istoria literaturii engleze

8/20/2019 Istoria Literaturii Engleze

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BEOWULF

King Hrothgar of Denmark, a descendant of the great king Shield Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and

successful reign. He builds a great mead-hall, called Heorot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive

gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the scops, or bards. ut the jubilant noise from Heorot angers

!rendel, a horrible demon who lives in the swamplands of Hrothgar"s kingdom. !rendel terrori#es the Danes

every night, killing them and defeating their efforts to fight back. $he Danes suffer many years of fear, danger,

and death at the hands of !rendel. %ventually, however, a young !eatish warrior named eowulf hears ofHrothgar"s plight. &nspired by the challenge, eowulf sails to Denmark with a small company of men

determined to defeat !rendel.

Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for eowulf"s father %cgtheow, accepts eowulf"s offer to

fight !rendel and holds a feast in the hero"s honor. During the feast, an envious Dane named 'nferth taunts

eowulf and accuses him of being unworthy of his reputation. eowulf responds with a boastful description of

some of his past accomplishments. His confidence cheers the Danish warriors, and the feast lasts merrily into

the night. (t last, however, !rendel arrives. eowulf fights him unarmed, proving himself stronger than the

demon, who is terrified. (s !rendel struggles to escape, eowulf tears the monster"s arm off. )ortally

wounded, !rendel slinks back into the swamp to die. $he severed arm is hung high in the mead-hall as a trophyof victory.

*verjoyed, Hrothgar showers eowulf with gifts and treasure at a feast in his honor. Songs are sung in

praise of eowulf, and the celebration lasts late into the night. ut another threat is approaching. !rendel"s

mother, a swamp-hag who lives in a desolate lake, comes to Heorot seeking revenge for her son"s death. She

murders (eschere, one of Hrothgar"s most trusted advisers, before slinking away. $o avenge (eschere"s death,

the company travels to the murky swamp, where eowulf dives into the water and fights !rendel"s mother in

her underwater lair. He kills her with a sword forged for a giant, then, finding !rendel"s corpse, decapitates it

and brings the head as a pri#e to Hrothgar. $he Danish countryside is now purged of its treacherous monsters.

$he Danes are again overjoyed, and eowulf"s fame spreads across the kingdom. eowulf departs

after a sorrowful goodbye to Hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. He returns to !eatland, where he and his

men are reunited with their king and +ueen, Hygelac and Hygd, to whom eowulf recounts his adventures in

Denmark. eowulf then hands over most of his treasure to Hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him.

&n time, Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shylfings, and, after Hygelac"s son dies, eowulf ascends

to the throne of the !eats. He rules wisely for fifty years, bringing prosperity to !eatland. hen eowulf is an

old man, however, a thief disturbs a barrow, or mound, where a great dragon lies guarding a horde of treasure.

%nraged, the dragon emerges from the barrow and begins unleashing fiery destruction upon the !eats. Sensing

his own death approaching, eowulf goes to fight the dragon. ith the aid of iglaf, he succeeds in killing the

beast, but at a heavy cost. $he dragon bites eowulf in the neck, and its fiery venom kills him moments after

their encounter. $he !eats fear that their enemies will attack them now that eowulf is dead. (ccording to

eowulf"s wishes, they burn their departed king"s body on a huge funeral pyre and then bury him with a

massive treasure in a barrow overlooking the sea.


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1. How is BEOWULF structured? How does this structure relate to the theme or themes of the

work as a whole?

eowulf is loosely divided into three parts, each of which centers around eowulf"s fight with a

particular monster first !rendel, then !rendel"s mother, then the dragon. *ne can argue that this structure

relates to the theme of the epic in that each monster presents a specific moral challenge against which the

(nglo-Saon heroic code can be measured and tested. eowulf"s fight with !rendel evokes the importance of

reputation as a means of epanding one"s eistence beyond death. !rendel"s great and terrifying nature ensuresthat eowulf will long be celebrated for his heroic con+uering of this foe. His subse+uent encounter with

!rendel"s mother evokes the importance of vengeance. /ust as eowulf eacts revenge upon !rendel for killing

Hrothgar"s men, so too must !rendel"s mother seek to purge her grief by slaying her son"s murderer. eowulf"s

final encounter with the dragon evokes a heroic approach to wyrd, or fate. $hough he recogni#es that his time

has come and that he will thus not survive his clash with the dragon, he bravely embraces his duty to protect his

people, sacrificing his life to save them.

