Universitatea "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" Iași

Departamentul de Limbi și Literaturi Străine

Catedra de Limbă și Literatură Engleză

CURS DE LITERATURĂ ENGLEZA

ENGLISH LITERATURE
IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE
RENAISSANCE
ANUL I, SEMESTRUL II

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 INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE

1. ENGLISH MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE: DEFINITIONS, PERIODIZATION

AND HISTORICAL LANDMARKS

DEFINITION
MIDDLE AGES (adj. MEDIEVAL): is a period of European history extending
broadly over a period of 1000 years, from the 5th (476 – the year that the last emperor
of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustus, abdicated) century up to the 15th
century. Different writers accept different endings for this period, such as Gutenberg’s
printing press (1455), or the Battle of Bosworth (1485) which marks the end of the
War of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty. The name designates what
the Italian Humanists of the 14th century refer to as an “intermediary age,” in their
desire to return to the values of the Antiquity.

THE ENGLISH MIDDLE AGES: TIMELINE

1) THE ANGLO SAXON PERIOD: OLD ENGLAND

The period extends from the 5th century, marking the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon invasion up to the
Norman Conquest (1066).
Important events:
a) 449/459 AD: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions Hengest and Horsa, Anglo-Saxon
chieftains, called by King Vortigern for help. This event is the beginning of the Anglo-
Saxon invasion.
b) 597 AD: Augustine is sent by the Pope to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. He
becomes the first Bishop of Canterbury
c) The Danish invasions: starting at the end of the 8th century. Their invasion was stopped
by Alfred the Great. In the 10th century, the English had to pay gold to the Vikings to
stay away.

2) THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (from the Normal conquest to 1500)

I. THE NORMAN CONQUEST (1066: The Battle of Hastings): The Norman
Kings and the Plantagenets
The conquest of England by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy who established a
dynasty that ruled Britain up to the War of the Roses. This marks the beginnings of the feudal system in
England, based on the relationship between the King and his vassals. The basis of the system was the
possession of land, so that “every man had a lord (the King’s lord was God) and every lord had land”.
The society was structured like a pyramid, all the members being connected. The vassal, being given
land by his lord, had to pay the latter in products and serve him (provide him with an army) in times of
war. The freemen paid rent and military service while the “serfs” were bound to the land, being a little
more than slaves. England was organized according to the feudal system, so the land was divided among
King, Church and his lords, leaving the poor population subjected to the power and control of the
nobility.
The kings of England up to John Lackland were also Dukes of Normandy, which made them
vassals to the King of France. During Henry II’s reign (1113-1189), the possessions of the King of
England in France were more extended than those of the King of France, which led to continuous
struggles between France and England. There were also conflicts between the Kings and the Church in
the formers' attempt to dominate England (a famous example is the fight between King Henry II and
Thomas Beckett [1163-1170]).

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 MAGNA CARTA (1215) was a charter signed by the king of England (King John) and the
nobles and it limited the rights of the king, marking the decline of the feudal system. Since then, the
relationships between the English kings and the Parliament (an organism that was started first in a
revolutionary attempt to seize the power of the King, in 1258) have been tense.

II. THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR (1337-1453)

This conflict marks the end of the French domination in England as well as the loss of all claims of
England on French territories
III. The Black Death (1348-1350)
It was one of the most severe pandemics in European history. The disease killed almost half of the
population in England bringing important changes in politics, demography, economy, human relations
and art.
IV. The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) was caused by the continuous increase in the
taxes enforced on the population by King Richard II (1367-1400). The main leader was Watt Tyler who
called for fair treatment of England’s poor people: “We are men formed in Christ’s likeness.” The main
call of the people was “When Adam delved and Eve span / Who was then the gentleman?”
V. THE WAR OF THE ROSES (1455 - 1485)
The conflict, ensuing as a result of dynastic struggle between the House of York and the House
of Lancaster. It ended in 1485 with the Battle of Bosworth won by Henry Tudor of Lancaster who
became King Henry VII and started the Tudor Dynasty.

THE RENAISSANCE and REFORMATION

The Renaissance is a cultural period manifest in Italy as early as the 14th century, spreading all over
Europe. It placed at the center of its interests the MAN and its main interest was the recovery of the
cultural values of the Antiquity.
THE TUDORS/The TUDOR DYNASTY
• King Henry VII (1485-1509)
• King Henry VIII (1509-1547) and the ANGLICAN Church
• The REFORMATION (16th century): Martin Luther and John Calvin
• The struggle between Catholics and Protestants
• 1436: Gutenberg’s printing press
• Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
THE STUARTS AND THE JACOBEAN ERA
• King James I (1603-1625)

2. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The English Language belongs to the Germanic branch of languages (the West Germanic sub-
group) of Indo-European languages. There were several Germanic influences: a) the Anglo-Saxon; b).
the North Germanic (Old Norse); c) the Norman.
Before the Anglo-Saxons, there were the Celts, whose language (Celtic) is still preserved in parts of
Wales, Cornwall and Scotland. Latin influenced the English language in several stages, as well. The
Roman conquest did not leave too many traces in the English language. A higher influenced was
exercised by the Latin that came through the religious environment, Latin being the language of the
Church and the language of the educated classes. Another Latin influence came from the contact with
the French after the Norman conquest.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
I. OLD ENGLISH (5th century – 11th century) is the name given to the language spoken by the
various Anglo-Saxon tribes that invaded Britain and settled on its territory. It was not a unified
language, but rather a number of dialects, out of which, four were distinguished: the
Northumbrian, the Mercian, the Kentish and the West Saxon. Old English, an inflected
language in comparison to Modern English, would be virtually incomprehensible today, except

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 for a number of words. Up to the conversion to Christianity, which brought about the
introduction of the Latin alphabet, the runes were used. Old English was also influenced by
Old Norse, after the Danish invasions in the 9th and 10th centuries.
RUNE (OE, ON run “whisper, mystery”): a cryptic sign signifying something mysterious, secret,
pertaining to the hidden lore. It consisted of 24 letters.

The Dream of the Rood Translation in Modern English

Hwæt! Ic swefna cyst secgan wylle,
hwæt me gemætte to midre nihte,
syðþan reordberend reste wunedon!
þuhte me þæt ic gesawe syllicre treow
Lo! I will tell of the best of dreams,
what I dreamed in the middle of the
night,
after the speech-bearers were in bed.
It seemed to me that I saw a very
wondrous tree

II. MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-1500).

After the Norman conquest there was a great confusion due to the coexistence of the older
forms with the language of the new conquerors (a form of Old French). For a while, there was a
language cleavage between the language spoken by the commoners and that of the upper
classes, the new conquerors. Out of this process, a new language emerged: “Middle English”,
which simplified the inflected, Old English forms and changed the stress. Great changes also
occurred in vocabulary with a higher input of French words.

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5
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Whan that Aprill with his shoures sote°
The droghte° of Marche hath perced to the rote,°
And bathed every veyne° in swich licour,°
Of which vertu° engendred is the flour;
Adaptation by Michael Murphy
When that April with his showers soote [its showers
sweet]
The drought of March hath pierced to the root
And bathed every vein in such liquor [rootlet /
liquid]
Of which virtúe engendered is the flower

III. MODERN ENGLISH (1500 - present)

The stage known as "modern English" does not refer to a coherent, unified and unchanged language, but, even
in its early stages, it is easily understood by modern readers. The historical/cultural period studied in this course
of lecture basically overlaps with what is generically known as "Early Modern English" which lacked uniformity,
especially in spelling that was fixed in by dr. Samuel Johnson's dictionary (1755). The editors of the famous texts
of the period, like Shakespeare's, interfered in the plays to make them accessible to the public and they often
had difficulties in deciding over one word or another, one of the causes being the problem of the unfixed
spelling.

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 THE ANGLO-SAXON WORLD

I. WHY STUDY THE ANGLO-SAXONS?

II. THE ANGLO-SAXONS: HISTORY AND CULTURE: PERIODS IN ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY
III. ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE
A. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY
A.1. LAY/ SECULAR POETRY
Heroic poems
Lyrical poetry: Elegies
Charms and riddles
A.2. RELIGIOUS POETRY
The Dream of the Rood
Caedmon
Cynewulf
B. ANGLO-SAXON PROSE

I. WHY STUDY THE ANGLO-SAXONS?

Why study the Anglo-Saxon culture nowadays? How can it be illuminating for our current situation, if it is the case?

The Anglo-Saxon world is fascinating in itself, with its customs and traditions, with its literature and history, with its
exquisite artifacts and illuminated manuscripts that disprove the name of “Dark Ages” given to this period. But, for the
modern student, they are more than an old, dead and forgotten society, the traces of the Anglo-Saxon thought being
found in the formation of the English identity (British and American included), in the shape of the British monarchy up
to the name of the country, changing from BRITANNIA to AENGLA-LAND. The Anglo-Saxons were brought to the
people’s attention in the Protestant Reformation polemics, in Thomas Jefferson’s proposal to place Hengest and Horsa
on the American seal, in the Victorian renewed interest in the Anglo-Saxon world up to the Nazi theory of race purity, or
to modern discussions and polemics about the English identity and the English language. The contemporary world is
much more familiarized with the Anglo-Saxons than we are willing to admit, through J.R.R.Tolkien’s books and the
subsequent movies, and not only. Tales of heroism, loyalty, courage and honor, the eternal battle between good and evil,
against the monster outside and within, all these have traces in the Anglo-Saxon mentality.

GENERALITIES:
• No other European state remained within the same boundaries for such a long time
• Few other European cultures have literary specimens that are so old.
• Most European powers were broken up by war, internal strife or conquest. England survived the Norman
Conquest and was never broken up.
• No other European culture has such a rich collection of vernacular literature.
• Christianity was more influenced by the Anglo-Saxon society than by the Romano-Christian artistic repertoire as
it happened on the continent.

II. THE ANGLO SAXONS: HISTORY AND CULTURE

PREHISTORY: Before the Anglo-Saxons: the British Isles were inhabited by a population called the Iberics (probably
the builders of Stonehenge). We know that the islands had been inhabited from the oldest times, but little remains of
those times, and is still enshrouded in mystery. In the 6th and 7th centuries BC, the Celts arrived and they soon controlled
the islands. From 55BC to 43 AD, the Romans tried to conquer this outpost that had been causing serious problems in
their rebellious continental colonies. The Roman occupation was much looser than in continental Europe and lasted till
the 5th century. However, there are no outstanding lasting marks from that period, either in literature, or in language. At
the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, the Celtic Britons withdrew in Cornwall and Wales, preserving there their language and
culture.

THE ANGLO-SAXONS were tribes of GERMANIC origin. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells the story of the Anglo-
Saxon invasion, stating that in 449, Hengest and Horsa (probably one person) were called by King Vortigern to help him
fight against the Picts and they were given land. This marks the beginning of the invasion of England by the three Anglo-

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Saxon tribes: the ANGLES , the SAXONS and the JUTES. In this period (the second half of the 5th century), historians
place the reign of a king who tried to stop, for 50 years, this invasion and who might have stood at the basis of King
Arthur’s legend.

PERIODS IN ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY

1. MIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT (500-600)
The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes formed smaller kingdoms some of whose names still remain in the names of the
counties in England (Essex, Sussex, Wessex). By the middle of the 7th century, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex
became more powerful. Even if they had kings, they were elected by a Council (WITAN). This principle of elective
kingship is evident in Beowulf. They divided the country in shires ruled by an administrator: shire-reeve – sheriff. At the
beginning they were a rather egalitarian society, grouped according to kin bonds. Of great importance was the “great
hall” – the mead-hall where the men/ warriors gathered. It was the center of their society and the dwelling place of the
king. “A well-ordered hall is the sign of a wealthy society”, hence the importance of the hall in Beowulf and the most
disturbing fact that the attacks, in this poem, were within the hall, at the very core of the society. The Anglo-Saxons were
pagan, having the same deities as all the other Germanic tribes.

2. CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY (600-700).

In 597, Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory to convert the Anglo-Saxons. Christianity, therefore, was spread in the
British Isles from two directions. The earlier conversions were made by Welsh and Irish missionaries, suggesting the fact
that, even before the Anglo-Saxon invasion, there were Christians in the British Isles, but they was not a centralized
religious force. The second conversion was done by missionaries sent from Rome. The differences between the Roman
and the Irish church were regulated in 664, at the Council of Whitby that ruled in favor of the Roman Church.
There is the beautiful story of Paulinus converting King Edwin of Northumbria to Christianity. One of the king’s
councilors is said to have uttered the words that convinced the king to become a Christian, words that say a lot about
their Pagan beliefs and the way in which they saw life:

“Great king,” said he. “Imagine that you sit in the hall of your palace, surrounded by your lords at
supper, while a storm rages without. And then a sparrow flies in from the darkness and the cold. It
tarries a little by the fire, then it flies out again into the darkness and the unknown.
“So appears the life of man, who comes in from one door and leaves by another, coming from no one
knows where and going out into the unknown on a winter’s night. If the new faith of Paulinus can tell us
anything of this strange mystery, let us follow it.” (The story is told by Bede)
Thus, Christianity, beside the political advantages of becoming part of a larger Christian community in Europe, also
offered more convincing and soothing answers to the mysteries of life and death, rewarding the good deeds and offering
hope in a world of hardships, violence and war.
Consequences of the conversion to Christianity:
• A sense of unity of the English people fostered by Canterbury.
• The development of a vernacular literature coming from the interest of the bishop in the possibilities of the
English language. This interest is due to Theodore, a Greek coming from the Eastern church which was
more interested in the native languages and cultures than the Western Church.
• Unlike other cultures, England and Ireland (because of the Irish Christian Church) were still celebrating the
old heroes, which explains the survival of such poems as Beowulf. Secular heroic poetry reflects the lifestyle
and values of the warriors (the aristocracy) and they were not easily relinquished as the Church needed the
support of the aristocracy.

3. THE GOLDEN AGE OF ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE (the end of the conversion – the Vikings’ raid on
Lindisfarne in 793) –
The Golden Age occurred due to a combination of factors, from weather and the wealth of the land to the conversion to
Christianity that led to great enthusiasm about monastic life and to a period of relative political stability that allowed
monasteries to accumulate wealth over several generations. This wealth, unfortunately, drew the envy of the predators,
the Norseman from Denmark (the Vikings), who started raiding the monasteries. There are some great figures that are
distinguished in this period. One is Aldhelm, monk and scholar and poet, though his works, prose and poetry are in
Latin.
The most impressive figure of the period is The Venerable Bede

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The Venerable Bede (672-735) was a Benedictine Monk who spent most of his life teaching and writing. Though the
amount of writing is remarkable, he is most famous for Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastic History
of the English People) (the 8th century, cc. 731 AD). His style is direct and straightforward and he relies a lot on
examination and investigation of sources, stating where he believes his sources to be unreliable. He is an importance
source of information for a period in the history of England and the life of the English people before Alfred the Great.
Bede gives the impression of a united kingdom which was not the case in his time when the territory was divided among
different chieftains or kings. The problem, however, is solved by the word “ecclesiastical” (religious unity). He is
nowadays considered the “father of English history” and much of our knowledge about the Anglo-Saxons, their political
problems, religious issues but also their lives, comes from this important source of information.
.
4. THE VIKING PERIOD (800-900)
The Raids of the Vikings (Norwegians and Danes) started in 789. At first they only raided the country, but, little by little
some of them settled.

5. THE REVIVAL OF THE ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE

The Vikings conquered most of the country until one king, ruler over Wessex, organized the defense of the Anglo-
Saxons, managing to be victorious over the Vikings.

ALFRED THE GREAT (859-901)

This king was Alfred the Great (859-901), whose influence was not only military and political but also cultural. Politically,
King Alfred’s influence was extremely important. Through clever tactics, he managed to organize the army (fyrd) and
navy in order to protect his country. Most importantly, he was the first king of all England, uniting the English under his
rule. Culturally, King Alfred was a great scholar whose efforts led to the revival of the Anglo-Saxon culture. He was
convinced that learning should not be neglected and so his efforts went in two directions:
i. Improving the Latinity of the country: he called scholars from Europe to teach Latin and write in Latin
ii. Encouraging writing in English: he started a program of translation of key texts from Latin into English.
The following translations were produced:
 Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care and the Dialogues
 The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
 The History of the World Against the Pagans by Orosius
 Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede
 The Soliloquies of St. Augustine
 A prose version of the first fifty Psalms
He also provided Prefaces written in English in which he explained why they were important.
It was in his time that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was started and it was continued by different writers up to 1154. It is
the oldest vernacular history except for the Irish chronicles.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
“878 In this year in midwinter after twelfth night the enemy came stealthily to Chippenham, and occupied the
land of the West Saxons and settled there, and drove a great part of the people across the sea, and conquered
most of the others; and the people submitted to them, except the king Alfred. He journeyed in difficulties
through the woods and fen-fastness with a small force … ”

Due to renewed raids of the Danes, the English king, Aethelred, decided to pay tribute to keep them away, a tribute
known as the Danegeld. In addition, he made a treaty to the Duke of Normandy to help each other against the common
enemies and married his daughter. The result was that the descendants of the Duke of Normandy, more precisely
William, would claim the throne of England, on account of their family relationships with the kings of England. In 1014,
England had a Danish king, Cnut, who was, however, a good king who tried to keep England safe. He opened the
period of the reign of the Danish Kings. The last Anglo-Saxon king was Edwards the Confessor who died without leaving
direct heirs, thus causing the Norman invasion.
Because the wars with the Vikings ceased, the monastic and court culture started flourishing again. It is from this period,
the 10th-11th centuries, that the manuscripts containing Anglo-Saxon poetry date. The works of art created in the
monasteries at that time are exquisite and demonstrate a high level of professionalism and craftsmanship. The
workshops created beautiful objects and elaborate illuminations and the learning reached a high point. The poetry and
prose of the time are very important and demonstrate a high level of artistry.

III. ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE

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 A. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY: general presentation
Few specimens from the literature of the Anglo-Saxon survived the passage of time, as they were copied in manuscripts,
saved from fire and plunder, surviving at random. They came to us in copies, second or third hand, since no original is
now available to modern readers.
Anglo-Saxon poetry was at first oral, transmitted by minstrels (scops) who used to travel from one court to the other and
entertain the people with poems that were usually sung. With the conversion to Christianity and the development of
monastic culture, the texts were written and included in manuscripts. These manuscripts did not record only Christian
literature, but also pagan literature.
• The techniques and rhetorical devices are proper to this oral tradition: alliteration, kenning, repetition of
sentence elements, use of mnemonic devices.
• The poems did not have names (the names were given later, by critics and scholars) and they were mostly
anonymous.
The poems were not rhymed, but alliterative, based on the repetition of the same sounds. The long lines of the
poems were divided in the middle by a breath-pause or caesura and united by alliterations that made them musical. In
order to fulfill the requirements of alliteration, the poems appealed to kennings, metaphorical compounds that
employed figurative language in the place of a more concrete depiction.
There are four manuscripts in which the poems, pagan or Christian, were preserved:
• The Junius Manuscript: religious poetry, Old Testament paraphrase and lyrics on Old and New
Testament themes.
• The Vercelli Book: six religious poems and homiletic prose
• The Exeter Book: a collection of poetry, both religious and secular
• The Beowulf Manuscript: “monster” tales
It is difficult to decide why certain texts were included in the manuscripts. For instance, by taking into consideration the
religious content and the larger format of the Junius Manuscrips, critics suggested that it might have had some liturgical
use. The Exeter Book, on the other hand, including both religious and secular texts might have been made for a rich
patron. The variety of manuscript contexts in which the poems survive adds to the difficulty of determining anything of
their origin and transmission.

A.1. LAY/SECULAR POETRY

A.1.1. HEROIC POEMS telling of battles and deeds of valor, out of which we can distinguish the spirit of the
Anglo-Saxons, a warrior culture that valued courage in battle and heroism. Out of these poems, the modern reader
learns of a society organized around its leader (King), chosen from among the worthiest warriors (see Beowulf) and to
whom the lords (thanes) pledge loyalty. The duty of the warriors is to serve their King, be brave in battle, be truthful and
honorable. The Anglo-Saxons hated treason which was unjustly punished. Thus, revenge is one of the main rules of the
society.

EPIC: a long narrative poem, about the deeds of warriors and heroes. It incorporates myth, legend, folklore and
history. Often, epics are of national significance.
Types:
1. primary= oral or primitive, they belong to the oral tradition and were written down much later.
Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey, Beowulf, the lays of Elder Edda, the epic cycles of the South Slaves
2. Secondary or literary: Virgil’s Aeneid, Lucan’s Pharsalia, the Song of Roland, Milton’s Paradise Lost,
Hugo’s La Legende des Siecles.

Beowulf is the great epic of the English world, telling of heroes and battles, human and non-human characters.
Researchers have tried to pinpoint the moment of its creation, suggesting that Hengest, the Jute, who is mentioned in a
secondary story in Beowulf, could be the one who came to England in 449. The poem opens with the mention of Scyld
the Scylding, the founder of the Scylding Danish dynasty (c. 400) or a mention of the Merovingians, and indeed, around
700, the king of the Francs was Merovingian. Therefore, though it deals with the battle against fantastic creature, the
poem supplies a wealth of historical names.
Another problem appears in judging the religion depicted in the text. The scribe of the text was most likely
Christian, but the only religious elements found are the references to Cain and Abel, showing the importance of kinship
and loyalty to your own kin, highly valued in the Anglo-Saxon world.

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 The poem is short compared to other world epics, only 3182 lines, and was found in a 10th century manuscript.
Most critics argue that it may have been composed two centuries earlier and refers to events that took place before the
Anglo-Saxon invasion.

COMPOSITION
1. The events of the story, according to historical references, might have occurred somewhere in the 5th – 6th
century.
2. Date of creation – probably a few centuries later, maybe in the 7th or 8th centuries, when there was a period of
cultural bloom in England.
3. Copied, probably by a monk and included in a 10th century manuscript
4. Shorter than other world epics, only 3182 lines.

The poet seems to have a very good command of Germanic literature and mythology as well as of Germanic history,
giving a sense of authenticity by including many historical figures and events.

STRUCTURE
• Introduction: the origins of the Danish dynasty, the glorious reign of Hrothgar and the building of Heorot
• 1. the battle with Grendel
Heorot is attacked by a troll-like creature, Grendel, envious of sounds of feasting in the meadhall, at King Hrothgar’s
court. Beowulf comes from Geatland to offer his help. He tears off Grendel’s arm who runs to his cave in pain. (Feasting
and celebration)
• 2. the battle with Grendel’s mother
Grendel’s mother comes to revenge her son’s death and kills Hrothgar’s chief counsellor. Beowulf follows her to her
underwater den and kills her with a sword forged by the giants. He decapitates Grendel’s corpse and brings the head.
(Feasting and celebration)
• 3. the fight with the Dragon
Beowulf becomes king and rules for fifty years until the country is attacked by a dragon. The dragon is stirred by a
fugitive who steals a gold cup. While fighting against the dragon, Beowulf is left by his retainers except for a young
relative, Wiglaf. He eventually kills the dragon but is injured to death himself. A dooming fate is predicted for the Geats
who deserted the king. Beowulf is burnt on a pyre and then interred in a tumulus with the dragon’s treasure, although he
asked Wiglaf to use the treasure for the people.

PAGAN ELEMENTS
• Elements pertaining to the heroic world
– the overpowering Fate (the poem is interspersed with pessimistic forebodings, such as the burning of
Heorot and further dynastic strife as well as the loss of the gifts Beowulf received from the Danish
queen in a battle in which the King of the Geats is killed.
– The belief in the fleeting life, for instance, the fifty years of Beowulf’s reign are presented in a few lines.
– Belief in monsters, witches coming from the nightmarish visions of the Norsemen and from the
Germanic mythology. However, only monsters have supernatural powers. Beowulf is very strong, but
there are limits to his powers and physical strength.
– Care for weapons.
– Elements pertaining to the Germanic culture: feasting, the giving of rewards, vengeance, burning the
dead, reading omens.

CHRISTIAN ELEMENTS
• Grendel is a descendent of Cain, cursed by God like his ancestor, and so, he is a true manifestation of
evil (on the other hand, though, he belongs to the Northern mythology).
• Allusions to the events of the Old Testament such as the Flood, Cain and Abel.
There is, however, a clear-cut distinction between the characters, who are pagan and never allude to Christian elements
and the poet who intersperses his story with Christian allusions. However, in spite of the presence of numerous pagan
elements, the poem does not depict prayers to Wotan or other Germanic gods, or other pagan rites that would have
shocked Christian readers. References to the Germanic gods are vague: “the almighty” (se celmibtiga), “the ancient
creator” (ealdmetod) or “the ruler” (wealdend).

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 THEMES
• It may be seen as an exploration of “our primal selves,” suggesting the curiosity of the Christian Anglo-Saxon
poet about the remote origins of his people.
• A pessimistic vision on life, controlled by FATE
• Contrast between HUMAN SOCIETY and the WILDERNESS
• Fight between the INDIVIDUAL and the UNKNOWN/ TIME/ DESTINY
• HEROIC VALUES: the ideal warrior and the ideal king
• The self-sacrificing hero (the Christian intrusion)

The Battle of Brunanburh depicts a battle in which the English won a victory over the armies of the Welsh, the
Irish and the Scots in 937
Here King Athelstan, Lord of earls
Ring-giver to warriors and his brother Edmund also
Won life-long glory in battle, by the edges of swords,
around Brunanburh.
Those heirs of Edward split the shield wall
Hewed the war-shields with the leavings of hammers
Because their nobility came to them from their ancestors,
They defended the land against each of enemies,
Protected the treasure, and the homes.

The Battle of Maldon depicts a battle fought against the Danes in 991.
“The mind must be the firmer, the heart must be the braver, the courage must be the greater, as our
strength grows less. Here lies out lord all cut to pieces, the good man on the ground. If anyone thinks
now to turn away from this war-play, may he be unhappy forever after.”

A.1. 2. LYRICAL POETRY, ELEGIES

The spirit of the Anglo-Saxons was a melancholic one, the hardships of their lives and the unfriendly weather, the perils
of their times and the violence and insecurity surrounding them left their mark on their spirit, and consequently, on their
poetry. Their lyrical poems are mostly elegies, united by common themes, such as uprootedness, solitude, sadness and
lamentation, exile or social disgrace. They lament a life of isolation, exile, emptiness and solitude, the transitory
character of life and glory. They saw their lives dominated by an unforgiving fate or “wyrd” (“Fate remains wholly
inexorable” in The Wanderer; “Fate goes ever as she shall!” in Beowulf). Most of these poems are to be found in the
Exeter Book, an old manuscript copied at the end of the 10th century, though there is still a debate over where it was
copied from.

Widsith (The Far-Traveler) is a poem about a scop who travelled long and wide, was welcomed by kings and given gifts.
It is interesting to notice the fact that art, mainly poetry, was valued at the time. Similarly, we can devise, from Widsith’s
story, the fact that the people in the early Middle Ages were not isolated, but continuously in contact with the world.
Deor’s Lament is the lament of a minstrel replaced by a rival.
“The anxious, grieving man deprived of joy,
Lives with a darkened min; it seems to him
His share of sorrows will be everlasting;
…………………………………………………….
Once I was a minstrel of the Heodenings,
Dear to my patron, and my name was Deor.
I held for many years a fine position
And loyal lord, until Heorrenda now,
That skilful poet, has received my lands,
Which once my lord and master gave me.
That passed away, and so may this from me.”
The Ruin is a poem of sad contemplation of the ruin of an ancient burg which allows for a meditation on the flow of
Time, destroyer of glory and splendor.
The Wanderer is the story of a man who lost his lord, being now alone, prone to dangers from the outside, and sadness
due to lack of friends and comfort.

12
The Seafarer describes the perils of those who travel the sea, but the main idea is that solitude and exile are good for the
soul, when they are embraced voluntarily, making a willing sacrifice for the love of God..
A man who is happy on the land will not understand how I, wretched and
miserably sad, have for years followed the exile path on the ice-cold sea,
deprived of my kin, hung all about with rime-ice. Hail fell in showers.
At times I only heard the roaring sea, the ice-cold wave. At times the song
of the swan came to me instead of people’s laughter, the gannet’s cry and
the curlew’s song in place of the mead-drinking.
The Wife’s Lament is a story of a woman separated from her husband by the evil relatives, being one of the extremely
few poems about women in Anglo-Saxon literature.
I force out this song, tell about my sorrowing self. I can tell what miseries, new and old, I have endured
since I grew up—never more than
now. Always I have suffered torment in my exile-paths.
First my lord departed away from his people, over the play of the
waves. I had sorrow at dawn about where my lord was, and so I went
wandering, to seek a following, and my man’s kin schemed secretly
to separate us so that we two must be miserably apart in the world.
And I longed for him.

A.1. 3. CHARMS AND RIDDLES

The Anglo-Saxon manuscripts also contain a large amount of charms and riddles that demonstrate, on the one hand,
that the pagan undercurrent did not totally disappear after the conversion to Christianity, the population still appealing to
charms and other magical incantations for daily activities.
Garmund, God's servant,
find those cattle, and fetch those cattle,
and take those cattle, and keep those cattle,
and bring those cattle home.
So he have no land to lead them off to,
nor solid ground to stand them up on,
nor any house in which to hide them.
If any should do so, may it get him nowhere.
Within three nights I will know his might,
his strength and his skill, and his style of protection.
May he be withered as wood is consumed,
as frail as a thistle,
he who devises to drive off these cattle,
or thinks to steal anything of mine.
Amen. (Charm for the Theft of Cattle)
RIDDLES
The riddles are also a proof of the complexity of the Anglo-Saxon life and imaginary. From the pagan and religious
poems, we, as readers, are left with the impression of a serious, pessimistic Anglo-Saxon soul, but the riddles suggest that
there is more to be discovered, that humor, wit and a playful spirit was also part of their world.
“I am a lonely being, scarred by swords,
Wounded by iron, sated with battle deeds,
Wearied by blades. Often I witness war,
Perilous fight, nor hope for consolation,
That any help may rescue me from strife
Before I perish among fighting men.” (A Shield)

A. 2. RELIGOUS POETRY:
This type of poetry drew its sources from the Bible, the lives of saints, visions coming upon people. Although they are
rewritings of Biblical stories, the main preoccupations of the Anglo-Saxons still pervade the religious poetry that focuses
on courage, military conflicts and battle victories. Christ himself becomes a warrior fighting the forces of darkness (Christ
and Satan), whereas Judith (Judith) is a fierce female warrior fighting the Grendel-like monster, the invader Holofernes.
In the Genesis, Adam’s fall is depicted as a transgression not unlike the betrayal of a thane to his lord.

13
The Dream of the Rood (The Vercelli Book) is considered one of the most exquisite poems in Anglo-Saxon literature.
It tells the story of the rood, the cross on which Christ was crucified using the trope of prosopopoeia (the inanimate
object speaks, in this case, the cross tells its story). It is interesting to notice how the Christian story was made to fit the
Anglo-Saxon warrior culture. Therefore, the cross is the thane and Christ is the lord, and so, the cross has to protect and
obey the lord. However, the lord asked the cross to assist him in his death. Christ is seen like a valiant warrior
courageously embracing his death, whereas the cross is, alternatively, an object bedecked in jewels and an instrument of
torture covered in blood.

Caedmon (second half of the 7th century), according to Bede, was the first known Anglo-Saxon poet. He was a simple,
uneducated man who could not sing. During a fest, he received a vision from an angel of God who told him to sing and
praise the Lord. We do not know for sure what poems were his. Critics connected the manuscripts they found in the
Junius Book having the same subjects Bede said Caedmon wrote about (Genesis A and B, Exodus, etc.).

Now we must praise the Protector

of the heavenly kingdom
The might of the Measurer and
His mind's purpose,
the work of the Father of Glory, as He for each of the wonders,
the eternal Lord, established a beginning.
He shaped first for the sons of the Earth
heaven as a roof, the Holy Maker;
then the MiddleWorld
mankind's Guardian, the eternal Lord, made afterwards,
solid ground for men, the almighty Lord.

Cynewulf (? 750-? 825) almost certainly wrote The Fates of the Apostles and Elene in the Vercelli Book, and Christ and
Juliana to be found in the Exeter Book, since all these four poems share the same stylistic and thematic characteristic.
He is the first to sign his poems by adding runes in the text that was written in Latin alphabet. If one extracts the runes
from a text, the name of poet appears. While Caedmon was more interested in Biblical subjects, Cynewulf wrote poems
on the events of the calendar. Unlike typical Anglo-Saxon poetry, he is not interested in depicting deeds of valor and
battles, whereas his female characters, saints and martyrs, are more prominent, taking into account the fact that women
generally lack from Old English poetry.

Mankind/Cynewulf will pass sorrowing away. The king, the giver of

victories, will be wrathful when stained with sins, the sheep
(Cynewulf) await what he wills to decree to them according to their
deeds as reward for their life Cynewulf will tremble and temporize,
miserably anxious.(from Christ, example of a signed text)

B. PROSE.
The prose writing in the AS period was mostly religious or historical.
The Venerable Bede (672-735)
King Alfred the Great (859-901)
 Translations from Bede, Pope Gregory the Great, Orosius, Boethius from Latin into Anglo-Saxon
 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The king is considered to have had a great influence on this chronicle.
Aelfric- wrote religious writings in prose, such as The Homilies (990-4) and Lives of Saints (993-6). He wrote in Old
English the meaning of the first seven books of the Bible, in an alliterative style still considered one of the best in Old
English.
“Edmund the Blessed, King of East Anglia, was wise and worthy, and exalted among the noble servants of the
almighty God. He was humble and virtuous and remained so resolute that he would not turn to shameful vices,
nor would he bend his morality in any way, but was ever-mindful of the true teaching: “If you are installed as a
ruler, don’t puff yourself up, but be among men just like one of them.” He was charitable to poor folks and
widows, just like a father, and with benevolence he guided his people always towards righteousness, and
restrained the cruel, and lived happily in the true faith.” (Alfric’s Life of Saint Edmund)

14
 ANGLO-SAXON POETRY

The Wanderer (in The Exeter

Book) ELEGIES
Often the wanderer walks alone, The Old English elegies are notoriously difficult to define.
Waits for mercy, longs for grace, Traditional elegies lament the death of a particular person and celebrate the
Stirs the ice- accomplishments of that person’s life. The Old English elegies are usually
cold sea with hands and oars— dramatic monologues in which the speaker expresses some sense of
Heart- separation and suffering and attempts to move from a “cri de cœur” to some
sick, endures an exile’s road— form of consolation. The term “elegy” was not applied to these poems until
A hard traveler. His fate is fixed. 5 the nineteenth century, and there is some debate about its usefulness as a
generic marker. Nonetheless, the term serves to characterize a group of Old
So said the wanderer, old earth- English poems which share some or all of the following elements:
walker, 1. An isolated or exiled speaker who laments a loss
His mind choked with the memory 2. Longing for earlier days of joy with loved ones
of strife, 3. Bad weather reflecting the wintry storms of mental life
Fierce slaughter and the fall of kins 4.Fluctuating mental states (memory, dream, hallucination)
men: 5.The use of reason to try to understand life’s misfortunes
6. Recognition that life is lǣne, “transient, fleeting”
7. Use of occasional proverbial wisdom to generalize one’s lot
Often alone at the edge of dawn, 8. Searching for consolation, sometimes finding it in religious
I must wake to the sound of my ow belief
n sorrow, 10 Most elegies move from a personal lament to at least an attempt at
The mute song of a muffled heart, consolation. This movement may derive in part from the influence of The
Sung to no listener, no lord alive. Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, a sixth-century Latin work that was
I know the custom. A noble man translated into Old English and probably widely known (see, for example,
Must seal up his heart’s thoughts, Lumiansky, 104 ff.). If we look at the relationship between lament and
Drag the doors of his mind shut, 15 consolation [...]. The speaker in “The Wanderer” tries to use reflection and
Bind sorrow with silence and be sti generalization to come to a sense of consolation and a belief in providential
ll. order, but the religious argument seems finally less compelling than the
articulation of personal sorrow. The power of the poem lies more in its
A weary mind cannot fight fate— images of loss than in its crafted consolation.[...]
A savage soul cannot find solace, THE WANDERER
Help or healing. [...] “The Wanderer” is a powerful and puzzling poem. It has intrigued
critics and inspired poets like Auden and Tolkien to echo its elements in
their own works. It is a poem of complex consciousness. The wanderer,
So often I’ve locked up my heart- who is the narrator of the poem, reflects upon his past, lamenting his loss of
sorrow king and kin. Mitchell and Robinson point out his vulnerability as a lordless
In a breast-hoard, a cage of bone, exile in Anglo-Saxon society:
Cut off from kinsmen after I covere “The wanderer who speaks the monologue is in the worst possible
d circumstances for an Anglo-Saxon warrior in the heroic age: he is a retainer
My gold- who has lost his lord and comrades and who therefore finds himself with no
lord in the dark hold of ground. 25 place in society, no identity in a hostile world. He is a man in extremis,
alone with his memories and naked to his enemies. This plight moves
I went winter- him to strenuous and painful reflection” (2007, 280)
sad with the weight of years The speaker’s task is to move through both physical and mental
Over the winding waves, seeking s wandering to arrive at a sense of resolution and recovery — to find
ome lord his wiser self and to locate a new philosophical or religious
Who might heal my history, hold m “homeland.”
y heart, The narrator moves back and forth between personal sorrow
Welcome me home with gifts or gr and gnomic generalizations about the nature of life. By shifting from
ace. [...] first-person lament to third-person description or reflection, he both
generalizes his own condition and establishes some distance between
the suffering man and the reflective man. As his mind moves back
He remembers hall-
through remembered adversity, he reexperiences the loss of his lord,
thanes, shared treasures,

15
His place at the table, his lord’s tru whom he seems to have buried in an earthcave. He wanders in
st. exile, and his only companion is sorrow. He battles both bad
His dreams are done— weather and his own stormy mind. Beginning at line 40, he moves
they taste like dust. through a variety of mental states from memory to dream to
hallucination. He dreams of laying his head in his lord’s lap and
A man knows who has lost his lord communicating with hearth-companions but wakes suddenly to find
’s counsel 40 not friends in the hall but sea-birds bathing and screaming. He says
How sorrow and sleep can bind the he can’t think why his mind doesn’t “sink into shadow” when he
mind. contemplates the death and destruction of the world. The heart of his
A man may wander his own headla difficulty here is that he must use his mind to cure his mind.
nd, The wanderer generalizes that “the wise man who ponders this
Discover his lord unburied, undead ruin of a life” will remember his earlier hall-joys and cry out:
— “Where has the horse gone? Where is the rider? Where is the giver
He kisses and clutches his dream lo of gifts?” This ubi sunt (“where are they?”) motif is derived f rom a
rd, Latin tradition, and it expresses both a lament over loss and a
Lays in his lord’s lap his head and recognition of transience. Life is on loan. Everything is fleeting —
hands, 45 goods, friends, kith and kin —“all this earthly foundation.” Here
As he once did in those generous d philosophical speculation competes with apocalyptic images.
ays The poet breaks in at the end to remind us that this is the
When he knew the joys of hall and wise man’s reflection upon his wandering past. The interruption
throne. suspends the storm and produces a moment of providential quiet. We
Then the wanderer wakes without f hear that the now wise wanderer sits by himself in contemplation,
riends, keeping his faith, moving beyond pain and passion, to “perform a
Alone except for sea-birds bathing cure on his own heart.” He sees that he must seek mercy from his
In the dusky sea, spreading wide wi Father in heaven, which is the only place where the transience of the
ngs— 50 world is transcended, where “security stands,” and where he can find
As snow falls, frost feathers the lan a permanent place “beyond perishing.” Perhaps he has moved beyond
d, the plaintive laments into a philosophical understanding of the unseen
And hard hail harrows the living. stability of the ways of Providence in this world. Perhaps the
consolation is undercut by the power of the images of instability and
suffering right up to the end of the poem.
Then the wounds of the heart are h (Craig Williamson, Beowulf and Other Old English Poems,
eavier, Philadelphia: Univesity of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 143-145)
Aching so long for his lost lord. 1. Who tells the story? Pay attention to the shifts in personal
Sorrow is renewed with the memor pronouns: what do they suggest?
y of kinsmen 55 2. What is the source of the wanderer’s misfortune? Are there
Wandering his mind, each guest a g any references to the age of the wanderer? Or to his social
host status (in the past and now)?
Who gathers and greets him with si 3. Underline the words connected to memory and dreams? Are
gns of joy, these a source of comfort or sadness?
Eagerly searching for old companio 4. Can you find cultural references in the text that make you
ns. understand better the life of the Anglo-Saxons?
They all drift away—
the unknown floaters
Bring no known sayings or songs t
o him. 60 [...]

The wise man who ponders this rui

n of a life—
The hall that crumbles into a broke
n wall,
The hall-
guest now only memory’s ghost— (Rohirrim Soldier Axe https://larrymoe2012.deviantart.com/art/Rohirrim-Soldier-Axe-148558883)
95 Where now the horse and the rider?
Where is the horn that was blowing?

16
Remembers slaughter and strife, cr Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
ying out: Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where has the horse gone? Where i Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
s the rider? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind on a meadow;
Where is the giver of gifts? The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow
Where is the seat of feasting? Wher Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning,
e is the hall-joy? Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning? (Aragorn in J.R.R.
Gone is the bright cup. Gone is the Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers)
mailed warrior. 100
Gone is the glory of the prince. Ho
w the time has slipped How are the two poems connected? Do they have a common theme,
Down under the night- common imagery, or a common tone? Why do you think Tolkien used an
helmet as if it never was. Anglo-Saxon poem in his text?
The only thing left is traces of the t
ribe,
A strange, high wall with serpentin
e shapes,
Worm-
like strokes, what’s left of runes. 10
5
The strength of spears has borne of
f earls,
Weapons greedy for slaughter. So
me glorious fate! [...]

Raging storms crash against stone-

cliffs;
Swirling snow blankets and binds t
he earth.
Winter howls as the pale night-
shadow darkens, 110
Sending rough hail-
storms from the north,
Bringing savagery and strife to the
children of men.
Hardship and suffering descend on
the land;
The shape of fate is twisted under h
eaven.
Life is on loan: Here goods are flee
ting, 115
Here friends are fleeting, here man
is fleeting,
Here kith and kin are fleeting. Ever
ything passes—
All this earthly foundation stands e
mpty and idle. [...]

So a man wise in mind spoke to hi

mself as he sat:
Good is the man who holds trust, k
eeps faith, 120
Never speaks too quickly about the
storm
Of his pain or passion unless he kn

17
ows
How to perform a cure on his own
heart.
It is well for a man to seek mercy f
or himself
From his Father in heaven where se
curity stands, 125
And where we can still find beyond
perishing
A permanent place, an eternal hom
e.

THE DREAM OF THE ROOD (in The Vercelli Book)

The Ruthwell Cross, 8th century

18

The Yggdrasil Tree, engraving by Simon Bret
“The Dream of the Rood” is the first dream vision poem in a
vernacular language in Western Europe. It transforms Christ into
an unconventional, self-sacrificing warrior and endows the cross
with human consciousness and feeling. As both stand-in for
Christ and witness to the crucifixion, the cross suffers and
laments to the dreamer, while Christ remains stoically silent. As
persecutor, the cross represents the human torturers. The poem
translates the distance between God and man into the nearness
and shared suffering of Christ and cross and mediates the gap
between nature and humankind.
It shows us the power of the resurrection: the greatest
warrior can embrace death and then rise up to slay it. A tree
in the forest can be cut down and carried into consciousness as
it moves from slayer to celebrant, from gallows to glory.
The poem draws upon the complex history of the cross
and its symbolism. After the crucifixion, the cross was abhorred
by the faithful. Then in 312, the Roman Emperor Constantine I
had a vision of the cross before his battle with the rebel
Maxentius. He ordered the Christian Chi-Rho symbol (the
superimposed initial Greek letters in the word for “Christ”)
placed on the troops’ shields, declaring, “Conquer by means of
this symbol.” He subsequently won the battle, adopted
Christianity as the state religion, and encouraged the use of the
cross as a Christian symbol. Questions about the nature of the
cross and its role in the crucifixion were debated for many
years, and these in turn were influenced by questions about the
nature of the suffering Christ as a human and/or divine being
on the cross. Portions of the poem are found carved in runes
on a stone cross in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and two
lines are also found on a reliquary of the True Cross in
Brussels (for more on this, see Alexander, 217 ff.). The poem
itself is in an Anglo-Saxon manuscript in the cathedral library
in Vercelli, Italy, and must have been a gift presented by
English churchmen traveling to Rome.
The formal heart of the poem is the device of endowing an
inanimate object with consciousness and feeling and enabling
the object to speak. This tradition is partly derived from the
classical tradition of prosopopoeia, “discourse by inanimate
objects” and partly from the medieval riddling tradition (see
Schlauch, 23 ff. and Donoghue, 75 ff.).

There are several medieval Latin cross riddles and some (with solution debated) in Old English. “The
Dream of the Rood” makes use of both of the basic Old English riddle types: the third-person descriptive
riddle (“I saw a creature”) and the firstperson persona riddle (“I am a creature”). It challenges us to say
both who the cross is and what its identity and history mean. The dreamer begins by describing the cross
as a wondrous creature whose nature shifts back and forth in the dream—sometimes drenched with blood,
sometimes dressed in gold. When the cross begins to speak, it recounts its history from its homeland in the
woods to its transformation into a gallows at the hands of man (compare, for example, the transformations
of creatures such as “horn” and “mead” in the riddles). With these riddlic devices, the poet creates a rood
that shifts shapes, recounts its history, and participates in the wonder of human perception and the enigmatic
miracle of the crucifixion and resurrection.
In the middle of the poem, the cross suffers like a stand-in for Christ as nails are driven though his
Lord’s hands into its own sensitive wood. Like Christ it is mocked, tortured, and drenched in blood. Christ
embraces the cross, his retainer and slayer, stretching out his arms to enfold the rood. At the darkest hour,

19
the first-person riddle is in a sense “solved” as the roodnames itself, accepts its role, and pays homage to
its lord. The rood, once raised, raises up Christ. It bends its will to that of its lord.
At the death of Christ, the natural world weeps. Christ is said to be “limb-weary” and to “rest
awhile.” In heroic poetry this is usually a euphemism for death, since no warrior can really rest on the
battlefield. Only here does the literal meaning miraculously seem to hold true: Christ is resting in death and
will eventually “wake up” in the resurrection. Both Christ andthe cross are entombed or buried; both are
resurrected (the cross in a brief, obviously missing passage that I have restored here). Elsewhere in the Old
English poem Elene, we learn how Constantine’s mother Elene (or Helen) travels to the Holy Land to
discover and dig up the true cross.
In the latter half of the poem, the cross tells the dreamer of his transformed life after the resurrection
as he moves from “terrible torturer” to “tower of glory.” It instructs the dreamer to tell his dream to other
faithful followers and to warn them that Christ will return on the Day of Judgment to discover whether
people have worn the cross on their breasts and in theirhearts, willing to suffer for him as he did earlier
for them. The cross stops speaking at line 128, and the dreamer details his own response to the dream. He
explains his newfound zeal for the cross and Christ and his longing to be reunited with the company of
Christ in heaven. There he will relive the dream and experience Christian camaraderie as he feasts forever
at theLord’s table with saints and angels, dwelling in everlasting bliss in his “homeland in heaven.” (Craig
Williamson, Beowulf and Other Old English Poems, Philadelphia: Univesity of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 207-208)

20
The Dream of the Rood

Listen! I will speak of the best of dreams,

The sweetest vision that crossed my sleep
In the middle of the night when speech-bearers
Lay in silent rest. I seemed to see
A wondrous tree lifting up in the air, 5

Wound with light, the brightest of beams.

That radiant sign was wrapped in gold;
Gems stood gleaming at its feet,
Five stones shining from its shoulder-beam.
A host of angels beheld its beauty, 10
Fair through the ordained, ongoing creation.
That was not an outlaw’s gallows, a criminal’s cross.
Holy spirits, angels, men on earth—all creation
Stood watching that wondrous tree.
The victory-beam was beautiful, bright 15
And shining—but I was stained with sin.
I saw the tree of glory sheathed in gems,
Clothed in gold—jewels gleaming
On the Lord’s tree; yet through that gold
I could see the ancient agony of the wretched— 20
The suffering and struggle—since it first began
To sweat blood from its right side.
I was seized with sorrow, tormented by the sight
Of that beautiful cross. I saw that creature
Changing its shape, its form and colors— 25
Sometimes it was stained with sweat,
Drenched with blood, sometimes finely
Dressed with gold. Lying there a long time,
Sadly gazing at the Savior’s tree,
I heard the best of woods begin to speak: 30

“Many years ago—I still remember the day—

I was cut down at the edge of the forest,
Severed from my trunk, removed from my roots.
Strong enemies seized me, shaped me into a spectacle,
Ordered me to lift their outlaws, crucify their criminals. 35
Men bore me on their shoulders, set me on a hill,
Fastened their foes on me, enough of enemies.
Then I saw the Lord of mankind hasten to me,
Eager to climb up. I dared not bow down
Against God’s word. I saw the earth tremble— 40
I might have slaughtered his foes, yet I stood fast.
The warrior, our young Savior, stripped himself

Before the battle with a keen heart and firm purpose,

Climbed up on the cross, the tree of shame,
Bold in the eyes of many, to redeem mankind. 45
I trembled when the Hero embraced me
But dared not bow down to earth—I had to stand fast.
A rood was I raised—I raised the mighty King,
Lord of the heavens. I dared not bend down.

21
Men drove their dark nails into me, piercing my skin— 50
You can still see my open malice-wounds—
But I dared not injure any of those enemies.
Men mocked us both—I was drenched with blood
From the side of the Man after he sent forth his spirit.
I endured much hostile fortune on that hill. 55
I saw the Lord of hosts stretch out his arms
In terrible suffering. Night-shadows slid down,
Covering in darkness the corpse of the Lord,
Which was bathed in radiance. The dark deepened
Under the clouds. All creation wept, 60
Lamenting the Lord’s death: Christ was on the cross.
Yet eager ones came, believers from afar,
To be with the Lord. I beheld it all.
I was seized with sorrow, humbling myself
To men’s hands, bowing down with bold courage. 65
They lifted up Almighty God, raising his body
From its burden of woe. Those brave warriors
Left me alone, covered with streams of blood—
I was wounded with arrows, pierced with pain.

[...]
Had drifted off. The corpse grew cold,
The soul’s fair house. Then men came along,
Cut us down to earth, carried us off.
That was a terrible fate. They buried us
Deep in a pit in the ground, a grave for crosses, 85
But servants of the Lord [learned of my tomb;
Friends hauled me out, offered me healing,]
Sheathed me in gems, in silver and gold.

