II by John Milton

Paradise Lost, Book II – John Milton

About the poet

John Milton (1608–1674) – Puritan poet and political writer; Latin Secretary to Cromwell. He became totally blind around 1652 and dictated Paradise Lost (first edition 1667 in 10 books; 1674 in 12 books). Other works: Lycidas, Areopagitica, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes. His aim: to "justify the ways of God to men".

Background

Book I: Satan and his rebel angels, thrown out of Heaven, lie on the burning lake of Hell. Satan rouses them, and they build the palace Pandemonium.

Summary of Book II (our own words)

1. The great council: Satan, seated on a throne "high on a throne of royal state", opens a debate: should they fight Heaven again by open war or by trick?
2. Moloch – the fiercest; wants open war. Even if destroyed, nothing is worse than Hell.
3. Belial – smooth, graceful speaker but lazy; argues for peace and patience; war might make things worse; perhaps God's anger will soften.
4. Mammon – the lover of wealth; suggests they build their own kingdom in Hell using its gold and gems.
5. Beelzebub – Satan's second; puts forward Satan's own plan: attack God indirectly by corrupting the newly created world and Man. The council agrees.
6. Satan volunteers to go alone on the dangerous journey; this wins him glory. The council ends; the devils amuse themselves with games, music, philosophy and exploring Hell.
7. Sin and Death: At Hell's gates Satan meets Sin (born from his head) and Death (child of Satan and Sin). Death and Satan nearly fight; Sin stops them and opens the gates.
8. Chaos: Satan flies through the wild realm of Chaos and Night, gets directions, and at last sees the created world hanging from Heaven by a golden chain.

Satan as a character

• Heroic qualities: courage, leadership, eloquence, strong will.
• But proud, revengeful and deceitful – the father of evil.
• Romantic critics (Blake, Shelley) admired him; Blake said Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it".

Epic features

• Grand subject: the fall of man; grand style in blank verse.
• Epic similes (long comparisons), Latinate words, classical allusions.
• Supernatural machinery, heroic speeches, catalogues.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Describe the great debate in Hell in Paradise Lost, Book II.
2. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Discuss Satan as the hero of Paradise Lost, Book II.
3. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a note on the speech of Belial.
4. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a note on the episode of Sin and Death.
5. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a note on Milton's grand style.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Robert Herrick – Another Grace for a Child
• Thomas Carew – He That Loves a Rosy Cheek
• Sir John Suckling – If You Refuse Me Once and Think Again
• Richard Lovelace – To Althea from Prison
• John Cleveland – An Elegy on Ben Jonson

Robert Herrick – "Another Grace for a Child"

Robert Herrick (1591–1674), a clergyman and Cavalier poet, wrote Hesperides and Noble Numbers (1648). This short poem is a child's prayer before a meal. The child lifts up its small, cold hands to God and thanks Him for the food on the table, asking Him to bless it. Theme: simple faith and gratitude. Style: childlike innocence, tender images ("paddocks" = little frogs; cold hands), short couplets.

Thomas Carew – "He That Loves a Rosy Cheek"

Thomas Carew (1595–1640) – courtier poet. The poem contrasts two kinds of love. A man who loves only rosy cheeks, coral lips and bright eyes loves outward beauty; such love will fade with time, like fuel that burns out. But a man who loves a calm, gentle mind and a sweet, steady nature – inner beauty and virtue – has a love that will last. Theme: inner beauty is permanent; physical beauty fades. Devices: antithesis, images of fire and fuel, regular rhyme.

Sir John Suckling – "If You Refuse Me Once and Think Again"

Sir John Suckling (1609–1641) – witty Cavalier, gambler and soldier (also famous for "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?"). In this lyric the lover tells his lady that if she refuses him again and again, he will not die of grief. He will not waste his life sighing; he will turn away and love someone else. Theme: anti-romantic, practical, cynical view of love; mocks the Petrarchan lover who suffers endlessly. Tone: light, witty, careless.