(lternatively, one might make a division of the tet into two parts, eamining youth and old age as the

two distinctive phases of eowulf"s life. (long these lines, the gap of fifty years between the first two conflicts

and the last marks the dividing line. *ne of the main thematic points highlighted by such a division is thedifference in responsibilities of the warrior and of the king. (s a young warrior, eowulf is free to travel afar to

protect others, but as an old king, he must commit himself to guard his own people. (dditionally, whereas

eowulf focuses on the heroic life early on, seeking to make a name for himself, he must focus on fate and the

maintenance of his reputation late in life.

2.BEOWULF is set in a male-dominated world full of iolence and dan!er. What role does "atriarchal

histor# "la# in this world? Wh# does it matter to the warriors who their ancestors were?

$he obsession with patriarchal history manifests itself throughout eowulf, which opens by tracing

Hrothgar"s male ancestry and constantly refers to characters as the sons of their fathers. (n awareness of family

lineage is one way in which the heroic code integrates itself into the warriors" most basic sense of identity. y

placing such an emphasis on who their fathers were and how their fathers acted, the men of eowulf bind

themselves to a cycle of necessity governed by the heroic code. 0or eample, because eowulf"s father owed a

debt of loyalty to Hrothgar, eowulf himself owes a debt of loyalty to Hrothgar. &n this way, patriarchal history

works to concreti#e and strengthen the warrior code in a world full of uncertainty and fear.

*ne might contrast this socially accepted version of patriarchal history with the various alternative

models that the poem presents. !rendel, for eample, descends from 1ain, the biblical icon of familial

disloyalty, and the avenging of his death is undertaken by a female relative rather than a male one. %amples of

family discontinuity abound as well. 0or instance, Shield Sheafson is an orphan, and the 2ast Survivor

represents the end of an entire race. eowulf is similar to both of these characters3his father died while

eowulf was still young, and eowulf himself dies without an heir. $he aniety about succession focuses

attention on the ties between generations. oth Hrothgar and Hygelac depend on the loyalty of others if their

sons are to inherit their respective kingships. (ll of these concerns help emphasi#e the importance of family

heritage as a cultural value.


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$. What role does reli!ion "la# in BEOWULF?

$he eowulf story has its roots in a pagan Saon past, but by the time the epic was written down, almost

all (nglo-Saons had converted to 1hristianity. (s a result, the eowulf poet is at pains to resolve his 1hristian

beliefs with the often +uite un-1hristian behavior of his characters. $his tension leads to fre+uent asides about

!od, hell, and heaven3and to many allusions to the *ld $estament throughout the work. &n the end, however,

the conflict proves simply irresolvable. eowulf doesn"t lead a particularly good life by 1hristian standards, but

the poet cannot help but revere him. $hough some of eowulf"s values3such as his dedication to his peopleand his willingness to dole out treasure3conceivably overlap with 1hristian values, he ultimately lives for the

preservation of earthly glory after death, not for entrance into heaven. $hough his death in the encounter with

the dragon clearly proves his mortality 4and perhaps moral fallibility5, the poem itself stands as a testament to

the raw greatness of his life, ensuring his ascension into the secular heaven of warrior legend.


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SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

During a 6ew 7ear"s %ve feast at King (rthur"s court, a strange figure, referred to only as the !reen

Knight, pays the court an unepected visit. He challenges the group"s leader or any other brave representative to

a game. $he !reen Knight says that he will allow whomever accepts the challenge to strike him with his own

ae, on the condition that the challenger find him in eactly one year to receive a blow in return.

Stunned, (rthur hesitates to respond, but when the !reen Knight mocks (rthur"s silence, the king steps

forward to take the challenge. (s soon as (rthur grips the !reen Knight"s ae, Sir !awain leaps up and asks to

take the challenge himself. He takes hold of the ae and, in one deadly blow, cuts off the knight"s head. $o the

ama#ement of the court, the now-headless !reen Knight picks up his severed head. efore riding away, the

head reiterates the terms of the pact, reminding the young !awain to seek him in a year and a day at the !reen

1hapel. (fter the !reen Knight leaves, the company goes back to its festival, but !awain is uneasy.