Now you have heard, my dear dreamer,

How I have endured such sorrow and strife 90
From wicked men. The time is come
For all men on earth and throughout creation
To honor me and offer prayers to the sign of the cross.
The Son of God suffered on me for awhile—
Now I rise up high in heaven, a tower of glory, 95
And I can heal any man who holds me in awe.

[...]
Now I command you, my dear friend,
To reveal this dream to other men, 105
Disclose to them that the tree of glory
Was Christ’s cross where he suffered sorely
For the sins of man and the old deeds of Adam.

[...]
Then I prayed to the cross with an eager heart
And a zealous spirit where I was left alone 130
In such small company. My spirit was lifted,
Urged and inspired, to travel that long road.
I endured an endless time of longing.
Now my life’s great hope is to see again

22
Christ’s cross, that tree of victory, 135
And honor it more keenly than other men.
The cross is my hope and my protection.
I have few powerful friends left on earth—
They have passed on from the joys of the world,
Seeking the greater glory of God, 140
Longing to live with their Heavenly Father.
I live each day, longing for the time
When the Lord’s cross that I saw before
In a wondrous dream will come back again
To carry me away from this loan of life 145
To the joys of heaven, to an everlasting bliss,
To the Lord’s table where the company of Christ
Feasts together forever and ever, where I can dwell
In glory with the holy saints, sustained in joy.
[...]

The poems were translated from Old English by Craig Williamson in Beowulf and Other Old English
Poems, Philadelphia: Univesity of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.
The poem may be divided in three parts:
A. The dream
B. The story of the Crucifixion told by the Rood
C. The Rood urges the dreamer to spread the word of God

Pay attention to :
1. The manner in which the rood is described and how it becomes an active participant in the
Crucifixion
2. The manner in which Christ is portrayed

 Are there differences between the Biblical story and this particular story?
 Are there elements in this text that are connected more to the pagan-heroic mentality than to
the Christian representation of Jesus Christ

LITERARY TERMS
dream vision or dream allegory, a kind of * NARRATIVE (usually but not always in verse) in which the
narrator falls asleep and dreams the events of the tale. The story is often a kind of *ALLEGORY, and
commonly consists of a tour of some marvellous realm, in which the dreamer is conducted and instructed by a
guide, as Dante is led through hell by Virgil in his Divine Comedy (c.1320)—the foremost example of the form.

prosopopoeia [pros-6-po-pee-a], the Greek rhetorical term for a TROPE consisting either of the
PERSONIFICATION of some non-human being or idea, or of the representation of an imaginary, dead, or
absent person as alive and capable of speech and hearing, as in an *APOSTROPHE. Adjective: prosopopoeial.
(Chris Baldick, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms,Oxford University Press, 2001)

23
 Anglo-Saxon Poetry
BEOWULF

1. Composition and Publication

The first page of the Beowulf Manuscript
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbitul#/m
edia/File:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg
The poem is about Germanic heroes with no connection
with the Anglo-Saxons, but it is difficult to decide when and by
whom the poem was composed. Most critics suggest that the poem
might have been composed in the 7th or 8th century, some even
move a bit earlier, in the 6th century, as they take into consideration
the real historical figures and events in the text. The Christian
elements are explained in various ways: some consider that the
poem was created by a Christian (the conversion to Christianity of
the Anglo-Saxons occurred after 650 A.D.), others believe that the
creator was pagan and the Christian intrusions are indebted to the
monk-scribe(s). The poem is present only in one manuscript that
was probably copied around 1000 AD. The manuscript is known as
The Nowell Codex. It was badly damaged in the 18th century in a
fire. The poem did not have a title, and critics generally agreed to
name it after the hero.
The date of the actual composition is unknown. In general,
critics agree that it was composed around the 8th century, but there
is a lapse of time between the events as such, located somewhere
around the end of the 5th and the first half of the 6th centuries, and
the composition of the poem. Some of the characters described in
the poem, such as Hrothgar or Hygelac, are real and their lives were
dated.

2. Storyline
 Presentation of the building of Heorot, a splendid hall, sign of the glorious reign of King Hrothgar
of the Danes. Jealous of the harmony and joy of Heorot, the monster, Grendel, starts attacking the
hall every night, killing Hrothgar’s thanes.
 Beowulf of the Geats (a tribe in Southern Sweden), brave warrior and killer of sea monsters,
hears of Grendel and comes to Heorot to fight it.
 The fight with Grendel: Beowulf tears off one of his arms. Mortally wounded, Grendel retreats
into his den. There is a celebration of Beowulf’s victory, with scops singing songs of great deeds
and the hero receiving rewards.
 Grendel’s mother comes to revenge her son’s death and kills one of Hrothgar’s chief counselors.
Beowulf is determined to pursue her. He has to go into a cave under the sea where he fights the
witch. He manages to kill her only after he finds a sword “wrought by the giants.” After
Grendel’s mother is killed, he also cuts off Grendel’s head and carries it to Heorot. There is
another great festivity and lavish gifts are given to Beowulf, among which a magnificent gold
neck-piece which, we are told, is fated to be lost in a battle between the Geats and the Franks.
 Beowulf returns home. He tells his king the story of his exploits and gives him the gifts. We are
told that Beowulf becomes king after the king and his successors die. We are let to believe that
Beowulf is the only one who can save the kingdom from danger. His reign is briefly presented,
but it is clear that he was a valiant king who defended his country.
 Towards the end of his reign, Beowulf faces another challenge, a fire-breathing dragon who
attacks his kingdom after a gold-cup of his hoard was stolen. Although old, Beowulf challenges
24
 the dragon, and manages to kill it with the help of a younger thane, Wiglaf, after all the other
thanes flee in fear. Mortally wounded in the battle, Beowulf dies, and his body is burned on a
pyre and then buried, together with the dragon’s hoard, in a tumulus.

3. Analysis
DEFINITIONS
EPIC: An epic is a long narrative poem, on a grand scale, about the deeds of warriors and heroes. It is a
polygonal, 'heroic' story incorporating myth, legend, folk tale and history. Epics are often of national
significance in the sense that they embody the history and aspirations of a nation in a lofty or grandiose
manner. Basically, there are two kinds of epic: (a) primary - also known as oral or primitive; (b)
secondary - also known as literary. The first belongs to the oral tradition and is thus composed orally and
recited; only much later, in some cases, is it written down. The second is written down at the start. In
category (a) we may place, for example, Gilgamesh, Iliad and Odyssey, Beowulf, the lays of the Elder
Edda and the epic cycles or “narodne pesrne” of the South Slavs. In category (b) we may put Virgil's
Aeneid, Lucan's Pharsalia, the anonymous Song of Roland, Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberara, Milton's
Paradise Lost and Victor Hugo La Legende des siecles (…) Gilgamesh, the Sumerian epic (c. 3ooo bc), is
the earliest extant work in the oral tradition. (…)Beowulf survives in a single MS (probably of the 10th c.,
though a much earlier date is ascribed to the composition of the poem – very likely some time in the 8th
c.). The poem relates the exploits of a legendary Geatish hero who first rids the Danish kingdom o{
Hrothgar of two demonic monsters: Grendel and Grendel's mother. Later in the story, after a long reign (a
period which appears to have been of little interest to the epic poet), Beowulf meets a dragon, kills it with
the help of Wiglaf, but dies of his wounds. These primary epics have features in common: a central figure
of heroic, even superhuman calibre, perilous journeys, various misadvetures, a strong element of the
supernatural, repetition of fairly long passages of narrative or dialogue, elaborate greetings, digressions,
epic similes (particularly in the Homeric poems), long speeches, vivid and direct descriptions of the kind
favoured by the ballad-maker and, in general, a lofty tone; the tone of Classical tragedy. All is larger than
life. A further and important characteristic of primary epic is the use of the stock epithet, known as the
Homeric epithet and the kenning. (J. Cuddon)
KENNING. The term derives from the use of the ON verb kenna,'to know, recognize', in the phrase
“kenna eitt with”, 'to express or describe one thing in terms of another'. The kenning (pl. henningar) was a
favourite figure in skaldic [Scandinavian poems] verse, where it is employed most lavishly. It is a device
for introducing descriptive colour or for suggesting associations without distracting attention from the
essential statement. Some Old Norse kennings were fairly complex:. Old English kennings were simpler:
(a) helmberend - 'helmet bearer' and so 'warrior'; (b) beadoleoma - 'battle light' and so 'flashing sword'; (c)
swansrad - 'swan road' and so 'sea' . (J. Cuddon)
ALLITERATION (L 'repeating and playing upon the same letter') A figure of speech in which
consonants, especially at the beginning of words, or stressed syllables, are repeated. It is ^ very old device
indeed in English verse (older than rhyme) and is common in verse generally. It is used occasionally in
prose. In OE poetry alliteration was a continual and essential part of the metrical scheme and until the late
Middle Ages was often used thus. However, alliterative verse becomes increasingly rare after the end of
the 15th c. (J. Cuddon)
J. A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary History, Penguin Books, 1998

Old Germanic mentalities, beliefs and traditions

 Representation of the society and what they considered important: loyalty to the king,
courage, self-sacrifice, heroism, vengeance. There is a stress on the importance of a
harmonious society, represented by the hall, the feasts and the gifts, as a counterpart of
the dangerous world of war, battles and unfriendly nature outside.
 Pagan beliefs: monsters like Grendel, his mother, sea monsters, dragons; superstitions,
witchcraft, totemic devices, such as boar representations on helmets for protection
25
  Beowulf’s name was not found in the chronicles of the time, so, he is probably an
invented character, as a model of the hero. He is loyal, honest, courageous, a good leader
and a good king. He is extremely powerful, but his powers are not supernatural.
 Allusion to heather rites, like burial rituals.
 A pervading pessimistic and fatalist attitude to life. All happy events are interrupted by
fateful predictions. Even the life of Beowulf is tragic, ending in death. Heorot, the great
hall, will be destroyed by internal strife.
Christian Elements
 View of the monsters as representatives of evil, sons of Cain
 Allusion to Biblical events: the Creation and the Fall, the Flood, Cain and Abel.

BEOWULF (EXCERPTS)

THE FIGHT WITH GRENDEL

THEN from the moorland, by misty crags, with heavier hand-gripe; at heart he feared,
with God's wrath laden, Grendel came. sorrowed in soul, -- none the sooner escaped!
The monster was minded of mankind now Fain would he flee, his fastness seek, 40
sundry to seize in the stately house. […] the den of devils: no doings now
Not first time, this, 5 such as oft he had done in days of old!
that he the home of Hrothgar sought, -- […]
yet ne'er in his life-day, late or early, …. Now many an earl
such hardy heroes, such hall-thanes, found! of Beowulf brandished blade ancestral, 45
To the house the warrior walked apace, fain the life of their lord to shield,
parted from peace; the portal opened, 10 their praised prince, if power were theirs;
though with forged bolts fast, when his fists had never they knew, -- as they neared the foe,
struck it, hardy-hearted heroes of war,
and baleful he burst in his blatant rage, aiming their swords on every side 50
the house's mouth. […] the accursed to kill, -- no keenest blade,
He spied in hall the hero-band, no fairest of falchions fashioned on earth,
kin and clansmen clustered asleep, 15 could harm or hurt that hideous fiend!
hardy liegemen. Then laughed his heart; He was safe, by his spells, from sword of battle,
for the monster was minded, ere morn should from edge of iron. Yet his end and parting 55
dawn, on that same day of this our life
savage, to sever the soul of each, woeful should be, and his wandering soul
life from body, since lusty banquet far off flit to the fiends' domain.
waited his will! But Wyrd forbade him 20 Soon he found, who in former days,
to seize any more of men on earth harmful in heart and hated of God, 60
after that evening. Eagerly watched on many a man such murder wrought,
Hygelac's kinsman his cursed foe, that the frame of his body failed him now.
how he would fare in fell attack. […]
Not that the monster was minded to pause! 25 The outlaw dire
Straightway he seized a sleeping warrior took mortal hurt; a mighty wound
for the first, and tore him fiercely asunder, showed on his shoulder, and sinews cracked,
the bone-frame bit, drank blood in streams, and the bone-frame burst. To Beowulf now
swallowed him piecemeal: swiftly thus the glory was given, and Grendel thence
the lifeless course was clear devoured, 30 death-sick his den in the dark moor
e'en feet and hands. Then farther he hied; sought, noisome abode: he knew too well 70
for the hardy hero with hand he grasped, that here was the last of life, an end
felt for the foe with fiendish claw, of his days on earth.
for the hero reclining, -- who clutched it boldly,[…] (Translation by Francis Gunmere, 1910)
26
Soon then saw that shepherd-of-evils 35
that never he met in this middle-world,
in the ways of earth, another wight

Glossary Outlaw = lawless person, criminal

Crag: a steep, rugged rock Dire = horrible
“parted from peace” = “he was a lost soul, doomed Sinew = cord connecting muscle to bone
to hell” Thence = from there
Baleful: menacing Fiend’s domain = Hell
Sundry= diverse, various “harmful in heart and hated of God” is a kenning
Ere = before for Grendel. Harmful in heart = evil
Fell = cruel, savage, destructive Noisome = disgusting
Hie = go in haste Abode = dwelling, home
Hygelac’s kinsman is Beowulf, retainer and Den = shelter of a wild animal, especially predatory
relative of the Geatish king Hygelac animal
Kinsman = relative
Brandish = shake or wave a weapon
Fain = willing
Foe = enemy
Keen = sharp
Falchion = sword
Woeful = painful, unhappy
Flit = fly

1. Consider the references to Grendel. How is he presented in the text? How are the negative traits
reinforced. By comparison, how is Beowulf presented?
2. Look for references to Christianity. Do they change the meaning of the text? How are they
accommodated to the pagan world of Beowulf?
3. The poem depicts a pagan heroic world: look for examples in this excerpt that support this
assertion.
4. Underline the alliterations and the kennings.

BEOWULF AND THE DRAGON

27
Beowulf Battles the Dragon” - Spot illustration for teen adaptation of Beowulf by Mick Gowar,
published by Oxford University Press, http://www.coroflot.com/paul_mccaffrey/Beowulf

BEOWULF DECIDES TO FIGHT THE "Men at arms, remain here on the barrow,
DRAGON ALONE safe in your armour, to see which one of us
is better in the end at bearing wounds
Then he addressed each dear companion in a deadly fray. This fight is not yours,
one final time, those fighters in their helmets, nor is it up to any man except me
resolute and high-born: "I would rather not to measure his strength against the monster
use a weapon if I knew another way or to prove his worth. I shall win the gold
to grapple with the dragon and make good my by my courage, or else mortal combat,
boast doom of battle, will bear your lord
as I did against Grendel in days gone by. away."
But I shall be meeting molten venom (Translation by Seamus Heaney, W.W.Norton
in the fire he breathes, so I go forth &Co., 2000)
in mail-shirt and shield. I won't shift a foot
when I meet the cave-guard: what occurs on the Glossary:
wall Helmet = protective head covering used by soldiers
between the two of us will turn out as fate, To grapple = to hold fast, to engage in a struggle
overseer of men, decides. I am resolved. or fight
I scorn further words against this sky- Molten (melt)
borne foe. Barrow = hill
Fray = fight
Doom = fate, death

1. Why does Beowulf say he would rather not fight? Is it cowardice or not?
28
 2. Why does he choose to fight the dragon alone? What is the importance of „single combat” in the
Germanic world?
3. Consider the images of dragon that you know from popular culture (movies, comic books, tales,
games). What is so appealing about dragons?

WIGLAF WANTS TO HELP HIS KING and all because he considered us the best
of his arms-bearing thanes. And now, although
Sad at heart, addressing his companions, he wanted this challenge to be one he'd face
Wiglaf spoke wise and fluent words: by himself alone—the shepherd of our land,
"I remember that time when mead was flowing, a man unequalled in the quest for glory
how we pledged loyalty to our lord in and a name for daring—now the day has come
the hall, when this lord we serve needs sound men
promised our ring-giver we would be worth our to give him their support. Let us go to him,
price, help our leader through the hot flame
make good the gift of the war-gear, and dread of the fire.
those swords and helmets, as and when (Translation by Seamus Heaney, W.W.Norton
his need required it. He picked us out &Co., 2000)
from the army deliberately, honoured us and judged
us Glossary:
fit for this action, made me these lavish gifts— War-gear = equipment for war
Lavish = rich

How do Wiglaf’s words suggest the close relationship between king and retainers? How do they reflect
the warrior code that is established in the Germanic world? Do you think Wiglaf might be a good
successor to Beowulf’s throne? Can you see parallellisms between the young Beowulf and the young
Wiglaf?

BEOWULF’S DEATH [...]

Beowulf spoke: in spite of his wounds
mortal wounds, he still spoke
for he well knew his days in the world
had been lived out to the end: his allotted time
was drawing to a close, death was very near.
"Now is the time when I would have wanted
to bestow this armour on my own son,
had it been my fortune to have fathered an heir
and live on in his flesh. For fifty years
I ruled this nation. No king
of any neighbouring clan would dare
face me with troops, none had the power
to intimidate me. I took what came,
cared for and stood by things in my keeping,
never fomented quarrels, never
swore to a lie. All this consoles me,
doomed as I am and sickening for death;
because of my right ways, the Ruler of mankind
need never blame me when the breath leaves my
body
29
Then the king in his great-heartedness unclasped
the collar of gold from his neck and gave it
to the young thane, telling him to use
it and the warshirt and the gilded helmet well.
"You are the last of us, the only one left
of the Waegmundings. Fate swept us away,
sent my whole brave high-born clan
to their final doom. Now I must follow them."
That was the warrior's last word.
(Translation by Seamus Heaney, W.W.Norton
&Co., 2000)
Glossary:
To bestow = to give as a gift
To foment = to instigate
To unclasp = to detach
The Waegmndings = the name of a Swedish clan
for murder of kinsmen.

1. How does Beowulf consider his life and deeds? Do you think he was a good king? What are the
attributes of a good king, as reflected in this fragment but also in the entire text?
2. What are Beowulf’s regrets?
3. What is his gesture before dying and what is its political importance?

30
 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

1. THE MIDDLE AGES

The world of the Middle Ages is much more active and fascinating than it might appear at first sight, and so
it definitely disproves the name of “dark” ages.
Major changes occurring up to the 13th century:
 Stability of political conditions;
 Development of trade and agriculture, development of towns and the gradual rise of the
bourgeoisie;
 Chivalry, the knight’s code, courtly literature with a taste for luxury and extravagance;
 The rise of “Gothic architecture” and the age of the great Gothic cathedrals in Europe and in
England;
 New religious orders coming with a new religious sensibility (esp. expressed in the cult of the Virgin
Mary);
 Revival in the taste for classical literature (the 12th century Renaissance);
 Development of education in cathedral schools and later in the first universities (Paris, Oxford);
 The Mediterranean Sea becomes more open to the Europeans (the beginning of the Crusades)
who become acquainted to the Muslim world and, through them, with the Greek world, resulting in
the rediscovery of Aristotle and the start of the age of scholasticism.

2. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: GENERAL GUIDELINES

The Medieval period in England stretches from the Norman period (1100-1150) to the end of the
War of the Roses (1487). The Norman Conquest was a conquest of the land but also one of the arts. The
language of the Anglo-Saxons, especially in the realm of politics, administration, law and culture was
replaced by the French language spoken by the new king and his lords and by Latin, the language of the
church. As a result, for several centuries, literature was trilingual, as French, Latin and English were used. In
the domestic world, many families were, at least for a while, bilingual, as they needed to learn the language
of the conquerors while they kept their own dialect.
By the second half of the fourteenth century the fusion between the Normans and the English was
already completed and English became the official language of the court and parliament. In 1362, for
instance, the Parliament opened its session in English. The increasing use of the English language also
comes as a result of the growing hostility between England and France. However, even if during the reign of
Richard II (1372-1398) English gained equal literary importance to French, there was still no fixed English
standard. The great writers of the period, namely William Langland, Geoffrey Chaucer and the Gawain
poet, wrote in three dialects: the Worcestershire English, the London dialect and that of the Stafford-
Cheshire border, respectively. There were also other dialects in use. Even London English was a mixture of
dialects. The introduction of the printing press in 1476 helped spread a literary standard, that of the
London English, under the Tudors (1485-1603). The “King’s English” was disseminated through religious
books, such as the authorized version of the Bible (King James’ Bible, 1611), but the spelling was fully
standardized only after Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary of 1755.
The Norman Conquest brought about a change in literary tastes as well. The new aristocracy
preferred a different type of literature, thus widening the cultural borders of the Anglo-Saxon world towards
a modern literary model shared by other European cultures. There are formal changes as well as thematic
changes. Among the formal changes, the most evident is the replacement of the old alliterative style with
rhymed patterns, whereas the aristocratic character of literature becomes evident in a different choice of
themes and characters, replacing the heroic and elegiac spirit of the Anglo-Saxons with a courtly literature,

31
romances of chivalry, whose focus is on love and adventure, or allegories, in the search of deeper meaning,
of a moral or spiritual sort, under the surface of things.
For a long time, especially during the Anglo-Norman period, literature was written mainly in French
or in Latin, since literature was either produced for the court, where French was used, or in monasteries
and religious centers, in which case Latin was favored.
It does not mean, however, that the Anglo-Saxon literary tradition disappears completely. The
Anglo-Saxon prose tradition represented by Aelfric and Wulfstan influenced the writing of the Ancrene
Wisse and the alliterative poetry is still present in Layamon’s Brut, for instance. The Anglo-Saxon tradition
survived, but it no longer occupied the central position.
Poetry was the genre in which the linguistic change as well as that in artistic taste was the most
evident. The old alliterative style was replaces by regular lines, containing a precise number of syllables and
an end-rhyme.
As far as the tone and atmosphere are concerned, the somber, melancholic vision of the Anglo-
Saxons was replaced by a more joyful spirit, a brighter view of life indebted to the French love and
adventure poems.
The hundreds of poems that remained in manuscripts can be only roughly dated, but the authors
are unknown. In general, they are popular songs and poems on different topics
The poem The Cockoo’s Song (c. 1250) is believed to be the earliest English lyric and it is a good
example of the shift in tone and atmosphere from Anglo-Saxon poetry to medieval lyrics.

SUMER is icumen in, Summer has come in,

Lhude sing cuccu! Loud sing cuckoo!
Groweth sed, and bloweth med, Grows seed and blows mead
And springth the wude nu-- And blossoms the wood now –
Sing cuccu! Sing cuckoo!

Awe bleteth after lomb, The ewe bleats after the lamb,
Lhouth after calve cu; The cow lowes after the calf;
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth, The bullock leaps, the buck jumps,
Murie sing cuccu! Merily sing cuckoo!

Cuccu, cuccu, well singes thu, cuccu: Cuckoo, cuckoo, well singeth thou, cuckoo:
Ne swike thu naver nu; Never cease now;
Sing cuccu, nu, sing cuccu, Sing, cuckoo, now sing, cuckoo,
Sing cuccu, sing cuccu, nu! Sing, cuckoo, sing, cuckoo, now

The change in the spirit of the poem is evident, the dark view of nature that was visible in poems
such as The Seafarer, is replaced here with the beauty of spring and of the rebirth of nature, the joy
produced by the blossoming of woods and meadows, the spirit of youth and the energy transmitted through
the presence of playful animals and the regeneration of nature with the mention of sheep and cow with their
babies.
Formally, the drop of inflections allows the possibility of end-rhymes, whereas the poem is
organized in stanzas, with lines of approximately equal number of syllables.
The poems had different topics. The Song of the Husbandman (c. 1350), for instance, is a satire
against lords that own the land and impoverish the country. It was probably connected to the spirit around
the Peasants’ Revolt (1381).
For might is right,
Light is night,
And fight is fight,
For might is right, the land is lawless,

32
 For light is night, the land is loreless,
For flight is fight, the land is nameless.
Most of the poems, though, fall either into the group of romances or tackle religious topic.

3. THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD

The early Middle Ages in England are marked by the coexistence of the Anglo-Saxon culture with
the Norman culture. It is usually referred to as the Anglo-Norman period, stretching from the Norman
Conquest to the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War (1337) a period of transition that is still extremely
important because of: a) the language change and the passage from Old English to what is known as Middle
English, clearly influenced by the contact with the French language spoken by the conquerors and with the
Latin used by the Church; and b) the change in artistic taste, again clearly influenced by the Norman and
French aristocracy, with a stressed impact, in literature, on the transformation of style, language, tone,
themes and characters.

3.1. THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND THE ANGLO-NORMAN WORLD

The Vikings had not attacked only England, but also France. They had already occupied the territory of
upper Normandy, and the Franks had to give them control over more land in present-day France. Their
king was converted to Christianity (912) and he adopted the language, customs, laws, religion, political
organization and war methods of the Franks. These Vikings started being, henceforward, known as THE
NORMANS, men of Normandy – “the land of the Nordmanni or the Norsemen.” They were those who, a
century later, would conquer England, subdue the Anglo-Saxons, and exert a tremendous influence on all
cultural, social and political aspects, from language and literature to laws, administration, or social structure.
When they conquered England, the Normans already had a hierarchical feudal system and a well-organized
army.

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM:

After the conquest, William was careful not to make the same mistake the King of France had made,
namely, give too much land to the noblemen without keeping any of it to himself. The result of the French
King's actions was that the lords, such as the duke of Normandy, were extremely powerful and the King
found it hard to control them. So, William divided the land of the territory he conquered between his lords
and the Church, keeping also land to himself. The political system that he introduced was relatively similar
to the Anglo-Saxon system, since the feudal allegiance of the vassal to his lord was in many ways similar to
the loyalty pledged by the thane to his lord.
The medieval system was a hierarchical system, the society being divided in oratores, bellatores and
laboratores, namely the clergy, the noblemen / warriors and those who work. This division of the society
and the justification for the unequal separation of people in social groups is given with the help of religion,
regarding social inequality as part of God’s hierarchical ordering of the universe from Him down to angels,
men, women, animals, plants and minerals. In this system, the King is the most important person, having
the loyalty of this subjects and the support of the Church that has the power to “ordain” him.
The feudal system introduced by the Norman conquerors is such a hierarchical system based on two
rules: 1. the ownership of land; and 2. the loyalty of vassals. The king was connected, as if through a “chain”
to all his people since, at each level of the society, a man had to promise loyalty and service to a lord. This
“homage” meant that, in return of the land given by the lord, the vassal promises service and goods,
consisting of military service or rent and products. The group of people situated the lowest in society were
the serfs, who did not have any land and were bound to the land of their lord, being little more than slaves.

33
 William wanted to know exactly who owned the land and he had a complete economic survey made
regarding the ownership of land, the number of people, the livestock, and so on. This document was called
the Doomsday Book and is a valuable source of information about England at that time.
The Anglo-Norman kings strengthened their power, keeping the noblemen under control and they
consolidated their influence in France as well, where they acquired even more territories, through conquest,
inheritance or marriage, up to the point when King Henry II controlled more land in France than his lord,
the King of France. Unfortunately, his followers were less worthy, and his son, John Lackland, lost his
father’s French possessions, including even Normandy. He was also forced to sign, in 1215, the document
called Magna Carta, through which the noblemen restricted the absolute authority of the king marking the
decay of the feudal system.

CULTURAL AUTHORITY
The culture and mentality of the time were dominated by a number of institutions: a) the King and the
noblemen, b) the Church and c) the Universities.
The King’s court as well as the courts of some powerful noblemen became centers of culture. The
kings commissioned artists, poets, musicians to their court. Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 or 1124 – 1204 ),
king Henry II’s wife or Richard II (1357 – 1400) were rulers who encouraged art, their courts becoming
cultural centers setting the trend in literature and art. The kings and the noblemen became patrons of art
and artists could create under their support and protection.
The Church was, however, the most influential institution in the promotion of literature and art. The
growth of literacy was dependent on the schools founded by monasteries, so learning was mostly religious.
Other branches of art such as architecture, sculpture, wood-carving, wall-painting, stained glass, enamel,
jewelry, embroidery, book production, writing, illumination and music developed under the patronage of
the church. Medieval drama developed from the performances destined to various church celebrations and
they were reenactments of biblical tales meant to spread the gospel to the laity. The chronicles were written
by monks, keeping the record of the historical events of their time. There is no wonder, therefore, that
some of the best writers and writings of the time were religious, such as Langland’s Piers the Plowman, or
Julian of Norwich.
Starting with the 12th century, the intellectual initiative passes to Universities. Oxford university was
founded in 1167 and Cambridge around 1284.

4. Late Medieval England (the 14th and 15th centuries)

The fourteenth century in Europe is a period marked by plague, economic problems and famine,
wars and natural disaster that ended the long period of economic growth and cultural expansion in Europe.
England as well was marked by a series of historical events with great influence not only on the political life
in England, but also on English mentality and culture.
1. Internal Wars. King Edward I (1239-1307) tried to put an end to the continuous conflict
between the king and the barons that had marked the reign of his father and create a powerful monarchy.
He also subjected the Welsh and started a war against Scotland. His son was unable to maintain his
achievements but his grandson, Edward III (1312-1377) restored the royal authority, started the war with
France and renewed the wars against Scotland. His grandson, unfortunately, did not prove to be as heroic.
King Richard II (1377 –1399- deposed by Henry IV) was more interested in arts and culture, and was far
from the martial stature of his predecessors. Richard II was a firm believer in the royal prerogatives and the
court culture that he encouraged was meant to emphasize the power and dignity of the king, in a similar way
to the treatment of monarchy in the great European courts. His patronage of literature is extremely
important since it was in his time that the English language took its shape and many of the great writers of
the age thrived at his court. That is why the poetry written in his time receives the name of Ricardian poetry
2. The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) had a tremendous influence over the way in which
both the English and the French nations started defining their national identity, after a period of dynastic
34
struggles and claims. The military conflict enhances the idea of “Englishness” and “English nation” in a
country that had long been influenced by the French language and culture. This War also marks the
beginning of the end of chivalric warfare, due to the introduction of new weapons and tactics, such as the
English longbow in front of which the knights’ heavy armours were practically inefficient. The fact that the
previously undefeatable knights could be killed by the peasants in the infantry, without the honour of the
knight – to – knight single combat changed the rules of chivalry and the laws governing wars. Several English
victories mark this period. The first one is Edward III’s victory at Crecy (1346) followed by the 1356 victory
at Poitiers. Unfortunately, the line of heroic kings and princes to win battles on the French front ends with
the death of Edward III and of his son The Black Prince.
3. The Black Death (1348-1350). The plague in Europe decimated the population of the
Middle Ages drastically altering the structure of the society through radical diminution and dislocations
within the medieval structure and agricultural depression caused by the lack of land-workers, the ruin of
much of the aristocracy and peasant revolts. The plague, represented by successive outbursts of epidemic
dominated the medieval mind that was obsessed with illness and death. It produced profound changes in
the means of production, in the social structure, in the life of people in general and in their mentality and
the manner in which they viewed life and death, and their relationship to God.
4. The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) led by Watt Tyler signals the decay of feudalism and serfdom
in England. Even though it was a failure, being crushed by the king, it however led to an increasing
awareness of the imperative to reform.

c. 1370: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess

c. 1377: William Langland, Piers Plowman
c. 1382-5: Geoffrey Chaucer: Troilus and Criseyde
c. 1387: Chaucer begins the Canterbury Tales; John Gower begins Confessio Amantis; popularity of
Mystery Plays evident from Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale
c. 1390: The Gawain manuscript
SPIRITUAL WRITINGS
c. 1413: Julian of Norwich finishes the short version of the Revelations
c. 1438: Margery Kempe finished her Book

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 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE: GENRES AND MAJOR TEXTS

A. MEDIEVAL ROMANCES AND COURTLY LITERATURE

The idea of “courtly love” was a widely-spread conception of the Middle Ages and it envisaged the
love between the “chevalier” / the knight and the mistress as being led by a set of complicated rules. In an
aristocratic world in which marriage had nothing to do with love, being often more influenced by politics,
the fulfillment of these emotions would be possible only between unmarried individuals.
The complicated behaviors required by courtly love are connected with the behavior accepted
within the feudal system between the lord and the knights. In other words, the relationship of loyalty and
obedience established between the lord and his knight is transferred to the relationship between the knight
and the lady he loves, the latter having the superior position of the lord. The knight, therefore, has to
demonstrate that he is worthy of the lady’s love through honorable and courageous deeds, and by doing
whatever is required of him. The texts combine love with the spirit of adventure. As far as the English
literary context is concerned, the Arthurian legends are the most popular texts connected to the spirit of
love and adventure required by courtly literature.
Henry II’s wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, was the one who brought this conception to the
English court, by encouraging the presence of poets and “troubadours” to sing these love romances. It is
very likely, therefore, that French writers such as Marie de France and Chretien de Troyes might have
written some of their texts in England. Marie de France wrote one text explicitly referring to the Arthurian
cycle, entitled Lanval, whereas Chretien de Troyes’ Yvain, Lancelot, Perceval or Le Conte du Graal became
so famous that they were translated in English and influenced later writers of the Middle Ages, such as
Chaucer, Gower, or Thomas Malory.
The English romances are visibly influenced by the literary conventions brought to England by the
Norman and French noblemen and their artists, but the most famous are connected to stories about the
birth of the nation: the legendary king Brutus, descendant from Aeneas and founder of Britain and King
Arthur and his knights.
The preference for romance characterizes the passage from the Anglo-Saxon world, with its heroic
epics to the Norman civilization. The epic describes heroic battles and the heroes need to fight monsters to
save their kingdoms/communities. The idea of the hero includes that of savior of his nation or tribe or clan.
He needs to be valiant, skilful, honorable, just and loyal and he fights because he must; there is no other
choice to save his nation. The romances pertain to a more refined age in which the quest, the adventure and
the danger in facing supernatural beings is a matter of choice not of instinct of survival. The romance is a
form of entertainment of the aristocracy, and the hero no longer fights for his nation, but for an ideal.
The French chanson de geste stands at the basis of the later English romances. The chanson de
geste (song of deeds) describes the adventures of the Carolingian noblemen, their wars with the Saracens or
among themselves, intrigues and rebellion. They are all based on a code of chivalry reflecting the age’s
conception of the ideal relationship between the lord and the knights connected with both social and
religious duties. The medieval romances are closely connected with the “chansons de geste”, and are stories
of adventure or of love including real and supernatural elements.
LITERARY TERMS

ROMANCE. In OF romaunt/ roman meant approximately, 'courtly romance in verse' or any ‘popular book'.
Thus romances in verse (and to start with most of them were in verse) were works of fiction, or non-historical. In
th
the 13 c. a romance was almost any song of adventure story be it of chivalry or of love. Gradually more and more
romances were written in prose. Whatever else a romance may be (or have been) it is principally a form of
entertainment. It may also be didactic but this is usually incidental. It is usually concerned with characters (and
thus with events) who live in a courtly world somewhat remote from the everyday. This suggests elements of
fantasy, improbability, extravagance and naivety. It also suggests elements of love, adventure, the marvelous and
the 'mythic'. For the most part the term is used rather loosely to describe a narrative of heroic or spectacular
36
achievements, of chivalry of gallant love, of deeds of derring-do.
In medieval romance there were three main cycles:
(a) the matter of Britain, which included Arthurian matter derived from Breton lays;
(b) the matter of Rome, which included stories of Alexander, the Trojan wars and Thebes;
(c) the matter of France, most of which was about Charlemagne and his knights.
(J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms)

The genre of romance is resistant to definition, nowhere more so than in its manifestation in medieval England.
‘Gestes’, if the term refers to epic narratives, can be seen as too heroic, the ‘layes’ of the Breton tradition too
lyrical. It is not the purpose of this chapter to adopt any demarcation that excludes such important contributions to
the narrative literature of the period; rather we will work with a recent definition that is also one of the simplest,
‘the principal secular literature of entertainment of the Middle Ages’. (The Cambridge History of Medieval
English Literature)

LAY/ LAI. A short narrative or lyrical poem intended to be sung. The oldest narrative lays are the Contes of
Marie de France (c. 1175). They were stories of romance believed to have been based on Celtic legends. The lyric
th
lays were Provencal and usually had love themes. The term 'Breton lay' was applied to 14 c. English poems with a
Breton setting and similar to those by Marie de France. A dozen or more are extant in English, the best known
being Sir Orfeo, Haveloc the Dane, Sir Laanval and Chaucer's Franklin's Tale.) (J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin
Dictionary of Literary Terms)

The Lais of Marie de France were economically enigmatic tales of love and magic, focusing on
female action. They created in the Breton lai an alternative to the long narratives of war and chivalry. (The
Cambridge Companion to Medieval Literature)

Though the forms of the romance are various, complex and rich, there are certain conventions that
may form a coherent definition of this ubiquitous genre. Thus, at the center of the romance is the knight
and his deeds of valor connected or not with love. It is clear, therefore, that most romances reflected the
ideas of the aristocracy and idealized the feudal system and the loyalty and courage of the knights. The
knight is defined by two components: the worldly existence and the Christian existence which meant that he
leads his life according to a strict code of conduct perfect for the courtly Christian warrior. It is required,
therefore, for the knight to be a man of war, namely trained in battle, courageous, skilful. He was also
supposed to be honorable, loyal to his lord, gentle and noble to the others. As a Christian, the knight is
virtuous, meek and charitable. He is always the one to help those in need and to support the church. In a
romance, these qualities of the knight are tested as he usually sets off on a journey that is also a quest, an
initiating passage in which he has to demonstrate that he is a truthful knight, loyal to the lord or to his lady.

ARTHURIAN ROMANCES
The first source of the Arthurian stories seem to be the Welsh legends, rediscovered by the
Norman or French poets after the Norman Conquest. These stories might have circulates in Celtic Britain,
before the Anglo-Saxon invasion and might have then faded away under the pressure of the new invaders.
In fact, King Arthur appears to be a Celtic King whose merit is to have postponed the invasion and who
protected Britain from the Anglo-Saxons. Marie de France, for instance, mentions that she used folk
sources for her lays. But, the clear first mention of King Arthur seems to be the chronicle of Geoffrey of
Monmouth (c. 1100 - 1154), Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), an extremely
famous history of England though, today, considered unreliable. This chronicle is rather a compilation of
various sources gathered by the cleric and imbued with his own fantasy and not a translation of an “ancient
book in the British language” as the author pretends. Whatever it might be and however unreliable it may
be considered nowadays, this text stands at the basis of other literary works that drew inspiration from it
(like those of Gorboduc, Lear and Cymbeline, for instance). His greatest influence, however, remains in the
37
creation of the Arthurian myth, of the Round Table and of Merlin as well as of the legend that the founder
of Britain is Brut, a descendent of Aeneas.
The first Middle English poem to discuss the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table is Layamon’s Brut (c. 1200). Layamon, an English clergyman, was influenced by the French Roman
de Brut composed by the Norman poet Wace, who, in turn, based his text on Geoffrey of Monmouth’s
History of the British Kings. The poem is named after the legendary Brutus of Troy, grandson of Aeneas
and, allegedly founder of Britain, named after him. A part of the poem is dedicated to the life and exploits
of King Arthur, a courageous and noble warrior, defender of Christianity, of law and order, generous,
courteous and sensible, with a “wondrous birth” and a “mysterious death”. Layamon tries to unite the old
and the new, adapting the sound of the Old English verse to the new requirements of rhyme and rhythm.
He retains the Old English tradition being also, the first one to make extensive use of the French material.
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT (late 14th century)
Four texts are attributed to a poet whose name is not known, but who seems to have composed four
exquisite works: Pearl, Purity or Cleanness, Patience and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nothing is
known of the life of the poet, but his works are considered some of the finest English literary pieces of the
period, Pearl, an elegy, Purity and Patience, verse homilies or religious meditations and Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight, a romance belonging to the Arthurian cycle. Due to his knowledge of aristocratic literary
conventions as well as details of the life of the noblemen, from clothing, armors and weapons, architecture,
dishes and entertainment such as hunting, hawking or chess, it is believed that he might have been close to
a nobleman’s court. He also knew the Bible and was familiar to the language of the lawyer, courtier, priest,
or lover. The imagery that he uses in his poems is complex and sophisticated, sometimes employing
concrete images for abstract ideas (like the hunted animals in Sir Gawain as symbolic for the three qualities
of his souls). He also alludes to allegory, drawing on the allegorical religious writings. His symbols are
sophisticated and complex, like Gawain’s shield that does not point only to Gawain’s virtues but calls to
mind the virtues of chivalric life and the conflict between Christian virtues and love depicted in the poem.
There are several conjectures about his profession, from priest or chaplain to lawyer, but nothing is certain
except the fact that he had a daughter who died and which prompted the writing of the poem Pearl.
The poems belong to the alliterative renaissance, which was a fourteenth century revival of the old
Anglo-Saxon alliterative poetic tradition. In fact, the scarcity of manuscripts or other types of proofs from
the period after the Norman Conquest to the fourteenth century might suggest that the alliterative poetry
might have never disappeared in the oral tradition in the Midlands (Northeast) and it was only in the 14th
century that such alliterative texts were written down. In other words, the very existence of such poems is
seen by some critics as a proof of the continuation of the Anglo-Saxon tradition. The existence of other
alliterative 14th century texts suggests that the alliterative conventions used by the Gawain-poet are not
unique, but part of the wider tradition. However, his works also testify of a remarkable talent and subtlety,
his poetry ranking among the finest pieces not only of the period but also of English poetry in general.
Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew is, probably, alongside Perceval, the most famous knight in the
Arthurian cycle. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, he appears as an ideal knight, an embodiment of
chivalric values, loyal, honest and courteous. During the story, Sir Gawain needs to past through a series of
trials that test different virtues that a knight is supposed to possess.
The story begins with Gawain proving his loyalty to king Arthur, by accepting, in the place of his
king, a game set by a mysterious Green Knight and thus save the kings life while putting his own in danger.
Would you grant me the grace,
To be gone from this bench and stand by you there,
If I without discourtesy might quit this board,...
I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest;
And the loss of my life would be least of any;
That I have you for uncle is my only praise;
My body, but for your blood, is barren of worth;
And for that this folly befits not a king,
38
 And 'tis I that have asked it, it ought to be mine,
And if my claim be not comely let all this court judge,
in sight. (Norton Anthology)
This is the first glimpse of his character, in which he demonstrates his loyalty to the lord as well as
his modesty.
The year passes quickly and saddened by the prospect of going to death, he takes his horse and
armor. He is given a shield: “on the outside it has a five-pointed star, the “Pentangle,” or “endless knot,” a
symbol perfectly appropriate for Gawain. Each point represents five virtues: he is faultless in his five senses,
unfailing in his five fingers, devoted to Christ’s five wounds (received on the Cross), and supported by the
five joys of Mary, and he is a master of five virtues generosity, good fellowship, purity, courtesy, and charity.
(The pentangle is also, traditionally, a symbol used to ward off black magic.) On the inside of the shield he
has an image of the Virgin, who gives him strength in battle.” The shield becomes one of the controlling
symbols of the poem, the outside representing the "visible" virtues that the knight shows to the world,
namely his duty to defend the social and religious order, while the inside of the shield is a reflection of his
inner self, the humility that he needs to preserve.
He roams the country in search of the Green Chapel and he fights monsters and foes, though the
worst foe is winter as he needs to sleep in his armor. He prays to the Virgin Mary to guide him to a resting
place and soon he sees a castle on a hill. It is strange and mysterious, all white as if cut from a piece of
paper. He is welcomed by the lord of the Castle, given clothes and invited to the table. He also meets the
two ladies of the castle: one is extremely beautiful and the other is very ugly. The old ugly lady is a witch
(Morgan le Fay) and the young is the castle’s lady, Lord Bercilak’s wife. Bercilak tells him the Green Chapel
is nearby and he can stay till the New Year. In the meantime, being tired, Gawain can remain in the castle to
keep the lady’s company while Bercilak rides out to hunt. However, he has to accept a game of exchanging
gifts with Bercilak – whatever each wins in his adventures must give it freely to the other. There are three
days and tests, and while the host hunts deer, boar and fox, the lady tempts Gawain. First, lured by the lady,
receives a kiss, then two, then three. When the host returns, he exchanges the kiss(es) but does not tell how
he got it. As the test is continued, the advances of the lady are bolder. Gawain resists out of respect for the
host and concern for his good name (obeying the knightly virtues). The lady persuades him to accept a gift,
a magical sash or green girdle supposed to protect the wearer. Even if he swore to exchange gifts, Gawain
does not give Bercilak the green girdle, thus failing to keep his oath. There is a parallelism between the
three hunted animals and Gawain’s behavior, first he is scared like a deer, then he is bold like the boar in
resisting the lady, and then he is cunning like the fox.
On the New Year’s Day, Gawain leaves the castle to go to the Green Chapel. He wears the girdle
not out of vanity, but to save his life. If the shield symbolized his virtues, the girdle symbolizes the fall,
because it is a constant reminder of his failure to keep his oath. The Green Knight does not cut his
throat, but only scratches his skin. Eventually, Bercilak reveals himself as the Green Knight and says that the
girdle was his property. However, he forgives Gawain for failing the test, saying that he is, after all, an
honorable man and that he was only trying to do whatever he could to save his life and did not keep the
girdle for glory. However, Gawain is devastated and ashamed, feelings that are deepened when he learns
that the whole trick was planned by Morgan le Fay, the old lady, who wanted to frighten lady Guinevere by
sending the Green Knight to Camelot.
Upon his return home, King Arthur and the other knights do not condemn him for this failure,
considering that he emerged victorious from the tests. However, Gawain holds the standard of knightly
perfection extremely high, and he is unable to forgive himself and to be rid of the sense of shame and of
failure. The green girdle that he received as a sign of Bercilak’s forgiveness for his trespassing is, for him, a
symbol of his failure:
"But your girdle, God love you! I gladly shall take
And be pleased to possess, not for the pure gold,
Nor the bright belt itself, nor the beauteous pendants,
Nor for wealth, nor worldly state, nor workmanship fine,
39
 But a sign of excess it shall seem oftentimes
When I ride in renown, and remember with shame
the faults and frailty of the flesh perverse,
How its tenderness entices the foul taint of sin;
And so when praised and high prowess have pleased my heart,
A look at this love-lace will lower my pride.
But one thing would I learn, if you were not loath,
Since you are lord of yonder land where I have long sojourned
With honor in your house-may you have His reward
That upholds all the heavens, highest on throne!
How runs your right name?-and let the rest go."
In the reader’s eyes, this failure is only meant to make him more human. The Gawain poet,
however, does not make him err beyond pardon, since his mistake is not committed for lust, but for the
love of life, “the less, then, to blame.” In the end, he alone is the one who cannot forgive himself, and, upon
his return home, he presents the girdle as a sign of shame, thinking that the sin once committed, will never
be forgiven.
It is interesting to notice how the story is drawn in such a way as to question the validity of ready-
made ideals and constructions. The real test for Sir Gawain is not the test that one knight would expect, a
test in courage and valor; he would have passed such a test. It is a test of his virtues, a moral dilemma that
he needs to solve: remain true to the promise made to his lord or honor the requests of the noble lady,
both being rules in the chivalric code that he is supposed to obey. His failure suggests the frailty of human
constructions, Sir Gawain being disillusioned not only by his own reactions and mistakes, but also learning
that everything was a ruse set by Arthur’s step-sister and enemy, Morgan le Fay, who created a test for King
Arthur’s court. So, in the end, everything was a game, but that game revealed to himself his weakness and
made it impossible for him to forget his own transgression. By losing his blind trust that the chivalric code
will always support him and help him find a solution to any danger or dilemma, Gawain loses his
innocence. The laughter of the King and of the knights at the end, when he presents the girdle and
confesses his sin as well as their decision to all wear green girdles sound rather ironic and seem to contradict
Gawain’s sincere distress and loss of faith in his own worth.
THOMAS MALORY (c. 1405 - 1471) – MORTE DARTHUR (1470)
The only important text in fifteenth century, creating a link between Chaucer and the great Renaissance
writers, is Sir Thomas Malory’s prose text referring to the Arthurian cycle. During the unstable and bloody
time of the War of the Roses, Malory’s text appears as the last story of chivalrous ideals and brave deeds,
against the background of a world that has already given up such ideals. It is also the last medieval Arthurian
text remaining, to our days, a standard for all later versions.
The sources of the text are varied, from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Arthurian stories, Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight and a stanzaic Morte Darthur of the same period, as well as an alliterative Morte from
Lincolnshire in the 15th century. The last two derive from the French prose La Mort Artu.
The text was printed by Caxton in 1485, who edited it and divided it in 21 sections. Malory’s
original text, divided in only 8 sections, was discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The story follows Arthur’s life from his conception and birth, through his glorious deeds and great
reign to his death and the decay of his kingdom. Long sections are dedicated to Lancelot and his love to
Guinevere, to Gawain, Tristan or to the Holy Grail. The story insists on the elements that seem to be
missing from the historical times in which it was written. So, it speaks of faith and loyalty, of courage and
justice, of purity and unselfishness. However, Arthur dies of betrayal and his kingdom is doomed to perish,
ending the story in mistrust and regret. The story closes with the inscription on Arthur’s tomb: HIC IACET
ARTHURUS, REX QUONDAM, REXQUE FUTURUS (Here lies Arthur, former king and future king).
The style appears simple, almost childlike, but at a closer look, it deserves its name as the greatest
prose writing of its time. The text flows with a specific cadence and musicality, never becoming tedious or
monotonous, and being adapted to the content, to the point of tension, the climaxes, or the endings. It is
40
not the vernacular of the day, neither some old language, and so, it reflects its content: that of a story mixing
reality with fantasy. The vocabulary is predominantly Anglo-Saxon, the Latin or French words being very
scarce. With its more modern and easy to read manner, it is the link between the great writers of the
Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern stage of the English culture.

41
 ARTHUR’S DEATH

THE MYTH OF ARTHUR'S RETURN

(The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1)

Folklore and literature provide examples of a recurrent myth about a leader or hero who has not really
died but is asleep somewhere or in some state of suspended life and will return to save his people.
Evidently, the Bretons and Welsh developed this myth about Arthur in oral tradition long before it turns
up in medieval chronicles. Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon, and subsequent writers about
Arthur, including Malory, allude to it with varying degrees of skepticism.

GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH: From The History of the Kings of Britain

But also the famous King Arthur himself was mortally wounded. When he was carried off to the island of
Avalon to have his wounds treated, he bestowed the crown on his cousin Constantine, the son of Duke
Cador in the year 542 after the Incarnation of our lord. May his soul rest in peace.