Richard Lovelace – "To Althea, from Prison"

Richard Lovelace (1617–1657) wrote this in 1642 when he was imprisoned for presenting a Royalist petition. Even in prison the poet feels free: when Althea visits him, when he drinks loyal toasts to the king, when he sings the king's goodness, he is freer than the winds, fishes and birds. Famous lines: "Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage". If he has freedom in love and is free in his soul, only angels enjoy such liberty. Themes: freedom of the mind, love, loyalty to the king. Devices: refrain-like stanza endings, comparison with nature, paradox.

John Cleveland – "An Elegy on Ben Jonson"

John Cleveland (1613–1658) – Royalist poet known for strained metaphysical wit. The elegy praises Ben Jonson (1572–1637), the great dramatist and poet laureate. The speaker says Jonson's death leaves English poetry poorer; his learning, his mastery of the classics and his plays made him the master and judge of poets; other poets can only borrow from him; his own works are his best monument. Features: praise (eulogy), classical allusions, witty conceits, tone of mourning mixed with admiration.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Discuss the main features of Cavalier poetry with reference to the poems prescribed for you.
2. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Critically appreciate "To Althea, from Prison" by Richard Lovelace.
3. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) What contrast does Carew draw in "He That Loves a Rosy Cheek"?
4. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) What is the attitude to love in Suckling's "If you refuse me once and think again"?
5. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a note on Cleveland's "An Elegy on Ben Jonson".

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

The Duchess of Malfi – John Webster

About the author

John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1634) – Jacobean dramatist. His two great tragedies are The White Devil (1612) and The Duchess of Malfi (performed c. 1613–14, printed 1623). Source: an Italian story (Bandello) through William Painter's Palace of Pleasure.

Summary (our own words)

1. Act I: The Duchess of Malfi is a young widow. Her two brothers – Ferdinand (Duke of Calabria, her twin) and the Cardinal – forbid her to remarry, wanting to control her and her wealth. They place Bosola, a poor ex-convict, in her household as a spy. The Duchess secretly marries her honest steward Antonio; her maid Cariola is the witness.
2. Act II: The Duchess has a child. Bosola tests her with apricots (believed to bring on labour) and learns of the birth; he informs the brothers. Ferdinand is wild with rage.
3. Act III: Years later, with three children, the Duchess is still secretly married. Ferdinand enters her room with a dagger. She tells Bosola that Antonio is her husband; Bosola betrays her. The family flees; they are banished from Ancona. Antonio escapes with the eldest son; the Duchess is captured.
4. Act IV: Ferdinand tortures her mentally: gives her a dead man's hand in the dark, shows wax figures of her "dead" husband and children, sends madmen to howl around her. She stays dignified: "I am Duchess of Malfi still." She is strangled with two children and Cariola. Ferdinand, seeing her body, says "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle: she died young" and goes mad (lycanthropy – he thinks he is a wolf). He refuses to reward Bosola, who now repents.
5. Act V: Bosola plans revenge. The Cardinal poisons his mistress Julia. In the dark Bosola kills Antonio by mistake. Then Bosola kills the Cardinal; Ferdinand and Bosola wound each other and all die. Antonio's surviving son is presented as heir.

Themes

• Corruption of power – Church (Cardinal) and State (Ferdinand) both corrupt.
• A woman's right to choose – the Duchess marries for love against male control.
• Class – marriage to a steward of lower rank.
• Revenge and violence, death and darkness.
• Integrity in suffering – the Duchess's courage.

Characters

• The Duchess – loving, brave, dignified, spirited; a tragic heroine.
• Ferdinand – violent, unstable; possibly jealous of his twin sister.
• The Cardinal – cold, calculating, hypocritical.
• Bosola – malcontent, spy and murderer, but with conscience; the most complex character.
• Antonio – good and honest, but weak and passive.

Features

A Jacobean revenge tragedy (Senecan): horror, madness, multiple deaths, dark imagery; also deep poetry and psychology. T. S. Eliot wrote that Webster "saw the skull beneath the skin".

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Discuss The Duchess of Malfi as a revenge tragedy.
2. (Long, Long answer (about 16 marks)) Write a character sketch of the Duchess of Malfi.
3. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a note on the character of Bosola.
4. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Explain the significance of the line "I am Duchess of Malfi still".
5. (Short, Short note (about 4 marks)) Write a note on the torture scenes in Act IV.