$ime passes, and autumn arrives. *n the Day of (ll Saints, !awain prepares to leave 1amelot and find

the !reen Knight. He puts on his best armor, mounts his horse, !ringolet, and starts off toward 6orth ales,

traveling through the wilderness of northwest ritain. !awain encounters all sorts of beasts, suffers from hunger

and cold, and grows more desperate as the days pass. *n 1hristmas Day, he prays to find a place to hear )ass,

then looks up to see a castle shimmering in the distance. $he lord of the castle welcomes !awain warmly,

introducing him to his lady and to the old woman who sits beside her. 0or sport, the host 4whose name is later

revealed to be ertilak5 strikes a deal with !awain the host will go out hunting with his men every day, and

when he returns in the evening, he will echange his winnings for anything !awain has managed to ac+uire by

staying behind at the castle. !awain happily agrees to the pact, and goes to bed.

$he first day, the lord hunts a herd of does, while !awain sleeps late in his bedchambers. *n the

morning of the first day, the lord"s wife sneaks into !awain"s chambers and attempts to seduce him. !awain

puts her off, but before she leaves she steals one kiss from him. $hat evening, when the host gives !awain the

venison he has captured, !awain kisses him, since he has won one kiss from the lady. $he second day, the lord

hunts a wild boar. $he lady again enters !awain"s chambers, and this time she kisses !awain twice. $hat

evening !awain gives the host the two kisses in echange for the boar"s head.

$he third day, the lord hunts a fo, and the lady kisses !awain three times. She also asks him for a love

token, such as a ring or a glove. !awain refuses to give her anything and refuses to take anything from her, until

the lady mentions her girdle. $he green silk girdle she wears around her waist is no ordinary piece of cloth, the

lady claims, but possesses the magical ability to protect the person who wears it from death. &ntrigued, !awain

accepts the cloth, but when it comes time to echange his winnings with the host, !awain gives the three kisses

but does not mention the lady"s green girdle. $he host gives !awain the fo skin he won that day, and they all

go to bed happy, but weighed down with the fact that !awain must leave for the !reen 1hapel the following

morning to find the !reen Knight.

6ew 7ear"s Day arrives, and !awain dons his armor, including the girdle, then sets off with !ringolet to

seek the !reen Knight. ( guide accompanies him out of the estate grounds. hen they reach the border of the

forest, the guide promises not to tell anyone if !awain decides to give up the +uest. !awain refuses, determined

to meet his fate head-on. %ventually, he comes to a kind of crevice in a rock, visible through the tall grasses. He

hears the whirring of a grindstone, confirming his suspicion that this strange cavern is in fact the !reen 1hapel.


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!awain calls out, and the !reen Knight emerges to greet him. &ntent on fulfilling the terms of the contract,

!awain presents his neck to the !reen Knight, who proceeds to feign two blows. *n the third feint, the !reen

Knight nicks !awain"s neck, barely drawing blood. (ngered, !awain shouts that their contract has been met

but the !reen Knight merely laughs.

$he !reen Knight reveals his name, ertilak, and eplains that he is the lord of the castle where !awain

recently stayed. ecause !awain did not honestly echange all of his winnings on the third day, ertilak drew

blood on his third blow. 6evertheless, !awain has proven himself a worthy knight, without e+ual in all the landhen !awain +uestions ertilak further, ertilak eplains that the old woman at the castle is really )organ le

0aye, !awain"s aunt and King (rthur"s half sister. She sent the !reen Knight on his original errand and used her

magic to change ertilak"s appearance. 8elieved to be alive but etremely guilty about his sinful failure to tell

the whole truth, !awain wears the girdle on his arm as a reminder of his own failure. He returns to (rthur"s

court, where all the knights join !awain, wearing girdles on their arms to show their support.


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%HE &'(%E)BU)* %'LE+

$he 1anterbury $ales is the most famous and critically acclaimed work of !eoffrey 1haucer, a late-

fourteenth-century %nglish poet. 2ittle is known about 1haucer"s personal life, and even less about his

education, but a number of eisting records document his professional life. 1haucer was born in 2ondon in the

early 9:;etrarch.

&n or around 9:?@, 1haucer began to develop his vision of an %nglish poetry that would be linguistically

accessible to all3obedient neither to the court, whose official language was 0rench, nor to the 1hurch, whose

official language was 2atin. &nstead, 1haucer wrote in the vernacular, the %nglish that was spoken in and around

2ondon in his day. 'ndoubtedly, he was influenced by the writings of the 0lorentines Dante, >etrarch, andoccaccio, who wrote in the &talian vernacular. %ven in %ngland, the practice was becoming increasingly

common among poets, although many were still writing in 0rench and 2atin.