WACE: From Roman de Brut

Arthur, if the story is not false, was mortally wounded; he had himself carried to Avalon to be healed of
his wounds. He is still there and the Britons expect him as they say and hope. He'll come from there if he
is still alive. Master Wace, who made this book, won't say more about Arthur's end than the prophet
Merlin rightly said once upon a time that one would not know whether or not he were dead. The prophet
spoke truly: ever since men have asked and shall always ask, I believe, whether he is dead or alive. Truly
he had himself taken to Avalon 542 years after the Incarnation. It was a pity that he had no offspring. He
left his realm to Constantine, the son of Cador of Cornwall, and asked him to reign until his return.

LAYAMON: From Brut

Arthur was mortally wounded, grievously badly;
To him there came a young lad who was from his clan,
He was Cador the Earl of Cornwall's son;
The boy was called Constantine; the king loved him very much.
Arthur gazed up at him, as he lay there on the ground,
And uttered these words with a sorrowing heart:
"Welcome, Constantine; you were Cador's son;
Here I bequeath to you all of my kingdom,
And guard well my Britons all the days of your life
And retain for them all the laws which have been extant in my days
And all the good laws which there were in Uther's days.
And I shall voyage to Avalon, to the fairest of all maidens,
To the Queen Argante, a very radiant elf,
And she will make quite sound every one of my wounds,
Will make me completely whole with her health-giving potions.
And then I shall come back to my own kingdom
And dwell among the Britons with surpassing delight."
After these words there came gliding from the sea
What seemed a short boat, moving, propelled along by the tide
And in it were two women in remarkable attire,
Who took Arthur up at once and immediately carried him
And gently laid him down and began to move off.
And so it had happened, as Merlin said before:
That the grief would be incalculable at the passing of Arthur.
42
The Britons even now believe that he is alive
And living in Avalon with the fairest of the elf-folk,
And the Britons are still always looking for when Arthur comes
returning.
Yet once there was a prophet and his name was Merlin:
He spoke his predictions, and his sayings were the truth,
Of how an Arthur once again would come to aid the English.

SIR THOMAS MALORY: From Morte Darthur

Thus of Arthur I find no more written in books that been authorized1, neither more of the very certainty of
his death heard I never read,5 but thus was he led away in a ship wherein were three queens: that one was
King Arthur's sister, Queen Morgan la Fee, the t'other was the Queen of North Wales, and the third was
the Oueen of the Waste Lands. * * *
Now more of the death of King Arthur could I never find but that these ladies brought him to his burials,
and such one was buried there that thehermit bore witness that sometime was Bishop of Canterbury. But
yet the hermit knew not in certain that he was verily the body of King Arthur, for this tale Sir Bedivere, a
Knight of the Table Round, made it to be written. Yet some men say in many parts of England that King
Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place. And men say that he shall
comeagain and he shall win the Holy Cross. Yet I will not say that it shall be so, but rather I will say,
Here in this world he changed his life. And many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse:
Hie iacet Arthurus, rex quondam, rexque futurus.2

1
That have authority
2
"Here lies Arthur, who was once king and king will be again."

43
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIghT cc 1375-1400
(trans. Marie Borroff in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1)
PART 1
THE GREEN KNIGHT’S CHALLENGE
If any in this house such hardihood claims,
Be so bold in his blood, his brain so wild,
As stoutly to strike one stroke for another,
I shall give him as my gift this gisarme noble,
This ax, that is heavy enough, to handle as he likes,
And I shall bide the first blow, as bare as I sit.
If there be one so wilful my words to assay,
Let him leap hither lightly, lay hold of this weapon;
I quitclaim it forever, keep it as his own,
And I shall stand him a stroke, steady on this floor,
So you grant me the guerdon to give him another,
sans blame.
In a twelvemonth and a day
He shall have of me the same;
Now be it seen straightway
Who dares take up the game."
If he astonished them at first, stiller were then
All that household in hall, the high and the low;
The stranger on his green steed stirred in the saddle,
And roisterously his red eyes he rolled all about,
Bent his bristling brows, that were bright green,
Wagged his beard as he watched who would arise.
When the court kept its counsel he coughed aloud,
And cleared his throat coolly, the clearer to speak:
44
"What, is this Arthur's house," said that horseman
then,
"Whose fame is so fair in far realms and wide?
Where is now your arrogance and your awesome
deeds,
Your valor and your victories and your vaunting
words?
Now are the revel and renown of the Round Table
Overwhelmed with a word of one man's speech,
For all cower and quake, and no cut felt!"
With this he laughs so loud that the lord grieved;
The blood for sheer shame shot to his face,and pride.
With rage his face flushed red,
And so did all beside.
Then the king as bold man bred
Toward the stranger took a stride.
SINCE NO ONE ACCEPTS THE TEST, KING
ARTHUR OFFERS HIMSELF TO THE BET
Gawain by Guenevere
Toward the king doth now incline:
"I beseech, before all here,
That this melee may be mine."
"Would you grant me the grace," said Gawain to the
king,
"To be gone from this bench and stand by you there,
If I without discourtesy might quit this board,
And if my liege lady misliked it not,
I would come to your counsel before your court
noble.
For I find it not fit, as in faith it is known,
When such a boon is begged before all these knights,
Though you be tempted thereto, to take it on yourself
While so bold men about upon benches sit,
That no host under heaven is hardier of will,
Nor better brothers-in-arms where battle is joined;
I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest;
And the loss of my life would be least of any;
That I have you for uncle is my only praise;
My body, but for your blood, is barren of worth;
And for that this folly befits not a king,
ONE YEAR PASSES QUICKLY, THE SEASONS UNFOLD AND SIR GAWAIN PREPARES FOR THE
CHALLENGEE
PART 2
SIR GAWAIN DRESSES FOR HIS JOURNEY
SIR GAWAIN’S SHIELD
Then the eyes showed for the shield, that shone all
red,
With the pentangle portrayed in purest golf,
About his broad neck by the baldric he casts it,
That was meet for the man, and matched him well.
And why the pentangle is proper to that peerless
prince
I intend now to tell, though detain me it must.
It is a sign by Solomon sagely devised
To be a token of truth, by its title of old,
For it is a figure formed of five points,
And each line is linked and locked with the next
For ever and ever and hence it is called
In all England, as I hear, the endless knot.
And well may he wear it on his worthy arms,
For ever faithful five-fold in five-fold fashion
Was Gawain i good works, as gold unalloyed,
Devoid of all villainy, with virtues adorned in sight.
On shield and coat in view
He bore that emblem bright,
As to his word most true
And in speech most courteous knight
And first, he was faultless in his five senses,
Nor found ever to fail in his five fingers,
And all his fealty was fixed upon the five wounds
That Christ got on the cross, as the creed tells;
And whenever this man in melee took part,
45
And 'tis I that have asked it, it ought to be mine,
And if my claim be not comely let all this court
judge, in sight."
The court assays the claim,
And in counsel all unite
To give Gawain the game
And release the king outright.
GAWAIN ACCEPTS THE CHALLENGE AND
CUTS OFF THE GREEN KNIGHT’S HEAD. THE
KNIGHT TAKES HIS HEAD AND TELLS
GAWAIN THAT HE WILL WAIT FOR HIM IN A
YEAR’S TIME AT THE GREEN CHAPPEL
Now take care, Sir Gawain,
That your courage wax not cold
When you must turn again
To your enterprise foretold.
His one thought was on this, past all things else,
That all his force was founded on the five joys
That the high Queen of heaven had in her child.
And therefore, as I find, he fittingly had
On the inner part of his shield her image portrayed,
That when his look on it lighted, he never lost heart.
The fifth of the five fives followed by this knight
Were beneficence boundless and brotherly love
And pure mind and manners, that none might
impeach,
And compassion most precious—these peerless five
Were forged and made fast in him, foremost of men.
Now all these five fives were confirmed in this
knight,
And each linked in other, that end there was none,
And fixed to five points, whose force never failed,
Nor assembled all on a side, nor asunder either,
Nor anywhere at an end, but whole and entire
However the pattern proceeded or played out its
course.
And so on his shining shield shaped was the knot
Royally in red gold against red gules,
That is the peerless pentangle, prized of oldin lore.
Now armed is Gawain gay,
And bears his lance before,
And soberly said good day,
He thought forevermore.
SIR GAWAIN LOOKS FOR THE GREEN CHAPEL PASSING ALL SORTS OF ADVENTURES ON HIS WAY
THERE
Now he rides in his array through the realm of
Logres,
Sir Gawain, God knows, though it gave him small
joy!
All alone must he lodge through many a long night
Where the food that he fancied was far from his plate;
He had no mate but his mount, over mountain and
plain,
Nor man to say his mind to but almighty God,
..................................................................
Many a cliff must he climb in country wild;
Far off from all his friends, forlorn must he ride;
At each strand or stream where the stalwart passed
'Twere a marvel if he met not some monstrous foe,
And that so fierce and forbidding that fight he must.
So many were the wonders he wandered among
That to tell but the tenth part would tax my wits.
Now with serpents he wars, now with savage wolves,
Now with wild men of the woods, that watched from
the rocks,
Both with bulls and with bears, and with boars
besides,
ON CHRISTMAS DAY, HE PRAYS FOR A SHELTER AND HE SEES A CASTLE
And therefore sighing he said: “I beseech of The,
Lord,
And Mary, thou mildest mother so dear,
Some harbourage where haply I might hear mass
....................................................
BERTILAK AND THE TWO LADIES
Gawain gazed on the host that greeted him there,
And a lusty fellow he looked, the lord of that place:
A man of massive mold, and of middle age;
Broad, bright was his beard, of a beaver's hue,
Strong, steady his stance, upon stalwart shanks,
His face fierce as fire, fair-spoken withal,
And well-suited he seemed in Sir Gawain's sight
To be a master of men in a mighty keep.
...................................................
Then the lady, that longed to look on the knight,
Came forth from her closet with her comely maids.
46
And giants that came gibbering from the jagged
steeps.
Had he not borne himself bravely, and been on God's
side,
He had met with many mishaps and mortal harms.
And if the wars were unwelcome, the winter was
worse,
When the cold clear rains rushed from the clouds
And froze before they could fall to the frosty earth.
Near slain by the sleet he sleeps in his irons
More nights than enough, among naked rocks,
Where clattering from the crest the cold stream ran
And hung in hard icicles high overhead.
Thus in peril and pain and predicaments dire
He rides across country till Christmas Eve, our
knight.
And at that holy tide
He prays with all his might
That Mary may be his guide
Till a dwelling comes in sight.
He said his prayer with sighs,
Lamenting his misdeed;
He crosses himself and cries
On Christ in his great need.
No sooner had Sir Gawain signed himself thrice
Than he was aware, in the wood, of a wondrous
dwelling,
....................................................................................
So vied there for his view that verily it seemed
A castle cut of paper for a king's feast.
The fair hues of her flesh, her face and her hair
And her body and her bearing were beyond praise,
And excelled the queen herself, as Sir Gawain
thought.
He goes forth to greet her with gracious intent;
Another lady led her by the left hand
That was older than she—an ancient, it seemed,
And held in high honor by all men about.
But unlike to look upon, those ladies were,
For if the one was fresh, the other was faded:
Bedecked in bright red was the body of one;
Flesh hung in folds on the face of the other;
On one a high headdress, hung all with pearls; The two eyes and the nose, the naked lips,
Her bright throat and bosom fair to behold, And they unsightly to see, and sorrily bleared.
Fresh as the first snow fallen upon hills; A beldame, by God, she may well be deemed, of
A wimple the other one wore round her throat; pride!
Her swart chin well swaddled, swathed all in white; She was short and thick of waist,
Her forehead enfolded in flounces of silk Her buttocks round and wide;
That framed a fair fillet, of fashion ornate, More toothsome, to his taste,
And nothing bare beneath save the black brows, Was the beauty by her side.

SIR GAWAIN STRIKE A BET WITH WITH BERTILAK INVOLVING AN EXCHANGE OF GIFTS

PART 3
THE TESTS: THE DEER HUNT, THE BOAR HUNT AND THE FOX HUNT. BERTILAK’S WIFE TRIES TO
SEDUCE GAWAIN BUT HE ONLY RECEIVES HER KISSES

THE LADY GIVES HIM A CHARMED GIRDLE

She released a knot lightly, and loosened a belt
That was caught about her kirtle, the bright cloak
beneath,
Of a gay green silk, with gold overwrought,
And the borders all bound with embroidery fine,
And this she presses upon him, and pleads with a
smile,
Unworthy though it were, that it would not be
scorned.
But the man still maintains that he means to accept
Neither gold nor any gift, till by God's grace
The fate that lay before him was fully achieved.
"And be not offended, fair lady, I beg,
And give over your offer, for ever I must decline.
I am grateful for favor shown
Past all deserts of mine,
And ever shall be your own
True servant, rain or shine."
"Now does my present displease you," she promptly
inquired,
"Because it seems in your sight so simple a thing?
And belike, as it is little, it is less to praise,
But if the virtue that invests it were verily known,
It would be held, 1 hope, in higher esteem.
For the man that possesses this piece of silk, If he
bore it on his body, belted about,
There is no hand under heaven that could hew him
down,
For he could not be killed by any craft on earth."
Then the man began to muse, and mainly he thought
It was a pearl for his plight, the peril to come
When he gains the Green Chapel to get his reward:
Could he escape unscathed, the scheme were noble!
Then he bore with her words and withstood them no
more,
And she repeated her petition and pleaded anew,
And he granted it, and gladly she gave him the belt,
And besought him for her sake to conceal it well,
Lest the noble lord should know—and, the knight
agrees
That not a soul save themselves shall see it
thenceforth with sight.
He thanked her with fervent heart,
As often as ever he might;
Three times, before they part,
She has kissed the stalwart knight.

PART 4
SIR GAWAIN PREPARES HIMSELF FOR THE MEETING WITH THE GREEN KNIGHT
In his richest raiment he robed himself then: Then twice with that token he twined him about.
His crested coat-armor, close-stitched with craft, Sweetly did he swathe him in that swatch of silk,
With stones of strange virtue on silk velvet set; That girdle of green so goodly to see,
All bound with embroidery on borders and seams That against the gay red showed gorgeous bright.
And lined warmly and well with furs of the best. Yet he wore not for its wealth that wondrous girdle,
Yet he left not his love-gift, the lady's girdle; Nor pride in its pendants, though polished they were,
Gawain, for his own good, forgot not that: Though glittering gold gleamed at the end,
When the bright sword was belted and bound on his But to keep himself safe when consent he must
haunches, To endure a deadly dint, and all defense denied.

47
THE SERVANT WHO LEADS HIM TO THE CHAPER TRIES TO CONVINCE HIM TO GIVE UP THE FIGHT
AND SAVE HIS LIFE, BUT GAWAIN REFUSES.
GAWAIN MEETS THE GREEN KNIGHT AND ACCEPT TO BE KILLED. THE GREEN KNIGHT ONLY
SCRATCHES HIS NECK AND REVEALS THAT EVERYTHING WAS A RUSE OF MORGAN LE FEY’S TO
TRICK ARTHUR AND THAT HE KNOWS ABOUT THE GIRDLE
Yet you lacked, sir, a little in loyalty there,
But the cause was not cunning, nor courtship either,
But that you loved your own life; the less, then, to
blame."
The other stout knight in a study stood a long while,
So gripped with grim rage that his great heart shook.
All the blood of his body burned in his face
As he shrank back in shame from the man's sharp
speech.
The first words that fell from the fair knight's lips:
"Accursed be a cowardly and covetous heart!
In you is villainy and vice, and virtue laid low!"
Then he grasps the green girdle and lets go the knot,
Hands it over in haste, and hotly he says:
"Behold there my falsehood, ill hap betide it!
Your cut taught me cowardice, care for my life,
And coveting came after, contrary both
To largesse and loyalty belonging to knights.
Now am I faulty and false, that fearful was ever
Of disloyalty and lies, bad luck to them both! and
greed.
I confess, knight, in this place,
Most dire is my misdeed;
Let me gain back your good grace,
And thereafter I shall take heed."
Then the other laughed aloud, and lightly he said,
"Such harm as I have had, I hold it quite healed.
You are so fully confessed, your failings made
known,
And bear the plain penance of the point of my blade,
I hold you polished as a pearl, as pure and as bright
As you had lived free of fault since first you were
born.
And I give you, sir, this girdle that is gold-hemmed
And green as my garments, that, Gawain, you may
Be mindful of this meeting when you mingle in
throng
With nobles of renown—and known by this token
How it chanced at the Green Chapel, to chivalrous
knights.
And you shall in this New Year come yet again
And we shall finish out our feast in my fair hall,
GAWAIN RETURN HOME AND TELLS ARTHUR AND THE COURT ABOUT HIS ADVENTURES AND
ALSO ABOUT HIS SHAME.
48
We shall see you friends this day,
Whose enmity touched you near."
And held it in his hands as he offered his thanks,
"I have lingered long enough—may good luck be
yours,
And he reward you well that all worship bestows!
And commend me to that comely one, your courteous
wife,
Both herself and that other, my honoured ladies,
That have trapped their true knight in their trammels
so quaint.
But if a dullard should dote, deem it no wonder,
And through the wiles of a woman be wooed into
sorrow,
For so was Adam by one, when the world began,
And Solomon by many more, and Samson the
mighty—
Delilah was his doom, and David thereafter
Was beguiled by Bathsheba, and bore much distress;
Now these were vexed by their devices—'twere a
very joy
Could one but learn to love, and believe them not.
For these were proud princes, most prosperous of old,
Past all lovers lucky, that languished under heaven,
bemused.
And one and all fell prey
To women that they had used;
If I be led astray,
Methinks I may be excused.
"But your girdle, God love you! I gladly shall take
And be pleased to possess, not for the pure gold,
Nor the bright belt itself, nor the beauteous pendants,
Nor for wealth, nor worldly state, nor workmanship
fine,
But a sign of excess it shall seem oftentimes
When I ride in renown, and remember with shame
The faults and the frailty of the flesh perverse,
How its tenderness entices the foul taint of sin;
And so when praise and high prowess have pleased
my heart,
A look at this love-lace will lower my pride.
"Behold, sir," said he, and handles the belt,
"This is the blazon of the blemish that I bear on my neck;
This is the sign of sore loss that I have suffered there
For the cowardice and coveting that I came to there;
This is the badge of false faith that I was found in there,
And I must bear it on my body till I breathe my last.
For one may keep a deed dark, but undo it no whit,
For where a fault is made fast, it is fixed evermore."
The king, comforts the knight, and the court all together
Agree with gay laughter and gracious intent
That the lords and the ladies belonging to the Table,
Each brother of that band, a baldric should have,
A belt borne oblique, of a bright green,
To be worn with one accord for that worthy's sake.
So that was taken as a token by the Table Round,
And he honored that had it, evermore after,
As the best book of knighthood bids it be known.
In the old days of Arthur this happening befell;
The books of Brutus' deeds bear witness thereto
Since Brutus, the bold knight, embarked for this land
After the siege ceased at Troy and the city fared amiss.
Many such, ere we were born,
Have befallen here, ere this.
May He that was crowned with thorn
Bring all men to His bliss! Amen.
Honi Soit Qui Mai Pense3

3
"Shame be to the man who has evil in his mind.” This is the motto of the Order of the Garter, founded ca. 1350: apparently a copyist of the
poem associated this order with the one founded to honor Gawain.

49
 RELIGIOUS LITERATURE
The Middle Ages were a highly religious time and people could not conceive their existence,
their destinies and their purpose on this earth outside a religious context. All the writings of the period,
even the romances, are imbued with a religious understanding of the world.
It is almost impossible to count all the forms of religious literature from sermons, to lives of
saints, poems, drama, contemplative writings, meditations, etc. The audiences were formed mainly of
people connected to the Church, but also lay people, especially a fast –expanding middle-class, eager to
have access to learning.

a) Debates, dialogues
b) Mystical Writings
c) Allegorical texts: dream-visions and Medieval drama
These attempt at classification is not strict, as the forms tend to blend, many dialogues and even some
mystical writings relying on dream-vision and allegories.

a. DEBATE AND DIALOGUE

This type of text tries to offer answers to the dilemmas of the time, embodying, through allegorical
characters, various aspects of human existence such as body and soul, love and religious meditations,
gain and prudence vs. excess and spending, the ages of man (youth, middle age and old age). They are
often framed as dream-visions and need also the presence of a mediator, asked to decide who is right.
Some examples of poems are The Owl and the Nightingale (12th or 13th century), Winner and Waster
(14th century), The Parliament of the Three Ages (14th century).
The Owl and the Nightingale, an anonymous poem, epitomizes the medieval spirit, with its
scholastic philosophy, based on debate and analysis, the preference for allegory and the beast-fable form.
The debate between an owl and a nightingale is a debate between the old and the new, asceticism and
joie de vivre, isolation and social life. However, it is quite difficult to see it simply as an allegory, since the
two sides represented in the poem are just characters, neither one being placed in a central and
commanding position but merely exposing its side of the story and so they function more like characters
than emblems.
In a valley, in springtime, a poet once heard a quarrel between an own and a nightingale. The
owl, sitting on a bough covered in ivy appears to the nightingale that sits on a blossomed branch, as an
ugly, gloomy, pompous, dirty, nasty creature with a wretched howling that frightens all the other birds.
The poem ends with the decision of the two birds to find an arbitrator of their dispute, one Nicholas of
Guildford, since the owl refuses to engage in useless verbal attacks against the nightingale, but the author
of the poem breaks of before we manage to find out the result, so, the dispute remains opened to further
debate.
The owl, therefore, might stand for monastic life, virtuous living, gravity, asceticism, while the
nightingale might stand either for religious orders that adopt a lighter attitude, or for love, joy, happiness.
They might also stand for religious literature and romances. The problem is that the poem does not
offer a solution.

b. MYSTICAL WRITINGS
In a world dominated by the Church, spiritual writings were, naturally, abundant. The Middle
Ages are a period of development of the religious fervour, encouraged by the construction of
monasteries that become centres of culture and by the foundation of new monk orders. Spiritual writings
had existed in England since The Dream of the Rood, the vision – poem being one of the favourite
genres in Anglo-Saxon Christian literature. The influence of writers such as St. Bernard de Clairvaux
(1090 - 1153) or St. Bonaventure (1221 - 1274) shows that there was a circulation of people and ideas all
across Europe, through books, monks sent to different monasteries or pilgrimages undertook by simple
people as well as by people of the Church. Ailred of Rielvaux (1110 – 1167), Richard Rolle (c. 1300 -
1349), Walter Hilton (d. 1379) or the anonymous spiritual guide of contemplative prayer The Cloud of
Unknowing (14th century) are some examples of spiritual works and writers very popular in England.
Spiritual writings, poems about confession and the dilemmas of the Christian conscience faced with evil,

50
but aiming towards spiritual fulfilment also mark Ricardian poetry (poetry written during King Richard’s
reign).
One of the most famous English prose writers of spiritual writings was Julian of Norwich (c.
1343 – c. 1413/1427). Her biography is little known, and the little information we have comes mainly
from her texts. She confesses she had her Revelations during a very serious illness when she was thirty.
Her work, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love, is an expanded version of the three visions of Jesus
Christ she received during her illness. Nowadays, she is considered one of the finest mystic writers
before George Herbert. She is called a mystical theologian because she does not give us an
autobiographical account of the way in which she started her spiritual journey, neither does she offer a
lesson, or solution, or path to follow for salvation. Instead, her Revelations are dense and emotional
encounters with the mystery of God. It is only deep faith that can lead people towards an understanding
of God’s mystery that is not immediately evident since the human world is fallen and, therefore, limited
in its perception of God’s plan. According to the mystic theologians, therefore, redemption or
understanding of God cannot come through simple human effort, but only if the human being is
subjected to extraordinary forms of prayer or contemplation (such as private revelations or visions).
During her illness, she prayed God for three things: “These Revelations were shewed to a
simple creature unlettered, the year of our Lord 1373, the Thirteenth day of May. Which creature [had]
afore desired three gifts of God. The First was mind of His Passion; the Second was bodily sickness in
youth, at thirty years of age; the Third was to have of God’s gift three wounds.” (trans. by Grace
Warrack). In other words she wants: 1. remembrance of His Passions “some feeling in the Passion of
Christ”, or a more intense knowledge of the bodily pains of Jesus and of the compassion of His Mother,
to suffer with him; 2. a terrible and painful sickness to hasten her union with Him and to help her
understand Jesus’ pains and receive grace; 3. contrition, compassion and longing for Him, seen as three
wounds to be received from God. She receives these revelations, or, as she calls them, “showings,” in the
form of visions of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, of the blood of Christ falling from the skies, like raindrops,
etc. She has an optimistic vision, in the sense that she believes that God is love, and everything He does
is out of love. Even human suffering, illness and pain are nothing but tests for the love of God and the
apparent disorder and chaos of human life (she lived during the Black Death and the Peasants’ Revolt)
are only a matter of wrong perception, beyond them laying the great mystery of God, based on love:
“And in this love he hath don all his werke; and in this love he hath made all things profitable to us; and
in this love our life is everlestand”.

Julian of Norwich was visited in 1413 by Margery Kempe (c. 1373 – after 1438), a housewife
from King’s Lynn who received a vision after the birth of her first baby. More is known about her than
about Julian of Norwich. She belonged to a prosperous family, she was married and had fourteen
children and she travelled widely, on pilgrimages and other spiritual journeys. Her book, The Book of
Margery Kempe, can be considered the first autobiography in English literature, being also included in
category of spiritual writings or writings of council for women. In fact, according to the medieval
tradition, the purpose of a book was to educate, to be of some use to the readers, and so, she talks about
her life, her struggle to fight off sin and the lures of life, her pilgrimages and her visions. Through these
stories she actually attempts “to teach her readers how to control the emotional damage that can be
produced by feelings uncertainty, unworthiness and despair” (Cambridge Companion to Medieval
Literature). Her text also gives us important insight into the life of a medieval middle-class woman. The
very beginning of the text is indicative in this direction. Her first pregnancy was complicated and painful
with a difficult delivery followed by post-natal depression. All these elements lead the reader into a space
of domestic life that is usually ignored, that pertaining to the life of women. Women are, in Margery
Kempe’s mind, the intended recipients of her book and she established a connection with her reader by
appealing to elements familiar to them: illness, pain, depression, the dangers of childbirth. The second
connection she makes with the reader is on account of an unconfessed sin, which she feels she should
confess before dying, but fails because of shame and fear of damnation as well as because of the harsh
attitude of the priest. The medieval writer might have identified with her fear of confessing a hidden sin,
shame and fear of the priest’s attitude. Lying on her deathbed, Margery has a vision of a tender Jesus
who tells her she should never be ashamed to open her heart to Him.

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 c. ALLEGORICAL DREAM-VISION POEMS
WILLIAM LANGLAND (C. 1330 – C. 1386): PIERS PLOWMAN or THE VISION OF
WILLIAM CONCERNING PIERS THE PLOWMAN (1360-80)

William Langland was a married cleric of the minor orders who composed and repeatedly
revised his dream poem, included in 52 manuscripts and having four versions. The poem, centred on
the dream-vision of the narrator, is structured in a number of sections, called passus, varying from the
one version to the other. The final version contains 22 passus and a Prologue. These sections represent
dream-visions and they are written in alliterative meter.
The convention of a narrator who has a vision or a dream was widely used in the medieval
period, but Langland’s visionary narrator is neither the courtly lover, nor Dante’s wanderer in the
fantastic setting of the outer-world. William’s vision does not take him far away from the real
background of England, mingling the realistic setting bustling with daily life and disorder with the divine
miracles.
The element that unites all the parts is the presence of the dreamer-narrator, named Will. The
name can be taken both as an allegorical name (moral will) as well as self-referential, referring to the
name of the writer and thus, to a more personal search for grace, salvation and meaning in life. The
poem’s hero is Piers, a simple and devout ploughman who manages to keep his faith and integrity in a
world dominated by moral and official corruption. He also undergoes a transformation, a passage from
the simple life of a field-worker to one involving a deeper commitment to religious meditation.
The dream-journey leads the reader into a fascinating world people by a variety of characters
since it is meant to represent the passage of the Christian through life in search of spiritual fulfilment and
redemption, but, threatened, at every step, by sin. These two contraries of Christian life are represented
by the vision of the Tower of Truth and the Dungeons of Hell.
The first part, containing the Prologue and the first four passus, is the vision of the field full of
folk and it is meant as an attempt to understand the contradiction between England’s religious and social
life. Will, the narrator falls asleep and he dream of a field full of folk, the Tower of Truth on a hill and
the Dungeons of Wrong/Hell in a valley below. The first vision is that of the crowd, offering not only a
perspective upon the medieval society and its members, but also a satire against pretenses and fake
images. Thus, in Will’s vision, the reader sees, journeying in front of his eyes, the rich and the poor, the
saints and the sinners: false beggars, lubbers, vagrants, wasters and lazy people, friars and pardoners
profiting from ignorant believers, corrupt priests and lawyers. This is not a static tableau, but a living and
breathing world, lively with sound and activity, as Langland clearly celebrates those who work and
contribute to the well-being of the society.
Then began I to dream · a marvellous dream,
That I was in a wilderness · wist I not where.
As I looked to the east · right into the sun,
I saw a tower on a toft · worthily built;
A deep dale beneath · a dungeon therein,
With deep ditches and dark · and dreadful of sight
A fair field full of folk · found I in between,
Of all manner of men · the rich and the poor,
Working and wandering · as the world asketh.
Some put them to plow · and played little enough,
At setting and sowing · they sweated right hard
And won that which wasters · by gluttony destroy.
Some put them to pride · and apparelled themselves so
In a display of clothing · they came disguised.
To prayer and penance · put themselves many,

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 All for love of our Lord · living hard lives,
In hope for to have · heavenly bliss.
………………………
I found there friars · of all the four orders,
Preaching to the people · for profit to themselves,
Explaining the Gospel · just as they liked,
To get clothes for themselves · they construed it as they would.
Many of these master friars · may dress as they will,
For money and their preaching · both go together. (Transl. by Donald and Rachel
Attwater)

This attitude will resonate throughout the poem, Piers and his wife also being identified as
workers, people who work for a living and do not accept another type of behavior, unwilling to give up
their integrity and honor. The failure in plowing (Piers wants to plow his lot before setting to pilgrimage)
signals the fact that the society has become lazy and is, therefore, under the threat of famine.
The second part, occupying passus V–VIII, is the vision of Piers the Plowman and the crowd of
penitents whom he leads in search of Saint Truth. He is chosen by all the others to lead the way
The third part, occupying passus IX–XII, is a vision in which the dreamer goes in search of Do-
well, Do-better and Do-best and finds it difficult to know exactly who and what they are. “Do-well is the
meek, honest labourer; Do-better is he who to honesty adds charity and the preaching of sufferance; Do-
best is above and holds a bishop’s crosier to punish the wicked. Do-well and Do-better have crowned a
king to protect them all and prevent them from disobeying Do-best,” says Thought, while Witt argues
that “Duke Do-well dwells in a castle with Lady Anima, attended by Do-better, his daughter, and Do-
best.” “Do-well destroys vices and saves the soul. Do-better is the fear of the Lord, and Do-best is the
fear of punishment.” Study says that Do-well is love, but Do-better and Do-best represent secular science
and they were created only to deceive. Clergy and his wife tell the dreamer that “Do-well is the active life,
Do-better is charity and Do-best is the clergy with benefices and power to help and possessions to relieve
the poor.”
The ending is tragic for the dreamer as he is attacked by hunger and fever and dies before his
quest is accomplished.
His vision is a didactic allegory of man’s passage through life, tempted by sin and taught by
virtues. Though the form was widely used in the Middle Ages, Langland’s style is new and fresh, the
virtues and vices such as Meed, Conscience, Reason, Love, Wisdom, Law or Wrong and the Seven
Deadly Sins are not, as it was the custom, simple personifications of good and evil, statically presenting
their ideas. On the contrary, they are involved in situations, just like real-life characters. The presentation
is objective, the narrator only rarely interfering with his own comments or feelings.
Though they were a common genre in the Middle Ages and even later, allegories are not easy to
read and grasp and they need to be “translated”. Allegory is a story with a double meaning and it can be
read, understood and interpreted in two ways, each one pertaining to either the surface, or primary
meaning, or to the deep/ secondary meaning. Scriptural allegory was based on the vision of the universe
divided between the physical world and the spiritual world, both corresponding because they are both
God’s creation. The visible world is a revelation of the invisible, but the revelation can be brought about
only by divine action. In understanding Scriptural allegory, therefore, one must not search for the
hidden, secondary meaning and ignore the primary meaning, since no real meaning can be drawn
without a thorough understanding of the first level. Participation in the act of understanding needs to be
complete. The same occurs with non-scriptural allegory. In a novel, for instance, the meaning arises
naturally and unobtrusively, from the world of the fiction. In the allegory, the meaning comes from
understanding both levels. In Langland’s allegory, the virtues and vices are personified: they are
embodiments of human qualities or flaws such as Patience, or Conscience, or Wrong. However, they
are not real, novel-like, complex characters. The constituents of the human nature are broken into
pieces and these personifications represent a single facet of the human personality. The meaning of
these allegories does not come simply from a static presentation, but rather from their interactions. They
move, speak and react to one another, making their purpose clear and visible. The usefulness of such
methods, actually, lies in the fact that people, by following such simplified schemes of human behavior,
53
are able to understand the allegory by breaking it into easily-identifiable constituents. This is didactic
allegory, the purpose being not to entertain, but to assist the Christian in his spiritual journey towards
redemption. Thus, in this relationship between two levels or modes of meanings, the reader should
always relate to a literal one, of a predictable and coherent kind, connected, through individual
correspondences, to a set of related allegorical significances.

MEDIEVAL DRAMA
The drama is believed to have developed out the of the Catholic religious services as dialogues in the
form of questions and answers between the priest and the believers (antiphones and responsories) and
from the short and rudimentary plays that reenacted scenes from the Bible and were staged at important
religious celebrations, especially Easter. It is very difficult today to clearly grasp the importance of
medieval drama since we are left with disparate written piece of an art which was largely unwritten and
which testifies of a rich and imaginative performative culture.

MYSTERY PLAYS and MIRACLES were religious plays drawing inspiration form the Bible (The
Mystery Plays) and from the lives of saints (the Miracles). They were played by the guilds that staged
their play on a pageant (a moving platform like a stage on wheels) and toured the streets. There are
several known cycles: the Chester cycle, the Wakefield cycle, the N-Town cycle (an unknown town) and
the York cycle.

MORALITY PLAYS showed the fate of a single person, Everyman, who becomes symbolic for
humanity, and were played by travelling companies. The religious plays were suppressed by the advent
of Protestantism.

GEOFFREY CHAUCER (C. 1343 (THE EARLY 1340S) - 1400)

Geoffrey Chaucer was named “the Father of English Poetry” and this fame was evident even
during his lifetime. He had a tremendous influence in the establishment of the literary English as well as
the establishment of a valuable English literature in accordance to the standard imposed by the other
European cultures, especially French and Italian. In a literary landscape dominated by French forms, he
managed to create a personal style, by adapting the existing literary forms to the requirements of the
English language and the English setting. His characters come from all the walks of life, giving the reader
a rich and living image of the England of the Middle Ages.
He was born in the house of a wine merchant, in a well-to-do family and must have enjoyed the
benefits of such a birth, visible in his education. Being the son of a wealthy merchant with court
connections he definitely received an education suitable for a similar career. In accordance to his social
status, Chaucer’s life was connected to trade, diplomacy and court offices, starting from being a page in
Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster’s home, then her husband’s (the Duke of Clarence, Richard II’s uncle)
attendant. He was then in the service of John of Gaunt, Richard II’s other uncle and Henry IV’s father.
Chaucer had several court jobs: Controller of Customs, Justice of Peace in Kent or Clerk of the King’s
Works. He travelled a lot in his life: first in France as the Duke of Clarence’s attendant when he became
a prisoner and had to be ransomed. Probably he learned French and Latin, especially the type of
language used in official writings. He also travelled to Italy, between 1372-3, to Genoa and Florence
where he became acquainted with the works of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. In 1378, he went to
Milan, where he came more thoroughly in touch with Petrarch’s and Boccaccio’s writings. The Italian
influence is more clearly visible in the writings belonging to this period.
His works bear the mark of the milieu in which he lived and worked, of his travels and readings.
Life at the noblemen’s court and at the King’s court as well as the time spent at the French court or the
court of Aquitaine familiarized him with the artistic tastes of the aristocracy and the literary genres that
they preferred, such as the courtly romance. The travels to France and Italy opened his literary horizon,
introducing Chaucer to the great European literature and literary tastes. His administrative jobs enlarged

54
his circle of acquaintances, as he met people from all the walks of life, from aristocrats, wealthy
merchants, lawyers to the simpler people, all of them being vividly presented in his works.

A. Short Verse. His first short poems are exercises in translation, adaptation and verse form,
especially in conventional forms of composition. He was interested in copying and adapting the
dominant poetic forms of the time. He was the first one to have adapted the French ballad, which was
different from the English folk ballad. He probably envisaged an aristocratic audience, and such poems
were forms of court entertainment. (To Rosemonde, An ABC, Unto Pity, etc.)

B. Translations: in the effort to adapt and learn new poetic forms, Chaucer was also interested in
translation.
1. Le Roman de la Rose is a French allegorical poem written by Guillaume de Lorris (1237) and
continued by Jean de Meun (c. 1280). Since it was widely known in the 13th and 14th centuries, it
provided a source of inspiration and allusion for other literary works as well as an example of literary
style. The Middle English fragments are known as Le Romaunt de la Rose and they are attributed to
Chaucer because he confessed having translated the text in his Prologue to The Legend of Good
Women. However, the real paternity of the three fragments found in English is questionable, not all
being nowadays thought to belong to Chaucer. The poem is an allegory of love and a representation of
courtly love, using a convention widely employed later by Chaucer, as well, that of the dream poem. The
narrator is the knight in search of love, the lady is represented by a rose hidden in a garden, and the
knight must reach it. The rose is of immense beauty, but with thorns that protect it. Allegorical
representations are found in the portrayal of the qualities or shortcomings that grant or prevent the
entrance to the secret garden. From the first category there are: Gladness, Courtesy, Sweet-Looking,
Beauty, Richess, Largesse, from the second, Covetousness, Avarice, Envy, Sorrow, Age. Jealousy is the
enemy who guards the rose after the knight manages to kiss it.

2. Boethius (c.480-524): De Consolatione Philosophiae (Consolation of Philosophy). The Roman

Patrician, Boethius turned Christian was interested in the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato. He was
imprisoned and then executed on suspicion of treason. While in prison, Boethius composed De
Consolatione Philosophiae in which he lamented his fate until he is visited by Lady Philosophy who
points out to him the uselessness of his lamentations, since Fortune is unstable and deceiving, when he
should be searching for higher means of spiritual consolation. Earthly good and treasures are
unimportant and man should try to unite himself with the higher Good. Though Boethius wrote both in
verse and in prose, Chaucer prefers to keep his translation in prose, to make its meaning more
accessible to his readers.

C. Dream Poems
1. The Book of the Duchess is an occasional poem written to commemorate the death of Blanche,
the first wife of Chaucer’s protector, John of Gaunt. Critics generally agree that the poem was written
before 1371 (Blanche died in 1368). The text is a dream poem, the vision dream of the narrator, and its
main purpose is to explore the feelings of grief, loss and regret and the desire to remember the loved
and lost one.
The poem is divided in three distinct part, each one exploring, from a different angle, the
general theme.
PART 1 introduces the narrator who is tormented by the lack of sleep provoked by a sickness
which he suffered for eight years. Someone brings him a romance and, in the attempt to fall asleep, his
attention is drawn to the story of Seys (Ceyx) and Alcyone. Seys, Alcyone’s husband, loses his life at sea,
but his wife does not know what happened to him and prays for an answer. The dead husband comes to
her in a dream to tell her that she should not weep any longer, but Alcyone cannot accept the sorrow,
and dies as well. The classical story does not seem much of a consolation for a grieving husband, and
there is also the irony of the narrator who draws from the story only the consolation of the existence of a
God of Sleep who could grant him the rest. Sleep does come to the narrator, but it also comes with
dreams that further explore the theme of loss and grief.
55
 PART 2: the narrator fell asleep with the book in his hands and wakes up in the middle of a
hunt. Following the hunters, he finds a knight dressed in black, sitting under a tree and reciting a lament.
PART 3: the knight tells about his love and his lady (named White), finally saying that his
beloved is dead. The sounds of the hunting party mingle with the sounds of the narrator’s reality and he
wakes up, still holding the book in his hand.
There are several possibilities to see the story. One equates Chaucer with the dreamer, while the
knight in black is John of Gaunt lamenting the loss of his beloved Blanche (the knight’s love is named
White). Another interpretation suggests that the dreamer and the knight are one and the same person,
the dream being a pretext for self-analysis. Whatever the true intention of the poet might have been, it is
certain that he was interested in the way in which memory is supposed to function. The memory of
White and of the knight-lover is kept alive through poem and song, and so remembrance lives in literary
or artistic creations. The mind, therefore, is like a book, in which memory writes the pages, but it is not a
copy of the truth, memory being a re-created process that mingles the events to be remembered to the
rememberer’s reaction to them.

2. The House of Fame (around 1379-80) explores again the meaning of memory, yet not personal
memory, as in The Book of the Duchess, but collective memory.
BOOK 1: The narrator-dreamer wakes up in a temple of glass with golden images depicting the
stories of Troy. He dwells mostly on the sad story of Dido, left by Aeneas. However, the dreamer does
not know where he is or who made this temple, so, he decides to go out and starts looking for a person
to tell him more about the place. Unfortunately for him, he finds himself in the middle of the desert
BOOK 2: The narrator is taken by Jove’s eagle, with wings of gold, that takes him to the House
of Fame. There, he will find the answers. The narrator is a writer who wrote about love and spent his
time only with the books, but never fully experiencing life.
BOOK 3: The House of Fame is a noisy and crowded place presided by the goddess Fame. All
around her there are metal pillars, made not for splendor, but for use. On these pillars, there are the
great poets of all times, from Josephus, who told the History of the Jews to Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Lollius,
Guido delle Colonne, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and all the scholars who told the deeds of Rome The
narrator realizes that the way in which fame is granted is a matter of chance and whim rather than merit.
Moreover, any kind of memory/fame relies on the existence of people to tell the story. The narrator is
later swept to a spinning house, full of windows and doors, crowded with people, rumors and gossip. He
is told that there is a man of “great authority” who has the answers to his questions, but the poem stops
there, before actually meeting this person of authority who holds the truth.

3. The Parliament of Fowles is thought to have been another occasional poem, composed to
celebrate the wedding of Richard II with Anne of Bohemia, and so the poem might have been
composed between 1377 and 1382.
The narrator, a love poet, dreams of a garden of love, presided by Nature, in which the birds
choose their mates. Birds are arranged according to their diet, the carnivorous forming the upper
classes, followed by worm-eaters, water fowl and seed-eaters. This arrangement parallels the social
classes in human society, the birds actually behaving in accordance to their hierarchical condition. The
choosing process begins with the female eagle and her three suitors who present their cases in highly
embellished words. The gathering of birds start quarrelling without reaching a conclusion, and since the
choice is difficult and leads to the discontent of the other birds waiting for their turn, the female eagle is
required to make a choice herself. To everyone’s surprise, she postpones the decision by one year.
This poem shows an evolution in Chaucer’s style whose writing becomes more flexible, no
longer copying artificial French genres, but developing his own interests and preferences of poetic shape
and content.

D. Troilus and Criseyde, written between 1381 and 1386, is considered by many critics one of
Chaucer’s finest works and he pays tribute to the great Italian writers that influenced his work, such as
Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. At the end of the poem, he pays his respects to the great Ancient
writers, placing himself and his book among them:
Go little book: go, my little tragedy:
56
 let God, to your maker yet, before he die,
send the power to make a comedy!
But, little book, do not go in envy,
but be subject to all poesy:
and kiss the steps where you see pace
Virgil, Ovid, Homer, Lucan and Stace. (Book V, 1786-1792)
The poem also mentions Gower and another of his contemporaries, Ralph Strode, as people of
importance in the judgment of literary works and shaping the literary tastes.
O moral Gower, this book I direct
to you, and you, philosophical Strode,
to warrant, and where need is, to correct,
in your benignity and zeal’s good.
And to that true Christ who died on rood,
with all my heart for mercy ever I pray,
and to the Lord right thus I speak and say” (Book V, 1856-1862)
The poem is highly indebted to Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato, but it is not a translation of the Italian
poem. It is an independent poem, much longer than the original and, in the opinion of not few critics,
much richer.
Following the tradition of courtly poems, Chaucer preferred a Trojan subject, dealing with the
love between Criseyde, the daughter of the Calchas, the Trojan priest who defected into the Greek
camp, and Troilus, one of Priam’s sons, and so a brother of the hero Hector, and the lover Paris.
Troilus has two models to follow, that of the heroic Hector, or that of Paris, the lover, because of whom
the war started. He, at first, chooses war, despising love until he is smitten by the sight of the beautiful
Criseyde, and then he becomes a lover. The love story, intermediated by Pandarus, Troilus’ friend and,
conveniently Criseyde’s uncle, is only short lived, because the young woman is reunited with her father
in the Greek camp in an exchange of prisoners. Losing the hope of escaping to go back to her lover,
Troilus, she accepts Diomedes’ advances. Suffering and disappointed, Troilus throws himself into battle
and is killed. The poem ends with Troilus ascending to the eighths sphere where he laughs at his love
and life, which seem to him superficial and futile. While Troilus oscillated between the two roles
imposed by his brothers, but not surpassing them in any: he is second to Hector in battle, and a passive,
love-struck lover of the romance convention, ruled by Pandarus, Criseyde is more of a pragmatist. Being
at the mercy of conventions, she is aware that she cannot oppose political decisions and follow her love,
and since, due to the circumstances, she could not be faithful to Troilus, she decides to be faithful to
Diomedes.
The ending is troubling for a love poem, since the final lines are dedicated to the futility of the
struggles or pain of lovers:
261
And when he was slain in this manner,
his light ghost full blissfully went
up to the hollowness of the eighth sphere,
leaving behind every element.
And there he saw, clear in his ascent,
the wandering planets, hearing harmony
in sounds full of heavenly melody.
260.
And down from there he spies
this little spot of earth that with the sea
is embraced, and begins to despise
this wretched world, and hold it vanity
compared with the true felicity
that is in heaven above. And at the last
down where he was slain, his gaze he cast.
261.
And in himself he laughed at the woe
57
 of those who wept for his death now past:
and damned all our work that follows so
on blind lust, which can never last,
when we should all our heart on heaven cast.
And forth he went, briefly to tell,
where Mercury appointed him to dwell.
262.
Such ending has Troilus, lo, through love:
such ending has all his great worthiness,
such ending has his royal estate above,
such ending his desire, his nobleness,
such ending has false words’ fickleness.
And thus began his loving of Cressid,
and in this way he died, as I have said.

As far as the style of the poem is concerned, Chaucer is at his best. Even if there are voices that may
reproach that there is too little action and too much talk, as far as the quality of the poetry is concerned,
his mastery of rhyme, the variety of diction, the excellence of his style, everything is at its best.

E. Collections of Tales
1. The Legend of Good Women. According to the text, this collection of tales about love is written
as a penance for the disparagement of love in other texts. The tales retell love stories in whose center are
famous women such as Cleopatra, Thisbe, Dido, Ariadna, Medeea. Most of these tales are tragic, seven
of the ten women dying, four through suicide.
This collection of stories is an experiment, taken up later with The Canterbury Tales, of putting
together a variety of tales and trying to unite them in such a way as to make a coherent whole.

2. The Canterbury Tales is his final work and considered by critics his masterpiece. It was started
in 1387 and he continued work on it until 1400, the year of his death. The plan of the tales was
definitely much more impressive than the final achievement, since there are only 24 tales out of the
foreseen 120 and 29 pilgrims. The Tales were found in different manuscripts (84 manuscripts survived),
and there is no certainty whether the order in which they appear nowadays is the order intended by the
writer (if he actually thought of such an order) or they were arranged by chance, by the different copyists
or when the texts were bound in manuscripts. It is also possible that some of the stories might have been
written before, and included in this text later, since they seem to be self-sufficient and not dependant on
the plan.
The collection of independent tales united in a framework was not uncommon in the period.
Boccaccio framed the hundred tales of his Decameron by the context of the plague that forces the
secluded noblemen to pass their time by telling stories. Giovanni Sercambi, a fourteenth century writer
also used the convention of a collection of various types of tales. In England, John Gower gathered a
number of tales on love in his Confessio Amantis. Geoffrey Chaucer had tried to employ the same
pattern before, in his Legends of Good Wives.
The name of the collection comes from the frame that puts together a number of story tellers:
the pilgrimage to Canterbury, to the shrine of Thomas a Becket – England’s most famous site of
pilgrimage. This convention gives the author the opportunity to bring together a composite group of
people that otherwise would not be found together. Therefore, he manages to present the reader with a
set of types representing almost all the layers of the medieval society. They meet, at the beginning of
April, at Tabbard Inn and the Host, the innkeeper, suggests that they start a contest involving telling tales
in order to spend their time on their way to Canterbury: each one has to tell two tales on their way to
Canterbury and two tales on their way back. Chaucer completes only twenty two, two remaining
unfinished, though it is not known whether it was out of lack of time or out of his intention (the tellers
are interrupted while telling their stories).