$hat the nobles and kings 1haucer served 48ichard && until 9:==, then Henry &A5 were impressed with

1haucer"s skills as a negotiator is obvious from the many rewards he received for his service. )oney

provisions, higher appointments, and property eventually allowed him to retire on a royal pension. &n 9:?;, the

king appointed 1haucer 1ontroller of the 1ustoms of Hides, Skins and ools in the port of 2ondon, which

meant that he was a government official who worked with cloth importers. His eperience overseeing imported

cloths might be why he fre+uently describes in e+uisite detail the garments and fabric that attire his characters.

1haucer held the position at the customhouse for twelve years, after which he left 2ondon for Kent, the countyin which 1anterbury is located. He served as a justice of the peace for Kent, living in debt, and was then

appointed 1lerk of the orks at various holdings of the king, including estminster and the $ower of 2ondon.

(fter he retired in the early 9:=hilippa was the sister to the

mistress of /ohn of !aunt, the duke of 2ancaster. 0or /ohn of !aunt, 1haucer wrote one of his first poems, $he

ook of the Duchess, which was a lament for the premature death of /ohn"s young wife, lanche. hether ornot 1haucer had an etramarital affair is a matter of some contention among historians. &n a legal document that

dates from 9:@


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another blow in 9:@9, when the peasantry, helped by the artisan class, revolted against them. $he merchants

were also wielding increasing power over the legal establishment, as the Hundred 7ears ar created profit for

%ngland and, conse+uently, appetite for luury was growing. $he merchants capitali#ed on the demand for

luury goods, and when 1haucer was growing up, 2ondon was pretty much run by a merchant oligarchy, which

attempted to control both the aristocracy and the lesser artisan classes. 1haucer"s political sentiments are

unclear, for although $he 1anterbury $ales documents the various social tensions in the manner of the popular

genre of estates satire, the narrator refrains from making overt political statements, and what he does say is in

no way thought to represent 1haucer"s own sentiments.

1haucer"s original plan for $he 1anterbury $ales was for each character to tell four tales, two on the

way to 1anterbury and two on the way back. ut, instead of 9C< tales, the tet ends after twenty-four tales, and

the party is still on its way to 1anterbury. 1haucer either planned to revise the structure to cap the work at

twenty-four tales, or else left it incomplete when he died on *ctober C, 9;


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U%O,' # %homas /ore

0iscuss the status of women in Uto"ia.

'topia is based on egalitarian principles, and these principles etend to issues of gender. 'topian

women are allowed to work, vote, become priests, fight, and generally have just as much influence over

'topian affairs as do men. $rue, some pragmatic constraints are placed on women. 0or eample, they are not

epected or allowed to engage in heavy labor since in general they are not as strong as men. ut these

pragmatic constraints do little to alter the staggering degree of freedom that 'topian women are afforded in

contrast to %uropean women. However, while 'topian women hold a basically e+ual secular standard as the

men, 'topian religion, with its demand that women prostrate themselves before their husbands, is formulated in

such a way that it implicitly holds men as more religiously pure. $here does not seem to be any way to reconcile

these differences in the status of 'topian women as secularly e+ual but religiously inferior. 8ather, the

differences seem to betray the underlying influence of siteenth century %uropeE $homas )ore creates a society

in which women are given more rights and power than any in eistence, and yet even he cannot completely

escape the %uropean conviction that women were inferior.

What is the nature of Uto"ian societ#? s it an ideal societ#? f so is it a societ# made u" of ideal

"eo"le?

'topia is the most perfect embodiment of humanist rational ideas. ut because it has not received the

direct revelation of /esus 1hrist, and, furthermore, simply because it eists in the kingdom of %arth rather than

the kingdom of Heaven, it cannot be ideal. 'topia, then, is not ideal, but +uasi-ideal. &t demonstrates that

1hristian tenets can only truly be the basis of an egalitarian society, and it simultaneously shows that

supposedly 1hristian %urope drastically fails to follow these tenets in the formulation of its own political

processes.

&t would be incorrect to assume, however, that 'topia is as close to ideal as it is because its inhabitants

are ideal. &n fact, the opposite is true 'topia is close to ideal because it assumes that its population is not ideal.'topia has built its laws to make acting immorally irrational, and then uses its schools to teach its inhabitants

how to think rationally. &n other words, 'topia operates with the understanding that people act in their own best

interests, and then formulates its laws and institutions so that an individualFs best interest is also the best interest

of the community.

$here are many aspects of 'topian life and policy that )ore describes as absurd. $here are some, even,

that Hythloday sees as absurd. Discuss the meaning of the absurd in 'topia. (re absurd practices always absurd

in the same wayG (re some absurd practices simply absurd while others betray deeper significanceG &s the

sometimes absurdity of 'topia meant to imply that 'topia is ideal or less than idealG How do the absurdities of

'topia play into %rasmusFs notion of 1hristian 0ollyG &dentify the moments of absurdity in 'topia and analy#ethem separately and in contrast.

'nlike >latoFs 8epublic, 'topia is not presented to the reader as a blueprint for an ideal state. &t is

presented as a fiction rather than as a possibility. How does the fictional frame change the way a reader

understands the bookG How does the fictional frame in 'topia functionG hat are the conse+uences of making

'topia fictionalG How does it offer protection to $homas )ore the authorG


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Summary

)ore travels to (ntwerp as an ambassador for %ngland and King Henry A&&&. hile not engaged in his

official duties, )ore spends time conversing about intellectual matters with his friend, >eter !iles. *ne day,

)ore sees !iles speaking to a bearded man whom )ore assumes to be a shipFs captain. !iles soon introduces

)ore to this new man, 8aphael Hythloday, who turns out to be a philosopher and world traveler. $he three men

retire to !ilesFs house for supper and conversation, and Hythloday begins to speak about his travels.

Hythloday has been on many voyages with the noted eplorer (merigo Aespucci, traveling to the 6ew

orld, south of the %+uator, through (sia, and eventually landing on the island of 'topia. He describes the

societies through which he travels with such insight that !iles and )ore become convinced that Hythloday

would make a terrific counselor to a king. Hythloday refuses even to consider such a notion. ( disagreement

follows, in which the three discuss HythlodayFs reasons for his position. $o make his point, Hythloday describes

a dinner he once shared in %ngland with 1ardinal )orton and a number of others. During this dinner,

Hythloday proposed alternatives to the many evil civil practices of %ngland, such as the policy of capital

punishment for the crime of theft. His proposals meet with derision, until they are given legitimate thought by

the 1ardinal, at which point they meet with great general approval. Hythloday uses this story to show how

pointless it is to counsel a king when the king can always epect his other counselors to agree with his own beliefs or policies. Hythloday then goes on to make his point through a number of other eamples, finally noting

that no matter how good a proposed policy is, it will always look insane to a person used to a different way of

seeing the world. Hythloday points out that the policies of the 'topians are clearly superior to those of

%uropeans, yet adds that %uropeans would see as ludicrous the all-important 'topian policy of common

property. )ore and !iles do disagree with the notion that common property is superior to private property, and

the three agree that Hythloday should describe the 'topian society in more detail. 0irst, however, they break for

lunch.

ack from lunch, Hythloday describes the geography and history of 'topia. He eplains how the

founder of 'topia, !eneral 'topus, con+uered the isthmus on which 'topia now stands and through a great

public works effort cut away the land to make an island. 6et, Hythloday moves to a discussion of 'topian

society, portraying a nation based on rational thought, with communal property, great productivity, no rapacious

love of gold, no real class distinctions, no poverty, little crime or immoral behavior, religious tolerance, and

little inclination to war. &t is a society that Hythloday believes is superior to any in %urope.

Hythloday finishes his description and )ore eplains that after so much talking, !iles, Hythloday, and

he were too tired to discuss the particular points of 'topian society. )ore concludes that many of the 'topian

customs described by Hythloday, such as their methods of making war and their belief in communal property,

seem absurd. He does admit, however, that he would like to see some aspects of 'topian society put into

practice in %ngland, though he does not believe any such thing will happen.


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DOCTOR FAUSTUS by Christopher Marlowe

Doctor 0austus, a well-respected !erman scholar, grows dissatisfied with the limits of traditional forms

of knowledge3logic, medicine, law, and religion3and decides that he wants to learn to practice magic. His

friends Aaldes and 1ornelius instruct him in the black arts, and he begins his new career as a magician by

summoning up )ephastophilis, a devil. Despite )ephastophilis"s warnings about the horrors of hell, 0austus

tells the devil to return to his master, 2ucifer, with an offer of 0austus"s soul in echange for twenty-four years

of service from )ephastophilis. )eanwhile, agner, 0austus"s servant, has picked up some magical ability and

uses it to press a clown named 8obin into his service.