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 The text can be divided into two parts, the General Prologue, in which the frame is set and the
portraits of the story tellers are drawn, and the tales themselves, some of them (like that of the Wife of
Bath, of the Manciple and of the Pardoner) containing also a self-explanatory prologue before the tale.
The group contains people from almost all the layers of the society. The upper layer is
represented by people like the Knight and the Squire. The gentry is represented by the Franklin or the
rich Merchant. The Reeve and the Manciple take care of the others’ wealth or money, but they make
sure the gain is theirs. There are simpler people, such as the Miller, the Shipman, the Cook, part of a
group of specialized labourers, ranked closer to the Guild members: a Haberdasher and a Carpenter, a
Webber, a Dyer and a Tapiser. There are learned, educated men: the Lawyer, the Physician, the
Oxford Clerk and representatives of the clergy, or people connected with the Church: the Monk, the
Prioress and the Nuns, the Nuns’ Priest, the Parson, the Friar, the Summoner and the Pardoner. There
are only three women in the group of pilgrims: two are nuns and the other is a merchant, identified as
the Wife of Bath. From the lower classes, there are the Knight’s Yeoman and the Parson’s brother, the
Plowman. There is also a narrator, named Chaucer, but who, ironically, is not a very good story teller
and the Host, a large man, cheerful but hot-tempered. There are no aristocrats, neither some of the
lowest in society, like beggars, or prostitutes, however, some are downright sinful and corrupt, like the
Friar, or the Summoner or the Pardoner, others are kind, honest and moral, like the Parson and the
Plowman, or the Knight, the highest on the social ladder represented in the text, and the poor Clerk.
The Miller is a drunkard whereas the Host is hot-tempered. Chaucer tries to depict the complex
organization of the medieval society that tries to put people in their places, through the social classes,
estates, orders and gender differentiation. The estates refer to the nobility (bellatores), the clergy
(oratores) and the workers (laboratores), and the order differentiate people especially in the Church
hierarchy and also if they knight. Women are separated according to their estate (as high class, belonging
to Church orders or lower classes), but mainly according to their relationship to men: virgins (unmarried
women and nuns), married (wives) and widows.
Though these characters are types, representing facets of the society that Chaucer wants to
satirize or to idealize, their portrayal in the General Prologue is subtle and diverse, Chaucer adapting the
style of the text as well as the manner of portrayal to the type of character, insisting either on physical
portraits, on clothes, or on psychological aspects. The language and imagery are likewise adapted to the
character. The tales are also in keeping with the status and the temperament of the story teller. What the
portraits reveal is a changing world, the traditional values and hierarchies being constantly undermined,
men and women alike are dissatisfied with their traditional places and roles in society and defy them,
being in pursuit of something better, refusing to be crushed by conventions. Hence, the humor of the
portraits and the feeling that this is a lively portrait of a society that is shifting and changing.
There is a lot variation in the tales as well. The collection displays a wide variety of genres and
types of texts. There are courtly romances, like those told by the Knight, his son, the Squire (his story is
unfinished), the Physician or Chaucer’s (again unfinished). Some tellers prefer the Breton lai/ lay (a
literary genre popularized in the 12th century France, it is a short narrative romance in verse, usually on
the theme of love, promises and magical occurrences): the Franklin and the Wife of Bath. The fabliau is
another preferred genre. The fabliau is a realistic, short and plain story, rapid in narration and skilful.
The form is primarily French and, at the origin, it was courtly not popular, the aristocrats mocking at the
lower classes or at the clergy. It was believed to be a reaction to courtly literature. In Chaucer’s Tales, the
fabliaux are told by the Miller, the Friar, the Reeve, the Summoner, the Shipman and the Merchant, and
so, there is no rule that they are told by the lower or the higher classes, since participants from all the
groups choose this comic-satirical type. There are also religious allegories, sermons, parables, lives of
martyrs, like those told by the Clerk, the Pardoner, the Prioress, Chaucer’s Melibee, including the
Parson’s concluding religious sermon or the Monk’s series of tragedies. The Nun’s priest chooses a
fable, whose protagonists are the famous cock Chaunticleer and the fox. The fables, known since
Ancient Greece (Aesop, 6th century) are stories with a moral whose characters are non-human creatures
or inanimate objects that are personified. The Manciple’s tale is a fable of explanation, telling why the
crows are black. Many stories are adaptations from other sources: Boccaccio for the Knight’s tale, or
Petrarch for the Clerk’s.
Many of these stories, either serious or comic, tackle the theme of love, usually represented by
a love triangle: thus, the Knight’s tale which is an adaptation of Boccaccio’s Theseide and tells the story
59
of two young men, Palamon and Arcite, for the beautiful Emily, is counterbalanced by the Miller’s
fabliau in which Alisoun, the young and pretty wife of an old carpenter, is desired by their lodger, the
student Nicholas and by the local parish clerk, Absolon. The low language, the bawdiness and humor of
the story oppose the high attitudes represented in the courtly romances. The same low, bawdy attitude is
visible in the Reeve’s fabliau, in which two students want to mock at a miller, by sleeping with his wife
and daughter, eventually steeling his flour that was cooked into a cake. It is obvious that there is a rivalry
between the Miller and the Reeve that becomes explicit in their stories, in which each mocks at the
other.
The professional rivalry is visible in the tales told by the Friar and the Summoner. The Friar
tells a story about a summoner and a yeoman who seems to be the devil and who eventually takes the
summoner to hell. In response, the Summoner tells a story about a greedy friar who aggressively asks for
money. He will receive something in return, but it will be only a fart.
In the line of the serious tales, martyrdom, suffering and endurance are highlighted. The Lawyer
tells the story of Custance (Constance), the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, who goes through a
long series of hardships and suffering that mark all the three stages of her life: daughter, wife and
mother, but she never loses her faith, being rewarded in the end. In the same line there is the story of
the martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, told by the Second Nun, or the tribulations of Griselda, the wife who
obeys every test set by her husband in the tale told by the Clerk. In the same line, the Prioress tells a
story of a child killed by Jews, who keeps singing after death, so that the mother can find the body.
The Pardonner tells a parable about three drunken and debauched man who want to find
death. They encounter an old man who tells them where to find death. They go to that place where they
discover gold coins and they kill one another for the gold, finding, thus death. The parable is similar to
the fable in the sense that it is a didactic story, with the difference that the characters are human beings.
However, its closeness to the fable, the allegory or the exemplum suggests he importance of the didactic
texts in medieval literature.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are interesting as single stories, but, though harder to grasp, it is
more rewarding to see the relationships among them and to understand that their bewildering
appearance is, in fact, the image of the reality that the writer wants to reveal to his readers. It is the image
of a society in transition where new social types redefine the old social roles and interactions. It is a dual
world, defined by oppositions between realistic and idealistic outlooks, interest in the worldly or in the
religious, between tradition and individualist impulses.

Portraits in the Prologue Tales

The Knight (Cavalerul) - Courtly romance: the story of Palamoun and Arcite
The Squire (Scutierul) Courtly romance or lai (unfinished because it is
interrupted)
The Yeowman (Arcasul)
The Prioress (accompanied by a Nun, a The Prioress’ Tales: a religious tale (against the Jews)
chaplain and three priests) (Stareta, o The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Fable about a Cock
maica, o diaconita si trei preoti) (Chaunticleer) and a Fox.
The Second Nun’s Tale: The life of St. Cecilia
The Monk (Calugarul) A collection of short stories mixing biblical, historical and
contemporary figures.
The Friar (Fratele) Appearing as a fabliau, it is closer ot exemplary sermon,
with the protagonist, the summoner, representing certain
vices.
The Merchant (Negustorul) Fabliau about an old man January who married a young
woman May
The Clerk (Diacul din Oxford) Allegory taken from Boccaccio and Petrarch (the story of
Griselde)
The Sergeant of the Law (Notarul) A religious tale, romance, Saint’s lives: the story of
Custance

60
The Franklin (= a freeholder not of noble Lai about marriage and freedom
birth) (Razesul)
Skilled Tradesmen: a Haberdasher, a
Carpenter, a Webber, a Dyer, a Tapiser
(un Mamular, un Boiangiu, Dulgherul,
un Tesator, Tapiterul - Breslele)
The Cook (Bucatarul) Unfinished story/fabliau about an apprentice and a man
married to a prostitute
The Shipman (Corabierul) Fabliau about a monk, a rich merchant and his wife
The Doctor/ Physician (Doctorul) A tale from The Romance of the Rose
The Wife of Bath (Targoveata de la Lai: the story of a knight accused of rape.
Bath)
The Parson (un Popa) A religious sermon and allegory on the Seven Deadly Sins
The Plowman (the Parson’s brother) (un
Plugar)
The Reeve (=an administrative officer of Fabliau: a story about a miller and two students
a town or district, a superintendent or a
person of high rank representing the
Crown) (Logofatul)
The Miller (Morarul) Fabliau: A story about a carpenter tricked by a student, his
lodger and a parish clerk
The Summoner (Aprodul) Fabliau about a Friar
The Pardoner (Vanzator de iertaciuni) Parable about three man looking for and eventually finding
Death.
The Manciple (=a buying agent for a Fable of explanation: why the crown are black
college, an inn, an association of lawyers)
(Economul)
The Poet Sir Topas, a parody romance (unfinished), Melibee, a
moral tale, which is a translation from a French version of
a Latin book “Book of Consolation and Advice”
The Host (Hangiul)
_________ The Canon’s Yeoman’s tale (Argatul Avei) (canon= one of
the bodies of dignitaries attached to a cathedral). A
humorous tale about trickery through alchemy

LITERARY TERMS
“fabliau [fab-li-oh] (plural -liaux), a coarsely humorous short story in verse, dealing in a bluntly realistic
manner with *STOCK CHARACTERS of the middle class involved in sexual intrigue or obscene
pranks. Fabliaux nourished in France in the 12th and 13th centuries, and were usually written in *
OCTOSYLLABIC couplets; some 150 French examples survive, most of them anonymous. They were
imitated in English by Chaucer (in rhyming *PENTAMETERS), notably in his Miller's Tale and
Reeve's Tale. Many fabliaux involve * SATIRE against the clergy. A standard plot is the cuckolding of a
slow-witted husband by a crafty and lustful student.” (The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms)

“exemplum (plural -pla), a short tale used as an example to illustrate a moral point, usually in a sermon
or other *DIDACTIC work. The form was cultivated in the late Middle Ages, for instance in Robert
Mannyng of Brunne's Handlyng Synne (early 14th century) and in Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale and Nun's
Priest's Tale, as well as in many prose collections for the use of preachers.” (The Oxford Dictionary of
Literary Terms)

61
 THE CANTERBURY TALES
(started in 1386 and continued till his death)
GEOFFREY CHAUCER
(c. 1343(the early 1340s) - 1400)

Social Problems
The Western Schism/ The Papal Schism (1378-1417) discontent within the Catholic Church
leading to the simultaneous rule of three popes.
Lollardy (John Wycliffe), mid 14th century – a political and religious movement whose
claims were grounded on the belief that the Catholic Church was corrupted.
The Peasant’s Revolt, 1381
The deposition of Richard II (1399)

PROLOGUE

Translation by Michael Murphy (A Reader-Friendly Edition put into modern spelling,

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/murphy/canterbury/)

INTRODUCTION
When that April with his showers soote And palmers for to seeken strangè strands
(sweet) (shores)
The drought of March hath piercèd to the root To fernè hallows couth in sundry lands,
And bathèd every vein in such liquor (distant shrines
(liquid) known)
Of which virtúe engendered is the flower; And specially from every shirè's end
When Zephyrus eke with his sweetè breath Of Engèland to Canterbury they wend go
(also) The holy blissful martyr for to seek, (St.
Inspirèd hath in every holt and heath Thomas Becket)
That them hath holpen when that they were sick.
(grove & field) (helped)
The tender croppès, and the youngè sun Befell that in that season on a day (It
(shoots / happened)
Spring sun) In Southwark at The Tabard as I lay
Hath in the Ram his halfè course y-run, Ready to wenden on my pilgrimage
And smallè fowlès maken melody To Canterbury with full devout couráge,
(little birds) At night was come into that hostelry inn
That sleepen all the night with open eye Well nine and twenty in a company fully
(So pricketh them Natúre in their couráges), Of sundry folk by áventure y-fall (by
chance fallen)
(spurs / spirits) In fellowship, and pilgrims were they all ..
Then longen folk to go on pilgrimáges, That toward Canterbury woulden ride.
(wished to)

THE KNIGHT
A KNIGHT there was and that a worthy man
That from the timè that he first began
To riden out, he lovèd chivalry,
Truth and honóur, freedom and courtesy.
Full worthy was he in his lordè's war,
or God’s)
And thereto had he ridden--no man farre farther
As well in Christendom as Heatheness
And ever honoured for his worthiness.
At mortal battles had he been fifteen
And foughten for our faith at Tramissene
In listès thricè, and ay slain his foe.
(combat three times
(King’s / always)
This ilkè worthy knight had been also
(same)
Sometimè with the lord of Palatie
Against another heathen in Turkey
62
 His campaigns And ever more he had a sovereign prize,
At Alexandria he was when it was won. His modest demeanor
(captured) And though that he was worthy he was wise,
Full often time he had the board begun And of his port as meek as is a maid.
(table) Ne never yet no villainy he said
Aboven allè natïons in Prussia4. (rudeness)
In Lithow had he reisèd and in Russia (Lithuania In all his life unto no manner wight.
/fought ) (no kind
No Christian man so oft of his degree. of person)
(rank) He was a very perfect gentle knight.
In Gránad at the siege eke had he be But for to tellen you of his array:
(also) His horse was good; but he was not gay.
Of Algesir and ridden in Belmarie. (well-dressed)
At Leyès was he and at Satalie Of fustian he wearèd a gipoun (coarse
When they were won, and in the Greatè Sea5 cloth / tunic)
At many a noble army had he be. All besmotered with his habergeon6, (smeared)
For he was late y-come from his voyáge
And wentè for to do his pilgrimáge.

THE PRIORESS
There was also a nun, a PRIORESS,
That of her smiling was full simple and coy
(modest).
Her greatest oath was but by Saint Eloy,
And she was clepèd Madame Eglantine.
(called)
Full well she sang the servicè divine
Entunèd in her nose full seemèly.
And French she spoke full fair and fetisly nicely
After the school of Stratford at the Bow,
For French of Paris was to her unknow.
At meatè well y-taught was she withall: (meals
/ indeed)
She let no morsel from her lippès fall,
Nor wet her fingers in her saucè deep.
Well could she carry a morsel and well keep
(handle)
That no drop ne fell upon her breast.
In courtesy was set full much her lest: (much her
interest)
Her over lippè wipèd she so clean
That in her cup there was no farthing seen
(small stain)
Of greasè, when she drunkèn had her draught.
Full seemèly after her meat she raught,
(reached for
her food)
She is very sensitive
But for to speaken of her conscïence:
(sensitivity)
She was so charitable and so pitóus
She wouldè weep if that she saw a mouse
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bled.
Of smallè houndès had she that she fed
With roasted flesh or milk and wastel bread,
(fine bread)
But sore wept she if one of them were dead
Or if men smote it with a yardè, smart; (a stick
smartly)
And all was conscïence and tender heart.
Her personal appearance
Full seemèly her wimple pinchèd was,
(headdress/
pleated)
Her nose tretis, her eyen grey as glass,
(handsome / eyes)
Her mouth full small and thereto soft and red,
But sikerly she had a fair forehead.
It was almost a spannè broad, I trow,
(handsbreadth /
I guess)
For hardily she was not undergrow.
(short? thin?)
Full fetis was her cloak as I was 'ware.

4
He had often occupied the seat of honor at the table of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, where badges awarded to distinguished
crusaders read "Honneur vainc tout: Honor conquers all."
5
Though the campaigns listed below were real, and though it was perhaps just possible for one man to have been in them all, the list
is probably idealized. The exact geographical locations are of little interest today. This portrait is generally thought to show a man of
unsullied ideals;
6
mail
63
 And sikerly she was of great desport (certainly (elegant)
/ charm) Of small coral about her arm she bare bore,
And full pleasánt and amiable of port, A pair of beads gauded all with green,
And painèd her to counterfeitè (imitate the (A rosary
manners) decorated)
Of court, and be estately of mannér, And thereon hung a brooch of gold full sheen
And to be holden digne of reverence. (shining)
(thought worthy) On which was written first a crownèd A
And after: Amor Vincit Omnia. (Love
Conquers All)

THE WIFE OF BATH

A good WIFE was there of besidè Bath Withoutèn other company in youth, (not
But she was somedeal deaf, and that was scath. counting)
(a pity) But thereof needeth not to speak as nouth.
Of clothmaking she haddè such a haunt skill (now)
She passèd them of Ypres and of Gaunt. And thrice had she been at Jerusalem.
In all the parish, wife ne was there none She had passèd many a strangè stream.
That to the offering before her shouldè gon. (foreign)
(go) At Romè she had been and at Boulogne,
And if there did, certain so wroth was she In Galicia at St James and at Cologne.
(angry) [famous shrines]
That she was out of allè charity. She couldè much of wandering by the way.
(patience) (knew much)
Her coverchiefs full finè were of ground; Gat-toothèd was she, soothly for to say.
(finely woven) (Gap-
I durstè swear they weighèdèn ten pound toothed / truly)
That on a Sunday were upon her head. Upon an ambler easily she sat
Her hosèn werèn of fine scarlet (red her (slow horse)
stockings were) Y-wimpled7 well, and on her head a hat
Full straight y-tied, and shoes full moist and new. As broad as is a buckler or a targe, (kinds
(supple) of shield)
Bold was her face and fair and red of hue. A foot mantle about her hippes large,
She was a worthy woman all her life. (outer skirt)
Husbands at churchè door she had had five, And on her feet a pair of spurs sharp.
In fellowship well could she laugh and carp.
(joke)
Of remedies of love she knew perchance (by
experience)
For she could of that art the oldè dance.
(she knew)

THE SUMMONER
A SUMMONER was there with us in that place
That had a fire-red cherubinnè's face,
(cherub's)
For saucèfleme he was with eyen narrow.
(leprous)
And hot he was and lecherous as a sparrow.
With scalèd browès black, and pilèd beard,
He was a gentle harlot, and a kind. rascal
A better fellow shouldè men not find:
He wouldè suffer for a quart of wine
(allow)
A good fellow to have his concubine
A twelvemonth, and excuse him at the full.
Full privily a finch eke could he pull.

7
A wimple was a woman's cloth headgear covering the ears, the neck and the chin
64
 (scaly /
scraggly)
Of his viságè children were afeared.
There n'as quicksilver, litharge nor brimstone,
Boras, ceruse, nor oil of tartar none,
Nor ointèment that wouldè cleanse and bite
That him might helpèn of his whelkès white,
(boils)
Nor of the knobbès sitting on his cheeks.
(lumps)
Well loved he garlic, onion and eke leeks,
(also)
And for to drinkèn strong wine red as blood;
Then would he speak and cry as he were wood.
(mad)
And when that he well drunkèn had the wine,
Then would he speakè no word but Latin.
A fewè termès had he, two or three,
That he had learnèd out of some decree.
No wonder is; he heard it all the day.
And eke you knowèn well how that a jay
Can clepèn "Wat" as well as can the Pope.(call
out)
But whoso could in other things him grope,
(whoever / test)
Then had he spent all his philosophy. (learning)
Aye, "Questio quid juris" would he cry.1
("What is the law?")
(secretly)
And if he found owhere a good fellow,
(anywhere)
He wouldè teachèn him to have no awe
In such a case, of the archdeacon's curse,
But if a manne's soul were in his purse,
(Unless)
For in his purse he should y-punished be.
"Purse is the archdeacon's hell," said he.
But well I wot, he lièd right indeed. (know)
Of cursing ought each guilty man to dread,
For curse will slay right as assoiling saveth
(absolution)
And also 'ware him of "Significavit."
In daunger had he, at his ownè guise
(In his power /
disposal)
The youngè girlès of the diocese
And knew their counsel and was all their redde.
(secrets
/ adviser)
A garland had he set upon his head
As great as it were for an alèstake.
(tavern sign)
A buckler had he made him of a cake.
(shield)

THE MILLER
The MILLER was a stout carl for the nones. Upon the copright of his nose he had
(tip)
(strong fellow) A wart, and thereon stood a tuft of hairs
Full big he was of brawn and eke of bones Red as the bristles of a sow 's ears.
(& also) His nostrils black were and wide.
That prov’d well, for over all there he came A sword and buckler bore he by his side.
(wherever) His mouth as great was as a great furnace.
At wrestling he would have always the He was a jangler and a goliardese
ram....... (prize) (talker & joker)
He was short-shouldered, broad, a thick And that was most of sin and harlotries.
knarre. (dirty talk)
Well could he stealen corn and toll’n thrice,
(rugged fellow) (take
There was no door that he n'ould heave off triple toll)
harre And yet he had a thumb of gold pardee.
( by God)
(hinges) A white coat and a blue hood weared he.
Or break it at a running with his head. A bagpipe well could he blow and sound
His beard as any sow or fox was red, And therewithal he brought us out of town.
And thereto broad as though it were a spade. (with that)
(And also)
65
66
 Body produced Complexion
Humour Element Qualities Personality
substance by and Body type

amorous, happy,
hot and red-cheeked,
Sanguine blood liver air generous, optimistic,
moist corpulent
irresponsible

violent, vengeful,
hot and red-haired,
Choleric yellow bile spleen fire short-tempered,
dry thin
ambitious

cold and Sluggish, pallid,

Phlegmatic phlegm lungs water corpulent
moist cowardly

Introspective,
gall cold and
Melancholic black bile earth sallow, thin sentimental,
bladder dry
gluttonous

67
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

The fifteenth century is, unfortunately, less rich in great writers and works as the previous centuries.
Though William Caxton’s (ca. 1415~1422 – ca. March 1492) efforts of bringing the printing craft to
England (in 1476) and his endeavor to print the works of the great writers of his time inevitable led to an
increased number of people with access to books, the century was dominated by too much strife and
danger to allow culture to develop.
The Hundred Year’s War had started in a victorious note for the English side, but Henry V’s
(1386-1422) battle of Agincourt (1415) is among the last resounding victories for the English. At his
premature death, the throne was inherited by his 9 months old son who, upon growing up, showed more
interest in religion than in the affairs of the country. His weakness inevitably led to internal struggles for
power between two noble families, the York and the Lancaster, both claiming to have descended directly
from King Edward III, being heirs of two of his sons. And so, the War of the Roses starts in 1455, to
end with the victory of the Lancaster family in 1485.

68
 THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE I (1485 - 1625)

I. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND

THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE

In 1550, the Italian painter Giorgio Vassari spoke of a rinascita referring to the 15th century and the arts
in his native Florence. Only in the 19th century was the term extended to a larger period. In very broad
lines, the Renaissance is a cultural movement that started in Italy in the (late 13th ) 14th century and spread
to the rest of Europe up to the 17th century. Though it did not spread uniformly, or had the same
characteristics in the diversity of the European cultures, the Renaissance was influenced by a series of
political, scientific and cultural moments and shared certain common features.
a) The Renaissance comes with a shift in political influence and power in Europe due to some
important historical events:
 1492: the defeat of Granada and the end of the Reconquista (achieved by
Ferdinand de Castile and Isabella de Aragon) as a result of which the Arabs are
chased out the Iberian Peninsula. Spain’s importance in Europe grows, especially
since it relies on the treasures of its colonies.
 The Age of the Geographical Discoveries: the Portuguese had already sailed
around the Cape of Good Hope in the 1480s, opening new routes to the Indies,
Columbus starts his voyages in 1492, Magellan rounded the world in 1521. The
geographical discoveries altered the way in which people saw the world and their
own place in the world. The travel and adventure stories are increasingly popular.
People are ready to colonize new words and to implement new government
schemes.
 France emerges as a powerful nation after the end of the Hundred Years War.
 Venice, once a great power, is now threatened by an emerging Ottoman Empire, as
well as by the growing power of the Spanish, the Portuguese and the French.
 Constantinople falls in 1453, leading to the exodus of a great number of Greeks
who bring with them the writings of the Ancient world and favor the return to the
classical values.
 Papacy returns to Rome in 1378, after a period of 67 years of residence in Avignon,
under the influence of the French kings.
 Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543) displaces the GEOCENTRIC cosmology that
placed the Earth at the center of the Universe and replaces it with a
HELIOCENTRIC cosmology, placing the Sun at the center.
 The Religious Reform. 1517: Luther’s theses in which he protested against the
practices of the Catholic Church mark the beginning of the reformation of religion.
This Reform highly influenced the balance of power in Europe, leading to many
challenges to the Pope’s authority, such as the English break with Rome, as well as
to many religious wars and disputes.
 The printing press (1439), invented by the German Johannes Gutenberg had a
tremendous effect on the cultural process, and was named the Printing Revolution.
The passage from the expensive hand-written and hand-copied manuscripts to the
mass produced and economically affordable printed books helped spread the ideas
and works of the Renaissance and of the Reformation throughout Europe at a
much faster rate, favoring the exchange of ideas and the circulation of information.
Therefore, the printing press led to a democratization of knowledge: more people
from more different social layers had access to books and could discuss the ideas
presented in them. The result of the introduction of the printing press was also
visible in the decline of Latin, in the favor of vernacular languages. The attention to
the printed material helped establish a standard of spelling and grammar of these
vernacular languages.
It is very difficult to quantify exactly what the Renaissance meant in the culture of the humanity,
however, the transformations are tremendous. The Renaissance emerges out of the religious Middle Age
69
with a new outlook on Man, on art, on science, on religion, on politics and government practices.
However, there are differences among the various manifestations of the Renaissance: the Italian
Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance.
o The Italian Renaissance is more bent towards the development of arts and literature. It is more
serene and more pagan in manifestation, in contrast with the Christian humanism of the
Northern countries, and emphasizes the freedom of thought and the human dimension of man.
The presence of the rich patrons of art, such as the Medici family in Florence or some of the
Popes of Rome contributed to the flourishing of the arts in Italy. Italian humanism focused on a
return to the classical texts, being interested in their restoration and translation. The Italian
humanism was shaped more by charismatic and influential figures and had a patriotic or quasi-
nationalistic touch in the attempt to connect Italian culture to the values of ancient Rome.
o The Northern Renaissance, of the Low Countries, or of Germany and England developed later
than its Italian counterpart, with widespread influence as late as the 16th century. In comparison
to the Italian humanism, the Northern humanism appears sterner and more serious, bent more
on philosophical meditation and much more interested in connecting the restoration of the
classical texts to the Christian values. Its relationship to the Religious Reform and its reliance on
the new possibilities offered by the printing press shaped it differently. The printing press
became an important tool in the dissemination of the humanist ideals across geographical
boundaries and class lines as well as in shaping the form of the texts. Under the Protestant
influence, individualism is seen more as a form of responsibility and social involvement rather
than a form of self-assertion and enjoyment. Erasmian humanism (relying on the ideas of
Erasmus of Rotterdam), for instance, was centered on the reform of school curricula and
methods of teachings, as well as ideas for the reform of the state and church. Desiderius
Erasmus (1466-1536) was one of the leading figures of the German and Dutch Renaissance. He
focused on the importance of education and on the reformation of the Church. Without
accepting Protestantism, he wanted to make Christianity more appealing to the masses by
vernacular translations of the Bible.

THE Italian humanism emerged out of the opposition to medieval scholasticism which
INTRODUCTION the humanists regarded as narrow and sterile because of its interest in complex
OF NEW and highly specialized systems of philosophy. Humanism wanted to replace it to a
LEARNING/ more “humane” training in literature and rhetoric. Thus, they focused on the
HUMANISM restoration and translation of classical texts as well as on a return to the elegant
Ciceronian Latin (in opposition to the Latin used by the medieval scholars). The
Italian writers of the 14th century, Dante (1265 - 1321) and Petrarch (1304 - 1374)
had already rediscovered the classical works of writers such as Cicero and Tacitus
and had started promoting a type of art / literature and a model of thinking that
was more in keeping with the classical values. However, the real introduction of
the study of classical writings is considered to start with the fall of Constantinople
in 1453, when the Greek refugees brought with them the masterpieces of
Classical literature and philosophy (Plato, Homer, Sophocles), as well as treaties
on science and medicine that led to the development of the New Learning in
Europe.
The great change brought by Humanism to the world dominated by medieval
thought is the focus on Man rather than on God. If medieval writings focused on
the superficiality and futility of earthly love and the need to transcend the earthly
world and seek God’s love, the Humanists focus on the importance of love on
earth, a change that is visible in the literature of the period. Under the influence
of the new philosophical and literary writings, of the new discoveries in science
and medicine, with the challenges to the autonomy of the Catholic Church, Man
acquires a new awareness of himself, and of his place in the universe, and focuses
on the possibility of shaping his own destiny. There were, therefore, higher
expectations of man’s capacities. Ideals changed in the sense that the medieval
saints were replaced by the Renaissance 'courtier', 'gentleman', and 'hero'. The
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 type of individual often invoked as a model of the Renaissance type is the
“universal” man. It opens a new way of looking at culture, life and scientific
research. The man (the educated man, the philosopher) has to be accomplished
in arts, literature, philosophy and science, but, at the same time, he has to be part
of the social construction, of the political body, attentive to the political
transformations of his time, to be a reformer and have a critical spirit.

THE The Geocentric model or the Ptolemaic system places the Earth at the center of
HELIOCENTRIC the Universe and all the other planets and stars revolve around it. Copernicus’
SYSTEM theory (On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres, 1543) places the sun at the
center of the universe. The studies of Galileo and Kepler confirmed what
Copernicus had stated and his ideas could no longer be silenced. This was not a
simple astronomical discovery, but a revolution in the way people understood the
universe. The idea that the Earth was no longer at the center of the universe, but
just another planet revolving around the sun also challenged the idea that the
world was not governed by divine will, but by scientific laws. Moreover, the
religious explanations of phenomena gradually gave place to observation and
exploration, to the analysis of physical evidence. The scientific community began
to alter the previous religious beliefs through a combination of theory and
practice.

THE RELIGIOUS The religious reform also challenged the relationship of man to the divinity and
REFORM of man to the institution of the Church. The Protestant ideology disregarded the
presence of the Church as the intermediary between the individual and salvation.
Redemption can be reached only through faith and not through dispensations
and indulgences given by the Church. The word of God is revealed only through
the Bible. The human beings are innately evil, and only God can decide what
happens to their souls, so individuals are predestined, even before birth, either to
heaven or to hell. The reform challenged the influence of the Catholic Church
and Europe was dominated, from this point onward, by religious tensions, wars
and persecutions.

II. ENGLISH HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Kings and Queens: The English Renaissance is considered to start with the reign of Henry VII (1485 -
1509) who put an end to the War of the Roses and introduced a new system of ruling that strengthened
the power of the king by reducing the authority of the nobility. On the other hand, he encouraged the
development of a middle class: the middle-ranking clergy, lawyers, country gentlemen and minor
landowners. They will play an important role in the subsequent economic development of England. His
reaction to Columbus’ discoveries was to encourage English expeditions to North America. Henry VIII
(1509 - 1547) was not as thrifty as his father. From many points of view, he represented the typical
Renaissance ruler: he was a scholar, a poet, a musician and a sportsman. His father had been unwilling
to spend money unnecessarily or to engage in wars, so he had tried to keep a peaceful relationship to his
neighbors. His son was completely different: wasteful with money, loving glory and power, willing to
entertain himself, he was no longer careful in the relationships with the powerful players of the time: the
Pope, France and Spain. He is most famous for his break with Rome, though he had defended the Pope
against Luther. Actually, his break from Rome was more a political decision than a religious one, Henry
remaining a Catholic in faith, but refusing the authority of the Pope. He also financed a modern, well-
equipped fleet. Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603) reinstated the Anglican Church after the short but bloody reign
of her Catholic sister Mary, but she tried to avoid as much as she could religious fanaticism or religious
persecutions. She tried to create a powerful state and she managed to assert this power after the defeat of
the previously invincible Spanish Armada (1588) that insured England’s independence and its future as a
great naval power. She also encouraged the overseas explorations in the competition with the other great
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colonial powers: on the one hand she secretly encouraged sailors like John Hopkins or Francis Drake to
attack the Spanish ships that carried treasures from the colonies and, on the other hand, she encouraged
people to colonize the new territories in America. Sir Walter Raleigh was involved in the colonization of
Virginia which was named after Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen.
James I Stuart (1603 - 1625) was received with doubt and distrust by the Englishmen because he was a
foreigner and also the son of Mary Stuart, the woman who had plotted against Elizabeth and who was
eventually beheaded by the English queen. During James I’s reign, the relationship between the
Parliament and the King deteriorated, eventually leading to the Civil War (1642-1651). The previous
monarchs had recognized the power of the people, but James claimed that his rule by divine right gave
him the possibility to ignore the will of people.

The English Society: England changed rapidly in this period. The population increased exceedingly
beyond the capacity of resources leading to crises, famine and disease. In addition, the land was cleared
for sheep and large areas of forests were cut for shipbuilding. All these changes brought many problems:
the price of food and of other goods grew alarmingly, bringing many people on the verge of subsistence.
This was enhanced by the fact that many landowners believed that raising sheep and selling the wool was
profitable and so they fenced off the land that had once belonged to the entire village. Many starving and
impoverished people moved to the towns, increasing the danger of riots. The towns developed at a very
fast rate, especially London, marking the development of a powerful middle-class, and also a
sophistication of manners and new ideas, especially a focus on individualism that came as a result of the
rise of Protestantism.

The English Renaissance. The English Renaissance was largely based on Northern (Dutch and German)
models. It took roots in England after the Tudors discovered the usefulness of educated men in
importance offices, to replace a rebellious and disobeying feudal aristocracy. They were also interested
in these humanist-educated men to legitimize their rather fragile claim to the throne. The kings were
interested in educating their children according to humanistic values and the humanistic curriculum was
introduced in the universities (Oxford and Cambridge).

ENGLISH LITERATURE

PROSE DURING THE TUDOR PERIOD

Thomas More (1478 - 1535) was the most prominent figure of the English Humanism. He was an
Oxford educated lawyer and was introduced to Humanism by Erasmus. He was, for a while, a highly
esteemed courtier, ambassador and later Lord Chancellor. However, his refusal to accept Henry VIII’s
break with Rome brought about his death, as he was imprisoned and then executed.
Though he left a great number of writings, he is best known for his Utopia [Greek ‘nowhere’],
written in Latin (1516) and only later translated in English by Ralph Robynson (1551).
The text is a dialogue between “More” and an imaginary traveler, Robert Hythloday
(Hythlodaeus which means “speaker of nonsense”), who had sailed with Amerigo Vespucci. The
structure of the texts consists of parts, named "books". Book 1 describes England at the beginning of the
16th century, denouncing the corruption in the country, the greediness of the noblemen and the abuses
that they commit, and the poverty of people who are so poor and desperate that they have to steal in
order to eat, the distressing image of the gallows along the roads of the country and all the wrongs of
England, the lack of education.

Thomas More, Utopia, Book I, On Enclosures

Your sheep that were wont to be so meek and tame, and so small eaters, now, as I heard say, be become
so great devourers and so wild, that they eat up, and swallow down the very men themselves. They
consume, destroy, and devour whole fields, houses, and cities. For look in what parts of the realm doth
grow the finest, and therefore dearest wool, there noble men, and gentlemen, yea and certain Abbots,
holy men no doubt, not contenting themselves with the yearly revenues and profits, that wee wont to
grow to their forefathers and predecessors of their lands, nor being content that they live in rest and
pleasure nothing profiting, yea much noying the weal public, leave no ground for tillage: they inclose all
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 into pastures, they throw down houses, they pluck down towns, and leave nothing standing, but only the
church to be made a sheephouse. And as though you lost no small quantity of ground by forests, chases,
lawns, and parks, those good holy men turn all dwelling places and all glebeland into desolation and
wilderness. By one means therefore or by other, either by hook or crook they must needs depart away ,
poor, silly, wretched souls, men, women, husbands, wives, fatherless children, widows, woful mothers,
with their young babes, and their whole household small in substance and much in number, as
husbandry requireth many hands. Away they trudge, I say, out of their known and accustomed houses,
finding no place to rest in. All their household stuff, which is very little worth, though it might well abide
the sale, yet being suddenly thrust out, they be constrained to sell it for a thing of nought. And when
they have wandered abroad, till that be spent, what can they then else do but steal, and then justly pardy
be hanged, or else go about a begging. And yet then also they be cast in prison as vagabonds, because
they go about and work not: whom no man will set a work, though they never so willingly proffer
themselves thereto. For one Shepherd or Herdman is enough to eat up that ground with cattle to the
occupying whereof about husbandry many hands were requisite.

The Second Book is the description of the imaginary island of Utopia, isolated from the rest of
the world and self-sufficient. It is a place where private property does not exist, where the sovereign is
chosen by the people and can be deposed if he becomes a tyrant, where the working day has only 6
hours and so people are not exploited, where everyone, including women, has the right to education,
where there is religious tolerance, war is despised and the laws are clear and easy to understand. With
the elimination of private property and of money, the sources of corruptions and of all the social wrongs
are eliminated. There are not many priests, because only the most faithful can have this function. The
old people are honored, whereas the young are respectful and law-abiding. They also despise luxury,
and so, they wear uniform clothes and they take their meals in common, at fixed hours.
This island is not only an imaginary land, but a very improbable scheme. The uniformity of
appearances and behavior does not seem an ideal to be cherished, the Utopians being rather a mass of
docile subjects. There is no sin, so there is no redemption; there is no competition or conflict, so there is
no change or evolution. They have nothing to wish for, because they seem to have achieved all the ideals
of humanity. On the other hand, Utopians rely on the work of slaves, of the punished dissidents and of
the people in prisons, suggesting that there is no such thing as total equality.
In time, Morus’ Utopia has been the subject of various interpretations. One of them connects
More’s text with the newly-discovered continent, America. The first argument to support this thesis is the
fact that More’s interlocutor is a man who sailed with Vespucci who had published, in 1504, a book
entitled Mundus Novus. In this context, Utopia might be seen as an idealized view of the New World.
Other debates concerning Thomas More’s text are concerned with the way in which readers
have to see the text, either as a true utopia, in which the writer expresses the reforms dear to him and
Erasmus, or a dystopia, the whole land, its people and their customs being presented with irony.
Stephen Greenblatt suggests that the work “reveals More’s belief in humanist programmes of public
service and reform, but also his equally strong distrust of human nature and the imperfections that make
successful reform virtually impossible in the real world.”
Another important text written by More, but left unfinished, is The History of King Richard III
that follows the general trend of the Tudor historiography of depicting Richard III as a monster. The
text appears as a defense of morality, by pointing out the image of the cruel, evil and tyrannical ruler, a
model not to be followed. However, these ideas seem to contradict the image of the Renaissance prince
depicted by Machiavelli who does not connect his Prince to moral ideals, but rather to the requirements
of political life. In fact, this text has to be seen as part of the Tudor propaganda visible in the rewriting of
history to suit the interests of the new dynasty and to legitimize their claim to the throne.
Literary Term: UTOPIA
Thomas Morus is the first to use the term UTOPIA [Gr. Nowhere, no + place], but the idea of a place where all is
well was used in literature before: in the Sumerian poem Ghilgamesh, in Homer’s Odyssey, in Plato’s Republic, in
Hesiod, Pindar, Horace. A Christian version of utopia is presented by St. Augustine. After Morus’ Utopia, the
genre proliferated in the following centuries.

PROSE DURING THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD

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Prose writings thrived in the Elizabethan period in various genres: religious prose, instructive prose,
travel writing, translations, historical writings and satirical texts.

Sir Philip Sidney (1554 - 1586) was the closest example in English literature of a "Renaissance man." He
was noble by birth, well-educated and well-travelled, trying to fulfill his existence on the political level as
well as on the artistic. He fulfilled several court offices, but, at the same time, he was a man of culture, an
intellectual and an artist. He was well-read in the classics as well as in contemporary literature and he
knew several foreign languages. He was the best rhetorician of his generation and one of the finest
literary technicians, honoring the literary tradition but being also an innovative and prolific writer.
Belonging to the English nobility, he was also a patron of arts that encouraged artists, writers and
musicians, but most of all poets. In art, he was receptive to the new literary conventions of the continent
and he brought and adapted them to the English soil. For example, he was among the first to assimilate
and bring to England the teachings of Aristotle's Poetics, the neo-classical criticism of Italy, Hellenistic
romance and Italian poetic style.
Though more famous as a poet, he also addressed other literary genres, for instance Arcadia
(Old Arcadia revisited in New Arcadia, or The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia as it was written for the
amusement of his sister. It was begun in 1580 and published posthumously in 1590). This pastoral
romance was based on Sannazaro’s Arcadia (written, circulating in manuscript and eventually published
in the 1480s) and on Jorge de Montemayor's Diana Enamorada (1559). It is interspersed with poetry
(eclogues) and embodies the ideals of medieval chivalry whose heroes are gentle, simple, courageous in
action and loyal in love. The main interest is love-intrigue: two shipwrecked princes fall in love with the
two daughters of the King of Arcadia and they assume rustic disguises, one of them pretending to be a
shepherdess which leads to awkward entanglements. Subordinate subplots are interwoven in the main
story.
Sidney prefers the same highly ornate style as Lyly, with an abundance of details and
descriptions, sometimes too conventional, of pastoral or court life. For a century, Arcadia remained the
most cherished literary work among the English reading public. It was directed at educating the
behavior of the aristocrats. The work, with its mixture of prose and poetry and a profusion of characters
was influenced by Aristotle’s philosophy, by Italian, French, and Ancient sources, and by Humanist
Christian humanism.
The Defense of Poesy (or An Apology for Poetry, published posthumously in 1595) is the first
work of literary criticism in English literature; in it, Sidney borrows the style of the legal debate and
argues in favor of the importance of poetry and of poets in the society. In his view, "poesy" (imaginative
writing) has the highest role in moral education. The poet not only "imitates" reality, but has the power to
create new worlds: "Poetry is an art of imitation, for so Aristotle termeth it in the word mimesis - that is
to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth - to speak metaphorically, a speaking picture - with
this end, to teach and delight". Thus, the poet is alone in his ability to "create" new worlds that do not
exist in nature: "The lawyer saith what men have determined; the historian what men have done. The
grammarian speaketh only of the rules of speech; and the rhetorician and logician, considering what in
nature will soonest persuade, thereon give artificial rules. . . Only the poet, disdaining to be tied to any
such subjection, lifted up with the vigor of his own invention, doth grow in effect another nature, in
making things either better than nature bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in
nature, as the Heroes, Demigods, Cyclops, Chimeras, Furies, and such like: so as he goeth hand in hand
with nature, not enclosed within the narrow warrant of her gifts, but freely ranging only within the zodiac
of his own wit."
LITERARY TERMS
Arcadia. Originally a mountainous district in the Peloponnese. For Classical poets Arcadia was the symbol of rural
serenity, the harmony of the legendary Golden Age. Virgil's Echgaes illustrate an ideal way of pastoral life in
Arcadia, where shepherds and shepherdesses, removed from 'real life', devote themselves to their flocks and their
songs. During the Renaissance the idea was popularly revived by a number of writers, especially Sannazzaro, who
published a series of verses linked by prose called L'Arcadia, and by Sir Philip Sidney who published a prose
romance, also called Arcadiia. Spenser's pastoral poems also depict this ideal existence. (J.A.Cuddon)

Pastoral ('pertaining to shepherds'). A minor but important mode which, by convention, is concerned with the lives
of shepherds. It is of great antiquity and interpenetrates many works in Classical and modern European literature.
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It is doubtful if pastoral ever had much to do with the daily working-life of shepherds, though it is not too difficult
to find shepherds in Europe (in Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Sardinia, for instance) who compose poetry,
sing songs and while they spend the hours playing the flute. For the most part pastoral tends to be an idealization
of shepherd life, and, by so being, creates an image of a peaceful and uncorrupted existence; a kind of
prelapsarian world. (J.A.Cuddon)

Eclogue (Gk 'selection') A short poem - or part of a longer one - and often a pastoral in the form of a dialogue or
soliloquy. The term was first applied to Virgil's pastorals or bucolic Poems. Thereafter it describes the traditional
pastoral idyll that Theocritus, and other Sicilian poets' wrote. The form was revived by Dante, Petrarch and
Boccaccio and was particularly popular during the 15th and 16th c. (J.A.Cuddon)

Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) was one of the most brilliant minds of the English Renaissance, Cambridge
educated, philosopher, essayist, scientist and statesman. He held several offices during Queen Elizabeth
and King James I, but he fell in disgrace and this led him, especially in the later part of his life, to
dedicate his life to his works. His interests were diverse, in the realm of science, philosophy, religion
and law. He is considered to be the father of empiricism, which implies that knowledge comes only
through an inductive method, emphasizing the role of experience and evidence. His body of works is
complex and varied, among which, the most famous are The Advancement of Learning (1605, in
English), Novum Organonum (1620, in Latin), The New Atlantis (1626, in English, an unfinished
utopian work), Essays (1625, in English).
The New Atlantis (1627) is a utopian novel that reflects Bacon's faith in reason and in science as
he envisions an ideal island, Bensalem, where "generosity and enlightenment, dignity and splendour,
piety and public spirit" are the main virtues. This is a secret space, not easily revealed to the eyes of the
travelers: "We of this island of Bensalem (for so they called it in their language) have this: that by means
of our solitary situation, and of the laws of secrecy, which we have for our travellers, and our rare
admission of strangers; we know well most part of the habitable world, and are ourselves unknown." The
center of the kingdom is Salomon's House, a sort of university that is the very "eye of the kingdom." It is
a place ruled by reason and science, and so, there is no corruption, lust for power, elections or other
wrongs that come with a typical form of governing. This is a sort of democracy where people are ruled
by a selected number of elite scientists and these "governors" seem more interested in understanding and
controlling nature than man: " "We have dispensatories or shops of medicines [...], We have also divers
mechanical arts, which you have not; and stuffs made by them, as papers, linen, silks, tissues, dainty
works of feathers of wonderful lustre, excellent dyes, and many others [...]; We have also furnaces of
great diversities, and that keep great diversity of heats; fierce and quick, strong and constant, soft and
mild, blown, quiet, dry, moist, and the like [...];We have also perspective houses, where we make
demonstrations of all lights and radiations and of all colors; and out of things uncolored and transparent
we can represent unto you all several colors, not in rainbows, as it is in gems and prisms, but of
themselves single," all these being "the riches of Salomon's House." Even the offices are created to help
the advancement of knowledge and science, thus, there are the " merchants of light," those who travel the
world and bring the newest discoveries, the " depredators" who search the books, the ''pioneers" or
"miners" who try new experiments, and so on, together with novices and apprentices. Like in a modern
university system, there is a constant connection among the different cities " where as it cometh to pass
we do publish such new profitable inventions as we think good." The key sentence of this text and of
Bacon's system of beliefs is: "The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions
of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible"
The Essays (or Councils. Civil and Moral) represent a collection of 58 essays inspired by
Montaigne and written in time, to be published towards the end of his life. They are meant as precepts
for young people of his time, a series of observations and meditations on various themes (Of Truth, Of
Death, Of Revenge, Of Studies, Of Parents and Children, Of Marriage and Single Life, Of Beauty, Of
Deformity, etc.) The most remarkable feature of these essays is the style: in an age that favored verbosity,
ornament, even superficiality, Bacon chooses a simple, straightforward style, expressing abstract ideas
through an appeal to common objects of sight and experience: for instance, “Men in great place are
thrice servants,” “Fortune is like the market,” “Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set,” “Praise is the
reflection of virtue,” “He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune.” These essays have
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become a rich source of memorable quotes, such as “Men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark;
and as that natural fear in children, is increased with tales, so is the other;” (On Death) “Revenge is a
kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. For as for
the first wrong, it doth but offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong, putteth the law out of office;”
(On Revenge) “He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments
to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief;” (Of Marriage and Single Life) “Read not to contradict
and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and
consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and
digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some
few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” (Of Studies)

POETRY

The early Tudor poetry was not very significant with few exceptions. The first important Renascent poets
were Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey. When they started writing, there was not an English literary
tradition. The language was changing, the unstable social and political conditions of the fifteenth century
were not favorable for the development of literature. In this context, their contributions are very
important for the development of the sonnet tradition in England.

Literary Term: The SONNET

The sonnet is a poem with fixed form. The name derives from the Italian sonetto meaning “a little sound, or song.
th
” It was found in Italy in the 13 century and was used by Dante and especially by Petrarch. Traditionally, the
sonnet has 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter (a line of ten syllables, alternating unstressed syllable with
stressed syllable) with various rhyme patterns. The Petrarchan sonnet comprises an octave (eight lines) rhyming
abbaabba, and a sestet cdecde. As a rule, the octave presents the problem, the theses, and the sestet resolves it.
(1) The Italian sonnet (also called the *PETRARCHAN SONNET after the most influential of the
Italian sonneteers) comprises an 8-line 'octave' of two *QUATRAINS, rhymed abbaabba, followed by a 6-line
'sestet' usually rhymed cdecde or cdcdcd. The transition from octave to sestet usually coincides with a 'turn'
(Italian, volta) in the argument or mood of the poem. In a variant form used by the English poet John Milton,
however, the 'turn' is delayed to a later position around the tenth line. Some later poets—notably William
Wordsworth—have employed this feature of the 'Miltonic sonnet' while relaxing the rhyme scheme of the octave to
abbaacca. The Italian pattern has remained the most widely used in English and other languages.
(2) The English sonnet (also called the Shakespearean sonnet after its foremost practitioner) comprises
three quatrains and a final couplet, rhyming ababcdcdefefgg. An important variant of this is the Spenserian sonnet
(introduced by the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser), which links the three quatrains by rhyme, in the sequence
ababbabccdcdee. In either form, the 'turn' comes with the final couplet, which may sometimes achieve the
neatness of an *EPIGRAM.
th
BLANK VERSE. This was introduced by the Earl of Surrey in the 16 c. in his translation of the Aeneid and
consists of unrhymed five stress lines; properly, iambic pentameters. It has become the most widely used of
English verse forms and is the one closest to the rhythms of everyday English speech. This is one of the reasons
why it has been particularly favoured by dramatists.(J.A. Cuddon)

Tottel’s Miscellany (1557) (entitled Songs and Sonnets (Written by the Right Honorable Lord Henry
Howard, Late Earl of Surrey, Thomas Wyatt and Others) but better known as Tottel's Miscellany) is the
first anthology of English literature, compiled by Richard Tottel, a prominent publisher who had already
published several important works of literature, like Thomas More's Utopia, or Surrey's translation of
parts of Virgil's Aeneid, which represents the earliest use of the "blank verse" in literature. The writings of
Wyatt were first printed in this collection of poems, after his death. Among other contributors there are
Surrey, Nicholas Grimald, Thomas Norton, John Heywood and many anonymous poems. The success
of the anthology was proved by the great number of editions, nine until 1587.
The translations from Petrarch by Wyatt and Surrey signal a change in the literary cannon and
the transition towards the Renaissance. Moreover, the transition from manuscript to printed text was
crucial in the change of literary cannons. These poems had circulated before only in manuscripts and so,
they were confined to a smaller audience, being closely connected to court. After the publication of the
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anthology, these poems had a larger impact and also larger audiences, providing models for writers and
also readers for this type of literature.

Sir Philip Sidney (1554 - 1586) was the first great Elizabethan poet. He was an aristocrat,
educated at Oxford. He was a poet, an adventurer and a soldier.
His prose works include The New Arcadia (1590), and The Defense of Poesy (1595), the latter
considered nowadays one of the first important essays in literary criticism. His poetic work mainly
consists of a cycle of sonnets in imitation of the Petrarchan sonnet, entitled Astrophel and Stella (1591),
drawing on his unhappy love for Penelope Devereux. For Sidney, poetry is not a form of superficial
entertainment, or an exercise of wit, but a serious form of art, meant to instruct and move.
The first sonnet of the collection insists on the importance of inspiration in love poetry and not
in the study of other’s words.