)ephastophilis returns to 0austus with word that 2ucifer has accepted 0austus"s offer. 0austus

eperiences some misgivings and wonders if he should repent and save his soulE in the end, though, he agrees to

the deal, signing it with his blood. (s soon as he does so, the words Homo fuge,I 2atin for * man, fly,I

appear branded on his arm. 0austus again has second thoughts, but )ephastophilis bestows rich gifts on him

and gives him a book of spells to learn. 2ater, )ephastophilis answers all of his +uestions about the nature of

the world, refusing to answer only when 0austus asks him who made the universe. $his refusal prompts yet

another bout of misgivings in 0austus, but )ephastophilis and 2ucifer bring in personifications of the Seven

Deadly Sins to prance about in front of 0austus, and he is impressed enough to +uiet his doubts.

(rmed with his new powers and attended by )ephastophilis, 0austus begins to travel. He goes to the

pope"s court in 8ome, makes himself invisible, and plays a series of tricks. He disrupts the pope"s ban+uet by

stealing food and boing the pope"s ears. 0ollowing this incident, he travels through the courts of %urope, with

his fame spreading as he goes. %ventually, he is invited to the court of the !erman emperor, 1harles A 4the

enemy of the pope5, who asks 0austus to allow him to see (leander the !reat, the famed fourth-century .1.

)acedonian king and con+ueror. 0austus conjures up an image of (leander, and 1harles is suitably impressed

( knight scoffs at 0austus"s powers, and 0austus chastises him by making antlers sprout from his head. 0urious

the knight vows revenge.

)eanwhile, 8obin, agner"s clown, has picked up some magic on his own, and with his fellow

stablehand, 8afe, he undergoes a number of comic misadventures. (t one point, he manages to summon

)ephastophilis, who threatens to turn 8obin and 8afe into animals 4or perhaps even does transform themE the

tet isn"t clear5 to punish them for their foolishness.

0austus then goes on with his travels, playing a trick on a horse-courser along the way. 0austus sells him

a horse that turns into a heap of straw when ridden into a river. %ventually, 0austus is invited to the court of theDuke of Aanholt, where he performs various feats. $he horse-courser shows up there, along with 8obin, a man

named Dick 48afe in the ( tet5, and various others who have fallen victim to 0austus"s trickery. ut 0austus

casts spells on them and sends them on their way, to the amusement of the duke and duchess.

(s the twenty-four years of his deal with 2ucifer come to a close, 0austus begins to dread his impending

death. He has )ephastophilis call up Helen of $roy, the famous beauty from the ancient world, and uses her

presence to impress a group of scholars. (n old man urges 0austus to repent, but 0austus drives him away

0austus summons Helen again and eclaims rapturously about her beauty. ut time is growing short. 0austus

tells the scholars about his pact, and they are horror-stricken and resolve to pray for him. *n the final night


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before the epiration of the twenty-four years, 0austus is overcome by fear and remorse. He begs for mercy, but

it is too late. (t midnight, a host of devils appears and carries his soul off to hell. &n the morning, the scholars

find 0austus"s limbs and decide to hold a funeral for him.

1. s 0O&%O) F'U+%U+ a &hristian tra!ed#? Wh# or wh# not?

Doctor 0austus has elements of both 1hristian morality and classical tragedy. *n the one hand, it takes

place in an eplicitly 1hristian cosmos !od sits on high, as the judge of the world, and every soul goes either

to hell or to heaven. $here are devils and angels, with the devils tempting people into sin and the angels urging

them to remain true to !od. 0austus"s story is a tragedy in 1hristian terms, because he gives in to temptation

and is damned to hell. 0austus"s principal sin is his great pride and ambition, which can be contrasted with the

1hristian virtue of humilityE by letting these traits rule his life, 0austus allows his soul to be claimed by 2ucifer,

1hristian cosmology"s prince of devils.

7et while the play seems to offer a very basic 1hristian message3that one should avoid temptation and

sin, and repent if one cannot avoid temptation and sin3its conclusion can be interpreted as straying from

orthodo 1hristianity in order to conform to the structure of tragedy. &n a traditional tragic play, as pioneered by

the !reeks and imitated by illiam Shakespeare, a hero is brought low by an error or series of errors and

reali#es his or her mistake only when it is too late. &n 1hristianity, though, as long as a person is alive, there is

always the possibility of repentance3so if a tragic hero reali#es his or her mistake, he or she may still be saved

even at the last moment. ut though 0austus, in the final, wrenching scene, comes to his senses and begs for a

chance to repent, it is too late, and he is carried off to hell. )arlowe rejects the 1hristian idea that it is never too

late to repent in order to increase the dramatic power of his finale, in which 0austus is conscious of his

damnation and yet, tragically, can do nothing about it.

2. +cholar )./. 0awkins once called Faustus a )enaissance man who had to "a# the medieal

"rice for ein! one.3 0o #ou think this is an accurate characteri4ation of /arlowe5s tra!ic hero?

Doctor 0austus has fre+uently been interpreted as depicting a clash between the values of the medievalworld and the emerging spirit of the siteenth-century 8enaissance. &n medieval %urope, 1hristianity and !od

lay at the center of intellectual life scientific in+uiry languished, and theology was known as the +ueen of the

sciences.I &n art and literature, the emphasis was on the lives of the saints and the mighty rather than on those of

ordinary people. ith the advent of the 8enaissance, however, there was a new celebration of the free

individual and the scientific eploration of nature.

hile )arlowe"s 0austus is, admittedly, a magician and not a scientist, this distinction was not so

clearly drawn in the siteenth century as it is today. 4&ndeed, famous scientists such as &saac 6ewton dabbled in

astrology and alchemy into the eighteenth century.5 ith his rejection of !od"s authority and his thirst for

knowledge and control over nature, 0austus embodies the more secular spirit of the dawning modern era.)arlowe symboli#es this spirit in the play"s first scene, when 0austus eplicitly rejects all the medieval

authorities3(ristotle in logic, !alen in medicine, /ustinian in law, and the ible in religion3and decides to

strike out on his own. &n this speech, 0austus puts the medieval world to bed and steps firmly into the new era.

7et, as the +uote says, he payJs the medieval priceI for taking this new direction, since he still eists firmly

within a 1hristian framework, meaning that his transgressions ultimately condemn him to hell.

&n the play"s final lines, the 1horus tells us to view 0austus"s fate as a warning and not follow his

eample. $his admonition would seem to make )arlowe a defender of the established religious values, showing

us the terrible fate that awaits a 8enaissance man who rejects !od. ut by investing 0austus with such tragic


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grandeur, )arlowe may be suggesting a different lesson. >erhaps the price of rejecting !od is worth it, or

perhaps 0austus pays the price for all of western culture, allowing it to enter a new, more secular era.

$. 0iscuss the character of /e"hasto"hilis. How much of a role does he "la# in Faustus5s

damnation? How does /arlowe com"licate his character and ins"ire our s#m"ath#?

)ephastophilis is part of a long tradition of fascinating literary devils that reached its peak a century

later with /ohn )ilton"s portrayal of Satan in >aradise 2ost, published in the late seventeenth century

)ephastophilis seems to desire 0austus"s damnation he appears eagerly when 0austus rejects !od and firms up

0austus"s resolve when 0austus hedges on his contract with 2ucifer. 7et there is an odd ambivalence in

)ephastophilis. efore the pact is sealed, he actually warns 0austus against making the deal, telling him how

awful the pains of hell are. &n a famous passage, when 0austus remarks that )ephastophilis seems to be free of

hell at the moment, )ephastophilis retorts,

hy this is hell, nor am & out of it.

$hink"st thou that &, who saw the face of !od,

(nd tasted the eternal joys of heaven,

(m not tormented with ten thousand hells

&n being deprived of everlasting blissG

4:.?BL@


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0EO)6+ L'/E(%

MDeorFs 2amentM appears in the %eter ook, which has een dated to around 789-779 '0. MDeorM is a

heroic (nglo-Saon poem consisting of ;C lines. $he poem is a lament in which someone named Deor

compares the loss of his job to seemingly far greater tragedies of the past. $he poemFs theme is one common to

(nglo-Saon poetry and literature that a man cannot escape his fate and thus can only meet it with courage and

fortitude.

%he author is unknown and may have been a scop 4poet5 named Deor. ut it is also possible that the

poem was written by someone else. DoerFs name means MNdearI and the poet puns on his name in the final

stan#a “I was dear to my lord. My name was Deor.” $he name Deor may also has connotations of MnobleM and

Mecellent.M

MDeorFs 2amentM is, as its name indicates, a lament. $he poem has also been classified as an (nglo-

Saon elegy or dirge. &t is the only poem from the (nglo-Saon era in which stan#as 4strophes5 are used for

artistic effect, and only one of two poems 4the other being ulf and %adwacerM5 that has a refrain.