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,

That the dear she might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe:
Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain,
Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow
Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburned brain.
But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay;
Invention, Nature's child, fled stepdame Study's blows;
And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write."

Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599) was the opposite of Sidney, in the sense that he was not of
noble birth, but he received a good education at Cambridge. He held the position of secretary to the
lord-deputy in Ireland. Among his works, the most famous are: The Shepherd’s Calendar (1597),
Amoretti (1595), Epithalamion (1595), The Faerie Queene (1596 – unfinished).
The Shepherd's Calendar was praised by Sidney in his Defense of Poesy being, and is, alongside
Sidney's Arcadia, one of the best examples of the pastoral in Renaissance literature. It is not merely a
succession of poems that praises love, but an allegorical construction of greater complexity: "Spenser
would have confined himself to a rendering of the traditional idea of pastoral love adapted to the
changes of the different seasons; but, as a matter of fact, the unity of the design lies solely in an
allegorical calendar, treated ethically, in agreement with the physical characteristics of the different
months. The idea of love is presented prominently only in four of the eclogues, viz. those for January,
March, June and December: of the rest, four, those for February, May, July and September, deal with
matters relating to morality or religion; two are complimentary or elegiac, those for April and
November; one, that for August, describes a singing match pure and simple; and one, that for October,
is devoted to a lament for the neglect of poetry." (The Cambridge History of English Literature)
The Faerie Queene, the most famous of his projects, intended to be structured in twelve books,
out of which only six were published, was supposed to be a national epic glorifying Queen Elizabeth,
named in the poem Gloriana, the Faerie Queene. It is connected to the King Arthur cycle and with the
virtue of chivalry, but it also draws on the famous Italian epics such as Ariosto's Orlando Furioso or
Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered.
Allegory is the dominant mode, as the knights sent by the Queene to save humanity from evil
represent virtues fighting against vices. Thus, the Redcross Knight (representing the Christian) fights
Error while Britomart is the female warrior representing Chastity. The Evil is represented by characters
such as Duessa (falsehood), or Archimago. This allegory is supposed to transmit the image of a
powerful, united, virtuous and Protestant nation and Gloriana’s knights are supposed to be victorious
over the evil.

77
ELIZABETHAN DRAMA
The first part of the sixteenth century was still dominated by the medieval Mysteries and
Moralities that survived till Shakespeare’s time. A new type of play appears: the Interludes, which were
shorter plays, played, at the beginning, between the acts of the Morality Plays, or between the courses in
the feasts. The dividing lines between the genres are not very clear, some Interludes being very similar to
Moralities, allegorical and didactical, others being humorous and farcical. It is considered that they form
the link between the medieval plays and Elizabethan drama. These interludes gained in importance,
and they started being played in colleges, at the court or in the noblemen’s houses, sometimes even in
the countryside. University dramas, plays written and played in colleges, had an important role in the
appropriation of the classical drama style and patterns, especially in the case of tragedies.
Some names of playwrights composing in the period are known: John Heywood (1470? - 1580)
with his farcical interlude The Four Ps involving four characters: a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Pothecary and
a Pedlar competing to tell a lie; Nicholas Udall (1504 - 1556), headmaster at Eaton and writer of the first
English comedy: Ralph Roister Doister, influenced by the Roman comedies written by Plautus or
Terence, and thus drawing on the Miles Gloriosus comic typology. Ralph Roister Doister is the
ancestor of Shakespeare’s Falstaff and the plot is a model for Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of
Windsor, whereas his servant, Matthew Meerygreek will be recalled by Ben Johnson’s Mosca
inVolpone. If this play is highly indebted to the classical comedies, Gammer Gurton’s Needle
(presumably composed at the middle of the 16th century) recalls a typical English, low-class scene, and is
centered on the loss of a needle, found after five acts when one of the characters sits on it. It is not an
imitation of Roman plays, either in content or in structure, and it involves typically English character,
while the language that they use is the rustic, unpolished English.
The first English tragedy presented to the public who had been familiarized to classical tragedies
in translation was Gorboduc (or Ferrex and Porrex) (1561) by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton.
It is also the first play written in blank-verse. The Senecan influence is visible in structure, style and the
penchant for bloodshed, an influence to be continued by Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe and
William Shakespeare. The plot, set in a mythical old English kingdom, is a source of inspiration for
Shakespeare’s King Lear and it presents the tragic effects of divided authority, exploring the results of a
king’s decision to split his kingdom between his two sons. John Bale's Kynge Johann c. 1538 is the first
known historical play and it deals with the reign of King John. It was later used as a source by
Shakespeare in his King John, but Bale operates a major change from the historical sources, by making
John a champion of Protestantism in his fight against the Pope of Rome, a representation that
Shakespeare does not use in his own text.
In the second half of the sixteenth century, the theatre becomes a professional type of business,
in the sense that professional players gradually replace the guilds and their performances. In fact, there
was a strong tide against disorganized players, and the laws of 1572 eliminated the companies that had
no patron considering the actors mere vagrants and consequently, punished by law. Thus, the first
theaters appeared. In 1576, the carpenter and player John Burbage built the first theatre, named the
Theatre outside the city walls. The business was so profitable, that it was soon followed by others, such
as the Swan, the Rose, the Blackfriars, the Globe, especially in the suburbs, since the authorities of
London were against theatrical productions, in spite of the Queen’s liking of such performances.
The Elizabethan theatre was usually made of timber increasing the danger, was usually round or
polygonal. It had three tiers of roofed galleries in the middle of which there was a roofless opening or a
pit. In this yard, there was a stage, raised from the ground, with its own roof and a curtain that, when
drawn, revealed an inner stage. There were was also an upper stage, at the back, for musicians or for
certain scenes of the play. There was little scenery, only very few objects, and so the audience was
supposed to supply the lack of detail with their imagination. In general, the lines of the play offered the
background. The roles of women were played by young men or boys.

The University Wits were a group of writers educated in Oxford or Cambridge, who were
interested in adapting the classical models to the English language and to the English interests. Some of
these writers were John Lyly, Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Christopher
Marlowe. The result of the changes worked upon the classical model, the Elizabethan drama emerged
as a fusion between classical and traditional elements, such as the disappearance of the unity of time,
78
place and action or of the chorus, and the combination, in the same play, of tragic and comic elements,
probably under the influence of interludes. The Aristotelian catharsis gives place to the moral fight
between good and evil, whereas the fate that dominated the Greek tragedy was gradually replaced by
personal choices.

1. Thomas Kyd (1558 - 1594) is one of the most important dramatists before Shakespeare and
is considered to be the author of the very successful play The Spanish Tragedy, one of the earliest
revenge tragedies in English literature, fashioned on Senecan influences. Many of the elements drawn
from Seneca’s tragedies and included by Kyd in his complicated plot will be later used by Shakespeare
in Hamlet: the ghost, the character who pretends to be mad, the play-within-a-play, the bloodshed that
satisfied the bloodthirsty Elizabethan audiences, only that there is a reversal of roles: in Kyd’s play it is
the father who revenges the death of the son.
Kyd’s play had a brilliant career in its time, staged continuously for a decade after its
composition and published in ten editions within the first twenty years. It is important not because it
remains as one of the most influential plays of period, but mostly because it “invents the Renaissance
tragic subject or reinvents classical tragedy for the Renaissance” and more because it “frees later
tragedians from the generic limitations and epistemological determinism of classic, Aristotelian tragedy;
it advances the genre, that is, precisely by rejecting its most basic rules and assumptions about the
mimetic function of drama” (Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Tragedy).

2.Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593) was the most famous of this group of writers. He was born
in Canterbury and educated at Cambridge. After he graduated, he came to London where he became a
famous writer, also joining a group of young writers led by Sir Walter Raleigh. Maybe it was his
professed atheism or the freedom with which he expressed his opinions, maybe it was his dissolute life,
he definitely drew an unwanted attention upon himself which led to his mysterious death.
Marlowe is the one who refined the blank-verse drama (unrhymed iambic pentameter) and
brought it to maturity. This type of verse had been used before only in the tragedy Gorboduc, but it was
Marlowe who brought it to perfection, shifting the stress, breaking the lines with rhythmic pauses and
matching the verse to his subject so that his text should not remain rigid, but flow with flexibility and
elegance, for which it was called by Ben Johnson “Marlowe’s mighty line”.

Works:
Plays: Tamburlaine the Great – two parts (1586-7), Dr. Faustus (1588-9), the Jew of Malta (1590),
Edward II (1591), Dido, Queen of Carthage (1593), The Massacre of Paris (1593), The Passionate
Shepherd (1599).
Poetry: Hero and Leander (unfinished. Completed by Chapman) and translations from Ovid and Lucan

His plays are dominated by characters larger-than-life, controlled by thirst for power, knowledge,
or great wealth, ready to overstep the limits imposed by their (social) position or humanity. Their final
tragedy comes from their sense of solitude stemming from the understanding that unlimited power is
unattainable. This is the reason why most of his characters are one-dimensional, dominating the play
and the other characters that are subdued to them. An exception is Edward II, where there is a clear
improvement in the study of the human nature and a more skilful treatment of stage action.
Tamburlaine the Great is a tragedy in two parts, the second part being written as a result of the
success of the first part. The two plays (five acts each) describe the rise and fall of Tamburlaine the
Great, the “scourge of God” (denomination familiar to the Elizabethans through the association with
Attila the Hun), his rise from poor Scythian shepherd to conqueror of the world. If the first part ends
with the triumph of the conqueror, the second part depicts his downfall, especially after the death of his
beloved wife Zenocrate, when his thirst for power is transformed into madness and obsession.
The play is dominated by cruelty and violence, these being the methods through which
Tamburlaine achieves his success: he puts his opponent, Bajazet, and his wife into a cage, taking them
from one place to the other, he massacres the people of Babylon and Damascus, he uses a carriage
drawn by kings whom he whips and curses. The cruelty extends to his own family, as Tamburlaine kills
his own son, when the latter refuses to fight.
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 Tamburlaine is the embodiment of excessive ambition unlimited by any exterior force, either
from the Gods or from the society. He is not punished by anyone else, but by his own inability to
handle his excessive nature, his successes and the loss of the person he loves, and his megalomania turns
into dementia, seeking, now, war against the gods:

Tamb. What daring god torments my body thus,

And seeks to conquer mighty Tamburlaine?
Shall sickness prove me now to be a man,
That have been term'd the terror of the world?
Techelles and the rest, come, take your swords,
And threaten him whose hand afflicts my soul:
Come, let us march against the powers of heaven.
And set black streamers in the firmament,
To signify the slaughter of the gods.
Ah, friends, what shall I do? I cannot stand.
Come, carry me to war against the gods,
That thus envy the health of Tamburlaine. (Part II, V, 3)

The Massacre at Paris and The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta can be named
“Machiavellian tragedies” because they rely on the period’s view of Machiavelli’s famous work as
advocating treachery, amorality, cunningness and manipulation as the most successful means for
achieving political power. Many counter-Machiavelli works appeared in the Renaissance, some of them
warning about the dangers of following such an example, one of which being the wave of assassinations
occurring on St. Bartholomew’s Day in France, which form the subject of Marlowe’s play The Massacre
at Paris. This play, therefore, relies on the slaughter of the Huguenots in 1572, focusing on a scheming
Duke of Guise. The play, probably pieced together from the memories of the actor playing the Duke, is
a patchwork of speeches and confusions out of which the portrait of the Duke of Guise, the mind
behind the massacre of thousands of Protestants, emerges as the most coherent and complex. This
atrocious events had a great impact in the mind of the Elizabethans, haunted by fears of Catholic treason
and scheming. There are three unifying elements in all this maze of intrigues, poisoning, stabbing and
bloodshed: a) insistence on the Catholic conspiracy against Protestantism; b) the events are centered on
the overwhelming figure of a tyrannical personality; c) the inhuman effects of the self-defined
“Extraordinary Man,” ambitious and mocking of his adversaries and victims.
The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta supposedly follows Tamburlaine the Great. There is the
same display of excess, of cruelty, of hatred, but, where Tamburlaine had his grandeur, Barabas, the Jew
has the Machiavellian skill in following his interests disregarding the others, or morality, or faith. In fact,
the play opens with a prologue told by a character names Machevill. His words set the theme of the play:
no one can be trusted and personal profits turn everyone into a traitor. Religion, which seems to stand at
the basis of the play is, in fact, only a political instrument and righteousness is only a mask that hides
hypocrisy and the image of the Jew is not that of the hated other, but a mirror directed towards
ourselves.

MACHEVILL. Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead,

Yet was his soul but flown beyond the Alps;
And, now the Guise is dead, is come from France,
To view this land, and frolic with his friends.
To some perhaps my name is odious;
But such as love me guard me from their tongues,
And let them know that I am Machiavel,
And weigh not men, and therefore not mens words.
Admired I am of those that hate me most.
Though some speak openly against my books,
Yet will they read me and thereby attain
To Peter's chair; and when they cast me off,
Are poisoned by my climbing followers.
I count religion but a childish toy.
[…]
80
 I come not, I,
To read a lecture here in Britanie,
But to present the tragedy of a Jew
Who smiles to see how full his bags are crammed,
Which money was not got without my means.
I crave but this. Grace him as he deserves,
And let him not be entertained the worse
Because he favours me. (Prologue)

The Jew of Malta, by the name of Barabas, a name with clear Biblical resonances for the Elizabethan
public, refuses to pay the taxes and the governor takes his house to be turned into a convent, where his
own daughter will remain, as a Christian convert, and confiscates his money. The play becomes a long
trial of revenges and violence: poisoning his own daughter, helping the Turks in their attack of Malta and
then planning to kill them. Barabas dies falling into his own trap, and he is boiled alive in oil.
Barabas justifies his hatred of the Christians and Muslims alike on account of their religious
differences, however, his true motivation is his love of money and of gold, the only reason that moves
him and prompts his actions:
Give me the Merchants of the Indian Mynes,
That trade in mettal of the purest mould;
The wealthy Moore, that in the Easterne rockes
Without controule can picke his riches up,
And in his house heape pearle like pibble-stones,
Receive them free, and sell them by the weight;
Bags of fiery Opals, Saphires, Amatists,
Jacints, hard Topas, grasse-greene Emeraulds,
Beauteous Rubyes, sparkling Diamonds, …
[…]And thus me thinkes should men of judgement frame
Their meanes of traffique from the vulgar trade,
And as their wealth increaseth, so inclose
Infinite riches in a little roome. (I, 1)

If in Tamburlaine the Great there the lust for power is dominant, and in The Jew of Malta, the
lust for riches is of crucial importance, in The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus there is an excess of a
different kind: knowledge and power, stemming from the belief that knowledge is power. The play is
based on a very popular German text about a Dr. Faustus and it loosely follows the idea of the original
text: Dr. Faustus is an erudite thirsty for knowledge and absolute power. For centuries, critics have tried
to decide whether the play is a form of criticism to Christian perspectives on hell and heaven or it finally
conforms to them; if, in other words, Dr. Faustus is a tragic hero or a misguided sinner. This is a tragedy
shaped according to the allegorical tradition, Dr. Faustus functioning as a distorted representation of the
protagonist of Morality Plays, making a bridge between the medieval dramatic tradition and the later
developments of the Renaissance stage. Certain elements of the morality drama are present in Marlowe’s
text, such as the Good and Evil Angels and the Seven Deadly Sins, whereas the comic subplot of the
Tudor stage tradition is represented here by the manner in which the servants (Wagner, Robin and
Ralph) unconsciously parody the actions of the master.
From the very beginning, Faustus, though apparently an accomplished scholar, is dissatisfied
with the limitations imposed by his human capabilities and so he turns his back to God and becomes his
own god as he signs a contract with the devil, Mephistopheles, in return for twenty-four years of splendid
life.

Faust. Had I as many souls as there be stars,

I'd give them all for Mephistophilis:
By him I'll be great Emperour of the world,
And make a bridge through the moving air,
To pass the Ocean with a band of men.
I'll join the hills that band the Africk shore
And make that land continent to Spain,
And both contributory to my crown:
81
 The Emperour shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any Potentate of Germany;
Now that I have obtain'd what I desire,
I'll live in speculation of this Art,
Til Mephistophilis return again.

At the end of this period of time, however, he is frightful and would like to change the deal he made.

Faust. Ah, Faustus.

Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,
And then thou must be damn'd perpetually!
Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,
That time may cease, and midnight never come;
Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again, and make
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
[…]
Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis, were that true,
This soul should fly from me, and I be chang'd
Unto some brutish beast! all beasts are happy,
For, when they die,
Their souls are soon dissolv'd in elements;
But mine must live still to be plagu'd in hell.
Curs'd be the parents that engender'd me!
No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer
That hath depriv'd thee of the joys of heaven
[The clock strikes twelve.
O, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air,
Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell!
[Thunder and lightning.
O soul, be chang'd into little water-drops,
And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found!

Enter Devils.

My God, my God, look not so fierce on me!

Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while!
Ugly hell, gape not! come not, Lucifer!
I'll burn my books!--Ah, Mephistophilis!
[Exeunt Devils with Faustus.]

In this case, just as in the others, Faustus is doomed by his own choices and desires. His own
nature and his excessive desires lead to dissolution and downfall and hell, as it is explained by
Mephistopheles, represented by the psychological, inner torment, and not as an outer manifestation of
physical torture.
The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second is one of the first
historical plays in English literature (not counting Kynge Johann by John Bale) and depicts the reign of
King Edward II (1284 - 1327), considered by many one of the most disastrous reigns in English history,
marked by political instability, incompetence and military defeats. There were also rumors of the king’s
homosexuality that weakened the image of the ruler. However, even if nothing could be proved
regarding the real nature of the relationship between the king and his favorite, Piers Gaveston, it was
Christopher Marlowe the one who insisted on the sexual aspects of the relationship. Edward II was
imprisoned by his wife and forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Edward III, and believed to be
murdered.
Marlowe used Raphael Holinshed’s chronicle in depicting the character of Edward II, but, in
comparison to the other plays, he managed to create a more complex and believable character, being, at

82
the same time, cruel and vengeful, as well as poetic and kind. His cruelty comes from the fact that he
prefers to put his pleasures above everything and he uses his kingly prerogatives to nurture his desires:

Edward
Well Mortimer, I’ll make thee rue these words,
Beseemes it thee to contradict thy king?
Frownst thou thereat, aspiring Lancaster,
The sworde shall plane the furrowes of thy browes,
And hew these knees that now are growne so stiffe.
I will have Gaveston, and you shall know,
What danger tis to stand against your king.

Though having a short life and career, Christopher Marlowe's contribution to the development
of Elizabethan theatre is of crucial importance, not only on the thematic and character-construction
level, but also on the stylistic level. He was a master of dramatic creation and he was bold in shaping his
characters and his stories in such a way that they raise uneasy questions. Through his characters, he
questions power and authority, religion, loyalty, morality.

83
 CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564-1593)
DOCTOR FAUSTUS
Sources
An anonymous portrait in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
believed to show Christopher Marlowe
 A real character from the 16th
century, Johannes Faust of Simmern who received
the degree of Bachelor in Divinity from the
University of Heidelberg in 1509. He seems to
have died poisoned by strycnine after a
disreputable career. „Popular imagination seized
upon his violent death, which it ascribed to the
action of the devil, and later on he was charged
with such knowledge and beliefs as made him
appear a descendant of Simon Magus. Some have
confused this personage with Johann Fust or Faust,
Gutenberg’s partner, who like his namesake was
accused of witchraft.
 The Historia von D. Johann Fausten
was published in 1587 at Frankfurt-on-the-Main
and it enjoyed a great popularity being reprinted
several times. It was also translated into English
and was Marlowe’s source for the play. There was
an English version as well, anonymous, entitled
The Historie of the damnable life and deserved
death of Doctor John Faustus. Both texts have a
moralizing attotude at the end, suggesting that even
if the man sells his soul to the devil, he can be
saved by penitence, prayers and the intercession of
the Blessed Virgin. (Michel Poirier, Christopher
Marlowe, 1951)
 Later versions: Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe, Faust (poem), the operas of Charles
Gounod and Arrigo Boito

DOCTOR FAUSTUS IN UNHAPPY WITH HIS

LIFE
10
Doctor Faustus Seeing, Ubi desinit philosophus, ibi incipit medicus :
FAUSTUS discovered in his study. Be a physician, Faustus; heap up gold,
FAUSTUS. Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin And be eterniz'd for some wondrous cure:
11
To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess: Summum bonum medicinae sanitas ,
Having commenc'd, be a divine in shew, The end of physic is our body's health.
Yet level at the end of every art, Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain'd that end?
And live and die in Aristotle's works. Is not thy common talk found aphorisms?
Sweet Analytics, 'tis thou hast ravish'd me! Are not thy bills hung up as monuments,
8
Bene disserere est finis logices . Whereby whole cities have escap'd the plague,
Is, to dispute well, logic's chiefest end? And thousand desperate maladies been eas'd?
Affords this art no greater miracle? Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.
Then read no more; thou hast attain'd that end: Couldst thou make men to live eternally,
A greater subject fitteth Faustus' wit: Or, being dead, raise them to life again,
9
Bid Economy farewell, and Galen come,

10
Unde sfârșește filosoful, acolo începe
8
A discuta bine este scopul logicii medicul.
9 11
Aelius Galenus (129-c.200 AD) was a Cel mai mare beneficiu al medicinei este
physician and philosopher of Rome. sănătatea.
84
Then this profession were to be esteem'd. Lines, circles, scenes, letters, and characters;
Physic, farewell! […] Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
The reward of sin is death: that's hard. O, what a world of profit and delight,
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,
and Is promis'd to the studious artizan!
there's no truth in us. Why, then, belike we must sin, All things that move between the quiet poles
and so Shall be at my command: emperors and kings
consequently die: Are but obeyed in their several provinces,
Ay, we must die an everlasting death. Nor can they raise the wind, or rend the clouds;
What doctrine call you this, Che sera, sera, But his dominion that exceeds in this,
What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu! Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man;
These metaphysics of magicians, A sound magician is a mighty god:
And necromantic books are heavenly; Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.

Albrect Durer (1471-1528) – Melencolia

“THE FAUSTIAN BARGAIN” In being depriv'd of everlasting bliss?

MEPHISTOPHELES
. Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,
Conspir'd against our God with Lucifer,
And are for ever damn'd with Lucifer.
FAUSTUS. Where are you damn'd?
MEPHIST. In hell.
FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that thou
art out of hell?
MEPHIST. Why, this is hell, nor am I out
of it:
Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of
God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells,
85
O, Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!
FAUSTUS. What, is great Mephistophilis
so passionate
For being deprived of the joys of heaven?
Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude,
And scorn those joys thou never shalt
possess.
Go bear these tidings to great Lucifer:
Seeing Faustus hath incurr'd eternal death
By desperate thoughts against Jove's deity,
Say, he surrenders up to him his soul,
So he will spare him four and twenty years,
Letting him live in all voluptuousness;
Having thee ever to attend on me,
To give me whatsoever I shall ask, Till Mephistophilis return again.
To tell me whatsoever I demand, [Exit.]
To slay mine enemies, and aid my friends,
And always be obedient to my will.
Go and return to mighty Lucifer,
And meet me in my study at midnight,
And then resolve me of thy master's mind.
MEPHIST. I will, Faustus.
[Exit.]
FAUSTUS. Had I as many souls as there
be stars,
I'd give them all for Mephistophilis.
By him I'll be great emperor of the world,
And make a bridge thorough the moving
air,
To pass the ocean with a band of men;
I'll join the hills that bind the Afric shore,
And make that country continent to Spain,
And both contributory to my crown:
The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate of Germany.
Now that I have obtain'd what I desir'd,
I'll live in speculation of this art,

[Thunder and lightning.}

O soul, be chang'd into little water-drops,
THE BARGAIN IS OVER AND FAUSTUS And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found!
FACES DAMNATION
Enter Devils.
Faust. Ah, Faustus.
Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, My God, my God, look not so fierce on me!
And then thou must be damn'd perpetually! Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while!
Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven, Ugly hell, gape not! come not, Lucifer!
That time may cease, and midnight never come; I'll burn my books!--Ah, Mephistophilis!
Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again, and make [Exeunt Devils with Faustus.]
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
[…]
Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis, were that true,
This soul should fly from me, and I be chang'd
Unto some brutish beast! all beasts are happy,
For, when they die,
Their souls are soon dissolv'd in elements;
But mine must live still to be plagu'd in hell.
Curs'd be the parents that engender'd me!
No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer
That hath depriv'd thee of the joys of heaven
[The clock strikes twelve].
O, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air,
Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell!
86
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
(April 23, 1564 – April 23, 1616)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: LIFE AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS

The life of William Shakespeare has been, in time, subject to various biographies, each trying to
shed light on the many ambiguities and lack of information regarding his life and his whereabouts. Much of
the knowledge on Shakespeare comes from general inferences on cultural and social aspects. For instance, a
general appreciation of schooling and the school systems in his time (the organization of the grammar
schools, such as the one William Shakespeare attended in Stratford) provides useful information on the
level of education a man of his social background could have received, especially since many of his rival
writers were University educated (the “University wits”). The controversy regarding his religion is another
mystery, many biographers and critics trying to see beyond the apparent lack of interest in religion in
Shakespeare’s plays or in his father’s absence from Church and guess a covert Catholicism in their attitude.
Nothing is, actually, certain, and much of his life is still subject to speculation and debate. Moreover, there
are no constant records on his life. For instance, his marriage and the baptism of his three children appear
in the written documents of the time. There are also documents that mention his father, John Shakespeare,
his mother, the wife and the children out of which inferences about Shakespeare’s life were made. Likewise,
some known facts in his life are considered to lie at the basis of various of his works, such as the death of his
own son, Hamnet, in 1596, which is considered to have influenced the writing of Hamlet. However, there
are periods in which Shakespeare’s traces are lost. Such a period is the one that follows the baptism of his
children. Filling in the missing information, biographers speculate that he joined various companies of
players. This period is known to Shakespeare’s biographers as “the lost years.” Other conjectures were
made. For example, a player by the name of William Shakeshaft appears in the will of a Catholic
Lancashire landowner, but there is no certainty that this is Shakespeare.
His name appears in 1592, in a pamphlet written by Robert Greene, who calls him “the only
Shake-scene in a country.” We do not know what Shakespeare actually did to offend Greene, but he seems
to have upset the group of educated, university wits, by “arrogating to himself airs to which he is not entitled
by birth or by education” and he “emerged from the group of players to try his hand as a playwright.” (R.
Shaughnessy) Greene’s misquotation from a line of Henry VI, Part 3, suggests that Shakespeare’s early
plays had already begun to circulate and were played by companies, and consequently, it is widely believed
that Shakespeare started writing for theater companies in the 1590s and he had been a player prior to this.
From this moment until the final years of his return to Stratford (from 1610 till the end of his life),
his life will be closely connected to the London companies of players and theatres.
After 1594, William Shakespeare appears as a partner in the theater company known as
“Chamberlain’s Men,” whose success seems to have relied on the work of one playwright, actor and sharer,
William Shakespeare. Prior to this, Shakespeare may have been involved with “Lord Strange’s Men” and
his plays (some of which are believed to be written in collaboration), were staged at Henslowe’s Rose. His
plays were performed at the Globe, the Curtain, the Blackfriars as well as at the Court. He appears to have
gained enough from his writings, since he bought the largest house in Stratford, in 1597
Many of Shakespeare’s early plays are mentioned by Francis Meres in his compendium of
commentaries and quotations entitled Palladis Tamia (1598), a valuable source, nowadays, for dating his
plays. Meres probably saw the plays on stage, or read them in manuscripts.

SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS: CHRONOLOGY AND PUBLICATION

PLAYED OR PRINTED MATERIALS IN ELIZABETHAN THEATRE.

Concepts like copyright, the author’s ownership over the work or other such modern ways of
relating to the printed text did not exist in Shakespeare’s time. The plays were produced for the stage, and
out of the 3,000 plays known by their titles from various sources, only 500 survived in manuscripts. In
general, the playwright’s manuscript, with additions and deletions, marginal comments and revisions, was
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passed to a professional scribe who copied it into separate parts for the players. A copy of the play was
submitted to the Master of the Revels, heading the Revels Office and responsible for the “festivities” or,
later, for the censorship of the stage productions. For example, the deposition scene (IV, 1) in
Shakespeare’s Richard II was censored and therefore not included in the first two quartos, whereas a satire
written by Nashe and Johnson (The Isle of Dogs) was suppressed and the authors imprisoned. After the
Master of the Revels’ approval, the play was entered in the Stationers’ Registry (a record of all works
projected for publication).
The plays were not the property of their creators, but of the theater companies, and could, at any
time, be subjected to alterations, amendments and revisions, as part of the daily repertoire of the company
or in case they were required for Court performances. Public taste, ceremonial occasion, popularity and
success could have become occasions for alterations of the play. Moreover, these plays were intended for
performance not for a reading public and if such a play could make its way in print, it would have been
subjected to more alterations and revisions by the editors and the printers.

THE PUBLICATION OF SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

While talking about the publication of Shakespeare’s plays, the terms quarto and folio appear.
These terms refer to the format of the published book: quarto meaning that each leaf is folded twice,
making 4 leaves (8 pages), whereas folio refers to a large-format book, made of 14’’ by 20’’ leaves, folded
once, to make 2 leaves (4 pages).
Shakespeare’s printed versions have raised numerous debates among scholars and biographers.
The majority of the quarto and folio versions seem to be too long to be performance versions. Among
them, some of the quartos seem to be closer to performance, but they are often regarded as less reliable
since they are considered to have been fraudulently obtained, pirated, transcribed from memory,
abbreviated, etc.
These quarto versions are the first printed materials of Shakespeare’s plays, but they are sometimes
called the “bad quartos” due to the reasons mentioned above. Anyway, during Shakespeare’s life, nineteen
plays circulated in print, in little quarto books, some pirated materials, others containing improved variants.
In 1623, two fellow actors published a folio edition of 36 plays entitled Comedies, Tragedies and Histories.
Without the 1623 Folio, much of Shakespeare’s works would have been lost, and the remainder rather
unreliable.
Another problem acknowledged today is the fact that Shakespeare collaborated with other writers
in the writing of some of his plays, which led to the enlargement of the Shakespearean canon by including
the plays that are not solely Shakespearean.

SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS: GENRES, PERIODS AND CHRONOLOGY

William Shakespeare’s body of works consists of poetry and plays.

POEMS:
Out of the body of poems, the ones published and acknowledged as his during his lifetime were
two longer Ovidian romances: Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece and the Sonnets.
Actually, the first published work by Shakespeare was Venus and Adonis, entered in the Stationers’
Register in April 1593 and in circulation by summer. It was followed by the 1594 quarto of Lucrece, these
two texts being, for a long time, the most popular of Shakespeare’s works, fact demonstrated by the series of
reprints of the poems.
Some critics consider that the creation and publication of the poems might have been caused by the
financial dependence of the writer on a patron. Thus, both Venus and Adonis and Lucrece are dedicated to
Henry Wriothesley, the third Earl of Southampton, a fashionable, charismatic and well-connected courtier.
The Sonnets were published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe as Shake-Speares Sonnets. Never Before
Imprinted. However, it is very likely that these sonnets might have circulated in manuscript form, as it was

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the fashion to courtly sonneteering. The dedication to the sonnets is more mysterious, and conjectures have
been made regarding the dedicatee for the book of sonnets.
A third narrative poem, A Lover's Complaint, in which a young woman laments her seduction by a
persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609

ORDER OF COMPOSITION OF THE PLAYS AND POEMS

Compiled from the Oxford Shakespeare, ed. S. Wells and G. Taylor (1988). The dates of the early plays
are conjectural.

1590-1 Two Gentlemen of Verona 1599 Julius Caesar

(Cei doi tineri din Verona) 1599- As You Like It
1590-1 The Taming of the Shrew 1600 (Cum va place)
(Imblanzirea scorpiei) 1600-1 Hamlet
1591 2 Henry VI 1601 Twelfth Night
1592 3 Henry VI (A douasprezecea noapte)
1592 1 Henry VI 1602 Troilus and Cressida
1592 Titus Andronicus 1603 Measure for Measure
1592-3 Richard III (Masura pentru masura)
1592-3 Venus and Adonis 1603-4 Othello
1593-4 The Rape of Lucrece 1604-5 All’s Well That Ends Well
(Necinstirea Lucretiei) (Totu-i bine cand se termina cu bine)
1594 The Comedy of Errors 1605 Timon of Athens (Timon din Atena)
1594-5 Love's Labour's Lost 1605-6 King Lear
(Zadarnicele chinuri ale dragostei) 1606 Macbeth
1595 Richard II 1606 Antony and Cleopatra
1595 Romeo and Juliet 1607 Pericles
1595 A Midsummer Night's Dream 1608 Coriolanus
(Visul unei nopti de vara) 1609 The Winter’s Tale
1596 King John (Poveste de iarna)
1596-7 The Merchant of Venice 1610 Cymbeline
(Negutatorul din Venetia) 1611 The Tempest
1596-7 1 Henry IV (Furtuna)
1597-8 The Merry Wives of Windsor 1613 Henry VIII
(Nevestele vesele din Windsor) 1613-14 Two Noble Kinsmen
1597-8 2 Henry IV (Doi veri de stirpe-aleasa)
1598 Much Ado About Nothing
(Mult zgomot pentru nimic)
1598-9 Henry V

The paternity of Shakespeare’s plays is a matter of modern debate, the fact that many of them were
written in collaboration being, nowadays, a widely accepted reality. The 1623 folio contains plays previously
(during Shakespeare’s life) published and new plays. The editors of the folio chose not to include the
narrative poems and the sonnets, as well as two plays written in collaboration (Pericles and The Two Noble
Kinsmen), as well as two plays that are now lost (Love’s Labours Won and Cardenio). There are also other
plays with controversial paternity, partially attributed to Shakespeare, like Sir Thomas More, or Edward III
but usually not included in the collections of plays.
There are various classifications of Shakespeare’s plays, according to the period in which they were
written, or according to the genre in which they can be included, but all those classifications may raise
problems at a certain point.

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PERIODIZATION
I. 1589 – 1600: the period of Sonnets, Poems, most of the Historical Plays, Comedies.
II. 1600–1608: the period of the “Great” Tragedies, and of the Dark Comedies/Problem Plays
III. 1608 – 1613: the period of the Romances

GENRES
The first folio classifies the plays into comedies, tragedies and histories, but this classification is no
longer accepted nowadays by critics. Modern criticism uses terms that did not appear in the folio
classification, such as “tragicomedy”, “problem play” or “romance.” Even the various critics do not agree on
the use of terms. For comedies, for instance, various terms are used, such as “romantic” comedies, “festive”
comedies, “dark” comedies. There are also plays that are hard to include in any genre, some call them
“problem plays”, others use the term of “mixed-genre” plays.
Broadly speaking, the plays can be included in the four genres accepted by the 1997 Riverside
edition (Comedies, Tragedies, Histories and Romances)

COMEDIES
All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors , Love's Labours
Lost, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's
Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew , Twelfth Night, Two
Gentlemen of Verona.
In very broad lines, the convention of the comedy includes happy-endings, cross-dressing or
mistaken identity, thwarted love, marital and romantic misunderstandings. The sources of Shakespeare’s
comedies are varied as well the occasions for which they were composed. Plays such as The Taming of the
Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona are based on the Italian romantic comedies, whereas The
Comedy of Errors has a clear Roman source (a play by Plautus). A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You
Like It, or Much Ado about Nothing are called festive comedies and they have various sources and plots
and subplots, making them more complicated than the early comedies.
The problem of clearly including the comedies in the different subgenres comes from the fact that
Shakespeare exploited several comic traditions, such as the Roman tradition, the Italianate stories and the
English festivity tradition. The Roman tradition draws on the Greek comedy (Aristophanes, Menander) and
the largest corpus of Roman comedies comes from the Latin writers Plautus and Terence and the
conventions they used are to be found in Shakespeare’s own comedies. Another famous source of
inspiration for the English writers, visible since the Middle Ages, with Chaucer, for instance, is the interest
in the Italianate stories. Shakespeare’s Italianate stories (set in Italy and whose plot is indebted to Italian
novelle) do not comprise only comedies, but also tragedies, romances or problem plays. The most famous
Italianate stories include five comedies and two tragedies: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of
the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, All's Well That Ends Well, Romeo and
Juliet and Othello. But, we cannot overlook other plays such as the Roman stories of Julius Caesar, Antony
and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus, or The Winter’s Tale beginning and ending in Sicily,
Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure based on Italian stories, as well as many others coming from the
Italian theatre or containing characters typical of Italian literature, all these suggesting the great influence of
Italian literature on English works. The third source of influence for Shakespeare’s comedies comes from
the English festivity tradition, drawing on the fixed and movable feasts established by the Church as well as
the popular beliefs and folklore traditions established over the centuries. The year was divided into two
halves: the winter and the sacred half, and the summer with its agrarian feasts and local celebrations.
Shakespeare gives a great importance to popular festivity and holidays in plays such as A Midsummer
Night’s Dream or in As You Like It.

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HISTORIES.
The histories or historical plays include those plays that are founded on the English history and are
connected to the reign or figure of a king, to be distinguished from the Roman tragedies, exploiting episodes
from the history of Rome. The date of the composition of the plays does not follow the chronology of the
kings’ reigns. The historical plays can be divided into two tetralogies (a tetralogy is a set of four works). The
first tetralogy includes the trilogy Henry VI and the play Richard III and is connected to the events of the
War of the Roses. The second tetralogy, including Richard II¸ the two parts of Henry IV and Henry V are
connected to the fall of the Angevins and the Hundred Years’ War. Beside these plays, the histories also
include the early play King John and the late play Henry VIII.
Even in this group of plays there are definition problems. The general characteristics of the
histories, centered on the figure of a king, involve conspiracy, fighting, plotting, a large number of characters
and a decisive on-stage battle. However, the plays Richard II and Richard III¸ though adhering to these
general characteristics are closer to the conventions of the tragedy and their quarto titles are: The Tragedy
of King Richard II and The Tragedy of King Richard III.

TRAGEDIES
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Titus
TheAndronicus,
conventionRomeo
of the tragedy,
and Juliet,implies a single
Coriolanus, heroic
Timon male character (the tragic hero), a tragic flaw
of Athens.
– either a dreadful dilemma or a wrong decision, conspiracy, fight and bloodshed, sometimes madness and
many deaths at the end. Similarly, the stormy atmosphere, with its unnatural manifestations (strange animal
behavior, eclipses, earthquakes, supernatural phenomena) reinforce the confusion, the instability and
disintegration of the world, stemming from the belief that the human and the natural are in a close and
harmonious connection.
The tragedy becomes an exploration of evil and suffering centered on the character of an
exceptional individual. Aristotle’s writings are considered basic for the understanding of the tragedy, though,
it is often argued that Shakespeare was more indebted to the Senecan tradition of bloodshed and tyranny
than to the Greek tragedy.
However, it is very difficult to draw an exact pattern of the Shakespearean tragedy, since the
playwright does not adhere to a unique tragic model, developing complex plots, sometimes, as in the case of
King Lear, subplots that parallel the main plot. The death of the hero at the end of the play is not, as
expected, a unifying principle, since Julius Caesar dies in the middle of the play, and is not the main
character at all, whereas the death of Macbeth does not produce the sense of loss we normally expect from
the fall of a great man. Timon of Athens, though reflecting the disintegration of the hero, stops before the
death of the tragic hero. There are comic parts in this supposedly serious, severe and dark plays, as it is the
case in Hamlet, or in Romeo and Juliet.
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth are usually deemed “the great tragedies”, being among
the most studied and most read works in world literature; they are considered, in a simplifying scheme, the
peak of Shakespeare’s creation.
Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra can be included in a
different category: the Roman plays. This name comes from the fact that their plot is connected to the
history of Ancient Rome, though Titus Andronicus is not based, like the other three, on real history, but on
a fictional plot. Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra can be included in a group named
tragedies of love, though Romeo and Juliet fits the group of tragedies with greater difficulty, since the theme
of love, during Shakespeare’s time, pertained to romance and not to tragedy, the latter being most often
connected to the fall of the great political men, a convention respected by the other two "love" tragedies.
Actually, Romeo and Juliet, belonging to the first period of creation, has more in common with A
Midsummer Night’s Dream than with the great tragedies, being considered A Midsummer gone wrong.
Moreover, it defies the fatalistic view of tragedy, replacing the will of Fate with the hazardous, the accidental,
bad luck and misfortune.

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ROMANCES
Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale

These four plays were written towards the end of his career and are considered the most
experimental theatrical ventures. Initially, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale were included in the
group of comedies, Cymbeline was considered to be a tragedy and Pericles was not part of the first folio
edition at all. The fact that they all end in happy reunions and promised marriages would include them, at
least formally, in the genre of the comedy, but the ending is not sufficient in clearly classifying them as such.
The convention of the Shakespearean romance usually includes natural disasters, remarkable
adventures, unlikely coincidences, conflict between generations or within families, unforeseen conclusions
in which forgiveness and reconciliation are achieved against all odds. Usually, it is the role of the children,
by falling in love, to amend the errors of their parents and bring harmony to the world.
The name of this genre comes from the medieval romance, with its stories of love and chivalry, of
fantasy and adventure. Shakespeare used these conventions as a pretext to reflect upon the way art and the
imagination operate in the understanding of the world. It provides the context to show not only how the
world is, but how the world could be (Sean McEvoy).

PROBLEM PLAYS, PROBLEM COMEDIES, MIXED-GENRE PLAYS

There are critics who use further genre classifications, since some of the plays are difficult to
classify. In a 1931 book, William W. Lawrence used the term problem comedy, to include the plays All’s
Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida and Cymbeline. Out of these, All’s
Well has traditionally been included in the group of comedies, whereas Cymbeline is nowadays considered
a romance. His definitions insist on the seriousness of the plots that contradict the definitions of comedy,
while the happy-endings thwart them from the group of tragedies.
He argues that comedies such as All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, and Troilus
and Cressida are sometimes called problem comedies, because of the fact that, though they adhere to the
rules of the comedy, the treatment of the theme is more serious and realistic:

“They are concerned, not with the pleasant and fantastic aspects of life, but with painful experiences and
with the darker complexities of human nature. Instead of gay pictures of cheerful scenes, to be accepted
with a smile and a jest, we are frequently offered unpleasant and sometimes even repulsive episodes, and
12
characters whose conduct gives rise to sustained questioning of action and motive.” (W. Lawrence )

This term of problem play, he further argues, is useful to apply to the productions that cannot be
considered tragedies, but that are too serious and analytic to be included in the conception of comedy.
Other classifications of the “problem plays” put in one group All’s Well, Measure for Measure,
Troilus and Cressida and Hamlet.

All these dramas introduce us into highly artificial societies, whose civilization is ripe unto rottenness.
Amidst such media abnormal conditions of brain and emotion are generated, and intricate cases of
conscience demand a solution by unprecedented methods. Thus throughout these plays we move along
dim untrodden paths, and at the close our feeling is neither of simple joy nor pain; we are excited,
fascinated, perplexed, for the issues raised preclude a completely satisfactory outcome, even when, as in
All's Well and Measure for Measure, the complications are outwardly adjusted in the fifth act. In Troilus
and Cressida and Hamlet no such partial settlement of difficulties takes place, and we are left to interpret
their enigmas as best we may. Dramas so singular in theme and temper cannot be strictly called comedies
or tragedies. We may therefore borrow a convenient phrase from the theatre of to-day and class them
together as Shakspeare's problem-plays. (F.S.Boas, Shakespeare and His Predecessors, 1896)

12
William W. Lawrence, Shakespeare’s Problem Comedies, Macmillan, 1931
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 Sean McEvoy, while finding for the other plays mentioned above a place in either comedies,
tragedies or romances, keeps Troilus and Cressida and Measure for Measure apart, including them in a
separate category he calls mixed-genre (or genre-defying) plays, considering that, in these plays, Shakespeare
fits elements from different genres. Another term used for these plays is that of “tragicomedy”, describing
the mixture of tragic and comic elements. However, it is believed that these plays reveal more of the
negative aspects, of the worries and conflict of Shakespeare’s world than the other plays. They appear to
cast doubt and undermine the ideals and beliefs of the traditional English society (Sean McEvoy13).

13
Sean McEvoy, Shakespeare. The Basics. Routledge, 2000
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 William Shakespeare
THE COMEDY

COMEDIES: DEFINITIONS AND TRAITS

“Comedy could be simply defined as a dramatic presentation that makes us laugh.” (Sean McEvoy 125).
Though it is rather difficult to have a simple and straightforward definition of comedy, since laughter is not
confined only to comedy, some laughable scenes being present in tragedies, as well, there are, however, sets
of characters, themes or conventions that correspond to the public’s expectations of a comedy. Moreover,
the "funny" or amusing element is not the defining feature of comedy: "comedy was described by the ancient
Greeks, notably Aristotle, as art that concerns humans as social beings interacting with others, as opposed to
considering them as private individuals" (K. Kuiper14). By contrast to tragedy, comedy insist on the human
being as part of the community, integrated in it and adhering to its values; therefore, through laughter,
credited with therapeutic functions, the comic character is brought back into conformity with a society
whose conventions he abandoned.

Origins and History

The beginnings of comedy are located in Ancient Greece, the name “comedy” coming from the Greek
komos meaning “revels, merrymaking” and its origins are rooted in the rituals for the Greek god Dionysus.
On stage, comedy seems to have started with the works of the Greek playwrights Aristophanes and
Menander, and their comic conventions where taken up by the Roman authors Plautus and Terence and
then transmitted to the Renaissance writers. Therefore, many of the comic conventions and characters have
remained from the classical tradition.
There are no great comedies left from the period of the Middle Ages, but comedy survived in the
development of the farce and in the Interludes in the Mystery Plays. The Renaissance, coming with its
revival of classical literature, became interested in the plays of the Roman comic playwrights, and they were
present on the English stage either in the form of translations, or in that of adaptations like Nicholas Udall’s
Ralph Roister Doister or the anonymous Gammer Gurton’s Needle (the middle of the 16th century).

Definitions and Traits

In defining comedy, many critics start from the distinction between comedy and tragedy, seeing them as
opposing genres. Thus, Aristotle says that comedy deals with ordinary characters in everyday situation,
opposing it to tragedy that depicts noble characters (kings, princes, and noblemen) in extraordinary
situations. Due to these distinctions, it is common that comedy should be involved with the private life of
people, while tragedy should deal with state affairs, influenced by the destiny of kings and princes.
Euanthius, a Greek rhetorician commented that:

“Of the many differences between tragedy and comedy, the foremost are these: in comedy the fortunes of men
are middle-class, the dangers are slight, and the ends of the action are happy; but in tragedy everything is the
opposite – the characters are great men, the fears are intense, and the ends disastrous. In comedy the beginning
is troubled, the end tranquil; in tragedy events follow the reverse order. And in tragedy the kind of life is shown
that is to be shunned; while in comedy the kind is shown that is to be sought after. Finally in comedy the story is
always fictitious; while tragedy often has a basis in historical truth.” (in J. A. Cuddon, Penguin Dictionary of
Literary Terms)

To sum up, there is a set of conventions that can be taken into consideration when talking about
comedies, despite the rather numerous problematic aspects that make this genre so difficult to define. First,
comedies deal with private lives and private affairs in opposition to the tragic conflict that resonates through
the entire political body. Whatever may happen in a comedy, it does not have relevance beyond the private
life of its characters and will not affect the entire political system, causing its downfall and destruction, as it is

14
Kathleen Kuiper, The Comedies of William Shakespeare, Rosen Education Service, 2012
94
the case in tragedy. That is the reason why, in general, the characters in comedies pertain rather to the lower
classes, since they are more likely to become subject to comic, or ridiculous attitudes. Tragedy is about
human isolation, comedy is about human integration (Terry Eagleton). A comedy may start in misfortune,
but it will end in communal joy and reconciliation. If the style of the tragedy is lofty, the style of the comedy
is humble, negligent.
The comedy also deals with certain stock characters and typical actions. Generally, it is considered
that love is one of the major comic actions, usually, thwarted love that leads to a series of misfortunes and
misunderstandings which eventually have a happy ending.
In his analysis of the literary genres, Northrop Frye tries to point out some of the elements
characteristic to comedy. He locates the center of the comedy in the young generation, as it usually deals
with youthful love that has to overstep a series of obstacles created by those in the older generations (mainly
parents). At the end of a comedy, though, the triumph belongs to the young, and is celebrated by a sort of
festivity, most commonly, a wedding. The comedy, according to Frye’s analysis, has the tendency to include
as many people as possible in the final, reconciliating festivity, and it sometimes contains a ritual of
exclusion of the undesirable one, the individual whose actions destroy the harmony of the world (as in the
case of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice).
The comedy usually tries to impose a better version of the society, that is why, in many plays, the
opening is marked by a cruel, or unnatural, or absurd law or deal, as in the case of the cruel law of killing
the Syracusians in The Comedy of Errors, or the deal with Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice. In order
to set the world right, the protagonist(s) need to pass through a series of obstacles, or tests, sometimes to
undertake a journey after which he/she/they can safely return home, to a renewed world.

SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES
The inclusion of Shakespeare’s plays into strict categories has been a challenge for critics over the centuries.
The 1623 Folio classification of plays into comedies, tragedies and histories is not very helpful, and part of
this initial classifications has subsequently been challenged and rethought. These difficulties arise, on the
one hand, from the lack of a large body of theoretical writings on literary forms. In this case, Shakespeare
did not rely on a solid theoretical body, but on stage traditions, such as the ancient comedy, Greek and
Roman, medieval forms and Renaissance, especially Italian, conventions. Another reason for such
difficulties in defining Shakespearean comedy might lie in the playwright’s refusal to be limited by fixed
forms and conventions, continually challenging any limitations, improving on the existing forms and even
altering his own vision in the course of time, from the first plays toward the end of his career and mixing up
genres, including comic elements in his tragedies, serious events in his comedies, happy-endings in histories.
The difficulties to include certain plays into various literary forms have led to several attempts at different
classifications and subdivisions. For instance, Shakespearean comedies have, in turn, been classed into
“early comedies” and “late comedies”, other were named “festive comedies.” Some other terms were
introduced to deal with the more problematic comedies, such as “romance”, “problem play” or
“tragicomedy.” In the end, one must acknowledge the individuality of each play taken separately as well as
its importance into a wider understanding of Shakespeare’s work in general.

COMIC TRADITIONS
Shakespeare’s comedies are not indebted to a single source, this is the reason why it is rather difficult to
classify them. The three main sources for his creation of comedies are: the classical plays, especially the
Classical tradition; the Italian stories; and the English festive tradition.
A. The Classical tradition draws on the plays of the Roman writers Plautus and Terence who, in their
turn, are indebted to the Greek writers Aristophanes and Menander. Some of the conventions employed by
these classical writers are to be found in Shakespeare’s plays, as well. Shakespeare was clearly influenced by
the language and style of the Roman comedies that included music and songs. Moreover, this focus on
music and musicality is seen in the composition of the text, with the variation of line-length and measure,

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alliteration and rhymes. Likewise, similar to the Roman plays, Shakespeare intensively uses puns, word-play,
and draws comic effect from the use of neologisms or dialect.
According to classical models, Shakespeare’s plays are focused on the opposition between
appearance and reality, as well as on ambiguous identities, cross-dressing, twins, exchanges of identity.
There elements are intensified by overheard conversations and eavesdropping. Two sets of twins who
exchange places, without one knowing about the existence of the other are present in The Comedy of
Errors, a play clearly drawn from Plautus’ Manaechmi, as well as in Twelfth’s Night. Cross-dressing is a
widely employed convention in
Shakespeare from the first play and many women dress as young men for different reasons: Julia
(Two Gentlemen of Verona), Rosalinde (As You Like It), Portia (The Merchant of Venice), Viola
(Twelfth’s Night), even, briefly, Helena (All’s Well That Ends Well). Staged conversations to make lovers
confess their love, overheard discussions and eavesdropping that could led even to disaster form the basis of
Much Ado about Nothing.
Shakespeare also largely used the classical convention of plot doubling (several couples of lovers),
repetition, contrast and counterpoint, all these successfully solved in the end by multiple weddings. Thus,
there is often the theme of friendship that resists or does not resist the test of love in Two Gentlemen of
Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Two Noble Kinsmen, faithful friends in As You Like It (Rosalind
and Celia) and The Merchant of Venice (Antonio and Bassanio) or merry groups in Love’s Labour’s Lost,
Much Ado about Nothing.
B. The Italian(ate) stories had been very popular in England long before Shakespeare’s times,
since the Middle Ages, though, to call them Italian is often a misnomer, because many had come from
more distant sources (classical stories, Indian tales) through Italian channels. Without the pressure of
copyright, writers and playwrights of the time had no urge to invent new stories and could freely use and
adapt old material to their own texts. The sources used were various and diverse, but the most common
were the complete novelle collection of Boccaccio, Bandello and Giraldi, the chivalric romance cycles (such
as Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso), translated by John Harrington in 1591. “All of these narratives were
outgrowths of longer traditions, with roots in the classics – Homer, Ovid, Apuleius, Heliodorus, Achilles
Tatius – and in folktales from as far away as India, transmitted in the Gesta Romanorum, hagiographies,
15
and various other forms.” (Louise George Clubb ) As far as the theatre tradition was concerned, many plays
circulated in print or were played at different European courts. The Italian comedy had already
disseminated a variety of forms: farces, satires, romantic courtship plays of revelation, pastoral plays.
Professional companies that would be called commedia dell’arte were touring Europe, especially France
and Spain and Shakespeare may have had access to printed plays or accounts of such plays from the Italians
in London. To pinpoint exactly the Italianate influence in each and every play is a difficult task. But we can
mention the fact that many are set in Italy, and are drawn from Italian sources, from the classical writers to
Renaissance writers.
C. The third very rich source of inspiration for Shakespeare’s plays, employed not only in comedies,
but also in histories and tragedies is the English popular tradition. This source is extremely varied drawing
on popular festivities during the year as well as court festivities. Jeanette Dillon16 notes that the use of the
festive tradition becomes “a subtle and effective means of generic subversion and reconstruction” especially
when it is employed in histories and tragedies, such as Richard III, Hamlet or King Lear.
Popular festivities as well as Court festivities were a large source of influence for Shakespeare. The
year was divided into two halves, the winter festivities that were mostly connected to religious ceremonies,
and corresponding to many Court forms of entertainment such as the revels of winter, the twelve days of
Christmas or the garter ceremony. During the summer, the festivities connected to agricultural cycles

15
Louise George Clubb, “Italian stories on the stage.” The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean
Comedy. Ed. Alexander Leggatt. Cambridge University Press, 2001
16
Jeanette Dillon, “Elizabethan comedy.” The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy. Ed.
Alexander Leggatt. Cambridge University Press, 2001
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abounded. These had pagan influences and were closer to nature rituals. During the summer, the Court
toured the provinces and this was the occasion for various city and country festivals. Added to these, there
were the occasional feasts and celebrations, such as royal weddings, baptisms or funerals.
Of great influence for Shakespeare were the “green world and popular festivities”:

Pagan, ritualized vision of a traditional green world with its hunting rites and grounds, chance or sporting games,
and its utopian or topsy-turvy scenarios. The green world was regarded as a place of escape from the constraints
of the law and from everyday life, a place of change (of gender or of identity or both) and deep interior
transformation where the contact with nature and “old custom” provided a form of content and fulfillment,
pagan, ritualized vision of a traditional green world with its hunting rites and grounds, chance or sporting games,
and its utopian or topsy-turvy scenarios. The green world was regarded as a place of escape from the constraints
of the law and from everyday life, a place of change (of gender or of identity or both) and deep interior
transformation where the contact with nature and “old custom” provided a form of content and fulfillment.
(Jeanette Dillon)

The forest is seen as an alternative to a corrupted and treacherous world, a place were the society
can be regenerated, and where the banished can find a place of hiding and salvation till the world is
regenerated, as it is a clear case in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It. The function of the
festive element is to “trigger and emotional release and create an atmosphere of joyful liberation in the face
of an archaic moral order or tyranny.” (Jeanette Dillon)

DUKE SENIOR

Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,

Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,
The seasons' difference, as the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
'This is no flattery: these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.'
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones and good in every thing.
I would not change it. (As You Like It, II, 1)

CONVENTIONS, THEMES, CHARACTERS

According to the Classic tradition, the main theme of a comedy is love. Shakespeare’s comedies usually
involve love issues, lovers won and lost, change of identities, attempts to avoid unjust marriages. Love,
therefore, triggers the process of growing up of the young into adulthood, and their breaking up with the
authority of their parents or that of the elders. This is the reason why John McEvoy considers that one
common theme in Shakespeare’s comedies is the JOURNEY, the passage of the young woman or man
from innocence/ virginity to marriage. Therefore, the comedies often involve a series of obstacles that the
young lovers need to cross before becoming united with the loved ones. Portia (The Merchant of Venice)

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needs to pass through a strange ritual imposed by her father through which the one she is supposed to
marry has to choose from three caskets. Similarly, Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is forced, by her
father, to marry Demetrius, and so she decides to run into the woods with her lover, Lysander.
The comedy, therefore, starts with trouble, misfortune, sometimes unjust and cruel laws, threats of
punishment, even threats of death. The Comedy of Errors begins with the unjust law of punishing
Syracusians by death, and the entire play, centered on two sets of twins that are supposed to meet, but only
manage to get into more trouble, becomes even more pressing, since the time lost by them brings their
father closer to death. In The Merchant of Venice, the threat of the strange deal between Shylock and
Antonio looms over the play. In As You Like It¸ the real Duke’s place is usurped by his brother who, in
the end, is rumored to have gathered an army against him, whereas, in the double plot, a older brother
plans to kill his younger brother. The same threat of betrayal and murder is sensed in Much Ado About
Nothing, where Don John plots against his brother Don Pedro, prince of Aragon and he manages to
convince Claudio and the Duke that Claudio’s lover, Hero, had been unfaithful. All these complications
caused by Don John’s plotting may easily lead to tragedy, since Hero is slandered and rejected and her
friends devise a plot similar to that in Romeo and Juliet. Therefore, there may be a direct obstacle against
the love of the young (like a parent), or a more serious plot, touching politics and state affairs. This is the
point, actually, that unites comedies to tragedies, and, at any moment, the comedy may turn into a tragedy,
the final reconciliation, the exposure, the betterment or the repentance of the culprit making the difference
between happy endings and destructions. So, the main theme of comedies is, quite often, the challenge of
authority, usually that represented by parents whose choice of spouses is different from the love of the
young ones, but it is sometimes doubled by political plots that make the situation more serious.
But there are also the cases in which the lovers themselves set obstacles in the path of their own
love, refusing the feeling, being reluctant to reveal their love or mocking love altogether. Love changes
people, they become “metamorphosed” or “translated”, they forget who they are and start behaving in ways
that are unnatural to their nature. Sometimes, they are charmed into loving the wrong lover: thus, Proteus,
previously in love with Julia, falls in love with his friend’s beloved Silvia, just by witnessing their love.
Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) are bewitched into deserting the
loved one and loving somebody else, just as Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, is charmed to fall in love with
the weaver Bottom, bewitched to have the head of an ass. Some fall in love with the wrong person while
being loved by somebody else: Silvius loves Phoebe who falls in love with Ganymede/ Rosalind in As You
Like It and Olivia falls in love with Cesario/Viola (Twelfth Night). Love, therefore, is capable to transform
the ordinary reality and make life seem like a fantasy.

Hip. 'Tis strange, my Theseus, that these

lovers speak of.
The. More strange than true. I never may
believe
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet,
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman; the lover, all as frantic;
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth

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The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That, if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush suppos'd a bear!
Hip. But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigur'd so together,
More witnesseth than fancy's images,
And grows to something of great constancy,
But, howsoever, strange and admirable. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, scene 1).

Pro. He after honour hunts, I after love:

He leaves his friends to dignify them more;
I leave myself, my friends and all, for love.
Thou, Julia, thou hast metamorphos'd me;—
Made me neglect my studies, lose my time,
War with good counsel, set the world at
nought;
Made wit with musing weak, heart sick with
thought. (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act I, scene 1)

Val. Why, how know you that I am in love?

Speed. Marry, by these special marks: first,
you have learned, like Sir Proteus, to wreathe
your arms, like a malecontent; to relish a love-
song, like a robin-redbreast; to walk alone, like
one that had the pestilence; to sigh, like a
schoolboy that had lost his A B C; to weep, like
a young wench that had buried her grandam;
to fast, like one that takes diet; to watch, like
one that fears robbing; to speak puling, like a
beggar at Hallowmas. You were wont, when
you laughed, to crow like a cock; when you
walked, to walk like one of the lions; when you
fasted, it was presently after dinner; when you
looked sadly, it was for want of money; and now
you are metamorphosed with a mistress, that,
when I look on you, I can hardly think you my
master.
Val. Are all these things perceived in me?
Speed. They are all perceived without ye.
Val. Without me? they cannot.
Speed. Without you? nay, that's certain;
for, without you were so simple, none else would:
but you are so without these follies, that these

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 follies are within you and shine through you
like the water in an urinal, that not an eye that
sees you but is a physician to comment on your
malady. (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act II, scene 1)

In Shakespeare’s comedies, lovers are often separated, deserted, mistreated; they have to pass
through obstacles, interdictions and misfortunes. Therefore, they often run away (the lovers in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona), are banished (Rosalind in As
You Like It), pretend to be dead to win again the heart of their lovers (Much Ado about Nothing), are
tricked (Don John’s plan against Hero and Claudio in Much Ado about Nothing) or ill-treated (Katherine
in The Taming of the Shrew).
These obstacles, problems and misfortunes often require for the lovers to change their identities:
Valentine becomes the leader of a group of criminals (The Two Gentlemen of Verona), the men in love
with Bianca try to devise a plan to enter her house as teachers and trick her father (The Taming of the
Shrew), women change their identities or disguise themselves as men (Portia and Jessica in The Merchant
of Venice, Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Rosalind in As You Like It, or Viola in Twelfth Night).
These changes often create further complications, as other women fall in love with the women who
disguised themselves as men (Phoebe falls in love with Rosalind/Ganymede in As You Like It, and Olivia is
more interested in Viola / Cesario than in Duke Orsino who loves her, in Twelfth Night). In this switch of
identities, objects become tokens of love or further complicate the situations. There is often an exchange of
love letters, but sometimes, the letters do not directly reach their destinations, there are rings or necklaces to
be given as tokens of love.
These plots often involve journeys (journeys across the sea, into the woods, from one place/ town
to the other) at the end of which, the young lovers emerge more experienced. Moreover, at the end of the
journey something happens to make their love socially acceptable, some sort of repentance, recognition,
revealed tokens of love and identities and usually, the comedies end in (multiple) marriage(s).
Though there are numerous similarities among the comedies, they are very distinct the one from
the other, the same conventions being used to different end effects and the sources being not only used, but
transformed by Shakespeare to reach further comic effects, on the one hand, but also open the way to
meditation and debate. Love’s Labour’s Lost, for instance, is considered one of the most courtly and
cerebral comedies written by Shakespeare. It begins with the formation of a sort of aristocratic, male
community (the King of Navarre and his followers: Longaville, Dumaine and Berowne) and they try to
dismiss everything connected to sentimentality and love in favor of study and self-improvement. The
presence of Don Adriano de Armado is not only to be read as having comic effects, but extending, with his
linguistic extravagance, the aristocratic community of academicians.

FERDINAND [Reads a letter written by Don Armado] 'So it is, besieged with sable-coloured
melancholy, I did commend the black-oppressing humour
to the most wholesome physic of thy health-giving
air; and, as I am a gentleman, betook myself to
walk. The time when. About the sixth hour; when
beasts most graze, birds best peck, and men sit down
to that nourishment which is called supper: so much
for the time when. Now for the ground which; which,
I mean, I walked upon: it is y-cleped thy park. Then
for the place where; where, I mean, I did encounter
that obscene and preposterous event, that draweth
from my snow-white pen the ebon-coloured ink, which
here thou viewest, beholdest, surveyest, or seest;
but to the place where; it standeth north-north-east
and by east from the west corner of thy curious-

100
 knotted garden: there did I see that low-spirited
swain, that base minnow of thy mirth,' (Love’s Labour’s Lost, I, 1)

Their efforts are thwarted by the fact that they fall in love with the Princess of France and her three
followers: Rosaline, Maria and Katherine. The ladies, however, plan to trick their lovers, and they switch
their identities among themselves by wearing masks. Unlike other comedies, though, this does not end in
marriage, despite the final revelation of tricks and true identities. The death of the King of France casts a
gloomy shadow over their love and the ladies ask for a year both to mourn for the death of the king and
force their lovers to spend that period of time in hermitage for having broken their initial vow.
Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream can be seen as a sort of "festive" comedies,
connected to the festivities during the year. A Midsummer Night’s Dream recalls the pagan festivities that
are usually associated with the summer solstice. These practices, involving superstitions and magic, are
connected to rituals of fertility, courtship and love. The plot is complex, working on several levels. The
frame is created by the wedding of Theseus with Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons. Within that frame,
several plots are presented and intertwined. Firstly, there is the plot of the four Athenian lovers: Helena
forced by her father and by Theseus to marry Demetrius, while she is in love with Lysander, decides to run
away into the forest, followed by her friend Helena who loves Demetrius, but is despised by him. Things
are complicated by Puck who, instead of following Oberon’s orders and help the lovers, makes a mistake
and charms Lysander, instead of Demetrius, to fall in love with Helena, to the despair of Hermia. The
magic realm in the play is represented by Oberon, King of the Fairies and Titania, Queen of the Fairies,
who are fighting over an orphan desired by both as a page. Puck, the mischievous spirit, charms Titania,
under Oberon’s orders, to fall in love with the first creature she sees. Thus, a third plot is intertwined,
represented by a group of people who want to present a play for the royal wedding. One of them, Bottom,
is charmed to wear a head of an ass, being the first person Titania sees and falls in love with. At the end of
the play, charms are reversed, and the Athenian lovers as well as Bottom return to the city reunited and
believing that what happened in the woods had been a midsummer night’s dream. At the end, after hearing
the tedious play of the guildsmen, the couples are married, blessed by the fairies, who are reconciled and
reunited as well. However, upon their return to the city, the wonders of the forest are dismissed in a rational
disbelief and dismissal of the irrational, the woods being seen as a space that eludes the authority of reason,
a space of confusion, deception and madness, the authority of the father (Egeus) and of the King.
Twelfth Night, unlike A Midsummer Night’s Dream, does not make a direct reference to any
festivities, however, the title refers to the Court winter revels, especially the twelve days of Christmas, ending
with the Epiphany (the Twelfth Night). “The reference to Twelfth Night invokes the climactic moment of
the festive season, a work-free period of licensed misrule given over to music, dancing, feasting and drinking
in which, in imagination, at least, masters and servants may trade places, exchanges of identity, disguise and
cross-dressing become temporarily permissible, and in which scapegoats are targeted.” (R. Shaughnessy).
The play is set in the imaginary dukedom of Illyria, and its beginning is marked by sadness and melancholy:
Olivia mourns the death of her brother just as Viola mourns the presumed death of her own brother lost in
a shipwreck. After confused identities, separated twins or switched lovers and confusion, harmony and unity
are restored and couples are formed. A secondary plot, in keeping with the festive time of the Twelfth
Night, is centered on the serious and killjoy steward Malvolio, who becomes the target of a cruel prank
devised by Sir Toby and his merry friends exposing Malvolio’s secret love for Olivia, his ambition and
hypocrisy.
As You Like It is another very complicated play that intertwines the love plots with the very serious
and dangerous political schemes. The space is divided again between the city and the woods, the city being
a place of treason and danger, represented by both the banishment of the rightful duke and Oliver’s plan to
get rid of his younger brother. The woods, the hiding place of the Duke, become, at least temporarily, a safe
harbour for runaways, a place of ease and tranquility, but also of love confusion and switched identities. At
the end of the play, the several levels are united by multiple marriages, from the upper layer: the Duke’s
daughter Rosalinde and Orlando, his brother, Oliver, and the Duke’s niece Celia, thus solving the political,
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as well as the family conflict, to the lower: the shepherd Silvius and Phoebe, as well as Touchstone and
Audrey. The danger posed by the usurper is miraculously solved off-stage and the Duke finally returns to
his rightful position and to his court.
These comedies also allow for meditations upon theatre and life. Starting with The Taming of the
Shrew, which is actually presented as a play performed in front of a simpleton Sly on whom a Lord plays a
trick, many other plays display comments on theatre. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for instance, there
is the unsuccessful play of the guildsmen that, besides causing the audiences to laugh, points out, through
the exaggerated care of the play’s creators, the dangers posed by authority. The players are very cautious
with their act, especially Pyramus’ killing himself and the roar of the lion which may frighten the ladies
causing a severe punishment (“That would hang us, every mother’s son” (I, 2)). Though there is an
exaggerated fear of punishment, the players’ concerns reveal the uneasiness of authority regarding theatrical
performance. In As You Like It, Jaques gives voice to one of the most famous meditations on life in
Shakespeare’s plays

DUKE SENIOR
Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy:
This wide and universal theatre
Presents more woeful pageants than the scene
Wherein we play in.
JAQUES
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. (As You Like It, II, 7 )

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s comedies, though drawing on the existing comic traditions, deal with more
serious issues and defying the convention to which they belong.

102
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM 1595/6 (supposedly written or performed for a noble wedding)

Sources: Chaucer The Canterbury Tales (The Knight’s tale and the Merchant’s tale) and The Legends of
Good Women, Plutarch (Life of Theseus), Ovid’s Metamorphoses, English legends

COMEDY
 Dramatic, verbal and visual jokes
 A comic vision of life

THEMES
 Marriage
 Appearance vs. Reality/ Dreams
 Order and Disorder
 Theatre ([QUINCE the Carpenter, SNUG the Joiner, BOTTOM the Weaver, and FLUTE the
Bellows-mender, SNOUT the Tinker and STARVELING the Tailor]

PLOT
Act 1: Athens and the introduction of the conflict + the mechanics
Act 2: The fairy world and the conflict there. Orders of enchantment.
Act 3: Bottom transformed. Both Demetrius and Lysander love Helena and Oberon wants to set things
right.
Act. 4: they are all released from magic and reconciled. Humans are invited to the wedding.

103
104
 The Illustrated Guide to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/illustrated-guide-to-a-midsummer-night-s-
dream/collection_4dcf3199-a287-5507-b572-05c3256f58eb.html#2

THESEUS To you your father should be as a god;

Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace; four happy days bring in
Another moon: but, O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes! She lingers my
desires,
Like to a step-dame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man's revenue..
HIPPOLYTA
Four days will quickly steep themselves in
night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the
time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.
THESEUS’ AUTHORITY AND HERMIA’S
REBELLION
THESEUS:
What say you, Hermia? be advised fair maid:
105
One that composed your beauties, yea, and one
To whom you are but as a form in wax
By him imprinted and within his power
To leave the figure or disfigure it.
Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.
HERMIA:
So is Lysander.
THESEUS:
In himself he is;
But in this kind, wanting your father’s voice,
The other must be held the worthier.
HERMIA:
I would my father look’d but with my eyes.
THESEUS: Rather your eyes must with his
judgment look.
HERMIA:
I do entreat your grace to pardon me.
I know not by what power I am made bold,
Nor how it may concern my modesty,
In such a presence here to plead my thoughts;
But I beseech your grace that I may know
The worst that may befall me in this case, Are you sure
If I refuse to wed Demetrius (Act 1. That we are awake? It seems to me
Scene1.) That yet we sleep, we dream. Do not you think
The duke was here, and bid us follow him?
THE WORLD OF ILLUSION HERMIA
DEMETRIUS Yea; and my father.
These things seem small and undistinguishable, HELENA
HERMIA And Hippolyta.
Methinks I see these things with parted eye, LYSANDER
When every thing seems double. And he did bid us follow to the temple.
HELENA DEMETRIUS
So methinks: Why, then, we are awake: let's follow him
And I have found Demetrius like a jewel, And by the way let us recount our dreams.
Mine own, and not mine own. Exeunt
DEMETRIUS

REPRESENTING ILLUSION
Bottom: There are things in this comedy of Pyramus and Thisby that will never please. First, Pyramus
must draw a sword to kill himself; which the ladies cannot abide. How answer you that?
...
Starveling: I believe we must leave the killing out, when all is done.
Bottom: Not a whit: I have a device to make all well. Write me a prologue; and let the prologue seem to
say, we will do no harm with our swords, and that Pyramus is not killed indeed; and, for the more better
assurance, tell them that I, Pyramus, am not Pyramus, but Bottom the weaver: this will put them out of
fear.
...
Snout: Will not the ladies be afeard of the lion?
...
Bottom: Masters, you ought to consider with yourselves: to bring in—God shield us!—a lion among
ladies, is a most dreadful thing; for there is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your lion living; and we
ought to look to ’t
...
[Y]ou must name his name, and half his face must be seen through the lion’s neck: and he himself must
speak through, saying thus, or to the same defect,—‘Ladies,’—or ‘Fair-ladies—I would wish You,’—or ‘I
would request you,’—or ‘I would entreat you,—not to fear, not to tremble: my life for yours. If you think
I come hither as a lion, it were pity of my life: no I am no such thing; I am a man as other men are;’ and
there indeed let him name his name, and tell them plainly he is Snug the joiner.
Quince: Well it shall be so. But there is two hard things; that is, to bring the moonlight into a chamber;
for, you know, Pyramus and Thisby meet by moonlight.
Snout: Doth the moon shine that night we play our play?
Bottom: A calendar, a calendar! look in the almanac; find out moonshine, find out moonshine.
Quince: Yes, it doth shine that night.
Bottom: Why, then may you leave a casement of the great chamber window, where we play, open, and the
moon may shine in at the casement.
Quince: Ay; or else one must come in with a bush of thorns and a lanthorn, and say he comes to disfigure,
or to present, the person of Moonshine. Then, there is another thing: we must have a wall in the great
chamber; for Pyramus and Thisby says the story, did talk through the chink of a wall.
Snout: You can never bring in a wall. What say you, Bottom?

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Bottom: Some man or other must present Wall: and let him have some plaster, or some loam, or some
rough-cast about him, to signify wall; and let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall
Pyramus and Thisby whisper.
Quince: If that may be, then all is well. Come, sit down, every mother’s son, and rehearse your parts.
Pyramus, you begin: when you have spoken your speech, enter into that brake: and so every one
according to his cue.
(Act III, Scene 1)

BOTTOM Awaking
When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer: my next is, 'Most fair Pyramus.' Heigh-ho!
Peter Quince! Flute, the bellows-mender! Snout, the tinker! Starveling! God's my life, stolen hence, and
left me asleep! I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it
was: man is but an ass, if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there about to expound
this dream. Methought I was—there is no man can tell what. Methought I was,--and methought I had,--
but man is but a patched fool, if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard,
the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to
report, what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream: it shall be called
Bottom's Dream, because it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in the latter end of a play, before the duke:
peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her death. Exit (Act IV, Scene 1)

HIPPOLYTA And grows to something of great constancy;

'Tis strange my Theseus, that these lovers speak But, howsoever, strange and admirable.
of. (Act V. Scene1)
THESEUS
More strange than true: I never may believe PUCK
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys. If we shadows have offended,
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Think but this, and all is mended,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend That you have but slumber'd here
More than cool reason ever comprehends. While these visions did appear.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet And this weak and idle theme,
Are of imagination all compact: No more yielding but a dream,
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold, Gentles, do not reprehend:
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic, if you pardon, we will mend:
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt: And, as I am an honest Puck,
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling, If we have unearned luck
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
heaven; We will make amends ere long;
And as imagination bodies forth Else the Puck a liar call;
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen So, good night unto you all.
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing Give me your hands, if we be friends,
A local habitation and a name. And Robin shall restore amends.
Such tricks hath strong imagination, (Act V. Scene 1.)
That if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!
HIPPOLYTA
But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigured so together,
More witnesseth than fancy's images
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“For me, it is “bully Bottom’s” play, though its four realms of being—fairies, ancient Athenians, contemporary rustics,
and erotically confused young women and men—all afford extraordinary vistas upon colliding dreams and realities. I
cannot reread or teach the Dream without being amazed by it. This comedy is a labyrinth, in which we are delighted to be
lost. ... Transfiguration is the method and the glory of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Knowing what he has wrought in this
wonderful comedy, Shakespeare asks us both to apprehend and comprehend the play as our own dream-vision. Nothing in
literature is so exquisitely sustained as this is. Had Shakespeare written only this superb marriage-song, his greatness
would have been established forever after. “It shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream’, because it hath no bottom.” Our own
dream, as we experience the play, also touches an uncanny depth. ” (Harold Bloom, Introduction to A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, 2008)

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109
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
THE HISTORICAL PLAY

The success of the historical plays in Shakespeare’s time may be explained by the emerging awareness of England as a
nation as well as by the interest of the people in the responsibilities and rights of kings. Though there was usually the custom
of naming a play after the protagonist, a rule that applies to various types of plays, from romances (Pericles, Troilus and
Cressida) to tragedies (Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Coriolanus, etc.) and historical plays (the names of the English kings
from King John to Henry VIII), in the case of the historical plays, the title becomes a direct reference to the main purpose
of the play, namely the destiny of a specific English king entailing also a discussion on kingship, legitimacy, responsibility and
right. Though rooted in the history of England, Shakespeare’s histories brought on stage political dilemmas and discussions
that had relevance to his audiences. That is why, only the plays directly drawn from the history of medieval England are now
considered historical plays, and those inspired from Roman history, such as Julius Caesar or Anthony and Cleopatra have
more recently been classified as tragedies.
Even though, according to these aspects it seems easier to define and classify historical plays, the compilers of the
first folio were not as accurate in naming their plays. Thus, the historical plays Richard II and Richard III are actually
entitled: The Tragedy of King Richard II and The Tragedy of Richard III. On the other hand, plays that are widely
recognized as tragedies or comedies included in their title the word “history”: The Tragical History of Hamlet, The Most
Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. This may suggest that the Elizabethan and the Jacobean playwrights may not
have distinguished very clearly the historical play as a separate genre.

Shakespeare’s Historical Plays: General Description and Sources

General Guidelines. Shakespeare’s historical plays are generally grouped in two tetralogies, which were not composed in the
order of the reign of kings, though this is the arrangement usually preferred in various volumes of plays. The first tetralogy
composed by Shakespeare is inspired by the events of the War of the Roses: Henry VI (three parts) (c. 1590-159217) and
Richard III (1592-3) and ends with the victory of the Tudors through the crowning of Henry VIII. The second tetralogy
begins with Richard II (1595), continues with the two parts of Henry IV (c. 1596-7 and 1597-8) and ends with Henry V
(1598-9). The second tetralogy starts after the deposition of king Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke and shows the attempts
of the latter, crowned King Henry IV, to maintain the power and fight off rebellion. The culminant point is represented by
the glorious reign of Henry V and his military success over France in the battle of Agincourt. Though the order of
composition of the two tetralogies is reversed in relation to the historical order of events, Shakespeare created a union
between them by adding an Epilogue to Henry V, the last play of his last tetralogy, uniting it with the first play of his first
tetralogy (Henry VI).

Enter Chorus.
Thus far, with rough and all-unable pen,
Our bending author hath pursued the story;
In little room confining mighty men,
Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly liv'd
This star of England: Fortune made his sword,
By which the world's best garden he achieved,
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd King
Of France and England, did this king succeed;
Whose state so many had the managing,
That they lost France and made his England bleed:
Which oft our stage hath shown; and, for their sake,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take. (Henry V, Act V, Scene 2)
These words refer to the glorious reign of Henry V who won his fame by sword, though his legitimacy was
questionable, as it is pointed out all through the tetralogy starting with the deposition of Richard II. Unfortunately, Henry VI,
left to reign as a child, lost his father’s conquests and turned his country into a bleeding scene. Henry VI, part 1, then, starts

17
The dates refer to the composition of the play and not to the historical events depicted in the play.
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with the burial of Henry V and the play is filled with constant remarks to his glorious reign, as points of comparison to the
disastrous reign of his son.
There are two more historical plays that are not included in these two unitary groups of plays, namely King John
(1596), a play that deals with one of the most hated kings of England, son of Henry II and brother to Richard the Lion-
Hearted, and the last historical play, Henry VIII (1613). These two plays do not fit the tetralogies, especially due to the
historical period that they dramatize (either too early from the time presented in the tetralogies, as it is the case of King John,
or too late, in Henry VIII). In the case of Henry VIII, there is also a problem with the genre of the play, some critics seeing
it closer to romances than to historical plays.
The choice of the subjects to be dramatized was in keeping with the interests of Shakespeare’s contemporaries in
history and in kingship. On the other hand, though he touches topics that could have been familiar and interesting to his
audiences, he carefully avoids the reigns whose depiction might be considered dangerous from a political perspective and
cause inconveniences to the playwright. Thus, the memory of the Hundred Years War and especially the great victories of
Henry V that largely contributed to the creation of a national spirit and a sense of English pride were still fresh in the minds
of the Englishmen, whose conflicts with France, in the Elizabethan period, were far from extinguished. More so, the
reminiscences of the War of the Roses, and the fight between the York and the Lancaster factions were even more vivid in
the people’s minds. The victory of the Lancaster faction was still visible in the reign of the Tudors, the direct heirs of Henry
of Lancaster (Henry VII). However, Shakespeare safely stops his chronicle of England with the reign of the great enemy of
the Lancaster family, Richard III (of York), whose vilified depiction is in keeping with Tudor imagery, but does not touch
more recent, and therefore, more contradictory events. The only play that deals with a Tudor king is Henry VIII, but it was
written only after the death of Queen Elizabeth and after the ascent to the throne of a new king, James I, and the beginning
of a new dynasty.

Shakespeare and History

While reading Shakespeare’s plays, it is evident that one of his main concern was power and ruling, and, though his
historical plays were mostly discussed from this particular perspective, the tragedies and even the comedies and romances
express a diversity of aspects that can be connected with power and authority at different levels, from the family microcosm
to different state organizations. It is also clear that the historical plays are closer to historical events and figures that
Shakespeare’s audiences could understand while many of the tragedies, also closely connected to different depictions of
power and authority, are more general investigations of these important issues.
History played an important role in the Renaissance, maybe much more important than in the Middle Ages. It is
true that the main chronicles that form now the basis of historical documentation have come to the present due to the
diligence and attention of the medieval monks, however, the Renaissance comes with a new perspective on what history
really means for the people of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The period is marked by a proliferation of historical
writings, which testify of the public’s growing interest in this type of texts, but history, as a discipline, was distinctly perceived
then, in comparison to our times. The history treaties that appear in the period are meant to support the Tudor reign and to
justify it.
Secondly, critics and historians highlight the difference between the manner in which we see history today and how
Shakespeare’s contemporaries saw it. Thus, objectivity was not the main interest of the Elizabethans, they rather saw in
history "allegorical pictures of human states of mind, so they associated past happenings with their own moral and political
problems. In the deeds of the great men of the past, they saw examples of what the great men of today should emulate or
avoid; from the way past events revealed the workings of general principles of cause and effect they hoped to derive practical
guidance in the conduct of state affairs”(E. M. W. Tillyard). Moreover, history was not present only in chronicles and
treaties, but also on the public stage, plays and other types of court entertainments becoming political debates and polemical
representations of power and politics.
Taking into account the age’s penchant for historical readings as well as the numerous proofs that Shakespeare was actually
well read in history, it is clear that his plays were received, at the time, with a keener eye for the political issues they debated
than modern readers or theater-goers are prepared to acknowledge. In this light, it is important to see the nuances in the
investigation of Shakespeare’s views on history:
1. the modern understanding, built up by historians, but also, in a more problematic manner, by other literary texts;
2. the various ages and interests of theatre-goers, that coated the plays with layers of meaning and modes of
interpretation: poststructuralist, new-historicist, cultural-materialist, feminist, psychoanalytic or psychological (For
instance, the nineteenth century wanted to make Richard II the poet king who was a political failure, whereas for the
sixteenth century he is the monarch who destroyed his own legitimacy);
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 3. the Tudor understanding that adjusted history to legitimise the assent to the throne of Henry VII and the
instauration of the Tudor dynasty,
4. Shakespeare’s reading of history, which is still largely Tudor, but with the difference that Shakespeare altered
history taking liberties out of artistic necessity.
Shakespeare managed to keep a middle way between compliance to the Tudor ideology, which ensured not only his success,
but also his survival on the theatrical stage, and rebellion, by staging important political dilemmas of the past as well as of his
time. His plays are more interested in king-figures and manners of ruling than his contemporaries.

Sources
As in the case of the other types of plays, the sources that he used in writing his histories are numerous and varied, ranging
from historical writings, such as chronicles, to fictional writings. However, Shakespeare was not keen on being an exact
historian. His interest was in the dramatic effect and in the portrayal of characters, and, therefore, he is not always accurate
in preserving the exactness of the historical detail.
A widely-used source of information was Raphael Holinshed, a famous chronicler in Shakespeare’s time with his
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577, second edition 1587). Other historical texts used for the plays are:
Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrate Families of Lancaster and Yorke (1542), especially for the three
parts of Henry VI and Richard III, or Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britaniae. These sources are not
completely reliable, serving the reigning dynasty, as is the case of Hall’s text, or the depiction of Richard III by Sir Thomas
More, written during Henry VII’s reign, but the successive editions of various historical writings, as well as the great number
of historical texts published in that period, suggests an increasing interest, among Shakespeare’s contemporaries, in history,
as well as in the different forms and styles of historical writings that allowed for controversies, ambiguities and
interpretations.
Beside historical texts, Shakespeare was inspired by various literary texts, especially by other historical plays written
in his time. For King John, for instance, Shakespeare largely used a previous anonymous play entitled The Troublesome
Reign of King John (1591), whereas for the portrayal of Richard II, a deposed king, he is inspired by Christopher Marlowe’s
representation of Edward II (c. 1592).

The History Play: Conventions, Themes and Characters

Though the historical play apparently appears easier to define than the other genres in Shakespeare’s drama, at a
closer look, the situation is more complicated, especially due to the great variety in form. Thus, there are numerous comic
elements, such as the scenes involving Sir John Falstaff in the two parts of Henry IV, or the ending in marriage in Henry V,
typical of comedies, just as there are plays that approach more the pattern of tragedy, such as Richard II and Richard III.
Henry VIII, on the other hand, seems to be closer to romance, being also a late play, whereas the histories generally belong
to the first period of creation. Even the structure of the plays is modified. Thus, some plays start directly into the conflict,
while others are framed by Prologues, Epilogue, a Chorus. In Henry V, for instance, each act is preceded by a Prologue,
uttered by the Chorus that introduces the action. In spite of the inner variety within the group, they are neither comedies,
nor tragedies, or romances. All these plays have been traditionally included in the group of history plays due to a set of
features and conventions that they share, despite the many formal or thematic differences among them.
When attending a historical play, Shakespeare’s public generally expects a topic that is connected to English history
and centered on the reign of a particular king, whose claim to the throne, or legitimacy, or capability to rule may be subject
to questioning and controversy. The plays usually comprise a large number of characters, mainly from the upper classes,
people connected to the king and to power, in general, but they may also (though not as a rule) contain subplots, often
comic, whose protagonists are people from lower layers of the society. Plotting and fighting are the main elements in a
historical play, and so, there are duels, rebellions, riots, proofs of courage as well as of cowardice, battles, sieges, diplomacy,
treachery, compromise and political maneuvering. In this world of danger and fighting, the role of women is marginalized, in
spite of a number of feminine figures that may appear, at least temporarily, as important in the process of decision-making.
Often, they are regarded as commodities in the political schemes of men, to be traded in exchange for peace, but, even
more often, they are the ones to suffer the losses of their sons and husbands.
Most commonly, the history play, as it was conceived by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, has an English
subject, dealing with the English past, mainly after the Norman Conquest. By saying English past, it means that the particular
Irish, Scottish or Welsh histories are not taken into consideration, being, rather, subdued to the idea of “Englishness”.
There may be Welsh, Irish or Scottish characters in the plays, but the major concern is for English history and identity, and
with the English conquering ambitions. Henry IV, for example, deals with the constant threat from the Welsh and the
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Scottish rulers, by emphasizing the effort of the king not only to stop the rebellions against him, but also to protect England
and ensure its territorial integrity. Another problem may appear from the fact that the action is not always set in England.
But, even if part of the action of the play is set elsewhere (parts of King John or Henry V, for instance, are set in France), if
the main concern is England, its interests and its self-defining efforts, then the play may well be included in the group of
history plays. This is the reason why plays such as those dealing with the pre-Conquest past (real or imagined), such as King
Lear or Cymbeline, as well as the Scottish story of Macbeth, do not fit the generally-acknowledged convention of the history
play.
In fact, the plays are concerned with the formation and the consolidation of the English nation, often against the
background of threats from others: the Welsh, the Irish, the Scottish or the French, but also undermined by internal strife
and treachery.
The main figure in a historical play is that of a king who also gives the title of the play. The importance of the king
and the manner in which his destiny is mirrored in the destiny of the country were important issues for the Elizabethan
public. Likewise, the controversies regarding the legitimacy of the particular monarch’s rights to the English throne become
topics of interest for Shakespeare’s contemporaries. Consequently, due to obvious political reasons, Henry VIII is the only
king, in Shakespeare’s historical drama, whose position as a king is fully established, and his rights to the throne are not
challenged by anyone. All the other kings have to constantly legitimize their right to the throne and deal with various
rebellions; their actions as men and as kings are continuously scrutinized, validated (as in Henry V), or condemned (as in
Richard II, or Richard III).
Comedies and tragedies require a sense of closure, either in common reconciliation, or death, respectively. The
history plays display an openness regarding endings as well as beginnings: and the audiences have to be aware of the on-
going historical process: “this argument rests on two assumptions: first, that history plays use a range of strategies which
prompt the audience to look beyond the confines of the play and contemplate the broader historical significance of the plot;
and, second, that even if no overt invitation to reflect on a future that will have already become a past is issued, the audience
will do so anyway” (Patricia Kewes). There are also numerous strategies used in the plays to enhance the sense of continuity
and openness, such as scenes of genealogy, characters telling of the past, or foretelling the future, in a constant process of
forging, not only a particular image of a reign, but a sense of belonging to a larger mechanism, that exists and grows beyond
the simple human will.
In this world of battles and wars, skill in battle and courage are valued, hierarchy and loyalty are emphasized,
though, too often, the values succumb to ambition, desire to rule or treason, suggesting that, though these plays highlight the
values of a feudal, chivalric world, Shakespeare’s contemporaries were well aware that such values had largely disappeared
and politics and wars in their world are controlled by different rules.

THE IMAGE OF THE KING IN SHAKESPEARE’S HISTORIES

Visions of Kingship
In order to analyze the representations of kingship in Shakespeare’s histories, two important elements must be taken
into consideration: 1. the image of the medieval king, his royal prerogatives and legitimacy, since most of the kings
represented in Shakespeare’s histories belong to the Middle Ages; and 2. what are the elements that resonate with the
Elizabethan public, willing to comment on the dramatized events from their own vantage point and in the light of their
contemporary representations of kingship. A dominant theme in Shakespeare’s histories, the royal power is seen from the
perspective of its legitimacy, authority as well as its limits. While dramatizing the lives and deeds of kings and queens of the
past, Shakespeare is fully aware that his public is able to make connections to situations and dilemmas closer to their
interests, so that he consciously brings forward for discussion contemporary tensions and dilemmas, under the pretext of
staging stories from the past. Any debate over the monarchy, any such controversy presented in a historical play, would have
echoed in Shakespeare’s present, in a world marked by the reign of an heirless queen, Elizabeth I, and then the ascension to
the throne of a king whom the English people felt stranger to their interests, King James Stuart of Scotland.
The image of the king is complex, as he has a variety of attributes and functions. The society is based on a strict
hierarchy organized around the king, just as the world turns around the sun, with which the king is often compared. Firstly,
the king needs to be a representative of the aristocracy, yet superior to them, through his sacred attributes. The Christian
king is God’s messenger on earth and so, he is different from all the other aristocrats because he symbolizes the connection
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between humanity and the divinity, between God and the human subjects. This is the reason why the king does not submit
to human judgement and can only answer to God. This connection to the divinity suggests that the king must have a strong
connection to the Church, and in order to be fully acknowledged, he has to be blessed by the Church. The connection
between the King and the Church, or better said, the submission of the king to ecclesiastic authority was not favoured by the
English monarchs, whose frequent conflicts with the Church culminated, in the sixteenth century, during King Henry VIII’s
reign, with the break of the English Church from the authority of the Pope and the instauration of an absolute monarchy.
Even under such circumstances, the king does not relinquish the justification of his presence on the throne of England by
appealing to the divine right. This theory of the “providential monarchy” allows the king to claim power under the direct
justification of the divine right, which makes the king independent from the will of the Church or from the control of the
other institutions of the state.
One of the most efficient methods of justification of the king’s divine right is the theory of the king’s two bodies: the
Body politic and the Body natural that separated the king, ruler of the state and lawgiver, from the human being, subject to
disease and death. This theory had important effects in English politics: “one can easily see the advantages to the
monarchical position in such a theory, since no personal action of the monarch could be invalidated, and no matter how
incompetent or diseased the monarch was, as king he was nevertheless perfect (William C. Carroll). This is why the king
does not obey any human authority and he cannot be deposed either by Parliament, or by popular revolt, all these act being,
in this light, a betrayal of God’s will.

Shakespeare’s Kings: Legitimacy and Succession

From all of Shakespeare’s histories, Richard II’s right to the throne is the most valid. On the other hand, his presence on the
English throne, sanctioned by God and by law, is weakened by his own human flaws and the failure to abide to his
responsibilities as king, to protect his people and be just to his subjects. The main controversy of the play is whether it is
right to take the crown from an anointed king, under the awareness that, being the messenger of God, a king cannot make
any mistake that might be judged by men. This is the only play, therefore, in which there is an almost obsessive insistence on
the “anointed” king whose right comes directly from God. The King’s belief in the fact that he is guarded by the divine
forces is so powerful, that he almost completely relies on them.

Not all the water in the rough rude sea

Can wash the balm off from an anointed king;
The breath of worldly men cannot depose
The deputy elected by the Lord:
For every man that Bolingbroke hath press'd
To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown,
God for his Richard hath in heavenly pay
A glorious angel: then, if angels fight,
Weak men must fall, for heaven still guards the right.
(Richard II, King Richard, Act III, scene 2)

The insistence on the King’s legitimacy as coming directly from God was one of the strategies used by both Queen
Elizabeth and King James to legitimize their claim and presence to the throne of England. Therefore, the deposition scene,
in which Richard, forced by his opponent Henry Bolingbroke, gives up his crown in a scene that was censured by the Master
of the Revels, as it was considered too dangerous, by giving the occasion of people to challenge the king’s divine right to the
throne.

Ay, no; no, ay; for I must nothing be;

Therefore no no, for I resign to thee.
Now mark me, how I will undo myself;
I give this heavy weight from off my head
And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,
The pride of kingly sway from out my heart;
With mine own tears I wash away my balm,
With mine own hands I give away my crown,
With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,
With mine own breath release all duty's rites:
All pomp and majesty I do forswear;
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 My manors, rents, revenues I forego;
My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny:
God pardon all oaths that are broke to me!
God keep all vows unbroke that swear to thee! […]
(Richard II, King Richard, Act IV, scene 1)

However, irrespective of the king’s behavior, there is serious danger in deposing an anointed king, and the
consequences are to be paid by the future of the kingdom, a prophecy that would resonate through all the other plays. The
Bishop of Carlisle (Richard II) is the one whose prophecy concerning the “disorder, horror, fear and mutiny” that will
govern the country, turning “kin” against “kin” and “kind” against “kind” will come true in the following plays, abounding in
plots and civil unrest.

And if you crown him [Henry Bolingbroke], let me prophesy:

The blood of English shall manure the ground,
And future ages groan for this foul act;
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,
And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound;
Disorder, horror, fear and mutiny
Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd
The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls.
O, if you raise this house against this house,
It will the woefullest division prove
That ever fell upon this cursed earth.
Prevent it, resist it, let it not be so,
Lest child, child's children, cry against you woe!
(Richard II, The Bishop of Carlisle, Act IV, scene 1)

The only other king in Shakespeare’s histories whose right to the English throne should not be questionable under the law is
King John, but he is depicted as a usurper and a villain, “un-crowning” himself through the deeds that he does, as well as
through his inability to correctly react in times of danger for the country, threatening, with his fears, hesitations and
indecision, the very integrity and freedom of the realm. In the gallery of villain kings, he comes closer to the most famous
villain, Richard III, especially through his decision to murder, just as Richard did, his opponent to the throne, who was only
a child.
All the other kings’ claims to the English throne, as depicted in Shakespeare’s history plays, are submitted to debate.
Henry IV, Richard II’s successor, will carry the burden of Richard’s death throughout his reign. Actually, as predicted by the
Bishop of Carlyle, there is danger in murdering an anointed king, and Henry is aware of the burden that he and his kingdom
will carry, for which he promises a crusade to Jerusalem, that he never manages to undertake, and that remains a regret to
his death.

HENRY BOLINGBROKE
They love not poison that do poison need,
Nor do I thee: though I did wish him dead,
I hate the murderer, love him murdered.
The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour,
But neither my good word nor princely favour:
With Cain go wander through shades of night,
And never show thy head by day nor light.
Lords, I protest, my soul is full of woe,
That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow:
Come, mourn with me for that I do lament,
And put on sullen black incontinent:
I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land,
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand:
March sadly after; grace my mournings here;
In weeping after this untimely bier. (Richard II, Henry Bolingbroke, Act V, scene 6)

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Henry IV’s claim to the throne of England is constantly challenged in the two parts of the play, succeeding Richard II, and
the instability is marked by the fact that the rebellious faction against him is organized by those who had supported him to
become king and depose Richard, namely Northumberland and his son, Henry Percy (Hotspur), the latter becoming a
model of a courageous and skillful knight. From the very first act of 1 Henry IV, Hotspur names him “this ingrate and
canker’d Bolingbroke”, refusing to use the word king which suggests a lack of reverence towards one seen as unworthy to
wear the crown. This is the unstable inheritance that he passes to his own son, Henry V, whose claim to the throne is
strengthened only by his ability as a ruler and by his victory in France. In fact, on the eve of the battle, Henry V asks for
divine pardon for Richard’s murder that allowed his access to the throne, suggesting the fact that his claim is based, not on
divine right, as Richard’s was, but on blood and murder.

O God of battles! steel my soldiers' hearts;

Possess them not with fear; take from them now
The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers
Pluck their hearts from them. Not to-day, O Lord,
O, not to-day, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the crown!
I Richard's body have interred anew;
And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears
Than from it issued forced drops of blood:
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay,
Who twice a-day their wither'd hands hold up
Toward heaven, to pardon blood; and I have built
Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests
Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do;
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
Since that my penitence comes after all,
Imploring pardon.(Henry V, Henry V, Act IV, scene 1)

In fact, the seeds of the Civil War between the House of Lancaster and the House of York are visible before the tetralogy
dedicated to this particular issue, in King Henry IV’s refusal to ransom Mortimer from Owen Glendower, as Mortimer had
been named by Richard II to be his successor. This character will reappear in 1 Henry VI¸ urging his nephew, Richard of
York, to try and seize power under a valid claim to the throne.
The three parts of Henry VI, in fact, consist in challenges to the right of the king to the throne, be that king Henry,
his son Edward, or Edward of the Yorkist faction. Henry VI himself admits that “I know not what to say; my title’s weak”
(Part 3, I, scene 1) when, in the heated discussion with York, he tries to justify his claim to the throne of England.
In fact, Henry VI is able to remain king only after he promises to leave the crown to York and his descendents after
his death, rather than secure the access to the throne of his own son, Edward.