MDeorFs 2amentM has si strophes 4stan#as5 of une+ual length, and the refrain, "That passed away, this

may also" concludes each strophe. y concluding each stan#a with the same refrain, the narrator asks the

audience to identify with the eample in +uestion and recogni#e their own misfortunes. (ll of the characters in

the poem are historical or mythical figures that readers would have likely been familiar with. Deor"s lament is

not just purely personal but also about the universal sense of loss, estrangement and solitude which makes the

hearer or the reader sympathi#e deeply with the speaker of the poem.

n the first stan4a, the narrator refers to eyland, who is the *ld 6orse !oldsmithO!od 4eowulfFs

armor was said to have been fashioned by eland5. Deor talks about eland who went into eile and suffered

major emotional and physical pain Welund tasted misery among snakes”; “endured troubles had sorrow and

longing”E !ruelty !old as winter”. eland was in a cold dungeon and was in effect a displaced person whohad to endure eile with courage in the hopes it would pass and he would be freed once again.

%he second stan4a describes eadohildFs despair at being impregnated by the man who killed her

brothers. She believes her life is on the wrong track now and that she has no future hope“her brothers death

was not so pain#ul to her heart as her own problemI. She is concerned about her unborn child “#oresee without

#ear how things would turn out” . However, again, the indication by Deor is that this time of trouble for

eadohild may pass and she may come through it to a happier stage in her life.

n the third stan4a, the narrator describes how the powerful love between !eat and )aethild takes a

physical toll on !eat “so that the pain#ul passion took away all sleep.” . &t is presumed that )aethhild4)atilda5 and !eat 4or Mthe !eatM5 are a pair of lovers from the Scandianavian ballads. )agnild 4)aethhild5

was distressed because she foresaw that she would drown in a river. !auti 4!eat5 replied that he would build a

bridge over the river, but she responded that no one can flee fate. Sure enough, she drowned. !auti then called

for his harp, and, like a !ermanic *rpheus, played so well that her body rose out of the waters. &n one version

she returned aliveE in a darker version she returned dead, after which !auti buried her properly and made

harpstrings from her hair.


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n the fourth stan4a, the narrators mentions the rule of $heodric, who was King of the *strogoths from

;?9-CB 1%. $he indication in this stan#a is that $heodric ruled his realm with an iron hand and that the

inhabitants of this realm were burdened by this and hoped that this time of oppression would end possessed

the Marings stronghold I.

n the fifth stan4a, the narrator describes %rmanaric, similar to $heodric above, who ruled his kingdom

without mercy on others. He was a cunning king - likened to a wolf L $ormanri!s % wol#ish mind I and even

warriors feared him and wished his rule would end. Deor again gives a word of hope that this terrible time passed away - as did the terrible times mentioned above.

%ormenric was another king of the *strogoths who died in :?BE according to (mmianus )arcellinus, he

killed himself out of fear of the invading Huns. (ccording to other *ld 6orse %ddic poems 4!uPrQnarhvRt and

HamPisml, &ormunrekkr5, %ormenric had his wife Svannhildr trampled by horses because he suspected her of

sleeping with his son. So he might +ualify as a Mgrim kingM with Mwolfish ways.M

n the si: stan4a, Deor gives voice to the suffering of a minstrel or a scop who has been replaced by a

rival after years of service to his 2ord. Deor has left no trace of himself, other than this poem. Heorrenda

appears as Horant in a thirteenth century !erman epic Kudrun. &t was said that Horant sang so sweetly that birdsfell silent at his song, and fish and animals in the wood fell motionless. $hat would indeed make him a

formidable opponent for the scop Deor. $he speaker"s self consolation takes a meditative form as he looks back

upon five instances of suffering inflicted upon !ermanic heroes for the comfort that he is not the only one who

has had to face loss and despair. y recalling the misfortunes that fell upon gods and heroes, Deor opines that

suffering is the common lot of man and that every evil passes with time. He hopes that the pain of his rejection

will pass away just like the sorrows of the !ermanic legends passed eventually L

“&nd so I sing o# my own sad plight

Who long stood high as the 'eodening(s bard

Deor my name, dear to my )ord.

Mild was my ser*i!e #or many a winter,

+ingly my king till 'eorrenda !ame

kil#ul in song and usurping the land-right

Whi!h on!e my gra!ious lord granted to me.

That e*il ended. o also may this “

$he plot of DeorFs poem is simple and straighforward other heroic figures of the past overcame

adversityE so Deor may also be able to overcome the injustice done to him when his lord gave his position to a

rival. &n my opinion Deor is optimistic about what the future brings and by using the refrain "That passed away,

this may also" which concludes each strophe he is trying to convince us and himself of that. His faith is that

which gives him hope for the future. %ach stan#a eemplifies a moral that the audience would have been

familiar with that !od gives to some and takes from others.

istoria literaturii engleze

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