KING HENRY VI
My Lord of Warwick, hear me but one word:
Let me for this my life-time reign as king.
YORK
Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs,
And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou livest.
KING HENRY VI
I am content: Richard Plantagenet,
Enjoy the kingdom after my decease. (3 Henry VI, Act I, scene 1)

Thus, he demonstrates not only the weakness of his claim to the throne, but also his inability to rule, which makes
Westmoreland refer to him as: “Base, fearful and despairing Henry” and later, “faint-hearted and degenerate king.” (Part 3,
Act I, scene 1)
In this light, neither of the kings represented in the two tetralogies are rightful, anointed kings, except for Richard II,
and the controversies and ambiguities regarding claims, rights and laws of succession will resonate not only in the political
circles, but also in the situation of the country, marked by violence, fighting, war, civil war, riots and rebellions. It is, thus,

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often suggested that the claim to the throne is not justified, but conquered, and that, in fact, military force and political skill
are the only justification in a world in which the crown is taken and secured by force. Such a truth is reinforced in the first act
of King John, when the Queen Mother makes it clear to her son that his right is based more on his ability to keep power,
rather than on his rightful claim:

KING JOHN
Our strong possession and our right for us.
QUEEN ELINOR
Your strong possession much more than your right,
Or else it must go wrong with you and me:
So much my conscience whispers in your ear,
Which none but heaven and you and I shall hear.(King John, Act I, Scene 1)

Ways of Ruling: The King, Politics and Rebellions

Shakespeare’s historical plays, beside the evident controversies regarding rights and legitimate claims to the throne, are also
concerned with the obligations and responsibilities of kings towards their subjects and towards the country.
In Richard II, there is an insistence on the fact that Richard, though an anointed king, is unfit to rule, incapable of
fulfilling his responsibilities and be just to his subjects. Before dying, his uncle accuses him that he is not a “king” but a
“landlord” who lets “the land by lease” and listens to flatterers rather than being genuinely interesting in the welfare of his
subjects.
Henry IV, whose claim for the deposition of the anointed king is that he wants to save the country, does not prove
to be worthier. His stiff manner of ruling results in the rebellion against him organized by the same people who favored his
ascent to the throne. In fact, kingship becomes a mask, and political life is similar to theatre. Henry IV sends to battle people
dressed as himself to fool the enemy, and Douglas kills several duplicates of the king. Therefore, it is evident that monarchy
is not longer sacred, and kingship is role. Prince Hal, the future Henry V, therefore, will learn how to better play this part,
and the audiences see his transformation all along the tetralogy, since his first mention in Richard II, as a disappointment to
Henry, who would have liked a son more similar to Hotspur, all through the two parts of Henry IV, in which we witness his
reformation, leaving the life of debauchery he had spent together with Sir John Falstaff, and ready to assume his role as king.
His reformation will be complete after he kills Hotspur, the one with whom he had been constantly compared, to his
disadvantage.
The crown is the source of conflict in all plays, noblemen want it and kings try hard to keep it, but once gained, it becomes a
burden. Henry IV refers to this burden that deprives him of sleep:

Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose

To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude,
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. (2HenryIV, King Henry, Act III, scene 1)

Prince Henry, in his own turn, refers to the burden of the crown when watching his dying father resting with the crown on
the pillow. He then realizes that the crown is a “golden care” which, together with power, brings unrest and worries.

PRINCE HENRY
Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow,
Being so troublesome a bedfellow?
O polish'd perturbation! golden care!
That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide
To many a watchful night! sleep with it now!
Yet not so sound and half so deeply sweet
As he whose brow with homely biggen bound
Snores out the watch of night. O majesty!
When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit
Like a rich armour worn in heat of day,
That scalds with safety. (2 Henry IV¸ Act IV, scene 5)
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Later, on the eve of the great battle, while, in disguise, Henry visits the troupes, he again realizes the burdens of the rulers
that have the responsibilities of so many lives in their hands. Greatness, he says, comes at a serious cost, and while ordinary
men can be free and enjoy life, the kings are subjected to worries and responsibilities. He, as a person, is transformed and
his life does not belong to him any longer, but to the country.

Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,

Our debts, our careful wives,
Our children and our sins lay on the king!
We must bear all. O hard condition,
Twin-born with greatness, subject to the breath
Of every fool, whose sense no more can feel
But his own wringing! What infinite heart's-ease
Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!
And what have kings, that privates have not too,
Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
And what art thou, thou idle ceremony.
[…]
I am a king that find thee, and I know
'Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball,
The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,
The intertissued robe of gold and pearl,
The farced title running 'fore the king,
The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp
That beats upon the high shore of this world,
No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony,
Not all these, laid in bed majestical,
Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave. (Henry V, IV, 1)

Therefore, when one becomes a king, he is no longer a private person, but goes through a transformation in which he
dedicates himself to the country. Even in the case of unfit kings, there is the need for the king to act as a monarch and,
through his personal example, give strength to his subjects even if he does not feel like that. This is stressed by the Bastard in
King John.

BASTARD
So, on my soul, he did, for aught he knew.
But wherefore do you droop? why look you sad?
Be great in act, as you have been in thought;
Let not the world see fear and sad distrust
Govern the motion of a kingly eye:
Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire;
Threaten the threatener and outface the brow
Of bragging horror: so shall inferior eyes,
That borrow their behaviors from the great,
Grow great by your example and put on
The dauntless spirit of resolution.
Away, and glister like the god of war,
When he intendeth to become the field:
Show boldness and aspiring confidence.
What, shall they seek the lion in his den,
And fright him there? and make him tremble there? (King John, Act IV, scene 1)

Even one of the most unfit kings, Henry VI, dreams to be a simple man, seeing the life of a king filled with sorrow and fear
of treason, coated in richness and apparent comfort.

KING HENRY VI

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 Would I were dead! if God's good will were so;
For what is in this world but grief and woe?
O God! methinks it were a happy life,
To be no better than a homely swain;
To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,
Thereby to see the minutes how they run,
How many make the hour full complete;
How many hours bring about the day;
How many days will finish up the year;
How many years a mortal man may live.
When this is known, then to divide the times:
So many hours must I tend my flock;
So many hours must I take my rest;
So many hours must I contemplate;
So many hours must I sport myself;
So many days my ewes have been with young;
So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean:
So many years ere I shall shear the fleece:
So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
Pass'd over to the end they were created,
Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely!
Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade
To shepherds looking on their silly sheep,
Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy
To kings that fear their subjects' treachery?
O, yes, it doth; a thousand-fold it doth.
And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds,
His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle.
His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade,
All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
Is far beyond a prince's delicates,
His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
His body couched in a curious bed,
When care, mistrust, and treason waits on him. (3 Henry VI¸ Act II, scene 5)

The lesson of the tetralogy dedicated to The War of the Roses, and especially the insistence on the failure of all
those who are kings, as well as those who want to be kings, starting with Henry VI and going to the York faction, with York
and his sons, and ending with the failure of Richard III, is that they never manage, as kings, to see beyond their own dynastic
ambitions and factional conflict. On the other hand, “Henry IV and Henry V study hard to justify their reigns and to learn
how to govern, painfully aware that they must discover reasons other than legitimacy to rule successfully.” (Andrew Hadfield)
Moreover, the king cannot rule by himself. He needs his subjects, rich and poor, and he needs to know that he can
rely on them, because power means cooperation. King John and Richard III fail to understand the lesson and estrange or
eliminate systematically all the lords around them. When they end up alone, they wear the crown only formally, because the
center is elsewhere. The power coalesces around another person having the abilities to gather the others’ loyalties and
support. Henry VI is aware of the need to be backed by his lords, and when he relinquishes his power to York, he does it
out of fear that he will remain alone. Henry V, on the other hand, wins the loyalty of his subjects because he becomes one
with them, sharing their fears, hesitations, as well as victory and becoming an inspiring leader:

GLOUCESTER Of fighting men they have full three score

Where is the king? thousand.
BEDFORD EXETER
The king himself is rode to view their battle. There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.
WESTMORELAND [.....]
WESTMORELAND
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 O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING HENRY V
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my
host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not
here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any
speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
(Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3)

However, no matter how unfit a king is, rebellion is never acceptable and the lesson transmitted by Shakespeare’s plays,
especially against the background of the Elizabethan rule, is that rebellion is unnatural and damaging to the country. The
traitors are always punished, in a more direct or indirect way. In King John, the lords desert the king who proves unfit,
however they return repentant, considering that the country, more than the king, deserves their loyalty. Rebellions and
treason in all the other plays are stifled and defeated, plots are revealed, traitors sentenced to death and cowards to exile.
Even if the punishment is not direct, indirectly, those who stirred the rebellion or benefited from it will lose the power
obtained in such a way, as it is the case of the heirs of the usurper Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) or those of the Duke of
York (the fate of all his sons, Richard III included).

The Exception: Henry VIII (1613)

The play Henry VIII was performed in 1613 when it caused the burning of the Globe’s first building because of a canon
shot during the performance. It was written in collaboration with John Fletcher and dramatizes a period of time between
1520 and 1533, during the reign of Henry VIII, especially his divorce from Katherine and his marriage to Anne Boleyn,
ending with the baptism of baby Elizabeth. The play is centered on the figure of Henry VIII whose authority and power are
never challenged. He is the master puppeteer and beneficiary of all the plots of the play, and his legitimacy to the throne is
never questioned. Unlike the other historical plays, the king is never in the position to defend his right to the throne; there
are no on-stage battles and no political plots of vital importance for the king’s position or life. Everything that occurs on
stage: Wolsey’s rise and fall, Buckingham’s demise, Cranmer’s trial or the King’s divorce from Queen Katherine are not
attacks on royalty and they never harm the grandeur of the king. Instead, the play appears as a series of tableaux in which a
gallery of characters, such as Buckingham, Wolsey, Cranmer and Queen Katherine, are offered the chance to utter
memorable speeches. Some scenes display a lavishness of detail without precedent in Shakespeare’s creation, and more
typical of seventeenth century masques, especially the wedding and the coronation of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth’s baptism.
The death-bed visions of Queen Katherine and the name of her attending lady, Patience, recall the medieval moralities and
pageants, bringing this play closer to the conventions of romance. Though the Prologue promises that the audience “May
here find truth too,” historical accuracy is not one of the chief concerns of the playwright. Beside the confusions regarding
dates or persons that usually appear in Shakespeare’s historical plays, there are other issues, of greater importance, that are
altered or omitted. For instance, Henry’s divorce from Katherine is presented as the solution to the King’s moral dilemma
and suffering for having unlawfully married his dead brother’s wife. Likewise, Anne Bullen is briefly depicted as a woman
who never desired to be queen and the entire issue of Protestantism and the break from Catholicism is marginalized.

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 In conclusion, Shakespeare’s history plays are meditations on power and studies on the responsibilities and rights of
kings. With their large number of characters from all the layers of the society, they become more than simple depictions of
kings’ reigns and reveal the interests of the Shakespearean theatre-goers not only in history, but in the political life and the
political controversies of their own times.

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 William Shakespeare’s RICHARD III (1595-6)

The play follows, in the chronology of historical events, the Henry VI plays (three distinct
plays) and are considered to be part of the War of the Roses Tetralogy, since they mostly
deal with events connected to this civil conflict. It is based on Edward Halle’s Union of the
Two Noble and Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York (1548), the compilation edited
by Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland’ (2nd ed. 1587) and,
probably, an earlier source, Sir Thomas More’s History of King Richard III (1557)

Late 16th-century portrait, housed in the

National Portrait Gallery, London

As I am subtle, false and treacherous,

Excerpt 1:
GLOUCESTER Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth’d his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish’d, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
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This day should Clarence closely be mew’d up,
About a prophecy, which says that ‘G’
Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes. (I, 1)
Excerpt 2:
Was ever woman in this humour woo’d?
Was ever woman in this humour won?
I’ll have her; but I will not keep her long.
What! I, that kill’d her husband and his father,
To take her in her heart’s extremest hate,
With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes,
The bleeding witness of her hatred by;
Having God, her conscience, and these bars
against me,
And I nothing to back my suit at all,
But the plain devil and dissembling looks,
And yet to win her, all the world to nothing!
Ha!
Hath she forgot already that brave prince,
Edward, her lord, whom I, some three months since,
Stabb’d in my angry mood at Tewksbury?
A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman,
Framed in the prodigality of nature,
Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal,
The spacious world cannot again afford
And will she yet debase her eyes on me,
That cropp’d the golden prime of this sweet prince,
And made her widow to a woful bed?
On me, whose all not equals Edward’s moiety?
On me, that halt and am unshapen thus?
My dukedom to a beggarly denier,
I do mistake my person all this while:
Upon my life, she finds, although I cannot,
Myself to be a marvellous proper man.
I’ll be at charges for a looking-glass,
And entertain some score or two of tailors,
To study fashions to adorn my body:
Since I am crept in favour with myself,
Will maintain it with some little cost.
But first I’ll turn yon fellow in his grave;
And then return lamenting to my love.
Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass.
Exit
(Act 1, Scene 2)
Excerpt 3:
Enter two Citizens meeting
First Citizen
Neighbour, well met: whither away so fast?
Second Citizen
I promise you, I scarcely know myself:
Hear you the news abroad?
First Citizen
Ay, that the king is dead.
Second Citizen
Bad news, by'r lady; seldom comes the better:
I fear, I fear 'twill prove a troublous world.
Enter another Citizen
Third Citizen
Neighbours, God speed!
First Citizen
Give you good morrow, sir.
Third Citizen
Doth this news hold of good King Edward's death?
Second Citizen
Ay, sir, it is too true; God help the while!
Third Citizen
Then, masters, look to see a troublous world.
First Citizen
No, no; by God's good grace his son shall reign.
Third Citizen
Woe to the land that's govern'd by a child!
Second Citizen
In him there is a hope of government,
That in his nonage council under him,
And in his full and ripen'd years himself,
No doubt, shall then and till then govern well.
First Citizen
So stood the state when Henry the Sixth
Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old.
Third Citizen
Stood the state so? No, no, good friends, God wot;
For then this land was famously enrich'd
With politic grave counsel; then the king
Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace.
First Citizen
Why, so hath this, both by the father and mother.
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Third Citizen
Better it were they all came by the father,
Or by the father there were none at all;
For emulation now, who shall be nearest,
Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not.
O, full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester!
And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud:
And were they to be ruled, and not to rule,
This sickly land might solace as before.
First Citizen
Come, come, we fear the worst; all shall be well.
Third Citizen
When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks;
When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand;
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.
All may be well; but, if God sort it so,
'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect.
Second Citizen
Truly, the souls of men are full of dread:
Ye cannot reason almost with a man
That looks not heavily and full of fear.
Third Citizen
Before the times of change, still is it so:
By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust
Ensuing dangers; as by proof, we see
The waters swell before a boisterous storm.
But leave it all to God. whither away?
Second Citizen
Marry, we were sent for to the justices.
Third Citizen
And so was I: I'll bear you company.
Exeunt
(Act II , scene 3)
Excerpt 4:
KING RICHARD III Give me another horse: bind up
my wounds.
Have mercy, Jesu!--Soft! I did but dream.
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
What do I fear? myself? there’s none else by:
Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.
Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am:
Then fly. What, from myself? Great reason why:
Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself?
Alack. I love myself. Wherefore? for any good
That I myself have done unto myself?
O, no! alas, I rather hate myself
For hateful deeds committed by myself!
I am a villain: yet I lie. I am not.
Fool, of thyself speak well: fool, do not flatter.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high’st degree
Murder, stem murder, in the direst degree;
All several sins, all used in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all, Guilty! guilty!
I shall despair. There is no creature loves me;
And if I die, no soul shall pity me:
Nay, wherefore should they, since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself?
Methought the souls of all that I had murder’d
Came to my tent; and every one did threat
To-morrow’s vengeance on the head of Richard. (V, 3)

Excerpt 5:
RICHMOND Inter their bodies as becomes their births:
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled
That in submission will return to us:
And then, as we have ta’en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose and the red:
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,
That long have frown’d upon their enmity!
What traitor hears me, and says not amen?
England hath long been mad, and scarr’d herself;
The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood,
The father rashly slaughter’d his own son,
The son, compell’d, been butcher to the sire:
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided in their dire division,
O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each royal house,
By God’s fair ordinance conjoin together!
And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so.
Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace,
With smiling plenty and fair prosperous days!
Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord,
That would reduce these bloody days again,
And make poor England weep in streams of blood!
Let them not live to taste this land’s increase
That would with treason wound this fair land’s peace!
Now civil wounds are stopp’d, peace lives again:
That she may long live here, God say amen! (V, 5)

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125
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: THE TRAGEDY

TRAGEDY: DEFINITIONS, TRAITS, THEORETICAL APPROACHES

The tragedy can be better defined, just like the comedy, in the dramatic genre, but it is not confined to
that. In very broad lines, we expect a tragedy to end in the death of the protagonist, just as we expect a
comedy to end in happy marriages and reconciliations. However, the death of the protagonist is not
confined to tragedy, just as not all the tragedies ever written in literature end with the death of the hero.
So, there must be more than death to tragedy.
Tragedy [GR. “the goat song”] was, originally, a form of sacrifice connected to the rituals
dedicated to Dionysus, out of which all Greek dramatic tragedy developed. Due to that, many critics
have argued that the tragedy involves a form of sacrifice, since the death of the tragic hero is not similar
to the moral satisfaction that one gets when a villain is finally punished. So that the world can move on
to a new order, the evil existing in the society needs to be purified through ritual. The overall
atmosphere in a tragedy is gloomy and depressing, since the fall of the hero is not an individual trauma,
but one that involves the system in which he/she lives. It does not mean that all the characters who die
are tragic heroes and there are more elements to involved in the characterization of a tragic hero, but
one of the most obvious elements is the fact that there is no way of escape from this tragic destiny, at
least, not one that the protagonist can envisage.
The Greek writers were indebted to Aristotle’s theories in writing their plays. The great writers
of the Greek classical age were Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. Their plays still form the basis for
world tragic compositions, either in accordance to their views or in contrast. In comparison to the
Greek literature, the Roman drama is not that well-represented, except for Seneca, who served as an
example for the Elizabethan plays. Gorboduc (1561), by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, is
considered today to be the first Elizabethan tragedy composed on a Senecan model. The Elizabethan
audiences seemed to have a preference for bloody scenes, violence, ghosts, revenge plots and so the
writings of Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, John Webster, Ben Johnson
offered them what they liked to see. In Europe, the great tragic writers were Lope de Vega, Molina and
Calderon in Spain, and especially Corneille and Racine in France, where the genre flourished after its
decline in England.

ARISTOTLE ON TRAGEDY
Unlike comedy that focuses on the society, tragedy is centered on one individual who becomes the
protagonist or the hero and the plot is an “imitation of an action” not like history and historical
procedures that tell us what actually happened, but placing a particular action in a universal context, by
dramatizing what may actually happen, according to the “law of probability or necessity.” So, the action
in a tragedy affects the order of the universe, not just the fate or some individual beings, as it is the case
of the comedy.

“The work of Herodotus might be put into verse, and it would still be a species of history, with meter
no less than without it. The true difference is that one relates what has happened, the other what may
happen. Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to
express the universal, history the particular. By the universal I mean how a person of a certain type on
occasion speak or act, according to the law of probability or necessity; and it is this universality at
18
which poetry aims in the names she attaches to the personages.”(Aristotle )

In a tragedy, there should be unity of action and the language of tragedy is elevated.

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in
language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate
parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper
purgation of these emotions.” (Aristotle)

18
Aristotle, Poetics, translation bu H.S. Butcher, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-
h.htm

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The action of the tragedy should start with an incentive moment and lead the protagonist towards a
moment of “recognition” seen by Aristotle as the “change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love
or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune. The best form of recognition
is coincident with a Reversal of the Situation […]This recognition, combined with Reversal, will produce
either pity or fear; and actions producing these effects are those which, by our definition, Tragedy
represents.” (Aristotle)

(Gustav Freytag, 1853)

The plot must be “a whole,” with a beginning, middle, and ending. The beginning, called by
modern critics the incentive moment, must start the cause-and-effect chain but not be dependent on
anything outside the compass of the play; the play must be “complete,” having “unity of action.” By this
Aristotle means that the plot must be structurally self-contained, with the incidents bound together by
internal necessity, each action leading inevitably to the next with no outside intervention; must be “of a
certain magnitude,” both quantitatively (length, complexity) and qualitatively (“seriousness” and
universal significance). Therefore, unlike histories, the tragedies cannot have an open-ending and refer
to stories that occurred before the beginning of the play of after its ending.
As far as the tragic hero is concerned, he should be a great man, greatness being the main
feature of the hero, distinguishing him from the others surrounding him. This greatness can be
expressed in anything, either as courage, nobility, morality, in short, there should be a set of traits that
distinguish the hero from all the others. That is why the fall from that greatness produces in the public
pity and fear. Aristotle argues that this character should be neither too good, otherwise, the fall from
prosperity would produce only shock, nor a villain, whose fall would be the source happiness and would
satisfy our moral sense. So, the fall should not be produced by negative traits, such as vice or depravity,
but by an error of judgment or frailty. Aristotle calls this error hamartia and suggests that it should not
be vice or depravity, but a mistake or error in judgment with a certain greatness of its own, or even
ignorance, tragedy starting in the moment that ignorance turns into knowledge.

“A perfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged not on the simple but on the complex plan. It
should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic
imitation. It follows plainly, in the first place, that the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle
of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity: for this moves neither pity nor fear; it merely
shocks us. Nor, again, that of a bad man passing from adversity to prosperity: for nothing can be more alien
to the spirit of Tragedy; it possesses no single tragic quality; it neither satisfies the moral sense nor calls
forth pity or fear. Nor, again, should the downfall of the utter villain be exhibited. A plot of this kind would,
doubtless, satisfy the moral sense, but it would inspire neither pity nor fear; for pity is aroused by
unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves. Such an event, therefore, will be
neither pitiful nor terrible. There remains, then, the character between these two extremes- that of a man
who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by
some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous- a personage like Oedipus,
Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families.” (Aristotle)

The fall of the tragic hero, according to Aristotle, might be produced by an error of judgment or by
frailty which may cause him to overstep/ challenge some limits/ limitations. Thus, Aristotle speaks of
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hamartia when referring to “an error of judgment which may arise from ignorance or some moral
shortcoming” (J. Cuddon19) and hubris/hybris defined as a sort of exterior limit that the tragic hero
oversteps because of his shortcoming (hamartia): “this shortcoming or defect in the Greek tragic hero
leads him to ignore the warnings of the Gods and to transgress their laws and commands.” (J. Cuddon)
Thus, this limit is often connected to FATE, as a supreme law that governs the life of the hero (fatum
malus), but the hero sometimes transgresses human laws (dike) and, in his desire and conviction that he
needs to change a governing system, commits a series of errors that cause his downfall. It must be noted,
however, that even if fate plays an important part in a tragedy, it is not the only cause of the fall of the
hero. This fall is also produced by the hero himself, by his own failure, frailty or error.
The effects of the tragedy are “pity and fear” and the purpose of the tragedy is the purification
of these feelings. Aristotle calls this katharsis. The public is supposed to experience these feelings while
seeing the action of a tragedy in order to bring them under control, and to return, after the end of a
play, to a sort of emotional balance:

“Some persons fall into a religious frenzy, whom we see disenthralled by the use of mystic melodies,
which bring healing and purgation to the soul. Those who are influenced by pity [eleos] or fear
[phobus] and every emotional nature have a like experience, . . . and all are in a manner purged
[katharseos] and their souls lightened and delighted.” (Aristotle)

Aristotle, though, insists that a tragedy produces both feelings, and not only one of them.

Aristotle’s view on tragedy, however, is not the only theoretical instance to have been followed in the
writing of tragedies, and so, many critics and philosophers have tries to reinterpret the classical
definitions of tragedy. Important theoretical developments were made after the age of Shakespeare, but
the great age of tragedy includes the Greek tragedies, the works of the English Renaissance, especially
Shakespeare’s and the French Neoclassical tragedies (Racine and Corneille). Many critics consider that
the fall of the tragedy in the classical sense was due to the rise of bourgeoisie and their new literary
interests. The novel and realism, for instance, were no longer compatible with the greatness of the tragiv
hero: “The tradition of REALISM in the new form of the NOVEL was antipathetic to the extraordinary
or inexplicable; the canonical English novels in this tradition lack a metaphysical dimension, a sense of
active evil pressing on the edges of civilization. Evil is redefined as moral or social error and the scrutiny
of psychology and motive becomes the animating structural concern. The tragic gap closes and
individuals are wholly responsible for the disorder they create… the requirement of realism, of
explicability, inhibits the symbolism of transcendence” (J. A. Cuddon) If the evil is external to normal
society, it is represented by other forms: the Gothic, fantasy, etc, while, in a tragedy, evil is part of the
society and should be understood in a transcendent, universal form, not as a mere accident that disrupts
the world.

Tragedy and the Renaissance. All the definitions of tragedy, though some prior, others posterior to
Shakespeare’s tragedies, may prove useful in the understanding of Shakespeare’s tragedies, since it is
very difficult to find a common tragic pattern for Shakespeare’s tragedies. It was often argued that
Shakespeare’s tragedies are unique in themselves and cannot be easily limited to confining theories.
What we need to understand is the general mechanism that stands at the basis of tragedy writing, and
especially the type of tragedy that was familiar to Shakespeare and was staged before and during his
time:

“As practiced in Renaissance England and in classical Greece and Rome, tragedy is an intense exploration
of suffering and evil focused on the experience of an exceptional individual, distinguished by rank or
character or both. Typically, it presents a steep fall from prosperity to misery and untimely death, a great
change occasioned or accompanied by conflict between the tragic character and some superior power. It
might be said, therefore, that conflict and change – the first intense if not violent, the second extreme –
together constitute the essence of tragedy. (Tom McAlindon)

19
J. A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, 1999.

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THE SENECAN TRAGEDY: The Senecan tragedy was far more familiar to Elizabethan audiences
and influenced more the writings of the tragedies of the period than any other classical writers or even
Aristotle. The two elements present in Seneca’s tragedies that influenced the Elizabethan tragedies were
the insistence on violence and on the sensational, as well as the development of an elevated rhetoric.
The Senecan tragedy, written during Nero’s reign and clearly influenced by it, is characterized by a
preference for horrific crimes, violence, and the abuse of power. His heroes, driven by uncontrollable
passions of love, revenge, jealousy are conscious wrong-doers. The focus on destructive forces is
heightened by the appeal to ghosts, furies, different divinities or the presence of evil rooted in the
characters’ past, and so, “despite their energies and their willfulness they seem more the victims than the
responsible agents of their fate.” (Tom MCalindon) Senecan heroes tend to assert their self very
forcefully, they are defiant and they tend to magnify their feelings, often revolting against the universe
and the gods. Seneca also investigated the effects of power on the individuals, examining the results of
ambition, fascination for power, tyrannical impulses, the insecurity of high places as well as the
mutability of fortunes.
Influenced by Seneca, the English Renaissance tragedy is very often connected to the
investigation of the effects of power on individuals. Sir Philip Sidney refers to the fact that the tragedy
opens hidden wounds, and makes kings fear to be tyrants: it stirs the “affects of admiration and
commiseration, teacheth the uncertainty of this world, and upon how weak foundations gilden roofs are
builded.” Thus, the characters of the tragedy belong to the upper classes whose destinies and decisions
influence not only their own fortunes and misfortunes, but those of the entire system that they rule.

THE SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY.

General features:

The Shakespearean tragedy owes much more to the Senecan example than to the classical tragedy. Just
like Seneca, Shakespeare's tragedies are political comments, showing what can happen through the
abuse of power, usurpation, dishonesty. Likewise, he makes use of extreme forms of violence.
However, we cannot say that Shakespeare used only the Senecan conventions in his tragedies. There
are many elements that conform to the model used by the Roman playwright, but there are also many
adaptations to these traditional conventions.
In order to better understand the traits pertaining to the Shakespearean tragedy, the investigation will
follow the guidelines presented below:

1. The tragic hero: conflict, change and fall

2. The Villain
3. Nature and society/ the supernatural element / Fate
4. Comic elements
5. The promise of harmony

1. The tragic hero: Conflict, Change and Fall

Shakespeare’s tragedies, as their titles suggest, are concerned with the fate of one individual (though,
there are two situations in which the tragic destiny befalls a couple in love: Romeo and Juliet and
Antony and Cleopatra). Most of Shakespeare’s tragedies are concerned with the fate of rulers, with the
change of fortunes, ambition, desire to have the power, political games and plotting. However,
Shakespeare goes beyond the mere presentation of a changing world and changing fortunes, of the rise
and fall of princes, of the dissolution of political systems. The change, which is a focal point in
Shakespeare’s tragedies, is not merely a matter of social or political status. It is treated at a moral and
psychological level as the hero sees that the world he had known and trusted is different.
A.C. Bradley20 remarks that Shakespeare’s tragedies involve, generally, one single character,
with the exception of Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra, where the two lovers are given
similar importance, and these characters have to undergo an abrupt change of fortune that contrasts with
a previous state of affairs and enhances the sense of suffering: “Tragedy is the disaster which comes to
those who represent and who symbolize, in a peculiarly intense form, those flaws and shortcomings

20
A.C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy (1904), A Project Gutenberg e-book, 2005

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which are universal in a lesser form. Tragedy is a disaster that happens to other people; and the greater
the person, so it seems, the more acute is their tragedy. Put at its crudest - the bigger they are the harder
they fall.” (J.A.Cuddon). The fact that they are always people of “high degree”, princes, kings, generals,
senators, heirs to rich and influential families, results in the extension of the tragic effects beyond their
personal destinies, up to the point in which entire systems are on the verge of collapsing under the
pressure of civil strife, wars, bloodshed.
Tragedies and especially the individual we identified as the tragic hero are marked by a double
conflict: an internal conflict and an external conflict.
The internal conflict is generally represented by the tragic flaw or the hubristic error of the
hero. In fact, tragedies depict the potential of the human being for self destruction or the “innate
savagery” of humankind. These flaws have universal value because they expose the evil in society or in
the human nature. The tragedies, therefore, are marked by an intense psychological strife inside the
hero represented by the requirements of his world against the desires of his heart (see Macbeth’s
monologue in the handout/ the dagger of the mind/ Act II, scene 5). This duality is also well
represented by Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy (Act III, scene 1), and it points to deeper, more
universal questions, such as life and death, action and resignation to fate, fear or courage that animate or
discourage human actions. However, these tragic flaws or psychological torments are not the sole causes
of tragedy: “The psychological factors – pride, lust, jealousy – are the données of the action, not its
significant causes; they provide a context in which the forces of destruction can work” (Paul Mercer21).
The external conflict usually refers to the exterior pressures that bring about the destruction of
the tragic hero. They may be diverse from Fate, the gods, the society/ social laws and pressures, ideals,
traditions, etc. The duality represented by the tragic conflict is often represented between the clash of
these external forces and the individual, such as is the case of Macbeth, torn between his own ambition
that pushes his to break the codes of his society and the feudal code that would compel him to protect
and honor the king, as he had done before. Another case of duality is represented by Brutus, who killed
Julius Caesar, the man he loved and respected, for fear of Caesar’s growing power that threatened the
republic, so it was love and friendship versus idealism and social duties:
BRUTUS Be patient till the last.
Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that
you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of
Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar
was no less than his. If then that friend demand
why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:
--Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and
die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live
all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his
fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his
ambition. Who is here so base that would be a
bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If
any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so
vile that will not love his country? If any, speak;
for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. (Julius Caesar, III, 2)
On the other hand, though, Shakespeare had a very nuanced outlook on the world as well as on human
nature, and, in this context, it is difficult to see his dualities in a very clear light. Macbeth is a king-slayer,
but he was also a great general. The world does not fall because Macbeth kills the king, it was already in

21
Peter Mercer, “Tragedy” in The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms, eds. Peter Childs and Roger
Fowler, Routledge, London and New York, (1973) 2006

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danger, the system being shaken by previous rebellions and attacks, so, the king’s authority had been
challenged before. Brutus is an idealist in a corrupted world. Hamlet does not cause the tragedy because
he delays the revenge: the system had already been turned upside down by Claudius’ foul murder, etc.,
so, the pressure of evil defines the tragic experience and evil is present inside and outside.
The fall of the tragic hero is the greatest and most visible transformation in the play: Hamlet, the
meditative and grievous prince turns into a murderer, Othello, the great general, falls prey to jealousy
and hatred at an extremely fast rate, the gentle and noble Brutus kills his friend for an ideal, the great
and loyal thane Macbeth, suddenly blinded by ambition, kills his king, King Lear becomes mad. It
seems as though human nature is flawed and doomed to fall. Shakespeare dramatizes, in his tragedies,
the effect of excesses: especially excess of passions that bring the downfall of his heroes:

“Loosely speaking, then, anger and ambition (including pride, a sense of honour, and the desire for glory)
and, on the other hand, love and grief, are the passions whose overflow brings disaster; and it should be
stressed that the first pair are to be seen initially in as positive a light as the second. Following the Stoic
philosophers of old, Elizabethan moralists defined anger as a brief madness; but the ‘noble anger’ which
Lear invokes (II.4.269) is a traditional feature of the hero, being symptomatic of courage and a sense of
both justice and personal worth.” (Tom McAlindon)

The heroes start questioning themselves, their own identity. Hamlet passionately exclaims: “Oh, what a
rogue and peasant slave am I” (II, 2), whereas Lear, having given up his crown, realizes that he lost his
identity, not only his power and asks: “Does any here know me? This is not Lear.” (I.4.129), to which
the Fool answers: “I am better than thou art now; I am a fool, thou art nothing” (I.4.193-4)
Shakespeare’s heroes present, in Bradley’s view, a marked one-sidedness, “a predisposition on
some particular direction; a total incapacity, in certain circumstances, of resisting the force which draws
in this direction, a fatal tendency to identify the whole being with one interest, object, passion, or habit
of mind.” In Hamlet, we recognize the inability to act, Othello is blinded by his jealousy that is
prompted by his insecurities, Macbeth by his ambition, Brutus is so honorable that he errs by failing to
see the nuances, King Lear is too confident in his own authority over the others. In most cases, the
tragic heroes know what they did wrong or where they made the mistake, but though tormented by
these contradictory feelings, they assume and pursue their tragic destiny.

2. The Villain
In many of the plays, the fall of the tragic hero is provoked by a villain who influences the
decisions of the hero and helps set the tragic conflict in motion: Cassius, in Julius Caesar takes
advantage of Brutus’ firm belief in freedom and democracy and lures him to be part of the conspiracy
to kill Caesar; Lady Macbeth builds on her husband’s ambition and convinces him to go through with
the decision to kill the king; Iago, like a spider, weaves a web of lies around Othello to turn him against
Cassius and Desdemona, and thus to fulfill his own personal revenge coming from the hatred he feels
for the Moor. The villain appears as the representation of the evil in society, he/she is contrary to the
rules of society and even of the divinity. Jago knows Othello and the way to turn him against his wife is
to “abuse his ear”, pour poison into his mind, the same as Lady Macbeth. They both rely on the
knowledge of the hero in order to appeal to his inner insecurities or flaws.

To get his place and to plume up my will
In double knavery. How? How? Let’s see.
After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear
That he is too familiar with his wife.
He hath a person and a smooth dispose
To be suspected, framed to make women false.
The Moor is of a free and open nature
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by th' nose
As asses are.
I have ’t. It is engendered! Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s
light.(Othello, Act I, scene 3)
What thou art promised: yet do I fear
thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk
of human kindness
To catch the nearestway: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou’ldst have, great
Glamis,
That which cries ‘Thus thou must do, if thou have it;
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone.’ Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;

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 And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown’d withal. (Macbeth, Act I, scene 5)

Because of their actions, they are seen as the messengers of evil, and their soliloquies are often
disturbing as they appeal to the utter darkness of nature and humanity, confusing values:

IAGO LADY MACBETH

And what’s he then that says I play the villain? Come, you spirits
When this advice is free I give and honest, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
Probal to thinking and indeed the course And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
To win the Moor again? For ’tis most easy Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Th' inclining Desdemona to subdue Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
In any honest suit. She’s framed as fruitful That no compunctious visitings of nature
As the free elements. And then for her Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
To win the Moor, were to renounce his baptism, The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
All seals and symbols of redeemèd sin, And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
His soul is so enfettered to her love, Wherever in your sightless substances
That she may make, unmake, do what she list, You wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,
Even as her appetite shall play the god And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
With his weak function. How am I then a villain That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
To counsel Cassio to this parallel course, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
Directly to his good? Divinity of hell! To cry ‘Hold, hold!’
When devils will the blackest sins put on (Act I, Scene 5)
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows
As I do now. For whiles this honest fool
Plies Desdemona to repair his fortune
And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor,
I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear:
That she repeals him for her body’s lust.
by how much she strives to do him good
She shall undo her credit with the Moor.
So will I turn her virtue into pitch
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all (Act II, Scene 3)

Their actions are indeed against society, humanity, religion, nature. Edmund, the villain in King Lear, a
bastard, justifies his ambition through a rejection of the laws of society:
.
EDMUND
Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law
My services are bound. Wherefore should I
Stand in the plague of custom, and permit
The curiosity of nations to deprive me,
For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon-shines
Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base?
When my dimensions are as well compact,
My mind as generous, and my shape as true,
As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us
With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?
Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take
More composition and fierce quality
Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,
Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops,
Got 'tween asleep and wake? Well, then,
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land:
Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund
As to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate!

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 Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper:
Now, gods, stand up for bastards! (King Lear, Act I, scene 2)
.However, it must be noted that the tragic heroes are not mere puppets in the hands of wrong-doers and
their fall is eventually produced by their own decisions, actions and feelings, and not by external
intervention. If we give too much importance to the role of the villain, then the tragic hero loses his
importance and greatness, in other words, a puppet controlled by others cannot have any grandeur and
so, he cannot rise to a tragic dimension.
There are more nuances here: for instance, Hamlet does not produce the tragic conflict, he is
only caught up in an action started by his uncle and so he has to fulfill a duty and deal with a pressure
from the exterior. By comparison, both King Lear and Macbeth produce the tragedy by their own
decision. However, in the end, the tragic mechanism is set in motion by Hamlet, Macbeth and Lear
alike, since, once the conflict set, irrespective of who started it, their decisions and actions (or lack of
action) determine the course of the action and its outcome.
By mentioning the villain, we come to the general idea of the tragedy as an irrepressible conflict
between two forces, and indeed, upon closer look, there usually are two conflicting groups: Hamlet and
Claudius, the Capulet and the Montague, Caesar, Octavius and Antonius versus Cassius and Brutus,
Macbeth versus Macduff and Malcolm, however, “the type of tragedy in which the hero opposes to a
hostile force an undivided soul is not the Shakespearean type” (A.C. Bradley). In general, Bradley
argues, the hero’s souls are divided, though they pursue a fated way.

3. Nature and society/ the supernatural element/ fate

These violent changes within the tragic hero as well as in his world are often paralleled by
violent, destructive and raging storms as well as many unnatural signs: ghosts, spirits, visions,
earthquakes, strange behavior of animals and birds, such as we have in Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear,
Othello, Julius Caesar. These elements are meant to enhance the tragic effect, but also to suggest that
something might be out of place and unnatural in the human world, even before the tragic conflict is set
in motion. In Hamlet, for instance, the appearance of the dead King’s ghost is commented by the
guards and Horatio even before any suspicion on the new King might be formulated:

“But in the gross and scope of my opinion,

This bodes some strange eruption to our State.” (Horatio, I. 1),

and then later on, Marcellus, one guard, comments:

“Something in rotten in the State of Denmark.” (I. 4)

At this point, none of those who had seen the ghost know the nature of its unfinished business on earth,
and neither of them openly questions Claudius’ ascension to the throne. And yet, they are troubled by
the signs suggesting an illness (rottenness) in their kingdom. Similarly, the most unnatural storm in Julius
Caesar becomes, at least for the group of conspirators, a sign that the heavens are set on punishing the
world:

But never till to-night, never till now,

Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.
Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction. (Casca, I, 3)

In Macbeth, the foul murder of the rightful king is accompanied by strange signs, bewildering King
Duncan’s thanes even before they find out that their king is dead.

LENNOX
The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible

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 Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatch'd to the woeful time: the obscure bird
Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth
Was feverous and did shake.
MACBETH
'Twas a rough night. (II, 3)

In King Lear, however, the storm accompanies the king’s fall into nothingness. In the storm, together
with his Fool and some of the lords that are exiled or on the run, the king is no better than the lowest,
and so rank and social position become undistinguishable. They are simple creature at the mercy of all
powerful nature.

KING LEAR
Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain!
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters:
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness;
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,
You owe me no subscription: then let fall
Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man:
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd
Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head
So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul! (III, 2)

Thus, it becomes obvious that the world of order, justice, law and stability is upset and that the lack of
stability in the world of men is reflected by the natural universe. Julius Caesar begins with a disruption of
the natural order of working days and festivities, as the citizens leave their trades to see the arrival of
triumphant Caesar. In Hamlet, Marcellus, one of the guards, complains about the long watch:

MARCELLUS
Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows,
Why this same strict and most observant watch
So nightly toils the subject of the land,
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon,
And foreign mart for implements of war;
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week;
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste
Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day:
Who is't that can inform me? (I, 1)

The upset rhythm of human activities suggests that the order of the system is usurped and people are
unable to recognize normality. The threat of war and danger looms over people’s lives. In Othello, the
storm that coincides with Othello’s arrival in Cyprus may be interpreted in several ways: it foreshows the
bloody deeds that will later occur in the play and it suggests Othello’s fall from greatness into unruly
passion and finally murder, since he, the great general and savior of Venice, a man of determination,
and control, as he appears in the first scenes of the play, will be controlled by Iago and unable to rise to
his former greatness, in a similar way in which it is the storm, and not Othello, that defeats the Turkish
fleet. Romeo and Juliet’s Verona is a world marked by civil conflict that is bound to take its toll on the
members of the two families. There is no escape from such a never-ending vicious circle of “ancient
grudge” and “new mutiny”.

PROLOGUE
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

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 From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Similarly, Rome, a symbol of order and civilization, becomes a place of violence, instability and
disorder. The marriage between the Roman emperor and the queen of the Goths, Tamora, in Titus
Andronicus, suggests the fall of Rome into a place of horror, bloodshed and injustice, from which
banishment is happiness:

TITUS ANDRONICUS […]

But wherefore stand'st thou with thy weapon drawn?
LUCIUS
To rescue my two brothers from their death:
For which attempt the judges have pronounced
My everlasting doom of banishment.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
O happy man! they have befriended thee.
Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?
Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey
But me and mine: how happy art thou, then,
From these devourers to be banished! (III, 1)

Fate, the doom of the ancient tragic heroes, does play its part in the downfall of the
Shakespearean hero, as it becomes evident in Romeo and Juliet’s Prologue, in the witches’ prophesies
in Macbeth, or in Hamlet’s dilemma: “The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, / That ever I was born
to set it right!” (I, 5). Nevertheless, it is not the only cause of the fall of the tragic hero, but only
enhances the tragic effect, the feeling of disaster on the verge of happening, and the sense of suffering
out of which there is no escape. Thus, though they seem to be marked (like the “star-crossed lovers”) by
a tragic destiny out of which it seems that there is no salvation, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes largely
contribute, through their own actions and decisions, to the destruction they create and that falls upon
them as well. So, in a sense, they are both agents and victims of destruction.
In fact, A.C. Bradley insists on the importance of fateful accidents in Shakespeare’s tragedies,
not as sole triggers of the tragic fall, but as “prominent facts of human life.” Many of Shakespeare’s
tragedies include such accidents: Romeo never gets the Friar’s letter about the potion, Juliet does not
wake up sooner, Hamlet kills Polonius hidden behind a curtain, Hamlet is saved by a pirate ship,
Desdemona drops the handkerchief, Edgar does not reach the prison soon enough to save Cordelia,
but they do not control the play. Bradley points out that such accidents are part of life and their
presence in the texts enhances the tragic fact that man can set things in motion, but cannot completely
control them.

4. The Comic Element

One of the important differences between Seneca’s and Shakespeare’s tragedies is the introduction of
comic elements and of plebeian characters. It can be argued that the comic element comes as a
requirement of the public taste, though it would be superficial to consider that Shakespeare would
simply succumb to the public taste. This feature comes from the belief that life is a combination of
comic and tragic elements, and the two opposite genres need to acknowledge this complexity. In fact,
the conflicts of many of his comedies may appear, at the beginning, unsolvable, and comedy may steer,
at any point, toward tragedy.

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 Another function of the comic element in tragedies could be that of dispersing the tension
created by the violence, conflict and passions, especially since the Senecan conventions preferred by
Shakespeare and his contemporary involve scenes of bloodshed, rage and hatred. It may function as
either a “safety valve”, combining laughter with tragedy and unruly passions, as it is the case of Hamlet,
or Romeo and Juliet, but it may also “intensify the effect of heroic suffering” (Tom McAlindon), as it is
the case of King Lear.

7. Endings
However, even if Shakespeare’s tragedies are a display of excess, of passions, of bloodshed and
violence, the ending is often a restoration of justice and normality, or, at least, the hope that the system
will go on as more secure and stable. Hamlet’s death coincides with the arrival of Fortinbras, the prince
of Norway, the one who, unlike Hamlet, was never hesitant about the righteousness of his revenge.
After King Lear’s death, the kingdom will be ruled by the virtuous Edgar, Octavius and Antonius honor
the body of Brutus, though they were his enemies, and acknowledge his virtues:

ANTONY
This was the noblest Roman of them all:
All the conspirators save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He only, in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world 'This was a man!'
OCTAVIUS
According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, order'd honourably.
So call the field to rest; and let's away,
To part the glories of this happy day. (Julius Caesar, V, 5)

After the death of Macbeth, all hail the new king of Scotland with renewed hope that everything shall
return to normality. In Hamlet’s Denmark, Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, comes upon the
bloodshed and seems to restore order. In Romeo and Juliet’s Verona, two feuding families will make
peace over the graves of their children.
At the end of King Lear, the duke of Albany tries to set everything in just patters, restoring the
value of words as well as that of ages:
ALBANY
The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.(Act V, scene 3)
Othello tries to set himself the world he destroys in order by explaining his failure and mistakes:
OTHELLO
Soft you; a word or two before you go.
I have done the state some service, and they know't.
No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees

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 Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;
And say besides, that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk
Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him, thus. (Act V, scene 2)
And indeed, at the end, all acknowledge that he was “great at heart”.
Often, at the end of these tragedies, there must be someone to tell the story, either Horation,
Hamlet’s friend, or Lodovico, who goes to Venice to tell the story of Othello and Desdemona.
In conclusion, what is the general definition of the Shakespearean tragedy? Bradley suggests the
definition “A tragedy is a story of exceptional calamity leading to the death of a man in high estate.”
Tragedies are about power, the external world and mainly about Shakespeare’s understanding that he
himself was living in a changing world that still clung to the traditions, ideas and rules of the medieval
society (the feudal system, honor, war, revenge) that were collapsing under more modern pressures of
politics (a Machiavellian world, betrayal, greed for power, ambiguity). He lies at a clash of civilizations
and represents it onstage. But, it is also a world of intense human suffering and calamity “that makes the
whole scene a scene of woe” (Bradley), and that does not affect only the hero, but his entire world and
affects also the spectator. Shakespeare’s tragedies also engage the audiences to ponder on the important
questions: what is life? What is death? Who are we and what is our purpose in the world? Thus, to try
and give a definition of tragedy is very difficult. Tom McAlindon has a more nuanced view: “I conclude
by recalling the obvious – that Shakespeare not only engaged with but went through and beyond the
contemporary to capture in brilliantly realized characters and deeply moving scenes some of the most
persistent aspects of human nature and experience: the strength and the vulnerability, the goodness and
the wickedness, of men and women; the desolation and courage of the individual at odds with society;
the cruel injustices and the terrifying uncertainty of life itself.”

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 William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet (1595)
Sources: In 1562, a famous version of the
story was published in England: Arthur
Brooke’s The Tragical History of Romeus
and Juliet. Brooke’s work was
Shakespeare’s primary source for his play.
Brooke’s poem is a translation of a French
version of the tale by Pierre Boaistuau (1559), whose version was an adaptation of Bandello (1554), based
on Luigi da Porto’s (1525) translation of a tale by Masuccio Salternitano (1476). Another direct source of
Shakespeare’s play is a novella written by William Painter, The goodly History of the true and constant
love betweene Romeo and Julietta, published in 1567.

EXCERPT 1
PROLOGUE
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

EXCERPT 2 MERCUTIO
ROMEO That dreamers often lie.
I dreamt a dream tonight. ROMEO
MERCUTIO In bed asleep while they do dream things true.
And so did I. MERCUTIO
ROMEO O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
Well, what was yours? She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes

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In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomi
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.
Her wagon spokes made of long spinners’ legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
Her traces of the smallest spider web,
Her collars of the moonshine’s wat’ry beams,
Her whip of cricket’s bone, the lash of film,
Her wagoner a small gray-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid.
Her chariot is an empty hazelnut,
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of
love;
On courtiers’ knees, that dream on cur’sies
straight;
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on
fees;
O’er ladies’ lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted
are.
Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier’s nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit.
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig’s tail,
Tickling a parson’s nose as he lies asleep;
Then he dreams of another benefice.
Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep, and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes
EXCERPT 3
ROMEO: If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
JULIET: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.
ROMEO: Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
JULIET: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
ROMEO: O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
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And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled much misfortune bodes.
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage.
This is she—
ROMEO
Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace.
Thou talk’st of nothing.
MERCUTIO
True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air
And more inconstant than the wind, who woos
Even now the frozen bosom of the north
And, being angered, puffs away from thence,
Turning his side to the dew-dropping south.
BENVOLIO
This wind you talk of blows us from ourselves.
Supper is done, and we shall come too late.
ROMEO
I fear too early, for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night’s revels, and expire the term
Of a despisèd life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But he that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail. On, lusty gentlemen. (Act 1,
scene 4)
 They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn
to despair.
JULIET: Saints do not move, though grant
for prayers’ sake.
ROMEO: Then move not, while my prayer’s
effect I take. (Act 1, scene 5)

EXCERPT 4
ROMEO She speaks:
O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
ROMEO I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JULIET What man art thou that thus bescreen’d in night
So stumblest on my counsel?
ROMEO By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee;
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
JULIET My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue’s utterance, yet I know the sound:
Art thou not Romeo and a Montague?
ROMEO Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.
JULIET How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
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 And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.
ROMEO With love’s light wings did I o’er-perch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.
JULIET If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
ROMEO Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.
JULIET I would not for the world they saw thee here.
ROMEO I have night’s cloak to hide me from their sight;
And but thou love me, let them find me here:
My life were better ended by their hate,
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love. (Act 2, scene 2)

EXCERPT 5
FRIAR LAURENCE:
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye
The day to cheer, and night’s dank dew to dry,
I must upfill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb;
What is her burying grave, that is her womb;
And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find.
Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some, and yet all different.
O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies
In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities.
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give.
For naught so good but, strain’d from that fair use,
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.
Virtue itself turns vice being misapplied,
And vice sometime’s by action dignified.
Enter Romeo
Within the infant rind of this weak flower
Poison hath residence, and medicine power:
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each
part;
Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposed kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs: grace and crude will;
And where the worser is predominant
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.
(Act 2, scene 3)
EXCERPT 6
Enter Apothecary.
APOTHECARY: Who calls so loud?
ROMEO: Come hither, man. I see that thou art
poor.
Hold, there is forty ducats. Let me have
A dram of poison; such soon-speeding gear
As will disperse itself through all the veins
That the life-weary taker may fall dead;
And that the trunk may be discharg’d of breath
As violently as hasty powder fir’d
Doth hurry from the fatal cannon’s womb.
APOTHECARY: Such mortal drugs I have; but
Mantua’s law
Is death to any he that utters them.
ROMEO: Art thou so bare and full of
wretchedness,
And fear’st to die? famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes,
Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back,
The world is not thy friend, nor the world’s law;
The world affords no law to make thee rich;
Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.
APOTHECARY: My poverty, but not my will
consents.
ROMEO: I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.
APOTHECARY: Put this in any liquid thing you
will.
And drink it off and if you had the strength
Of twenty men it would dispatch you straight.
ROMEO: There is thy gold—worse poison to
men’s souls,
Doing more murder in this loathsome world

141
 Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not
sell.
I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none.
Farewell, buy food, and get thyself in flesh.
Come, cordial, and not poison, go with me
To Juliet’s grave, for there must I use thee. (Act 5,
Scene 1)

EXCERPT 7
ROMEO Here’s to my love!
A grave? O no! a lantern, slaughter’d youth, [Drinks]
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes O true apothecary!
This vault a feasting presence full of light. Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.
Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr’d. ………………
[Laying PARIS in the tomb]
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! which their keepers call
A lightning before death: O, how may I
Call this a lightning? O my love! my wife!
Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy
breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquer’d; beauty’s ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
O, what more favour can I do to thee,
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
To sunder his that was thine enemy?
Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again: here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O,
here
Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your
last!
Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!

142
PRINCE A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

143
144
 William Shakespeare’s MACBETH (1605-6)
Excerpt 1
….
ALL (THREE WITCHES)
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
...
MACBETH
So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
BANQUO
How far is’t call’d to Forres? What are these
So wither’d and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth,
And yet are on’t? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her chappy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.
MACBETH
Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
Second Witch
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All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
BANQUO
Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I’ the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.
First Witch
Hail!
Second Witch
Hail!
Third Witch
Hail!
First Witch
Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch
Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
First Witch
Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
MACBETH
Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel’s death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way Messenger
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. The king comes here to-night.
Witches vanish LADY MACBETH
BANQUO Thou’rt mad to say it:
The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, Is not thy master with him? who, were’t so,
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish’d? Would have inform’d for preparation.
MACBETH Messenger
Into the air; and what seem’d corporal melted So please you, it is true: our thane is coming:
As breath into the wind. Would they had stay’d! One of my fellows had the speed of him,
BANQUO Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Were such things here as we do speak about? Than would make up his message.
Or have we eaten on the insane root LADY MACBETH
That takes the reason prisoner? Give him tending;
... He brings great news.
BANQUO Exit Messenger
That trusted home The raven himself is hoarse
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Besides the thane of Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
Cawdor. But ‘tis strange: That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And oftentimes, to win And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
us to our harm, Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
The instruments of Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
darkness tell us truths, That no compunctious visitings of nature
Win us with honest Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
trifles, to betray’s The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
In deepest consequence. And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Cousins, a word, I pray Wherever in your sightless substances
you. (Act I, Scene 2) You wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
Excerpt 2 To cry ‘Hold, hold!’
(Act I, Scene 5)
LADY MACBETH
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature; Excerpt 3
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; MACBETH
Art not without ambition, but without Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready,
The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly, She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, Exit Servant
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou’ldst have, great Is this a dagger which I see before me,
Glamis, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
That which cries ‘Thus thou must do, if thou have it; I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
And that which rather thou dost fear to do Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
Than wishest should be undone.’ Hie thee hither, To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
And chastise with the valour of my tongue Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
All that impedes thee from the golden round, I see thee yet, in form as palpable
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem As this which now I draw.
To have thee crown’d withal. Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going;
Enter a Messenger And such an instrument I was to use.
What is your tidings? Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses,
146
Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There’s no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o’er the one halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtain’d sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder,
Alarum’d by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
A bell rings
I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.
Exit (Act II, Scene V)
Excerpt 4
MACBETH
This is a sorry sight.
Looking on his hands
LADY MACBETH
A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
MACBETH
There’s one did laugh in’s sleep, and one cried
‘Murder!’
That they did wake each other: I stood and heard them:
But they did say their prayers, and address’d them
Again to sleep.
LADY MACBETH
There are two lodged together.
MACBETH
One cried ‘God bless us!’ and ‘Amen’ the other;
As they had seen me with these hangman’s hands.
Listening their fear, I could not say ‘Amen,’
When they did say ‘God bless us!’
LADY MACBETH
Consider it not so deeply.
MACBETH
But wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’?
I had most need of blessing, and ‘Amen’
Stuck in my throat.
LADY MACBETH
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.
147
MACBETH
Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care,
The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast,--
LADY MACBETH
What do you mean?
MACBETH
Still it cried ‘Sleep no more!’ to all the house:
‘Glamis hath murder’d sleep, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more.’
LADY MACBETH
Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane,
You do unbend your noble strength, to think
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them; and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
MACBETH
I’ll go no more:
I am afraid to think what I have done;
Look on’t again I dare not.
LADY MACBETH
Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures: ‘tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,
I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal;
For it must seem their guilt.
Exit. Knocking within
MACBETH
Whence is that knocking?
How is’t with me, when every noise appals me?
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Re-enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
My hands are of your colour; but I shame
To wear a heart so white.
Knocking within
I hear a knocking
At the south entry: retire we to our chamber;
A little water clears us of this deed:
How easy is it, then! Your constancy
Hath left you unattended.
Knocking within
Hark! more knocking. Think of this, good peers,
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us, But as a thing of custom: 'tis no other;
And show us to be watchers. Be not lost Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.
So poorly in your thoughts. MACBETH
MACBETH What man dare, I dare:
To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself. Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
Knocking within The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger;
Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst! Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
Exeunt (Act II, Scene 2) Shall never tremble: or be alive again,
And dare me to the desert with thy sword;
If trembling I inhabit then, protest me
Excerpt 5 The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow!
Unreal mockery, hence!
(Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost) GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes
ROSS Why, so: being gone,
Gentlemen, rise: his highness is not well. I am a man again. Pray you, sit still. (Act III, Scene 4)
LADY MACBETH ...
Sit, worthy friends: my lord is often thus,
And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat;
The fit is momentary; upon a thought Excerpt 6
He will again be well: if much you note him,
You shall offend him and extend his passion: MACBETH
Feed, and regard him not. Are you a man? I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
MACBETH The time has been, my senses would have cool’d
Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Which might appal the devil. Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
LADY MACBETH As life were in’t: I have supp’d full with horrors;
O proper stuff! Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
This is the very painting of your fear: Cannot once start me.
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, Re-enter SEYTON
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts, Wherefore was that cry?
Impostors to true fear, would well become SEYTON
A woman's story at a winter's fire, The queen, my lord, is dead.
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! MACBETH
Why do you make such faces? When all's done, She should have died hereafter;
You look but on a stool. There would have been a time for such a word.
... To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
LADY MACBETH Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
What, quite unmann'd in folly? To the last syllable of recorded time,
MACBETH And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
If I stand here, I saw him. The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
LADY MACBETH Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
Fie, for shame! That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
... And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Re-enter GHOST OF BANQUO Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
MACBETH Signifying nothing. (At V, Scene
Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes
Which thou dost glare with!
LADY MACBETH

148
149
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
HAMLET (c. 1600)
Sources: Saxo Grammaticus - Historiae Danicae (c. 1200) – a Norse folk-tale of Amleth, expanded
by François de Belleforest in Histoires Tragiques (1559-80), Thomas Kyd – The Spanish Tragedy (c.
1589)
Excerpt 1
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,
And let thine eye look like a friend on
Denmark.
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids
Seek for thy noble father in the dust:
Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must
die,
Passing through nature to eternity.
HAMLET
Ay, madam, it is common.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
If it be,
Why seems it so particular with thee?
HAMLET
Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not 'seems.'
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of
grief,
That can denote me truly: these indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within which passeth show;
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
KING CLAUDIUS
'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature,
Hamlet,
To give these mourning duties to your father:
But, you must know, your father lost a father;
Excerpt 2
HAMLET
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in
nature
150
That father lost, lost his, and the survivor
bound
In filial obligation for some term
To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever
In obstinate condolement is a course
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief;
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven,
A heart unfortified, a mind impatient,
An understanding simple and unschool'd:
For what we know must be and is as common
As any the most vulgar thing to sense,
Why should we in our peevish opposition
Take it to heart? Fie! 'tis a fault to heaven,
A fault against the dead, a fault to nature,
To reason most absurd: whose common theme
Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried,
From the first corse till he that died to-day,
'This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth
This unprevailing woe, and think of us
As of a father: for let the world take note,
You are the most immediate to our throne;
And with no less nobility of love
Than that which dearest father bears his son,
Do I impart toward you. For your intent
In going back to school in Wittenberg,
It is most retrograde to our desire:
And we beseech you, bend you to remain
Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye,
Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son.
(Act I, Scene 2)
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not
two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on
him,
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month--
Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is
woman!--
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's
body,
Like Niobe, all tears:--why she, even she--
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of
reason,
Would have mourn'd longer--married with my
uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Excerpt 3
Ghost
I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am
forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young
blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love--
HAMLET
O God!
Ghost
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET
Murder!
Ghost
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural.
HAMLET
Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
Excerpt 4
Now I am alone.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
151
Than I to Hercules: within a month:
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good:
But break, my heart; for I must hold my
tongue.
Enter HORATIO, MARCELLUS, and
BERNARDO
(Act I, Scene 2)
Ghost
I find thee apt;
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet,
hear:
'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of
Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
HAMLET
O my prophetic soul! My uncle!
[...]
They swear
So, gentlemen,
With all my love I do commend me to you:
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is
May do, to express his love and friending to
you,
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in
together;
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Nay, come, let's go together.
Exeunt
(Act I, Scene 5)
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he
do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with
tears
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the
throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
Ha!
'Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless
villain!
Excerpt 5
HAMLET
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural
shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the
rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may
come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of
time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's
152
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with
words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
Fie upon't! foh! About, my brain! I have heard
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim'd their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will
speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these
players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds
More relative than this: the play 's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
Exit
(Act II, Scene 2)
contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action
(Act III, Scene 1)
Excerpt 6
KING CLAUDIUS
Thanks, dear my lord.
Exit POLONIUS
O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't,
A brother's murder. Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will:
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent;
And, like a man to double business bound,
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother's blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves
mercy
But to confront the visage of offence?
And what's in prayer but this two-fold force,
To be forestalled ere we come to fall,
Or pardon'd being down? Then I'll look up;
My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer
Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul
murder'?
That cannot be; since I am still possess'd
Of those effects for which I did the murder,
My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.
May one be pardon'd and retain the offence?
In the corrupted currents of this world
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice,
And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law: but 'tis not so above;
There is no shuffling, there the action lies
In his true nature; and we ourselves compell'd,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence. What then? what rests?
Try what repentance can: what can it not?
Yet what can it when one can not repent?
O wretched state! O bosom black as death!
O limed soul, that, struggling to be free,
Art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay!
Bow, stubborn knees; and, heart with strings
of steel,
Excerpt 7
HAMLET
I'll be with you straight go a little before.
Exeunt all except HAMLET
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
153
Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe!
All may be well.
Retires and kneels
Enter HAMLET
HAMLET
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven;
And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd:
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven.
O, this is hire and salary, not revenge.
He took my father grossly, full of bread;
With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as
May;
And how his audit stands who knows save
heaven?
But in our circumstance and course of thought,
'Tis heavy with him: and am I then revenged,
To take him in the purging of his soul,
When he is fit and season'd for his passage?
No!
Up, sword; and know thou a more horrid hent:
When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,
Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed;
At gaming, swearing, or about some act
That has no relish of salvation in't;
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at
heaven,
And that his soul may be as damn'd and black
As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays:
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.
Exit
KING CLAUDIUS
[Rising] My words fly up, my thoughts remain
below:
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
Exit
(Act III, Scene 3)
Sure, he that made us with such large
discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part
wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and
means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
Exit
(Act IV, Scene 4)

Excerpt 8

First Clown abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge

Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade, rims at
that it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I
he will keep out water a great while; and your know
water not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your
is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body. gambols? your songs? your flashes of
Here's a skull now; this skull has lain in the merriment,
earth that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not
three and twenty years. one
now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-
HAMLET fallen?
Whose was it? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell
First Clown her, let
A whoreson mad fellow's it was: whose do her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must
you think it was? come; make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio,
HAMLET tell
Nay, I know not. me one thing.
First Clown HORATIO
A pestilence on him for a mad rogue! a' poured What's that, my lord?
a HAMLET
flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this
skull, fashion i'
sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester. the earth?
HAMLET HORATIO
This? E'en so.
First Clown HAMLET
E'en that. And smelt so? pah!
HAMLET Puts down the skull
Let me see. HORATIO
Takes the skull E'en so, my lord.
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a HAMLET
fellow To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he Why may
hath not imagination trace the noble dust of
borne me on his back a thousand times; and Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?
now, how (Act V, Scene 1)

154
Excerpt 9

HORATIO HORATIO: Now cracks a noble heart. Good

If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: I will night sweet prince:
forestall their repair hither, and say you are not And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
fit. Why does the drum come hither?
HAMLET March within
Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special Enter FORTINBRAS, the English
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be Ambassadors, and others
now, (Act V, Scene 2)
'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
readiness is all: since no man has aught of
what he
leaves, what is't to leave betimes?
(Act V, Scene 2)

Excerpt10

HORATIO
Never believe it:
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here's yet some liquor left.
HAMLET
As thou'rt a man,
Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have't.
O good Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live
behind me!
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in
pain,
To tell my story.
March afar off, and shot within
What warlike noise is this?
OSRIC
Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from
Poland,
To the ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.
HAMLET
O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
Dies

155
 William Shakespeare: King Lear (1605)

EXCERPT 1
ACT I EDMUND
SCENE I. King Lear's palace. Sir, I shall study deserving.
Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER, and EDMUND GLOUCESTER
KENT He hath been out nine years, and away he shall
I thought the king had more affected the Duke of again. The king is coming.
Albany than Cornwall. Sennet. Enter KING LEAR, CORNWALL,
GLOUCESTER ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and
It did always seem so to us: but now, in the Attendants
division of the kingdom, it appears not which of KING LEAR
the dukes he values most; for equalities are so Attend the lords of France and Burgundy,
weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice Gloucester.
of either's moiety. GLOUCESTER
KENT I shall, my liege.
Is not this your son, my lord? Exeunt GLOUCESTER and EDMUND
GLOUCESTER KING LEAR
His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.
so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I Give me the map there. Know that we have
am brazed to it. divided
KENT In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent
I cannot conceive you. To shake all cares and business from our age;
GLOUCESTER Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereupon Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of
she grew round-wombed, and had, indeed, sir, a Cornwall,
son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
bed. Do you smell a fault? We have this hour a constant will to publish
KENT Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it May be prevented now. The princes, France and
being so proper. Burgundy,
GLOUCESTER Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year Long in our court have made their amorous
elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my sojourn,
account: though this knave came something And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my
saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet daughters,--
was his mother fair; there was good sport at his Since now we will divest us both of rule,
making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged. Interest of territory, cares of state,--
Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund? Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
EDMUND That we our largest bounty may extend Where
No, my lord. nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, Our
GLOUCESTER eldest-born, speak first.
My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my GONERIL
honourable friend. Sir, I love you more than words can wield the
EDMUND matter;
My services to your lordship. Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
KENT Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
I must love you, and sue to know you better. No less than life, with grace, health, beauty,
156
honour; How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little,
As much as child e'er loved, or father found; Lest it may mar your fortunes.
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; CORDELIA
Beyond all manner of so much I love you. Good my lord,
CORDELIA You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I
[Aside] What shall Cordelia do? Return those duties back as are right fit,
Love, and be silent. Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
LEAR Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
Of all these bounds, even from this line to this, They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd, That lord whose hand must take my plight shall
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads, carry
We make thee lady: to thine and Albany's issue Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter, Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak. To love my father all.
REGAN KING LEAR
Sir, I am made But goes thy heart with this?
Of the self-same metal that my sister is, CORDELIA
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart Ay, good my lord.
I find she names my very deed of love; KING LEAR
Only she comes too short: that I profess So young, and so untender?
Myself an enemy to all other joys, CORDELIA
Which the most precious square of sense So young, my lord, and true.
possesses; KING LEAR
And find I am alone felicitate Let it be so; thy truth, then, be thy dower:
In your dear highness' love. For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
CORDELIA The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;
[Aside] Then poor Cordelia! By all the operation of the orbs
And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's From whom we do exist, and cease to be;
More richer than my tongue. Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
KING LEAR Propinquity and property of blood,
To thee and thine hereditary ever And as a stranger to my heart and me
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom; Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous
No less in space, validity, and pleasure, Scythian,
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy, Or he that makes his generation messes
Although the last, not least; to whose young love To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved,
Strive to be interess'd; what can you say to draw As thou my sometime daughter.
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak. KENT
CORDELIA Good my liege,--
Nothing, my lord. KING LEAR
KING LEAR Peace, Kent!
Nothing! Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
CORDELIA I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
Nothing. On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!
KING LEAR So be my grave my peace, as here I give
Nothing will come of nothing: speak again. Her father's heart from her! Call France; who
CORDELIA stirs?
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany,
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty With my two daughters' dowers digest this third:
According to my bond; nor more nor less. Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
KING LEAR I do invest you jointly with my power,
Pre-eminence, and all the large effects
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That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly Dear sir, forbear.
course, KENT
With reservation of an hundred knights, Do:
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy doom;
The name, and all the additions to a king; Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest, I'll tell thee thou dost evil.
Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm, KING LEAR
This coronet part betwixt you. Hear me, recreant!
Giving the crown On thine allegiance, hear me!
KENT Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,
Royal Lear, Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride
Whom I have ever honour'd as my king, To come between our sentence and our power,
Loved as my father, as my master follow'd, Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers,-- Our potency made good, take thy reward.
KING LEAR Five days we do allot thee, for provision
The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft. To shield thee from diseases of the world;
KENT And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
Let it fall rather, though the fork invade Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly, Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old man? The moment is thy death. Away! by Jupiter,
Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak, This shall not be revoked.
When power to flattery bows? To plainness KENT
honour's bound, Fare thee well, king: sith thus thou wilt appear,
When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom; Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.
And, in thy best consideration, cheque To CORDELIA
This hideous rashness: answer my life my The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
judgment, That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said!
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least; To REGAN and GONERIL
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
Reverbs no hollowness. That good effects may spring from words of love.
KING LEAR Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
Kent, on thy life, no more. He'll shape his old course in a country new.
KENT Exit
My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thy enemies; nor fear to lose it,
Thy safety being the motive. EXCERPT 2
KING LEAR ACT I, Scene 2
Out of my sight! SCENE II. The Earl of Gloucester's castle.
KENT Enter EDMUND, with a letter
See better, Lear; and let me still remain EDMUND
The true blank of thine eye. Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law
KING LEAR My services are bound. Wherefore should I
Now, by Apollo,-- Stand in the plague of custom, and permit
KENT The curiosity of nations to deprive me,
Now, by Apollo, king, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon-
Thou swear'st thy gods in vain. shines
KING LEAR Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base?
O, vassal! miscreant! When my dimensions are as well compact,
Laying his hand on his sword My mind as generous, and my shape as true,
As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us
ALBANY/ CORNWALL With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?
158
Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take
More composition and fierce quality
Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,
Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops,
Got 'tween asleep and wake? Well, then,
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land:
Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund
As to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate!
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper:
Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

EXCERPT 3
ACT II, Scene 4
Fool Set less than thou throwest;
Let me hire him too: here's my coxcomb. Leave thy drink and thy whore,
Offering KENT his cap And keep in-a-door,
KING LEAR And thou shalt have more
How now, my pretty knave! how dost thou? Than two tens to a score.
Fool KENT
Sirrah, you were best take my coxcomb. This is nothing, fool.
KENT Fool
Why, fool? Then 'tis like the breath of an unfee'd lawyer; you
Fool gave me nothing for't. Can you make no use of
Why, for taking one's part that's out of favour: nothing, nuncle?
nay, an thou canst not smile as the wind sits, KING LEAR
thou'lt catch cold shortly: there, take my coxcomb: Why, no, boy; nothing can be made out of
why, this fellow has banished two on's daughters, nothing.
and did the third a blessing against his will; if Fool
thou follow him, thou must needs wear my [To KENT] Prithee, tell him, so much the rent of
coxcomb. How now, nuncle! Would I had two his land comes to: he will not believe a fool.
coxcombs and two daughters! KING LEAR
KING LEAR A bitter fool!
Why, my boy? Fool
Fool Dost thou know the difference, my boy, between a
If I gave them all my living, I'ld keep my bitter fool and a sweet fool?
coxcombs myself. There's mine; beg another of KING LEAR
thy daughters. No, lad; teach me.
KING LEAR Fool
Take heed, sirrah; the whip. That lord that counsell'd thee
Fool To give away thy land,
Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped Come place him here by me,
out, when Lady the brach may stand by the fire Do thou for him stand:
and stink. The sweet and bitter fool
KING LEAR Will presently appear;
A pestilent gall to me! The one in motley here,
Fool The other found out there.
Sirrah, I'll teach thee a speech. KING LEAR
KING LEAR Dost thou call me fool, boy?
Do. Fool
Fool All thy other titles thou hast given away; that
Mark it, nuncle: thou wast born with.
Have more than thou showest, KENT
Speak less than thou knowest, This is not altogether fool, my lord.
Lend less than thou owest, Fool
Ride more than thou goest, No, faith, lords and great men will not let me; if
Learn more than thou trowest, I had a monopoly out, they would have part on't:
159
and ladies too, they will not let me have all fool Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no
to myself; they'll be snatching. Give me an egg, need to
nuncle, and I'll give thee two crowns. care for her frowning; now thou art an O without a
KING LEAR figure: I am better than thou art now; I am a fool,
What two crowns shall they be? thou art nothing.
Fool To GONERIL
Why, after I have cut the egg i' the middle, and eat Yes, forsooth, I will hold my tongue; so your face
up the meat, the two crowns of the egg. When bids me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum,
thou He that keeps nor crust nor crum,
clovest thy crown i' the middle, and gavest away Weary of all, shall want some.
both parts, thou borest thy ass on thy back o'er Pointing to KING LEAR
the dirt: thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown, That's a shealed peascod.
when thou gavest thy golden one away. If I speak
like myself in this, let him be whipped that first GONERIL
finds it so. Not only, sir, this your all-licensed fool,
Singing But other of your insolent retinue
Fools had ne'er less wit in a year; Do hourly carp and quarrel; breaking forth
For wise men are grown foppish, In rank and not-to-be endured riots. Sir,
They know not how their wits to wear, I had thought, by making this well known unto
Their manners are so apish. you,
KING LEAR To have found a safe redress; but now grow
When were you wont to be so full of songs, fearful,
sirrah? By what yourself too late have spoke and done.
Fool That you protect this course, and put it on
I have used it, nuncle, ever since thou madest thy By your allowance; which if you should, the fault
daughters thy mothers: for when thou gavest them Would not 'scape censure, nor the redresses sleep,
the rod, and put'st down thine own breeches, Which, in the tender of a wholesome weal,
Singing Might in their working do you that offence,
Then they for sudden joy did weep, Which else were shame, that then necessity
And I for sorrow sung, Will call discreet proceeding.
That such a king should play bo-peep, Fool
And go the fools among. For, you trow, nuncle,
Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long,
teach That it's had it head bit off by it young.
thy fool to lie: I would fain learn to lie. So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling.
KING LEAR KING LEAR
An you lie, sirrah, we'll have you whipped. Are you our daughter?
Fool GONERIL
I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are: Come, sir,
they'll have me whipped for speaking true, thou'lt I would you would make use of that good
have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am wisdom,
whipped for holding my peace. I had rather be any Whereof I know you are fraught; and put away
kind o' thing than a fool: and yet I would not be These dispositions, that of late transform you
thee, nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, From what you rightly are.
and left nothing i' the middle: here comes one o' Fool
the parings. May not an ass know when the cart
Enter GONERIL draws the horse? Whoop, Jug! I love thee.
KING LEAR KING LEAR
How now, daughter! what makes that frontlet on? Doth any here know me? This is not Lear:
Methinks you are too much of late i' the frown. Doth Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his
Fool eyes?
Either his notion weakens, his discernings
160
Are lethargied--Ha! waking? 'tis not so. I would learn that; for, by the
Who is it that can tell me who I am? marks of sovereignty, knowledge, and reason,
Fool I should be false persuaded I had daughters.
Lear's shadow. Fool
KING LEAR Which they will make an obedient father.
KING LEAR
Your name, fair gentlewoman?

EXCERPT 4 Shall of a corn cry woe,

ACT III And turn his sleep to wake.
SCENE II. Another part of the heath. Storm For there was never yet fair woman but she made
still. mouths in a glass.
Enter KING LEAR and Fool KING LEAR
KING LEAR No, I will be the pattern of all patience;
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! I will say nothing.
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the ACT III
cocks! SCENE IV. The heath. Before a hovel.
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Enter KING LEAR, KENT, and Fool
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, KENT
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking Good my lord, enter here.
thunder, KING LEAR
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world! Prithee, go in thyself: seek thine own ease:
Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once, This tempest will not give me leave to ponder
That make ingrateful man! On things would hurt me more. But I'll go in.
Fool To the Fool
O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry In, boy; go first. You houseless poverty,--
house is better than this rain-water out o' door. Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.
Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' blessing: Fool goes in
here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool. Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are,
KING LEAR That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain! How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
You owe me no subscription: then let fall Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave, That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man: And show the heavens more just.
But yet I call you servile ministers, EDGAR
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd [Within] Fathom and half, fathom and half! Poor
Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head Tom!
So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul! The Fool runs out from the hovel
Fool Fool
He that has a house to put's head in has a good Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit
head-piece. Help me, help me!
The cod-piece that will house KENT
Before the head has any, Give me thy hand. Who's there?
The head and he shall louse; Fool
So beggars marry many. A spirit, a spirit: he says his name's poor Tom.
The man that makes his toe KENT
What he his heart should make
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What art thou that dost grumble there i' the straw?
Come forth.
Enter EDGAR disguised as a mad man
EDGAR
Away! the foul fiend follows me!
Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind.
Hum! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.
KING LEAR
Hast thou given all to thy two daughters?
And art thou come to this?
EDGAR
Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom the foul
fiend hath led through fire and through flame, and
through ford and whirlipool e'er bog and
quagmire;
that hath laid knives under his pillow, and halters
in his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge; made film
proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting-horse over
four-inched bridges, to course his own shadow for
a traitor. Bless thy five wits! Tom's a-cold,--O, do
de, do de, do de. Bless thee from whirlwinds,
star-blasting, and taking! Do poor Tom some
charity, whom the foul fiend vexes: there could I
have him now,--and there,--and there again, and
there.
Storm still
KING LEAR
What, have his daughters brought him to this
pass?
Couldst thou save nothing? Didst thou give them
all?
Fool
Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had been all
shamed.
KING LEAR
Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air
Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy
daughters!
KENT
He hath no daughters, sir.
KING LEAR
Death, traitor! nothing could have subdued nature
To such a lowness but his unkind daughters.
Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
Judicious punishment! 'twas this flesh begot
Those pelican daughters.
EDGAR
Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill:
Halloo, halloo, loo, loo!
Fool
This cold night will turn us all to fools and
madmen.
EDGAR
Take heed o' the foul fiend: obey thy parents;
keep thy word justly; swear not; commit not with
man's sworn spouse; set not thy sweet heart on
proud
array. Tom's a-cold.
KING LEAR
What hast thou been?
EDGAR
A serving-man, proud in heart and mind; that
curled my hair; wore gloves in my cap; served the
lust of my mistress' heart, and did the act of
darkness with her; swore as many oaths as I spake
words, and broke them in the sweet face of
heaven: one that slept in the contriving of lust, and
waked to do it: wine loved I deeply, dice dearly:
and in woman out-paramoured the Turk: false of
heart, light of ear, bloody of hand; hog in sloth,
fox in stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness,
lion in prey. Let not the creaking of shoes nor the
rustling of silks betray thy poor heart to woman:
keep thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of
plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and defy
the foul fiend. Still through the hawthorn blows
the cold wind: Says suum, mun, ha, no, nonny.
Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa! let him trot by.
Storm still
KING LEAR
Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer
with thy uncovered body this extremity of the
skies. Is man no more than this? Consider him
well. Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no
hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha!
here's three on 's are sophisticated! Thou art the
thing itself: unaccommodated man is no more but
such a poor bare, forked animal as thou art. Off,
off, you lendings! come unbutton here.
Tearing off his clothes

EXCERPT 5
ACT IV, Scene VI
KING LEAR EDGAR
No, they cannot touch me for coining; I am the O thou side-piercing sight!
king himself. KING LEAR
162
Nature's above art in that respect. There's your Burning, scalding, stench, consumption; fie,
press-money. That fellow handles his bow like a fie, fie! pah, pah! Give me an ounce of civet,
crow-keeper: draw me a clothier's yard. Look, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination:
look, a mouse! Peace, peace; this piece of toasted there's money for thee.
cheese will do 't. There's my gauntlet; I'll prove GLOUCESTER
it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well O, let me kiss that hand!
flown, bird! i' the clout, i' the clout: hewgh! KING LEAR
Give the word. Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.
EDGAR GLOUCESTER
Sweet marjoram. O ruin'd piece of nature! This great world
KING LEAR Shall so wear out to nought. Dost thou know me?
Pass. KING LEAR
GLOUCESTER I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou
I know that voice. squiny at me? No, do thy worst, blind Cupid! I'll
KING LEAR not love. Read thou this challenge; mark but the
Ha! Goneril, with a white beard! They flattered penning of it.
me like a dog; and told me I had white hairs in my GLOUCESTER
beard ere the black ones were there. To say 'ay' Were all the letters suns, I could not see one.
and 'no' to every thing that I said!--'Ay' and 'no' EDGAR
too was no good divinity. When the rain came to I would not take this from report; it is,
wet me once, and the wind to make me chatter; And my heart breaks at it.
when the thunder would not peace at my bidding; KING LEAR
there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go to, Read.
they are not men o' their words: they told me I was GLOUCESTER
every thing; 'tis a lie, I am not ague-proof. What, with the case of eyes?
GLOUCESTER KING LEAR
The trick of that voice I do well remember: O, ho, are you there with me? No eyes in your
Is 't not the king? head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are
KING LEAR in
Ay, every inch a king: a heavy case, your purse in a light; yet you see
When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. how
I pardon that man's life. What was thy cause? this world goes.
Adultery? GLOUCESTER
Thou shalt not die: die for adultery! No: I see it feelingly.
The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly KING LEAR
Does lecher in my sight. What, art mad? A man may see how this world
Let copulation thrive; for Gloucester's bastard son goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how
Was kinder to his father than my daughters yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in
Got 'tween the lawful sheets. thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which
To 't, luxury, pell-mell! for I lack soldiers. is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen
Behold yond simpering dame, a farmer's dog bark at a beggar?
Whose face between her forks presages snow; GLOUCESTER
That minces virtue, and does shake the head Ay, sir.
To hear of pleasure's name; KING LEAR
The fitchew, nor the soiled horse, goes to 't And the creature run from the cur? There thou
With a more riotous appetite. mightst behold the great image of authority: a
Down from the waist they are Centaurs, dog's obeyed in office.
Though women all above: Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand!
But to the girdle do the gods inherit, Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own
Beneath is all the fiends'; back;
There's hell, there's darkness, there's the Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind
sulphurous pit, For which thou whipp'st her. The usurer hangs the
163
cozener.
Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear;
Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with
gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks:
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it.
None does offend, none, I say, none; I'll able 'em:
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
To seal the accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes;
And like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now,
now:
Pull off my boots: harder, harder: so.
EDGAR
O, matter and impertinency mix'd! Reason in
madness!
KING LEAR
If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes.
I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester:
Thou must be patient; we came crying hither:
Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air,
We wawl and cry. I will preach to thee: mark.
GLOUCESTER
Alack, alack the day!
KING LEAR
When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools: this a good block;
It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe
A troop of horse with felt: I'll put 't in proof;
And when I have stol'n upon these sons-in-law,
Then, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
Enter a Gentleman, with Attendants

164
EXCERPT 6
ACT V, SCENE 3
KING LEAR
And my poor fool is hang’d! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? Th ou’lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!
Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir.
Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,
Look there, look there!
Dies.

165
 William Shakespeare: Late Plays
Romances, Tragicomedies, Problem-plays

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
The initial (first folio) division of Shakespeare’s plays was confined to three genres: comedies, tragedies
and histories. However, later critical insight discovered problems of analysis, so that a fourth genre was
introduced in the classification of the plays, that of romance. Four plays are generally included in this
group: Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. Though there are obvious
similarities among these plays, it was very difficult to decide on a clear classification and so, several other
terms were used to refer to these plays. Moreover, in time, other plays were included or excluded from
this loose and fluid group. Some names were: "late plays", "problem plays", or "(romantic)
tragicomedies." Some other plays that were included or excluded from these groups are the comedies
All's Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure or tragedies such as Troilus and Cressida and
even King Lear or Hamlet. All these classifications were created long after Shakespeare's death,
especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, when critics felt that the folio delimitations were not sufficient,
as well as when the Shakespearean cannon was enlarged (Two Noble Kinsmen, Pericles).
These problems of definition come from the fact that Shakespeare's late plays seem to defy the
traditional conventions. Moreover, the tastes of the public keep changing and, with them, the dramatic
forms. The Masque as a "spectacular kind of indoor performance combining poetic drama, music,
dance, song, lavish costume, and costly stage effects, which was favoured by European royalty in the
16th and early 17th centuries" (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms) gains ground in the
preferences of King James I and it is included in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Moving to an indoor
theatre also contributed to the change in dramatic form. The Blackfriars, in Shakespeare's time, was the
first indoor theatre. The indoor theatres offered new possibilities of staging, with various mechanisms
that contributed to more dramatic stage effects (Gods and spirits can actually descend from the skies, at
it happened to Ariel in The Tempest or Jupiter in Cymbeline). The lighting effects are different and the
staging of the play does not depend solely on daylight or on the whims of weather. In a similar manner,
sound effects and music could be more easily controlled in a smaller, closed space.

LATE PLAYS OR THE LAST PLAYS

One possible solution for the definition problems is the name "last plays", usually those
composed after 1607: Pericles, Coriolanus, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, The Tempest, Henry VIII,
Two Noble Kinsmen, Cardenio?. Commonly, the first four (except for Coriolanus, seen as a tragedy)
are considered romances and they seem to share some common features, mostly a serenity and a sense
of reconciliation. The problem appears with the plays written after The Tempest, that seem to move
away from reconciliation to something bleaker. Moreover, Cardenio being lost, and Henry VIII seen as
a historical play, more problems appear, and, in this case, the only element that connects these last plays
is the focus on the past, on restoring past problems, or reinventing it to fit new contexts.))

ROMANCES AND TRAGICOMEDIES: Historically, the name “romance” was used to refer to a
group of plays including Cymbeline, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest at the end of the
nineteenth century, by Edward Dowden:

“There is a romantic element about these plays. In all there is the same romantic incident of lost children
recovered by those to whom they are dear . . . In all there is a beautiful romantic background of sea or
mountain. The dramas have a grave beauty, a sweet serenity, which seem to render the name “comedies”
inappropriate . . . Let us, then, name this group, consisting of four plays, . . . Romances. (Dowden 1877)

Thus, ‘[t]he spirit of these last plays is that of serenity which results from fortitude, and the recognition
of human frailty; all of them express a deep sense of the need of repentance and the duty of forgiveness’
(Dowden). The same idea is supported by Robert Sharp in 1959 who argued that the romances are
Shakespeare’s ‘fourth period, of a serenity and tolerance allowing little in the way of bitter intensity, but
much in that of a cosmic, almost godlike irony such as Prospero’s, adding that ‘Shakespeare has now
made his peace with God and man’.

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 The term “romance”, therefore, refers to tales about heroes and their quests which involve the
intervention of magic. At the end of the romance there is, usually, reunion (families or/and lovers are
reunited) and harmony after suffering and distress, since the protagonists need to pass through a series
of tests and trials. In Shakespeare’s plays, some of these conventions are respected, in the sense that, in
all the plays there are journeys, often involving storms and shipwrecks in which families or lovers are
separated, the intervention of magic (The Tempest), of spirits and gods (Cymbeline, Pericles, The
Tempest) helping the heroes, even if, sometimes, in a rather artificial manner, for instance, Pericles
finds his lost wife through the intervention of Diana and, in Cymbeline, Posthumus dreams of his dead
ancestors and Jupiter.
Northrop Frye tries to give an ampler definition of “romance” with reference to Shakespeare’s
plays and he mentions the “scaling down” of characters; the focus on magic, artifice and improbability
counterbalanced by emphasis on emotion to the detriment of verisimilitude; a tendency to refer to
former theatrical conventions and the appearance of puppet shows, the feeling that they are mere
puppets on strings. This idea is reinforced by the Prologue – Gower in Pericles and the presentation of
facts in a sort of dumb-show:

“First, there’s a noticeable scaling down of characters; that is, the titanic figures like Hamlet, Cleopatra,
Falstaff and Lear have gone. Leontes and Posthumus are jealous, and very articulate about it, but their
jealousy doesn’t have the size that Othello’s jealousy has: we’re looking at people more on our level,
saying and feeling the things we can imagine ourselves saying and feeling. Second, the stories are
incredible: we’re moving in worlds of magic and fairy tale, where anything can happen. Emotionally,
they’re as powerfully convincing as ever, but the convincing quality doesn’t extend to the incidents. Third,
there’s a strong tendency to go back to some of the conventions of earlier plays, the kind that were
produced in the 1580s: we noticed that Measure for Measure used one of these early plays as a source.
Fourth, the scaling down of characters brings these plays closer to the puppet shows I just mentioned. If
you watch a good puppet show for very long you almost get to feeling that the puppets are convinced that
they’re producing all the sounds and movements themselves, even though you can see that they’re not. In
the romances, where the incidents aren’t very believable anyway, the sense of puppet behaviour extends
so widely that it seems natural to include a god or goddess as the string puller. Diana has something of
this role in Pericles, and Jupiter has it in Cymbeline: The Tempest has a human puppeteer in Prospero.
In The Winter’s Tale the question “Who’s pulling the strings?” is more difficult to answer, but it still
seems to be relevant.” (Frye)

Northrop Frye, however, admits that more plays can be included in this group of “romances” such as,
he says, Measure for Measure, difficult to classify elsewhere.
Another element that defines the Shakespearean romance is its resistance to satire. Satire is
associated with tragicomedy in its seventeenth century development, but not romance that denies satire.
"Shakespeare, unlike his younger contemporary Fletcher who had a preference for tragicomedy, is
careful not to fall into satire, and his plays, though producing moments that hover around the grotesque
or burlesque and take risks with tone, pull back from the cynical worldview of satire.” (Frye)

TRAGICOMEDY. The term derives from Plautus, referring to the unconventional mixture of
kings, gods and servants in his Amphitruo. The genre is difficult to define, and playwrights have been
aware of the possibility to mix comedy and tragedy since the early Renaissance, by writing tragedies with
happy endings or plays in which there were several plots, some serious, some comic. “By the end of the
16th c. these two kinds had drawn together and were more or less indistinguishable. By this time, anyway,
we find an increasing mingling of tragic and comic elements, the use of comic relief in tragedy, and what
might be called tragic aggravation or heightening in comedy” (J.A.Cuddon). The Italian playwright
Batista Guarini is usually cited as the one from whom tragicomedy originated. John Fletcher, following
Guarini, wrote in his preface to The Faithful Shepherdess “A tragicomedy is not so called in respect of
mirth and killing, but in respect it wants deaths, which is enough to make it no tragedy, yet brings some
near it, which is enough to make it no comedy. . .” Plays like Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale,
The Tempest may be considered tragic-comedies, though they are more commonly included in the
area of romance. Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida are not usually deemed as romances,
and can be seen as tragicomedies. Measure for Measure has a forced happy ending, and Troilus and
Cressida does not have a happy ending at all. The term “mixed genre” plays is also preferred by some
critics for these two.

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PROBLEM PLAYS: At the end of the nineteenth century, F.S. Boas (1896) suggests another category,
that of “problem plays” in which he includes All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Troilus
and Cressida and Hamlet. He suggests that these plays are too complicated, with elements from comedy
and tragedy, but not clearly belonging to any of them, and with an insistence of problems of conscience.

"All these dramas introduce us into highly artificial societies, whose civilization is ripe unto rottenness.
Amidst such media abnormal conditions of brain and of emotion are generated, and intricate cases of
conscience demand a solution by unprecedented methods. Thus throughout these plays we move along
dim untrodden paths, and at the close our feeling is neither of simple joy nor pain; we are excited,
fascinated, perplexed, for the issues raised preclude a completely satisfactory outcome, even when, as in
All's Well and Measure for Measure, the complications are outwardly adjusted in the fifth act. In Troilus
and Cressida and Hamlet no such partial settlement of difficulties takes place, and we are left to interpret
their enigmas as best we may. Dramas so singular in theme and temper cannot be strictly called comedies
or tragedies. We may therefore borrow a convenient phrase from the theatre of today and class them
together as Shakspere's problem-plays." (F.S. Boas)

W. Lawrence accepts the idea that the definition of some of the plays is problematic, but uses the term
“problem comedies” and includes in this group Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida,
Cymbeline, All’s Well That Ends Well. He argues that the term “problem plays” is useful for those
plays that do not fall into the category of tragedy, but are too serious and analytic to fall into the theme
of comedy. He accepts the fact that painful and tragic complications may appear in comedies, as it is
often the case in Shakespeare’s comedies, but the difference between comedies and problem plays
relies in the fact that, if in comedies these complications are of secondary importance (such as Shylock
in The Merchant of Venice), in problem plays, they are the controlling interest. Similarly, whereas the
love troubles of Rosalind and Viola in comedies are seen as romantic entanglements, the suffering of
Isabella (Measure for Measure), or Helena (All’s Well That Ends Well) are of utmost seriousness. In
fact, even if the ending of some problem plays is marriage, like in comedies, they lack the festivity and
celebration of comedies, and we have the feeling that the final marriage or marriages are not the
solution to the problems of the play.
In fact, W. Lawrence insists, the outcome proposed by the playwright is not the only possible
outcome and the same characters in the same situations may reach different conclusions – either in
tragedy or in comedy.

FEATURES: Without trying to impose a certain terminology, we will refer to a set of conventions that
are common for Shakespeare’s late plays: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, The Tempest,
Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida.
1. Political plots: tyrannical rulers, unjust laws, corruption, plotting, the weakening of authority
from various reasons (jealousy or love, giving up responsibility). Many of these plays deal with unfit
rulers: Prospero and the Duke of Measure for Measure delegate their power only to be either displaced
from the system (Prospero) or to see the abuses committed by the one they left in their place to rule
(the Duke). Cymbeline is totally submitted to the will of his Queen, whereas Leontes (The Winter’s
Tale) is blinded by jealousy and driven towards tyranny and injustice. In Troilus and Cressida, the love
plot is submitted to the political machinations devised by Ulysses.
2. Love, couples separated, cross-rank couples, pursuit by loathsome suitors, threat of infidelity.
Love is the main theme of such plays and there is an insistence on love troubles, on jealousy (The
Winter’s Tale), incest (Pericles), opposition from parents (The Winter’s Tale), prostitution and threats
of rape (Pericles, Measure for Measure), unjust accusations of infidelity (Cymbeline), separation of
lovers (Troilus and Cressida, Pericles). In the end, in most cases (except for Troilus and Cressida) there
is harmony, reunification of couples and marriages, but often, these marriage do not come with the
promise of happiness and seem more of an artificial resolution of conflicts: Angelo accepts marriage
with Mariana to escape punishment while Lucius is married to a prostitute as a punishment for his
lustful life (Measure for Measure). Marriages are often artificial: Prospero devises the encounter
between Miranda and Ferdinand (The Tempest), the Duke marries Isabella (Measure for Measure),
Paulina is married to Camillo (The Winter’s Tale), and Marina to Lysimachus, but we do not always
have the certainty that there is actual love between the spouses, or only political union.

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3. Children often bear the promise of reconciliation and harmony. Their marriages unite families
and states that were in conflicting situations: Miranda and Ferdinand in The Tempest, Florizel and
Perdita in The Winter’s Tale, whereas Mariana in Pericles saves her father with her intelligence,
wisdom and virtue.
4. There is often a lapse of time from the beginning of the action, the resolution coming later,
when children grow up: The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale and Pericles.
5. The role of women (lovers, sisters or daughters) becomes very important. They are determined,
intelligent and virtuous. They have the courage to stand up to tyrannical leaders in situations in which
men do not: Imogen defies her father, Cymbeline, for the sake of her husband, Isabella defies Angelo
to save her brother from prison and death (Measure for Measure), Paulina defies the tyrannical Leontes
to save her mistress (The Winter’s Tale) and Marina, though sold to a brothel, keeps her virtue and
turns everyone who comes to see her into a virtuous man. However, though women are remarkable,
they are often mistreated: Hermiona is unjustly accused by her husband to have been unfaithful (The
Winter’s Tale), Imogen, unjustly slandered by Iachimo, is supposed to be killed under her husband’s
orders (Cymbeline), Isabella, the virtuous woman who wants to save her brother, is falsely offered
salvation by Angelo only if she accepts a night with him, while the same Angelo deserted the woman
who loved him because she lost her dowry (Measure for Measure), Marina is saved from death by
pirates, only to be sold to a brothel (Pericles). The final reunions at the end seem only artificial
conclusions to scarring conflicts: Hermione is reunited with her husband and lost daughter, but because
of her husband’s jealousy, she lost a son and years of her life, Thaisa is separated from Pericles and her
daughter, Isabella has to marry the Duke (Measure for Measure) though, at the beginning, she wanted
to be a nun. Though intelligent, determined and virtuous, the women need to finally submit to the will
of men.
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s late plays are much more serious and grim to be included in the
group of comedies, but their protagonists, though often resembling the famous tragic heroes of
Shakespeare, lack their grandeur to be included in that group.

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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
THE TEMPEST (1610-11)

Excerpt 1
ARIEL
Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised,
Which is not yet perform'd me.
PROSPERO
How now? moody?
What is't thou canst demand?
ARIEL
My liberty.
PROSPERO
Before the time be out? no more!
ARIEL
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst
promise
To bate me a full year.
PROSPERO
Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee?
ARIEL To enter human hearing, from Argier,
No. Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she
PROSPERO did
Thou dost, and think'st it much to tread the They would not take her life. Is not this true?
ooze ARIEL
Of the salt deep, Ay, sir.
To run upon the sharp wind of the north, PROSPERO
To do me business in the veins o' the earth This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with
When it is baked with frost. child
ARIEL And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my
I do not, sir. slave,
PROSPERO As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;
Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
envy Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her? By help of her more potent ministers
ARIEL And in her most unmitigable rage,
No, sir. Into a cloven pine; within which rift
PROSPERO Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain
Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell A dozen years; within which space she died
me. And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy
ARIEL groans
Sir, in Argier. As fast as mill-wheels strike.
PROSPERO [...]
O, was she so? I must When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
Once in a month recount what thou hast been, The pine and let thee out.
Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch ARIEL
Sycorax, I thank thee, master.
For mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible

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PROSPERO PROSPERO
If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak Do so, and after two days
And peg thee in his knotty entrails till I will discharge thee.
Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters. ARIEL
ARIEL That's my noble master!
Pardon, master; What shall I do? say what; what shall I do?
I will be correspondent to command (Act I, Scene 2)
And do my spiriting gently.

Excerpt 2

CALIBAN I must eat my dinner. each hour

This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou takest from me. When thou camest
first,
Thou strokedst me and madest much of me,
wouldst give me
Water with berries in't, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I loved
thee
And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle,
The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and
fertile:
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king: and here you
sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' the island.
PROSPERO
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have
used thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged
thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child.
CALIBAN
O ho, O ho! would't had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans.
PROSPERO
Abhorred slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee
One thing or other: when thou didst not,
savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble
like
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy
vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in't which
good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
CALIBAN
You taught me language; and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!
PROSPERO
Hag-seed, hence!
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt best,
To answer other business. Shrug'st thou,
malice?
If thou neglect'st or dost unwillingly
What I command, I'll rack thee with old
cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
CALIBAN
No, pray thee.
Aside
I must obey: his art is of such power,
It would control my dam's god, Setebos,
and make a vassal of him.
PROSPERO
So, slave; hence!
Exit CALIBAN
(Act I, scene 2)

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Excerpt 3

GONZALO
I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty;--
SEBASTIAN
Yet he would be king on't.
ANTONIO
The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the
beginning.
GONZALO
All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavour: treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have; but nature should bring forth,
Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.
SEBASTIAN
No marrying 'mong his subjects?
ANTONIO
None, man; all idle: whores and knaves. (Act II, Scene 1)

Excerpt 4
The Island

CALIBAN CALIBAN

I'll show thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee
berries;
I'll fish for thee and get thee wood enough.
A plague upon the tyrant that I serve!
I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee,
Thou wondrous man.
TRINCULO
A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of a
Poor drunkard!
CALIBAN
I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow;
And I with my long nails will dig thee pignuts;
172
Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt
not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show
riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
(Act III, Scene 2)
Show thee a jay's nest and instruct thee how
To snare the nimble marmoset; I'll bring thee
To clustering filberts and sometimes I'll get thee
Young scamels from the rock. Wilt thou go with
me?

(Act II, Scene 2)

Excerpt 5

FERDINAND
There be some sports are painful, and their labour
Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone and most poor matters
Point to rich ends. This my mean task
Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead
And makes my labours pleasures: O, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father's crabbed,
And he's composed of harshness. I must remove
Some thousands of these logs and pile them up,
Upon a sore injunction: my sweet mistress
Weeps when she sees me work, and says, such baseness
Had never like executor. I forget:
But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,
Most busy lest, when I do it. (Act III, Scene 1)

Excerpt 6

PROSPERO You do look, my son, in a moved sort,

As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. […]. (Act IV, scene 1)

Excerpt 7

ARIEL: Your charm so strongly works 'em PROSPERO

That if you now beheld them, your affections Dost thou think so, spirit?
Would become tender. ARIEL
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Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou
art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to
the quick,
Yet with my nobler reason 'gaitist my fury
Do I take part: the rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance: they being
penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. Go release them, Ariel:
My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore,
And they shall be themselves. (Act V, scene 1)

Excerpt 8

Miranda: O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new
world,
Th at has such people in’t! (Act V, scene 1)

174
Excerpt 9

EPILOGUE (Spoken by Prospero)

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free. (V, 1)

175